bnt to reach forth in blessing to all the unsaved. 3. If'inal ruule of llirir r.011.dwd. (lJ In ,quill. "'I'o fill up their sine e.lwe.y." There is here a reflection of our Lord e words, "Fill ye up then the measure of your fa.there." The Jews were on their trie.l 88 e. nation. In this trial they should have filled up the measure of their good e.ctioDB, of Rervice to the worlcl. Tbe.t would have been their vindication before God. Instead of that, they filled up the measure of their sins. There is significant language used in Gen. J:v. 16, "But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again ; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." It is a se.d thing that it could be said of the Jews with Divine helps, as of the Amorit.es without Divine helps, that they were filling up their sins. They were filling up their sins alway. It was e. course which they diu not alter by a genuine deep conformed repentance as a nation. The general tendency of their conduct, both before Christ, at the time of CbriHt, and a.ft.er Christ, we.s to fill up their sins. They obstinately put away God from them, disregarded the Divine calls and warnings. And the ultimate result of such conduct, in the working out o( the eternal purpose, could only be e.s here set down, the bringing of the measure of their sins up to the full. (2) In punish1Mnt. "Bnt the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost." This is in contrast with the filling up of their Bins, in their oppo- sition to God and man. The wrath of God, which is here mentioned for the second time in the Epistle, is to be thought of as the predestined or the merited wrath. It bi a wrath which descends upon nations ae well u upon individuals. As the m - of their sins is thought of as being brought up t.o the full, so the wrath is thought of as reaching its utmost limit, when it must discharge itself-when, inst.ead of probationary dealing, there must be inflictive judgment. The inspire<l writers here had words of our Lord on which to proceed. "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary asd the altar. Verily I 11ay unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." The apostolic words were written within fifteen years of the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Jews were finally rejected as a nation. There is hope of their conversion at some future period; but ii cannot be said that to this day the wrath of God, for their long course of diaobedience, has been removed.-R. F.
Ven.17-20.-Gremt duire to - If.le ~ n a . With this another chapter might fitly he.ve oommenced. l. TBEDI DBIIIBE WAB ALL THE GREATU Tll.AT THEY WERE OJIPBANED OP' THE TBES- lALONUNB. "But we, brethren, being bereaYed of you for a short season, in presene5, i.ot in heart, endeavoured the more exceedingly to see your face with great desire." Very different were Pe.ul and his associates from the Jewish persecutors. They had the moat tender feelings toward the Thessalonians, whom they acknowledge as brethren. The principal statement is that they were orphaned. It i11 e. word which is usually applied to children who are beree.ve<l of their parents. It is here adopted as a strong word to express the great pain which those apostolic men felt in being separated from their loved converts. They have already called themselves father and mother to the Thessalonie.ns. Now it is rather the TheSBl\lonians who are father and mother to them, of whom they have been bereaved, by whom they have been left desolate. Two mitigating circumstances are added. It was separation for a ■hort season, literally, "the season of an hour." It is the language of emotion. lt was but the season of an hour, compared with the time they would be to~ether in the better world. Then it wu separation in presence, not in heart. Still, with these mitigating circumstances, they were in an orphaned state. All the more exceedingly, then, were they zealous to see their face with great desire. This reference to the effect of absence is a touch of nature which the Thessalonians could well appreciate. II. PAUL WAB HDlDERED IN HAVING BIS DESIRE TO SEE THEil GRATIP'IJ!:D. .. B~cause we would fain have come unto you, I Pe.ul once and again; and Satan hindered us." 'l'hey would fain have oome unto them. Having said this, Paul (correctively so ~ar) refers to two definite oocasions on which his plans were to proceed to ThelS&lomca. The statement did not pertain to Silas and Timothy, as they were probably not with him. By nec81111ity of f1Mlt he therefore detaches himself from the othen ; " 1 Paul oaoe imd ap,ia," All4 - and twice Satan hindered him. Then1 ia distincL ~ f8 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE 1'HESSALONIANS. [cu. II. 1-20.