in all ita fuln81R (oomp. J ""· i. 2, "Oonnt it Christ. Borne 1uppoae thl\t tho three DITine all joy"). Wherewith we JOY ror your uk&1 PerRons of the aaorcd Trinity sro here e:i:- before our Ooi\ Giving promiuenoo to the proa•ly nBmed : God tho Huly Ghost, and purity of their joy. .. the Fl\ther, and the Lord Jeeue Christ; but Ver. 10.-Night and day (~omp. ob. n. 9) tl,e words in tho orii,:innl will not bear thi1 praying uoeedi--~ly. Denolin~ the inlonee sense : " God himeolf and our l<'nl hor" ia earne•tnee• 1111.J ttnxiety of the ap,,stle for the BBme Divine Person. Direot. It ie to ihe spiritual •H•lliLre of the Thessl\loniome, be observl'd that tho verb "dir,,~t" ia in Uaat found wnL ~ itself in ino,•ss,rnt prnyer tho Greek in the singular, time denoting B for them. Now folloWB the eubjocl-nrntt.. r unity between God our Fnthor Bild the of hi• preyer: That we might see your faoe, Lord Josue Christ. At o.11 events, we have and might perfeot that wbioh ia laoking in an express prayer directed to Christ, thua your faith. The faith of the Thessalonians neoeestLrily implying his Divine no.ture. Our was not perfect; it was "lacking" in several way onto you. reapeota. It was defective in extent; they Ver. 12.-And the Lord. By aome re, were ignor,mt of many of the doctrines of ferred to the First Person of the blessed the gospel, and he.d formed erroneous views '.l'riuity, God our Father (Alford); by of other dootrinee, such IUl the second others to the Holy Ghost, ae the Fnther and a<l v,•11t. It was defective in application ; the Lord J eeue Christ o.re afterwe.rde both t, ,,.y h&<l not yet renounced all the corrupt mentioned in the pro.yer; but it is to be re- practices of their former heathen life, nor ferred, according to the prevailing usage in h&<l they embodied all the precepts of the Paul's Epistle, 1lo the Lord Jesus Christ. gospel in to their actne.J. life. The Thetsa- Make yon; literally, you may the Lord. make, loni&na were u yet bnt novices. So also putting the emphasis on" you." To inoreaae the l"8Bl!On wh.ich impelled Panl to wish to and abonnd in lon one toward another ; come to Rome was to supply that whioh was toward your fellow-Christie.us. And toward laok.ing in the faith of the Boman oonverle all men; toward the hume.n race in general. (Rom. i. 11). Confirmation wae a work it: "This is the che.mcter of Divine love to wh.ioh the apostle delighted, being both comprehend all; whereas human love bath important and desirable. ln general, faith respect to one mo.n and not to another" e.t firet is wee.k and defective; it is only (TheophylBAlt). Even aa we do toward you; developed by degrees. Especie.lly is it in- that is, ae we abound in love toward you, creued by every increaee of spiritual know- Ver. 13.-To the end (in urder that) he ledge. "'Add to your faith l..,iowledge" (2 may eate.blieh your he&rta nnblamable in Pet. i. 5, 6). The remark of Ce.J.,in is holiness before God. In the eight of God, in worthy of attention: " Panl is desirous of hie judgment who searcheth the hearts. he.,·ing the opportunity given him of sup- The words, " before God,'' are to be con- plying what is wanting in the faith of the joined neither with " holiness" nor with ThesealoniaDS, or, which is the same thing, "unblam.able," but with the whole phrase, completing in all its parts their faith which " unblamo.ble in holiness." Even our Father, wae ae yet imperfeot. Yet this ie the faith at the oomillg of our Lord Jesus Chriat; at which he he.d previously extolled mar- the second advent. With all h.iB saints. vellowily. From this we infer that those By " B&inte " or " holy ones" are by some who far Burp&BII others are ■till far distant nnderetood the angels who shall accompany from the goal. Hence, whe.tever progreu Christ to jndgment; but although the term we may have made, let ue keep in view our "saints" is need of the angels in the Old deficienci.-s, the.t we may not be reluctant Testament, it ie never eo employed in the lu e.im e.t eomething further." New. Tloe word seems to denote those holy Ver. 11.-Iow God lwoBelf and our men who have died in the Lord and who Father; or, ae we would express it aooording ehe.ll be raised e.t the advent, ud accom- to the English idiom, God /timsel,f, our Father, pany Obrist to the ju<lgment. ,>mittingtheoonjnnction. AJUl our Lord J eaua
HOMILETICS. Ven. 3, ~-Connection between afftiction and ,-el,igion. True religion, instead of delivering th011e who possesa it from suffering, rather entails sufferiug upon them. Believers are appointed by God to suffer tribulation. This wa..s peculiarly true of the tcarly Christians, but it i~ 1.l"ue generally. We are appointed to affiictione (1) in order ll,at by them our fitness for heaven and our relish for our everlasting rest may be iucr"8&:d; (2) in ur<ler that we may thus learn th1i bletise<l grace11 of patience and n,:;1guaLiou-gr11ees which we could uot learD iD health a11d prosperity, and which wiI: bt: useful to us io a world of glury (1 Cor. iv. 17, 18). oa. III, 1-13.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 67