letter which pertained to him. And obedience was to be demanded of him to what was laid down in the IPtter. The ground was taken from under the position he occu- pied by the announcement that the coming was to be preceded by an apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin. That pnt the coming into the distance, and gave an aspect of stability to the old order of thin)(s, including the six days' Jabour of the fourth commandment. But it was not easy to get rid of all the false excitement at once. And the habit of idleness had to be overcome, so far as it had been formed. Against these hindrances the authority of the teachers was to be brought to bear. If after trial he persisted in neglecting to work, then the course to be followed was to note that man, and have no company with him. He was to be dealt with even as othel'li who are mentioned in 1 Cor. v. : " But now I write unto yon not to keep company if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one, no, not to eat." The idler among them was to be a marked man, even as the greater offender; the whole sentiment of the Church was to be brought to bear against his idleness. They were not to have free intercourse or companionship with him. They were not to admit him into their privacy. They were not to invite him to their houses, to contribute to his support, or in any way to show him countenance in bis disorderly course, They were to do this with a disciplinary end in view, viz. to shame him out of his idlenese. It was a shame for a man, being able-bodied, to be idle and to throw himself as a burden upon others. It was espt!Cially a shame in a Christian, who was surely not to be behind his heathen neighbour in the ordinary duties of life. By producing in him a feeling of shame his amendment would be secured. Caution to be observed. "And yet cou.nt him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." They were not to take the extreme step of cutting him off altogether from Church fellowship. He was not hopelessly removed from i:ood. There was nothing decisive against the reality of his Christianity. They were therefore, while withdrawing from him, to acknowledge him as a brother, giving him to feel that, on returning to orderliness, they would welcome him back to freedom of Christian intercourse. There is a role 'laid down here for our guid.a.na in Christian intercourse. We are only to have free intercourse with those who are at one with us in the great essentials of the Christian faith and life. We are not to be on easy terms with those of whose sentiments, or of whose mode of life, we cannot approve. That would be to tolerate their sentiments, to tolerate their conduct, and thus to compromise our position and open up the way for our own deterioration. Tt would also be to encourage them in their position and prevent their amendment. Our duty is to withdraw from them, so far as it is necessary to conserve our own posi- tion, and so far as it is necessary to convince them that we do not countenance them in their position. But we are not to go to the extreme of bearing ourselves toward them as though they did I1ot belong to the Christian circle. We are not to treat them as enemies. But we are to perform toward them the brotherly duty of trying to remove Bin from them, so as io -open up the way for the restoration of all suitable Christian intercourse. It is to be feared that many Christians are not sufficiently careful as to those with whom they freely associate. They look to position, to con- venience, to companionableness, to sympathy in smaller matters, and not so much as they should do to the great end.!! of int~rcourse. There are even those belonging to the Christian circle against whose ideas and conduct it is necessary for us to protest. When they are habitually worldly, or unsettling, or uncharitable, or unbrotherly in conversation, or given to i11temperance, even as we love the order which Christ approves, and as we would not be partakers with them in their sius, we must withdraw from them, while not, in moral cowardice, shirking the duty of speakiug out what we think and admonishing them for their good.-R. F.
Ven. 16--18.-0oncluding words. I. SALUTATION. 1. Invocation of peare. (1) From whom~ ill invoked. "Now the Lord of peace himsell." We are to nse above what we can do for others to the Lord of peace himself. He has purchased peace for us by his death. " He is our Peace; " " The chastisement of our peace was upon him." He is, therefore, the sovereign Dispenser of the blessing of pence in tho Ul,urches. Peace was the legacy he left to his believing people in the world. "Peace I le11.ve with you; my peace I 2:ive unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you, 011. m. 1-18.] THE SEUOND EPISTLE TO THF, THF,SSALONIANS. 81