Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? And in answer he exultingly proclaims, Nay, in all these things we are more than Conquerors through Him That Loved us; and in a fine climax he then challenges every conceivable Spirit or Power of opposition, insisting on their utter inability to separate us from the Love of GOD, Which is in CHRIST JESUS, our LORD-Rom. viii. 35, 37, 39.-In the History of St. Paul, apart from his own writings, he is related to have avowed that he coveted no Man's silver, or gold, or apparel; and in the spirit of a just independance to have added, Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the Weak, and to remember the Words of The LORD JESUS CHRIST, how He Said, It is more blessed to Give than to receive-Acts xx. 33 to 35.- -Our SAVIOUR's Injunction was to love our Enemies; to bless them that curse us; to do good to them that hate us, and pray for them which despitefully use and persecute us; that we may be the Children of our FATHER Which is in Heaven; for He Maketh His Sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good; and Sendeth rain on the Just and on the Unjust-Matt. v. 44, 45.—HIS Advent in the Flesh, and Endurance of Opposition, even to the Willing Surrender of Himself to the temporal power of His Enemies, and Suffer Death upon the Cross, was to Obtain Pardon, and the Inestimable Blessings of DIVINE Reconciliation to all penitent Believers, who, sorrowing with a godly sorrow for past ingratitude towards The GIVER of all Good, look to the Mediation of That Great Offering, as the Sure Testimony of DIVINE Forbearance and Mercy towards themselves. And as He, in the inoment of severest Agony under Crucifixion, Prayed His HEAVENLY FATHER to Forgive the Instruments of His Suffering, as ignorant of what they did, in crucifying The LORD of Life,-so the Martyr Stephen exhibited the same merciful disposition towards his Murderers, uttering with his last voice, LORD, Lay not this sin to their charge-Acts vii. 59, 60.-Jeremiah, amidst his lamentations for the sufferings of his People, and the iniquity and idolatry prevailing amongst the majority of them, used the expression, which St. Paul so fully and practically understood; the Prophet saying, LORD, Thou hast made us the Off-scouring and Refuse in the midst of the People-iii. 45. But how beautifully illustrated is the patience of the Saint under The Gospel, in the comparison between the Prophet and the Apostle!

VERSES 14 to 17.-I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved Sons I warn you; for though ye have ten thousand Instructors in CHRIST, yet have ye not many Fathers: for in CHRIST JESUS I have begotten you through The Gospel. Wherefore, I beseech you, be ye Followers of me! for this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved Son, and faithful in The LORD; who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways, which be in CHRIST; as I teach everywhere in every Church.

In all the feeling of the tenderest consideration the Apostle hastens to relieve the minds of his Correspondents from the apprehension that he meant, in what he had before expressed, to cast them down from that hope, that maketh not ashamed, or rather to prevent their attaining to it; but with a more than Parental sentiment of anxious regard towards them and their Eternal interests, he assures them that his object is only to point out, with effect and in becomingly forcible language and images, the danger of their prevailing principles as utterly at variance with the right view and estimate of Christianity, and to guard them against a continuing adherence to such doctrine and habits as they had yielded to, and were laying as treacherous unction to the Soul; when disappointment and discomfiture in their progress towards Eternity and Heavenly Bliss could not but

ensue therefrom. And the Apostle then challenges them to disregard Counsellors in whatever numbers they may present themselves, and with whatever variety of doctrine, or attractiveness of eloquence, if they do not teach CHRIST and Him Crucified, as the Only Ground of Redemption from the fallen state of the Natural Man; and of Restoration to DIVINE Favour by the Infusion of that Spirit of Holiness in the Human Soul; without which None can see GOD but with utter confusion of face and hopelessness of Sanctification, and consequently of final Salvation. And he characterizes the only as effectually fulfilling the Parental office, who manifest, towards those, they undertake to instruct, an unfailing desire, like St. Paul, to preach That Doctrine of The Gospel of CHRIST, Which he laboured as faithfully as incessantly to impress both by his speeches and writings. It is in the character of Children that he claims Such as through his ministration of The Gospel of JESUS CHRIST he had actually won to CHRIST; to Whom he would have all the honour and merit of such a Regene. ration abound, as knowing that CHRIST and CHRIST Only is The Truth and The Way and The Life. In the earnestness of an importunate Suppliant he urges the adherence to that right faith, as comprising the best and most lasting benefits of the life that is, in inward peace and onward hope, and giving some foretaste and assurance of the endless Blessedness of the Heavenly Life to Come.The character of Timothy is one of the most interesting in The Gospel Narrative; the piety he early manifested under Maternal instruction, and the fidelity with which he attached himself to Paul, and adhered to him under all circumstances of trial, render him an extremely interesting Character in the bright scroll of Gospel Worthies. As an Example in the Ministerial character he is a perfect Model, leaving no doubt as to his conformity to the kindly and goodly and excellent Counsel of his Apostolic Patron and Friend. St. Paul's assurance, that Timothy was faithful in The LORD, leads to the conclusion that all, which could be hoped of him, was fulfilled to the uttermost; and Generations yet to come, as well as those that have spent their several periods in the extended Interval from his day to our own time, have, or have had the benefit of the Apostle's writings addressed to him, in which are beautifully illustrated the features of Christian expression, and the rules of Christian action. The great trust reposed by the Apostle in this youthful Convert, whose manners had embosomed him in Paul's affections, in deputing him to detail the Doctrines he had learnt from Paul, and that so minutely as to enable him to encounter not only the errors of Heathenism, but the subtle varieties of opinion and shades of heterodoxy amongst even professing Christians; and that with such fidelity as to renew in the latter the very sentiments, that Paul himself had before delivered to them; awakening up remembrances of Truths, which, by neglect or perversion of the general Doctrine of The Gospel, might have faded in their minds. To this office Paul could only have had confidence to appoint him under the conviction, that the Grace of Heavenly Agency would be with him, Fitting him for the Work, which The HOLY SPIRIT could not but Sanction. One faith, one hope, and unity and singleness of heart were the lessons invariably taught by the Apostle; and he virtually points attention to every Church he had established or visited, in proof of the consistency of his preaching amongst all of them; and to Timothy he leaves to confirm the same point by the dissemination of the Truths, which Paul had laboured to establish.In an Epistle, before-considered Paul had reminded his Correspondents that they were Witnesses and GOD also, how holily and justly and unblameably they had behaved themselves among them, that believed; and that they knew how they had exhorted and comforted, and charged every One of them, as a Father doth his Children-1 Thess. ii. 10, 11.

VERSES 18 TO 21-Now Some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you; but I will come to you shortly, if The LORD Will; and will know, not the speech of them, which are puffed up, but the power: for the Kingdom of GOD is not in Word, but in Power. What will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod? or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?

The being puffed up may mean an arrogant assumption of knowing what were the real purposes of the Apostle; or a vain confidence in their own estimate of Paul's firmness and fortitude being unequal to the fulfilling of his pledge, to go to them at every risk of opposition from insult or injury. But Paul was indeed consistent in all he practiced, as in all he preached; and he only waited for the Guiding Influence of The SPIRIT, in the sure confidence that, in following That Silent but Safe Dictate, the Protection of JEHOVAH would be about his path. and about his bed; and Shielding him in all his ways. And when and where he went was he determined to try, by every Test that Christian Faith could prompt, not merely the sentiments and arguments of All, who were at variance with the Principles of the Doctrine of CHRIST, but to expose their want of power, such as Paul could exhibit, to give effect to his assertion of himself, as the Minister of GOD, as well as a Member of the Church of CHRIST. And he seeks the opportunity to impress on the heart and mind a just view of That DIVINE Rule, which, amidst the Pre-eminent Wisdom That Distinguishes It, yet Sustains equally the Threatenings and Promises of The WORD; being Clothed with Omnipotence, to Which All, both in Earth and Heaven, when required, must yield. And then with a pleasant and encouraging turn of thought, he asks, if they will expect him in the office of a severe Censor, and as bearing, when he comes to them, the warrant of Correction and of Magisterial authority; or in the winning garb and spirit of gentleness and devoted attachment.The becoming caution as to pledges for future operation being made subservient to the Permission or Direction of Him, on Whom we and All depend for a continuance in life, and the exercise of every faculty and quality intrusted to us, is thus more particularly enforced; like the instruction in the Epistle of an earlier Apostle, Go to now, ye that say, To-day, or to-morrow, we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain! whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow; for what is your life? it is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away: for that ye ought to say, If The LORD Will, we shall live, and do this, or that-James iv. 13 to 15.- -On another occasion Paul said in reference to Persons in opinion opposed to him, or in higher estimation with Others than himself, as Christian Teachers, that though they seemed to be somewhat, yet when in conference with them they added nothing to him-Gala. ii. 6; for that GOD Respected no Man's Person, for what has the ablest or seemingly best amongst us had, but what was received from GOD. Whence not boasting, but gratitude should be poured forth for any such Ministerial distinction; and remembering that the Kingdom of GOD. is an Inheritance to Which we should All above all things aspire, when It is indeed fondly and hopefully and faithfully panted after, It produceth even here, by anticipation or foretaste, righteousness and peace and joy in The HOLY GHOST-Rom. xiv. 17.-St. Paul devoutly wishing perfection in All, to whom his speeches or writings were addressed, and doubtless unto All, to whom those writings and still more The Gospel of his beloved LORD and SAVIOUR should come, wrote those things according to the Power, which The LORD had Given him to edification-2 Cor. xiii. 10; unwilling where he could safely avoid it, to use sharpness, or to deal out doctrines that tended to destruction.

CHAPTER V.

VERSES 1 TO 5-It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you; and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that One should have his Father's Wife; and ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he, that hath done this deed, might be taken away from among you: for I verily, as absent in body, but present in Spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him, that hath so done this deed: in the Name of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, when ye are gathered together, and my Spirit, with the Power of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, to deliver such an Ŏne unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the Spirit may be Saved in the Day of The LORD JESUS.

In the view or consideration of deep moral guilt it behoves us, after this admonition of the Apostle, to hate cordially and avoidingly the sin, but not to withdraw the true spirit of love, peace, and charity, from the Sinner; and by all means to strive to bring him to a just sense of his ingratitude to The GOD, Who Created him for perfect Happiness; to The SON of GOD, Who, as The SAVIOUR of Sinners, has Paid by His Own Sacrifice the Ransom of every sinful Soul, that in penitence and faith, (that faith, which worketh by unfeigned love and present devotedness), comes unto Him; and to The HOLY SPIRIT, Who, in Furtherance of The DIVINE Object of Mankind's Redemption from the power as well as punishment of sin, is Willing and even Striving to Pour out the Grace of Sanctification on every heart, that will thankfully and faithfully receive It. Every effort should be made to mark the sinfulness of the sin, and to urge the imminent danger to which it exposes the Soul, that yields to it; and at every sacrifice of suffering from correction, if necessary, as well as by reproof, to endeavour to reclaim the Wanderer from the paths of Righteousness and Peace, and to rescue the Immortal Spirit from the grasp of Satan and the consequences, awful beyond all utterance or conception, of a reprobate state. However heinous the sin, and however late the repentance, Salvation still Mercifully is attainable, if the repentance be such in the Sight of GOD, and which The SON of GOD can Commend to His HEAVENLY FATHER as a conversion of the heart, in the just sense of Divine Truth. But let not a false confidence grow out of this position! ever bearing in mind that life is of all things the most uncertain in its continuance; for we know not what the morrow may bring forth, and that the present moment is our only sure estate in time, and wherein therefore upon every principle of wisdom and prudence, and the soundest policy, we should prepare for Eternity; nor let repentance, on which the Blissfulness of our Eternal State may preliminarily depend, be delayed beyond the season of present thought; reflecting on our past Lives, especially in reference to our behaviour towards our Great and Gracious CREATOR and BENEFACTOR, let the result of such self-examination have its just force and integrity! and then sorrow for rebellion against The DIVINE MAJESTY, evidenced in countless instances, and alas! of every day's occurrence, would arise in the heart, and impel it to a sense of shame and self-condemnation, and to the expression of deep lamentation, at having too long neglected and put in fearful jeopardy the Offer of Salvation, through the Incarnation and Sacrificial Mediation of The SON of The MOST HIGH.—Difficult indeed at first view seems the passage that points to Satan as an Instrument of indirectly fitting the Soul for the Sanctities of Heaven; but it is through much tribulation often that we enter The KINGDOM of GOD; and in the history of Job we have illustrated how Satan may have power to torture the body and mind, by a succession of sufferings and privations, the effect of which may be only, like the Refiner's fire upon the gold, to render the Soul the purer and Celestially brighter.Under the Mosaic Dispensation a curse was denounced upon the offence here related-Deut. xxvii. 20, 23; and ab

horrent is the thought of it to every rightly directed mind. The compact of Society, however only implied, even in savage as well as civilized States, would lead to its severest censure and a general abandonment of the Offender. But as CHRIST, in The Extreme of DIVINE Mercy and Love to Man, Came to Call Sinners to repentance, we are led to seek the saving of an Immortal Soul, under even such almost hopelessness from so abominable a sin; and with every condemnation of the offending, and punishment, by solitary confinement, or for a season, even Social banishment of the Person; yet to leave a door open for the Soul's rising, through CHRIST JESUS, from interminable misery and Final rejection from the Charities of HEAVEN.—The Apostle repeatedly reminds his Correspondents that, though absent from them in the body, he is yet present with them in thought, in feeling, and in unfailing prayer for their Spiritual good -Coloss. ii. 5.--Paul's assumption of the power to absolve from the punishment of sins had reference to this Life, and was guarded by the admission that even this he did as the Representative, and in the Person of JESUS CHRIST; and anxious was he that the patience and perseverance of Saints might be manifested by the professing Believers in CHRIST JESUS towards Such of their Brethren, who yielded themselves as Members to unrighteousness, and were caught in the meshes of Satan's subtilty-2 Cor. ii. 10.-Our SAVIOUR, after His Resurrection, Said to His Disciples, Peace be unto you! as My FATHER hath Sent Me, even so Send I you. And when He had Said This, He Breathed on them, and Said unto them, Receive ye The HOLY GHOST! Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are Remitted unto them; and Whosesoever sins ye retain, they are Pretained-John xx. 21 to 23; Matt. xvi. 19. Thus is it that true Believers, Aided by the Enlightening Influence of The HOLY GHOST, have Given to them a Power of speaking Pardon and Reconciliation to Such as have faith in CHRIST JESUS, even an abiding confidence in the Greatness and Efficacy of His Purchased Redemption of All, who will freely come and faithfully turn unto Him. In exercise of this Power, Paul delivered Hymeneus and Alexander, who had made shipwreck of their faith, unto Satan, doubtless with the hope that by such severe trial they might turn from the evil of their ways, and, renewing their faith, as an effect of their suffering, find peace at the last in the assurance of Peace through the Sufferings and Atonement of The LAMB of GOD-1 Tim i. 19, -To avoid the condemnation to which the Worldling is exposed, we should seek the Chastening of The LORD; and then may we experience the Psalmist's encouraging assurance, that Blessed is the Man, whom The LORD Chasteneth Teaching him out of His Law, and Giving him Rest from the days of Adversity-Psl. xciv. 12, 13. A position which the Writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews recalls to the recollection, Despise not the Chastening of The LORD, nor faint, when Rebuked of Him! for whom The LORD Loveth He Chasteneth; Scourging every Son whom He Receiveth; adding, If ye endure Chastening, GOD Dealeth with you as with Sons. As we have had Fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence ; shall we not much rather be in subjection unto The FATHER of Spirits, and live? for they verily for a few days, (or short time) chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our (Eternal) Profit, that we might be thereby rendered capable of partaking of His Holiness: and (the Writer adds,) Now no Chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of Righteousness unto them, which are exercised thereby-Heb. xii. 5 to 11.

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