not to recommend ourselves to men, but to approve ourfelves to God, by whom we were employed, and who knows the heart, and we can appeal to God, and to yourselves, that we did not study to gain your favour, or your wealth. For as honour has not been our ob ject, fo neither has gain, tho' as men employed in an office, we had a natural claim to fome emolument from it. But we treated you with tenderness, as a mother who nurfes her own children, and fo intenfe was our affection, that, together with the gospel, we were ready to rifque even our lives for your benefit.

To convince you of our difintereftedness, you know that we laboured with our own hands night and day, in order to maintain ourselves, without being any charge to you. With refpect to our general conduct, we can call God and you to witness the purity of it, that it was truly pious, righteous, and unexceptionable, and it was the great object of our exhortation, to engage you to act in the fame manner. A father could not be more earnest with his own children in this respect, endeavouring to perfuade you not only to abandon your former vain idols, and the impure rites annexed to that wor ship, but to act with propriety and dignity, becoming the worshippers of the one true and living God, who has called you from darkness to light, and made you the subjects of his glorious and everlasting kingdom.

13. The apostle having given a fhort account of his preaching the gospel in Theffalonica, and the manner in which he conducted himself with refpect to it, proceeds to exprefs his thankfulness to God for fuch happy fruits of his preaching, that his disciples there were fo foon

capable

capable not only of receiving the truths of the gospel, but of acting up to them, and of bearing extreme persecution on that account. He also expreffes most eager defire to visit them once more, and confider their converfion as his happiness and glory.

a

Obferve that the apostle here afcribes the happy ef. fects of the Gofpel upon the Theffalonians not to any immediate divine influence upon their minds, but to the natural effect of a belief of its truth. It was the mere word of God, which by its natural power worked fo effectually in them. And certainly all that is necessary to reform men's lives, and to fit them for an happy immortality, is a firm belief of the doctrine of a resurrection and a judgment to come, and that all men fhall then receive according to their works. Indeed, it was abfurd to suppose that God would provide means naturally adapted to work fo favourably upon mens minds, if after all they were not fufficient for the purpose, but required his own fupernatural influence to come in aid of them, and any influence of this kind would be as much a miracle as railing the dead. Indeed, they that believe this influence, and depend upon it, reprefent mankind as actually fo dead in sins, as that nothing they can do can avail them, fo that their converfion is owing to the fovereign and miraculous influence of God upon their minds, operating when and how he pleases, without any aid from the perfons fo operated upon. But upon this plan there is an end of all religion properly fo called, fince motives and arguments to excite men to virtue are of no avail.

14. The

14. The Romans had not at this time interfered in the progrefs of christianity, confidering it as a sect fpringing up among the Jews, whom they tolerated every where. But the Jews being fettled in every town of note, and having confiderable influence, ftirred up the Gentiles to do the chriftians ill offices, and were often the cause of great outrages against them.

15. The pride of the Jews, and their contempt and hatred of other nations, was noticed by all the writers who speak of them; and indeed we fee traces enough of it in the gospel history. To exprefs this contempt of the gentiles, they commonly called them dogs, a term which our Saviour, to try the faith of a Phenician wo man, applied to her, and which it appears she had been ufed to, and was not particularly offended at it.

16. This was fully verified in the destruction of Jerufalem, and the calamities of the Jewish nation, which,, took place in lefs than twenty years after this epiftle was written, and which has continued to this day.

THE PARAPHRASE.

We rejoice, therefore, that you received the gofpel, which was preached to you from such distinguished motives, with a juft fenfe of its divine origin and imporfance, as the word of God, and not of man; containing truths that are capable of producing fuch an happy effect upon the mind. In confequence of this, you were immediately capable of following the noble example of the chriftian church at Jerufalem itfelf, and even of bearing fuch fuffering from your countrymen on account of the gofpel as the believing Jews fuffered from theirs ; and

the

the malice of thofe unbelieving Jews has been most in veterate, having perfecuted unto death their own former prophets, our Lord Jefus Christ, and us his followers. In this they fhew themselves to be the enemies of God whofe meffengers we are, and their pride, and their hatred of all other nations befides themselves, are notorious.

What more particularly excites their jealoufy and rage, is our preaching the gospel to the gentiles, that they may enjoy the bleffings of it. This fills up the measure of their iniquity, and accordingly the wrath of God is coming upon them to the uttermoft.

It has not been for want of the moft intenfe affection for you that I have not vifited you again, notwithstanding I have not been long abfent, and this abfence has been only in body and, not with respect to my mind; for you are continually in my thoughts; and my wishes to be with you cannot rise righer than they do, I would have been with you in person several times during this my absence, but one adversary or other has prevented me. For, indeed, what greater object have I in this world than you, who have been my converts to the faith of the gospel. There is nothing that I more rejoice in the hope of, there is nothing that I fhall more glory in, as if it were a crown put upon my head, than to prefent you to our common Lord, as my converts, and his difciples, at his fecond coming. This will be the confummation of my glory and happiness.

Ch. III 1. The apoftle continues to exprefs the anxiety he felt on account of the fevere trials to which the christians of Theffalonica were expofed, and his

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earnest

earneft defire to fee them, that he might farther confirm them in the faith and hope of the gospel.

3. You fee that, in thofe early ages, men were not tempted by any honours or emoluments of this life. They were apprized that they were not to expect any advantage from the scheme in this world, but that all their hopes of reward were to be in another. Now what could induce men, in the cool poffeffion of themfelves, as the apoftles evidently were, and thoufands of others, naturally lovers of life, and of the pleasures and advantages of it, as well as other men, to entertain these great and distant prospects, and to facrifice every thing elfe to them, but the most well grounded faith in the gofpel, or fuch evidence as could not but command the affent of unprejudiced men in their circumftances, who had every poffible opportunity of judging, and which, therefore ought to fatisfy us. For we have no other ground

of faith in facts of ancient date:

8. i. e. they live to purpose, enjoy life, and are happy.

11. You fee here, as upon all occafions, that the title of God is appropriated to the Father, and that Chrift is not entitled to that appellation but is quite diftinct from God, as much as any other man can be. And tho' they are here joined together, it is by no means a proper example of prayer to Chrift; but as all power is given to Christ with refpect to his church, and he frequently appeared to Paul, and directed the course of his apoftolical journies, it was natural for him to defire that he might have the fame direction to go where he wished himself.

13. You