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e apostle Paul, after a general salutation, expresses his grateful sense of the Divine goodness, in preserving him from the dangers to which he had been exposed in Asia; professing his unshaken onfidence in God's continued guardianship, supported by the tonsciousness of his integrity before him. 2 Cor. I. 1-12.

2 COR. I. 1.

AUL

Jesus Christ he will of God,

2 CORINTHIANS I. 1.

i.

2 Cor.

i. 1

All an apostle YOU receive this epistle from Paul, who SECT. hath the honour to call himself an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the sovereign will of God; who hath shewn by the victory of his grace over me, how able he is to bend the most obdurate and reluctant will to his own purposes, and triumph over the opposition of the most obstinate heart. And Timothy, a beloved brothera in

Timothy, a beloved brother.] This ence of this excellent young minister. Ws, that Timothy was returned to St. Some have thought this is the reason why , since he wrote the last epistle; and the apostle so often speaks in the plural joining the name of Timothy with his number in this epistle; but it is certain, is an instance of the generous de- he often speaks in the singular, and that which St. Paul had to establish, as there are passages here, as well as in the thas possible, the reputation and influ. epistle to the Thessalonians, in which he

382

i.

2 Cor.

:

2 Grace be to yo

and peace from Go our Father, and fre Lord Jess

the

Christ.

St. Paul begins with his d'on and Timothy's salutations. SECT. Christ Jesus, joins with me in this second ad- and Timothy our br dress to the church of God, that is in Corinth; ther, unto the chur of God which is whom he hath mercifully called out from the Corinth, with all th world, and united to himself. A society for saints which are which I have always the tenderest regard; the all Achaia: respective members of which I now most cordially salute; with all, who, by their Christian profession, are numbered among the saints, that 2 are in the whole region of Achaia. I greet you, as I do all my brethren in such addresses saying from my heart, May grace and peace [be] in rich abundance communicated to you all, from God our Father, the compassionate Source of universal goodness, and from the Lord fesus Christ; through whom alone such invaluable blessings can be conveyed to such sinful 3 creatures as we are. While I sit down to 3 Blessed be God write to you, my dear brethren, in the midst even the Father of circumstances, which the world might think Christ, the Fathe very deplorable, (compare 1 Cor. iv. 9, &c.) of mercies, and I cannot forbear bursting out into the language God of all comfor of joy and praise,b for such a variety of Divine favours, as is conferred on myself and you. Blessed, for ever blessed, by the united songs of men and angels, [be] the great God and Father of our beloved Lord and gracious Saviour Jesus Christ, through whom we have this free access to him, this secure interest in him so that we can now, with unutterable delight, view him as the Father of mercies, from whose paternal compassion all our comforts and hopes are derived; and as the God of all consolation, whose nature it is ever to have mercy, and who knows how to proportion his supports to the exigence of every trial.

4.

our

Lord Jes

4 Who comforte

For ever adored be this benevolent and compassionate Being, who comforeth us in all us in all our tribui our pressing tribulation, by such seasonable

uses the plural, without intending to include Timothy. See chap. iii. 1-3; chap. vii. 5: chap. xii. 19; 2 Thess. ii. 1-9. He also joins the name of Sosthenes with his own, in the former epistle, as also the name of Timothy to the epistle to the Philippians, and Colossians: yet does not use the plu

ral there.

Cannot forbear bursting out, &c.] It is very observable, that eleven of St. Paul's thirteen epistles begin with excla.

mations of joy, praise and thanksgivin
As soon as he thought
of a Christ
church planted in one place or anothe
there seems to have been a flow of me
lively afection accompanying the ide
in which all sensibility of his tempo
afflictions, or theirs, was all swallowed
and the fulness of his heart must venti
self in such cheerful, exalted and deve
language.

Comforteth us.] It is certain, t

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He declares his hope concerning the Corinthians.

383

i.

on, that we may appearances in our favour. And this, I know, SECT. able to comfort is not merely for our own sakes, but that we, hem which are in

2 Cor.

ay trouble, by the taught by our own experience, may be able, in omfort where with the most tender, suitable and effectual manner, 4 Je ourselves are to comfort those who are in any tribulation, by omforted of God. the communication of that comfort whereby we

ourselves are comforted of God, and methinks
every support I feel, is much endeared to me,
by the consideration, that the benefit of it may
Because as the suf- 5

5 For as the suf- be reflected upon others.
rings of Christ a-ferings we endure in the cause of Christ, and in
ound in us, so conformity to his example, abound with respect
boundeth by Christ. to us, so our consolation by Christ, the comforts

r consolation also

which arise from God in him, does abound

much more, and quite overbalance the distress. 6 And whether And much of this satisfaction to us arises 6 be afflicted, it from the hope we have with relation to you, for your consolaand salvation, my dear friends and Christian brethren; for hich is effectual whether we be afflicted, [it is,] we doubt not, in the enduring of subservience to the views of your present consosame sufferings lation, and your future and eternal salvation ; or whether we whish is so much the more effectually wrought comforted, it is out, by the patient enduring of the same sufferyour consolation ings, which we also undergo, and which by our

hich we also suf

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dsalvation.

example you are taught the less to wonder at, and to bear with the greater fortitude: or whether we be comforted, [it is] still with the same view, for your consolation and salvation ; that your eternal happiness may be promoted by those comforts which we are enabled to communicate to you with the greater efficacy. 7 And our hope of is steadfast, And our hope concerning you, that this will be 7 owing that as you the happy end of all, [is] steadfast and cheerful:

mention of these experiences must e a powerful tendency to conciliate the ard of the Corinthians to St. Paul; such an introduction to his epistle, as whole of this is, must naturally prejuce them strongly in his favour; yet this es not seem to have been by any means aim, nor is there any appearance of in it; but all is the genuine overwing of an heart, which rejoiced in the hsolations of the gospel felt by itself, communicated to others. See verse which is much illustrated by this conction.

Comforted of God.] Some think this fers particularly to the comfort which repentance of the incestuous person

gave St. Paul, after the affliction he had
endured on his account; (compare chap.
vii. 7 ;) but it seems more natural, to un-
derstand it of the general consolation arising
from the pardon of sin, an interest in God,
an assurance that nothing should separate
him from Christ, that afflictions thould co-
operate for his advantage, and that a crown
of glory heightened by these trials should
On these topics he fre-
close the scene.
quently insists in his epistles, and none can
be more important and delightful.

Our hope concerning you is steadfast.] These words, in several good manuscripts, are put in connection with the first clause of the 6th verse, and so the version will run thus, Whether we be afflicted, it is in

i.

2 Cor.

i. 7

384 He mentions the trials wherein he had been supported. SECT. knowing, that as ye are partakers of the suffer- are partakers of th ings to which we refer, so you also have already, sufferings, so ha je be also of the co in some degree, your share of the consolation solation. which arises from principles and hopes which are not peculiar to us, who are apostles, or inferior ministers of the gospel, but common to all sincere believers; in which number I persuade myself that you in the general are. 8 We write thus concerning the trials of the 8 For we wou Christian life, having so lately experienced them not, brethren, ba in a large measure: for we would not have you, trouble which can you ignorant of a our dear brethren, ignorant concerning our afflic- to us in Asia, th tion, which within these few months befel us in we were pressedo of measure, ab

ourselves, that

Asia, and particularly at Ephesus; that we were strength, ins mu exceedingly pressed with it,' even beyond our that we despar power; so that we despaired of being able even to even of life: live any longer, and were looked upon by others 9 as dead men. And not only did others appre- 9 But we had hend this concerning us, but we ourselves did sentence of death indeed think, that the appointed end of our should not trust ministry and life was come; and had, as it were, ourselves,but in G received the sentence of death in ourselves, the execution of which we were continually expecting; but the event shewed, that it was wisely appointed by Divine Providence to make our deliverance the more remarkable; and that we might learn for the future, not to trust in ourselves, nor merely to regard human probabilities, but in the greatest extremities to repose a cheerful confidence in the power and providence of

subservience to your consolation and salvation, favourably of him, when they consider which is effectually wrought out by the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also undergo; and our hope concerning you is steadfast: or, whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation; knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so also of the consolation. And the repetition of the words consolation and salvation, shews how agreeable the thought was to him; so that he loved to speak of it again and again.

in what painful and dangerous circu stances he had, on the present opent of duty, been spending that time in wa they had been expecting him at Cor As for the afflictions here'spoken of, sa have thought, that this may refer to persecutions at Lystra, where St. Pa danger had been so extreme, and he been recovered by miracle; (Acts 19, 20;) but as that happened so long fore the visit to Corinth, in which he The afflictions which befel us in Asia.] ed the church there, (Acts xviii. 1. Mr. Cradock thinks, that here he begins seems more probable, that he either to apologize for not coming to Corinth, fers to some opposition which he met w and introduces these troubles as an excuse in his journey through Galatia and Pa for not seeing them. I think it is rather to be connected with the preceding discourse. Yet still it might incline them to drop their complaints, and judge more

gia, (Acts xviii. 23,) of which no part ular account has reached us; or to w happened at Ephesus, (Acts xix. 29, which is Dr. Whitby's opinion.

dead.

And the joy the testimony of his conscience gave him.

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2 Cor. i. 10

which raiseth the that God, who raiseth the dead, at his holy pleas- SECT. ure, by his omnipotent word : Who rescued 10 Who delivered us from so great a us, on this ever memorable occasion, from so death, and doth de- great a death as then threatened us, and doth liver in whom we rescue us from every danger which now surtrust that he will yet rounds us, and in whom we trust that he will make our deliverance complete, and still rescue us from every evil, and preserve us to his heavenly kingdom.

deliver us :

for us, that for the

11 Ye also helping I say, that I have this confidence in God's 11 together by prayer continual care; and it is the more cheerful, gift bestowed upon us as I persuade myself you are, and will be, by the means of ma- working together in prayer for us, that so the ny persons, thanks favour [obtained] for us by the importunate may be given by many on our behalf. prayers of many, may be acknowledged by the thanksgiving of many on our account, as nothing can be more reasonable, than that mercies obtained by prayer, should be owned in praise. 12 For our re- And this confidence which we have both to- 12 joicing is this, the wards God and you, is much emboldened, as testimony of our conscience, that in sim. we have an inward assurance of our own inplicity, and godly tegrity, however men may suspect, or censure sincerity, not with us: for this is still our rejoicing, which no exfleshly wisdom, but ternal calamities can impair, or injuries destroy, by the grace of God, we have had our even the testimony of our conscience in the sight conversation in the of God, who searcheth the secrets of all hearts, world, and more that in simplicity, and godly sincerity, maintaining perpetually that sense of the Divine presence and inspection, which is the surest guard. upon unfeigned integrity, and not with that carnal wisdom which is so ungenerously and unrighteously imputed to us, but by the grace of God and such sentiments of fidelity and benevolence as that blessed principle inspires, we have had, and still continue to have, our conversation in the world; and more especially towards you,

abundantly to youwards.

That so the favour obtained, &c. This would be a sentiment worthy an There is something very perplexed and apostle; but the rendering in the paraambiguous in the structure of this sen- phrase seemed, on the whole, the most tence. I have sometimes thought it might natural and simple; especially as dia, be rendered, that, (vreg nur,) on our ac- with a genitive, seldom, if ever, signifies count, thanks may be rendered by many per- for the sake, but rather by the means of any sons, for (To us as xaproμa,) the gift, afterwards mentioned.

or miraculous endowment, which is in us,

Simplicity, plain heartedness.] Not or deposited with us, (dia onnov,) for the sake of many as if he had said, That only meaning well on the whole, but demany may join with us, in returning clining an over artful way of prosecuting thanks for these miraculous endowments a good end.

which were lodged with me, not for my Especially towards you] His working own sake, but for the benefit of many, with his own hands for his maintenance, VOL. 4.

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