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other of the apostles; and at last, according to ecclesiastical history, he suffered martyrdom at Rome.

Of the worldly ambition of Paul we have no other evidence than the indirect one, which arises from his entering into the views of the leading men of his nation, and being the most active instrument they could employ; from which he would, no doubt, expect such rewards as men in power usually bestow; though at the same time his chief motive might be a genuine zeal for his religion, of the divine authority of which he entertained no doubt, and to which he thought the principles of christianity were hostile. He therefore believed it to be a duty which he owed to God and his religion, as well as to his earthly superiors, to do every thing in his power to suppress it. In other respects his general moral character was as unimpeachable as that of the other apostles. They were alike men of pity, integrity, and sobriety, though misled by the prejudices of their countrymen, who all expected a temporal prince in their Messiah, and therefore looked for such honours and emoluments as temporal princes have it in their power to bestow.

Thinking, as I have observed, that we in this

age

age stand in as much need of admonition and exhortation concerning our interest in a future world as the primitive christians, I shall lay before you what the apostle Paul advanced on this subject, and we shall see it to be no less explicit and animating, and furnishing more information with respect to it than we find in the writings of the other apostles. In zeal and courage Paul yielded to no man, he derived his knowledge from the same source, viz. from Jesus in person, and his writings tend in an eminent degree to inspire the sentiments which he entertained himself. As the passages in the writings of this apostle relating to a future state are numerous, I shall recite them in the order of time in which they were written, beginning with the epistles to the Thessalonians, which were the first.

In Thessalonica Paul preached but a short time, probably not more than three weeks, Acts XVII. 1. &c. and so ill was he received there by the unbelieving Jews, who represented him and his companions as men who turned the world upside down, that he was persuaded to leave the place by night. The shortness of the time, therefore, would not admit of the converts there being fully instructed in. all the principles of the new religion; and happily for us they had so far misunderstood what he had

taught

taught them concerning the resurrection, that he found it necessary to explain himself further on the subject, in an epistle which he wrote to them as soon as he reached Athens; since by this means we are acquainted with some circumstances concerning it which we could not learn from any other of the books of scripture.

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It was a custom with the heathens to make loud lamentations over their dead, which, if they had any value for them while they lived, was natural, as they had no expectation of seeing them any more. This custom Paul thought unbecoming christians, and therefore he says (1 Thess. IV. 13.) “I would "not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning "them that sleep, that we sorrow not as others"who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus "died and rose again, even so they also who sleep "in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we

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say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we "who are alive and remain unto the coming of the "Lord shall not prevent" (or rather shall not have any advantage over) " them that are asleep. For "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with "a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the

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trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise

"first:

"first. Then we who are alive and remain shall "be caught up together with them in the clouds, "to meet the Lord in the air, and ss shall we ever "be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one a"nother with these words."

This was, indeed, a source of consolation abundantly sufficient for the purpose, and peculiar to them as christians; so that they had no occasion to lament the death of their christian friends as the heathens did theirs, since they might depend upon seeing them again after the resurrection, and in circumstances far more advantageous than any they had known here.

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It appearing that these christians at Thessalonica were still under some misapprehension about the doctrine of the resurrection, and especially about the time of it, conceiving it to be much nearer than it was, the apostle saw reason to address to them another epistle, not long after writing the first, and to correct the mistake they were under he says (2 Thess. II. 1. &c.) "Now we beseech you, bre"thren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, "and by our gathering together unto him, that ye "be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled, as "that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man de

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"ceive you by any means.

For that day shall not

"come unless there be a falling away first." He then proceeds to point out to them an antichristian power that was to arise in the church before the coming of Christ, from which they might gather that this great event could not be so near as they had imagined.

As this christian church at Thessalonica was soon exposed to much persecution, the apostle encourages the members of it to bear their sufferings with patience and fortitude, from the consideration of the abundant recompence that would be made to them at the coming of Christ, which would be as dreadful to their enemies, as it would be joyful to them.

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"We are bound" he says, "to thank God al

ways for you, brethren, as it is meet, because your *faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of eve

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ry one of you all towards each other aboundeth; "so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches "of God for your patience and faith in all your per"secutions and tribulations that ye endure; which "is a manifest token of the righteous judgment "of God, that ye may be accounted worthy of the "kingdom of God for which ye also suffer. Seeing

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