lows; "For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad." The supplying of these words evidently alters the sense of the passage, in a very material point of view. The translators, under the influence of their long-nurtured prejudices, supposed that it was the intention of Paul, in this passage, to teach the doctrine of a future retribution; and seeing very clearly, that the obvious sense of the Greek was far from being favorable to that doctrine, they supplied these words to make out what they regarded as the apostle's meaning. They put these words in italics, as they will be, or, at any rate, should be, found in all Bibles, to show that they are supplied words. But let us now write down the passage, without the supplied words; "For we must all appear before the judgmentseat of Christ; that every one may receive the things in body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad." This is the pure text; and who would think of inferring the doctrine of future retribution from it in this form? "That every one may receive the things in body," is an expression which would not convey the idea, that they were to receive those things out of the body.

If what we have here said is disputed, we wish some competent person to take the verse, as it stands in the Greek Testament, and tell us whether he can give the words ta dia tou ouatos any different sense. It may also be remarked, that some ancient copies (as Whitby and many other commentators tell us) read to idia tov ouatos, the proper things of the body, or things proper to the body. We place no great importance, however, on this difference in the reading.

"For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ," is a figurative expression, taken from courts of justice. It signifies, that we are judged by Christ's laws. At the destruction of the Jewish nation, there was a general judgment among the nations of the earth.

There was a time of extraordinary trouble and sorrow, such as there never had been before. In the strong, metaphorical language of the Bible, all nations were said to be gathered before Christ, and to receive sentence according to their works. (Matt. xxv. 31, 32.) But in describing these things as they should transpire, Jesus was very particular to add, "Verily, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled." Matt. xxiii. 36; xxiv. 34. Compare Matt. xxv. 31, with xvi. 27, 28.

It is worthy of remark, that the Greek verb which is rendered must appear in 2 Cor. v. 10, is, in the next verse, rendered are made manifest. And after the apostle had told his brethren they must appear, or be made manifest, at the judgment-seat of Christ, he adds, "We are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." The apostle stood before God at that time approved, and he also stood before the consciences of the Corinthians approved. There is not the least hint given in the passage, that the judgment-seat of Christ is in the eternal world. The throne of his glory was his judgment-seat. He came in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, before the generation fully passed away to whom he preached while on the earth.

In regard to the eleventh verse, "Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men," lest some might think this indicative of endless torment, we give the note of Dr. A. Clarke on that sentence.

.

"This I think is too harsh a translation of the text, which should be rendered, knowing, therefore, the fear of the Lord; which, strange as it may at first appear, often signifies the worship of the Lord, or that religious reverence which we owe to him. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom; the terror of God confounds and overpowers the soul. We lead men to God through fear and love; and with the fear of God, the love of God is ever consistent; but where the terror of the Lord reigns, there can be neither fear, faith, nor

love; nay, nor hope either. Men, who vindicate their constant declamations on hell and perdition, by quoting this text, know little of its meaning; and, what is worse, seem to know but little of the nature of man, and perhaps less of the spirit of the Gospel of Christ." See a most excellent sermon on 2 Cor. v. 10, in the volume entitled "Ballou's Nine Sermons."

LXXII. Gal. v. 19-21. Eph. v. 5.

These passages are explained precisely in the same way as we have explained 1 Cor. vi. 9, and to save room, we refer to what has been said on that text, Section LXVIII. of this chapter.

LXXIII. "And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day." 2 Thess. i. 7-10.

1. Who were those that troubled the Thessalonians ? Answer, the Jews. See Acts xvii. 5-7. See also 1 Thess. ii. 15, where Paul, speaking of the Jews who had persecuted the Thessalonians, says, "Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us." In almost all the heathen cities, the Jews were the ringleaders in carrying on persecutions against the Christians.

2. When was the Lord Jesus revealed from heaven in flaming fire, with his mighty angels? See Matt. xvi. 27, 28. "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his power with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." When was this to be? "Verily, I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." Is it not evident from this, that the coming of the Son of man, with his angels, took place during the natural lives of some of the generation then on the earth? See Mark viii. 38;

66

ix. 1; Luke ix. 26, 27.. See also our remarks on Matt. xxv. 46, in Section XXIX. of this chapter..Jesus is said to come in flaming fire, because he came to execute judgment." Fire is one of the most common emblems employed in the sacred Scriptures to represent divine judgments. See Numb. xxi. 28. Compare Jer. xlviii. 45; Psalms lxvi. 12; lxxxiii. 14; xcvii. 3; Isa. ix. 19; xlvii. 14; lxvi. 15, 16; Jer. iv. 4; xxi. 12; Lam. ii. 3, 4; Ezek. xxi. 31; xxii. 18-22. Let the reader consult these passages, and he will see how common a custom it was for the sacred⚫ writers to represent divine judgments under the figure of fire. Hence we have the "furnace of fire," "lake of fire and brimstone," the "worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched," the "flaming flame," the "unquenchable fire," the smoke of their torment," &c. &c., all which are figures employed to represent temporal judgments. Nothing can be more certain than the fact which we now advance. Let us inquire, then,

the

3. Was the Lord Jesus revealed from heaven in that. generation, to take vengeance on them that knew not God, and obeyed not the Gospel? We answer in the affirmative; and our proposition is susceptible of the clearest proof. To the law and the testimony. "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven [to denote that he was coming] and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of 'man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Matt. xxiv. 30. This was the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven; and we are informed, in the 34th verse, verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." See also Luke xvii. 30, 31, "Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the house-top, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away; and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back ;" showing clearly, as we should think, that the revelation of the Son of man was at the time of the dissolution

of the Jewish state. Compare Matt. xxiv. 16-18, and 34; Rom. ii. 5; 1 Peter i. 13; iv. 13. Did Jesus come in that generation to take vengeance on such as obeyed not the Gospel? In describing the 'destruction of the Jewish state, the Saviour said, these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled," Luke xxi. 22, compare xviii. 7, 8. It is there fully proved, that the Lord Jesus was revealed from heaven, before the generation which was on the earth at the time of his ministry had fully passed away, for the purpose of taking vengeance on them that opposed the Gospel, and persecuted the Christian church.

4. Let us look at another particular. They were punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. It is thought by those who are but little acquainted with scriptural phraseology, that these words must of course be applied to the future state; and that they denote, that after the persons spoken of are adjudged to merit endless pains, they shall be driven out from the immediate presence of God in heaven, and sent to the regions of despair. But a careful study of the Scriptures will show, that God's presence was said to dwell on the earth, in places where his worship was established, or from which his laws went forth, or where his people had lived in intimate communion with him. Thus we read, "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden." Gen. iv. 16. This, of course, had no reference to the future state. So God promised his presence to his people on their journey through the wilderness. "And he said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here, that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us?" Exodus xxxiii. 14-17. We read, also, that "Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa." Jonah i. 3. When the Jews were given up of God,