10 thrown down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also 11 of Jesus may be manifested in our body. We who live are always delivered unto death for the sake of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal 12 body. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 13 Yet having the same spirit of faith, according to what is

written, *1 believed, and therefore have I spoken, we 14 also believe, and therefore speak: Knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus, will also raise us up by Jesus, 15 and present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the overflowing grace might, through the thanksgiving of many, abound to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we faint not; but even though the outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh

out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 18 glory: While we aim not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen: for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.

Psalm cxvi. 10.

V. 10. Always-Wherever we go, bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus-Continually expecting to lay down our lives like him; that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body-That we may also rise and be glorified like him.

V. 11. For we who yet live-Who are not yet killed for the testimony of Jesus, are always delivered unto death-Are perpetually in the very jaws of destruction; which we willingly submit to, that we may obtain a better resurrection.

V. 12. So then death worketh in us, but life in you-You live in peace: we die daily. Yet living or dying, so long as we believe, we cannot but speak. V. 13. Having the same spirit of faith-Which animated the saints of old, David in particular, when he said, I believed, and therefore have I spokenThat is, I trusted in God, and therefore he has put this song of praise in my mouth. We also speak-We preach the gospel, even in the midst of affliction and death, because we believe that God will raise us up from the dead, and will present us-Ministers, with you-All his members, faultless before his presence with exceeding joy.

V. 15. For all things-Whether adverse or prosperous, are for your sakesFor the profit of all that believe, as well as all that preach, that the overAowing grace-Which continues you alive both in soul and body, might abound yet more through the thanksgiving of many-For thanksgiving invites more abundant grace.

V. 16. Therefore-Because of his grace, we faint not. The outward manThe body; the inward man-The soul.

V. 17. Our light affliction-The beauty and sublimity of St. Paul's expressions here, as descriptive of heavenly glory, opposed to temporal afflictions, surpass all imagination, and cannot be preserved in any translation or paraphrase, which, after all, must sink infinitely below the astonishing original.

V. 18. The things that are seen-Men, money, things of earth; the things that are not seen-God, grace, heaven.

CHAP. V. 1. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed 3 upon, with our house which is from heaven: If being 4 clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tabernacle groan, being burdened; not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that what is mortal 5 may be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us to this very thing is God, who hath also given us the 6 earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we always behave undauntedly; knowing that while we are sojourning in the 7 body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by 8 faith, not by sight.) We behave undauntedly, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord.

9 Therefore we are ambitious, whether present or absent, 10 to be well-pleasing to him. For we must all appear

CHAP. V. Ver. 1. Our earthly house-Which is only a tabernacle, or tent, not designed for a lasting habitation.

V. 2. Desiring to be clothed upon-This body, (which is now covered with flesh and blood,) with the glorious house which is from heaven. Instead of flesh and blood, which cannot enter heaven, the rising body will be clothed, or covered, with what is analogous thereto, but incorruptible and immortal. Macarius speaks largely of this.

V. 3. If being clothed-With the image of God, while we are in the body, we shall not be found naked-Of the wedding-garment.

V. 4. We groan being burdened-The apostle speaks with exact propriety. A burden naturally expresses groans. And we are here burdened with numberless afflictions, infirmities, temptations, sins. Not that we would be unclothed-Not that we desire to remain without a body. Faith does not understand that philosophical contempt of what the wise Creator has given; but clothed upon-With the glorious, immortal, incorruptible, spiritual body, that what is mortal-This present mortal body, may be swallowed up of life— Covered with that which lives for ever.

V. 5. Now he that hath wrought us to this very thing-This longing for immortality, is God-For none but God, none less than the Almighty, could have wrought this in us.

V. 6. Therefore we behave undauntedly-But most of all when we have death in view; knowing that our greatest happiness lies beyond the grave.

V. 7. For we cannot clearly see him in this life, wherein we walk by faith only; an evidence, indeed, that necessarily implies a kind of seeing him who is invisible; yet as far beneath what we shall have in eternity, as it is above that of bare, unassisted reason.

V. 8. Present with the Lord-This demonstrates that the happiness of the saints is not deferred till the resurrection.

V. 9. Therefore we are ambitious-The only ambition which has place in a Christian, whether present-In the body, or absent-From it.

V. 10. For we all-Apostles as well as other men, whether now present in the body, or absent from it, must appear-Openly, without covering, where all hidden things will be revealed, probably the sins even of the faithful, which were forgiven long before. For many of their good works, (as their repentance, their revenge against sin,) cannot otherwise appear. But this

before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive according to what he hath done in the body, 11 whether good or evil. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men: but we are made manifest to God, and I trust we are made manifest in your con12 sciences also. We do not again recommend ourselves to you; but we give you an occasion of glorying on our behalf, that ye may have something to answer them, who 13 glory in appearance, and not in heart. For if we are transported beyond ourselves, it is to God: if we are 14 sober, it is for your sakes. For the love of Christ constraineth us, while we thus judge, that if one died for all, 15 then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live to themselves, but to 16 him who died for them, and rose again. So that we from this time know no one after the flesh, yea, if we have

will be done at their own desire, without grief, and without shame. According to what he hath done in the body, whether good or evil-In the body he did either good or evil: in the body he is recompeased accordingly.

V. 11. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we the more earnestly persuade men to seek his favour: and as God knoweth this, so, I trust, ye know it in your own consciences.

V. 12. We do not say this, as if we thought there was any need of again recommending ourselves to you, but to give you an occasion of rejoicing and praising God, and to furnish you with an answer to those false apostles, who glory in appearance, but not in heart, being condemned by their own conscience.

V. 13. For if we are transported beyond ourselves—Or, at least, appear so to others, (treated of ver. 15-21,) speaking or writing with uncommon vehemence, it is to God-He understands (if men do not,) the emotion which himself inspires. If we be sober(Treated of chap. vi. 1—10.) If I proceed in a more calm, sedate manner, it is for your sakes-Even good men bear this, rather than the other method, in their teachers. But these must obey God, whoever is offended by it.

V. 14. For the love of Christ-To us, and our love to him, constraineth usBoth to the one and the other; beareth us on with such a strong, steady, prevailing influence, as winds and tides exert when they waft the vessel to its destined harbour; while we thus judge, that if Christ died for all, then are all -Even the best of men, naturally dead-in a state of spiritual death, and liable to death eternal. For had any man been otherwise, Christ had not needed to have died for him.

V. 15. And that he died for all-That all might be saved, that they who live-That all who live upon the earth, should not henceforth-From the moment they know him, live unto themselves-Seek their own honour, profit, pleasure, but unto him-In all righteousness and true holiness.

V. 16. So that we from this time-That we knew the love of Christ, know no one-Neither ourselves, nor you, neither the rest of the apostles, Gal. ii. 6, nor any other person, after the flesh-According to his former state, country, descent, nobility, riches, power, wisdom. We fear not the great. We regard not the rich or wise. We account not the least less than ourselves. We consider all, only in order to save all. Who is he, that thus knows no one after the flesh? In what land do these Christians live? Yea, if we have known even Christ after the flesh-So as to love him barely with a natural love, so as to glory in having conversed with him on earth, so as to expect only temporal benefits from him.

known even Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him 17 so no more. Therefore if any one be in Christ, there is a new creation: the old things are passed away; behold, 18 all things are become new: And all things are from God, who hath reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 Namely, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and 20 hath committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were intreating by us we beseech you, in Christ's stead, be 21 ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him, who knew no sin, a sin-offering for us, that we might be made the righteous people of God through him.

CHAP. VI. 1. We then, as fellow-labourers, do also exhort you, not to receive the grace of God in vain.

V. 17. Therefore if any one be in Christ-A true believer in him, there is a new creation-Ouly the power that makes a world, can make a Christian, And when he is so created, the old things are passed away-Of their own accord, even as snow in spring. Behold-The present visible, undeniable change! All things are become new-He has new life, new senses, new faculties, new affections, new appetites, new ideas and conceptions. His whole tenor of action and conversation is new, and he lives, as it were, in a new world. God, men, the whole creation, heaven, earth, and all therein, appear in a new light, and stand related to him in a new manner, since he was created anew in Christ Jesus.

V. 18. And all these new things are from God-Considered under this very notion, as reconciling us-The world, ver. 19, to himself.

V, 19. Namely-The sum of which is, God-The whole Godhead, but more eminently God the Father, was in Christ, reconciling the world-Which was before at enmity with God, to himself-So taking away that enmity, which could no otherwise be removed than by the blood of the Son of God,

V. 20. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ-we beseech you in Christ's stead Herein the apostle might appear to some transported beyond himself. In general, he uses a more calm, sedate kind of exhortation, as in the beginning of the next chapter. What unparalleled condescension and divinely tender mercies are displayed in this verse! Did the judge ever beseech a condemned criminal, to accept of pardon? Does the creditor ever beseech a ruined debtor, to receive an acquittance in full? Yet our almighty Lord, and our eternal Judge, not only vouchsafes to offer these blessings, but invites us, entreats us, and with the most tender importunity solicits us, not to reject them.

V. 21. He made him a sin-offering, who knew no sin-A commendation peculiar to Christ: for us-Who knew no righteousness, who were inwardly and outwardly nothing but sin; who must have been consumed by the divine justice, had not this atonement been made for our sins, that we might be made the righteousness of God through him-Might through him be invested with that righteousness, first imputed to us, then implanted in us, which is in every sense the righteousness of God.

CHAP. VI. Ver. 1. We then not only beseech, but as fellow-labourers with you, who are working out our own salvation, do also exhort you, not to receive

*

2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in an accepted time, and in a day of salvation have I succoured thee. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of 3 salvation.) Giving no offence in any thing, that the 4 ministry be not blamed, But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in 5 afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in im

prisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in 6 fastings: By purity, by prudence, by long-suffering, by 7 kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of 8 righteousness on the right hand and the left: Through honour and dishonour, through evil report and good 9 report; as deceivers, yet true: As unknown, yet well

known as dying, yet behold we live; as chastened, yet 10 not killed; As sorrowing, yet always rejoicing; as poor,

* Isaiah xlix. 8.

the grace of God, which we have been now describing, in vain. We receive it by faith and not in vain, if we add to this, persevering holiness.

V. 2. For he saith-The sense is, As of old there was a particular time, wherein God was pleased to pour out his peculiar blessing, so there is now. And this is the particular time: this is a time of peculiar blessing.

V. 3. Giving, as far as in us lies, no offence, that the ministry be not blamed

on our account.

V. 4. But approving ourselves as the ministers of God-Such as his ministers ought to be, in much patience-Shewn, 1. In afflictions, necessities, distresses, all which are general terms. 2. In stripes, imprisonments, tumults, which are particular sorts of affliction, necessity, distress. 3. In labours, watchings, fastings, voluntarily endured. All these are expressed in the plural number, to denote a variety of them. In afflictions, several ways to escape may appear, though none without difficulty; in necessities, one only, and that a difficult one; in distresses, none at all appears.

V. 5. In tumults-The Greek word implies such attacks as a man cannot stand against, but which bear him hither and thither by violence.

V. 6. By prudence-Spiritual, divine; not what the world terms so. Worldly prudence is the practical use of worldly wisdom: divine prudence is the due exercise of grace, making spiritual understanding go as far as possible. By love unfeigned-The chief fruit of the Spirit.

V.7. By the convincing and converting power of God, accompanying his word; and also attesting it by divers miracles. By the armour of righteousness on the right hand and the left-That is, on all sides, the panoply, or whole armour of God.

V. 8. By honour and dishonour-When we are present; by evil report and good report-When we are absent. Who could hear honour and good report, were it not balanced by dishonour? As deceivers-Artful, designing men. So the world represents all true ministers of Christ; yet true-Upright, sincere in the sight of God.

V. 9. As unknown-For the world knoweth us not, as it knew him not; yet well known-To God, and to those who are the seals of our ministry. As dying, yet behold-Suddenly, unexpectedly, God interposes, and we live!

V. 10. As sorrowing-For our own manifold imperfections, and for the sins and sufferings of our brethren: yet always rejoicing-In present peace, love, power, and a sure hope of future glory. As having nothing, yet possessing all