laim even
of us, stained and undeserving as we rightly feel ourselves to be:
'They have not defiled their garments, therefore they shall walk with Me
in white, for they are worthy.'

EVERLASTING CONSOLATION AND GOOD HOPE

'Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even
our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us
everlasting consolation, and good hope through
grace. 17. Comfort your hearts, and stablish you
in every good word and work.'--2 THESS. ii. 16,
17.

This is the second of the four brief prayers which, as I pointed out in
my last sermon, break the current of Paul's teaching in this letter, and
witness to the depth of his affection to his Thessalonian converts. We
do not know the special circumstances under which these then were, but
there are many allusions, both in the first and second epistles, which
seem to indicate that they specially needed the gift of consolation.

They were a young Church, just delivered from paganism. Like lambs in
the midst of wolves, they stood amongst bitter enemies, their teacher
had left them alone, and their raw convictions needed to be consolidated
and matured in the face of much opposition. No wonder then that over and
over again, in both letters, we have references to the persecutions and
tribulations which they endured, and to the consolations which would
much more abound.

But whatever may have been their specific circumstances, the prayer
which puts special emphasis on comfort is as much needed by each of us
as it could ever have been by any of them. For there are no eyes that
have not wept, or will not weep; no breath that has not been, or will
not be, drawn in sighs; and no hearts that have not bled, or will not
bleed. So, dear friends, the prayer that went up for these long since
comforted brothers, in their forgotten obscure sorrows, is as needful
for each of us--that the God who has given everlasting consolation may
apply the consolations which He has supplied, and 'comfort our hearts
and stablish them in every good word and work.'

The prayer naturally falls, as all true prayer will, into three
sections--the contemplation of Him to whom it is addressed, the grasping
of the great act on which it is based, and the specification of the
desires which it includes. These three thoughts may guide us for a few
moments now.

I. First of all, then, note the divine hearers of the prayer.

The fi