The life and work of St. Paul

338 THE LIFE AND WORK OF ST. PATTL.
concludes with his usual ending, " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with you. Amen." l These last three verses were probably written in his
own hand.
It may easily be imagined with what rapture the arrival of such a letter
would be hailed by a yoxing, persecuted, and perplexed community ; how
many griefs it would console how ; many doubts it would resolve how much
;
joy, and hope, and fresh enthusiasm it would inspire. It could not but have
been delightful in any case to be comforted amid the storm of outward
opposition, and to be inspirited amid the misgivings of inward faithlessness,
by the words of the beloved teacher whose gospel had changed the whole
current of their lives. It was much to feel that, though absent from them in
person, he was present with them in heart, 2
praying for them, yearning over
but it was even more
them, himself cheered by the tidings of their constancy ;
to receive words which would tend to heal the incipient disagreements of that
small and loving, but inexperienced, and as yet but half-organised community,
and to hear the divinely authoritative teaching which silenced their worst fears.
And further than this, if the words of St. Paul shine so brightly to us through
the indurated dust of our long familiarity, how must they have sparkled for
them in their fresh originality, and with heaven's own light shining on those
oracular
"
! gems Having received the word in much affliction with joy of
" *
the Holy Ghost ; that was no mere artificial oxymoron, but an utterance
which came from a new world, of which they were the
"
happy lords. Jesus
" * which delivereth us from the coming wrath
" God who ;
called you unto
"
His kingdom and * "
glory This is the will of ;
God, even your sanctifica-
" ' " T "
tion So shall we ever bo with the Lord ;
;" Ye are all the children of the
light and the children of the day ;
" 8 "
See that none render evil for evil unto
any ;" ' " Rejoice evermore." 10 What illimitable hopes, what holy obligations,
what golden promises, what glorious responsibilities, what lofty ideals, what
gome previous letter of the Apostle to this, or other churches, had not properly been
made known. How easily such an interference was possible we see from 3 John 9, "I
wrote to the Church, but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the pre-eminence among them,
receiveth us not " (see Ewald, Sendschr, p. 51). Dionysius of Corinth deplores the falsi-
fication of his own letters (Euseb. H. E. iv. 23). St. Paul generally asked for a prayer
himself towards the close of a letter (Eph. vi. 19 ; Col. iv. 3 ; 2 Thess. iii. 1).
1 This yvwpicTfi* or badge of cognisance is found, with slight variations, at the close of
all St. Paul's Epistles. Thus :
(a.) In 1 Thess. v. 28 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 23 we have, " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you," to which the word "all" is added in 2 Thess. iii. 18; Horn. xvi. 24 ;
PhiL iv. 23.
03) In Philem. 25 Gal. vi. 18 we ; have, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
your spirit " (" brethren," Gal.).
(y) In Col. iv. 18 ; 1 Tim. vi. 21 2 Tim. iv. 22 we have the
"
; shortest form, Grace
be with you " (thee), to which Titus iii. 15 adds " all. "
(8) In Eph. vi. 24 we have the variation, " Grace be with all them that love the Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity," and in 2 Cor. xiii. 14 alone the full " Apostolic benediction.''
The subscriptions added to the Epistles at a much later period are mostly valueless
(see Paley, Horae Paulinae, chap. xv.).
8 1 Thess. ii. 17.
i. 6. M. 10. 1i:ll
:
IT. 3.
* iv. 17. . 5. . 1&, K> r. 16.