THE SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE THESSALONIANS

          In this Epistle St. Paul admonishes the Thessalonians to be
          constant in the faith of Christ and not to be terrified by
          the insinuations of false teachers telling them that the
          day of judgment was near at hand, as there must come many
          signs and wonders before it. He bids them to hold firm the
          traditions received from him, whether by word, or by
          epistle, and shews them how they may be certain of his
          letters by the manner he writes.

          2 Thessalonians Chapter 1

          He gives thanks to God for their faith and constancy and
          prays for their advancement in all good.

          1:1. Paul and Sylvanus and Timothy, to the church of the
          Thessalonians. In God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

          1:2. Grace unto you: and peace from God our Father and from
          the Lord Jesus Christ.

          1:3. We are bound to give thanks always to God for you,
          brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith groweth
          exceedingly and the charity of every one of you towards
          each other aboundeth.

          1:4. So that we ourselves also glory in you in the churches
          of God, for your patience and faith, and in all your
          persecutions and tribulations: which you endure

          1:5. For an example of the just judgment of God, that you
          may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which also
          you suffer.

          1:6. Seeing it is a just thing with God to repay
          tribulation to them that trouble you:

          1:7. And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the
          Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with the angels of
          his power:

          1:8. In a flame of fire, giving vengeance to them who know
          not God and who obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
          Christ.

          1:9. Who shall suffer eternal punishment in destruction,
          from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his power:

          1:10. When he shall come to be glorified in his saints and
          to be made wonderful in all them who have believed; because
          our testimony was believed upon you in that day.

          1:11. Wherefore also we pray always for you: That our God
          would make you worthy of his vocation and fulfil all the
          good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith in
          power:

          1:12. That the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in
          you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and
          of the Lord Jesus Christ.
          
          2 Thessalonians Chapter 2

          The day of the Lord is not to come till the man of sin be
          revealed. The apostle's traditions are to be observed.

          2:1. And we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our
          Lord Jesus Christ and of our gathering together unto him:

          2:2. That you be not easily moved from your sense nor be
          terrified, neither by spirit nor by word nor by epistle. as
          sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand.

          2:3. Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there
          come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the
          son of perdition

          A revolt... This revolt, or falling off, is generally
          understood, by the ancient fathers, of a revolt from the
          Roman empire, which was first to be destroyed, before the
          coming of Antichrist. It may, perhaps, be understood also
          of a revolt of many nations from the Catholic Church; which
          has, in part, happened already, by means of Mahomet,
          Luther, &c., and it may be supposed, will be more general
          in the days of the Antichrist. The man of sin...  Here must
          be meant some particular man, as is evident from the