If there be therefore any consolation - The ει, if, does not express any doubt here, but on the contrary is to be considered as a strong affirmation; as there is consolation in Christ, as there is comfort of love, etc.

The word παρακλησις, translated here consolation, is in other places rendered exhortation, and is by several critics understood so here; as if he had said: If exhorting you in the name of Christ have any influence with you, etc. It is extremely difficult to give the force of these expressions; they contain a torrent of most affecting eloquence, the apostle pouring out his whole heart to a people whom with all his heart he loved, and who were worthy of the love even of an apostle.

If any comfort of love - If the followers of Christ, by giving proofs of their ardent love to each other in cases of distress, alleviate the sufferings of the persecuted;

If any fellowship of the Spirit - If there be an intimate relation established among all Christians, by their being made mutual partakers of the holy Ghost;

If any bowels and mercies - If you, as persons whom I have brought to God at the hazard of my life, feel sympathetic tenderness for me now, in a farther state of suffering;

any consolation.

Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Luke 2:10,11,25 And the angel said to them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people...

John 14:18,27 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you...

John 15:11 These things have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

John 16:22-24 And you now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man takes from you...

John 17:13 And now come I to you; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

Romans 5:1,2 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...

Romans 15:12,13 And again, Esaias said, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles...

1 Corinthians 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our LORD, I die daily.

2 Corinthians 1:5,6 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds by Christ...

2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be to God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the aroma of his knowledge by us in every place.

2 Thessalonians 2:16,17 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which has loved us...

Hebrews 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation...

1 Peter 1:6-8 Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations...

if any comfort.

Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!

John 15:10-12 If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love...

Acts 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house...

Acts 4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul...

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Ephesians 4:30-32 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed to the day of redemption...

Colossians 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and to all riches of the full assurance of understanding...

1 John 4:7,8,12,16 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God...

if any fellowship.

Romans 5:5 And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.

Romans 8:9-16,26 But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you...

1 Corinthians 3:16 Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 6:19,20 What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own...

1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free...

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

Galatians 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Ephesians 1:13,14 In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed...

Ephesians 2:18-22 For through him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father...

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling;

1 Peter 1:2,22,23 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit...

1 John 3:24 And he that keeps his commandments dwells in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he stays in us...

if any bowels. See on ch.

Philippians 1:8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering;

July 11. "For it is God which Worketh in You" (Phil. Ii. 13).
"For it is God which worketh in you" (Phil. ii. 13). A day with Jesus. Let us seek its plan and direction from Him. Let us take His highest thought and will for us in it. Let us look to Him for our desires, ideals, expectations in it. Then shall it bring to us exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think. Let Him be our Guide and Way. Let us not so much be thinking even of His plan and way as of Him as the Personal Guide of every moment, on whom we constantly depend to lead our every step. …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Copies of Jesus
'Do all things without murmurings and disputings; 15. That ye may be blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world, 16. Holding forth the word of life.'--PHIL. ii. 14-16 (R.V.). We are told by some superfine modern moralists, that to regard one's own salvation as the great work of our lives is a kind of selfishness, and no doubt there may be a colour of truth in the charge. At least the meaning …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Paul and Timothy
'But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. 20. For I have no man like-minded, who will care truly for your state. 21. For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ. 22. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a child serveth a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the gospel. 23. Him therefore I hope to send forthwith, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me: 24. But I trust in the Lord that …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture