  Thessalonica and its Church.—Most of the Churches of the New Testament belonged to cities which, if they have not dropped out of existence altogether, are scarcely recognisable to-day. Thessalonica exists as a place of considerable commercial importance, with a population of 70,000, under the shortened form of “Saloniki.” It is situated at the head of the Thermaic Gulf, so called from the ancient name of the town which rises like an amphitheatre above its blue waters. Therma is the name by which the town comes into history, the warm mineral springs of the neighbourhood originating the appropriate designation. Cassander, son-in-law of Philip of Macedon, gave to the city the name of his wife, “Thessalonica.” Its position brought commerce both by sea and land, for, in addition to its natural harbour, the Via Egnatia, like a great artery, drove its stream of traffic through the town. Trade brought riches, and riches luxurious living and licentiousness. But if sin abounded, so did the grace which sent the heralds of deliverance from sin in the persons of St. Paul and Silas, fresh from their terrible beating and the dungeon of Philippi, and Timothy, the ever-valued friend of St. Paul. Jews were in Thessalonica in greater force than in Philippi; and St. Paul, perhaps not with any great hope of success amongst the adherents of the religion in which he had been trained, but according to his constant rule, went first to the synagogue, hoping that, as elsewhere, devout souls not content with the materialism and atheism of their day might be amongst those who were drawn towards the faith of Israel. So at least it proved, and their acceptance of the message of the Gospel was the signal for the outbreak of Jewish hatred which set on the canaille of the city with a cry of revolution and high treason. Amidst such birth-throes the second Church in Europe came into being. St. Paul’s continuance in the city might only have provoked murder, so, leaving the infant Church to one who would “naturally care for” it, he made his way to Beroea. So St. Paul sends them word by this first letter of his earnest longing to see them again, and of how he had often purposed to do so, but had been thwarted. Perhaps there are references in the epistle to the aspersions on the character of Paul; and in other ways the epistle is meant to do what Paul, now that his missionary field had become so extended, could not do in person. Contents of the epistle.
CHAPTER I.CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES. Ver. 1. Paul, and Sylvanus, and Timotheus.—As to Paul, it may be noted that he does not mention his office. It was largely owing to the aspersions of others that he came, later, to magnify his office. Sylvanus is the “fellow-helper” and fellow-sufferer of the apostle, better known to New Testament readers by the shortened form of his name—Silas. That he was a Jew appears from Acts xv., but, like Paul, able to claim the privilege of Roman citizenship (Acts xvi.). Timotheus is the valuable and dear companion of St. Paul. Twelve or fourteen years later he is said to be still young (1Tim. iv.12). He, too, is only partly a Jew (Acts xvi.3). Grace be unto you, and peace.—The men who are by birth and training divided between Jew and Gentile, salute both. It is not less true of the Gospel than the law that it speaks the language of the children of men. All that grace could mean to the Greek, or peace to the Hebrew, met in Him whose title was written above the cross in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. Ver. 3. Work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope.—The famous three sister-graces familiar to us from St. Paul’s other letters. As Bengel says, they are Summa Christianismi. St. James, one thinks, would have liked the expression, “work of faith” (Jas. ii.14–26). But if faith works, love cannot be outdone (1Cor. xiii.13), and toils with strenuous endeavour; whilst hope—a faculty flighty enough with some—here patiently endures, “pressing on and bearing up.” Ver. 4. Your election.—God is said to pick out, not for any inherent qualities, certain persons for purposes of His own. The same idea is in the word “saints,” as those whom God has separated from a godless world and made them dear to Himself. Ver. 5. Our gospel.—The good news which we proclaimed; so when St. Paul in Rom. ii.16 calls it “my gospel.” In word... in power.—The antithesis is sometimes between the word or declaration and the reality; here perhaps we have an advance on that. Not only was it a word the contents of which were really truth, but efficacious too. In much assurance.—R.V. margin, “in much fulness.” “The power is in the Gospel preached, the fulfilment in the hearers, and the Holy Spirit above and within them inspires both” (Findlay). Ver. 6. Followers of us and of the Lord.—R.V. “imitators.” St. Paul begs his Corinthian readers to imitate him, even as he imitates Christ. The same thought is implied here: We are walking after Christ; walk after us, and you will follow Him. With joy of the Holy Ghost.—Not only was the word preached “in the Holy Ghost” (ver. 5), but it was eagerly welcomed by hearts made ready by the Holy Ghost—as St. Paul said to the Corinthians, “So we preach, so ye believed.” Ver. 7. So that ye were ensamples.—R.V. follows the singular. The original word is that from which we get our “type.” The image left on a coin by stamping is a type. Children are said to be types of their parents. So these Thessalonians were clearly stamped as children of God. Ver. 8. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord.—The Word did not originate amongst the Thessalonians. They had but taken up the sound and sent it ringing on to others in the regions farther removed. They had echoed out the Word, says St. Paul. In every place.—Or as we may say, “Everybody is talking about the matter.” Ver. 9. What manner of entering in.—In Acts xvii. we have an account of how the Jews instigated men ever ready for a brawl to bring a charge of high treason—the most likely way of giving the quietus to the disturbers of ancient traditions, Paul and Silas. To serve the living and true God.—The Thessalonians had not been delivered from the bondage of fear that they might lead lives irresponsible. “Get a new master,” then “be a new man.” Ver. 10. And to wait for His Son.—The compound word for wait is only found here in the New Testament. The idea may be compared with our Lord’s figure of the bondservants waiting with lights and ready for service on their lord’s return (Luke xii.35–40). Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.—R.V. “delivereth.” The wrath to come “revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Rom. i.18) is the penalty threatened against sin persisted in. Phases of Apostolic Greeting. There is an interest about this epistle as the first in the magnificent series of inspired writings which bear the name of Paul. This was “the beginning of his strength, the excellency of dignity and power.” The labours of the apostle and his co-helpers in the enterprising and populous city of Thessalonica, notwithstanding the angriest opposition, were crowned with success. The stern prejudice of the Jew was assailed and conquered, the subtle philosophising of the Grecian tracked and exposed. The truth was eagerly embraced; and as sunbeams streaming through mist render it transparent, so did the light of the Gospel bring out in clearness and beauty the character of the Thessalonian citizens, which had been hitherto shrouded in the dark shadows of superstition. I. This greeting is harmonious in its outflow.—Paul, though the only apostle of the three, did not in this instance assume the title or display any superiority either of office or power. Silvanus and Timotheus had been owned of God, equally with himself, in planting the Thessalonian Church, and were held in high esteem among the converts. Each man had his distinctive individuality, varied talents, and special mode of working; but there was an emphatic unity of purpose in bringing about results. They rejoiced together in witnessing the inception, confirmation, and prosperity of the Church, and when absent united in sending a fervent, harmonious greeting. This harmony of feeling is traceable throughout both epistles in the prevalent use of the first-person plural. The association of Silvanus and Timotheus with the apostle in this greeting also indicated their perfect accord with him in the Divine character of the doctrines he declared. As men dowered with the miraculous faculty of spiritual discernment, they could testify that everything contained in the epistle was dictated by the Spirit of God and worthy of universal evidence. Not that the personal peculiarities of any man give additional value to the doctrine. Truth is vaster than the individual, whatever gifts he possesses or lacks. The water of life is as sweet and refreshing whether sipped from the rudest earthen vessel or from the goblet of richly embossed gold. What a suggestive lesson of confidence and unity was taught the Thessalonians by the harmonious example of their teachers! II. This greeting recognises the Church’s sublime origin.—It is addressed “unto the Church which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.” 1. The Church is Divinely founded.—The preposition “in” denotes the most intimate union with God, and is of similar significance as in the comprehensive prayer of Jesus: “As Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us” (John xvii.21). The Church rests, not on any sacerdotal authority or human organisation, though many have laboured thus to narrow its limits and define its character; it depends for its origin, life, and perpetuity on union with the Deity. It is based on the Divine love, fostered by the Divine Spirit, shielded by Omnipotence, and illumined and adorned by the Divine glory. It exists for purely spiritual purposes, is the depositary of he revealed Word, the channel of Divine communication to man, the sanctuary of salvation. 2. The Church is Divinely sustained.—Founded in God, it is every moment sustained by Him. Thus the Church survives the mightiest opposition, the fret and wear of perpetual change. It is not wedded to any locality under heaven. Places once famous for the simplicity and power of their Church-life have become notoriously vile or sunk into utter obscurity. Bethel, once bearing the hallowed name House of God, under the idolatrous rule of Jeroboam became corrupted into Bethhaven, House of Iniquity. Jerusalem, the praise of the whole earth, was once the chosen habitation of Jehovah; now it is a heap of ruins, its temple and III. This greeting supplicates the bestowal of the highest blessings.—1.Grace. The source of all temporal good—life, health, sustenance, prosperity, enjoyment; and of all spiritual benefits—pardon for the guilty, rest for the troubled spirit, guidance for the doubting and perplexed, strength for the feeble, deliverance for the tempted, purity for the polluted, victory and felicity for the faithful. The generosity of God knows no stint. A certain monarch once threw open his parks and gardens to the public during the summer months. The royal gardener finding it troublesome, complained to his Majesty that the visitors plucked the flowers. “What,” said the king-hearted king, “are my people fond of flowers? Then plant some more!” So, our heavenly King with lavish hand scatters on our daily path the flowers of blessing, and as fast as we can gather them, in spite of the grudging, churlish world, more are supplied. 2. Peace.—A blessing inclusive of all the happiness resulting from a participation in the Divine favour. Peace with God, with whom sin has placed us in antagonism, and to whom we are reconciled in Christ Jesus, who hath “abolished in His flesh the enmity, so making peace” (Eph. ii.15). Peace of conscience, a personal blessing conferred on him who believes in Jesus. Peace one with another—peace in the Church. In the concluding counsels of this epistle the writer impressively insists, “Be at peace among yourselves.” The value of this blessing to any Christian community cannot be exaggerated. A single false semitone converts the most exquisite music into discord. 3. The source of all the blessings desired.—“From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The Jew in his most generous greeting could only say, “God be gracious unto you, and remember His covenant”; but the Christian “honours the Son even as he honours the Father.” The Father’s love and the Son’s work are the sole source and cause of every Christian blessing. Lessons.—1.Learn the freeness and fulness of the Gospel. It contains and offers all the blessings that can enrich and ennoble man. It needs but the willing heart to make them his own. He may gather wisdom from the Eastern proverb, and in a higher sense than first intended, “Hold all the skirts of thy mantle extended when heaven is raining gold.” 2. Learn the spirit we should cultivate towards others.—A spirit of genuine Christian benevolence and sympathy. We can supplicate for others no higher good than grace and peace. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE. Apostolic Introduction to the Epistle. I. The persons sending are mentioned.—“Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus.” 1.Paul is not here called an apostle, because his apostleship was granted. 2.Silvanus and Timotheus had assisted in planting and watering this Church. II. The persons addressed are introduced and described.—1.The epistle was addressed to believers. 2.The Church is presented in an interesting point of view (John xvii.20). The Father and the Mediator are one in redemption; into this union the Church is received. 1.The blessings desired MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 2–4. Ministerial Thanksgiving. Gratitude for the healthy, flourishing state of the Thessalonian Church is a marked feature in both epistles and is frequently expressed. The apostle left the young converts in a critical condition, and when he heard from Timothy a favourable account of their steadfastness and growth in grace, like a true minister of Christ he gave God thanks. I. Ministerial thanksgiving is expansive in its character.—“We give thanks always for you all” (ver. 2). It is our duty, and acceptable to God, to be grateful for personal benefits; but it displays a broader, nobler generosity when we express thanksgiving on behalf of others. It is Christ-like: He thanked God the Father for revealing the things of His kingdom unto babes. The apostle thanked God:— 1. Because of their work of faith.—“Remembering without ceasing your work of faith” (ver. 3). Faith is itself a work. It is the eye and hand of the soul, by which the sinner sees, and lays hold on Christ for salvation. Man meets with opposition in its exercise; he has to fight against the faith-stifling power of sin in himself and in the world. Faith is also the cause of work. It is the propelling and sustaining motive in all Christian toil. “Faith without works is dead” (James ii.26). 2. Because of their labour of love.—The strength of love is tested by its labour; we show our love to Christ by what we do for Him. Love intensifies every faculty, moves to benevolent exertion, and makes even drudgery an enjoyment. Love leads us to attempt work from which we would once have shrunk in dismay. 3. Because of their patient hope.—Their hope of salvation in Christ was severely tried by affliction, persecutions, and numberless temptations, but was not quenched. It is hard to hope on in the midst of discouragement. It was so with Joseph is prison, with David in the mountains of Judah, with the Jews in Chaldea. But the grace of patience gives constancy and perseverance to our hope. The apostle rejoiced in the marked sincerity of their faith, love, and hope, which he acknowledged to be “in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.” These virtues are derived alone from Christ, and their exercise God witnesses and approves. Things are in reality what they are in God’s sight. His estimate is infallible. 4. Because assured of their election.—“Knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election” (ver. 4). St. Paul here means only to show how he, from the way in which the Spirit operated in him at a certain place, drew a conclusion as to the disposition of the persons there. Where it manifested itself powerfully, argued he, there must be elect; where the contrary was the case, he concluded the contrary (Olshausen). Election is the judgment of Divine grace, exempting in Christ from the common destruction of men those who accept their calling by faith. Every one who is called is elected from the first moment of his faith, and so long as he continues in his calling and faith he continues to be elected; if at any time he loses calling and faith he ceases to be elected (Bengel). Observe the constancy of this thanksgiving spirit—“We give thanks always for you all.” As they remembered without ceasing the genuine evidences of their conversion, so did they assiduously thank God. There is always something to thank God for if we will but see it. III. Ministerial thanksgiving is rendered to the great Giver of all good.—“We give thanks to God” (ver. 2). God is the Author of true success. In vain we labour where His blessing is withheld. Paul was not equally successful in other places as in Thessalonica. In Damascus, where he first bore testimony for Christ, the governor under King Aretas planned his capture, and he but narrowly escaped. At Lystra the apostle was violently stoned and dragged out of the town as one dead. But at Thessalonica, notwithstanding opposition, the Gospel laid firm hold of the hearts of men, and believers were multiplied. The highest kind of success in spiritual work must ever come from above. Like Paul, we should be careful constantly to acknowledge and thank God as the active source of all prosperity. Lessons.—1.There is much in the work of the minister to test his patience and faith. 2.The true minister gratefully traces all success directly to God. 3.A thankful spirit prompts the minister to increased Christian enterprise. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Ver. 2. Thanksgiving and Prayer. I. The apostle had the burden of all the Churches and their individual members. II. The effect of the remembrance on himself.—1.He gives thanks. They were the seals of his ministry, the recipients of the grace of God, the earnest of a more abundant harvest. 2. He prays.—They had not fully attained. They were in danger. None trusts less to human means than the most richly qualified.—Stewart. Ver. 3. Grace and Good Works. I. All inward graces ought to bloom into active goodness.—1.Faith is to work. 2.Love is to labour. 3.Hope is to endure. II. All active goodness must be rooted in some inward grace.—1.The root of work is faith. 2.The spring of labour is in love. 3.We need to refresh ourselves by a perpetual onward glance, a confident anticipation of the coming triumph.—Local Preacher’s Treasury. Ver. 4. Election of God.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 5. The Gospel in Word and in Power. You have passed through a bleak, barren moorland, where the soil seemed sown with stones and disfigured with stumps of trees, the only signs of vegetable life were scattered patches of heather and flowerless lichen. After a while, you have again traversed the same region, and observed fields of grain ripening for the harvest, and budding saplings giving promise of the future forest. Whence the transformation? The cultivator has been at work. Not I. The Gospel in word.—“Our gospel came unto you in word.” In the history of the introduction of the Gospel into Thessalonica (Acts xvii.) we learn the leading themes of apostolic preaching. “Paul... reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ” (vers. 2, 3). It is worthy of note that the inspired apostle grounded his discourse on the Holy Scriptures. Even he did not feel himself free from their sacred bonds. The apostle’s preaching embraced three leading topics:— 1. He demonstrates that the preached Messiah was to be a suffering Messiah.—The mind of the Jewish people was so dazed with the splendid prophecies of the regal magnificence and dominion of Jesus, that they overlooked the painful steps by which alone He was to climb to this imperial greatness: the steps of suffering that bore melancholy evidence of the load of anguish under which the world’s Redeemer staggered—steps crimsoned with the blood of the sacred Victim. Out of their Scriptures he proved that the only Messiah referred to there was to be a “Man of sorrows” (Isa. liii.3). 2. He demonstrates that the Messiah who was thus to suffer and die was to rise again.—This declared the Divine dignity of His person, and was the pledge of the future success and eternal stability of His redeeming work. 3. He insisted that the Jesus who thus suffered, died, and rose again was none other than the identical Messiah promised in their Scriptures.—The grand topic of apostolic preaching must be the staple theme of the pulpit to-day—Jesus Christ: Christ suffering, Christ crucified, Christ risen, Christ regnant and triumphant. When John Huss was in prison at Constance for the Gospel’s sake, he dreamt that his chapel at Prague was broken into and all the pictures of Christ on the walls destroyed. But immediately he beheld several painters in the chapel, who drew a greater number of pictures, and more exquisitely beautiful than those that had perished. While gazing on these with rapture, the sanctuary suddenly filled with his beloved congregation, and the painters, addressing them, said, “Now, let the bishops and priests come and destroy these pictures!” The people shouted for joy. Huss heartily joined them, and amid the acclamation awoke. So modern unbelievers may try to expunge the pictures of Christ familiar to the mind for generations, and to some extent they may succeed. But the Divine Artist, with graving-tool of Gospel Word, will trace on the tablet of the soul an image more beautiful and enduring than that which has been destroyed; and by-and-by a universe of worshippers shall rejoice with thundering acclaim, while recognising in each other the reproduction of the image of Him whose visage was once marred more than any man’s, but whose face now gleams with celestial beauty and is radiant with the lustre of many crowns. II. The Gospel in power.—“Not in word only, but also in power.” 1. In the exercise of miraculous power.—The apostles were specially invested with this power, and used it in substantiating the great facts of the Gospel. 2. In the Holy Ghost.—Not only in His miraculous manifestations necessary in that age, but in the ordinary exercise of His power, as continued down to the present day—enlightening, convincing, renewing. 3. With much assurance.—Literally, with full assurance, and much of it. ?????f???a—full conviction—is from a word that means to fill up, and is used to denote the hurrying ship on her career, with all her sails spread and filled with the wind. So the soul, filled with the full conviction of truth, is urged to a course of conduct in harmony with that conviction. 4. An assurance enforced by high integrity of character.—“As ye know what Lessons.—1.To receive the Gospel in word only is disastrous.—In a certain mountainous region under the tropics the stillness of night is sometimes broken by a loud, sharp report, like the crack of a rifle. What causes this strange, alarming sound? It is the splitting of rocks charged with the intense heat of the tropical sun. Day by day the sun throws down its red-hot rays of fire, and bit by bit the rock, as it cools, is riven and crumbles into ruin. So is it with the mere hearer of the Word. The Gospel pours upon him its light and heat, and his heart, hardened with long and repeated resistance, becomes damaged by that which is intended to better it. 2. The Gospel must be received in power.—What is wanted is strong, deep faith-compelling conviction—conviction of the awful truth and saving power of the Gospel. To be a mighty force, man must have clear, solid, all-powerful convictions. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE. Ver. 5. The Manner in which the Gospel comes to the Believing Soul. I. The first is negative.—“The Gospel came not in word only.” This description embraces various classes of persons. 1.Such as hear the Gospel habitually without understanding it. 2.Such as partially understand the Gospel without feeling its sanctifying influence. 3.Such as are affected by it only for a limited time. II. In contradistinction to such, the Gospel came to the believing Thessalonians in power.—1.Power over the understanding. 2.Power over the conscience. 3.Power over the heart. 4.Power over the life. III. In the Holy Ghost.—Explains the former. 1.The message was that of the Spirit. 2.The apostles were filled with the Spirit. 3.Signs and miraculous proofs were furnished by the Spirit. 4.An entrance for the Word was procured by the Spirit. IV. In much assurance.—1.Fulness of apprehension. 2.Fulness of belief—the result. 3.Fulness of consequent hope.—Stewart. MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 6–8. The Practical Result of a True Reception of the Gospel. Christianity transforms man, fills the mind with pure and lofty thoughts, turns the current of his feelings into the right channel, makes the soul luminous with ever-brightening hopes, and transfigures his sin-stricken nature into a semblance of the dignity, beauty, and perfection of the Divine. Observe its influence on the mixed population of Thessalonica. I. The true reception of the Gospel.—“Having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost” (ver. 6). The Word may fall on the ear like a sweet strain of music, and charm the soul with temporary rapture, may enter the understanding as a clearly apprehended truth, may captivate the affections, and travel through the whole sphere of emotion on a thrill of ecstasy; but unless it be embraced by the heart and conscience, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, it is powerless in spiritual reformation. Two opposite, but often strangely blended, emotions—sorrow and joy—were exercised in the reception of the Gospel by the Thessalonians. 1. They received the Word in sorrow.—“In much affliction.” Amid the tumult and persecution of the citizens (Acts xvii.5–9). Principally, sorrow on account of sin, and because of their prolonged rejection of Christ and obstinate disobedience. II. The practical result of the true reception of the Gospel.—1.They became imitators of the highest patterns of excellence. “Ye became followers of us and of the Lord” (ver. 6). The example of Christ is the absolute, all-perfect standard of moral excellence. But this does not supersede the use of inferior models. The planets have their season to guide and instruct us, as well as the sun, and we can better bear the moderated light of their borrowed splendour. The bravery of the common soldier, as well as the capacity and heroism of the most gifted officer, may stimulate a regiment to deeds of valour. So the apostles, in their patient endurance of suffering, their enterprising zeal and blameless integrity of life, became examples for their converts to imitate, while they pointed to the great infallible Pattern after which the noblest life must ever be moulded. 2. They became examples to others.—“So that ye were ensamples to all that believe” (ver. 7). In the reality and power of their faith. They eagerly embraced the Word preached, believing it to be not the word of men but of God. This gave a profound reality to their conceptions of the Gospel and a strong impulse to their active religious life. In their zealous propagation of the truth. “For from you sounded out the word of the Lord” (ver. 8). Wherever they travelled they proclaimed the Gospel. They imparted that which had enriched themselves, and which, in giving, left them still the richer. The influence of their example was extensive in its range. “Not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to Godward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak anything” (ver. 8). Macedonia and Achaia were two Roman provinces that comprised the territory known as ancient Greece. Thessalonica. the metropolis of Macedonia, was the chief station on the great Roman road—the Via Egnatia—which connected Rome with the whole region north of the Ægean Sea and was an important centre both for commerce and the spread of intelligence. Wherever the trade of the merchant city extended, there the fame of the newly founded Church penetrated. Great was the renown of their own Alexander, the Macedonian monarch, and brilliant his victories; but the reputation of the Thessalonian Christians was of a higher order, and their achievements more enduring. Lessons.—1.The Gospel that brings sorrow to the heart brings also joy. 2.A genuine reception of the truth changes the man and creates unquenchable aspirations after the highest good. 3.A living example is more potent than the most elaborate code of precepts. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Vers. 6, 7. The Evidences and Effects of Revival. I. Receivers.—With faith, with joy, not without trial. II. Followers.—Apostolic piety. Christ-like spirit. Multiplication of Christ-like men. III. Ensamples.—Centres of Christian influence. IV. Dispensers.—Induced to diffuse Ver. 8. The Power of Example—
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 9, 10. Conversion and its Evidence. A good work cannot be hid. Sooner or later it will manifest itself and become the general topic of a wide region. The successful worker meets with the fruit of his labours at times and places unexpected. Wherever the apostles went, the reputation of the newly founded Church had preceded them, and the varied features of the great change that had passed over the Thessalonians were eagerly discussed. We have here a description of conversion and its evidence. I. The conversion of the Thessalonians.—“For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols” (ver. 9). You have watched a vessel lying at anchor in a tidal river with her bowsprit pointing seaward. After a brief interval you have observed the force of the incoming tide swing the vessel completely round, so that her head points in an exactly opposite direction. Not less apparent was the change among the Thessalonians when the flood-tide of Gospel blessing entered the city. Conversion is a turning about—a change from sin to holiness, from unbelief to faith, from darkness to light, from Satan to God. 1. They turned from idols.—For generations the majority of the members of this Church, with their forefathers, had been idolaters, “walking as other Gentiles walked in the vanity of their mind,” etc. (Eph. iv.17, 18, ii.12). Any creature, real or imaginary, invested with Divine properties is an idol. An angel, a saint, wealth, an idea, or any object to which we ascribe the omnipotence that belongs to God, becomes to us an idol—a false deity. An idol is also the true God falsely conceived. The Pantheist, mistaking the effect for the cause, regards the vast fabric of created things as God, and Nature, with her grand, silent motions, is the object of his idolatry. The sensualist, reluctant to believe in punishment for sin, exalts the boundlessness of Divine mercy, and ignores the other perfections, without which there could be no true God. Idolatry is a sin against which the most faithful warnings have been uttered in all ages, and on account of which the most terrible judgments have been inflicted, yet it is the worship to which man is most prone. 2. They turned to God.—The one God whom Paul preached as “the God that made the world and all things therein”; the living God, having life in Himself, and “giving to all life and breath and all things”; the true God, having in Himself the truth and substance of essential Deity, in extreme contrast with an “idol, which is nothing in the world.” With shame and confusion of face as they thought of the past, with penitential sorrow, with confidence and hope, they turned to God from idols. II. The evidence of their conversion.—Seen: 1.In the object of their service. They “serve the living and true God,” serve Him in faithful obedience to every command, serve Him in the face of opposition and persecution—with every faculty of soul, body, and estate—in life, in suffering, in death. This is a free, 2. Seen in the subject of their hope.—“And to wait for His Son” (ver. 10). (1)Their hope was fixed on Christ as a Saviour. “Even Jesus, who delivereth us from the coming wrath.” Terrible will be the revelation of that wrath to the impenitent and unbelieving. As soon as one wave of vengeance breaks another will follow, and behind that another and another interminably, so that it will ever be the wrath to come! From this Jesus delivers even now. (2)Their hope was fixed on Christ as risen. “Whom He raised from the dead.” They waited for and trusted in no dead Saviour, but One who, by His resurrection from the dead, was powerfully declared to be indeed the Son of God. (3)Their hope was fixed on Christ as coming again. “To wait for His Son from heaven.” There is a confusing variety of opinions as to the character of Christ’s second advent; as to the certainty of it nothing is more plainly revealed. The exact period of the second coming is veiled in obscurity and uncertainty; but it is an evidence of conversion to be ever waiting for and preparing for that coming as if there were a perpetual possibility of an immediate manifestation. The uncertainty of the time has its use in fostering a spirit of earnest and reverential inquiry, of watchfulness, of hope, of fidelity. Lessons.—1.Conversion is a radical change. 2.Conversion is a change conscious to the individual and evident to others. 3.The Gospel is the Divinely appointed agency in conversion. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Vers. 9, 10. The Change effected by the Gospel—
Ver. 10. The Christian waiting for his Deliverer—
The Wrath to come.
CHAPTER II.CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES. Ver. 1. Our entrance in... was not in vain.—The word for “vain” here is the same as that in the first half of “ceno-taph.” The entrance into Thessalonica, we might say colloquially, “had something in it.” Ver. 2. Suffered before.—Previously, that is, to our entrance to Thessalonica. And were shamefully entreated.—The acute sense of suffering in mind shows how far St. Paul was from Stoicism. It is this same exquisite sensibility which makes possible the beautiful courtesy with which, in his letters, we are so familiar. With much contention.—All the watchfulness required by one in the arena and all the danger incident to a false movement characterised St. Paul’s work. Ver. 3. For our exhortation.—The word reminds us of Christ’s word, “I will send you another Advocate”—“Paraclete.” Our advocacy of the Gospel of Christ was not born of error. Was not of deceit, nor uncleanness, nor guile.—Perhaps we might paraphrase thus: We were not ourselves mistaken as to the subject-matter of our preaching, we used no “dirty tricks” in the way of its publication, we baited no hooks for unwilling souls. Ver. 4. As we were allowed of God.—The original word means “to approve after testing”—or, as God knows without testing, as it is applied to Him it simply means—“we were approved of God.” To be put in trust.—R.V. “to be intrusted.” “ ‘To be put in trust with the Gospel’ is the highest conceivable responsibility; the sense of it is enough to exclude every base motive and deceitful practice” (Findlay). Not as pleasing men.—The vice condemned in slaves is equally reprehensible if it should appear in the minister of the Gospel. But God, which trieth the hearts.—“Alloweth” and “trieth” are different forms of the same verb. Like an assayer whose methods are perfect, God makes manifest what is in man’s heart. Ver. 5. For neither at any time used we flattering words.—“His friends well knew that he was not one to— “ ‘Crook the pregnant hinges of the knee Nor a cloke of covetousness.—The same thing perhaps as a mode of flattering speech. Fulsome flattering is either the mark of a mind hopelessly abject or the craft of a designing mind. Much fair speech and the flattering of the lips still lead fools by the nose (Prov. vii.21) to where “covetousness” dwells. Ver. 6. Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others.—“The motive of ambition—‘that last infirmity of noble minds’—rises above the selfishness just disclaimed; but it is just as warmly repudiated, for it is equally inconsistent with the single-mindedness of men devoted to the glory of God. Our Lord finds in superiority to human praise the mark of a sincere faith (John v.44)” (Ibid.). When we might have been burdensome.—A.V. margin, “used authority.” R.V. margin, “claimed honour”—literally in weight—an ambiguous phrase whose sense is interpreted by ver. 9 (Ibid.). Ver. 7. But we were gentle.—R.V. margin says, “Most ancient authorities read babes.” Origen and Augustine interpret this to mean, “Like a nurse amongst her children, talking in baby language to the babes” (Ibid.). As a nurse cherisheth her children.—The A.V. has omitted a necessary word of the original which R.V. supplies—“her own children.” The word for “cherisheth” is used in Deut. xxii.5 (LXX.) of the mother-bird brooding over her nestlings (a figure made memorable by our Lord’s mournful words over Jerusalem). The word occurs again only in Eph. v.29. Ver. 8. Being affectionately desirous.—The one Greek word corresponding to these three “implies the fondness of a mother’s love—yearning over you” (Ibid.). We were willing.—R.V. “well-pleased.” Like Him of whom it is said, “He gives liberally,” without stint. Our own souls.—“Our very selves,” for the saving of which, says our Master, a man may well let the world slip. The apostle keeps up the maternal figure. Ver. 9. Labour and travail.—The same words occur together at 2Cor. xi.27. The former is used some twenty times, the latter only three in the New Testament. One marks the fatigue of the work, “the lassitude or weariness which follows on this straining of all his powers to the utmost” (Trench). The other gives prominence to the hardship or difficulty of the task. That we might not burden any of you (see ver. 6).—Any support that could have been given would have been a trifle indeed (1Cor. ix.11) as compared with the self-sacrifice of the apostolic toilers. Ver. 11. Exhorted and comforted.—As the former points to the stimulation in the apostolic addresses, so the latter to the soothing element. The noun related to the latter verb is found in Phil. ii.1, and is translated by R.V. “consolation.” As a father with his own children.—The maternal tenderness is united with the discipline of a true father. Ver. 12. Walk worthy of God.—St. Paul’s “Noblesse oblige.” Ver. 13. The word of God which ye heard of us.—R.V. “The word of the message, even the word of God.” The preposition “from us” is “properly used in relation to objects which come from the neighbourhood of a person—out of his sphere” (Winer); but the Word originates, not with Paul, but in God. Which effectually worketh also.—There is no original word corresponding to “effectually” here; but the word “worketh” of itself, unemphasised, is too weak. We might almost say “becomes energetic.” Ver. 14. Became followers.—R.V. “imitators.” The usual meaning of imitators hardly seems to obtain in full strength here. We cannot think the Thessalonians consciously copied the Judean Christians, to do which they would have had the superfluous task of raising up opposition. The words seem to mean no more than, “Ye came to resemble.” Of your own countrymen.—Lit, “fellow-tribesmen.” One is reminded of Shylock’s words— “Sufferance is the badge of all our tribe.” Ver. 15. Who both killed.—The New Testament form of the verb is always compound—as we should say, “killed off.” A tragic contrast to what might have been expected is set forth in our Lord’s parable. “It may be they will reverence My Son.... They cast Him out and killed Him off” (Luke xx.13–15). Have persecuted us.—A.V. margin, “chased us out.” R.V. text, “drave.” How deeply humbling was the thought to St. Paul, that he had at one time taken part in this hounding! The A.V. margin gives us a most vivid picture. They please not God.—This expression is thought by some to be a meiosis, a softening down of the hard reality by the negative form of the language. Is not the best comment found in John xvi.2, “Whosoever killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God”? The sophistry that makes “killing no murder” and sanctions an auto da fÉ is something quite other than pleasing to God. Are contrary to all men.—“The sense of God’s displeasure often shows itself in sourness and ill temper towards one’s fellows. Unbelief and cynicism go together. The rancour of the Jews against other nations at this time was notorious.... The quarrel between Judaism and the world, alas, still continues, as the Judenhasse of Germany and Russia testifies” (Findlay). Ver. 16. Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles.—The very spirit of the dog in the manger! They would not even have left the “uncovenanted mercies” to the Gentiles. To fill up their sins alway.—The phrase signifies ripeness for judgment, and is used in Gen. xv.16 of the Amorites in Abraham’s time—an ominous parallel (Ibid.). For the wrath.—R.V., “but the wrath.” As though he said, “But the end comes at last; they have always been sowing this harvest, now it has to be reaped” (Ibid.). Ver. 17. Being taken from you.—R.V. “bereaved of you.” St. Paul, absent from Thessalonica, feels like a parent who has lost a child, and regards them as children who feel the loss of a parent (See John xiv.18). Ver. 18. But Satan hindered us.—Lit. “beat us in.” The figure is a military one and indicates the obstruction of an enemy’s progress by breaking up the road (destroying bridges, etc.). Ver. 19. Crown of rejoicing.—R.V. “glorying.” The victor’s wreath. St. Paul regards his steadfast converts as the proof of his successful efforts. MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 1, 2. Essential Elements of Success in Preaching.I. Boldness. Outsiders testified of the success of the Gospel, and the apostles could confidently appeal to the converts in confirmation of the report. “For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you that it was not in vain” (ver. 1). In the first twelve verses of this chapter Paul is describing the special features of their ministry, the manner and spirit of their preaching; and what he denies is, not so much that their labours had been vain, fruitless, and without result, as he denies that those labours were in themselves vain, frivolous, empty of all I. This boldness manifested in the earnest declaration of the truth.—“We were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention” (ver. 2). Bold in their conception of the Divine origin and vast scope of the Gospel, and its wondrous adaptation to the wants of universal man, they were not less bold in its faithful proclamation. Their deep conviction of the supreme spirit in Paul on other occasions, when his fearless words roused the ire of Festus, shook the conscience of the thoughtless Felix, or swayed the heart of Agrippa towards a wise decision. We see it in Elijah as he rebuked the sins of the wicked Ahab with withering invectives or threw the baffled priests of Baal into maddening hysteria—himself the while unmoved and confident. We see it conspicuously in Him, who came in the spirit and power of Elias, whose burning words assailed every form of wrong, and who did not scruple to denounce the deluded leaders of a corrupt Church in the most scathing terms—“Ye serpents! ye generation of vipers! How can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Matt. xxiii.33). “With much contention”—amid much conflict and danger. This kind of preaching provoked opposition and involved them in great inward struggles. The faithful messenger of God fears not the mote violent assault from without; but the thought of the fatal issues to those who obstinately reject and fight against the Gospel fills him with agonising concern. II. This boldness no suffering could daunt.—“Even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi” (ver. 2). They had come fresh from a city where they had been cruelly outraged. Though Roman citizens, they had been publicly scourged and, to add to their degradation, were thrust into the inner prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks—treatment reserved for the vilest felons. But so far from being dismayed, their sufferings only deepened their love for the Gospel and inflamed the passion to make it known. A German professor has lately made experiments with chalcedony and other quartzose minerals, and he has demonstrated that when such stones are ground on large and rapidly revolving wheels they exhibit a brilliant phosphorescent glow throughout their entire mass. So is it with the resolute worker. The more he is ground under the strong wheel of suffering and persecution, the more intensely will his entire character glow with the radiance of an unquenchable bravery. III. This boldness was Divinely inspired.—“We were bold in our God” (ver. 2). It was not the froth of a senseless presumption, not the wild, aimless effort of a reckless bravado; but the calm, grand heroism of a profound faith in the Divine. They fell back completely upon God and drew their deepest inspiration and mightiest strength from Him. The prophet Jeremiah, in a moment of despondency, decided to “speak no more in the name of the Lord”; but when he could say, “The Lord is with me as a mighty, terrible One,” his courage returned, and he obeyed implicitly the Divine mandate, “Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak” (Jer. xx.9–11; Jer. i.7). Similarly commissioned, Paul once exclaimed, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. iv.13). Endowed with the like spirit, Luther uttered his noble protest at the Diet of Worms—“Here I stand: I cannot do otherwise: God help me!” Lessons.—1.Boldness is absolutely indispensable in attacking, not simply in the mass, but in detail, the crying evils of the age. 2.Boldness is acquired only by studious and prayerful familiarity with God’s message and with God. Vers. 1, 2. The Preaching of the Gospel not in Vain. I. It is not in vain as respects the end and object of the Gospel itself.—1.Conversion. 2.Sanctification or edification. 3.Condemnation. II. It was not in vain as respected the objects of the apostle.—1.His commission was to preach the Gospel. He did it. 2.To gather in souls. He did so. 3.His reward was the approbation of Christ and seals to his ministry. He had both. III. It was not in vain as respected the Thessalonians.—They were turned from idolatry; their hearts glowed with new feelings; their characters shone with new graces.—Stewart. MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 3–6. Essential Elements of Success in Preaching.II. Sincerity. The devout Richard Baxter once said: “The ministerial work must be managed purely for God and the salvation of the people, and not for any private ends of our own. This is our sincerity in it. A wrong end makes all the work bad from us, however good in itself.” In order to success, it is necessary not only to display a fearless courage, but also a spirit of unmistakable ingenuousness and sincerity. As the mountain tarn reflects the clear, chaste light of the stars as they kindle in the heavens, so the preacher reflects in his outward conduct the pure and lofty motives by which he is animated and sustained. We observe, in connection with the preaching of the Gospel at Thessalonica, sincerity in motive, in speech, in aim. I. Sincerity in motive.—“For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile” (ver. 3). The apostle disclaims the harbouring of evil intentions in relation to God, himself, and others. 1. In relation to God.—“Not of deceit”—not in error. Having received the truth from God and about God, he transmits it in all its integrity, without error or imposture. 2. In relation to himself.—“Nor of uncleanness.” Pure in his own affection and purpose, he preached a Gospel that was pure in itself, in its tendency, and in its experienced results. 3. In relation to others.—“Not in guile.” He sought not to propagate the Gospel by any fraudulent wiles or false representations. He descended not to hypocrisy to catch men. “Hypocrites,” says St. Bernard, “desire to seem not to be good; not to seem, but to be evil: they care not to follow or practise virtue, but to colour vice by putting upon it the painted complexion of virtue.” The life of the man whose motives are thus sincere will be transparent as the light. A certain king of Castile, who had been only too familiar with the duplicity of mankind, once somewhat arrogantly said, “When God made man He left one capital defect: He ought to have set a window in his breast.” The sincere man opens a window in his own breast by the whole tenor of His words and actions, so that his innermost thoughts are apparent. II. Sincerity in speech.—1.The preacher speaks under a solemn sense of responsibility. “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak” (ver. 4). To their charge, as men tested and approved of God, was committed the precious treasure of the Gospel; and keenly conscious of the unutterable riches with which they were entrusted, they were deeply solicitous to distribute the same in all faithfulness and sincerity. Every gift we receive from Heaven has its corresponding responsibility. 2. The preacher seeks chiefly the Divine approval.—“Not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts” (ver. 4). There is much in the Gospel distasteful 3. The preacher must practise neither adulation nor deception.—“For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness, God is witness” (ver. 5). “Flattery,” says Plutarch, “has been the ruin of many states.” But alas! who can tell the souls it has for ever undone? Truth is too sedate and solid to indulge in meaningless flattery. It is only the vain and self-conceited who can be deceived by adulation. III. Sincerity in aim.—“Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ” (ver. 6). The sincere aim of the apostles was seen:— 1. In the generous suppression of the authority with which they were invested.—“When we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ.” Whether we understand this authority as exercised in foregoing for the time being their legitimate claim of maintenance by the Church, or as restraining the exhibition of the dignity and power of their apostleship—which latter view is generally admitted to be the true exegesis—it was equally honourable to the pure and disinterested character of their highest aim. 2. In the absence of all selfish ambition.—“Nor of men sought we glory.” They could conscientiously aver, “We seek not yours, but you.” “I love a serious preacher,” says FÉnÉlon, “who speaks for my sake and not for his own; who seeks my salvation and not his own glory.” It is said of one of the ancient fathers that he wept at the applause frequently given to his discourses. “Would to God,” said he, “they had rather gone away silent and thoughtful!” It is a sorry and painfully disappointing end to preach for mere ephemeral human praise. Such a man may sink into the grave with the touching lament of Grotius, “Alas! I have lost my life in doing nothing with great labour!”—though in his case it was an unduly despondent estimate of his life-work. When Christ is to be exalted, the preacher must be willing to be unnoticed. Lessons.—1.Sincerity in proclaiming the truth can be acquired only by personal experience of its power. 2.Sincerity is deepened by a conscious Divine commission. 3.Sincerity is unmistakably evidenced in word and deed. 4.Sincerity is satisfied only in aiming at the highest results in preaching. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Vers. 3–6. Apostolic Preaching characterised by Transparent Truth. I. The doctrine was opposed to every form of impurity (ver. 3).—1.It was itself pure. 2.It received no tinge of impurity from the apostle’s mind. 3.Its results were pure. II. The preaching was free from insincerity and selfishness (ver. 4).—1.They avoided flattery. Love of favour (ver. 5). 2.They avoided covetousness. Aggrandisement (ver. 5). 3.They avoided vainglory. Love of applause (ver. 6). Three rocks on which thousands have been shipwrecked.—Stewart. MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 7, 8. Essential Elements of Success in Preaching.III. Gentleness. There is a power in gentleness to subdue the wildest, mightiest opposition, and to triumph over the most gigantic difficulties. The gentle rays of the I. It was the gentleness of patient endurance.—1.It enabled them to bear the insult and outrage of their enemies. Their preaching roused violent opposition. They retaliated by praying for their persecutors. Against physical force they fought with moral weapons; and this attitude and policy had a powerful influence on their enraged adversaries. The modern preacher can adopt no better method. The offence of the cross has not yet ceased. It stirs up all the enmity of the carnal mind. “And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves” (2Tim. ii.24, 25). The power of a man is seen, not so much in what he can do, as in what he can endure. It is only the Christian spirit that unites the utmost gentleness with the utmost strength. 2. It enabled them to bear with the weakness and imperfections of their converts.—“As a nurse cherisheth her children” (ver. 7).—as a nursing mother cherisheth her own children. They watched over them with the tenderest assiduity, instructed them with the most disinterested solicitude, accommodated and assimilated themselves to their infant standpoint with all the devotion of a fond, painstaking parent. In order to successful teaching, in spiritual as in secular subjects, we must study the child-nature—take into account the influence of environment, early prejudices, differing capacities and temperaments, and the direction of characteristic tendencies. See this illustrated in the Divine treatment of the Israelites under Moses and the great Jewish leaders, and in the training of the twelve by the great Teacher. II. It was the gentleness of self-sacrificing love.—“So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us” (ver. 8). 1. This gentleness arose from a genuine love of human souls.—“Because ye were dear unto us.” Love is the great master-power of the preacher. After this he strives and toils with ever-increasing earnestness as the years speed on; and it is the grace that comes latest and slowest into the soul. No amount of scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition, of brilliant and stirring eloquence, can atone for the absence of a deep, impassioned, sympathetic love of human souls. The fables of the ancients tell us of Amphion, who, with the music of his lyre, drew after him the huge stones with which to build the walls of Thebes, and of Orpheus, who, by his skill on the harp, could stay the course of rivers and tame the wildest animals. These are but exaggerated examples of the wondrous charm of the soul-compelling music of love. “I have always been afraid,” said a devoted young minister, now no more, “of driving my people away from the Saviour. I would rather err on the side of drawing them.” The seraphic John Fletcher once said, “Love, continual, universal ardent love, is the soul of all the labour of a minister.” 2. The intensity of their love awoke a spirit of voluntary self-sacrifice.—“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls.” To accomplish the salvation of their hearers they were willing to surrender life itself. This was the temper of the Divine Preacher who “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, Lessons.—1.That gentleness is a power not only in patient endurance, but also in enterprising action. 2.That gentleness is indispensable to effectiveness, either in warning or reproof. It succeeds where a rigid austerity fails. 3.That gentleness is fostered and regulated by a deep, self-sacrificing love. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Vers. 7, 8. Dealing with New Converts. I. Divine principles have to unfold themselves in unfavourable circumstances.—1.Moral influence from without. 2.Jewish misrepresentation. 3.Persecution. II. Must be treated with gentleness.—1.In the adaptation of teaching to suit their state. 2.In the manner and spirit of the instruction given. III. Must be treated with affectionate self-sacrificingness (ver. 8). MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 9–12. Essential Elements of Success in Preaching.IV. Moral Consistency. The writer, in dwelling on the manner and spirit of preaching, has shown the necessity of boldness, sincerity, and gentleness as powerful instrumentalities in achieving success. In these verses he insists on the moral consistency of the individual life and conduct. As the time indicated on the dial answers to the perfect mechanism of the watch, so the personal example of the preacher must answer to the words he utters. The most accomplished elocution, the most impassioned and captivating utterance will be fruitless unless backed with the strength of a complete, well-rounded, all-beautiful spiritual character. Paul and his co-helpers could fearlessly appeal to their hearers, and in all humility to God, in attestation of the moral consistency of their private and public action. I. Their moral consistency seem in the unselfish principle that governed them in their work.—“For ye remember, brethren, our labours and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable to any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God” (ver. 9). The apostle invariably asserted the obligation of ministerial maintenance by the Church. In another place he emphatically affirms that, not merely naked equity and the spirit of the Mosaic law, but also a positive ordinance of Christ requires that just as “they which ministered about holy things lived of the things of the temple, and they which waited at the altar were partakers with the altar, even so they which preach the gospel shall live of the gospel” (1Cor. ix.13, 14). In the special circumstances and early stage of the work at Thessalonica, the apostle waived this righteous claim. It might be on account of the poverty of the majority of the converts, or more probably on account of the charge of covetousness their enemies had diligently circulated. To crush all suspicion of interested motives and self-seeking, those noble missionaries refused “to be chargeable unto any one of them,” depending for their support upon the occasional remittances of the liberal Philippians, and on their own manual labour. Thus did they evidence their supreme desire to be, not II. Their moral consistency seen in the maintenance of a blameless deportment.—“Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe” (ver. 10). A Roman prince of the celebrated house of Colonna, whose virtues had sustained him alike in prosperous and adverse times, was once driven into exile, and when reduced to extremity was asked, “Where is now your fortress?” He laid his hand upon his heart, and answered, “Here!” A conscious sense of integrity threw a strength and majesty around him in the midst of poverty and suffering. It was an inward consciousness of purity that prompted these Christian workers to appeal to those who were best acquainted with their walk and conversation. They behaved holily toward God, justly toward men, and unblameably in all things. “Among them that believe.” Believers could best understand the secret of their whole life, its aims and motives, its tendencies and issues, and on them it would have an irresistible impression. It is often the fate of the public teacher, while blameless, to be unmercifully blamed by those who are outside the circle of his work. The world retains all its historic enmity to the truth and is as venomous as ever in its expression. “No might, nor greatness in mortality III. Their moral consistency seen in their persistent endeavours to stimulate their converts to the highest attainments.—1.This is evident in the lofty standard set up. “That ye walk worthy of God” (ver. 12). How sublime and dignified the Christian character may become—to walk worthily of God!—in harmony with His nature, His law, with our profession of attachment to Him. To the production of this grand result all their efforts were bent. “As a father doth his children,” so they “exhorted” with all earnestness, “comforted” with all loving sympathy, and “charged” with all fidelity and authority. The preacher must be master of every art necessary to success. 2. This is evident in the sublime motive that should animate us in reaching the standard.—The Divine, heavenly calling. “Who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory” (ver. 12)—His own glorious kingdom. We are invited to enter this kingdom on earth and participate in its blessings; but the full splendours of that kingdom are reserved for the heavenly world. How brief and insignificant will the sufferings and sorrows of the present appear, contrasted with the ineffable bliss of the future state! “Do you want anything?” eagerly asked the loved ones who surrounded the dying couch of Melancthon. “Nothing but heaven,” was the gentle response, and he went smiling on his way. Lessons.—1.In order to success in preaching moral consistency of life must accompany and sustain the faithful declaration of the truth. 2.That the greatest success is achieved when the highest experience of the Christian life is constantly enforced by both precept and example. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Vers. 9–12. The High Moral Feeling that should influence the Preacher.—Illustrated by Paul’s work and conduct. I. In preaching the Gospel. II. In labouring for his own support. III. In his behaviour.—1.Towards God. “Holily.” 2.Towards others. “Justly.” 3.Unblameable. Prudent and inoffensive. He could appeal to man and God.—Stewart. The Correct Estimate of Gospel Truth. We have before stated that the population of Thessalonica consisted of two diverse classes, Greek and Jew—the one representing the philosophy of paganism, the other being the custodian of the sacred truths of Revelation. Among the Hebrews Moses was recognised as the central human figure and head of their legal system, and his words were profoundly venerated; and the Gentiles were not less devout and ardent in their admiration of Plato and his far-seeing wisdom. The influence of these two systems was all-potent with the Thessalonians; it supplied thought, moulded character and life, and filled up the widest circle of their hopes. The Gospel impinged upon these ancient and revered institutions, and they reeled beneath the shock. The bigoted followers of Moses and Plato were compelled to admit the higher authority of the apostolic message. They formed a correct estimate of Gospel truth when they “received it, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God.” I. The Gospel is superior to all human wisdom.—It is “not the word of men.” 1.Human wisdom is limited in its range. The greatest mind is restricted in its knowledge, and imperfect in using what it knows. A celebrated Roman scholar once exclaimed with petulance and disgust: “The human mind wanders in a diseased delirium, and it is therefore not surprising that there is no possible folly which philosophers, at one time or another, have not propounded as a lesson of wisdom.” 2. Human wisdom is changeable.—Aristotle, the great father of natural philosophy, summed up his impressions on this subject with his usual hard, unyielding logic when ye said: “There is no difference between what men call knowledge and mere opinion; therefore, as all opinion is uncertain, there can be no certainty in human knowledge.” 3. Human wisdom is unsatisfying.—It is with a sigh of bitter disappointment that one of the most profound thinkers of antiquity concluded his long and deep inquiry into human affairs, and summed up the result with these sad, melancholy words: “Nothing can be known; nothing therefore can be learned; nothing can be certain; the senses are limited and delusive; intellect is weak; life is short!” II. The Gospel is essentially Divine.—1.It is authoritative. There is an old proverb, “When the lion roars, the beasts of the forest tremble.” So when the Gospel speaks, unbelievers may well be filled with fear. Milton thus describes Adam in his innocency advancing to meet his celestial Visitor: He— "walks forth without more train Accompanied than with His own complete Perfections: in Himself was all His state." In like manner God’s Word comes to us clothed with the majesty and authority of its own innate power. It bends the ear to attention, the mind to faith, the heart to reverence, the will and conscience to obedience. 2. It is immutable.—It is “the word of the Lord that liveth and abideth for ever” (1Peter i.23). (1)Its promises are sure; (2)its threatenings will certainly be executed. 3. It is complete.—There is nothing to add, nothing to subtract. It contains the fullest revelation of God, of man, of eternal issues—such as can never be found elsewhere. 4. It is worthy of universal credence.—“If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater.” It is to the everlasting commendation of the Thessalonians, and of millions since their day, that when they heard the Word of God they “received it, not at the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God.” This next paragraph includes the word “niggardly,” which is a fine word, meaning “stingy,” “grasping,” or “parsimonious;” but to someone who is not familiar with the word or not paying complete attention, it can sound like a racial slur. When teaching this material, please strongly consider substituting a synonym. III. The Gospel is efficacious in transforming character.—“Which effectually IV. The correct estimate of Gospel truth is matter of ceaseless thanksgiving to the preacher.—“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing.” No disappointment is keener to the anxious preacher than that of unproductive labour. Some of the choicest ministers of God have to mourn over comparative failure. Think of the anguish of the sympathetic Jeremiah when the Word of the Lord which he declared was turned into daily reproach and derision; and to Ezekiel, when he wept over rebellious Israel! But the joy of success is irrepressible, and the full heart pours out its thanks to God. “They joy before Thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil” (Isa. ix.3). Lessons.—1.The word of man, while it may charm the understanding, is powerless to change the heart. 2.The correct estimate of Gospel truth is to regard it as the Word of God. 3.The Word of God is efficacious to the individual only as it is received believingly. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE. The Efficacy of the Word of God and the Way of receiving it. I. The description given of the Word.—1.The Word not of men, but of God. 2.Known by its effects. (1)Producing conviction of sin. (2)Binding up the broken heart. II. In what manner it should be received.—1.With attention and reverence. 2.With humility and teachableness. 3.As the instrument for conversion and edification.—E.Cooper. MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 14. Suffering: the Test of Conversion. It often happens that suffering reveals new features of individual character and awakens powers that were before dormant. It takes a great deal to thoroughly rouse some people. We are told that Agrippa had a dormouse that slumbered so profoundly that it would never wake till cast into a cauldron of boiling lead. So, there are some natures which put forth all their powers only when in suffering and extremity. The piety of God’s people has been most severely tested in the midst of persecution and affliction. The faith of thousands has failed in the hour of trial, while those who have borne the strain have gained an accession of moral nerve and bravery. The Thessalonians imitated the Churches in Judea in boldly facing the storm of malignant opposition, and standing under it with calm, unconquerable firmness. I. The suffering of the Thessalonians had a common origin.—“For ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews.” Just as the Jews who embraced Christianity met with the maddest violence from their own unbelieving countrymen, so the Gentiles found their fiercest foes among their fellow-countrymen, who blindly clung to the worship of the gods. It is the unkindest cut of all that comes from the sword of our own II. The suffering of the Thessalonians was borne with exemplary Christian fortitude.—“For ye, brethren, became followers of the Churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus.” The same thought is expressed in the first chapter, where the apostle says, “Ye became followers of us and of the Lord.” For at the head of the long line is Jesus, the Captain of salvation; and all whom He leads to glory walk in His steps, imitate His example, and so become followers one of another. It is not, however, suffering in itself that purifies and exalts Christian character, so much as the spirit in which it is borne. The hardest point of obedience is to obey in suffering. It was enough to cool the fiery ambition of the aspiring disciples when Jesus said, “Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?” (Matt. xx.22). And yet the following of Christ in suffering is the true test of discipleship. “He that taketh not his cross and followeth me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. x.38). It is a grand proof of the supernatural efficacy of Gospel truth that it inspires so intense a love of it as to make us willing to endure the most exquisite suffering for its sake. The love of truth becomes supreme. John Huss, lamenting the rupture of an old and valued friendship, said: “Paletz is my friend; truth is my friend; and both being my friends, it is my sacred duty to give the first honour to truth.” The soul, penetrated with this sublime devotion to truth, will pass unscathed the fiery test of suffering. On the destruction by fire of the London Alexandra Palace a few years ago, it was found that, while many specimens of old English porcelain exhibited there were reduced to a black, shapeless mass, the true porcelain of Bristol, though broken into fragments, still retained its whiteness, and even its most delicate shades of colour, uninjured by the fire. So the truly good, though wounded and maimed, shall survive the fiercest trial, and retain intact all that specially distinguishes and beautifies the Christian character. Lessons.—1.Our love of the Gospel is tested by what we suffer for it. 2.The similarity of experience in all times and places is a strong evidence of the truth of the Christian religion. 3.Suffering does not destroy, but builds up and perfects. MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 15, 16. The Fury of the Old Religion against the New. It is the natural order of things that the old must give place to the new. The inexorable operation of the law of progress is seen in a thousand different forms. In the world of vegetation, the old life is continually yielding supremacy to the new. The leaves, buds, and blossoms of the tree, as they force their way to the light, fling their shadows on the grave where their predecessors lie decayed I. The fury of the Jews is seen in their inhuman treatment of the great leaders of religious thought.—“Who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us” (ver. 15). 1. They plotted against the life of the world’s Redeemer; and in spite of insufficient evidence to convict, and the endeavours of the Roman procurator to release, they clamoured for the immediate crucifixion of their innocent Victim, exclaiming in the wild intoxication of malignant passion, “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matt. xxvii.25)—a self-invoked imprecation that fell on them with terrible and desolating vengeance. 2. The sin of murder already darkly stained their race.—The best and noblest of their prophets were unoffending victims: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Zechariah, met with violent deaths. The charge of the proto-martyr Stephen was unanswerable (Acts vii.52). 3. The apostles were subjected to similar treatment.—“And have persecuted us”—have chased and driven us out. They drove them out of Thessalonica, afterwards out of Beroea, and were at that moment engaged in instigating an insurrection to drive the apostle out of Corinth. The spirit of persecution is unchanged. Wherever the attempt is made to raise the Church from the grave of spiritual death and reanimate her creed and ritual with intenser reality and life, it is met with a jealous, angry opposition. What a wretched, short-sighted policy does persecution reveal! It is the idolised weapon of the tyrant and the coward, the sport of the brutal, the sanguinary carnival of demons! II. The fury of the Jews was displeasing to God.—“They please not God” (ver. 15). They fondly imagined they were the favourites of heaven, and that all others were excluded from the Divine complacency. They had the words of the law carefully committed to memory and could quote them with the utmost facility to serve their own purpose. They would support their proud assumption of superiority and exclusiveness by quoting Deut. xiv.2, wilfully shutting their eyes to the vital difference between the holy intention of Jehovah and their miserably defective realisation of that intention. In their opposition to Christianity they thought they were doing God service; yet all the time they were displeasing to Him. How fatally blinding is sin, goading the soul to the commission of the most horrible crimes under the sacred guise of virtue! III. The fury of the Jews was hostile to man.—1.Their hostility was directed against the world of mankind. “Are contrary to all men” (ver. 15). The Jews of that period delighted in hatching all kinds of “sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion.” They were adversaries of all, the despisers of all. Tacitus, the Roman historian, brands them as “the enemies of all men:” and Apion, the Egyptian, according to the admission of Josephus, calls them “atheists and misanthropes—in fact, the most witless and dullest of barbarians.” 2. Their hostility was embittered by a despicable religious jealousy.—“Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved” (ver. 16). Here the fury of the old religion against the new reached its climax. It is the perfection of IV. The fury of the Jews hurried them into irretrievable ruin.—1.Their wickedness was wilfully persistent. “To fill up their sins alway” (ver. 16)—at all times, now as much as ever. So much so, the time is now come when the cup of their iniquity is filled to the brim, and nothing can prevent the consequent punishment. The desire to sin grows with its commission. “Sinners,” says St. Gregory, “would live for ever that they might sin for ever”—a powerful argument for the endlessness of future punishment. The desire to sin is endless. 2. Their punishment was inevitable and complete.—“For the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost” (ver. 16)—is even now upon them. The process has begun; their fury to destroy others will accelerate their own destruction. Punishment fell upon the wicked, unbelieving, and resisting Jews, and utter destruction upon their national status and religious supremacy (vide Josephus, Wars, Booksv., vi.). Lessons.—1.There is a fearful possibility of sinking into a lifeless formality, and blind, infatuate opposition to the good. 2.The rage of man against the truth defeats its own ends, and recoils in vengeance on himself. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Vers. 15, 16. The Persecuting Jews—
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 17–20. The Power of Satan, Great but Restricted. St. Paul had a profound, unhesitating belief in the reality and personal activity of Satan. An examination of the apostle’s own writings and discourses places this beyond doubt. We need refer to but a few passages. Satan is “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. ii.2); “the god of this world, blinding the minds of them which believe not” (2Cor. iv.4). To convert to the Christian religion is to bring men “from the power of Satan unto God” (Acts xxvi.18). To relapse is “to turn aside after Satan” (1Tim. v.15). To commit sin is to “give place to the devil” (Eph. iv.27). If Paul suffered from some grievous bodily ailment that checked him in his evangelical labours, it was “the angel of Satan to buffet him” (2Cor. xii.17); and when he was prevented from paying a visit to the struggling Church at Thessalonica, it was “Satan that hindered him.” Observe:— I. The power of Satan forcing an unwilling separation.—“But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart” (ver. 17). 1. The separation was painful, but temporary.—“Being taken from you”—literally, being orphaned of you. This grief was like that of a father bereft of his children, or children of their parents. Their emotions were expressed by Jacob—“If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved” (Gen. xliii.14). They hoped speedily 2. The separation did not lessen their spiritual attachment.—“In presence, not in heart.” Satan may deprive of the opportunity of social intercourse, but not of reciprocal Christian love. Augustine, referring to different kinds of friendship, shows the pre-eminence of the spiritual, where the link is grace and the Spirit of God: “Natural affection want of presence diminisheth; mundane friendship, where profit makes the union, want of profit unlooseth; but spiritual amity nothing dissolves, no, not that which dissolves all others, lack of society.” II. The power of Satan hindering an earnestly desired visit.—1.Opposition intensified their desire to see their converts. “Endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire” (ver. 17). As lime is influenced by water, as a stream grows more furious by the obstacles set against it, so genuine affection is increased in fervour by that which opposes it. 2. The opposition succeeded in baffling repeated attempts to carry out that desire.—“Wherefore, we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us” (ver. 18). The apostle halted at Beroea on his way to Athens, and probably attempted then to return to Thessalonica, but was thwarted in his design. Though no express reference is made in the history to the agency of Satan, Paul had unmistakable evidence of its operation in many ways. Satan hindered us—perhaps by imprisonment, tempests at sea, or by keeping him so fully occupied with incessant conflicts and ever-new tribulations of his own, as to leave him no leisure for carrying out his plan. The verb signifies to cut a trench in the way of a pursuing enemy, so as to hinder his progress. III. The power of Satan unable to rob the Christian worker of the joy and reward of success.—Great as is the power of Satan, it is not omnipotent. The Christian warrior can successfully withstand it (Eph. vi.11–13); and he is assured that God will bruise Satan under his feet (Rom. xvi.20). 1. Success in soul-saving is productive of unutterable joy.—“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye?” (ver. 19). The merchant rejoices over his gains, the warrior over his victories, the artist over the achievements of genius; but there is no joy so sweet, so exquisite, so abiding, as the successful winner of souls. 2. The joy of success in soul-saving will be among the highest rewards of the future.—“In the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For ye are our glory and joy” (vers. 19, 20). The return of Christ to heaven, after the judgment, is here compared to the solemnity of a triumph, in which the apostle is to appear crowned in token of victory over the false religions of the world, attended by his converts; and because they are the cause of his being thus crowned, they are, by a beautiful figure of speech, called his crown of rejoicing. Special honour is promised to the successful worker (Dan. xii.3). (1)Joy enhanced by the recognitions in the future life. “Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?” If Paul knows his converts in the heavenly world, shall we not know our loved ones who have gone before? (2)By the presence and approbation of the Lord Jesus for whom we have laboured. “In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. xvi.11). Lessons.—1.The power of Satan works through many agencies; therefore, we have need of watchfulness. 2.The power of Satan is limited; therefore, we need not be discouraged. Ver. 18. Satanic Hindrances—
Vers. 19, 20. The Joy of a Minister in his Converts—
CHAPTER III.CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES. Ver. 1. When we could no longer forbear.—This latter word occurs in 1Cor. xiii.7 to describe the endurance of love. Ver. 2. Fellow-labourer is omitted from the R.V. text, which reads, “our brother and God’s minister in the gospel of Christ.” To establish you.—To fix firmly; as Christ said to Peter, “Stablish thy brethren” (Luke xxii.32). Ver. 3. That no man should be moved.—The word seems to imply “moved to softness,” as Professor Jowett intimates. It is used especially of the motion of a dog’s tail as it fawns on its master. So the word passes over to the mental sphere (compare on St. James’ figure, James i.6). “That no man should amidst his calamities be allured by the flattering hope of a more pleasant life to abandon his duty” (Tittmann). Ver. 4. We should suffer tribulation.—In the verse previous the noun from the same root as the one here translated “suffer tribulation” is given as “afflictions.” “The actual persecution of the Roman government was slight, but what may be termed social persecution and the illegal violence employed towards the first disciples unceasing” (Jowett). Ver. 5. When I could no longer forbear... sent to know.—The whole verse shows the tension of the apostle’s mind. Ver. 6. And brought us good tidings.—R.V. “glad tidings.” “The one word for ‘brought-glad-tidings’ everywhere else in the New Testament signifies the glad tidings.... Hence the peculiar force of the word here.... It was a gospel sent to him in return for his gospel brought to them” (Findlay). Ye have good remembrance of us.—Kindly remembrance. The tempter had not been able to turn to gall the sweet thoughts of grateful appreciation of the apostle’s work. Ver. 8. For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.—The man who later could say, “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. i.21), prepares us for that saying by this. Life to him is desirable only as others benefit by it. Ver. 9. For what thanks can we render to God again.—In the R.V. “again” is joined with “render,” representing the one word of St. Paul. The same verb is found twice in Luke xiv.14 as “recompense.” The apostle feels what a poor requital any thanksgiving must be for the mercy of the good news from Thessalonica (see 2Thess. i.6). Ver. 11. Direct our way unto you.—Acts xvi.6, 7 should be read. Satan might hinder (ch. ii.18); if God “makes straight” the way, progress will be easy. Ver. 12. The Lord make you abound in love.—The Lord may here be the Holy Spirit, as the three persons of the Trinity will be appealed to (cf. ver. 13, as in 2Thess. iii.5). So the Holy Ghost is called the Lord (2Cor. iii.17). Love is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. v.22), and His office is to establish in holiness (ver. 13; 1Pet. i.2) (Faussett). A Difficult and Important Mission. Paul had been compelled to leave Thessalonica in consequence of the malignant opposition of the Jews. They thirsted for his life, and it would still be dangerous for him to visit the city. But Timothy might venture where it would be perilous for the apostle to appear. While the wrath of the Jews raged against the Gospel as a whole, it culminated in its fury around the head of Paul, the ringleader and champion of the movement. Fearing that his absence might be misconstrued, and anxious to strengthen the faith of the infant Church in the midst of trial, the apostle determines to send a trusted messenger. It is a significant testimony to the sound judgment and prudence of Timothy, that he is selected for this difficult and important mission. I. This mission was the suggestion of an uncontrollable anxiety.—“Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear” (ver. 1). This anxiety sprang from the intensity of the apostle’s love. It is a striking feature of genuine, Christian love that, while it bears with uncomplaining patience any amount of external suffering, it is restless with a holy impatience of delay in doing good to those it embraces. The devoted mother can endure anything but restraint in her desire to promote the best welfare of her child. David was indifferent to the exposure and dangers of his wilderness-life; but his soul panted after God with all the raging thirst of the hart in autumn for the cooling water-brook. II. This mission involved great personal inconvenience.—“We thought it good to be left at Athens alone” (ver. 1). The unselfishness of true love ever prefers another’s good to its own. Timothy had travelled so constantly with Paul and had been so great a comfort to him in his captivities and trials, that his absence was a keenly felt loss. Specially was his sympathy and co-operation needed when the great Gentile missionary entered the region— “Where on the Ægean shore a city stood, “At Athens alone.” What a sublime historical picture is portrayed in these words! Christianity embodied in a single, lonely man, standing in the midst of the populous metropolis of pagan culture and idolatry! Yet the power sustained in that solitary man broke up and scattered the huge fabric of heathenism. “Solitude is one of the highest enjoyments of which our nature is susceptible. Solitude is also, when too long continued, capable of being made the most severe, indescribable, unendurable, source of anguish” (Deloraine). III. This mission was entrusted to a thoroughly qualified messenger.—The high character of Timothy and the relations existing between the two preachers are brought out in the epithets applied to him. “Timothy our brother” (ver. 2). In other places Paul calls him his “own son in the faith,” his “dearly beloved son” (1Tim. i.2; 2Tim. i.2); but in speaking of him to the Churches he recognises him on the equal footing of a brother. He was also a minister of God, solemnly set apart to this service by the voice of prophecy, and by the consecrating hands of the presbytery, and of Paul himself. And finally, he was Paul’s fellow-labourer in the Gospel of Christ, not only as all God’s ministers are fellow-labourers, working the work of the same Lord, but also on the ground of that special intimacy of personal intercourse and co-operation, to which he was from the first admitted by the apostle (Lillie). Thus, Timothy was thoroughly qualified—(1)to carry out the apostle’s wish concerning the Thessalonians, and (2)to sympathise with the Church’s peculiar difficulties and trials. He was more than a mere courier. He was faithful to Paul’s instructions, and valuable to the Church in himself. 1. To establish—to comfort, or set fast their faith by a fresh, authoritative manifestation of the Gospel truth and its Divine evidences; and this would be done by private conversation and public ministration. 2. To comfort.—The word means also, and especially here, to exhort, though doubtless comfort would be mingled with the exhortation. The Thessalonians were exposed to the storm of persecution that was everywhere raging against the Gospel and its adherents, and they were exhorted to steadfastness, “that no man should be moved by these afflictions” (ch. iii.3). Paul and Barnabas had a similar mission to the Churches in Lesser Asia (Acts xiv.22). There are none so strong in faith but need confirmation, none so courageous but need comfort. Lessons.—1.The establishment of believers is ever a subject of anxiety to the true minister. 2.The desire to promote the highest welfare of the Church should ever be paramount. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE. Ver. 1. “At Athens alone” (cf. Acts xvii.16, 17). The Solitude of a Great City—
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 3–5. The Perils of Suffering. A storm among the Highlands of Scotland often effects great and rapid changes. The huge mountain that slumbers harmlessly in the sunshine, with such calm and sullen majesty, is transformed by the tempest into a monster of fury. Its sides are suddenly sheeted with waterfalls, and the ferocious torrents work devastation among the glens and straths that lie in their impetuous course. The trees and shrubs that are but slightly rooted are swept away, and only the firmly grounded survive. So it is, when the storm of persecution breaks upon the Gospel and its adherents. The new converts, the roots of whose faith have not penetrated so deeply into the soil of truth, are in danger of being disturbed and carried away. Their peril is matter of anxiety to the Christian worker. Hence the apostle sends Timothy, and writes this epistle to the Thessalonians, to confirm and establish them in the faith. He shows:— I. That suffering is the inevitable lot of God’s people.—1.That suffering is a Divine ordinance. “For ye yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto” (ver. 3). A strange way, one would think, of reconciling people to affliction, by telling them that they have nothing else to expect. It is a grand proof of the triumph of the Gospel over the rebellious human heart that it prescribes such conditions and reconciles men to the acceptance of them; and it does so both by the grace which it imparts for the present and by the glorious hope it holds out for the future. It is laid down as a law of Christian progress “that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts xiv.22). The very purity of the Church, imperfect as it is, coming into contact with the sin and misery prevalent in the world, produces suffering. “Because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John xv.19). It is enough for 2. That suffering was the subject of frequent apostolic warning.—“For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation” (ver. 4). It is intimated here that it was not so much one single statement on some particular occasion as it was the constant and habitual tenor of the apostle’s teaching that suffering was to be expected. Paul himself was an illustrious example of heroic fortitude in suffering for Christ’s sake. “The Holy Ghost,” said he, “witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me” (Acts xx.23). It is both wise and kind to forewarn God’s people of coming afflictions, that they be not overtaken unexpectedly and unprepared. The predictions of the apostle were verified: “Even as it came to pass, and ye know.” Their first acquaintance with the Gospel was in the midst of persecution and trial. The violent opposition continued, but the warnings and exhortations of the apostle were not in vain (2Thess. i.4). 3. That the suffering of God’s people is a cause of ministerial anxiety.—“For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith” (ver. 5). It has been pithily said, “Calamity is man’s true touchstone.” The strongest have then become a prey to the malice and subtlety of Satan. The faithful minister, knowing the perils of suffering and the awful consequences of apostasy, is anxiously concerned about the faith of his converts. “There are three modes of bearing the ills of life—by indifference, which is the most common; by philosophy, which is the most ostentatious; and by religion, which is the most effectual” (Colton). II. That suffering exposes God’s people to the disturbing forces of Satanic temptations.—“Lest by some means the tempter have tempted you” (ver. 5). 1. A suggestive designation of Satan.—“The tempter.” What unspeakable vileness, ruin, misery, and terror are suggested by that name! All human woe may be traced directly up to him. The greatest champions of Christendom, such as Paul and Luther, had the most vivid sense of the personality, nearness, and unceasing counter-working of this great adversary of God and man. There is need of sleepless vigilance and prayer. 2. The versatility of Satanic temptations.—“Lest by some means.” He may descend suddenly, clothed with terror and burning with wrath, to surprise and terrify into sin. More frequently he appears in the seductive and more dangerous garb of an angel of light, the deceptive phantom of what he once was. Infinite are his methods; his aim is one—to suggest doubts and impious references as to God’s providential dealings of severity, and to produce apostasy from the faith. III. That the temptations of a suffering state imperil the work of God’s servants.—“And our labour be in vain” (ver. 5). In vain as regards the great end of their salvation; they would lapse into their former heathenish state, and by apostasy lose their heavenly reward; and in vain as regards the joy which the apostle anticipated from their ultimate salvation. It is true no work done for God is absolutely in vain; the worker shall receive his just reward; but it may be in vain with regard to the object to which his best efforts have been directed. It is bitterly disappointing to see the work that has cost so much, utterly “Of all the sad words of tongue or pen, IV. That God’s people may triumph over the greatest suffering.—“That no man should be moved [drawn away by flattery or shaken] by these afflictions” (ver. 3). While piety is tried, it is also strengthened by suffering. The watchful and faithful soul may use his troubles as aids to a richer experience and a firmer consolidation of Christian character. “Thus God schooleth and nurtureth His people, that so, through many tribulations, they may enter into their rest. Frankincense, when it is put into the fire, giveth the greater perfume; spice, if it be pounded, smelleth the sweeter; the earth, when it is torn up by the plough, becometh more fruitful; the seed in the ground, after frost and snow and winter storms, springeth up the ranker; the nigher the vine is pruned to the stock, the greater grape it yieldeth; the grape, when it is most pressed and beaten, maketh the sweetest wine; fine gold is the better when it is cast into the fire; rough stones, with hewing, are squared and made fit for the building; cloth is rent and cut that it may make a garment; linen that is thrown into the tub, washed, and beaten, is the fairer” (Jewell). Lessons.—1.To live a godly life involves suffering. 2.A period of suffering is ever attended with powerful temptations. 3.The grace of God is sufficient to sustain and deliver His people amid the perils of acutest suffering. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Vers. 3–5. The Necessity and the Perils of Affliction.
“Oh, let him speak of comfort, ’tis —P.Mearns. MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 6. News that gladdens. With what anxiety the father entrusts his son with a commission to visit an estate in a distant land, and to investigate its affairs, which are threatened for the time being with impending dangers. He is in suspense until he receives intelligence of the safe arrival of his loved messenger, and that there is no reason for apprehension concerning the estate itself. But when that son returns in person and assures him that everything is prosperous and hopeful, the father’s satisfaction is complete. “As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country” (Prov. xv.25). Such, in a higher sense, was the experience of Paul when he despatched Timothy to inquire into the condition of the suffering Thessalonian Church, and when he brought back the cheering report as to the fidelity and affection of its persecuted members. 1. Their faith in the great truths of the Gospel was maintained.—The revelation of Divine truth is the basis of faith. This truth as it affected their salvation had been clearly, earnestly, and successfully declared to them by the apostle and his companions. They comprehended its meaning, felt its force, embraced it in their understanding and heart, and were transformed by its agency. Amid the shock of persecution, and the insidious whisperings of false teachers, they held fast to “the form of sound words” they had joyfully received. 2. Their faith as a principle of active spiritual life was maintained.—True faith is not simply a belief, but a life; not merely an assent of the mind to a grand truth or a group of correlated truths, but the impartation to the soul of a spiritual force which starts it on a new career. It forms a new era in the experience and history of the soul. It unites us to the living God, and expands to our view, however dimly, the vast outline of the life of God as the pattern of our own. Their faith, as the realisation of a life springing from God and leading to God, was in sound and vigorous operation. II. The apostle was gladdened with good tidings of love manifested.—“Brought us good tidings of your charity.” Love is the legitimate fruit of a genuine faith, both in its inward experience and outward manifestation. Faith and love are indissolubly combined. “And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment” (1John iii.23). The first exercise of love is towards God; and then, in ever widening and intensified outflow, towards all whom God loves. Such love is impartial and universal—manifested towards all in whom we discern the image of God, whatever their country, colour, rank, sect, or condition. Where faith and love reign there is a living, healthy, and prosperous Church. III. The apostle was gladdened with good tidings of continued personal regard.—1.The apostle was fondly remembered. “And that ye have good remembrance of us always.” There are some scenes of nature, which, beheld but for a moment, never fade from the memory; there are some faces we can never forget; and there are some individuals, the influence of whose character remains with us as a charm and inspiration through life. The Thessalonians had good reason to remember Paul. He was the first to proclaim to them the good news of salvation; and how great was their privilege to hear the Gospel from the lips of such a preacher! He counselled them in their difficulties and sympathised with them in their sufferings. The minister who first led us to the cross will ever have the pre-eminence in our affection and the choicest spot in our memory. A high appreciation of the Christian minister is one of the evidences of possessing genuine faith and love. 2. They were as solicitous as the apostle for a renewal of Christian fellowship.—“Desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you.” There is no bond at once so tender and so strong as that existing between the preacher and his converts. He must needs love the souls he has been instrumental in saving and who are his glory and his joy. The intercourse between such is of the purest and highest kind. Never was there a more loving heart than that of the apostle Paul. The Thessalonians warmly reciprocated that love and longed to renew the fellowship by which they had so richly profited. Lessons.—1.That Church has the best reputation where faith is maintained, and love manifested. 2.The Christian minister is cheered by the affection and stability of his converts. Steadfastness of Believers a Source of True Ministerial Satisfaction. The scholar finds his happiness in intellectual exercises and accumulating stores of knowledge; the politician in the excitement of debate and the triumph of great principles; the scientist in testing and harmonising the laws of nature; the merchant in his gains; and the minister of God’s Word in the increase of converts to the truth, and in their consistency, fidelity, and perseverance in the practice of godliness. The truly Christian heart rejoices in the success of the Gospel in any part of the world, but more particularly in the locality where personal labour has been expended. The effect upon Paul of the good tidings from Timothy, concerning the steadfastness of the believers in Thessalonica, is described in these verses. Observe:— I. Their steadfastness was a source of genuine comfort.—1.The apostle was comforted in the midst of intense personal suffering. “Therefore, brethren, we were comforted in all our affliction and distress” (ver. 7). Paul was in Corinth when he received Timothy’s report. In that city the customary opposition of the Jews rose to an unwonted pitch of malignity, and even blasphemy, so much so that the apostle resolved to abandon them to their fate—“He shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles” (Acts xviii.6). So great was his anguish on behalf of his own countrymen, and so manifold his cares, privations, and perils, that the Lord thought it needful to encourage him with a vision, saying, “Be not afraid: I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee” (Ibid., 9, 10). The bitterness of his afflictions at this time was sweetened by hearing of the constancy of his Thessalonian converts. It revived, refreshed, and strengthened him. The faithlessness and disobedience of the people are a grief to the true minister now; but at last the horror will be theirs. 2. The apostle was comforted concerning their faith.—“We were comforted over you, by your faith” (ver. 7). Timothy had been commissioned to inquire into the state of their faith, and his report was eminently satisfactory. He spoke not only of their faith as the primary root of the Christian life, the basis of all stability and fruitfulness, but of its active outgoings in love to God and in affectionate remembrance of the apostle. The Church is in danger and a cause of deep anxiety when the faith wavers. II. Their steadfastness intensified the pleasure of living.—“For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord” (ver. 8). The apostle was perhaps more than usually despondent when Timothy arrived. The good news thrilled his soul with new life. For now, whatever else befall—now, in the face of Jewish fury and Gentile scorn—now, amid infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions, distresses, and deaths oft—now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. The relation of the minister to his people is so close and vital that they have in their power to make his life happy or supremely miserable. There is a method of destroying life without its becoming utterly extinct. Ezekiel speaks of the false prophets whose lies made the hearts of the righteous sad; and we read of Elijah, under the juniper tree, sighing for death because of the idolatry and wickedness of Judah. To lessen the cheerful flow of life, and depress the spirits of the man of God, is a species of murder; to starve him into submission by studied neglect and privation is diabolical. The ministerial life and energy of even an apostle depended on the sympathy, faith, and steadfastness of the brethren (3John3, 4). III. Their steadfastness was productive of grateful joy.—1.This joy was copious and sincere.—“For the joy wherewith we joy before our God” (ver. 9). The transitions of the emotions are rapid. From the midst of the apostle’s grief a 2. This joy arose from a disinterested love.—“For your sakes” (ver. 9). True love gives us an interest in the safety and happiness of others. He who possesses this never lacks joy; it flows not on his own behalf, it does on behalf of others. Bernard has said: “Of all the motions and affections of the soul, love is the only one we may reciprocate with God; to re-love Him is our happiness; woe if we answer Him not in some measure of re-loving affection.” 3. This joy was expressed in fervent thanksgiving.—“What thanks can we render to God again for you?” (ver. 9). His gratitude was so great that he knew not how to give it adequate expression. The grateful heart prizes blessings that may seem to others of small value. He rendered thanks to God, the Author and Preserver of their faith. The heartiest thanksgiving seems cold and utterly insufficient when compared with the mercies of God. IV. Their steadfastness excited an earnest longing for the opportunity of imparting additional good.—1.The apostle assiduously prayed for the opportunity of a personal interview. “Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face” (ver. 10). The longer the absence, the more eagerly he desired to see them. The good tidings of their constancy increased the desire. A love like his could be satisfied only with personal spiritual intercourse. It was not enough simply to write. Voice and manner have a pre-eminent charm in the interchange of mind with mind. Reading, praying, and all other endeavours will be unavailing if we despise prophesying—the oral declaration of the truth. 2. The apostle sought this interview to supply what was deficient in their faith.—“And might perfect that which was lacking in your faith” (ver. 10). None so perfect in faith as not to be susceptible of improvement. Faith is based on knowledge; and as knowledge, especially in the things of God, is capable of indefinite extension, so faith may be continually increased—broadening and deepening its foundation and consolidating its structure. The less distinctly the great subjects of faith are understood, the more defective is faith; the more explicit, the more perfect. They most vaunt of faith who have least experience in its practice. “Empty vessels sound the loudest.” We have all need to cry, “Lord, increase our faith.” Lessons.—1.The true minister cannot be indifferent to the spiritual state of his people. 2.The fidelity and perseverance of believers is an inspiration and unspeakable joy to the anxious worker. 3.Faith and practice powerfully react upon each other. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Vers. 7–10. Glad Tidings of Christian Steadfastness—
Vers. 9, 10. Religious Joy—
A Comprehensive Apostolic Prayer. The prayers of the apostle Paul are among his sublimest utterances. The frequency with which they occur in his writings indicates the habitual devoutness of his mind. In both the epistles to the Thessalonians nearly every chapter is distinguished and sealed by a fervent outbreathing of his soul to God. In these verses he expresses, in the most comprehensive and suggestive terms, his dearest wishes for the welfare of the Church. I. This prayer recognises the essential oneness of the Father and the Son.—1.Christ is invoked equally with the Father. “Now God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (ver. 11). The word “Himself” stands foremost in the sentence and refers to both persons, as if the writer said, “May our God and Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself direct our way unto you.” It should be also noted that the verb “direct,” belonging to both persons, is in the singular number. This fact was urged as an important point by Athanasius in the great Arian controversy in the fourth century. As the Son partakes equally with the Father in the honour of invocation, so also in excellency of nature. Divine properties are also ascribed to the Son in overruling by His providence the affairs of men. “What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (John v.19). 2. It is the privilege of the believer to realise a personal interest in the Father and in the Son.—By an act of appropriating faith we can say, God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Similar phrases occur no less than twenty-six times in these two epistles. Blessed confidence! What a wealth of tenderness, of comfort, of satisfying assurance, and of joyous triumph is involved in the earnest, trustful cry of the soul—My God! my Saviour! II. This is a prayer for providential guidance in securing a much desired interview.—“Direct our way unto you” (ver. 11). Hitherto the way to Thessalonica had been insuperably blocked up. The brethren there were as eager to welcome Paul as he was to be present with them; but Satan had hindered by interposing many obstacles. Nevertheless, let God give the signal and all impediments from men or devils would vanish. The road would at once become straight and plain. God should be recognised in the simplest affairs of life. “It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jer. x.23); and only those journeys are prosperous wherein God is pilot. There are crises in life when everything depends on being guided in the right way—e.g. in selecting a school or college, entering on the religious life, commencing business, contemplating marriage, or in change of residence. In these and all other matters acknowledge God, and He shall direct thy paths (Prov. iii.6). Our prayer for guidance must ever be in submission to the Divine will. The apostle’s prayer was not answered immediately; five years elapsed before he again visited Macedonia. That path is safest and best in which God’s finger points. Let His call be our loadstar; His hand the cloud, to move or pause as He directs. III. This is a prayer for the bestowal of an increased measure of the highest Christian affection.—1.Christian love is progressive and mutual. “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another” (ver. 12). The apostle had before commended their labour of love, and Timothy had brought good tidings of their continued love. Now he prays they may increase and excel more and more. Love is the indispensable badge of the genuine Christian. He cannot have too much of it—the more the better. It grows with all other graces and causes them to grow. There is no limit to its expansion but our finiteness. But love must be mutual in its exercise—“one toward another.” “For this is the message,” says St. John, “that ye heard from the beginning, 2. Christian love is unselfish.—“And toward all men” (ver. 12). The old Levitical law declared, “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Lev. xix.18). And the New Testament reiterates the truth, that charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned is the fulfilling of the royal law (1Tim. i.5). 3. Here we have Christian love practically exemplified.—“Even as we do towards you” (ver. 12). Paul and his co-labourers had given unmistakable evidence of their sincere love for the Thessalonian converts in their self-denying labours, uncomplaining sufferings, and unceasing anxiety on their behalf (ch. ii.8, 9, 13; ch. iii.3–5). Love is the soul of self-sacrifice, prompts to labour, braves all suffering, and persists in doing good to others, even to those who least appreciate and most violently oppose the best endeavours. Ministers should exemplify in their own lives what they prescribe to others. IV. This is a prayer for confirmation in a state of unblameable personal purity.—1.There is no stability in Christian graces apart from love. “To the end he may establish your hearts” (ver. 13). If it were possible to possess every other grace but love, it would be like a varied summer landscape, very beautiful but transient, having in it no element of permanency. Above all other graces we are exhorted to “put on charity which is the bond of perfectness” (Col. iii.14)—a girdle which adorns and binds together all the rest. Love is the fulfilling of the law, the infallible test and evidence of stability. 2. Unblameable holiness is the legitimate and necessary outcome of love.—“To the end He may stablish your hearts in holiness” (ver. 13). The apostle prays for an increase of love in order to the attainment of a higher personal purity. All defects in obedience issue from a defect in love. Our love of God makes us solicitous to know and obey Him and fearful to offend Him. Our love of man makes us careful to preserve his honour, life, and possessions, and in no way to impair his happiness. The whole of the law is love. There is no duty to God or man but love inclines unto, and no sin from which it does not restrain. To be unblameable in holiness, store the soul with love. When love fails, obedience and all holy duties fail. 3. Holiness screens the soul from Divine censure at the second advent of Christ.—“Unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints” (ver. 13). Christ will come in glorious pomp attended by His holy ones—saints and angels. He who remains steadfast in holiness shall be held blameless then. Our outer life may be censured by men; but if God, even our Father, who stablishes our hearts in holiness, absolves and approves, it will be enough. That holiness alone is genuine which will bear the searching scrutiny of Omniscience. Lessons.—1.Recognise God in every event of life. 2.To attain the highest degree of personal purity pray for an increase of love. 3.Act in all things so as to secure the Divine approval. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Vers. 12, 13. A Prayer for Growth in Personal Piety—
Ver. 13. The Coming of Christ—
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES. Ver. 1. And to please God, so ye would abound more and more.—R.V. inserts “even as ye do walk after God.” Ver. 2. What commandments.—R.V. “charge”; margin, “charges.” “The Greek word signifies an announcement, then a command or advice publicly delivered” (Findlay). Ver. 3. Your sanctification, etc.—“The reception of Christianity never delivers, as with the stroke of a magician, from the wickedness and lusts of the heathen world which have become habitual; rather a long and constant fight is necessary for vanquishing them” (Huther). The sanctification here is first negative—abstinence. Ver. 4. How to possess his vessel.—R.V. “to possess himself of his own vessel.” With the long list of names in view of those who interpret “vessel” as meaning “body,” it is almost daring to hint at another meaning. The list, however, is strong of those who regard the expression as a figurative designation for a wife, and 1Pet. iii.7 decides us. Ver. 5. Not in the lust of concupiscence.—R.V. “not in the passion of lust.” “The word ‘passion’ signifies not so much a violent feeling as an overpowering feeling, one to which a man so yields himself that he is borne along by evil as if he were its passive instrument; he has lost the dignity of self-rule, and is the slave of his lower appetites” (Findlay). Ver. 6. That no man go beyond and defraud.—R.V. “transgress, and wrong.” “More exactly, that none overreach and take advantage of his brother in the matter. ‘The matter’ of the last two verses.... The apostle sets the wrong in the strongest light; it is to cheat one’s brother, and that in what touches most nearly the sanctities of life” (Ibid.). The Lord is the avenger.—The heathen deities, so far as they were anything, were oftener patterns than avengers of such things, and they who made them were only too like them. Ver. 8. He therefore that despiseth.—Margin and R.V. “rejecteth.” He who pushes aside sanctification in his preference for uncleanness will have to reckon with God Himself. Ver. 9. Ye have no need that one write to you.—St. Paul admits the brotherly love amongst them. It was adroit on his part, therefore, to make uncleanness an offence against brotherly love. Taught of God.—Is an expression only found here in the New Testament. We are reminded of Isa. xxviii.26. The mother-wit of the farmer who had no “school of agriculture” is traced by the prophet to God; he is God-taught to distinguish his methods. So these Thessalonians took to brotherly love naturally, as we say. Ver. 10. We beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more.—Brotherly love is a good thing, of which St. Paul evidently thought too much could not be had. Ver. 11. Study to be quiet.—R.V. margin, “Go: be ambitious.” “An example of St. Paul’s characteristic irony; the contrast between ambition and quiet, giving a sharper point to his exhortation, as though he said, ‘Make it your ambition to have no ambition!’ ” (Ibid.). To do your own business.—To be occupied with your own affairs. Ver. 12. That ye may walk honestly.—The adverb here is used to match the verb—to walk with a dignified and gentlemanly bearing. St. Paul’s ideas of gentlemanliness—“working with the hands”—would not suit the youth of gentlemanly habits who wants to be adopted where he will have nothing to do. And may have need of nothing.—What a nobly independent soul! What a splendid text these verses would make for some plain words to Christians who indulge in sharp practices, or waste until they have to throw themselves on any one who will support them! Ver. 13. Them which are asleep.—The R.V. reading changes the perfect participle (“them who have fallen asleep and continue to sleep”) unto the present, “them that fall asleep,” as they drop off one after another. See on the expression our Lord’s beautiful words, Luke viii.52; John xi.11 f. Ver. 16. With a shout.—Like the ring of command heard over the noise of battle. “We must not look for literal exactness where things are depicted beyond the means of sense” (Findlay). With the trump of God.—The trumpet here, like that in 1Cor. xv.52, is the military trumpet. Ver. 17. Shall be caught up.—The idea conveyed by the word is that of sudden or violent seizure, as when the fiery messengers carried off the prophet Elijah, or as when St. Paul was “caught up” to the third heaven. MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 1–3. Earnest Exhortations to a Higher Sanctity. Purity is the perfection of the Christian character. It is the brightest jewel in the cluster of saintly excellencies, and that which gives a lustre to the whole. It is not so much the addition of a separate and distinct grace as it is the beauteous and harmonious development of all the graces in the most perfect form. As Flavel has said: “What the heart is to the body, that the soul is to the man; and what health is to the heart, holiness is to the soul.” Purity is the sound, healthy condition of the soul and its vigorous growth towards God. In the concluding prayer of the preceding chapter the apostle indicates that God will, through His spirit, fill the Thessalonians with love—the great distinctive feature of a genuine and higher sanctity. He now urges upon them the necessity of earnest and persistent endeavours after its attainment. Human agency is not annihilated but stimulated by the Divine. Observe:— I. That a higher sanctity consists in living under a sense of the Divine approval.—1.Religion is a life. “How ye ought to walk” (ver. 1). A walk implies motion, progression, continual approach to a definite goal. Religion is not an ornament to wear, a luxury to enjoy, a ceremony to observe, but a life. It penetrates every part of our nature, throbs in every pulse, shares every joy and sorrow, and fashions every lineament of character. We make sad mistakes; but there is goodness hived, like wild honey, in strange nooks and corners of the world. 2. Religion is a life modelled after the worthiest examples.—“As ye have received of us how ye ought to walk” (ver. 1). The Thessalonians not only received the wisest counsels from their teachers, but they witnessed their holy and consistent lives; and their attention was constantly directed to the all-perfect example—Christ Jesus. It is the tendency of all life to shape itself after the character of its strongest inward force. The love of God is the mightiest power in the life of the believer; and the outer manifestation of that life is moulded according to the sublime pattern of the inner Divine ideal. 3. Religion is a life which finds its chief joy in the Divine approval.—“And to please God” (ver. 1). It is possible, then, so to live as to please God. What a powerful incentive to a holy life is the thought, the Lord taketh pleasure in His people! We can rise no higher in moral excellence than to be acceptable to God. To enjoy the sense of His approval fills the cup of happiness to the brim. In vain, the world frowns or demons rage, if God smiles. The learned and pious Donne, when taking solemn farewell of his friends on his deathbed, said: “I count all that part of my life lost which I spent not in communion with God or in doing good.” II. That the necessity of a higher sanctity is enforced by Divine authority.—“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification” (ver. 3). 1. A higher sanctity involves a conformity to the Divine nature.—God is holy, and the loftiest aim of the believer is to be like Him. There is to be not only an abstinence from all that is impure, but a positive experience of its opposite—purity. By faith we participate in the Divine nature and possess qualities analogous to those which constitute the Divine perfections—mercy, truth, justice, holiness. The grand purpose of redemption is to bring man into holiest fellowship with God. 2. A higher sanctity is in harmony with the Divine will.—“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.” Not only the attitude and tendency of the soul, but all its active outgoings must be holy. Such is the will of God. What He proscribes must be carefully avoided; what He prescribes must be cheerfully and faithfully done in the manner He prescribes it. His will is here emphatically expressed; it is supported by abundant promises of help; and it is declared that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. The will of God is at once the highest reason, the strongest motive, and the final authority. 3. The Divine will regarding a higher sanctity is enforced by duly authorised messengers and well-understood precepts.—“For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus” (ver. 2). The Divine will is expressed in definite commandments. The apostle did not assume authority in any dictatorial spirit. He delivered unto others, and powerfully enforced what he had received “by the Lord Jesus” (Rom. xiv.14). He taught them to observe all things whatsoever the Lord had commanded—all those things, only those, and no others. These precepts were well known, “For ye know what commandments we gave you.” Obedience should ever be in proportion to knowledge. Knowledge and practice are mutually helpful to each other. Knowledge, the mother of practice; practice, the nurse of knowledge. To know and not to do is to incur the heaviest condemnation. A certain Stoic, speaking of God, said: “What God wills, I will; what God wills not, I will not; if He will that I live, I will live; if it be His pleasure that I die, I will die.” Ah! how should the will of Christians stoop and lie down at the foot of God’s will! “Not my will, but Thine be done” (Luke xxii.42). III. That the possession of a higher sanctity is repeatedly urged by earnest exhortations.—“Furthermore then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you” (ver. 1). Doctrine without exhortation makes men all brain, no heart; exhortation without doctrine makes the heart full, leaves the brain empty. Both together make a man. The apostle laboured in both, and it is difficult to say in which of the two he displayed most earnestness. In addition to all he had urged before, he beseeches and exhorts the Thessalonians to press onward to higher attainments; in which we have a fine example of the combination of a tender, brotherly entreaty, with the solemn authority of a Divinely commissioned ambassador. Some people, says a certain writer, are as thorns; handle them roughly and they pierce you; others as nettles—rough handling is best for your safety. A minister’s task is an endless one. Has he planted knowledge?—practice must be urged. Is the practice satisfactory?—perseverance must be pressed. Do Lessons.—The believer is called to the attainment of a higher sanctity.—1.By the voice of God. 2.By the voice of His faithful ministers. 3.And by the aspirations of the life Divinely planted within him. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Ver. 3. Uncleanness Inconsistent with a Profession of the Gospel.
Why was the Spirit sent? or, We must needs be Holy.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 3–7. Distinctive Features of a True Sanctification. It is comparatively easy for some minds to grasp the broad outlines of a grand undertaking, but they fail in working out the details. It is a fatal defect and involves the ruin of the whole scheme. The peculiar genius of minds like these is to deal with things in the mass; but they have not the ability or the patience to master a numerous and complicated series of minute particulars. They are more theoretical than practical; they are strong in the concrete, but feeble in the abstract faculty. So it is possible to form a bold conception of some great, leading Christian virtue, to expatiate on its exquisite beauty, to exalt in grandiose terms its supernatural dignity, and to enforce with magisterial importance its superlative necessity, but all the while to be lamentably deficient in practical attention to the thousand and one little details which, in every-day life, constitute the essence of the virtue. Sanctification is an aspect of the Christian life, facile and seductive in theory, but difficult and commonplace in practice. It is the essence and perfection of the Christian life, and is attained, not by some magical feat of the mental powers, but by patient plodding, stern conflicts, and hard-won moral victories. It is the sublime but little understood science of living aright, in the sight of God and man. Secretary Walsingham, in writing to Lord Burleigh, said: “We have lived long enough to our country, to our fortunes, and to our sovereign; it is high time that we began to live for ourselves and for our God.” In the above verses are portrayed the distinctive feature of a true sanctification. Observe:— I. A true sanctification consists in the maintenance of a personal chastity.—1.This involves an abstinence from gross sensual indulgence. “That you should 2. Involves a rigid maintenance of bodily purity.—“That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour” (ver. 4). The vessel of the body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and whatever would defile or disgrace that sacred shrine must be carefully avoided. The apostle seems to imply there is a kind of art in chastity which all should practise. “That every one of you should know”—should have skill—the power of self-control. Christianity is the science of sciences, the art of living well, and no small skill is necessary in regulating the exercise of the Christian virtues. To possess—to rule the body in purity, keep a diligent guard upon the senses (Job xxxi.1; Prov. xxiii.33; Gen. xxxix.6, 7), avoid the company of the sensual; be temperate; be industrious; continue instant in prayer. 3. Involves a masterly restraint upon the passionate outgoings of evil desire.—“Not in the lust of concupiscence; not in the passion of lust; even as the Gentiles which know not God” (ver. 5). Ignorance is the origin of unchastity; and the apostle shows to what extent of wickedness man may go who knows not God. An old writer says, “Ignorance is a master, a mother-sin; pull it, thou pullest all sin.” Concupiscence is the rudimentary stage of evil desire; unchecked, it spreads through the soul, inflames the passions, and rises into an ungovernable tempest of lust. Evil must be restrained in its earliest manifestation, banished from the region of thought. The longer it is harboured, the more powerful it becomes. “We are not worst at once—the course of evil II. A true sanctification consists in the universal exercise of strict justice.—1.That no violation of justice is allowable. “That no man go beyond or defraud his brother in any matter” (ver. 6). The prohibition extends not only to acts of unchastity, but to all the transactions of life. The value of a commodity is governed by its use, its relation to the immediate wants of man. In nature that which has life and sense is more excellent than an inanimate creature; in this view an insect is superior to a diamond. But with regard to use, a loaf of bread is of more value than a thousand insects. Justice requires there should be a fair proportion between a thing and its price. To exact a price which is beyond the worth of the commodity sold, or to give a sum which is below its due value, is to overreach on the part of either the seller or the buyer. The commercial world of the present day might ponder with advantage the lessons to be learnt from the practice of an ancient Christian simplicity. The man who begins a course of dishonesty by defrauding a stranger will soon reach the point of cheating his dearest brother and chuckle at his unjust success. III. That a true sanctification recognises the supreme authority of the Divine call.—“For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (ver. 7). A holy life gives no licence to sin. Everything is in favour of holiness—the Caller is holy (1Pet. i.15), the instrument holy (John xvii.17), and the Spirit, the immediate worker, is the fountain of all holiness. Religion is a holy calling, because it leads to holiness; and though it finds us not holy, yet it makes us so. They answer not their calling who commit any manner of sin. Unmercifulness, cruelty, fornication, and uncleanness are not of God. In every temptation to evil remember the Divine calling. Lessons.—A true sanctification—1.Provides for the chastity of the whole man. 2.Governs all the transactions of daily life. 3.Responds to the highest call of God. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Ver. 6. Reason for Conscientiousness.—A man was once asked why he was so very particular to give good measure—over good—and he replied: “God has given me but one journey through this world, and when I am gone I cannot return to correct mistakes.” Respect for Conscientiousness.—Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, once remarked respecting one of his pupils who was in the habit of attending to all his duties conscientiously and faithfully, “I could stand hat in hand to that boy.” Ver. 7. Christian Holiness. I. The nature of holiness.—Conformity to the nature and will of God. Not to be confounded with virtue. II. The origin of holiness.—It is immediately connected with regeneration. No holiness in man previous to this. III. The progress of holiness.—The seed, the tree. The dawn, the day. The child, the man. IV. The objects of holiness.—In reference to God, to the moral law, to duty, to sin. V. The influence of holiness.—“There is an energy of moral suasion in a good man’s life passing the highest efforts of the orator’s genius. The seen but silent beauty of holiness speaks more eloquently of God and duty than the tongues of men and angels.”—G.Brooks. MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 8. A Word to the Despiser. I. The Christian minister is spiritually commissioned to exhort men to holiness.—“Who hath also given unto us His Holy Spirit.” The apostles were II. That the most faithful exhortations of the Christian minister may be despised.—This is done when men reject the Word spoken, refuse to listen to it, neglect to meditate upon it, and decline to enter upon the course of holy living which it counsels. This conduct shows:— 1. The voluntary power of man.—He can resist the truth or accept it. He is responsible for the exercise of all his moral powers, and therefore incurs guilt by any abuse of those powers. 2. The blinding folly of sin.—It darkens the understanding, perverts the will, petrifies the affections, and banishes the good that elevates and saves. Sin is also a force—a stealthy, remorseless, destructive force; wherever it breathes, it blasts and withers; wherever it plants its sharpened talons, it lacerates and destroys; and the disorder, the moral anarchy, the writhing agony of a groaning world bear witness to the terrible ravages of man’s great enemy. To wilfully reject the overtures of righteousness is to relinquish the inheritance of eternal life, and to doom the soul to the endless miseries of spiritual death. III. That to despise the faithful exhortations of the Christian minister is to despise God.—“He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God.” The contempt of the true minister does not terminate in his person alone but reaches the majesty of that Being by whom he is commissioned. To disregard the message of an ambassador is to despise the monarch he represents. The Saviour declared, “He that despiseth you, despiseth Me” (Luke x.16). As the edicts proclaimed by the public herald are not his own, but the edicts of the prince who gives them authority and force, so the commands published by the Divinely commissioned minister are not his own but belong to Him whose will is the law of the universe. It belongs to God to reveal the law, freighted with His sanction and authority; it belongs to man to declare it. The exhortation, whether uttered by a Moses, who was commended for the beauty of his personal appearance, or by a Simeon Niger, who was remarkable for his physical deformity, is equally the Word of God, to which the most reverential obedience is due. To despise the meanest of God’s ministers is an insult to the majesty of Heaven and will incur His terrible displeasure. In Retzsch’s illustrations of Goethe’s Faust there is one plate where angels are represented as dropping roses upon the demons who are contending for the soul of Faust. Every rose falls like molten metal, burning and blistering where it touches. So is it that truth acts upon the soul that has wilfully abandoned its teachings. It bewilders when it ought to guide. Lessons.—1.The Divine commands concern man’s highest good. 2.Take heed how ye hear. 3.To despise the Divine message is to be self-consigned to endless woe. Brotherly Love the Proof of a True Sanctification. Love is the bond of perfectness, the golden cincture that binds together and beautifies all the other graces of the Christian character. Christianity has rescued man from barbarism and slavery. It was the first to advocate and insist upon the common brotherhood of humanity, and, by inspiring in the heart the love of Christ, has made it possible for men to love each other as brethren. This was the most striking feature of the Christian spirit in the early times, and to which even the enemies of the Church bore testimony. In the second century the scoffing Lucian declared: “It is incredible to see the ardour with which the people of that religion help each other in their wants. They spare nothing. Their first legislator has put it into their heads that they are all brethren.” The mutual exercise of love towards the brethren is an indisputable evidence of spiritual regeneration (1John iii.14); and in this chapter the apostle evidently alludes to it as the proof of a true sanctification. Observe:— I. That brotherly love is Divinely taught.—“For ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another” (ver. 9). 1. It is commanded by Christ.—“These things I command you, that ye love one another” (John xv.17). This is a lesson the world never taught and cannot teach. The natural heart is essentially selfish and cruel, and delights in fierce aggression on the rights of others, and in angry retaliation for fancied wrongs. Brotherly love is a fruit of Christianity and is a powerful influence in harmonising the warring interests of humanity. If love prevail, other graces will not be absent. 2. It has the example of Christ.—He frequently reminds His disciples of what should be the scope and character of their love towards each other—“As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” The same glorious example was also the constant burden of the apostle’s teaching, “Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us” (John xiii.34, xv.12; Eph. v.2). Brotherly love should be pure, humble, self-denying, fervent, unchangeable. 3. It is its own commendation.—“But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you.” Love is modest and ingenuous in its exercise, making itself felt without obtrusiveness, and almost hiding itself underneath the multitude of benefits it creates. We should not hesitate to commend whatever good we see in others. The great Searcher of hearts does not pass over any good thing in a Church, though otherwise clouded with infirmities, without a laudatory notice (Rev. ii.2, 3). A word of prudent commendation will often stimulate the soul in its endeavours after holiness. 4. It is a grace Divinely wrought.—“Ye yourselves are taught of God.” The heart is powerfully inclined to the exercise of this grace by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit, not independent of but in conjunction with the outward ministry of the Word. The invariable method of Divine teaching is explained in Jer. xxxi.33; Acts xvi.14. Those are easily taught whom God doth teach. II. That brotherly love must be practically manifested.—“And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia” (ver. 10). Love is not limited by locality or distance; it is displayed, not only towards those we know and with whom we have Christian communion, but towards those whose faces we have not seen. The foreign missionary enterprise is a magnificent monument of modern Christian charity. Love should be practically manifested in supplying, as far as means and opportunity will allow, each other’s need, in bearing one another’s burdens, in forgiving one another, and, if necessary, in kindly III. That brotherly love is susceptible of continuous enlargement.—“But we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more” (ver. 10) Notwithstanding the commendation of the apostle, he exhorts the Thessalonians to seek greater perfection in this grace. What is the sun without light? What is fire without heat? So what is life without love? The rich seek to increase their store, the wicked add to their iniquities; the saint should not be less diligent in increasing unto every good word and work. “A child that stayeth at one stature and never groweth bigger is a monster. The ground that prospereth not and is not fruitful is cursed. The tree that is barren and improveth not is cut down. So must all increase in the way of godliness and go forward therein. Unless we go forward, we slip back” (Jewell). The growth of charity is extensive, as it adds to the number of the objects loved, and intensive as to its inward fervour and tenacity. The more we apprehend the love of God to ourselves, the more our hearts will enlarge in love to Him and all saints. True brotherly love crushes all self-love and is more anxious to hide than pry into the infirmities of others. Seldom is a charitable man curious, or a curious man charitable. Lessons.—1.That brotherly love is the practical manifestation of the love of God in man. 2.That brotherly love should be constantly cultivated. 3.That brotherly love is a crowning feature of the higher Christian life. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Vers. 9, 10. Brotherly Love—
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 11, 12. A Pacific Spirit another Proof of a True Sanctification. To pass from the subject of brotherly love to the necessity of maintaining a quiet and peaceable disposition was for the apostle a natural and suggestive transition. Love and peace are twin virtues—“Two lovely berries moulded on one stem.” Brotherly love can have no place in the heart from which peace has fled and where war and discord reign. The quiet spirit is not a weak, meaningless, cowardly condition of mind, but contains in it all the elements of patient endurance, unconquerable bravery, and inviolable moral power. It is not the quietness of the shallow lagoon, on whose surface the heaviest storm can raise but a few powerless ripples; it is rather the profound calm of the ocean, which, when roused by the tempest, is overwhelmed in its impetuous onset. Christ is likened to the lamb—gentle, harmless, pacific; but when His fury is once let loose upon the ungodly, the distracted victims will shriek for the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him that I. That a pacific spirit is to be studiously cultivated.—“And that ye study to be quiet” (ver. 11). The word “study” signifies to seek after an object with a holy and active ambition, as though it were the highest honour to possess it. How different this is from the restless spirit of the world! There is nothing some people dread so much as being quiet. They delight in a row; and if one does not happen as frequently as they wish, they make one for themselves. The political agitator, the avaricious money-getter, the fiery advocate of war, all seek to attain their selfish ends in the midst of tumult and confusion. Nor is the sacred circle of the Christian Church, which should ever be the abode of peace and harmony, free from the violence of the irrepressible disturber. There are some people who never will be still; you cannot hold them still. They are full of endless suggestions for other people to carry out. Their tongue is a perpetual clatter. They fly from one department of work to another and create distraction in each. They are always on the go. No sooner have they related to one, with such evident satisfaction, the details of the latest uproar they were in, than they are off to brew another. They try one’s temper; they harry one’s nerves; they break one’s peace most cruelly. To such people it would be the severest task to obey the apostolic injunction, “That ye study to be quiet,” and yet no one in the world has more need to do so than they. A pacific spirit cannot be secured without much self-denying effort; but it is a jewel worth all the trouble and all the sacrifice (Prov. xx.3; Col. iii.12–15). II. That a pacific spirit is attained by a persevering industry in personal duties.—1.That personal duties have the first claim upon our efforts. “Do your own business” (ver. 11). Attend first to your personal concerns—whatever comes within the compass of your general or particular calling. The man who is inattentive to his own special duties cannot with any reason dictate as to the duties of others. To do one’s own business is the best safeguard against idleness and meddling curiosity. Solomon declared, “Every fool will be meddling” (Prov. xx.3). An officious interference with the business of others creates discords. All strifes—domestic, social, ecclesiastical, and political—may be traced to meddlesomeness. The meddling man is a fool, because he gratifies his own idle curiosity at the expense of his own well-being and the happiness of others. See that the business you do is your own business, and that you let that of your neighbour’s alone. “Be not eavesdroppers, hearkening what is said or done in your neighbour’s house. Wide ears and long tongues dwell together. They that love to hear all that may be told them do also love to blab out all they hear” (Jewell). 2. That personal duties demand genuine hard work.—“And to work with your own hands” (ver. 11). The claims and enjoyments of religion do not release us from the necessity of toiling for our daily bread and providing things honest in the sight of all men. True religion rather consists in doing all the work of life with consistency, diligence, and perseverance. Manual labour is not the only form of genuine industry. The industry of some of our public men is something amazing. There is no greater foe to piety than idleness. It is the beginning of many other evils and has been the origin of many a career that has ended with the prison and the gallows. An idle man is always something worse. His brain is the shop for the devil, where he forges the most debasing fancies and plots the most pernicious schemes. Many take more pains to go to hell than almost the holiest to go to heaven. HiÈrome used to say that a man who labours disheartens even the devil himself. 3. That industry in personal duties is enforced by apostolic precept.—“As we commanded you” (ver. 11). The apostle frequently took occasion to enforce upon III. That a pacific spirit, combined with diligence, recommends Christianity to those outside the Church.—“That ye may walk honestly towards them that are without” (ver. 12). Industry is no small part of honesty. A lazy man can never be an honest one, though his chastity and fidelity were as renowned as Joseph’s, if that were possible to a mere idler. A restless, trifling busybody does unspeakable damage to religion. Many, who are Christians by profession, are often more heathenish in practice, and the blindest among the aliens are swift to detect and pronounce judgment on their dishonesty. The unbelieving world, on the other hand, is impressed and attracted by the peaceful and diligent behaviour of the faithful. Human nature is powerfully influenced by appearances. IV. That a pacific spirit, combined with diligence, ensures an honoured independence.—“And that ye may have lack of nothing” (ver. 12). It is more blessed to be able to give than to receive. What a mercy it is neither to know the power and misery of those temptations which arise from pinching poverty, nor yet to be necessitated to depend upon the cold-hearted, merciless charity of others. The patient, quiet persevering plodder in the way of Christian duty may not always be rewarded with affluence; but he is encouraged to expect, at least, a modest competency. And the very spirit he has striven to cultivate has enriched him with an inheritance, which few possibly attain—contentment with his lot. He whose is the silver and the gold will care for His loved and faithful servants (Ps. xxxvii.25). Lessons.—1.Quarrelsomeness and indolence cannot co-exist with a high degree of sanctity. 2.To secure the blessings of peace is worthy of the most industrious study. 3.The mightiest aggressions of the Gospel upon the world are made quietly. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE. Ver. 11. Study to be Quiet. I. Make it our meditation day and night and fill our minds with it. II. Put our meditation into practice. III. We must unlearn many things before we can be taught this.—1.Cast out self-love. 2.Covetousness. 3.Pull back our ambition. 4.Bind our malice. 5.Empty ourselves of all suspicion, surmising, and discontent. IV. Mind our own business.—1.Because it is becoming. 2.Brings advantage. 3.It is necessary. 4.We are commanded to do so.—Farindon. Mind your own Business.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 13, 14. Sorrow for the Dead. The Thessalonians who cherished a vivid expectation of the near approach of the second advent of Christ appear to have fallen into a misconception as to the I. That sorrow is a merciful relief to a soul bereaved.—Sorrow is nowhere forbidden. It may be an infirmity, but it is at the same time a solace. The soul oppressed and stricken by the weight of a great calamity finds relief in tears. “O ye tears! O ye tears! till I felt you on my cheek, The religion of the Bible does not destroy human passions. We do not part with our nature when we receive the grace of God. The mind that is capable of a real sorrow is capable of good. A griefless nature can never be a joyous one. II. That sorrow for the dead is aggravated by ignorance of their future destiny.—“I would not have you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (ver. 13). The radius of hope is contracted or expanded in proportion to the character and extent of intelligence possessed. Ignorant “sorrow is a kind of rust to the soul, which every new idea contributes in its passage to scour away. It is the putrefaction of stagnant life and is remedied by exercise and motion.” The heathen, who have no satisfactory knowledge of the future life, give way to an excessive and hopeless grief. DuChaillu describes a scene of wailing for the dead among the Africans. “The mother of poor Tonda,” he writes, “led me to the house where the body was laid. The narrow space of the room was crowded; about two hundred women were sitting and standing around, singing mourning songs to doleful and monotonous airs. As I stood looking, filled with solemn thoughts, the mother of Tonda approached. She threw herself at the foot of her dead son and begged him to speak to her once more. And then when the corpse did not answer she uttered a shriek, so long, so piercing, such a wail of love and grief that tears came into my eyes. Poor African mother! She was literally as one sorrowing without hope, for these people count on nothing beyond the present life.” It was the dictum of an old Greek poet—a man once dead there is no revival; and those words indicated the dismal condition of unenlightened nature in all lands and in all ages. What an urgent argument is here for increased missionary efforts among the heathen! III. That sorrow for the dead in Christ is soothed and moderated by the revelation of certain great truths concerning their present and future blessedness.—1.That death is a sleep. “Them also which sleep in Jesus” (ver. 14). The only part of man to which the figure of the text applies is the body. As to the soul, the day of death is the day of our birth into a progressive and eternal life. It is called a departure, a being with Christ—absent from the body, present with the Lord. Sleep is expressive of rest. When the toil of life’s long day is ended, the great and good Father draws the dark curtain of night and hushes His weary children to rest. “They enter into rest.” Sleep is expressive of refreshment. The body is laid in the grave, feeble, emaciated, worn-out. Then a wonderful process goes on, perceptible only to the eye of God, by which the body acquires new strength and beauty, and becomes a fit instrument and suitable residence for the glorified soul. Sleep implies the expectation of awaking. We commit the bodies of the departed to the earth in sure and certain hope of a 2. That the dead in Christ will be roused from their holy slumber and share in the glory of His second advent.—“Will God bring with Him” (ver. 14). The resurrection of the dead is a Divine work. “I will redeem them from the power of the grave” (Hos. xiii.14). Christ will own His people in their persons, their services, and their sufferings. They shall receive His entire approval, be welcomed by Him into His everlasting kingdom, and crowned by Him with glory and the affluence of incorruptible bliss. 3. That the resurrection of Christ from the dead is a pledge of the restoration and future blessedness of all who sleep in Him.—“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him” (ver. 14). Christ Himself is the resurrection, not only as revealed in His Word and exemplified in His own person, but as specially appointed by the Father to effect it by His own power (John v.25, vi.39). The Word of God sheds a light across the darkness of the grave and opens a vista radiant with hope and immortal happiness. “Let me penetrate into Thy heart, O God,” said an afflicted saint, “and read the love that is there. Let me penetrate into Thy mind, and read the wisdom that is there; then shall I be satisfied—the storm shall be turned into calm.” A vital knowledge of Christ silences every murmur and prepares for every emergency. Lessons.—1.An ignorant sorrow is a hopeless one. 2.To rise with Jesus we must live and die to Him. 3.Divine revelations regarding the future life greatly moderate the grief of the present. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Vers. 13, 14. The Sleep of the Faithful Departed.
Lessons.—1.We ought to mourn rather for the living than for the dead. 2.In very truth it is life rather than death that we ought to fear.—H.E. Manning. Ver. 14. The Resurrection of the Body.
The author discusses this event as the second coming of Christ. The Transcriber finds the second coming described in Rev. xix.11-21. This passage describes “the rapture of the church” which precedes the seven years of Tribulation described in Revelation chapters iv.—xviii. The second coming is a time of judgment; the rapture gathers the church prior to Daniel’s Seventieth Week, a time of great trial for the people and nation of Israel. The rapture is as a thief in the night; at the second coming, every eye shall see Him. MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 15–18. The Second Advent of Christ. Among the words of consolation in the valedictory discourse of Christ to His disciples was the promise, after His departure, He would come again and receive them unto Himself. Time has sped noiselessly along; events of vast magnitude have rapidly succeeded each other, and left their lessons for the ages to ponder; nations have passed through the throes of suffering and revolution; generation after generation has gone down to the grave; for nearly nineteen hundred years the Church has been strained with profound, intense, and anxious expectancy: but still the promise remains unfulfilled. Will He come? Are the hopes of the Church doomed to be for ever unsatisfied? Must the bodies of the pious dead be for ever shut down in the sepulchres of land and sea? Will I. That the second advent of Christ is the subject of Divine revelation.—“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord” (ver. 15). In a subject of such vast moment the apostle was anxious to show that he had the highest and most incontrovertible authority for the statements he uttered. He had a special revelation from heaven and spoke under the direct and immediate inspiration of the Divine Spirit. The second advent of Christ is emphatically taught in the Holy Scriptures (cf. Matt. xxiv.3, xxv.31; Mark viii.3; John xiv.3; Acts i.2, iii.19, 20; Rom. viii.17; 1Cor. i.8; 2Tim. iv.1; Tit. ii.13; 1Pet. i.5; 2Pet. iii.12; Jude14). II. That the second advent of Christ will be distinguished by signal tokens of terrible majesty.—1.There will be the triumphant shout of the Divine Redeemer. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout” (ver. 16). Just before Jesus expired on the cross He cried with a loud voice, and though there was the ring of victory in that cry, it sounded more like a conscious relief from unutterable suffering. But the shout of Jesus on his second coming will be like the loud, clear, joyous battle-shout of a great Conqueror. That shout will break the silence of the ages, will startle the universe into attention, will raise the dead, and summon all people into the presence of the victorious Messiah. Formerly He did “not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street” (Isa. xlii.2). But now is the revelation of His power. “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence” (Ps. l.3, 4). 2. There will be the voice of the archangel (ver. 16).—The angelic hosts are arranged in an hierarchy of various ranks and orders. The archangel is the chief of the heavenly multitude. In response to the majestic shout of the descending Lord, the archangel lifts up his voice, like the loud cry of the herald announcing the glorious advent, and the sound is caught up and prolonged by the vast hosts of celestial attendants. 3. There will be the trumpet-blast.—“With the trump of God,” with trumpet sounded by the command of God—such a trumpet, perhaps, as is used in the service of God in heaven. Besides the shout of Jesus and the voice of the archangel, the sound of the trumpet will also be heard in the host. It is called in 1Cor. xv.52 “the last trumpet”; and in Matt. xxiv.31 we read, “He shall send His angels with great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect.” Among the Hebrews, Greeks, and ancient Latins it was the custom to summon the people with the trumpet. In this way God is said to gather His people together (Isa. xxvii.13; Jer. iv.5, vi.1). The whole passage is designed to show that the second advent of King Messiah will be attended by the most imposing evidences of pomp and regal splendour. III. That the second advent of Christ will be followed by important consequences to the people of God, living and dead.—1.The pious dead shall be raised. “When we which are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. And the dead in Christ shall rise first” (vers. 15, 16). The living at that day—who, it would seem, would be spared the necessity of dying and seeing corruption—shall, nevertheless, have no advantage over the dead. Before any change takes place in the living to fit them for the new condition of things, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and be clothed with immortality 2. The living and the raised shall unite in a simultaneous greeting of their descending Lord.—“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (ver. 17). The living, after passing through the wondrous change from mortal to immortal, shall not anticipate for a single moment the newly raised bodies of the pious dead, but together with them, in one reunited, loving, inseparable company, shall be caught away in chariots of clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and greet Him in the descent. He comes to fulfil His promise (John xiv.3). 3. All believers in Christ shall be assured of eternal felicity with Him.—“And so shall we ever be with the Lord” (ver. 17). For ever with the Lord in familiar companionship—in rapturous communion, in impending glory, in ever-enchanting revelations. With Him, not occasionally, or for an age, or a millennium, but uninterruptedly for ever, without the possibility of separation. How great the contrast with the brightest experiences of this changeful life! There are three things which eminently distinguish the heavenly life of the soul—perfection, perpetuity, immutability. IV. That the contemplation of the second advent of Christ is calculated to minister consolation to the sorrowing.—“Therefore comfort one another with these words” (ver. 18). A community in suffering creates a community in sympathy. “If a thorn be in the foot, the back bows, the eye is busy to pry into the hurt, the hands do their best to pluck out the cause of anguish; even so we are members one of another. To him that is afflicted, pity should be showed from his friend” (Job vi.14). The best consolation is that which is drawn from the revelations of God’s Word. There are no comforts like Scripture comforts. The bereaved were sorrowing for their loved ones who had been smitten down by death and were full of anxiety and uncertainty about the future. Shall they meet again, or are they parted for ever? The teaching of inspiration on the second coming of Christ assures them that their departed relatives shall be rescued from the power of death, that they shall meet again, meet in glory, meet to part no more, to be for ever with each other and with the Lord. Lessons.—1.The Church is justified in looking for the second advent of Christ. 2.The second advent of Christ will bring an everlasting recompense for the suffering and sorrow of the present life. 3.The record that reveals the second advent of Christ should be fondly prized and constantly pondered. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Vers. 15–18. The Second Coming of Christ and Sorrow for the Dead.
I. We must observe a rule and method in this duty. II. This method is taught not in the school of nature, but of Christ.—1.In general, we must comfort one another with the Word of God. 2.We must comfort one another with the Scripture teaching on the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the dead.—Farindon. CHAPTER V.CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES. Ver. 1. Times and seasons.—The one is the even, continuous flow of the river, the other is the cataract. Seasons we may represent as epochs. Our Lord in the same words refused to gratify the curiosity of His followers (Acts i.7). Ver. 2. For yourselves know perfectly.—The adverb here is the same as in Eph. v.15 (A.V. “circumspectly,” R.V. “carefully”). It is used five times only in the New Testament. The translations are interesting—Matt. ii.8: A.V. “diligently,” R.V. “carefully.” Luke i.3: R.V. “accurately.” Acts xviii.25 (like Matt. ii.8). Perhaps the Thessalonians had asked for precise information. “The apostle replies, with a touch of gentle irony, ‘You already know precisely that nothing precise on the subject can be known’—that the great day will steal upon the world like a thief in the night.” (Findlay). Ver. 3. For when they shall say.—R.V. “when they are saying.” No matter at what hour they say, “Peace and security,” like the voice of the watchman crying, “All’s well.” Then sudden destruction.—The word for “sudden” is only found again at Luke xxi.34 in the New Testament. It is really unforeseen. As travail.—In the simile there is the suggestion that the day cannot be far off though not exactly known. Ver. 5. Children of light.—Quite an Oriental expression. The kings of Egypt called themselves “children of the sun.” So these of a better sun. Ver. 6. Let us watch and be sober.—Ever on the alert as men who live in hourly expectation of their Lord’s arrival. It is precisely they who maintain the preparedness of spirit who are calm when the midnight cry rings out, “The bridegroom cometh.” Ver. 7. They that be drunken are drunken in the night.—The explanation is given in our Lord’s words—“because their deeds are evil”: as though darkness could veil the loss of self-respect. Ver. 9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath.—The inevitable sequence of a life of sensual gratification. The very severest forms of expression for wrath fell from the gentlest lips concerning the servant who falls to gluttony and drunkenness because his lord does not appear at the expected hour (Luke xii.45, 46). Ver. 12. Them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord.—“A clear testimony, from this earlier New Testament writing, to the existence in the Church at the beginning of a ministerial order—a clergy as distinguished from the laity—charged with specific duties and authority. But there is nothing in grammar nor in the nature of the duties specified which would warrant us in distributing these functions amongst distinct orders of Church office” (Ibid.). Ver. 13. And to esteem them very highly in love.—R.V. “exceeding highly”—the same Greek adverb as in ch. iii.10, the strongest intensive possible to the language. So deep and warm should be the affection uniting pastors and their flocks. Their appreciation is not to be a cold esteem (Ibid.). Ver. 14. Warn them that are unruly.—R.V. “admonish the disorderly.” Every Church knows these characters—men who will break through all restraint. Comfort the feeble-minded.—R.V. “encourage the faint-hearted.” In ch. ii.11 we have met the verb before. The feeble-minded would have been scarcely worth the pity of the philosophers with whom alone the great-souled man was supreme. The comfort in that teaching, for the hour when the strong shall be as tow, was very scanty and inadequate. Support the weak.—So be like the Lord who “upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down” (Ps. cxlv.14). Be patient toward all men.—R.V. “longsuffering.” It is the very opposite of what we mean by being “short-tempered.” Ver. 19. Quench not the Spirit.—When there has been excess, and a good has come into disrepute, it is natural to seek to stifle down further manifestations of it. The energy of the Holy Spirit, like Pentecostal flame, is regarded as being capable of extinction. Ver. 20. Despise not prophesyings.—Do not set down as of no value, prophesyings. The word for “despise” is used of those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and set at nought others (Luke xviii.9), and the contemptuous bearing of him who eats flesh with which an idol’s name has been associated, and laughs at the shuddering scruples of the brother who thinks it a dreadful thing to do, and sets him at nought (Rom. xiv.3–10). The prophesyings at Corinth were such as might easily be contemned (1Cor. xiv.23). Ver. 21. Prove all things.—Make trial of all. A sentence fatal to the suppression of inquiry and to credulous faith. It forbids me to accept what is given out as prophecy even, unless it has a self-evidencing power. Hold fast that which is good.—The good here is that which is ethically beautiful. In ver. 15 another word points the contrast to the evil return of injury. Ver. 22. Abstain from all appearance of evil.—Perhaps the best idea of the word rendered “abstain” would be gained by “hold off,” in antithesis to the “hold fast” of ver. 21. Ver. 23. Sanctify you wholly. “Rather—unto completeness. The apostle prays that they may be sanctified to the fullest extent” (Ibid.). Your whole spirit... be preserved blameless.—R.V. “be preserved entire, without blame.” “From the degree of holiness desired we pass to its range, from its intension (as the logicians would say) to its extension” (Ibid.). MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 1–11. The Attitude of the Church towards the Second Coming of Christ. A book written by one who knew of the first advent of the Redeemer closes, anticipating, desiring, beseeching the second,—“Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. xxii.20). The revelation concerning that second coming is distinct and emphatic; but the exact period, when the event will happen, is wrapped in uncertainty. As when we ascend a winding river some well-known landmark appears to alter its position, seeming now distant, now near—so, at different points on the circuitous stream of life, the familiar subject of the second Advent reveals itself as a near or remote event. “It is plain,” says Archer Butler, “that that period which is distant in one scheme of things may be near in another, where events are on a vaster scale and move in a mightier orbit. That which is a whole life to the ephemera is but a day to the man; that which is in the brief succession of authentic human history is counted as remote, is but a single page in the volume of heavenly records. The coming of Christ may be distant as measured on the scale of human life, but it may be ‘near,’ and ‘at hand,’ and ‘at the door,’ when the interval of the two advents is compared, not merely with the four thousand years which were but its preparation, but with the line of infinite ages which it is itself preparing.” The uncertainty of the time of the second Advent and its stupendous issues define the attitude of the Church. I. It is an attitude of expectancy.—1.The time of the second coming is uncertain. “But of the time and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you” (ver. 1). A gentle hint that all questions on that subject were unnecessary, as there was nothing more to be revealed. The untameable curiosity and reckless daring of man tempt him to pry into secrets with which he has nothing to do and to dogmatise on subjects of which he knows the least. Many have been fanatical enough to fix the day of the Lord’s coming. For a time, there has been a local excitement; the day has come and gone; the world has moved on as before, and the prophetic enthusiasts have exposed themselves to scorn and ridicule. “Of that day and hour knoweth no man” (Mark xiii.32). This uncertainty is a perpetual stimulant to the people of God to exercise the ennobling virtues of hope, of watchfulness, of fidelity, of humility, of earnest inquiry, and of reverential awe. 3. The second coming will be terrible to the wicked.—“And they shall not escape” (ver. 3). Wicked men are never more secure than when destruction is nearest, never nearer destruction than when they are most secure. The swearer may be seized while the oath is burning on his tongue, the drunkard engulfed in judgment while the cup is trembling between his lips. The other day a certain suspension bridge was crowded with pleasure seekers; the slender erection, yielding under the unwonted strain, broke in two, and in a moment precipitated numbers into the river rolling below and into a watery grave. Not less fragile is the confidence on which the unbelieving rest; and more terrible still will be the catastrophe that will suddenly overtake them. The destruction of the wicked—of all their joy, of all they most prized in this life—will be sudden, painful, inevitable. Now there is peace, for mercy reigns; but when the great day comes there will be nothing but indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil (Rom. ii.8, 9). II. It is an attitude of vigilance.—1.This vigilance is enforced on the ground of a moral transformation. “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness” (vers. 4, 5). Believers in Christ are delivered from the power of darkness, of spiritual ignorance, of godless profanity, of dark and dangerous security, and translated into the kingdom of light, of truth, of purity, and felicity. They are children of the day when the light shines the brightest, when privileges are more abundant, when opportunities multiply, and responsibility is correspondingly increased. The light of past ages was but the dawn of the effulgent day which now shines upon the world from the Gospel sun. Every inquiring and believing soul passes from the dawn to the daylight of experimental truth. 2. This vigilance must be constant.—“Therefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night” (vers. 6, 7). Let us not, like the drunkards steeped in sottish slumber, be immersed in the deep sleep of sin and unconcern, neglecting duty, and never thinking of a judgment; but let us watch, and in order to do so effectually, be sober. We are day-people, not night-people; therefore, our work ought to be day-work, not night-work; our conduct such as will bear the eye of day and has no need to hide itself under the veil of night. A strict sobriety is essential to a sleepless vigilance. III. It is an attitude of militant courage.—“But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet the hope of salvation” (ver. 8). The Christian has to fight the enemy, as well as IV. It is an attitude of confidence as to the future blessedness of the Church.—1.This blessedness is Divinely provided. “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us” (vers. 9, 10). The whole scheme of salvation was Divinely conceived and Divinely carried out in all its essential details. And, without discussing other methods by which the salvation of the race could be effected, it is sufficient for us to know that the infallible wisdom of God provided that the death of His Son was the most effectual method. Our sins had exposed us to the wrath of God, who had declared death to be the penalty of sin. This death Christ underwent on our behalf, in our stead, and so saved us from it. In every extremity, at every new challenge of the enemy, on each successive field of effort and peril, this is the password and battle-cry of God’s people—Christ died for us. 2. This blessedness consists in a constant fellowship with Christ.—“That whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him” (ver. 10). The happiest moments on earth are those spent in the company of the good, reciprocating the noblest ideas and emotions. Christ, by dying for us, has begotten us into a life of ineffable and endless felicity; and “the hope of salvation” enables us to look forward to the period when, released from the sorrows and uncertainties of this changeful life, we shall enjoy the bliss of uninterrupted communion with Jesus. “The soul to be where Jesus is 3. The confidence of inheriting this blessedness encourages mutual edification.—“Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do” (ver. 11). “All Christians indiscriminately are to use these doctrines for mutual exhortation and mutual edification. And so the spirit of the verse will be this: Comfort one another as to this matter, and then, free from the distracting and paralysing influence of vain misgivings, go on edifying one another in all the relations, and by all the means and appliances of your Church fellowship; even as also ye do. Ye do it now, in the midst of your own secret, personal sorrows and depressing fears. But you will be able to do it more effectively, with the clearer views I have now given you of what awaits us all—those sleeping in Jesus, and us who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord” (Lillie). Lessons.—1.The great event of the future will be the second coming of Christ. 2.That event should be looked for in a spirit of sobriety and vigilance. 3.That event will bring unspeakable felicity to the good and dismay and misery to the wicked. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Ver. 2. The Day of the Lord—
Ver. 6. The Pilgrims on the Enchanted Ground. I. Hopeful keeps awake by goodly counsel and discourse. II. Ignorance comes up again.—1.Ignorance explains the ground of his hope. 2.Christian explains what good thoughts are. 3.Ignorance speaks reproachfully about things he knows not. 4.He again falls behind. III. Christian and Hopeful renew their conversation.—1.Reflections over the conduct of Ignorance. 2.Why ignorant people stifle conviction. 3.Reasons why some backslide. IV. Some lessons from this stage.—1.In times of danger it is wise to recall former experiences. 2.Human philosophy may seem very wise, but the Bible is an unfailing touchstone.—Homiletic Monthly. Moral Sleep. I. The season devoted to sleep is one of darkness.—He is in darkness as to God, himself, and the Gospel. II. Sleep is often sought for and obtained by the use of opiates.—These are: 1.The falsehoods of Satan. 2.The pleasures of sense. 3.The fellowship of the world. III. During sleep the mind is usually occupied with dreams.—The life of the ungodly is one continued dream. IV. He who is asleep is in a great measure insensible to pain.—1.The sting of sin is in man’s nature. 2.Through this sleep he feels it not.—Stewart. Vers. 9, 10. Salvation is of God. I. The choice of God.—1.It was early. 2.It was free. 3.Efficacious. 4.Appropriating. II. The work of Christ.—He died as our Substitute. 1.This fact explains His death. 2.Vindicates the justice of God in His death. 3.Displays the love of Christ. III. The privilege and duty of Christians.—1.Life in Christ. 2.Life with Christ. 3.In Him and with Him here and hereafter.—G.Brooks. MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 12, 13. The Treatment due to the Ministerial Office. An excessive modesty prevents many ministers from calling attention to the sacred office they hold, and to the respect in which it should ever be regarded by those over whom they have the oversight. Such a modesty is inexcusable. To say nothing of the contempt with which the world looks upon the ministerial office, there are thousands within the Church who are utterly ignorant of its duties and awful responsibilities, and who have but vague, distorted notions of their duty towards the men who first led them to Christ, and who have been instructing them in the truths for years. Let not the minister hesitate, even at the risk of being thought egotistical, to speak on this subject, and enforce the New Testament teaching. The apostle was not withheld by any false sense of modesty from pointing out, with all emphasis and authority, the obligations of the Church towards those who minister in the Word and doctrine. Observe:— I. The distinctive duties belonging to the ministerial office.—1.To labour. “Them which labour among you” (ver. 12), even unto weariness, as the verb signifies. The work of the faithful minister is no sinecure; it taxes all the powers of the brain and muscle. It is a work demanding prolonged and earnest study, intense feeling, and ceaseless toil. 2. To rule.—“And are over you in the Lord” (ver. 12). The minister is not simply a sort of popular delegate or hired agent, bound to receive the instructions, execute the wishes, and flatter the humours of his constituents. He is, indeed, the servant, in the proper sense of that word, but not the slave and tool of the 3. To admonish.—“And admonish you” (ver. 12). These words also qualify the nature of the rulership. It must not be a despotic lording it over God’s heritage, issuing commands with absolute and arbitrary authority, and enforcing those commands, if not instantly obeyed, with terrifying anathemas. No; he is to rule by the force of moral suasion—by instruction, admonition, advice, warning. The verb means to put in mind. To gain obedience to the right, precept must be repeatedly enforced in all the varied forms of reproof, rebuke and exhortation. II. The treatment due to the ministerial office.—1.An intelligent acknowledgment of its character. Think of its Divine appointment, its solemn responsibilities, its important work, its exhausting anxieties, its special perils. Whatever the ministers seem to you, they are the eyes of the Church and the mouth of God. Acknowledge them; sympathise with and help them; give credit to their message; they watch and pray; they study and take pains for your sake. 2. A superlative, loving regard.—“Esteem them very highly in love” (ver. 13). The adverb is particularly forcible, signifying super-exceedingly, more than exceedingly. There is a hint here to thousands in the Church at the present day, which it is hoped they will have the grace to act upon. The profound reverence and esteem to be shown to the ministerial office is to be regulated, not by fear, but by love. The hard-working, devoted, and faithful minister is worthy of all honour and affection. 3. The true ground of this considerate treatment.—“For their work’s sake” (ver. 13). Love them for your own sake; you have life and comfort by them. Honour them for their office’ sake; they are your fathers; they have begotten you in Christ; they are the stewards of God’s house, and the dispensers of His mysteries. Honour and love them for God’s sake; He has sent them and put His Word in their mouth. To love a minister is not much, except his work be that which draws out affection. He who can say, “I love a minister because he teacheth me to know God, because he informs me of duty, and reproves my declensions and backslidings”—he is the man who has satisfaction in his love. III. An important exhortation.—“And be at peace among yourselves” (ver. 13). Not simply be at peace with your pastor, but among yourselves. You are all the children of God. God is a God of peace. Discord, contention, and unquietness are fit only for the children of the devil. Live in godly unity as becometh the children of peace. This is a duty frequently enjoined (Heb. xii.14; Jas. iii.; Ps. cxli.). Let there be peace especially between the minister and his flock—no rivalry between ministers, no disputings and contentions among the people. There can be no prosperity where peace is absent. Lessons.—1.The minister is accountable to God for his fidelity. 2.The people can never profit under the minister they have not learned to respect. 3.Peace is an essential condition of success in Christian work. Vers. 12, 13. A Public Ministry—
Ver. 13. “And be at peace among yourselves.” Church Concord—
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 14, 15. A Group of Christian Precepts. The supernatural character of Christianity is not less apparent in the purity and loftiness of the morality it inculcates, than in the superiority of the truths it reveals. It is intensely practical in its teaching and aim. It is not like a glow of light that irradiates the external character for a time; it is an inward radiance that cannot help making itself visible in the outer life. It is not a sentiment; it is a principle. The moral precepts of Christianity can be appreciated and obeyed only by the soul that has become thoroughly possessed by the Christian spirit. Each precept in these verses may be fittingly used as the homiletical heading of a distinct paragraph. I. Warn them that are unruly.—The unruly are those who, like disorderly soldiers, break their ranks, and become idle, dissolute, and worthless in their lives. This disorderliness was a besetting sin of the primitive Churches, not excepting the Thessalonian. Many of them, entertaining false ideas about the nearness of Christ’s second coming, became indifferent to the ordinary work of life, and sank into listlessness and apathy, and even worse. Says the proverb, “An idle brain is the devil’s workshop,” and when a man is not diligently employed in some healthy and vigorous occupation, he is apt, notwithstanding his Christian profession, to become an instrument of evil and a disturber of the Church, the peace of which he is pledged to maintain. It is difficult to pin some people down to a bit of fair and honest work. They are full of schemes and suggestions for other people to carry out; they lay down the line of conduct with the utmost precision, but never themselves illustrate the easiness or difficulty of on keeping the line; they make laws and regulations which they never dream of observing themselves and are for ever finding fault that other people do not observe them. These are the restless gipsies of the Church, the pests of every Christian community into which they intrude, the mischief-makers and busybodies in other people’s matters. Warn such. Admonish gently at first, putting them in mind of their duty. It is the fault of many to limit admonitions to gross and grievous sins; but in these cases, warning often comes too late. If admonition in the earlier stage is not effectual, then proceed to sharper and more faithful reproof. If that is unavailing, hesitate not to take more summary measures—separate yourselves from their society. II. Comfort the feeble-minded.—More correctly—encourage the faint-hearted. The reference is not to the intellectually weak, but to such as faint in the day of adversity, or are ready to fall away before the prospect of persecution and suffering (ch. ii.14), or who are disheartened and desponding in consequence of the loss of friends (ch. iv.13). It may also include those who are perplexed with III. Support the weak.—A man may be weak in judgment or weak in practice. There may be lack of information as to certain great truths necessary to be believed and stoutly maintained, or lack of capacity in clearly understanding and grasping those truths. Such was the condition of many in the apostle’s day, who, not apprehending the complete abrogation of the Mosaic law, and thinking they were still conscientiously bound to observe ordinances, were weak in faith. Some linger for years in the misty borderland between doubt and certainty, with all its enfeebling and poisonous malaria—ever learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth. Defective faith implies defective practice. Support such with the moral influence of our sympathy, our prayers, our counsel, our example. While not countenancing their sins, we may bear or prop them up by judiciously commending in them that which is good, by not too severely condemning them in the practice of things indifferent (1Cor. ix.20), and by striving to rectify their errors with all gentleness and fidelity. IV. Be patient toward all men.—Not only toward the weak, the faint-hearted, and the disorderly, but towards all men—the most wayward and perverse, the bitterest enemies and persecutors. Consider the patience of God towards ourselves, while for years we refused His calls and despised His admonitions; and let us strive to imitate His longsuffering and kindness. Lack of present success is no warrant to any to cease from obvious duties and leave things to drift in hopeless entanglement and ruin. The triumphs of genius in art, science, and literature are triumphs of patience. V. See that none renders evil for evil unto any man.—Retaliation betrays a weak, ignoble, and cruel disposition. Pagan morality went so far as to forbid only the unprovoked injuring of others, and it is not without noble examples of the exercise of a spirit of forgiveness, “Exalted Socrates, divinely brave, The Jews prostituted to purposes of private revenge the laws which were intended to administer equitable retributions between man and man. It is Christianity alone that teaches man to bear personal injuries without retaliation. “Hath any wronged thee?” says Quarles; “be bravely avenged—slight it, and the work is begun; forgive it, and it is finished. He is below himself that is not above an injury.” Public wrongs the public law will avenge; and the final recompense for all wrong, private and public, must be left to the infallible Judge of all (Rom. xii.19, 20). VI. But ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men.—The noblest retaliation is that of good for evil. In the worst character there is some element of goodness, that may call out the desire to do good towards it. Our beneficence should be as large as an enemy’s malice (Matt. v.44, 45). That which is good is not always that which is pleasing to the objects of our benevolence, nor is it always pleasing to ourselves. Goodness should be Lessons.—1.The preceptive morality of Christianity is a signal evidence of its transcendent glory. 2.Practice is more potent than precept. 3.The Christian spirit is the root of genuine goodness. MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 16–18. The Secret of a Happy Life. Happiness is not found in anything external. It is a certain state of the soul when it is filled with the peace of God and lit up with the sunshine of heaven. It is a mockery to talk about cultivating happiness. It is not a potato to be planted in mould and tilled with manure. “Happiness is a glory shining far down upon us out of heaven. It is a Divine dew which the soul, on certain of its summer mornings, feels dropping upon it from the amaranth bloom and golden fruitage off paradise.” An aged Divine once gave this advice to a newly married pair: “Don’t try to be happy. Happiness is a shy nymph, and if you chase her, you will never catch her; but just go quietly on and do your duty, and she will come to you.” In these verses we have revealed to us the secret of a happy life. I. The secret of a happy life is found in constant and faithful discharge of Christian duties.—1.It is our duty continually to rejoice. “Rejoice evermore” (ver. 16). To rejoice is not only a privilege, but a duty; the believer is as much obliged to rejoice as he is to believe. It seems a mockery to direct people to rejoice in the midst of a world of sin, sorrow, and death, and in a Church which is sorely tried; and yet such was the condition of things when these words were penned, and when similar counsel was given to the Philippians (Phil. iv.4). Religion is never recommended by sour looks, sepulchral tones, and suppressing every external manifestation of gladness. No wonder the Christian is able to rejoice continually, when we remember the inexhaustible sources of joy he possesses in his relations to Christ, to God, and to the Holy Ghost, in the promises of the Divine Word, and in a long, beneficent, and holy life. By becoming religious, a man does not lose his joys, but exchanges them—transitory, fading, earthly joys—for joy unspeakable, glorious, and that fadeth not away. 2 It is our duty to pray always.—“Pray without ceasing” (ver. 17). As we are every moment in need, so should we every moment seek help in prayer. The Lord requires not only frequency in prayer, but also unwearied importunity. We must guard against the error of the Euchites, who flourished in the fourth century, and who regarded all other exercises of religion than inward prayer as unnecessary and vain. Live in the spirit of prayer. Let the whole work of life be as prayer offered to God. He who prays the most lives the best. Prayer surrounds the soul with a golden atmosphere, through which is sifted the sunbeams of heavenly joy. 3. It is our duty to be ever grateful.—“In everything give thanks” (ver. 18). Prayer should ever be accompanied with thanksgiving. What we may pray for, for that we must give thanks; and whatever is unfit matter for prayer is unfit for thanksgiving. The Christian can meet with nothing in the way of duty that is not a cause for thankfulness, whatever suffering may be entailed. When we think of the ceaseless stream of God’s mercies, we shall have ample reasons for unintermitted thanksgiving. Lessons.—Learn the three indubitable marks of a genuine Christian: 1.To rejoice in the mercy of God. 2.To be fervent in prayer. 3.To give thanks to God in all things. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Ver. 16. Rejoice Evermore.
Ver. 17. On Self-recollectedness and Ejaculatory Prayer. I. Mental prayer consists in gathering up the mind from its wanderings and placing it consciously in the presence of God. II. In breathing out the mind towards God. III. Materials for ejaculatory prayer.—1.Found in daily portions of Scripture. 2.Stated prayer cannot be dispensed with even where ejaculatory prayer is practised. 3.Ejaculatory prayer helpful in striving after a life of sanctity.—E.M. Goulburn. Ver. 18. The Perpetual Thanksgiving of a Christian Life. I. Its difficulty.—1.From our fancied knowledge of life. 2.From our unbelieving distrust of God. II. Its motive.—God’s will is so revealed in Christ, that, believing in it, we can give thanks in all things. 1.Life the perpetual providences of a Father. 2.That perpetual providence is a discipline of human character. 3.The discipline of life is explained by eternity alone. III. Its attainment.—It is the gradual result of a life of earnest fellowship with God.—E.L. Hull. MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 19–22. Varied Aspects of Spiritual Influence. In the natural world the greater law of distribution is manifested in the infinite variety that appears in the midst of an unchanging and inflexible uniformity. And in the Church of God what varied gifts, graces, and attainments are found in its members. No two are precisely alike. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and the multiplicity and variety of endowments are intended to be exercised for one grand and definite purpose (Eph. iv.12, 13). By grouping together the precepts contained in these verses, we have suggested to us the varied aspects of spiritual influence. Observe:— I. The fervency of spiritual influence.—1.The influence of the Spirit is represented under the emblem of fire. “Quench not the Spirit” (ver. 19). Fire purifies the gold of its dross, enlightens by its splendour the eyes of the beholder, and raises the temperature of the Christian life. The person inspired is borne along, as it were, with spiritual ardour (Acts xviii.25; Rom. xii.11). Timothy is directed to rekindle or keep up the fire (2Tim. i.6). Christian baptism is 2. The influence of the Spirit may be quenched by denying the personality and Godhead of the Spirit, by depreciating the necessity of and restraining the fervour of His presence in Christian work; by ignoring special reference to Him in prayer; by stifling the voice of conscience; by neglect of religious ordinances; by conformity to the world; by unsanctified use of past afflictions. The gifts of the Spirit, with all His holy operations, must be fervently and diligently cherished within us. II. The instructiveness of spiritual influence.—“Despise not prophesyings” (ver. 20). The word “prophesying” in the New Testament signifies not only the prediction of future events, but the instructions of men inspired by the Holy Ghost, teaching Christian doctrines, revealing or explaining mysteries, exhorting to duties, consoling the sorrowing and afflicted. It is what we understand by preaching. It is not so much the prediction of events that are future, as it is the proclamation of duty that is instant. However exalted the believer may be in spiritual experience, however rich in faith and charity, it is still his duty to attend to preaching. “Despise not prophesying.” Like many a negative in the Bible, it means a very decided positive in the opposite direction. Despise it not by exalting reason over revelation. Despise it not by identifying true religion with the weakness, oddities, and eccentric notions of good but ignorant men. Despise it not by denying its beneficent teachings, spurning its wise counsels, and neglecting its faithful warnings. Where there is no prophecy the people perish. He that despiseth it shall be despised of the Lord; he shall be cast into darkness, because he would not delight in the light (Acts xiii.41; Prov. i.24–31). III. The possible abuse of spiritual influence.—“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (ver. 21). Error is never so dangerous as when it is the alloy of truth. Pure error is seen through at once and rejected; but error mixed with truth makes use of the truth as a pioneer for it, and gets introduction where otherwise it would have none. Poison is all the more dangerous when mixed up with food—error is never so likely to do mischief as when it comes to us under the pretensions and patronage of that which is true. Hence the importance of testing every pretender to spiritual illumination—as the goldsmith tests the gold and discovers the amount of alloy in it. “Beloved,” says St. John, “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1John iv.1). There are certain fundamental truths that are beyond all necessity of testing, and which transcend the powers of human reason to fully comprehend. The direction is addressed to the Church, to those who possess the Spirit by whose help the test is applied. The utterances of the Spirit may be tested in their relation to the glory of Jesus, and by the influence of the truths uttered upon the moral and spiritual life of the teacher and his followers. Having proved the truth, hold fast that which is good, as with both hands and against all who would forcibly wrest it from you. When you have tried and found out the truth, be constant and settled in it. A wavering-minded man is unstable in all his ways:— “Seize upon truth wherever ’tis found, IV. The sensitiveness of spiritual influence.—“Abstain from all appearance of evil” (ver. 22). Nothing will sooner quench the fire of the Spirit in the believer than sin. Therefore is he exhorted to abstain, to hold aloof from every species Lessons.—1.The mightiest influence in the universe is spiritual. 2.Increase of spiritual influence is dependent on uprightness of life. 3.The best spiritual gifts should be eagerly sought. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Ver. 19. Quench not the Spirit. I. The mode of the Spirit’s operation is likened unto that of fire.—1.Fire of unrest. When the Spirit convinces of sin. 2.Fire of purification. When the Spirit burns up evil within. 3.Fire of consecration. When the Spirit dwells within as a mighty impelling force. II. It is in our power to quench the Holy Fire. III. The ways in which men quench the Spirit.—1.By continuing in known sin. 2.By indulging in a light, frivolous spirit. 3.By refusing to believe in anything they cannot see or touch. 4.By allowing worldly affairs to absorb the affections. 5.By neglecting religions duties. 6.By not exercising the gifts already bestowed.—Local Preacher’s Treasury. Ver. 20. Despise not Prophesyings—
Abuse of Public Worship. I. The offence.—1.Habitual neglect of public worship. 2.Attendance on public worship in an improper state of mind. 3.Failure to improve public worship for the purposes for which it is intended. II. Its sin and danger.—1.It involves contempt of the authority of God. 2.It involves contempt of an institution with which God has specially identified Himself. 3.It involved contempt of one of the appointed means of grace. 4.It involves contempt of our own soul.—G.Brooks. Ver. 21. Rationalism. I. Prove all things.—1.Our own sentiments. 2.The sentiments of others. II. Hold fast that which is good.—1.Against the assaults of proud reason. 2.Against the assaults of mad passions. 3.Against the assaults of a menacing world.—Ibid. Prove all things. I. The course of conduct commanded.—“Prove.” 1.By an appeal to the Word of God as supreme. 2.Sincerely. 3.Thoroughly. 4Prayerfully. II. The extent to which the course of conduct is to be carried.—“All things.” III. Some hindrances to the adoption of this course.—1.Dislike to the trouble it may cause 2.Fear of the demands which the result may make. IV. Blessings likely to result from this course.—1.Activity of mind in matters of religion. 2.A specific acquaintance with the Word of God. 3.Legitimate independence of thought. 4.Increasing strength of Christian character. 5.Increase of Christian sagacity. 6.The adorning of the Christian doctrine in the eyes of men.—J.Holmes. Hold Fast that which is Good.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 23, 24. A Prayer for Sanctification. Sanctification is the supreme end of the Christian life, and everything should be made to contribute to the grand result. It is the crown and ornament of all other graces, the perfecting of every moral virtue. The fact that man is capable of so lofty a degree of personal holiness indicates that it is the supreme end for which he ought to live. He misses the glory that is within his reach if he does not attain to it. Sanctification in its radical meaning is simply separation—a separation from what is evil to what is good. It then implies to make holy that which is unholy. It begins in a moral transformation, the regeneration of the heart, and advances to perfection. Observe:— I. That sanctification is a complete work.—“Sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless” (ver. 23). 1. It affects the intellectual nature of man.—“Your spirit.” It is this that distinguishes truth from falsehood and apprehends the mysteries of religion. If the intellect is sanctified, there is less danger of falling into error and heresy. Enlightened by the Holy Ghost, it enables man to prove all things and to test and judge every aspect of truth. 2. It affects the spiritual nature of man.—“Your soul”—the seat of the affections and will, the passions and appetites. The having the heart in a right or wrong condition makes the difference between the moral and the immoral character. When the heart is sanctified the passions and appetites are kept within due bounds, and the believer is preserved pure from the sinful lusts of the flesh. The same distinction between spirit and soul is made in Heb. iv.12; and in Tit. i.15 a distinction is made between the intellectual and moral in the terms mind and conscience. 3. It affects the physical nature of man.—“Your body.” The body is the temple of the Holy Ghost (1Cor. iv.19) and must be kept pure and blameless—must be kept in temperance, soberness, and chastity; to pollute it with fleshly lusts is to pollute and destroy it (1Cor. iii.17). The body, immortalised and glorified, will be the companion of the glorified soul throughout eternity; and the Thessalonians had already been assured that the body was to rise from the grave 4. It is a necessary fitness to meet Christ at His coming.—“Be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (ver. 23). It is the power of God only that can keep man holy, though the utmost circumspection and vigilance are to be exercised on his part. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. v.8)—see Him now as the inner eye of the soul is clarified, and see Him at His coming in power and great glory. II. That sanctification is a Divine work.—1.The believer is called to sanctification by the God of unswerving fidelity. “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it” (ver. 24). God is faithful to all His promises of help. Every promise is backed by the whole force of His omnipotence—“who also will do it.” There is nothing greater in the universe than the will of God; it actuates His power and ensures His faithfulness. Entire sanctification is therefore no impossible attainment. God calls, not to mock and disappoint, but to bless. 2. The believer is called to sanctification by the God of peace.—“The very God of peace sanctify you” (ver. 23). Peace and sanctification are inseparable; without holiness there can be no peace. God is the author and giver of peace, and delights in peace. Mr. Howels, of Long Acre chapel, used to say that if he saw two dogs at peace with each other, he saw there “the very God of peace”; that one atom of peace left in a world of war with God is a truce of the lingering mercy and favouring goodness of God. Peace is a reflection of the Divine presence on earth. The Thessalonians had been enjoined to cultivate mutual peace and harmony (ver. 13), and personal holiness had been earnestly recommended (ch. iv.3). They are now taught where peace and holiness are to be found. Both are gifts of God. We have need of peace—peace of conscience, peace from the rage and fury of the world, peace and love among those who are of the household of God. III. That sanctification is obtained by prayer.—The loftiest duty is possible with grace; the least is all but impossible without it. All grace must be sought of God in prayer. The virtue and power of all exhortation and teaching depend on the Divine blessing. What God encourages us to seek in prayer is possible of attainment in actual experience. Prayer is the expression of wants we feel. It is the power by which we reach he highest spiritual excellence. Lessons.—1.Cherish the highest ideal of the Christian character. 2.Pray for Divine help in its attainment. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Ver. 23. The Sanctification of the Complete Man. I. Its meaning.—1.There is a great trinity of powers—body, soul, and spirit—linking man with three different worlds. The physical, the intellectual, the spiritual. 2.These three ranges of powers become gateways of temptation from three different worlds, and unless they are all consecrated we are never free from danger. II. Its attainment.—1.We cannot consecrate ourselves. 2.God preserves the entire sanctification by imparting peace. III. The motive for endeavouring to attain it.—“Until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1.A day of manifestation when the shadows and unrealities of time will fade in the full morning of eternity. 2.A day of everlasting gatherings.—E.L. Hull. The Trinity.
Ver. 24. The Faith of Man and the Faithfulness of God.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 25–28. Closing Words. I. An important request.—“Brethren, pray for us” (ver. 25). The most gifted saints have need of the prayers of God’s people. The great apostle, much as he prayed for himself, did not himself feel independent of the intercessions of others. His large experience of the power of prayer made him only the more anxious to strengthen his personal interest at the throne of grace. The least gifted saint in other respects may be mighty in prayer. Believers are so bound together as to be dependent on one another, and all on the great Head of the Church. The richest inheritance of the anxious minister are the prayers of his people. A praying Church will never have to complain of an insipid and fruitless ministry. II. A Christian salutation.—“Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss” (ver. 26). The “kiss of charity” in those days was a token of friendship and goodwill, something equivalent to the shaking of hands in modern times. In the Syrian Church, before communion, each takes his neighbour’s right hand, and gives the salutation, “Peace!” The greeting was “a holy kiss”—pure and chaste, such as one Christian may give to another, and not sin. Christianity is the soul of courtesy. “Forms may change; but the same spirit of brotherly love and cordial recognition of one another, under whatever diversities of temporal circumstances, should ever characterise those who know the love of a common Saviour, and have entered into the communion of saints” (Lillie). Let the love of the heart toward all the brethren be practically manifested in becoming acts of courtesy and goodwill. III. A solemn direction.—“I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren” (ver. 27). The first epistle to the Thessalonians is, in point of time, the earliest of all the canonical books of the New Testament; and here is a solemn injunction that it be publicly read to all the people. The Romish Church, if she does not deny, very unwillingly allows the reading of Scripture by the laity. “What Rome forbids under an anathema,” says Bengel, “St. Paul enjoins with an adjuration.” None should be debarred from reading or hearing the Word of God. “Women and children are not to be excluded” (Deut. xxxi.12; Josh. viii.34, 35). Lois and Eunice knew the Bible and taught it to the child Timothy. The Beroeans had free access to the sacred volume, and searched it at their pleasure. The public reading of the Holy Scriptures is an important means of edifying the Church; it is enforced by apostolic authority; it familiarises the mind with the greatest truths; it keeps alive the enthusiasm of the Church for aggressive purposes. Lessons.—1.Prayer is an ever-present duty. 2.Christianity hallows all the true courtesies of life. 3.The Word of God should be constantly read and studied. 4.The best blessings issue from the inexhaustible grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES. Ver. 25. Pray for Us. I. We greatly need your prayers.—Our state, like yours, is a state of probation. We have uncommon wants. We have a strict account to give. II. We request your prayers.—1.You can pray. 2.God will hear you. III. We may reasonably expect that you will pray for us.—1.We pray for you. 2.We are labouring for your advantage. IV. We are warranted to expect it from your own professions.—1.You profess a high degree, not only of respect, but of love to your preachers. 2.Some of you can scarcely give us any other proof of it. V. It will be to your advantage to pray for us.—1.It will prepare your minds for hearing us. 2.This will make us useful to you. VI. Your prayers will make us more useful to others. Ver. 27. The Public Reading of the Scriptures. I. To debar the Lord’s people from acquainting themselves with Scripture is a great sin.—Scripture should be translated into the native tongue of every nation where Christ has a Church, that people may read it, hear it, and be acquainted with it. They ought diligently to improve all helps to acquaint them with the mind of God revealed in Scripture and look upon their doing so as a duty of greatest importance and weight. II. Ministers and Church guides should see that the people of their charge be acquainted with Scripture.—Should invite them to read it in secret and in their families, and use their influence that children of both sexes be trained up at schools to read the Lord’s words distinctly in their own native language. III. Scripture should be publicly read to God’s people assembled together for His worship.—Even though not immediately expounded and applied, the reading of God’s Word allows it to speak for itself and impress its own Divine authority.—Fergusson. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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