The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary of the Books of the Bible: Volume 29 (of 32) The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary of the Epistles of St. Paul the Apostle: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and I-II Thessalonians (part 4 of 5)
+II. That the ceremonial in religion is typical of the real.+--"Which are a shadow of things to come" (ver. 17). Ceremonies have their place in the culture of mankind, and in their legitimate sphere they are important. They are adapted to the infant stage in the development of the race. They sketch out the bold, rough outlines of truths that are in a half-formed embryotic state. They are shadows projected across the disc of our mental vision--of grand realities which are ever advancing into clearer view. They are typical of the existence and certain manifestation of deeper and unchangeable truths. They are predictive of things to come. The great yearly festival of the Passover typified the forgiveness of sins by the shedding of the precious blood of Christ. The Pentecost, or feast of the firstfruits, sets forth the sustenance and ample provision God has made for the soul. The feast of Tabernacles was a significant reminder of God's providential guidance and fatherly care of human life. The new moon, or first day of the month, with its usual service, impressed on the minds of the people the truth that Jehovah, the Ruler of the seasons, was the God of providence as well as of creation. The weekly Sabbath, with its grateful rest, was expressly instituted to commemorate the rest of God after the exercise of His creative energy. Then the ordinary sacrifices were doubled, and the shewbread renewed, to indicate that God is the source and sustenance of our life. And so, the whole Mosaic law was a type and presage of the Gospel. The spiritually enlightened look through the outward and visible symbol to the great truth signified. The ceremonial is valuable only as it conducts to the real.
+III. That the ceremonial in religion is abolished and rendered nugatory by the real.+--"But the body is of Christ" (ver. 17). When the substance appears, the shadow is swallowed up. As the shadows are to the body, so were the types and ceremonies of the law to Christ. They were figures of evangelical blessings; but the truth, the reality, and abiding substance of them are found in the person, work, and salvation of Christ. All the grand truths prefigured by the ancient Mosaic ritual are embodied in Christ. He gives the fullest personal representation of Jehovah as the God of nature, providence, and redemption, at once the Author and the Ruler of the spiritual life. In Christ, therefore, as the substance and Antitype, all shadow and symbol disappear. It is a dangerous infatuation to snatch at the shadow and cling to it when we may embrace and rest in the sufficiency of the substance. This is to restore the cancelled handwriting and nullify the splendid triumph of the cross. In Christ the ceremonial is effete, powerless, dead. He only is the changeless, eternal, all-satisfying real.
+Lessons.+--1. Learn to exercise the spirit of Christian forbearance in external observances. 2. Be careful not to rest in the ceremonial. 3. Christ alone can satisfy the deepest craving of the soul.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 16, 17. The Shadow and the Substance of the Sabbath.
+I. The transient shadow which has passed away.+--The Sabbath as a sign between God and the Israelites, marking them off from all other nations by its observance--as a mere Jewish institution.
+II. The permanent substance which cannot pass.+--"The body is of Christ"--the Spirit of Christ is the fulfilment of the law. To have the Spirit of Christ is to have fulfilled the law. Apply this to Sabbath observance.--F. W. Robertson.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 18, 19.
The Seductive Peril of a False Philosophy.
The apostle had warned the Colossians against the dangerous consequences of attaching too much importance to the ceremonial in religion, inasmuch as it was the substitution of the shadow for the substance. He now reveals the peril of being seduced by the theological error that insisted on interposition of angel mediators, which was the preference of an inferior member to the Head. In this verse the writer distinctly warns the Colossian Christians against the peril that threatened them and exposes the presumptuous speculations of a false philosophy.
+I. That the teachings of a false philosophy threaten to rob the believer of his most coveted reward.+--"Let no man beguile you of your reward" (ver. 18). The Christian's career is a race; the present world is the stadium, or racecourse; Christ is the umpire--the dispenser of rewards; eternal life is the victor's prize. The Colossians were in a fair way for winning the prize; they had duly entered the lists; they were contending bravely; but the false teachers unhappily crossed their path, sought to impede their progress, and to rob them of their reward. Error is subtle in its influence and pernicious in its effects. Many erroneous opinions may possibly be held without invalidating the salvation of the soul; but any error that in any degree depreciates our estimate of Christ and interrupts the advance of our Christian life is a robbery. It may be said that the dangerous speculations of a false philosophy are confined only to a few--the higher circle of thinkers. That is bad enough. But what is damaging the higher order of intellects will by-and-by reach the lower and work its mischief there. There is need for uninterrupted vigilance.
+II. That a false philosophy advocates the most presumptuous and perilous speculations.+--1. It affects a spurious humility. God is unknowable to the limited and uncertain powers of man; He is too high to be accessible, and too much absorbed in loftier matters to concern Himself about individual man. He can be approached only through inferior beings, and their assistance should be humbly sought. So it reasons. But this humility was voluntary, self-induced, and was in reality another form of high spiritual pride. Humility, when it becomes self-conscious, ceases to have any value.
2. It invents a dangerous system of angelolatry.--"Worshipping of angels" (ver. 18). The Jews were fond of philosophising about the dignity, offices, and ranks of the angelic powers; and many held the opinion that they were messengers who presented our prayers to God. The false teachers made the most of the authority they could derive from Jewish sources. They would tell how the law was given by the disposition of angels--that angels conducted the Israelites through the wilderness, and on various occasions appeared to patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. They would dwell on the weakness of man and his distance from God and insist that homage should be paid to these angelic messengers as necessary mediators. Alas, how fatal has been the influence through the centuries of this delusive angelolatry! The apostle here condemns it, and thus sweeps away all ground for the Christ-dishonouring practices of invocation of saints and the worship of the Virgin.
3. It pretends to a knowledge of the mysterious.--"Intruding into those things which he hath not seen" (ver. 18). Man is everywhere circled with mystery. It is one of the saddest moments of life when he first becomes conscious of the limitation of his own powers, and of his utter inability to fathom the mysteries which seem to invite his inquiry while they baffle his attempt. Locke somewhere says, a worm in the drawer of a cabinet, shut up in its tiny enclosure, might as well pretend to guess at the construction of the vast universe, as mortal man ventures to speculate about the unseen world, except so far as revealed for purposes of salvation. But fools will rush in where angels fear to tread. The boast of possessing a profound knowledge of the mysterious is one of the marks of a false philosophy.
4. It is inflated with an excessive pride.--"Vainly puffed up by its fleshly mind" (ver. 18). The carnal mind, which is enmity against God, rises to a pitch of reckless daring in its inventions, and revelling in its own creative genius, is vainly puffed up with a conceit of novelty and with a fancied superiority over the humbler disciple. There is no state more dangerous than this or more difficult to change. It is proof against every ordinary method of recovery. The proud man lives "half-way down the slope to hell." God only can break the delusive snare, humble the soul, and revoke its threatened doom.
+III. That a false philosophy ignores the Divine source of all spiritual increase.+--1. Christ is the great Head of the Church. He is the centre of its unity, the primal source of its life, authority, and influence. He founded the Church, and gave it shape, symmetry, and durableness. He alone is supreme--the Alpha and Omega--the living and only Head. To ignore Him is to forfeit the substantial for the shadowy--the rock for the precarious footing of the crumbling shale.
2. The Church is vitally and essentially united to Christ.--"From which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered and knit together" (ver. 19). As the members of the human frame are joined to the head, and derive life, motion, and sensation from it by means of arteries, veins, nerves, and other attachments, so the spiritual members of Christ are knit to Him by invisible joints and bands, and depend on Him for sustenance, character, and influence.
3. The vital union of the Church with Christ is the condition of spiritual increase.--"Increaseth with the increase of God" (ver. 19). Christ is the Divine source of increase, and the Church can grow only as it receives nourishment from Him. The growth corresponds with its nature--it is Divine; it increaseth with the increase of God. There may be a morbid increase, as there may be an unnatural enlargement of some part of the human body; but it is only the excessive inflation of a worldly splendour and ecclesiastical pretension. Like Jonah's gourd, such a growth may disappear as rapidly as it came. The true increase is that which comes from God, of which He is the source, and active, sustaining influence, and which advances in harmony with His will and purpose. Such an increase can be secured only by vital union with Christ.
+Lessons.+--1. A false philosophy distorts the grandest truths. 2. A false philosophy substitutes for truth the most perilous speculations. 3. Against the teachings of a false philosophy be ever on your guard.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 18. Philosophic Vagaries--
+I. Making pretence of superior knowledge.+
+II. Affecting a spurious humility in worship.+
+III. Inflated with pride.+
+IV Dangerous to those sincerely seeking the truth.+
Ver. 19. How a Church lives and grows.
+I. The source of all the life of the body.+--Christ is the Head, therefore the source from which all parts of the body partake of a common life. There are three symbols employed to represent the union of Christ with His Church--the vine, the body, and the marriage bond.
+II. The various and harmonious action of all the parts.+--1. From Jesus comes all nourishment of the Divine life, even when we think that we instruct or stimulate each other. 2. From Jesus comes the oneness of the body.
+III. The consequent increase of the whole.+--1. The increase of life in the Church, both as a community and in its separate elements, depends on the harmonious activity of all the parts. 2. Is dependent of the activity of all, and sadly hampered when some are idle. 3. Depends on its vitality within and on the concurrent activity of all its members. 4. Depends not only on the action of all its parts, but on their health and vitality. 5. There is an increase which is not the increase of God.
+IV. The personal hold of Jesus Christ which is the condition of all life and growth.+--A firm, almost desperate clutch in which Love and Need, like two hands, clasp Him and will not let Him go. Such tenacious grip implies the adhesive energy of the whole nature--the mind laying hold on truth, the heart clinging to love, the will submitting to authority.--A. Maclaren.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 20-23.
The Ceremonial in Religion Transitory and Unsatisfying.
The apostle returns again to the question of outward observances. He saw the extreme danger with which the Colossians were threatened from that source, and before turning to other matters in his epistle he lifts up a warning voice as for the last time.
+I. That the ceremonial in religion is simply elementary.+--"The rudiments of the world" (ver. 20). The ceremonial in religion is the alphabetical stage, suited only to the world's infancy and to the crudest condition in human development. It is the childish period which, with all its toys and pictures and gewgaws, is put away when spiritual manhood is attained. It is in its nature transitory and imperfect. It conveys knowledge but in part; and when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part is done away.
+II. The ceremonial in religion is unworthy the submission of the Christian believer.+--1. The believer is liberated from the slavery of the ceremonial. He is "dead with Christ" (ver. 20). As Christ by His death cancelled the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and vanquished Satan and all his hosts, so the believer, united with Christ in His death, shares in the triumph of that death. He is free; he rises into a new life, not under the tyranny of the old law, with its demands and penalties, but in allegiance to Christ. He has passed into another sphere of existence. Worldly ordinances have ceased to have any value for him, because his worldly life is ended. They belong to the realm of the transitory and perishable; he has been translated into the realm of the free and the eternal.
2. To return to the ceremonial is to forfeit Christian liberty.--"Why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?" (ver. 20). It is to ignore all progress, to impugn the reality of the change wrought in the soul by spiritual baptism, to close one's eyes to the altered state of things into which he has been introduced, and to submit again to the galling yoke of legal observances and human traditions which never had Divine sanction and from which he had been emancipated. It is a denial of his Christianity to subject himself again to their tyranny--to return once more to the dominion of the world. It is giving up the substance for the shadow. It is a deliberate self-degradation to the most abject and pitiable slavery. It is supposed that many of the ascetic practices of the false teachers at Colossæ were borrowed from the Pythagoreans. Their philosophy was all on the side of prohibitions, abstinences, a forced celibacy, the unlawfulness of animal food, the possibility of attaining perfection by neglecting the body, under the delusion that evil resided in matter.
+III. The ceremonial in religion, in its main features, is universally the same.+--1. It is the same in its dictatorial prohibitions. "Touch not; taste not; handle not" (ver. 21). Such is the arrogant language of a narrow, bigoted, and imperious superstition. It is an instruction to observe the gradual and insidious manner in which it obtains the mastery over the human conscience. Touch not: it prohibits even a light partaking of some meat or drink. Taste not: the prohibition is extended, so that it becomes a crime even to taste, though refusing to eat. Handle not: to come in contact with the forbidden object, even in the handling, is a dreadful sacrilege. So is it ever with the clamorous demands of a proud, assumptious ritualism. There is no end to the unauthorised prohibitions with which it seeks to bind the conscience.
2. It is the same in its undue exaltation of the external and transitory.--"Which all are to perish with the using" (ver. 22). The very eating and drinking of them destroys them. They are consumed in the using; and in order to nourish us they themselves perish--a plain proof that all the benefit we receive from them respects only our physical and mortal life. What folly is it to insist on a scrupulous avoidance or observance of externals in order to salvation! You claim an affinity with the eternal, and it is unworthy of your glorious destiny to be absorbed with the worship of the perishable.
3. It is the same in its human origin.--"After the commandments and doctrines of men" (ver. 22). A commandment is a precept; a doctrine is the principle or truth on which it is based. The one furnishes a direction, the other the reason on which the direction rests. The ceremonial in religion is an accumulation of the commandments and doctrines of men. Depending on human authority, it has no value in itself; and when it is made obligatory in order to human salvation, it is an impious insult to Christ and an intolerable servitude to man. The commandments of men, having no solid doctrines to rest upon, are transitory and illusory.
+IV. The ceremonial in religion can never satisfy the many-sided wants of humanity.+--1. It pretends to a wisdom it does not possess. (1) In self-imposed methods of worship. "Which things have, indeed, a show of wisdom in will-worship" (ver. 23). It insists on certain distinctions of meats and drinks; on abstinence from this or that kind of food; on certain ritual observances as necessary in order to render due homage to God. The enthusiast for the ceremonial argues that he who only does what God positively demands does only what is common; but he who goes beyond, and submits to additional observances, reaches a higher degree of saintliness. This is will-worship, which has peculiar charms for the corrupt tendencies of our depraved nature. The works of supererogation it invents are pleasanter than the holy, humble, adoring worship of God through the blood of the cross. (2) In the affectation of a spurious humility. "In humility" (ver. 23). It is a pretence of wisdom to renounce all worldly splendour and profess to live in poverty and seclusion. But at the root of this profession the most pernicious pride may lurk. A self-conscious and dramatically acted humility is the most degrading and detestable. (3) In an unjustifiable indifference to bodily wants. "And neglecting of the body" (ver. 23). The body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and is to be honoured and cherished, and all its just wants satisfied, in order that its best powers may be employed in the service of God. But the abuse of the body in starvation, painful macerations, and squalid neglect is a folly and a sin.
2. It is of no value in preventing the indulgence of the flesh.--"Not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh" (ver. 23). The radical error of the ascetic lies in his belief that evil resides in matter. Not the body, but the soul, is the source of sin: the body is depraved because the soul is depraved. Sin exists as a thought and conception of the heart before it exists as an act of the flesh. No amount of outward flagellation, or of abstinence from needful food, will satisfy the natural wants of the body, or destroy its sinful tendencies. The attempt to be virtuous by afflicting the body is like battering the outwork while the main citadel remains untouched. The outward man can never satisfy the complicated needs of man's nature. First bring the soul into a right relation to God, and, with the aid of Divine grace, it will control all the outgoings of the flesh.
+Lessons.+--1. The ceremonial has its place in religion, and therefore should not be despised. 2. The believer is raised above the power of the ceremonial in religion, and therefore should not be subject to it.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 20. Principles above Rules; or, Wheat is better than Bread.--Bread may feed us for the moment, but when once eaten it is gone for ever. Wheat on the contrary will bear seed, increase, and multiply. Every rule is taken from a principle, as a loaf of bread is made from wheat. It is right to enforce the principle rather than the action, because a good principle is sure of producing good actions. Seeming goodness is not better than religion; precept is not better than principle.--A. W. Hare.
Vers. 21-23. Asceticism--
+I. Multiplies unnecessary restriction.+
+II. Is a species of self-worship.+
+III. Is unjust to the body.+
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER III.+
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
Ver. 1. +Seek those things that are above.+--Our Lord says that as He was "from above," so His disbelieving hearers were "from beneath," which He interprets as "of this world" (John viii. 23, 24). The apostle in like manner in the next verse opposes the "things above" to "things on earth."
Ver. 3. +Your life is hid with Christ in God.+--You are much more likely to have it kept pure by having it in Christ than by setting round it a hedge of "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not."
Ver. 5. +Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth.+--"Quite so!" the heretic teacher might say; "this is just what we ourselves advise." "Yes," rejoins the apostle; "but let us know what it is we are to slaughter." It is no hewing and hacking of the body, but what is as much more difficult as it is noble--the excision or eradication of evil thoughts (Matt. xv. 19, 20). +Inordinate affection, evil concupiscence.+--R.V. "passion, evil desire." The former of these seems to indicate the corrupt conditions from which the latter springs. +Covetousness, which is idolatry.+--"Covetousness," or "having more." There is many a man, beside the clown in Twelfth Night, who says, "I would not have you to think my desire of having is the sin of covetousness." The full drag can afford to sacrifice (Hab. i. 16).
Ver. 8. +Anger, wrath.+--The former is the smouldering fire, the latter the fierce out-leaping flame. +Malice, blasphemy.+--The former is the vicious disposition, the latter the manifestation of it in speech that is meant to inflict injury. +Filthy communication+--One word in the original; R.V. gives it as "shameful speaking." The word does not occur again in the New Testament. It means scurrilous or obscene speech. A glimpse of Eastern life helps us to understand the frequent injunctions as to restraint of the tongue in the New Testament. Dr. Norman Macleod says: "In vehemence of gesticulation, in genuine power of lip and lung to fill the air with a roar of incomprehensible exclamations, nothing on earth, so long as the body retains its present arrangement of muscles and nervous vitality, can surpass the Egyptians and their language." But the same thing is witnessed of other Eastern tongues.
Ver. 9. +Lie not one to another.+--"Very elementary teaching," we should be inclined to say. Whether there was any special tendency to this vice in the Colossian converts we cannot know.
Ver. 12. +Bowels of mercies.+--R.V. "a heart of compassion." A case of concrete for abstract. The physical effect of pity lies at the bottom of the phrase.
Ver. 13. +Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another.+--Literally it would be, "Bearing with one another, and dealing graciously with yourselves"; for not only the verbs but the pronouns also change with a delicate shade of meaning. Forbearance, like a peace-making angel, passes to and fro between the incensed parties. +Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.+--The pattern of all graciousness is Christ. See His parable (Matt. xviii. 33).
Ver. 14. +Above all these things put on charity.+--Reminding us of the exalted place which the queenly virtue holds in St. Paul's triad. As the outermost dress of an Oriental was perhaps that which was most serviceable, so whatever else is put on, "above everything" love must be remembered. +Which is the bond of perfectness.+--"That in which all the virtues are so bound together that perfection is the result and not one of them is wanting to that perfection" (Grimm).
Ver. 15. +And let the peace of God rule in your hearts.+--R.V. margin, "arbitrate." We met the verb for "rule" in ch. ii. 18, but with a prefix "against." "Let the peace of God be umpire," says the apostle, in every case of uncertainty and hesitation. He who slept on Galilee's stormy waters had but to say, "Peace! Be still!" and there was a great calm. He said, "My peace I leave with you"; and reckless of consequences the men who received it amazed the authorities by the boldness of their question, "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye" (Acts iv. 19).
Ver. 16. +Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.+--The word for "dwell in" is the same which assures the believer of an indwelling power which shall quicken the mortal body, and which describes the Divine act of grace. "I will dwell in them." +In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.+--See on Eph. v. 18, 19. The same composition may be either psalm, hymn, or spiritual song. The first may be a technical word, as in Luke xxiv. 44. It indicates a song accompanied by a stringed instrument. A hymn is a song in praise of some one, exalting the character and attributes. The third term is the most comprehensive, and to it, with good reason, St. Paul prefixes "spiritual." Bacchanalian songs were common enough about Colossæ with their noisy, unhallowed mirth. St. Paul, like St. James, would not object to his readers being merry if the spiritual joys--
"From out their hearts arise And speak and sparkle in their eyes And vibrate on their tongues."
Ver. 18. +As it is fit in the Lord.+--See Eph. v. 22. The feeling of propriety St. Paul emphasises here and limits it "in the Lord."
Ver. 19. +Be not bitter against them.+--As love in its most degraded form might alternate with paroxysms of anger, St. Paul uses the nobler word for Christian love which casts out hatred as well as fear.
Ver. 20. +For this is well-pleasing.+--Eph. vi. 1: "This is right." What in Ephesians is regarded as an equitable due from child to parent is here looked at in another light. The best commentary is Luke ii. 51, 52. The child Jesus was subject to his parents and increased in favour with God.
Ver. 21. +Fathers, provoke not your children.+--The word for "provoke" is not the same as in Eph. vi. 4. There the word is "do not exasperate." Here it is "do not irritate." The difficulty of discriminating between them may perhaps show how near the original words are in meaning. "Irritation is the first consequence of being too exacting with children, and irritation leads to moroseness" (Lightfoot). +Lest they be discouraged.+--Broken-spirited. It is a sad sight to see a man for whom the stress of life has been too much, but to see a child cowed and dejected--the world has no sadder spectacle.
Ver. 23. +Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily.+--Eph. vi. 7, "With good will doing service." R.V. gives the distinction which is obliterated by "do, do" of A.V. "Whatsoever ye do, work heartily" (margin, "from the soul").
Ver. 25. +He that doeth wrong.+--The participle of the original points to the habitual practice of wrong-doing. +There is no respect of persons.+--In the Ephesian letter this consideration is urged upon the masters as it is here upon the slaves. Both are amenable to the same authority.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 1, 2.
The Higher Aspirations of the Soul.
You have seen the clouds gather in the sky and settle on the hills. The thunder mutters, the rain falls, and the scene is one of storm, confusion, and darkness. Suddenly the whole aspect of the heavens is changed. A blaze of light springs up among the hills; the storm ceases; the gloom is swept away; and the outlook is one of tranquillity, of triumph, and of splendour. Similar to this is the striking change between the close of the last chapter of this epistle and the beginning of the present one. The grave warnings against the sombre errors of a false philosophy, and the supposed meritorious torturings of the body, which occupy a considerable part of the second chapter, give place in the opening of the third chapter to a luminous and inspiring picture of the glorious privileges and lofty destiny of the believing soul. These verses teach that, being raised by Christ into newness of life, the soul should aspire to the attainment of the highest blessings.
+I. The distinguished relation in which the believing soul stands to Christ.+--"Risen with Christ" (ver. 1).
1. This relation implies the living union of the soul with Christ.--The apostle had spoken of the soul as dying with Christ, as buried with Him, as quickened with Him; and now he advances another step, and declares that it is also raised with Him. The union between the believer and Christ was so complete that he participates with Christ in all He has done. "Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. vi. 4). As the dead body of the man cast into the sepulchre of Elisha revived and stood up the moment it touched the bones of the prophet (2 Kings xiii. 21), so the soul, dead in trespasses and sins, is quickened by believing contact with Christ, and rises into a higher and more glorious life.
2. This relation indicates the nature and tendencies of the soul.--"Risen with Christ: . . . set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth" (vers. 1, 2). The change involved in union with Christ affects man's whole nature. It affects not only his practical conduct, but also his intellectual conceptions. He is translated from earth to heaven; and with this translation his point of view is altered, his standard of judgment wholly changed. His aspirations spurn the earthly and transitory, and soar towards the heavenly and eternal. The flies that sport upon the summer stream, while they plunge their bodies in the water, are careful not to wet their wings, so that they may fly again into the sunny air. So, while we are necessarily immersed in "things on the earth," we should take heed that the wings of our soul are not so clogged as to retard our flight to heaven.
+II. The sublime objects of the soul's higher aspirations.+--"Things above." (ver. 2).
1. Christ is above.--"Where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (ver. 1). This indicates that Christ is exalted to the highest dignity. He is above all angelic powers, whatever their position or rank. The right hand of God also indicates the right hand of power. Thence Christ wields all the authority and power of universal government. "Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour." He reigns on high in order to carry out to a glorious consummation the work He accomplished on the cross. To Him all hearts turn for love and blessedness, as the flowers turn to the sun. The rudiments of the world have no longer any power to satisfy. The soul ascends to heaven, for where the treasure is there will be the heart also; and the flow of time is rapidly hurrying us on to the moment when we shall be--
"Caught up to share The triumph of our Lord."
2. The source of the greatest spiritual blessings is above.--When Christ ascended into the heavens He received gifts for men; and from His lofty throne He delights to distribute those gifts to the needy sons of men. Thence we receive pardon, the conscious favour of God, holiness of character, comfort in every time of distress, and hope to light the pathway of the future. Of all the blessings laid up for us above, the highest and the best is that which in itself includes all others--the gift of the Holy Ghost. All, all we want is there.
3. The heavenly home is above.--There is the abode of peace and purity; there temptation has no power, and suffering and sorrow can never enter; there the Saviour reveals His glories and diffuses the joy of His radiant presence; there all the members of the Father's family assemble from every part of the globe, never more to separate. The soul, burdened with the cares of life, and troubled with multiplied disappointments, yearns for the rest of the heavenly home. The things on the earth can never satisfy the wants of the soul; they are unsuited to it; they are beneath it; and, liberated from their trammels by the resurrection power of the Christ, it seeks its true happiness above the stars.
+III. The paramount duty of the soul to aspire to the highest good.+--Seek, set "your affections on things above" (ver. 1). A similar expression repeated for the emphasis. You are not only to seek heaven, but also to think heaven. The understanding must be engaged in duly estimating the value of heavenly things, the will in preferring them above all things earthly, the affections in embracing them as the objects to be most evidently desired and loved; in fact, all the powers of the soul must be constantly exercised in the search. The soul, raised from the death of sin, is ever responding to the attractive influence of its risen Lord. "Being thus already risen, every motion of grace is the struggle of the soul for the final consummation--the bird is caged, but the wings are free to flutter within their prison." The soul is now willing, cheerfully and faithfully, to follow the call of duty, whatever it may entail.
"Oft where she leads, thy blood must mark thy footsteps; Oft where she leads, thy head must bear the storm, And thy shrunk form endure heat, cold, and hunger; But she will guide thee up to noble heights, Which he who gains seems native of the sky; While earthly things lie stretched beneath his feet, Diminished, shrunk, and valueless."
+Lessons.+--1. The soul is endowed with vast powers and capable of the highest destiny. 2. It is sad to witness thousands whose souls rise no higher than the things on the earth. 3. The soul can realise its highest aspirations only as it is risen with Christ.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 1. Seeking the Things Above.
+I. Contemplate the sublime object+--the state of future blessedness of believers. 1. The perfection of character they exhibit. 2. The exercises in which they shall be engaged. 3. The happiness in which they participate. 4. The friendships they share.
+II. The conduct enjoined upon us.+--"Seek those things." 1. Implies belief in their existence. 2. That attention is directed much towards them. 3. Set our attachment upon them. 4. Use diligent and persevering exertions to obtain them.
+III. Motives to this conduct.+--1. A regard to consistency. 2. The reasonableness of the duty. 3. Present advantages. 4. Because they are the scene in which are displayed Christ's personal presence and glory.
Risen with Christ.
+I. Christianity begins where everything else ends: it begins with death.+
+II. After dying to sin we are to begin to live in good earnest.+
+III. The Christian toils, labours, and tasks his mind for the glory of God and the good of others.+
+IV. The true Christian seeks the things which are above.+--1. Holiness. 2. Love. 3. Peace. 4. Truth.--A. W. Hare.
The New Life.
+I. There is a great difference between the new life and the old.+--1. In our feelings. 2. Principles. 3. Aims. 4. Methods. 5. Conduct. 6. Thoughts. 7. Company. 8. Influence.
+II. This difference should lead us to think much of heaven and to seek after heavenly things.+--1. To know all we can about heaven. 2. To prepare all we can for heaven. 3. To take all we can with us to heaven.--Preacher's Magazine.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 3, 4.
The Present Condition and Future Glory of Life in Christ.
The Christian life has a twofold aspect. Outwardly it is shorn of all splendours, and to the eye of the world appears a life of weakness, ignominy, and suffering; but inwardly it is radiant with Divine light and pervaded with a heavenly peace. The believer is often as a monarch in the disguise of a beggar. The world knows nothing of the new life of which he has become possessed, and the new life must know nothing of the world. Its aspirations are directed towards higher things. The relish for earthly things is gone.
+I. That the present condition of the believer's life in Christ involves a new relation to outward things.+--"For ye are dead" (ver. 3). There was a time when he not only lived in the world, but to the world and for the world. He was wholly captivated and absorbed in the pursuits and enjoyments of the carnal mind. But now, while still in the world, he is dead to its charms and to its ordinances. All the mainsprings of activity are changed. He is risen with Christ and shares the power of His resurrection life. Man lives where He loves, and, having experienced so complete a change, his affections are now fixed on things above, and his life is bound up in the love and service of Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of God. He is dead because he is crucified with Christ, and hath put off the old man--the old fleshly nature--with his deeds. This death involves a renunciation of all the ceremonial observances against which the apostle so faithfully warned in the preceding chapter--the Mosaic ritual, the vain philosophy, the angelolatry, the pride of the fleshly mind, the traditions and commandments of men, and all the pernicious doctrines of the false teachers. He is dead to the past and realising the beating of a new life within him, he enters upon a brighter and loftier career.
+II. That the present condition of the believer's life in Christ is one of concealment from the outward world.+--1. It is hid. "Your life is hid" (ver. 3). All life is hid. Its origin is a profound mystery. The botanist fails to discover it as he picks his plant into microscopic atoms. The scalpel of the anatomist has not pierced its dark domain and laid bare its hiding-place. Its presence is known only by its effects. So is it with the new life of the soul. It is hid from the world. It has a glory and a power of its own; but the world is incapable of appreciating either. It is not a life of vulgar display and noisy demonstration. It is gentle, quiet, and retiring, sometimes obscured by a tempest of persecution and suffering. It is sometimes partially hidden to the believer himself when assailed by temptations and oppressed by the weight of heavy chastisements. Yet that hidden life is the power that shall shake and transform the world.
2. It is hid with Christ.--"Your life is hid with Christ" (ver. 3). Christ Himself was hidden when on earth. To the undiscerning, He was a root out of a dry ground, possessing neither form nor comeliness. Even now Christ is hidden to the worldly mind; and the believer's life is hidden with Him, as a river, concealed for a time in a hidden channel, flows on beneath and out of sight. This hiding of the believer's life with Christ indicates (1) Dependence. It is not hid with the believer himself. He derives it from Christ, as the great fontal source of all life; and on Him he depends for its constant supply and nourishment. The springs of this life abide when every other channel of supply is dry and its fount exhausted. We must wait on Christ for daily supplies of living water. It indicates (2) Security. Our life is safer in Christ's keeping than it could be in our own. Man was once entrusted with the gift of a glorious life, and he lost it. But in the hands of Christ our life is out of all danger. It is secure amid the conflicts of time, the subtle temptations of the world, and the wild rage of demons.
3. It is hid in the depths of the Godhead.--"Your life is hid with Christ in God" (ver. 3). A grand but unfathomable truth! It is not lost in the abyss of Deity, as the mystic or pantheist would teach; but it is so hid as to retain its own conscious individuality, while sharing in the boundless life of God. It is a gift from God, bestowed through Christ the great Mediator, created by the power and energy of the Holy Ghost; so that the nature, manner, and destiny of the gift are hidden in God through the mediation of His Son. "God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." The exercise of faith brings the soul into living union with the glorious Trinity.
+III. That the believer's life in Christ will, in the future, be manifested in ineffable glory.+--1. There will be a signal manifestation of Christ in the future. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear" (ver. 4). Christ is now invisible to His people and to the world. He withdrew from the scene of His suffering ministry, entered the serene heights of heaven, and there, all-potent, is carrying on His high purposes of grace and salvation. But by-and-by--not at the bidding of the impatient prophets, who dare to fix the Lord a time, and, in their too realistic interpretation of His Word, consider His second coming as the grand and only specific for the world's evils--in His own good time, to the joy of His people and the dismay of His foes, He will come in overwhelming glory.
2. The believer will share in the ineffable glory of that manifestation.--"Then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (ver. 4). (1) This implies public recognition. The believer, obscure and despised on earth, is acknowledged before the universe as related to Christ by the dearest ties and as deriving his life from Him. All the ends of secrecy are answered. The hidden is revealed. The baffled, persecuted, unappreciated, afflicted people of God are for ever vindicated. (2) This also implies a personal participation in the splendour of Christ's triumph and in the bliss of His character. "With Him in glory." Glory is a comprehensive term, and not easily defined. But whether we regard it as expressive of external and visible splendour, or as describing a condition of unutterable and endless felicity, in either sense, or both, the believer shares it with his exultant Lord. Rapture of raptures! to see Jesus, to be with Him, and to live in the sunshine of His smile for ever!
+Lessons.+--1. The believer's life in Christ is a hidden, but a real life. 2. Bear patiently the trials of the present life. 3. The glory of the believer's future life will more than recompense him for the troubles of the present.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 3. Death and Life with Christ.
+I. Ye are dead.+--1. In your original state of unconcern and unbelief ye are dead. 2. By the Holy Ghost you are made to recognise this death as real and to acquiesce in it as just. 3. You continue to be thus dead with Christ.
+II. Your life is hid with Christ.+--1. As partakers of His right to live. 2. In respect of the new spirit of your life. 3. Your life being with Christ must be where He is. In God as its source, its centre, its pattern. 4. This life with Christ is hid. For security; in its intimacy; as separated from the world; is not to be always hidden (ver. 4).--R. S. Candlish.
Ver. 4. Christ our Life.
+I. The vital principle recognised.+--"Christ who is our life." 1. The life is spiritual in its nature. 2. Eternal in its duration.
+II. The splendid spectacle predicted.+--"Christ shall appear."
1. The manner.--In the glory of His Father, with His angels.
2. The purpose.--To judge the quick and the dead.
+III. The glorious hope awakened.+--"Then shall ye appear with Him in glory." 1. The great hope of the Christian life is that one day we shall be with Christ. 2. That we shall participate in Christ's glory. 3. These words are full of comfort to those drawing near to death.--J. T. Woodhouse.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 5-9.
Mortification of the Sinful Principle in Man.
Practice follows doctrine. The genuineness of a precept is tested by its adaptability to the practical working out of life's problem. The apostle has laid down his doctrine clearly and emphatically, and now he proceeds to enforce the use of the best methods for securing the highest degree of personal holiness. These methods are in perfect harmony with the exalted experience into which the believer is introduced when he is risen with Christ and participates in that glorious life which is hid with Christ in God.
+I. That the sinful principle in man has an active outward development.+--1. It is mundane in its tendencies. "Your members which are upon the earth" (ver. 5). It is earthly, sensual, depraved. It teaches the soul to grovel when it ought to soar. It is in sympathy with the whole mass of earthly things--riches, honour, pleasure, fame--which stand opposed to the higher aspirations of the soul, whose affection is fixed on things above.
2. It is manifested in acts of gross sensuality.--"Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence" (ver. 5). A revolting catalogue, a loathsome index to the festering mass of corruption within! A rake's progress has been portrayed by the genius of a Hogarth; but where is the pencil that can delineate the dark progress of evil? For there is an order observed in its abhorrent development. The mischief begins in evil concupiscence; yielding to the first unholy impulse, it goes on to lustful and inordinate affection; proceeds to uncleanness--pollutions which follow on the two preceding vices; and ends in fornication, both in its ordinary meaning and in that of adultery. Possibly the apostle had reference to the rites of Bacchus and Cybele, which were wont to be celebrated with many peculiar impurities in Phrygia, of which Colossæ, Laodicea, and Hierapolis were cities, and which so deeply depraved the morals of the people. The outgoings of evil are not less rampant and shocking in modern times. Evil is the same in principle everywhere.
3. It is recognised by a debasing idolatry.--"And covetousness, which is idolatry" (ver. 5). Covetousness is a sin that comes the earliest into the human heart and is the last and most difficult to be driven out. It is an insatiable lust after material possessions--the greed of getting more for the sake of more, till often the brain is turned and the heart withered. The apostle brands it with the significant term "idolatry." With the covetous man his idol is his gold, which, in his eyes, answereth all things; his soul is the shrine where the idol is set up; and the worship which he owes to God is transferred to mammon. Avarice is the seed of the most hateful and outrageous vices. The exhortation to mortify the flesh is pressed home by reminding them of the certainty of the Divine wrath which would overtake the contumacious and disobedient.
+II. That the active outgoings of the sinful principle in man call for the infliction of Divine vengeance.+--The wrath of God is not a malignant, unreasoning passion, like that with which we are familiar among men. Nor is it a strong figure of speech, into which the maudlin philosophers of the day would fain resolve it. It is an awful reality. It is not merely a thing of the past, to the terrible havoc of which history bears faithful and suggestive testimony. It is the wrath to come and will be "revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." It is not inconsistent with infinite love, but is an impressive form in which the Divine righteousness expresses itself against all disobedient and impenitent workers of iniquity.
+III. That the indulgence of the sinful principle in man is inconsistent with the new life he has in Christ.+--There was a time when the sins here enumerated formed the atmosphere in which the Colossians lived, moved, and breathed; they represented the condition of their life and the character of their practice; they lived and walked in sin. But that time was past. A great change had taken place. They were surrounded by a purer atmosphere; they lived in another world; they aspired to a nobler destiny. To return to the vices and idolatries of their former life was utterly inconsistent with their exalted character; it was unworthy of the high and holy vocation wherewith they were called. It is salutary to be reminded now and then of our former life of sin. It magnifies the grace of God in the great change He has wrought. It warns against the danger of being drawn into old habits and associations. It stimulates the heavenward tendencies of the new life.
+IV. That the sinful principle in man is the source of the most malignant passions.+--The former classification embraced sins which related more especially to self; this includes sins which have a bearing upon others.
1. There are sins of the heart and temper.--"Anger, wrath, malice" (ver. 8). There is an anger which is a righteous indignation against wrong, and which is so far justifiable and sinless. It is the anger without cause or beyond cause, and which degenerates into a bitter feeling of revenge, that is here condemned. Wrath is the fierce ebullition of anger, expressed with ungovernable passion; and is at all times unseemly and unlawful. Malice is anger long cherished, until it becomes a settled habit of mind. It involves hatred, secret envy, desire of revenge and retaliation, and universal ill-will towards others. It is altogether a diabolical passion. If anger exceeds its bounds, it becomes wrath; if wrath lies brooding in the bosom, it degenerates into malice.
2. There are sins of the tongue.--"Blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another" (vers. 8, 9). Blasphemy in a lower sense includes all calumny, evil-speaking, railing, slandering, scoffing, ridiculing--all vile insinuations, whether against God or man. Filthy communication refers to all foul-mouthed abuse, indelicate illusions, details of vicious scenes, and whatever hurts the feelings and shocks the sense of propriety rather than injures the character. Lying is also here condemned. Wherever this vice prevails society is rotten to the core. The almost total want of truthfulness is one of the saddest features of the moral condition of heathendom. Lying basely violates the gift of speech, saps the foundation of human intercourse, and overturns the first principles of morals. That which is spoken in ignorance, though untrue, is not a lie; but to equivocate, to speak so as to lead another to a false conclusion, is to lie as really as if the speaker deliberately stated what he knew was a falsehood. All these sins are directly opposed to that ingenuous sincerity which is the leading characteristic of the new life in Christ.
+V. That the sinful principle in man, and all its outgoings, must be wholly renounced and resolutely mortified.+--"But now ye also put off all these" (ver. 8). "Mortify, therefore, your members" (ver. 5). There is much force in the word "therefore." Since ye are dead with Christ and are risen with Him, since ye possess a glorious life hid with Christ in God, therefore mortify--put to death the members of your earthly and corrupt nature, and encourage the expansion of that pure, beauteous, and exalted life which ye have received through the faith of the operation of God. Not that we are to kill or mutilate the members of the body that have been the instruments of sin, but to crucify the interior vices of the mind and will. It is wholly a moral process; the incipient inclination to sin must be restrained, deadened, crushed. In order to this there must be the total renunciation of all sin. "But now ye also put off all these." The verb is imperative and the exhortation emphatic. There must be not only an abstinence from open vice--heathen morality insists on as much as this--but there must be the putting away of every secret evil passion--removing it out of sight as we would remove a dead body to burial. As the prince casts off the coarse garment in which he has been disguised and stands forth in an apparel befitting his rank and dignity, so the believer is to divest himself of the unsightly and filthy garment of the old man and allow the new man to appear adorned with heavenly magnificence and bright with the inextinguishable lustre of a Divine spiritual life.
+Lessons.+--1. The sinful principle in man is a great power. 2. The new spiritual life in the believer is in ceaseless antagonism with the old. 3. The constant duty of the believer is to subdue and destroy the sinful principle. 4. In fulfilling this duty all the powers of good are on his side.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 5. Covetousness, which is Idolatry.
+I. In its essence.+--It is putting the creature in the place of the Creator, and giving it the worship due to God alone.
+II. In its practice.+--Body and soul are consecrated to the service of mammon.
+III. In its punishment.+--Idolatry is a sin peculiarly obnoxious to God--is not merely the breach of His law, but treason against His government. God deprives the covetous of his idol at last, and sends him treasureless into the unseen world, wrecked and ruined, to endure the wrath to come.--Preacher's Magazine.
Ver. 6. The Wrath of God.--
+I. A reality to be dreaded.+
+II. Is roused by the workings of iniquity.+
+III. Will overtake the disobedient.+
Vers. 7-9. The New Life--
+I. Must break thoroughly away from the old life of sin.+
+II. Is evident in temper and speech.+
+III. Is the interpretation of all that is pure and true.+
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 9-11.
The New Spiritual Nature.
In the primitive Church it was customary for the new converts, after putting aside their heathenish vestments, to array themselves in white garments, that they might indicate, in the most public manner, the great change which had taken place. It was perhaps in allusion to this custom that the apostle bases his exhortation. A courtier would not dare to insult his sovereign by appearing before him in squalid and tattered garments but would be specially studious to attire himself in a dress every way suited to his rank and character. So, the believer would not dishonour God and disgrace the religion he has embraced by exhibiting the vices and passions that characterised his former unrenewed state but is the more solicitous to magnify the grace of God in a life of outward consistency and purity. In the former verses the writer has insisted on sanctification in its negative aspect--the mortification of sin, the putting off the old man. In these words, he deals with sanctification on its positive side, and shows that it is the putting on the new spiritual nature, in which the believer is ever advancing to a higher knowledge. Observe:--
+I. That the possession of the new spiritual nature implies a complete change of the whole man.+--"Seeing that ye have put off the old man, with his deeds, and have put on the new man" (vers. 9, 10). The believer has a twofold moral personality. There is in him the old man--the sinful principle; and there is in him also the new--the God-like, spiritual nature. Whatever we bring with us from the womb of our mother is the old man; whatever we receive by the grace of the Holy Spirit is the new. In the great spiritual transformation experienced by every believer there is a twofold and coincident operation--the putting off of the old and the putting on of the new; there is an act of renunciation and unclothing and an act of reception and investment. This change is complete; it pervades the whole man, ruling every power, fashioning the character, and inspiring the entire life. This change is Divine in its origin and outworking. Man has no power of himself to effect the renewal of his nature. It is "not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." It is the triumph of Divine grace, and to God only all praise is due.
+II. That the new spiritual nature is ever advancing to a higher knowledge.+--"Which is renewed in knowledge" (ver. 10), which is ever being renewed unto perfect knowledge (Lightfoot). The present tense is used, and it is indicated that the new spiritual nature does not reach perfection at once but is in a state of growth and development. The realisation of the new life in man is bounded by the amount and character of the knowledge he possesses, and by the clearness and tenacity with which that knowledge is apprehended and maintained. The experience may be below the actual knowledge possessed but cannot be beyond it. Whatever degree of holiness the soul attains, it is still susceptible of advancement. The process of renewal is continually going on, as the statue grows, under the chisel of the sculptor, into a more perfect form of beauty. The knowledge referred to is the true knowledge of Christ as opposed to the false knowledge of the heretical teachers. The process of renewal increases the capacity of the believing soul to appreciate the knowledge of Divine and heavenly realities, and the increase in the knowledge of the highest things reacts advantageously on the renewed nature. The higher we ascend in the knowledge of God, the more like Him do we become.
+III. That the new spiritual nature is refashioned after the most perfect model.+--"After the image of Him that created him" (ver. 10). Man was originally created in the image of God, that image consisting in a moral resemblance--"in righteousness and true holiness." Christ is Himself "the image of the invisible God," and conformity to Him is the pattern of our renewal, the all-perfect standard towards which we are continually to approximate. The moral image which we lost in the fall of the first Adam is more than regained in the second Adam. Redemption places man on a higher platform than he would have occupied if he had remained the moral condition in which he was originally created. It brings him nearer to God, gives him a broader and more sympathetic insight into the Divine character and purposes, and makes him more like God. In the spiritual region into which the believer in Christ is transferred all minor distinctions vanish. Not only do they not exist, they cannot exist. It is a region to which they are utterly unsuited and cannot therefore be recognised.
+IV. That the new spiritual nature is superior to all earthly distinctions.+--1. It is superior to all national distinctions. "Where there is neither Greek nor Jew" (ver. 11). To the Jew the whole world was divided into two classes: Jews and Gentiles--the privileged and unprivileged portions of mankind; religious prerogative being taken as the line of demarcation. But such a narrow distinction is antagonistic to the broad and generous spirit of the Gospel. Let a man be but renewed in Christ Jesus, and it inquires not as to what country he belongs.
2. It is superior to all ritualistic distinctions.--"Circumcision nor uncircumcision" (ver. 11). It matters not whether a man is born in a Christian country and brought up in the midst of the greatest ecclesiastical privileges, or whether he is cradled in the darkest paganism; in either case a change of heart is absolutely necessary. No branch of the universal Church can claim the exclusive right of admitting souls into heaven; and it is intolerable impertinence to insist upon the necessity of ceremonial observances in order to salvation--as was the case with the false teachers of Colossæ, and as is the case with the pretentious ritualism of the day. "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."
3. It is superior to all political distinctions.--"Barbarian, Scythian" (ver. 11). Like the Jews, the Greeks divided mankind into two classes--Greeks and barbarians--civilisation and culture being now the criterion of distinction. The Scythian was the lowest type of barbarian. Christianity acknowledges no such distinction. Whether gathered from the most refined or most barbarous nation, all are one in Christ Jesus. The Gospel has broken down the narrow and arbitrary classification of the race, maintained the right of all nations of the world to be classed as one genus, and replaced the barbarian by the more humane and unifying title of brother. Max Müller writes: "Humanity is a word which you look for in vain in Plato or Aristotle; the idea of mankind as one family, as the children of one God, is an idea of Christian growth; and the science of mankind, and of the languages of mankind, is a science which, without Christianity, would never have sprung into life."
4. It is superior to all social distinctions.--"Bond nor free" (ver. 11). The diversities of condition which divide men in the present world are unknown in the sphere of this spiritual renewal. The grace which changed the heart of Philemon the master also renewed the soul of Onesimus, his slave; and often the bondman is the first to enter into the liberty of the children of God. Here the rich and poor, the nobility and peasantry, meet together, and form one common brotherhood.
+V. That the new spiritual nature recognises Christ as everything.+--"But Christ is all, and in all" (ver. 11). All belongs to Him; He originated and sustains all, and He is in all. He is everything to the believer--the Source and Centre of his life, the Ideal after which he continually aspires, the Possession by which he will be enriched for ever. The believer is a living, speaking, active expression of the Christ within him. Christ, without the exclusion of any nation or sect, unites all; and so, through His indwelling in all, is Himself all.
+Lessons.+--1. Christ is the Author, Pattern, and End of the new spiritual nature. 2. To put on the new spiritual nature it is essential to believe in Christ.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 9-11. Religion a Change of Life.
+I. Evident by putting off the old nature and its sins+ (ver. 9).
+II. By putting on a new nature renewed after the Divine likeness+ (ver. 10).
+III. Superior to all conventional distinctions+ (ver. 11).
+IV. In which Christ is everything+ (ver. 11).
Ver. 11. Christ All and in All.
+I. Christ is all and in all in the realm of creation.+--The vast fabric of created things sprang into being at His word. Out of nothing He created all that is. The distance between being and no-being is so great that nothing short of infinite power can cause that to be which never before existed. The heavens are "the firmament of His power." He made the stars, kindled their brilliant fires, fixed their rank, regulated their motions, and appointed their mission. He formed the earth, robed it in vestments of ever-changing beauty, and endowed it with unfailing productiveness. He fashioned man after the model of His own illustrious image, freighted him with faculties of wondrous compass, indicated the possibilities of his career, and the character of his destiny. Christ is the grand centre of the magnificent systems by which He is encircled, and which He has grouped around Himself by the exercise of His creative hand. On Him their continued existence every moment hangs.
+II. Christ is all and in all in the sphere of providence.+--He sustains and governs all. Close as population follows on the heels of production, food never fails for man and beast. Study the sublime epic on the Divine preservation furnished by Psalm civ. and consider how the history of human experience in all ages confirms the truth. Christ controls all the forces of nature. The sweep of the heavenly bodies, the surge and re-surge of the tide, the eccentric course and velocity of the wind, the departure and return of the light, the roll of the dreaded thunder, the recurrent phases of the seasons, all are obedient to His nod. He is predominant among the spiritual agencies of the universe. He restricts the power of the great enemy of man. He restrains the power of evil. He governs the complicated passions of human hearts and makes even the wrath of men to praise Him. He guards, guides, and delivers His Church. The greatness of His providential power is seen in His accomplishing the mightiest results by insignificant instrumentalities. He is conducting all things to a glorious consummation.
+III. Christ is all and in all in the work of redemption.+--He suffered to the death on behalf of the sinning race. He was a voluntary victim. He was unique in His person--comprising in Himself the Divine and human natures. As man, He met all the necessities of sinful and condemned humanity; as God, He answered all the requirements of the Divine righteousness. While the greatest modern philosophers are puzzling their minds with an endless variety of methods for recovering man from his lapsed condition, we behold the problem solved in the life, sufferings, and death of Christ. That was a method of redemption that would never have occurred to a finite mind; and it is now beyond the range of the greatest human intellect to fathom. Christ, and Christ alone, could redeem. In that sphere He is all in all, or He is nothing. His work of redemption is an entrancing expression of the tenderest, deepest, most mysterious love.
+IV. Christ is all and in all in the kingdom of glory.+--He is the Head of all principalities and powers in the heavenly places. They depend on Him for life and purity, they obey His slightest word, they adore His infinite majesty, they delight in His hallowed fellowship. Christ is also Head over all things to the Church, which is His body; the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. He is the central attraction and source of bliss in the realm of glory. The redeemed cast their crowns before Him and chant His praise in ceaseless anthems. If Christ were absent, heaven would lose its greatest charm.
"I love to think of heaven; its cloudless light, Its tearless joys, its recognitions and its fellowships Of love and joy unending; but when my mind anticipates The sight of God incarnate, wearing on His hands, And feet, and side, marks of the wounds Which He, for me, on Calvary endured, All heaven beside is swallowed up in this; And He who was my hope of heaven below, Becomes the glory of my heaven above."
+V. Christ is all and in all to the believing soul.+--He appears as the great Emancipator; He delivers from the power of darkness, and translates the benighted but groping soul into the kingdom of light. He gives rest to the weary and heavy laden. He comforts the mourner. He defends and succours the tempted. He is the refuge in every time of distress. All the wants of the soul are anticipated and abundantly supplied. He will conduct safely through all the changeful scenes of this life; and finally invest the soul with the imperishable splendours of an endless future. Christ is the great necessity and the all-satisfying portion of the soul.
+Lessons.+--1. Christ is supreme in all spheres. 2. Christ is the great need of the human soul. 3. Faith in Christ brings the soul into a personal participation in the Divine fulness.
Christ is All and in All.
+I. The essential glories of Christ.--He possesses all things.+
+II. Christ has purchased all blessings for us.+--All temporal and all spiritual blessings.
+III. All blessings are treasured up in Christ for the eternal use of His Church.+
+IV. He will keep His family in the possession of all good for ever.+--W. Howels.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 12, 13.
Essentials of the Christian Character.
In the cultivation of a rare and valuable plant care must be taken to rid it of everything that would retard its growth, and to supply it with whatever aids it in reaching the highest possibility of shapeliness and beauty. Not only must it be severely pruned and divested of every noxious weed and destructive parasite, but it must be diligently tended, and liberally provided with air, light, and moisture. So is it in the training of the Christian character. It is not enough that the old man--the sinful principle--is suppressed, mortified, deadened; all the graces of the new man--the new spiritual nature--must be assumed and sedulously cultivated. Religion is not a dry, sapless, dead negation, but a grand positive reality--an active, ever-growing life, pushing its way through every channel of man's nature, and fashioning his character after the loftiest pattern of moral loveliness and purity. The change the Colossians had experienced furnished the most forcible reason why they should advance in spiritual development. Having risen with Christ, and having put off the old man, with his deeds, there is an unmistakable emphasis in the exhortation--Put on, therefore, the characteristics of the new man.
+I. That the Christian character is distinguished by a special designation.+--"The elect of God, holy and beloved" (ver. 12).
1. Distinguished as the object of the Divine choice.--"The elect of God"--chosen by Him, as an act of undeserved, unmerited mercy, to the knowledge of Himself and His glorious salvation; called out of darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear Son. This election is a condition of exalted privilege to which all rise who accept the message of God's mercy through Jesus Christ.
2. Distinguished by personal purity.--"Holy." Here is the evidence and practical result of the Divine election. "Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and without blame before Him in love" (Eph. i. 4). The people of God are called to be holy--consecrated to His service; set apart from a common and wholly devoted to a sacred purpose. Holiness is the habitual condition, aim, delight, and employment of the Christian's life.
3. Distinguished by the Divine affection.--"Beloved." The believer is the object of God's special love, of the favour which He beareth unto His people. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the sons of God." The epithets here used have each the force of a motive. Since the believer is elect, holy, beloved, let him act in harmony with his exalted character and calling. Lavater has said, "The more honesty a man has, the less he affects the air of a saint."
+II. That the Christian character is distinguished by a heartfelt sympathy.+--1. This sympathy arises from a spirit of tender mercy. "Bowels of mercies" (ver. 12)--a phrase which expresses the effect on the body of strong emotions of pity. It was said of Joseph that "his bowels did yearn over his brethren, and he sought where to weep." The miseries of our fellow-creatures, especially of those who are in a worse condition than ourselves, call for our compassion and help; and a genuine pity is not only visible in the countenance and uttered by the lips, but felt in the inmost heart, and prompts to generous actions.
2. This sympathy arises from a spirit of kindness.--"Kindness" refers to the temper we should show towards those we meet in the daily intercourse of life who are on an equality with ourselves. The Christian should be amiable, courteous, kind in speech and action, eager to relieve others according to his means--the farthest remove from a crabbed, sullen, churlish disposition. A hard, cold, selfish, unfeeling heart is a characteristic of fallen, unrenewed man; bowels of mercies and kindness of the renewed one.
+III. That the Christian character is distinguished by a genuine humility.+--"Humbleness of mind" (ver. 12). These words describe the estimate that is to be formed of self. The believer is taught not to overrate nor unduly to depreciate himself. He is governed by the apostolic rule, "Let each esteem other better than themselves." The more exalted his views of God, and the more he remembers his own unworthiness, weakness, ignorance, and sin, the more softly and lowly does he seek to walk. As in the garden that branch hangs down the lowest which is most heavily laden with fruit, so in the Church the ripest saints are those who walk humbly with God. The humble man is the most susceptible to compassion and genuine in its practical manifestation. The proud man is too full of himself to feel for others; he is always dissatisfied, always embroiling in quarrels the family, the Church, the social circle where he resides. The humblest man is the bravest man. He endures with composure the contempt and arrogance of others.
+IV. That the Christian character is distinguished by a gentle and patient spirit.+--"Meekness, longsuffering" (ver. 12).
1. The Christian spirit is gentle.--"Meekness." This grace indicates what should be our conduct towards others in their treatment of us. Meekness is evidenced in modesty of countenance, gentleness of manner, softness of voice, and mildness of language; it is opposed to rudeness or harshness. We see it exemplified in the way in which Gideon pacified the irascible men of Ephraim (Judg. viii. 2). It is slow to take, and scorns to give, offence.
2. The Christian spirit is patient.--"Longsuffering," which is meekness continued, though subjected to the fiercest provocations. It is opposed to resentment, revenge, wrath. Meekness exercises itself in matters of chagrin, impertinence, folly; longsuffering in those of violent outrage, affront, injury. Meekness may be required by the mere manner of others towards us; longsuffering is often necessary by their conduct. There is a difference between enduring long and longsuffering. The genuine grace is accompanied, not only with patience, but with joyous activity and watchfulness. It is not like the senseless rock which endures the full force of the storm unmoved and unresponsive, but like the nimble vessel that, while it bends to the tempest, is at the same time diligently speeding on its mission.
+V. That the Christian character is distinguished by a practical manifestation of a spirit of mutual forbearance and forgiveness.+--1. Mutual forbearance and forgiveness are to be exercised universally. "Forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any" (ver. 13). The word "quarrel" is better rendered complaint. It takes two to make a quarrel, and of these the Christian should never be one. Whatever occasion of offence may arise, whatever cause of complaint, in any man, under any circumstances, and however just the complaint may appear, forbearance is to be exercised; and even if the forbearance is abused and injury be added, we must forgive. It is never on one side only that the fault exists. It is one another, each in his turn, that gives and receives forbearance. If this were more frequently observed, how many unseemly discords and mischievous separations would be prevented!
2. The exercise of forgiveness is enforced by the highest example.--"Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye" (ver. 13). These words come as an impressive climax, enforcing the duty of forgiveness by the strongest motive. The more difficult the duty, the more powerful should be the arguments urging its performance. The example of Christ is supreme in its authority. What are the injuries committed by others against us compared with the number and enormity of our sins against God? Yet Christ forgave us all, freely, fully, unreservedly, and for ever. The heart that is not moved to forgiveness by such an example is hopelessly incorrigible.
+Lessons.+--1. The unity of Christian character is made up of many separate essential graces. 2. The condition of things in this world affords ample scope for the exercise of every Christian grace. 3. To forgive is at once the most difficult and most Christ-like.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 12. Christian Humility.
+I. The nature of this holy temper.+--1. A humble apprehension of our own knowledge. The imperfection of our faculties, our fallibility of judgment, when we compare our knowledge with the attainments of others, and a persuasion of the small value of the most exalted knowledge without practical influence. 2. Of our own goodness. 3. Of our independence and wants. 4. Of our own rank and station.
+II. The obligations to cultivate a humble temper.+--1. It is mentioned in Scripture with peculiar marks of distinction and honour. The most distinguished promises are made to it. It is a necessary introduction to other graces and duties. 2. It is a grace which adorns every other virtue and recommends religion to every beholder. 3. Is recommended to us by the example of the Author and Finisher of our faith. 4. Is a grace that will go with us to heaven.
+Lessons.+--1. Those destitute of this grace have the rudiments of Christianity to learn. 2. We should look principally to the temper of our spirits to judge of our humility. 3. By it we judge of the improving or declining state of our souls.--J. Evans, D.D.
Ver. 13. Christian Forgiveness--
+I. Is exercised where there is mutual forbearance.+
+II. Is the noblest method of ending quarrels.+
+III. Is a Christ-like disposition.+
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 14.
Love the Perfection of the Christian Character.
Love is the commonest and most potent affection of the human heart. It has been the inexhaustible theme of writers in all ages, in poetry and prose. It has been invested with the bewitching drapery of romance and exhibited as the instrumental cause of the darkest crimes and of the brightest virtues. The world never tires of learning of its adventures, trials, and victories. While it is ever commonplace, it is ever fresh. It is the perennial force in human life--the first to inspire, the longest to endure, the last to perish. But Christian love--love to Jesus Christ, and to all others for His sake--is not a native-born affection. It does not spring spontaneously from the human heart. It is a gift from God. It is the richest fruit of the new spiritual nature implanted in the believer. It is first to be acquired and then diligently cultivated. The apostle has just described the distinctive garments with which the believer is to be adorned--with a heart of tender compassion, with humility, with a gentle, patient, and forgiving spirit. But in addition to all this, and in order to complete the Christian character, he is to be clothed in a robe which is to cover every other garment and bind it to its place--a robe whose purity and brightness shall shed a lustre over all the rest.
+I. That love is the prime element in every other grace of the Christian character.+--It is the soul of every virtue and the guarantee of a genuine sincerity. Without love all other graces, according to an old writer, are but glittering sins. There is a great power of affectionateness in the human heart, but no man possesses naturally the spiritual love of God and love of the race. It is a fruit of the Holy Ghost and comes though that faith which works by love. It is possible to assume all the essentials of the Christian character, enumerated in ver. 12, and previously commented on; but without love they would be meaningless, cold, and dead. Mercy would degenerate into weak sentimentality; kindness into foolish extravagance; humility into a mock self-depreciation--which is but another form of the proudest egotism; and longsuffering into a dull, dogged stupidity. Love is the grand element in which all other graces move and from which they derive their vitality and value. It is the grace which alone redeems all other from the curse of selfishness, and is, itself, the most unselfish.
+II. That love occupies the most exalted place in the Christian character.+--"Above all these things." Not simply in addition to, but over and above all these, put on charity, as the outer garment that covers and binds together all the rest. Other graces are local and limited in their use; love is all-expansive and universal. A philosopher, in a vein of pungent satire, has dilated on the philosophy of clothes; and experience testifies how mightily the world is influenced and instructed by outward appearances. As the dress frequently indicates the rank and importance of the wearer, so the garment of love, worn without ostentation or pride, is the badge by which the Christian is known in the world (John xiii. 35). Love is the presiding queen over all Christian graces, inspiring and harmonising their exercises, and developing them into a living and beauteous unity of character. The apostle fixes the exalted rank of love in 1 Cor. xiii. 13.
+III. That love is the pledge of permanency in the Christian character.+--"Which is the bond of perfectness." As a girdle, or cincture, bound together with firmness and symmetry the loose flowing robes generally worn by the ancients, so love is the power that unites and holds together all those graces and virtues which together make up perfection. Love is the preservative force in the Christian character. Without it knowledge would lose its enterprise, mercy and kindness become languid, humility faint, and longsuffering indifferent. Love binds all excellencies together in a bond which time cannot injure, the enemy unloose, or death destroy. No church, or community of individuals, can exist long without the sustaining power of love. It is not a similarity in taste, intellectual pursuits, in knowledge, or in creed, that can permanently unite human hearts, but the all-potent sympathy of Christian love. Charity never faileth.
+IV. That the perfection of the Christian character is seen in the practical manifestation of love.+--"Put on charity."
1. Love is indispensable.--It is possible to possess many beautiful traits of character--much that is humane and amiable--without being a complete Christian: to be very near perfection, and yet lack one thing. Without love all other graces are inconsistent, heartless, wayward, selfish. They are but as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Charity is indispensable to give life, force, meaning, truth, permanence to the whole. It supplies the imperfections and defects of other graces and virtues.
2. Love is susceptible of individual cultivation.--It may be "put on." We may have more if we strive after it and faithfully use what is already possessed. It is a pressing, practical duty which all Christians are bound to attend to. And yet there is no grace which is more constantly suppressed. What a power the Church would become, and how marvellously would the character of the world be changed if love had a freer scope and was universally exercised. The pretentious coverings of sectarianism and bigotry would vanish, and the whole Church of the redeemed be girt with the ample robe of a seamless unity. To win the love of others we must put it on ourselves.
+Lessons.+--1. The mere profession of Christianity is empty and valueless. 2. Every grace of the Christian character must be diligently exercised. 3. Above and through all other graces love must operate.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 15.
The Rule of Divine Peace.
War in any form is unfriendly to the growth of piety. The soul is tossed on the waves of disquietude, and courage--the principal virtue called into exercise--is apt to acquire an unnatural and unhealthy development at the expense of all other graces. The whole structure of the Christian character is dislocated and thrown off its balance. Peace restores the soul to its true equipoise, fixes every power in its just relation to each other and to the whole, and encourages the harmonious cultivation of that love which is the bond of perfectness. Lord Bacon has said: "It is heaven upon earth to have a man's mind move in charity, rest in Providence, and turn upon the poles of truth." In this verse we are taught that the one supreme umpire in the heart, by which all differences are to be settled, is the peace of God--the destined end of the Christian calling, in which is realised the unity belonging to members of one body; and that this blessing is to be sought in a spirit of thankfulness. Observe:--
+I. That peace is a Divine blessing.+--"The peace of God." Some of the oldest manuscripts have read, "The peace of Christ"--a reading adopted by the ablest biblical critics. The verbal difference, however, is of no moment. The truth is the same: it is equally the peace of God and the peace of Christ--a Divine tranquillity filling the soul with a calm that no mere worldly power can give or take away, and that the ocean-surges of trouble can never diminish or disturb. Christ hath made peace through the blood of His cross and left it as a sacred legacy to all His disciples through all time. In its essence it is the peace that Christ Himself enjoys--a sublime calmness similar to that which pervades the Divine bosom. It is not like the long, painful, oppressive stillness that is the precursor of a storm, but a profound, pervasive, heavenly quiet that soothes while it invigorates the soul. It proceeds from God through Christ and is maintained and nourished in the heart as a positive, gracious reality and priceless blessing.
+II. That peace is a ruling power.+--"Let the peace of God rule." The word "rule" is borrowed from the practice of the Greeks at their great national games and described the duty of the arbiter or umpire presiding, who held the prize in his hand while the contest proceeded in the stadium and conferred it on the victor at the close. Thereby he exercised over the athletes a peculiar kind of rule. Impelled by a sight of the prize, they gave their whole being to the contest. So, in contending in the race of life, the peace of God, as containing all desirable blessings, is to exercise supreme authority and regulate all the concerns of the soul.
1. As a ruling power peace pervades and stimulates every other grace.--It lifts the soul to God, and enables it to take hold of His strength. It prepares for every holy duty and stimulates to every spiritual enterprise. The more the soul is permeated with Divine peace, the more desire and aptitude will there be for higher attainments in piety.
2. As a ruling power peace is a powerful defence.--It resists successfully the attacks of evil from whatever source they come. The shafts of infidelity cannot pierce the invulnerable defence of a conscious peace with God; right feeling is superior to the subtlest logic. Peace erects a formidable bulwark against temptation and is the surest safeguard against every form of sin.
3. As a ruling power it concentrates and controls all the energies of the soul.--It calms the intellect, soothes the heart, tranquillises the conscience, and centralises all the powers of manhood, that they may go forth and do valiant battle for the truth. As by an unerring instinct it decides upon what is right and shuns the wrong. The questions as to whether it is right to engage in certain amusements, to visit certain places, or to join this or that company, will soon be settled when the peace of God rules in the heart. It is a regulating power in moral difficulties, and a potent help in all moral enterprises. The peace of God keeps the heart and mind through Jesus Christ (Phil. iv. 7).
+III. That peace is a ruling power in man.+--"In your hearts." The heart is the region where the ruling power is exercised and takes effect. It embraces the will and affections as distinguished from the intellect. It is the choosing faculty as distinguished from the knowing faculty. When the heart is drawn in one direction the whole man follows. There the moral disease begins, and there the remedy must be applied. By sin the heart has become deceitful above all things; in the regeneration the heart is made new. The rush of an evil heart's affections will not always yield to reason. When God, by His Word and Spirit, comes to save, He saves by arresting and renewing the heart. The psalmist recognised this when he cried, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Ps. li. 10). No man is conquered until his heart is conquered. It is in this region the peace of God has powerful sway, and where it aids in achieving the most brilliant moral conquests.
+IV. That peace is essential to the unity of the Church.+--1. The Church is called to the enjoyment of peace. "To the which also ye are called." The burden of the Gospel message is peace. Its mission is to extinguish wars and enmities, and to pacify heaven and earth. The Church is called to peace by the commands of Christ, by the teachings of His example when on earth, by the reiterated precepts of God's Word, and by the necessities of the grand enterprise in which she is engaged.
2. The enjoyment of peace is essential in preserving and promoting the unity of the Church.--"In one body." As ye were called as members of one body so let there be one Spirit animating that body. Among the stellar systems, in social communities and states, as well as in the Christian Church, a common agreement is essential to unity. Divine peace preserves harmony, nourishes spiritual strength, and promotes union by drawing the souls, in which it is the ruling power, more closely to God and to each other. There is to be the constant endeavour "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. iv. 3).
+V. That peace is to be cultivated in the spirit of thankfulness.+--"And be ye thankful." These words are not to be restricted in their application. Not only do they imply that the Colossians were to act towards each other in a thankful and amiable temper, but they teach in what spirit the peace of God should be universally sought and exercised. The duty of thankfulness was the constant theme of the apostle: there are upwards of thirty references to it in his epistles. Here we are exhorted to consider it in special connection with the enjoyment of peace. Only he who has been swung in the dark whirl of unrest and doubt, who has witnessed the horrible riot of disunion and discord, can appreciate the blessing of peace and the gratitude it inspires. Cicero declared that gratitude was the mother of all other virtues. Certain it is that no man sins without ingratitude. Thanksgiving has always been the principal element in all religion, whether instituted by Divine command, prompted by natural reason, or propagated by general tradition. The pagan religion consists in the praise of their gods and acknowledgments of their benefits; the Jewish, to a great extent, in eucharistic oblations and solemn commemorations of providential favours; and the ancient Christians were distinguished by singing hymns to Christ, and by mutual sacraments obliging themselves to abstain from all villainy. Thanksgiving is a joyous exercise--the pleasantest of duties. Prayer reminds us of our wants and imperfections; confession enforces a painful remembrance of our sins; but gratitude includes nothing but the memory of exceeding goodness. It is a duty most acceptable to God and most profitable to man.
+Lessons.+--1. True peace is found only in Christ. 2. Peace is a mighty engine of spiritual power. 3. Gratitude should combine with every blessing.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE.
Unity and Peace.
+I. The unity of the Church of Christ.+--1. Distinguish the unity of comprehensiveness from the unity of mere singularity. 2. It subsists between things not similar or alike, but dissimilar or unlike. 3. It is made up of dissimilar members, without which dissimilarity there could be no unity. 4. It consists in submission to one single influence or spirit. The Spirit of its God.
+II. The individual peace resulting from this unity.+--1. It is God's peace. 2. A living peace. 3. The peace which comes from an inward power. 4. The peace of reception.--Robertson.
The Peace of God ruling in the Heart.
+I. The region.+--"In your hearts." When the heart is drawn in one direction, the whole man follows. When God by His Word and Spirit comes to save, He saves by arresting the heart and making it new.
+II. The reign.+--"Rule." Freedom from rule is not competent to man; the only choice he has is a choice of masters.
+III. The Ruler.+--"The peace of God." 1. It is God and no idol that should rule in a human heart. 2. It is not the wrath but the peace of God that rules in a human heart. It is the act of letting me go free that binds my whole soul for ever.--W. Arnot.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 16.
The Poetry of the Christian Life.
In the life of the individual and of nations the era of poetry comes first and is followed by the era of criticism. The impulse of a youthful and enthusiastic passion and the boundless play of a prolific imagination produce certain artistic results; and then comes the cool, reflective critic, with microscopic eye and mathematical rules, to measure and appraise the loved production. How soon the glowing efflorescence withers, and the expanding magnitude dwindles to the smallest practical limits. Genuine poetry is superior to all criticism, outlives the most violent opposition, and is imperishable as humanity. Poetry is the language of the soul in its highest and holiest mood, when it is fired with a Divinely kindled rapture, when it strives to grasp the invisible and pants to express the grandest truths of the universe. The Christian life has its poetry. It is of the loftiest order, its theme the noblest, and its melody haunts the soul for ever with strains of ravishing harmony. In this verse we learn that the poetry of the Christian life draws its inspiration from the Divine Word and ministers to the culture and enjoyment of the Church. Observe:--
+I. That the poetry of the Christian life draws its deepest inspiration from the Divine Word.+--"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly."
1. That the Divine Word is fitly called the Word of Christ.--It contains the record of His personal teaching--the revelation of new and startling truths, and the resetting of old truths in such a light as to connect the old and new dispensations, and blend them in an unbroken homogeneousness. It unfolds the mystery of that redemption He died to accomplish, and which forms so prominent a part of the teaching of this epistle. It is inspired by the Spirit of Christ, and gleams in every part with brilliant manifestations of His supernal glory. Christ is the all-pervading theme of the Scriptures--the key of the arch--the cornerstone of the foundation--the sun, illuminating with light and salvation the whole Gospel system to its remotest circumference.
2. The Divine Word to create a true poetic fervour must wholly occupy the soul.--"Dwell in you richly." The Word of Christ is to be embraced as a whole, and due prominence given to every part of His character and work. Not to exalt His humanity to the denial of His Divinity; not to be so enamoured with the moral beauty of His life as to overlook the significance and power of His death. The Word is to dwell in us so completely as to possess and enrich every faculty and power of our nature. Not simply to give it a place in the region of intellectual opinion or in judging of moral questions, but to let it have a mighty sway over the affections of the heart--let it enter, saturate, purify, and govern the whole mental, moral, and spiritual being. It is to occupy the soul as a constant and permanent inspiration; to dwell--not as a stranger to stand without, or to be saluted at a distance, but to enter, to abide, and be treated as a loved and intimate guest. Let the Word of Christ be clearly apprehended, diligently pondered, and firmly grasped, and it will fill the soul with heavenly visions and inflame it with the holiest poetic ardour.
+II. That the poetry of the Christian life has made valuable literary contributions to the psalmody of the Church.+--"In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." It is not easy to make arbitrary distinctions between these poetic effusions. The psalm was a sacred poem on whatever subject, and similar to the productions in the book of Psalms in the Old Testament; the hymn specially celebrated the praises of the Almighty; and the spiritual song, or ode, was more mixed in its matter and more artificial in its arrangement and referred to personal effusions of a more general character. The gift of poesy was among the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit in the early Church (1 Cor. xiv. 26). The first form of literature in all countries is for the most part in song. A certain writer has said, that if he were allowed to make the songs of a nation, he cared not who made the laws. And in the Christian Church, from the earliest period, sacred psalmody has been a mighty power for edification and comfort. The hymnology of the church is becoming increasingly rich in its poetic treasures.
+III. That the poetry of the Christian life ministers to the mutual culture and happiness of the Church.+--1. It is intellectual in its character. "In all wisdom teaching one another." A more correct punctuation connects the clause "in all wisdom" with the words that follow, not, as in our version, with the words that precede. To teach in all wisdom demands the highest intellectual exercise, especially when poetry is the medium of instruction and the Word of Christ the theme. Without wisdom, poetry would sink into a maudlin sensuousness, a mere verbal jingling, and intolerable monotony. Wisdom is necessary to compare and balance the different parts of Scripture truth, to apply the Word on proper occasions to its proper ends and in harmony with its spirit, and to adopt the best means for attaining the highest results in mutual instruction. The profoundest feelings of our nature can only be expressed in poetry. The orator, as he reaches the loftiest strains of eloquence, becomes poetical.
2. It is moral in its tendency.--"And admonishing one another." There is implied a deep concern for each other's moral condition and safety. The poetry of the early Christians was moral in its exercise and tendency. No one can feel an interest in another's morality who is himself immoral. An eminent critic has said: "The element in which poetry dwells is truth, and when imagination divorces itself from that relation, it declines into the neighbourhood of empty fiction or the dreams of lunacy." The poetry of the Christian life is based on eternal truth, and it is to be judiciously used as an instrument of admonition as well as of instruction. There is need for warning and brotherly counsel to restore the wanderer, to raise him if he has fallen, to reprove him if he is wrong, to protect and admonish him if he is in danger (Ps. cxli. 5).
3. It is joyous in its effects.--"Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Music and poetry are sometimes prostituted to the basest purposes, ministering to the lowest passions, and inciting to the vilest actions. But the poetry of the Christian life refines the soul, raises it towards God, and fills it with the music of unspeakable delight. The proper sphere of music is the heavenly and the spiritual.
"Beyond the visible world she soars to seek, For what delights the sense is false and weak; Ideal form, the universal mould."
As the sea-shell conveys to the ear the faint music of the distant waves, so the poetry of the Christian life indicates in some degree the rapturous music that awaits on the heavenly shore. Coleridge said: "Poetry has been to me its own exceeding great reward. It has soothed my affliction, it has endeared solitude, and it has given me the habit of wishing to discover the good and beautiful in all that surrounds me." And Keats said: "Let me have music dying and I seek no more delight."
+Lessons.+--1. The highest poetry is found in the Divine Word. 2. To administer instruction and admonition through the medium of song is at once modest and significant. 3. The Christian life should be one sweet harmonious poem.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE.
The Word of Christ: its Characteristics as the Saviour's Book and the Sinner's Book.
+I. It is simple.+
+II. Significant.+
+III. Saving.+
+IV. Sanctifying.+
+V. Supporting.+
+VI. Suited to all.+
+Lessons.+--1. Let its truths and realities inhabit your convictions. 2. Let its tone be infused into your temper. 3. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.--James Hamilton, D.D.
The Indwelling Word of Christ.
+I. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you.+--1. Implies a sense of the preciousness of Christ Himself. 2. The preciousness of Christ's words, as well as of Christ Himself, is essential to its dwelling in you. 3. The felt preciousness of real present and living intercourse between Christ and you will cause the Word, as His Word, to abide in you.
+II. Dwell in you richly.+--1. It may refer to quantity. 2. It may have respect to quality. 3. The rich indwelling of the Word of Christ in you may be held to correspond to the riches of Him whose Word it is. 4. It is to dwell in you not only as rich receivers but as rich dispensers also.
+Lessons.+--1. Make sure of the first condition of Christ's Word in you--the preciousness of Christ Himself. 2. Make full proof of all suitable helps for the indwelling of the Word of Christ in you.--R. S. Candlish.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 17.
Suggestive Summary of the Law of Christian Duty.
Labour, which was originally imposed on man as a curse, may minister very largely to the increase of human happiness. The effort necessary to contend with and subdue the hostile forces of nature, and wrest from the earth the food essential to existence, strengthens and elevates the best powers of man. All men are prompted to labour by some distinct principle or ruling passion: the savage by the cravings of physical hunger, the patriot by the love of his country, the philosopher by an inextinguishable thirst for knowledge and delight in intellectual exercises. The ruling principle of action in the believer is that of supreme devotion to the Lord; he is to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. This exhortation embraces everything previously mentioned in the epistle, and every possible duty of the Christian life.
+I. The guiding law of Christian duty.+--"Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." The name of Christ suggests the predominating principle by which the whole course of life is to be regulated, the watchword in every enterprise, the battle-cry in every conflict, the rallying centre in every disaster. In warfare, armies have been animated with the enthusiasm of action by simply mentioning the name of a Wellington, a Napoleon, a Garibaldi, a Von Moltke. But oh! how glorious and all potent is the name +Lord Jesus!+ It suggests the sublime dignity and redemptive achievements of Christ, and that He is the great exemplar after which all who believe in Him are to be morally fashioned.
1. In Christ is the purest motive to duty.--Motive originates and governs action, and makes it good or bad. The believer does everything for Christ's sake, out of love for Him and respect to His authority. The tendency in all men is to live in themselves, to act in their own name and strength, and to carry out their own selfish purposes. Selfishness is one of the mightiest and most general motives to action. It is only in Christ we find the holiest and purest motive; in Him love takes the place of selfishness. The love of Christ constraineth us (2 Cor. v. 14, 15).
2. In Christ is the noblest pattern of duty.--Not only do we see in His character the most perfect representation of moral excellence, but his whole career is an instructive example of devotion to duty. He fulfilled the will of His Father: He was obedient unto death. He has taught us how to live and how to die. One of the grandest pictures of moral heroism is seen in the maintenance of an intelligent and faithful obedience in the midst of danger and threatened death.
3. In Christ is the highest end of duty.--All things in the material universe exist for Him, and in the moral realm He is the goal towards which all actions tend. Everything should be done with reference to Christ. We can have no worthier ambition than to seek in all things His glory. Cf. Mark ix. 41; Matt. xviii. 5; John xiv. 14; and note how Christ lays it down as a universal principle that everything is to be done in His name. There is no higher name, for it "is above every name"; there is no loftier end, for "He is before all things."
4. In Christ is the final authority of Christian duty.--Many things have been done in the name of Christ that never had His sanction and were contrary to His authority. The most disastrous persecutions and cruellest tortures have been perpetrated in the name of Christ. These blasphemous outrages have been committed to strengthen the authority and hide the bloodthirsty rapacity of a corrupt and domineering Church. No ecclesiastical hierarchy has a right to compel the blind, unreasoning submission of a free, intelligent agent. Above all Jesuitical maxims and Papal decrees is the authority of Christ. His will is supreme in all spheres, and that will is the guiding law of duty in the Christian life.
+II. The universal obligation of Christian duty.+--"Whatsoever ye do in word or deed."
1. There must be a recognition of Christ in everything.--In all our employments, conversation, public acts of worship, in social and private prayer, in secular and domestic concerns, in all matters relating to the place of our abode, in changing residences, in connections we form for ourselves and our children. There is a comprehensiveness in the obligation which is all-embracing. Not that we are to parade our piety, to obtrude our religious notions upon everybody we meet, or to be ever unctuously repeating the name of Christ, irrespective of time or place. The merchant is not to provoke unseemly discussions on sacred subjects when he ought to be attending to the business of the counting-house; the clerk should not be reading his Bible when he ought to be posting his ledger; the servant-maid should not be praying when she ought to be cleaning her kitchen; nor ought the mother to be gadding about, or running to endless revival meetings, while her house is dirty and her husband and children neglected. It is not so much that everything is to be done after one special outward form as that every duty is to be done in a religious spirit. Religion is not a series of formal acts, or a string of set phrases; but it is a life, pervading all our activities, and making every part of our career sublime. Recognise Christ in everything, and a new meaning will be thrown on passing events; the commonplaces of life will be exalted into dignity, and the future assume irresistible attractions.
2. There must be absolute dependence on Christ at all times.--We cannot say and do everything in the name of Christ unless we fully surrender ourselves to Him. We are helpless and full of spiritual infirmities, but the more conscious we are of our complete dependence on Him the stronger are we in labour and in hope. In our successes, lest we be puffed up with vanity--in our perplexities, lest we are discouraged--in our grief, lest we sink despairing into the abyss--and in our transports of joy, lest we be exalted above measure--there must ever be a full, voluntary, and conscious reliance on Jesus. Thus resting on Him and realising His life-giving power, we can say with Paul, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
3. There must be supreme devotion to Christ.--All we have we owe to Him. He gave His all for us, and it is but a righteous return that we consecrate to Him all that is highest and best in ourselves. We must love Christ supremely, and then every faculty and power of our being will render homage and service to Him. We shall be obedient to His commands, we shall magnify His grace, we shall strive to walk worthy of His great name, and in all things seek to promote His glory. We pledge ourselves to Him for ever, and no consideration should tempt us to relax our devotion. George III. was a man of firm mind, with whom one had pleasure in acting. He was very slow in forming his opinion, very diligent in procuring every information on the subject; but once convinced, he would act with unflinching firmness. His beautiful speech about the Roman Catholic question shows his character: "I can give up my crown and retire from power, I can quit my palace and live in a cottage, I can lay my head on a block and lose my life, but I can not break my oath."
+III. The unvarying spirit in which Christian duty is to be done.+--"Giving thanks to God and the Father by Him." They who do all things in Christ's name will never want matter of thanksgiving to God. The apostle has frequently referred to this duty of gratitude, and he evidently regarded it as a very important element of the Christian character. It was Christianity that first taught the duty of being thankful even in trial and suffering. We are to thank God for the privilege of acting so that we may honour Him. A thankful spirit has a blessedness and a power of blessing which those only realise who cherish it. All thanksgiving is to be offered to God the Father by Jesus Christ, as He is our only mediator, and it is through Him we obtain whatever good the Father bestows upon us. The giving of thanks to God is one of the highest duties of religious worship; and if this be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, then all subordinate duties must be done in the same manner.
+Lessons.+--1. The name of Christ is the greatest power in the universe. 2. All duty gathers its significance and blessedness from its relation to Christ. 3. A thankful spirit is happy in enterprise, brave in difficulties, and patient in reverses.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE.
Ver. 17 (compared with 1 Cor. xi. 24). The Lord's Supper the Sample of the Christian Life.
+I. All the objects around us are to be regarded by us as being symbols and memorials of our Lord.+
+II. Every act of our life is to be done from the same motive as that holy communion.+
+III. All life, like the communion of the Lord's Supper, may be and ought to be a showing forth of Christ's death.+
+IV. This communion is in itself one of the mightiest means for making the whole of life like itself.+--A. Maclaren.
Doing all in the Name of Christ.
+I. Doing it as His agent.+
+II. We are not our own, but His.+
+III. Whatever it is right to do is His work.+--T. G. Crippen.
Christ in the Practical Life.
+I. Here we find a rule of life.+
+II. Here we find a motive.+
+III. Here we find our life redeemed.+--Preacher's Magazine.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 18, 19.
Duties of Husbands and Wives.
After the apostle has laid down the law of duty for the government of all Christians in the general conduct of life, he proceeds to show the application of the same law to the domestic relationships. Obedience to the law in the general is an excellent preparation for observing it in the particular: the best Christian will make the best husband or wife. The morality of Christianity is one of its brightest glories and most beneficent influences; it provides for the purity and happiness of domestic life, and where it rules all is peace, love, and contentment. Where polygamy prevails, as in heathen and Mahometan countries, the most lamentable domestic complications occur, and all is distraction and misery. The family is the source and pattern of society. If the family is corrupt and disorganised, society suffers. A holy, well-regulated household is a regenerative force in society. It is in the home that the social principle finds its highest development. There the tenderest feelings are roused, the deepest and most permanent impressions made, the foundation and first rough outlines of what we may become laid down and indicated, the first principle of good or evil imbibed, and the mightiest moral forces brought into play. Much, therefore, depends upon the understanding that exists between the husband and wife, and the way in which they discharge their mutual duties, as to what shall be the character of the household government. The apostle, in enforcing these relative duties, mentions the three classes which divide the domestic circle--husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants. He begins with the inferior relation in each class--wife, child, servant--perhaps because the difficulty of obedience is greater, because in disputes it is the duty of the humbler party to submit, and because the discharge of duty by that party is the surest method of securing it in the other.
+I. The duty of the wife is submission to the husband.+--"Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands" (ver. 18).
1. This implies dependence.--It is the Divine order that "the husband is the head of the wife." In point of nature, and of their relation to God, they are both equal; but when brought into the married relation the husband has the first place, and the wife, as the weaker vessel, and under a sense of dependence, is called to submit. When the order is reversed, and the wife takes the lead, mischief is sure to ensue. Not that woman is to be the slave and drudge of her husband; but the relationship between the two ought to be so adjusted by the power of religion that the wife is never rudely reminded of her state of dependence.
2. Implies respect.--It is difficult to respect some men, and still more difficult to love where we cannot respect. But the apostolic injunction is emphatic: "Let the wife see that she reverence her husband." Though the husband be a reckless, incapable ne'er-do-well, the wife is to respect the position of her husband and show him deference as the head of the family. Alas! how many a noble woman has had her life embittered by a worthless husband, but who, with a heroism, truly sublime, and a love truly angelical, has bravely done her duty and striven to screen the faults of the man who caused her misery.
3. Implies obedience in all things lawful.--St. Peter refers to "the holy women in the old time, being in subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord" (1 Pet. iii. 5, 6). A true wife is wholly devoted to her husband. She will care for his person, property, health, character, and reputation, as for her own. In all things reasonable and lawful she will rejoice to meet the requests of her husband and follow his counsel.
+II. The submission of the wife to the husband is governed by religious principle.+--"As it is fit in the Lord" (ver. 18). The wife is first to submit herself fully to Christ, and, from love to Him, to submit herself to her own husband, and to look upon her subjection as service done to Christ. This will be a consolation and strength to her in many an unkind word from a cruel, apathetic, and unappreciative husband. It would never do for two wills to be ruling a family. There would be endless clashing and confusion. It is the Divine arrangement that the husband is the head of the house, and "it is fit in the Lord" that the wife should be in subjection. She is not to forget her responsibility to God in a slavish, unreasoning, and sinful obedience to her husband. Governed by a pure and lofty religious principle, she may so fulfil her duty as to win, or at least disarm, her unreasonable partner. A wise submission may sometimes work wonders. She stoops to conquer. An old writer has said: "A wife is ordained for man, like a little Zoar--a city of refuge to fly to in all his troubles."
+III. The duty of the husband is to show affection towards the wife.+--1. This affection is to be genuinely manifested. "Husbands, love your wives" (ver. 19). Obligation is not all on one side. The husband is not less bound to discharge his duty to his wife than the wife to him. Love is the sum of the husband's duty, and that which will regulate every other. Where love rules, the family circle becomes a tranquil and cherished haven of rest, peace, harmony, and joy. Nor is it enough that this affection should be recognised as a matter of course--let it be manifested. That woman is a strange, heartless shrew who is unaffected by the gentle evidences of a devoted and manly love. The true wife needs, craves for and knows how to appreciate a genuine and evident affection. Let the husband show the same tender and considerate regard to his wife as life advances and cares multiply as when he stood by her side at the altar, a lovely and confiding bride.
2. This affection is to be free from harshness.--"And be not bitter against them" (ver. 19). It is evidently implied that the love of a Christian heart may be marred by a sour and morose temper. It is ungenerous and cruel to vent upon his wife and family the anger which the man had not the courage to display before those who roused it when mixing among them in the world. Bitterness may be manifested as much by a cold, repulsive silence as by the most stinging words of sharp and angry reproof, or by the irritating actions of a wilful and tantalising conduct. It is a species of savage and fiendish brutality for a husband to study how he can inflict the keenest torture on a loving and submissive nature. It sometimes requires the most assiduous art of the tenderest affection to repair the damage done by a single word. Amid the perplexities and trials of married life many occasions will arise in which mutual patience and forbearance will need to be exercised. Let love reign supreme and banish the first symptoms of a harsh and churlish disposition.
+Lessons.+--1. Be careful whom you marry. 2. Beware of the first quarrel. 3. Bear with Christian resignation the life-consequences of an unfortunate choice. 4. Connubial bliss is attained only by the faithful exercise of mutual duties.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 20, 21.
Duties of Parents and Children.
It is God who hath set the solitary in families. The domestic constitution is the formal type of all governments. If discipline is neglected in the home, it is rarely that the loss is made up when the untaught becomes a citizen of the world. Coleridge has well said: "If you bring up your children in a which puts them out of sympathy with the religious feelings of the nation in which they life, the chances are that they will ultimately turn out ruffians or fanatics, and one as likely as the other." "A wise son maketh a glad father; but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother" (Prov. x. 1). Lord Bacon observes that fathers have most comfort of the good proof of their sons, but the mothers have most discomfort of their ill proof. It is therefore of vital importance that the reciprocal duties of parents and children should be faithfully and diligently observed. These verses indicate the character of filial duty and of parental authority. Observe:--
+I. That the duty of the child to the parent is to obey.+--1. This obedience is universal. "Children, obey your parents in all things" (ver. 20). The Old Testament law commands, "Honour thy father and thy mother"; and the most signal way in which a child can honour his parents is to obey them. Parents have learnt wisdom by experience; they know the dangers that threaten their children, and are in a position to offer wise and judicious counsel. Filial obedience should be prompt, cheerful, self-denying, uniform; not dilatory and reluctant. It is universal in its obligation, and is binding, not only in those commands that are pleasant to obey, but in those that are troublesome, and that seem unreasonable and perverse, so long as they do not involve a violation of Divine law. It is a painful spectacle to see a child defy parental authority, and even exult in his rebellion and in the distress it causes his father and mother. But filial disobedience rarely reaches such a pitch of cruel retaliation without there having been some defect in the early training. The child who renders due reverence to his parents is sure to meet with the rich rewards of heaven in the enjoyment of temporal and spiritual blessing.
2. This obedience is qualified and limited by the Divine approval.--"For this is well-pleasing unto God" (ver. 20). It is only when the commands of the parent are in harmony with the will of God that the child is bound to obey, and a powerful motive to practise obedience is derived from the fact that it "is well-pleasing unto the Lord." The parent has no authority to enforce obedience beyond what has been given to him of God; and the exercise of that authority must ever be in subjection to the higher authority of the Divine law. Obedience to parents in what is right is obedience to the Lord. It is the way of safety and of happiness. A little boy, about seven years old, was on a visit to a lady who was very fond of him. One day, at breakfast, there was some hot bread on the table, and it was handed to him; but he would not take it. "Do you not like hot bread?" asked the lady. "Yes," said the boy; "I like it very much." "Then, my dear, why do you not take some?" "Because," he said, "my father does not wish me to eat hot bread." "But your father is a great way off," said the lady, "and will not know whether you eat it or not. You may take it for once; there will be no harm in that." "No, ma'am; I will not disobey my father and my mother. I must do what they have told me to do, although they are a great way off. I would not touch it if I was sure nobody would see. I myself should know it, and that would be enough to make me unhappy." A reckless disobedience of parental authority will not go unpunished. The example of Christ's subjection to his earthly parents exalts filial duty into a sublime and holy exercise.
+II. That the duty of the parent to the child is to rule.+--1. The parent is not to rule in a spirit of exasperating severity. "Fathers, provoke not your children to anger" (ver. 21). The obedience of the child will be very much influenced by the character of the parental government. Counsel, remonstrance, and even chastisement will be necessary in the successful training of children. But discipline is to be administered so wisely, lovingly, and firmly as not to irritate to rebellion, but to subdue and bend into obedience. An excessive severity is as baneful as an excessive indulgence.
"The voices of parents is the voice of God, For to their children they are heaven's lieutenants; Made fathers, not for common uses merely, But to steer The wanton freight of youth through storms and dangers, Which, with full sails, they bear upon and straighten The mortal line of life they bend so often. For these are we made fathers, and for these May challenge duty on our children's part. Obedience is the sacrifice of angels, Whose form you carry."--Shakespeare.
2. To rule in a spirit of exasperating severity tends only to dishearten.--"Lest they be discouraged" (ver. 21). If the child sees that all his endeavours to please are in vain, and that he is repulsed with sternness and cruel severity, he loses heart, and becomes sullen or morose, or is stung into a state of desperate revenge. To be perpetually fault-finding, and to gratify your angry passions in brutal, savage chastisement, will crush the spirit of any youth, and perhaps transform him into a monster more terrible than yourself. Children are to be led, not driven; to be treated as reasonable beings, not forced like brute animals; to be encouraged by commendation where it is merited, and the defects of their obedience kindly interpreted. A certain writer has significantly said: "What if God should place in your hand a diamond, and tell you to inscribe on it a sentence which should be read at the last day, and shown there as an index of your own thoughts and feelings? What care, what caution, would you exercise in the selection! Now this is what God has done. He has placed before you the immortal minds of your children, more imperishable than the diamond, on which you are about to inscribe every day and every hour, by your instruction, by your spirit, or by your example, something that will remain and be exhibited for or against you at the judgment day."
+Lessons.+--1. To rule wisely we must first learn to obey. 2. Disobedience is the essence of all sin. 3. That government is the most effective that tempers justice with mercy.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 22-25--Ch. iv. 1.
Duties of Masters and Servants.
The jealous conflict between capital and labour threatens the good understanding that was wont to exist between employer and employed with a serious rupture. Such a rupture would benefit neither side and would inflict incalculable disaster on both. There are economic laws, which regulate the employment of capital and labour, which no number of combinations and unions among masters and servants can ever set aside. Though a temporary advantage may, in extraordinary times, be snatched by either party, the law of supply and demand inevitably tends to balance and equalise all interests. It would be well, therefore, for masters and servants to ponder the teaching of the New Testament regarding their reciprocal duties. It was Christianity that rescued the servant from a condition of abject civil slavery and placed him in his just relation to his fellow-subjects in the commonwealth. The farther men drift away from the Christian spirit in seeking to adjust the questions between capital and labour, the more difficult and complicated they become. It is only as these questions are settled on a Christian basis, in harmony with the laws of a sound political economy, that party jealousies will subside, and the best understanding between masters and servants be established. Observe:--
+I. That the duty of the servant is to obey his master in all things relating to his state of servitude.+--"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh" (ver. 22). There is nothing degrading in service. It is the employment of angels. "They serve Him day and night" (Rev. vii. 15). It is ennobled by the example of Christ, who "came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (Mark x. 45). To obey in all things is not always pleasant or easy; but the Christian servant will strive to accomplish the task. He consults the master's will, not his own; he does the master's way, not his own; he considers the master's time, not his own. His obedience is universally binding in everything relating to his state of servitude but is restricted to that. His employer is his master only according to the flesh, has control over his bodily powers, and over the time in which he has engaged to labour; but he has not power over the spirit. The master cannot demand obedience in any matter forbidden of God.
+II. That the duty of the servant is to be done in a spirit of sincerity.+--1. It is to be free from duplicity. "Not with eye-service as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart" (ver. 22). The servants of whom the apostle writes were slaves and treated merely as chattels. There are supposed to have been sixty millions of slaves in the Roman empire. From the treatment they usually received, they were greatly tempted to be merely eye-servants--diligent when their master was present, but indolent and reckless in his absence. Christianity has elevated man from slavery and provided him with the highest motives to moral action. It teaches that service is to be rendered, not with a hypocritical deference and sham industriousness, but with a single, undivided heart, doing the best at all times for the master.
2. It is to be done in the fear of God.--"Fearing God" (ver. 22)--the one Lord and Master, as contrasted with the master according to the flesh. The Christian servant has a conscience to satisfy and a heavenly Master to please. The fear of the Lord is the holiest motive-power in all acceptable service. He who serves his earthly master as he seeks to serve God will take care that the Divine and human interests do not come into collision with each other.
+III. That the duty of the servant is to be discharged from the loftiest religious principle.+--1. In every duty God is to be recognised. "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men" (ver. 23). The Christian servant must look higher than his earthly master; that is a service that may be rendered mechanically, and by men who make no pretence to be Christian. The true servant will give Christ the chief place in his service--will so act that his obedience shall honour Christ and be acceptable to Him. His best efforts may fail to satisfy the exactions of an unreasonable master, and the faithful servant will find his consolation and recompense in the fact that he aims to secure the Divine approval. This will give a moral dignity to the most menial employment, and exalt the common drudgery of toil into a means of religious refreshment and invigoration.
2. In every duty the best powers should be exercised.--"Do it heartily" (ver. 23). If the heart be engaged, it will put into operation the best powers of the whole man. No work is well done when the heart is not in it. Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well; and surely no power can move the springs of action so completely as the ever-present thought that, whatever we do, we "do it as to the Lord, and not unto men." Our best efforts fall immeasurably below the lofty ideal of Christian service; but it is no small commendation when the Divine Master can declare respecting the anxious and delighted worker, "She hath done what she could" (Mark xiv. 8). Acting on such a principle, the capacity for the highest kind of work is cultivated, the sphere of usefulness widened, and the most coveted honours and enjoyments of the faithful servant secured.
+IV. That faithful service will meet with a glorious reward.+--"Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ" (ver. 24). Under the sinister judgment passed by Satan on the devotion of Job there lurks an encouraging truth--man does not serve God for nought. Though there is nothing meritorious in the best actions of the busiest life, yet it has pleased God, in the exuberance of His condescending bounty, to provide abundant recompense for all work done as unto Him. The reward of the inheritance is in generous disproportion to the service rendered; the service is marred and limited by the numberless imperfections of the human; the reward is amply freighted with the overflowing munificence and glittering splendours of the Divine. It is the inheritance of imperishable happiness--of incorruptible and unfading glory--of heaven--of God (1 Pet. i. 4). What an encouragement to work!
+V. That every act of injustice will meet with impartial retribution.+--"But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons" (ver. 25). Some regard the wrong-doer referred to in this verse as the servant who defrauds the master of his service; others, as the master who defrauds the servant of his just recompense. But the words announce a general principle which is equally applicable to both. The philosophers of Greece taught, and the laws of Rome assumed, that the slave was a chattel, and that as a chattel he had no rights. The New Testament places the relation of master and servant in a wholly new light and shows that between both there is a reciprocity of duties and of penalties. The injustice done in the world, whether by master or by servant, shall be impartially redressed, and the injured one vindicated at the day of final retribution.
+VI. That the duty of the master is to deal righteously towards his servants.+--1. He is to act towards his servants according to the principles of justice and equity. "Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal" (ver. 1). If the masters here addressed were exhorted to deal fairly and justly with those who were their slaves, not less fully is the modern master bound to act justly and equitably towards those who serve him. The position of master is one of great power and authority; it is, at the same time, one of solemn responsibility. Capital has not only its cares and privileges, it has also its duties, and these cannot be abused with impunity. The communistic doctrine of equality has no countenance here. If all were socially and financially equal to-day, the inequality would be restored to-morrow. The duty of the master is to give to his servants that which is righteous and reciprocally fair. Treat them as human beings, with human rights, and as rational and religious beings, who, like yourselves, have an endless future to prepare for. Give them fair remuneration for work done. Be generous in prosperous times, and considerate when adversity comes. While acting commercially according to the laws of political economy, which no sane business man can disregard, yield in all justness and fairness to the impulse of the higher law of Christian charity and kindness. Interest yourselves in the physical, moral, and religious welfare of your work-people. Good masters make good servants.
2. He is to remember that he is responsible to a higher Master. "Knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven" (ver. 1). The master is not less bound than the servant to do his duty as unto the Lord. They are both servants of the one great Lord and Master of all. "One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren" (Matt. xxiii. 8). Do not impose impossible tasks upon your servants. Avoid an overbearing tyranny, and "forbear threatening." Exercise your authority with humanity and gentleness. Use your wealth, reputation, and influence in promoting the best interest of your work-people, and in serving the Lord Christ. Remember that whatever you do to the poorest servant of your heavenly Master is reckoned and recompensed as done to Himself (Matt. xxv. 40).
+Lessons.+--1. Social distinctions afford opportunities for personal discipline. 2. Every rank in life has its special perils. 3. The law of duty is binding in all ranks. 4. The dust of both masters and servants will soon mingle in a common grave.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 23. Do all for God.
+I. The Christian's practical life comprises working, acting, and suffering.+
+II. Abide with God in your calling.+--Intention gives a moral character to actions.
+III. Motives to duty.+--1. Mechanical activity. 2. Supernatural motive. "Do it heartily as to the Lord." 3. Our good intention should be renewed at intervals. 4. Our lesser actions should be brought under the control of Christian principle.--E. M. Goulburn.
A Hearty Christianity.
+I. The highest end of all work is work done for God and to God.+--1. Not work done for self. 2. Not work done for society.
+II. The highest kind of work of which we are capable is that which engages all the powers of our spiritual nature.+--"Do it heartily." 1. The character of the work we do will be decided by the state of our heart. 2. By the predominating impulse of the heart. 3. The character of our work as a whole will be influenced by the heartiness we throw into every single duty. "Whatsoever ye do."
+Lessons.+--1. A hearty Christianity is a happy Christianity. 2. Is not easily daunted by difficulties. 3. Is aggressive.
Vers. 23-25. Piety in the Household.
+I. We are serving the Lord.+--This will dignify the most insignificant duty.
+II. We should seek to be actuated by the highest possible motive.+--Out of the heart, or influenced by the affections. The highest motive will cover the lowest.
+III. The Lord Himself will give us the highest reward.+--With Him is no respect of persons.--Homiletic Monthly.
+CHAPTER IV.+
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
Ver. 2. +Watch in the same.+--"Being wakeful." Here again the apostle changes his language from that used in enjoining the same precepts in Ephesians. Remaining sleepless (Eph. vi. 18) is the same thing as being wakeful.
Ver. 3. +A door of utterance.+--R.V. "a door for the word." The Word of God cannot be bound, though its messenger may; but St. Paul can scarcely think its being glorified comes so quickly as it would if he had liberty to preach it. "An open door" with "many adversaries" is more to St. Paul's mind than the custodia libera. See Eph. vi. 19, 20.
Ver. 5. +Walk in wisdom.+--Eph. v. 15. Walk circumspectly. R.V. "carefully." It would appear from this as if the adverb in Eph. v. 15 should go with "walk" rather than with "look," as in R.V. +Towards them that are without.+--Who do not participate in the benefits of the new kingdom. +Redeeming the time.+--As in Eph. v. 16. Seizing for yourselves, like bargains in the market, each opportunity (see R.V. margin).
Ver. 6. +Let your speech be alway with grace.+--There is no excuse for a Christian's conversation becoming rude and churlish. It may be necessary to speak plainly and boldly at times--the way of doing even that graciously ought to characterise Christians. +Seasoned with salt.+--The pungent flavour of wit and facetiousness was called salt by the Greeks, often with a spice of indecency. "Salt" in the New Testament is the opposite of corruption.
Ver. 11. +A comfort to me.+--The word for "comfort" is only found in this place in the New Testament. It is a medical term, and points to relief given in suffering--then, by way of ministering to a mind diseased or in trouble, is used of the speech which soothes and calms.
Ver. 12. +Always labouring fervently for you.+--R.V. "always striving." Lit. "agonising." Like the mighty wrestler who held the Angel till daybreak, Epaphras intercedes for His Colossian brethren. +Complete in all the will of God.+--R.V. "fully assured." "From the tenor of the letter it appears that the Colossians needed a deeper Christian insight and more intelligent and well-grounded convictions respecting the truth 'as in Jesus'" (Findlay).
Ver. 13. +Zeal . . . for them that are in Laodicea.+--Here then is one who differs from the Laodicean spirit of St. John's time.
Ver. 17. +And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry.+--He is again closely connected with Colossæ in the epistle to Philemon. A monition perhaps needed by Archippus. +In the Lord.+--The element in which every work of the Christian, and especially the Christian minister, is to be done.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 2-4.
The Efficacy of Prayer.
Prayer is a supreme necessity of the soul. It is the cry of conscious want, an outlet for the pent-up feelings, and a mighty engine of power in all spiritual enterprises. It is the holiest exercise of the believer, his solace in trouble, his support in weakness, the solver of his doubts and perplexities, his safety in peril, his unfailing resource in adversity, his balance in prosperity, his weapon in every conflict. It is the key which opens the door of the heavenly treasury, and places at his disposal the boundless wealth of the Divine beneficence. The efficacy of prayer does not terminate in the individual petitioner but extends to others on whose behalf supplication is made. God hears the cry of the believing suppliant, and in some way, not always explicable to us, but in harmony with His Divine perfections and the fitness of things, answers and blesses. The apostle knew the value and power of prayer when earnestly and humbly exercised, and, after giving directions concerning the discharge of certain specific relative duties, he returns, in concluding this epistle, to some general admonitions in which this important duty holds a foremost place. Prayer, says Thomas Aquinas, should have three qualities: it should be assiduous, watchful, and grateful. The perseverance with which prayer uninterruptedly draws itself through all events, internal and external, like a thread, or encircles them like a chain, is its vital power; the watchfulness, the lively circumspection, the gratitude, are the quiet tone or firm basis of the same.
+I. That prayer to be efficacious must be earnest and unceasing.+--"Continue in prayer" (ver. 2). The heart must be in the duty and all the best powers of the man put forth. That in which we have no interest will stir no feeling, will challenge no effort. To repeat a verbal formulary is not prayer. Alas! how many thousand prayers go no farther than the sound they make and are as useless! Genuine prayer involves thought, diligent inquiry, passionate entreaty, unwearied perseverance. The highest blessings of the Christian life, the brightest visions of God, the deepest insight into truth, the most enravishing ecstasies of the soul, are obtained only by fervent and persistent wrestling. Prayer must be offered with close-cleaving constancy, as the word "continue" implies, and with daily frequency. Let prayer be the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening.
+II. That prayer to be efficacious must be joined with vigilance.+--"And watch in the same" (ver. 2). Long, prosy, spiritless prayers lull the soul into a dangerous slumber; and without incessant watchfulness all prayers are apt to become long, prosy, and spiritless. It is not necessary we should rob ourselves of needful sleep in order to spend so many hours in formal devotion. The vigilance refers to the spirit and manner in which all prayer is to be offered. There may be times when, under the pressures of some great solicitude, the soul is drawn out in prayer so as to preclude sleep; but at these times the quality of watchfulness is often in most vigorous operation. Watch, as a sentinel suspecting the approach of an enemy; as a physician attending to all the symptoms of a disease; as the keeper of a prison watching an insidious and treacherous criminal. We have need to watch against the temptations arising from worldly associations, from the sinfulness of our own hearts, and from the vile insinuations of the enemy, all which mar the efficacy of our prayers. Chrysostom says, "The devil knoweth how great a good prayer is." No wonder he should seek to distract the mind of the earnest suppliant. "Prayer," said Bernard, "is a virtue that prevaileth against all temptations;" but this is so only when a sleepless vigilance is exercised.
+III. That prayer to be efficacious must be mingled with gratitude.+--"With thanksgiving" (ver. 2). The apostle has, throughout the epistle, repeatedly enforced the duty of thankfulness. He once more recurs to it in this place; and we cannot fail to note the vast importance he attached to the exercise of this grace, and how it ought to interpenetrate every Christian duty. We are ever more ready to grumble than to give thanks. Such is the deceitfulness of sin, or the vanity and purblindness of the human heart, that the very regularity and abundance of the Divine mercies, instead of increasing, are apt to restrict our gratitude. We take, as a matter of course, what ought to be received with humblest thankfulness. An old writer has well said, "Need will make us beggars, but grace only thanksgivers. Gratitude opens the hand of God to give, and the heart of the suppliant to receive aright. Thankfulness for past mercies is an important condition of success in pleading for additional blessings."
+IV. That prayer is efficacious in promoting an efficient declaration of the Gospel.+--1. Prayer should be offered on behalf of Christian ministers. "Withal praying also for us" (ver. 3). The Colossians were exhorted to pray, not only for Paul, his fellow-labourer Timothy, and their own evangelist Epaphras, but for all teachers of the Gospel. The preacher is engaged in a work of vast magnitude, environed with colossal difficulties, and is himself ferociously assailed by great and peculiar perils. The earnest intercessions of a devout and holy people are to him a safeguard and a tower of strength. A once-popular minister gradually lost his influence and congregation. The blame was laid entirely upon him. Some of his Church officials went to talk with him on the subject. He replied: "I am quite sensible to all you say, for I feel it to be true; and the reason of it is, I have lost my prayer-book." He explained: "Once my preaching was acceptable, many were edified by it, and numbers were added to the Church, which was then in a prosperous state. But we were then a praying people. Prayer was restrained, and the present condition of things followed. Let us return to the same means, and the same results may be expected." They acted upon this suggestion, and in a short time the minister was as popular as he had ever been, and the Church was again in a flourishing state. The great apostle felt the necessity of co-operative sympathy and prayer (Rom. xv. 30; 2 Thess. iii. 1).
2. Prayer should be offered that the most prominent features of the Gospel may be declared.--"To speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds" (ver. 3). It has before been explained in this epistle that the mystery of Christ is a grand summary of all the leading truths of the Gospel: the mystery of the incarnation of Christ, the mystery of His sufferings and death as a sacrifice for sin, the mystery of admitting the Gentiles on equal terms with the Jews to all the privileges and blessings of the new covenant. It was the apostle's intrepid advocacy of the rights of the despised Gentile--maugre the fierce bigotry of his own countrymen, the deep-seated prejudice of the times, and even the slavish indifference of the Gentiles themselves--which led to his imprisonment: "for which I am also in bonds." The prayers of the good give the preacher courage to declare all the counsel of God, whether it be palatable or not, and to give special prominence to those truths which are of priceless importance to humanity.
3. Prayer should be offered, that opportunity may be afforded for the free declaration of the Gospel.--"That God would open unto us a door of utterance" (ver. 3). The door had been closed and barred to the apostle for four years by his imprisonment. He felt a holy impatience to be free, that he might resume the loved labour of former years, when "from Jerusalem and round about into Illyricum he had fully preached the Gospel of Christ." But he waited till the door was opened by Divine providence; and this he knew was often done in answer to believing prayer. So there are times, in all ages of the Church, when the door of opportunity for disseminating the Gospel is shut by the opposition of the world, by the plottings of Satan, by the prevalence of a rabid infidelity, or by the removal of eminent champions for the truth; but, in response to the earnest intercessions of God's people, a great and effectual door is opened, and the Church advances to fresh conquests.
4. Prayer should be offered that the Gospel may be declared with fearless self-evidencing power.--"That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak" (ver. 4). There are some who preach the Gospel in a cold, lifeless, perfunctory manner, or with unmeaning feebleness and unmanly timidity. When the preacher sinks down into a condition so abject as this, he has lost sight of the true meaning of the Gospel, he becomes the most pitiable object under the sun, and is exposed to the scathing vengeance of heaven. To preach the Gospel with clearness, with intrepidity, and with irresistible persuasiveness, that he "may make it manifest, as he ought to speak," demands the best energies of the soul, and, above all, the special endowments of the Holy Ghost. A minister is mightily aided in preaching by the wrestling intercessions of a holy and sympathetic people.
+Lessons.+--1. Prayer is an excellent training for efficiency in all other duties. 2. Prayer is a gigantic power in the propagation of the Gospel. 3. The topics for prayer are vast in range and not far to seek. 4. When you can do nothing else you can pray.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 2. True Devotion.
+I. Explain the meaning of the text.+--It is:--
1. Not to be engaged without intermission in outward and formal acts of devotion.--This is inconsistent with our nature, with commanded duties, with the ends of prayer.
2. To be frequently engaged in formal acts of devotion.--(1) No exercise more hallowing and soothing to the soul. (2) None more profitable as procuring blessings. (3) One to which those whose example is recorded gave a prominent place--Job, David, Daniel, Paul, Christ. (4) Morning, evening, intervals, social.
3. To be persevering and importunate in asking particular blessings.--God does not always send sensibly the answer at once. A deeper sense of want may be necessary. A trial of faith, patience, and submissiveness may be expedient. The proper season may not have come. God's sovereignty must be owned. We ought to assure ourselves that we pray according to God's will.
+II. Enforce the exhortation.+--1. Because you are commanded to do so. 2. Because Christ and the Spirit intercede for you. There is no duty for which there is more ample assistance provided. 3. Because of the number and greatness of your wants. It is by faith that we know our wants. Hence the necessity. 4. Because of the exhaustless provision that God has made for you. God acts as God in the provision and in the bestowal. 5. Because of the number of promises not yet fulfilled. To you individually, to the Church, to Christ. 6. Because the season for prayer is speedily hastening away.--Stewart.
Vers. 3, 4. Praying and Preaching.
+I. The sermon is powerful that is well prayed over+ (ver. 4).
+II. A praying preacher uses every available opportunity to proclaim the truth+ (ver. 3).
+III. The theme of the preacher becomes more definite and effective by prayer+ (ver. 3).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 5, 6.
The Wise Conduct of Life.
The Christian lives a dual life: one in spiritual communion with heaven, under the eye of God; the other in daily contact with the outer world, exposed to its observation and criticism. The aspects of the life patent to the world's gaze do not always correspond with the best impulses of the life concealed; the actual falls short of the ideal. The world forms its judgment of the Christian from what it sees of his outer life and makes no allowance for his unseen struggles after moral perfection and his bitter penitence over conscious failures. Nor can we blame the world for this; the outer life of the believer furnishes the only evidence on which the world can form its estimate, and it is incapable of apprehending and taking into account hidden spiritual causes. The living example of the believer presents the only ideas of Christianity that great numbers have any means of possessing; he is a Christ to them, until they are brought to a clearer knowledge of the true and only Christ. With what wisdom and circumspection should the believer walk toward them that are without!
+I. That the conduct of life is to be regulated according to the dictates of the highest wisdom.+--1. Religion is a life. "Walk" (ver. 5). A walk implies motion, progression, continual approximation to destination. Our life is a walk; we are perpetually and actively advancing towards our destiny. Religion is not a sentiment, not a round of bewitching ceremonies, not a succession of pleasurable emotions; it is a life. It pervades the whole soul, thrills every nerve, participates in every joy and sorrow, and moulds and inspires the individual character.
2. Religion is a life shaped and controlled by the highest wisdom.--"Walk in wisdom" (ver. 5). Christian conduct is governed by the Spirit of that wisdom which is from above, and under the influence of the knowledge which maketh wise unto salvation (Jas. iii. 17). It is ruled, not by an erratic sentiment or by the wild impulse of a senseless fanaticism, but by a sound understanding and a wise discretion. Its experience and hopes rest upon a basis of truth transcending in certainty, wisdom, and majesty the most imposing speculations of the human mind.
3. Religion is a life that should be instructive to the irreligious.--"Toward them that are without" (ver. 5)--without the pale of the Church, the unbelievers. An upright, holy, consistent example is often more eloquent than words, more practically effective than the most elaborate code of moral maxims. The follies and glaring inconsistencies of professing Christians have often inflicted serious damage upon the Church itself and turned religion into ridicule among the thoughtless and irreligious outsiders. The world is to be largely trained into correct views of truth and a just appreciation of the Christian spirit by the humble, saintly lives of those who have experienced the transforming power of the Gospel. Be more anxious to live religiously than to talk religiously.
4. Religion is a life that impels the soul to seize every opportunity for good doing.--"Redeeming the time" (ver. 5)--buying up the opportunity for yourselves. Opportunity is the flower of time, which blooms but for a moment and is gone forever. Evil is prevalent; it effects the great majority, it advances with ever accelerating momentum; every opportunity for checking its career and destroying its power should be snatched with eagerness and used with promptitude and discretion. The wisdom that regulates the religious life will be the safest guide as to the way in which the passing moment may be turned to the best advantage. The children of Issachar were commended as men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do (1 Chron. xii. 32). Ill-timed and inconsiderate zeal will do more harm than good.
+II. That the conduct of life is to be regulated by judicious speech.+--1. Christian speech should be gracious. "Let your speech be alway with grace" (ver. 6). The mouth ought to be a treasury of benediction, out of which no corrupt communication should issue, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Truth is the soul of grace; and infinite pains should be taken that every utterance of the tongue should at least be true. Idle gossip, slander, falsehood, should never fall from lips circumcised by the grace of God. Beware of the promiscuous use of the hackneyed phrases of pious cant. It is not so much a set religious phraseology that is wanted, as that all our speech should be baptised with the chrism of a religious spirit.
2. Christian speech should be piquant.--"Seasoned with salt" (ver. 6). Salt is the emblem of what is quickening and preservative; and the conversation seasoned with it will be pure, agreeable, pointed--free from all taint and corrupting influence. The ancient teachers of rhetoric used to speak of "Attic salt," with which they advised their pupils to flavour their speeches, that they might sparkle with jests and witticisms. But it is not this kind of condiment that the apostle recommends. Wit is a dangerous gift to most men; but where it is joined with a well-balanced understanding, and sanctified by the grace of God, it may become a powerful weapon in the advocacy of truth and minister to the good of many. Speech, to be beneficial, must be thoughtful, choice, sharp, clear, forceful.
3. Christian speech should be practical.--"That ye may know how ye ought to answer every man" (ver. 6). It requires much practical wisdom to be able to speak well and wisely about religion to both objectors and inquirers, and only the man accustomed to carefully weigh his words and guard his utterances can become an adept in this work. Every Christian may cultivate the wisdom which governs the tongue and is bound to do so (1 Pet. iii. 15). Silence is sometimes the most conclusive answer. It is the triumph of wisdom to know when to speak and when to hold our peace.
+Lessons.+--1. The power of a blameless life. 2. The value of a well-chosen word. 3. The supreme control claimed by religion over actions and speech.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 5. The Worth of Time.
+I. Time ought to be improved because its value is inexpressible.+--1. The worth of time may be argued from a survey of the great and momentous business to which it must be appropriated--to get ready for eternity. 2. From the astonishing price at which it has been purchased for us. 3. From the careful manner in which it is allotted to mankind.
+II. Because of the brevity of its duration.+
+III. Because, short as our time is, much of it has already elapsed.+
+IV. Because what remains to us is uncertain.+
+V. Because nothing can ever compensate the loss of time.+
+VI. God has made eternity to depend on the issues and results of time.+--Dr. Robt. Newton.
Ver. 6. Christian Conversation.--The apostle recommends a seasoning
+I. Of piety.+
+II. Of chastity.+
+III. Of charity.+
+IV. Of severity.+
+V. Of solidity.+
+Lessons.+--1. Extravagant raillery poisons conversation. 2. A spirit of disputing is a vice of conversation. 3. Indiscreet questions are a pest of conversation.--Saurin.
Christ's Truth in Relation to our Daily Conversation.
+I. The large space which words occupy in human life.+--1. On account of their number. 2. On account of their consequences.
+II. The importance of special self-examination in reference to our words.+
+III. Earnest listening to the Divine voices the cure for vain speech and the source of gracious speech.+
+IV. Our words are not to be all about religion but pervaded by the spirit of religion.+
+V. Our conversation being thus seasoned, we shall know how we ought to answer every man.+--R. Abercrombie.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 7-11.
Side-lights on Church-life in the Early Times.
A straw will indicate the direction of current; a bit of glass will reveal a star; a kick of the foot may discover a treasure that will enrich successive generations; a word, a look, an involuntary movement will disclose the leading tendency of an individual character; so on the crowded stage of life it is not always the gigantic and public scenes that are most suggestive and instructive, but rather the trivial, undesigned incidents which are unnoticed by an ordinary observer. A reflective mind will pick up material for thought from the most unexpected and unpromising quarters. The apostle has finished the grand argument of the epistle and shown the importance of certain duties which grow out of the reception of the truths enforced. In approaching the conclusion, he appears to be chiefly occupied with a mass of personal and miscellaneous matters. The few remaining verses contain little else but a series of names, with the briefest qualifying phrases attached. But here and there light is thrown on truths which, though familiar, are all the more strongly impressed on our minds because of their evident antiquity. In these verses there are side-lights thrown on Church-life in the early times with reference to Christian sympathy, commendations, courtesy, and co-operation. We learn:--
+I. The value of Christian sympathy.+--1. As fostering mutual interest in tidings concerning the work of God. "All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, . . . whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose; . . . shall make known unto you all things which are done here" (vers. 7-9). The apostle, though in prison and separated by a long distance from the Colossians, does not abate anything of his interest in their welfare. He had received tidings of their condition as a Church; of their steadfastness, successes, and perils; and he was sure that intelligence from him would be eagerly welcomed by them. He therefore despatched Tychicus and Onesimus, who could furnish more details concerning the apostle, the exemplary spirit in which he bore his sufferings, his profound anxiety on behalf of the Churches and the progress of the Gospel in Rome, than were contained in the epistle they carried. A heart, touched with a genuine Christian sympathy, rejoices in the extension of the work of God, in whatever part of the world, and by whatever Christian agency. The mutual interchange of intelligence tends to excite the interest, promote the union, and stimulate the enterprise of the Churches.
2. As a source of encouragement and strength in the Christian life.--"That he might know your estate and comfort your heart" (ver. 8). Instead of "that he might know your estate," another reading of the original, adopted by Lightfoot and other eminent critics, has "that ye might know our affairs." "But," as Bishop Wordsworth remarks, "the very purpose for which Paul sent Tychicus to the Colossians was not, it would seem, in order that they might know how St. Paul was faring, but that he might know whether they were standing steadfast in the faith against the attempts of the false teachers." Whichever reading is adopted, the practical lesson is the same; both express the reality, strength, and beauty of a mutual sympathy. The presence of Tychicus and Onesimus, the character of the tidings they brought, and the fervour of their exhortations, would encourage and reassure the Colossians amid the perplexities and doubts occasioned by the false teachers. Mutual expression of sympathy and inter-community of intelligence will do much to comfort and edify the Churches.
+II. The appropriateness of Christian commendation+ (ver. 7).--The apostle speaks highly of his two messengers--not in terms of extravagant flattery, but in a way calculated to ensure their favourable reception by the Colossians and a respectful attention to their message. Tychicus was a native of proconsular Asia, perhaps of Ephesus. He was well known as an authorised delegate of St. Paul and is mentioned in other places as being with the apostle (Acts xx. 42; 2 Tim. iv. 12; Tit. iii. 12). He is spoken of in this verse as "a beloved brother, a faithful minister, a fellow-servant in the Lord." The great apostle, far from taking advantage of his exalted calling and inspiration, humbled himself before the least of his brethren, spoke in the highest terms of their faithful labours, and associated them with his own. Onesimus, a Colossian, is commended as "a faithful and beloved brother." It was the more needful he should be thus commended, because if he was known to the Colossians at all it would be as a worthless, runaway slave. Some time before, Onesimus had forsaken his master Philemon, and fled to Rome--the common sink of all nations--probably as a convenient hiding-place where he might escape detection among its crowds and make a livelihood as best he could. In the metropolis--perhaps accidentally, perhaps through the intervention of Epaphras--he fell in with the apostle, his master's old friend. St. Paul becomes interested in his case, instructs him in the Gospel, and is the instrument of his conversion; and now he is commended to the Colossians, no more as a good-for-nothing slave, but as a brother; no more dishonest and faithless, but trustworthy; no more an object of contempt, but love. The apostle sent him back to his master Philemon, and it is generally thought, having been set at liberty by his owner, he became a faithful and laborious minister of Christ. Such is the transforming power of Divine grace in changing and renewing the heart, in obliterating all former distinctions and degradations, and in elevating a poor slave to the dignity of "a faithful and beloved brother" of the greatest of apostles. Christian commendations are valuable according to the character of the persons from whom they issue, and as they are borne out in the subsequent conduct of the persons commended. Every care should be taken that the testimonial of recommendation is strictly true. It is putting a man in a false position and doing him an injury to exaggerate his qualifications by excessive glory.
+III. Suggestive examples of Christian courtesy.+--"Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;) and Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision" (vers. 10, 11). Aristarchus was a Jew, though a native of Thessalonica. He was with Paul during the riot at Ephesus and was hurried with Gaius into the theatre by Demetrius and his craftsmen. He accompanied the apostle from Greece to Jerusalem with the collection for the saints. When Paul was imprisoned in Judea, he abode with him; and when he went into Italy, he also went and remained with him there during his confinement, till at length he became, it may be, obnoxious to the magistrates, and was cast into prison; or perhaps he became a voluntary prisoner, that he might share the apostle's captivity. What a glimpse have we here of heroic devotion, and of the irresistible charm there must have been in the apostle in attaching men to himself! Marcus was the John Mark frequently referred to in the Acts of the Apostles. He had been the occasion of a contention between Paul and Barnabas, which led to their separating from each other and following different scenes of labour. Mark had, from cowardice or some other motive, "departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them out to the work"; and when Barnabas, probably influenced by his affection as near kinsman, wished to take him with them, Paul resolutely refused thus to distinguish a young and unstable disciple. But from the reference here it appears that Mark had repented of his timid and selfish behaviour and returned to a better spirit. Perhaps the displeasure of the apostle weighed upon his mind, and, with Barnabas' prayers and example, had brought him to a right view of his misconduct. He was now restored to the apostle's confidence, and it appears Paul had already given directions to the Colossians concerning Mark to welcome him heartily if he paid them a visit--"touching whom ye received commandments: if he come to you, receive him." The third Hebrew convert who united in sending salutations was Jesus, which was also called Justus--a common name or surname of Jews and proselytes, denoting obedience and devotion to the law. Nothing definite is known of this person; but the apostle held him in such esteem as to join his salutation with the rest. These three friends and companions of Paul were Jews--they were of the circumcision; and yet they send their salutations to a Church composed chiefly of Gentiles. The Christian spirit triumphed over their deep-rooted prejudices, and their greeting would be all the more valued as an expression of their personal esteem, their brotherly affection, and their oneness in Christ. That courtesy is the most refined, graceful, gentle, and acceptable that springs from the Christian spirit.
+IV. The solace of Christian co-operation.+--"These only are my fellow-workers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me" (ver. 11). The tendency of the Jewish convert was to lean to the Mosaic ritual and insist on its necessity in realising the efficacy of the Gospel. Thus, they favoured the false philosophy of the Jewish Platonists, and fell into the errors against which the apostle so faithfully warns in this epistle. The action of the Judaizing teachers and their sympathisers was often a grief and hindrance to him. Of all the Jewish converts in Rome only three were a comfort to him. They thoroughly embraced and advocated the free and unconditional admission of the Gentiles into the Church of Christ and were devoted and zealous fellow-workers with him in extending the kingdom of God. It is an evidence of the unpopularity among the Jews of the Gospel as intended equally for the Gentiles, and of the formidable prejudices and difficulties with which the apostle had to contend in that early time, that there were only three Hebrew converts who were a comfort to him. And yet how consoling is the sympathy and co-operation of the faithful few! Sometimes the noblest men are deserted by timid and time-serving professors and left to toil on alone in peril and sadness. History records the triumphs of those who have successfully braved the solitary struggle in some great crisis; but it is silent about the vanquished who, with broken hearts and shattered intellects, have sunk into unchronicled oblivion.
+Lessons.+--1. Christian experience is the same in all ages. 2. True courtesy costs little and accomplishes much. 3. Genuine sympathy is best shown by an active and self-denying co-operation.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 12, 13.
The Model Pastor.
Nothing is known of Epaphras beyond the few but significant notices which connect him with Colossæ, of which city he was a native. Acting under the direction of St. Paul, probably when the apostle was residing for three years at Ephesus, Epaphras was the honoured agent in introducing the Gospel into Colossæ and the neighbouring cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis; and it is evident he regarded himself as responsible for the spiritual well-being of all these places. The dangerous condition of the Colossian and neighbouring Churches at this time filled the mind of Epaphras with a holy jealousy and alarm. A strange form of heresy had appeared among them--a mixture of Jewish formalism with the speculations of an Oriental philosophy--and was rapidly spreading. The distress of the faithful evangelist was extreme. He journeyed to Rome in order to lay this state of things before the apostle, and to seek his counsel and assistance. The apostle bears testimony to his profound anxiety for the spiritual condition of the newly founded Churches on the banks of the Lycus. He had much toil for them and was ever fervently wrestling in prayer on their behalf, that they might stand fast and not lose the simplicity of their earlier faith but might advance to a more perfect knowledge of the Divine will. In the verses now under consideration we have Epaphras brought before us as the model pastor.
+I. The model pastor is distinguished by a suggestive designation.+--"A servant of Christ" (ver. 12). This title, which the apostle uses several times for himself, is not elsewhere conferred on any other individual, except once on Timothy (Phil. i. 1), and probably points to exceptional services in the cause of the Gospel on the part of Epaphras (Lightfoot). A true pastor is not the servant of the Church to echo its decisions and do its bidding; but he is the servant for the Church to influence its deliberations and decisions, to mould its character and direct its enterprises. He is a servant of Christ, receiving his commission from Him, ever anxious to ascertain His will, and ready to carry out that will at whatever sacrifice. Such a service involves no loss of self-respect or manliness, no degradation, but is free, honourable, and rich in blessing.
+II. The model pastor is incessant in zealous labour.+--"For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea and them in Hierapolis" (ver. 13). The zeal of Epaphras urged him to extend his Christian labours beyond the limits of Colossæ: he visited the adjoining cities, which were much larger in population and wealthier in commerce. Laodicea, rising from obscurity, had become, two or three generations before the apostle wrote, a populous and thriving city, and was then the metropolis of the cities on the banks of the Lycus. Hierapolis was an important and growing city, and, in addition to its trade in dyed wools, had a reputation as a fashionable watering-place, where the seekers of pleasure and of health resorted to partake of its waters which possessed valuable medicinal qualities. The rare virtues of the city have been celebrated in song:
"Hail, fairest soil in all broad Asia's realm; Hail, golden city, nymph divine, bedeck'd With flowing rills, thy jewels."
Into the midst of these populations the fervent Epaphras introduced the Gospel and spared no pains in his endeavour to establish and confirm the believers. It was on their behalf he undertook the journey to Rome to confer with St. Paul as to their state; and the apostle testifies to the unceasing exercise of his great and holy zeal for his distant but ever-remembered flock. When the heart is interested and moved, labour is a delight; and it is the way in which the heart is affected towards any work that gives to it significance and worth. Canon Liddon writes: "Are we not very imperfectly alive to the moral meaning of work and the moral fruits of work as work?" The true pastor, with a heart overflowing with zeal for the glory of God and the good of men, cheerfully undertakes labour from which the ordinary worker would timidly shrink.
+III. The model pastor is intensely exercised in prayer for the people of God.+--"Always labouring fervently [wrestling, agonising] for you in prayers" (ver. 12). The faithful minister has not only to teach his flock--a task which involves vigilant observation, extensive reading, and anxious study--but he has also to plead earnestly at the throne of grace on their behalf. In times of spiritual dearth, disappointment, embarrassment, and distress, prayer is the all-efficacious resource. There are circumstances in which the minister can do nothing but pray. Difficulties that defied all other means have vanished before the irresistible power of persistent and believing intercession. Prayer attains what the most conclusive reasoning, the most eloquent appeal, the most diligent personal attention, sometimes fail to accomplish. It sets in silent but stupendous operation the mightiest spiritual agencies of the universe. It opens the fountain of Divine grace, and its streams flow in full-tide velocity through the hitherto arid wilderness of human hearts, and life, freshness, fertility, and beauty spring up in its reviving course. It is God only whose help is omnipotent, and on this help faithful prayer lays hold and uses it in effecting its wonderous transformations.
+IV. The model pastor is constantly solicitous that the people of God should be firmly established in the highest good.+--"That ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God" (ver. 12)--perfectly instructed and fully convinced in everything willed by God. The great aim of all ministerial anxiety is not only to instruct his people in the full and accurate knowledge of the Divine will, but to produce such a persuasion of the supreme majesty and authority of that will to induce steadfast continuance in practical obedience. The will of God and the highest good of man are always in harmony. Whatever threatens to disturb the stability of the believer, or to retard his development towards the highest moral excellence, whether it arises from his personal unwatchfulness and indifference or from the subtle attacks of error, is always a subject of keen solicitude to the faithful pastor. He knows that if his converts fall away they are lost and the truth itself is disgraced. To be established in an unswerving obedience it is necessary to be filled with the knowledge of God's will. This blessedness is the grand scope and crowning glory of the Christian life.
+Lessons.+--1. The office of pastor is fraught with endless anxieties, great responsibilities, and rare opportunities. 2. The true pastor finds his purest inspirations, his most potent spiritual weapon, and his grandest successes in prayer.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 14-17.
Christian Greetings and Counsels.
It is sometimes asked, with an indiscriminate flippancy, "What's in a name?" There are some names which have no title to a lasting remembrance, and with reference to these the flippancy may be justified. But there are names whose reputation is imperishable, and which are written on the world's history in indelible characters. The name of Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles, will be venerated by the coming ages when the titles of the greatest sages and warriors shall have faded away in the darkness of oblivion; and, just as there are lesser lights in the firmament that share in the glory of the great luminary to which they are essentially related, so there are names of lesser note grouped around that of the great apostle that are immortalised by their association with him. Besides, names as they are quoted and used by St. Paul in this and other epistles often furnish evidence of the authenticity of Scripture and undesigned coincidences of the truth of the sacred history. In these verses there are some names preserved to us which were lifted into prominence by the connection of the persons they represented with the apostle, and by their own eminent piety and usefulness. They furnish another illustration of the truth of the sacred saying, "The memory of the just is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot" (Prov. x. 7). We have here a series of kindly Christian greetings and important Christian counsels. Observe:--
+I. The value of a Christian greeting is estimated by the moral character of those from whom it emanates.+--"Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you" (ver. 14). Two persons are here mentioned whose individual histories present a suggestive contrast; and it is observable, by the way in which their names are mentioned, that the two men stood very differently in the apostle's estimation.
1. Luke is the beloved physician--the very dear and attached friend of Paul. He was his constant companion in travel and stood faithfully by him in his greatest trials. He joined the apostle at Troas (Acts xvi. 10), accompanied him into Judea, remained with him during two years of his imprisonment at Jerusalem and Cæsarea, and was no doubt present at his trial before Festus and Felix; he went with him into Italy when Paul was sent there as a prisoner, and during his second and final imprisonment in Rome; while others deserted him, Luke continued his staunch and faithful friend. In the last epistle probably the apostle ever wrote is the simple but pathetic reference, "Only Luke is with me." We can understand, therefore, the affectionate tenderness with which Luke is designated the beloved physician. As St. Paul was not a robust man but was troubled with a "thorn in the flesh," the presence of a medical friend must have been of immense service to him in his laborious missionary journeys and during his long imprisonment. The physicians of ancient times had a very questionable reputation for religiousness; but in these modern days there is an increasing number of medical men who are no less eminent for piety than for their professional skill, and many and important are the opportunities of such for doing good both to body and soul. The greetings of a man of superlative moral excellence is gratefully welcomed and respectfully treasured.
2. And Demas!--How suggestive is the laconic allusion! There is no explanation, no qualifying word of any special regard. Perhaps the apostle was already beginning to suspect him, to mark the increasing worldliness of his spirit, and his growing indifference to Divine things. About three years after this greeting was despatched to the Colossians, we meet with the melancholy record: "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world" (2 Tim. iv. 10). Alas! how seductive and how fatal are the allurements of the world! The highest and holiest are not invulnerable to its charms. The most promising career of usefulness and honour has often been blighted by its influence. Bitter indeed would be the disappointment of the apostle's heart to witness one, whom he had acknowledged and trusted as a fellow-worker in the Gospel, fall a victim to worldly avarice, and, like Achan, covet the golden wedge and Babylonish garment of secular things. There is a specially solemn significance in the warning of the beloved disciple: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world" (1 John ii. 15).
+II. Christian greeting recognises the universal brotherhood of the Church.+--1. We learn the early Christian churches were composed of brethren. "Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea" (ver. 15). This recognition of a common brotherhood was a great advance upon the eclecticism and sharp, prejudiced distinctions of the times. In the circle of the Christian Church the Jew surrendered his Judaism, and the Gentile his paganism, and became one in Christ; the slave and the freeman enjoyed the same spiritual liberty, and the barbarian was no longer dreaded as a monster, but hailed as a brother. The test of brotherhood and union is an individual faith in the common Saviour, the sharing of one common life in the Holy Spirit, and the assurance of possessing one common Father in God. It is only as we encourage the brotherly spirit that we can ensure union and permanency in the Churches. About thirty years after this salutation was sent to the Laodiceans, the Church in that city had degenerated into a state of lukewarmness and sterility (Rev. iii. 15, 16). There is need for united watchfulness and fidelity in order to continue, "steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord" (1 Cor. xv. 58).
2. We learn further that a separate assembly of brethren constituted a Church.--"And Nymphas, and the Church which is in his house" (ver. 15). This was not the principal Church in Laodicea, nor was it simply a meeting together of the family, but an assembly of worshippers. Nymphas was probably a man of position and influence in the city and being also a man of piety, he afforded every opportunity for the gathering together of the brethren for Christian worship and communion. There is little said in the New Testament about Church polity, and there is no ecclesiastical organisation, whether Episcopal, Presbyterian, or Congregational, that can claim exclusive Divine authority and sanction. Whether meeting in large numbers in the stately cathedral, the modern tabernacle, or a few in the private dwelling-house, a company of believers assembled for worship and mutual edification constitutes a Church. Thus the true brotherhood of Christianity is maintained, irrespective of locality, of ecclesiastical structure, or of sacerdotal claims and pretensions.
+III. The reading of the Holy Scriptures in the Church an important subject of apostolic counsel.+--"And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea" (ver. 16). The epistle from Laodicea refers to a letter that St. Paul had sent to that city, and which was to be forwarded to Colossæ for perusal. Some think this was a letter specifically addressed to the Laodiceans, and which is now lost; but the best commentators now believe that the epistle to the Ephesians is meant, which was, in fact, a circular letter addressed to the principal Churches in proconsular Asia. Tychicus was obliged to pass through Laodicea on his way to Colossæ and would leave a copy of the Ephesian epistle there before the Colossian letter was delivered. Here we learn that one important means of edification was the reading of the inspired letters of the apostle in the assemblies of the brethren. The public reading of the Scriptures has been an invaluable method of instruction to the Church in all ages and places, and it is a provision with which the Church will never be able to dispense. The Church which dares to prohibit the general perusal of the Scriptures, or reads only small portions, and those mumbled in a language not understood by the people, has thrown off all regard for apostolic counsel and inflicts an unutterable injury upon humanity. Shut up the Bible, and the Churches will instantly be invaded by the most enfeebling superstitions, the civilisation of the nations will be put centuries behind, and the widespread ignorance and moral and social degradation of the dark ages will reappear.
+IV. An example of apostolic counsel concerning fidelity in the Christian ministry.+--"And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it" (ver. 17). It is probable that Archippus was a youthful pastor recently appointed to the Church at Laodicea. Already signs of a slackened zeal began to appear, which afterwards culminated in the state of lukewarmness for which this Church was denounced (Rev. iii. 19). The condition of preacher and people reacts upon each other; the Church takes its colour from and communicates its colour to its spiritual pastor. Hence the apostle, well knowing the perils surrounding the inexperienced Archippus, sends to him this timely warning to take heed of his ministry. He is reminded of:--
1. The direct authority of the ministry.--"The ministry which thou hast received in the Lord." The commission to preach the Gospel can come from no other than the Lord and can be properly received only by one who is himself spiritually in the Lord; there must be not only gifts, but also grace. The minister must be in direct and constant communication with the Lord, depend on Him for help in doing his duty, remember he is accountable to Him, and strive to seek His glory in preference to all personal considerations. In times of difficulty and trial it will sustain the courage of the minister to feel that his commission is Divine in its source and authority.
2. The implied dangers of the ministry.--"Take heed." The special dangers that threatened the Colossian Church at that time have been distinctly pointed out in the epistle. The ministry is ever encompassed with perils, arising from the seductive forms of error, the flatteries and frowns of the world, the subtle workings of self-approbation, and the deceitfulness of sin. There is need for the exercise of a sleepless vigilance, a tireless zeal, and a faultless circumspection.
3. The imperative personal demands of the ministry.--"That thou fulfil it." The whole truth must be made known, and that with the utmost clearness, faithfulness, kindness, and completeness. Every energy must be consecrated to the sacred work, and the aid of all the powers of heaven earnestly implored. No pains must be spared in prayer, study, and self-sacrifice to reach the highest efficiency and make "full proof" of the ministry. Failure here is lamentable and irremediable.
+Lessons.+--1. Salutations are valuable when imbued with the Christian spirit. 2. The true appreciation of the Holy Scriptures is shown in their constant and studious perusal. 3. The Christian ministry should be sustained by practical sympathy and intelligent co-operation.
GERM NOTES OF THE VERSES.
Ver. 14. "Luke, the beloved physician." Religion and the Medical Profession.
+I. The deference shown to medical science.+
+II. Benevolence of the medical profession.+
+III. Religious drawbacks in assaults from materialism.--Mind is one thing, matter is another.+
+IV. Religious responsibilities.--Vast power for good. Co-operation with the minister.+
+V. The Great Physician.--Doctor and patient need Him alike.+--Homiletic Monthly.
Ver. 16. The Public Reading of the Holy Scriptures an Important Means of Church Edification.
+I. It is in harmony with the usage of the ancient Church.+
+II. It is enforced by precept and example in the Scriptures themselves.+
+III. It familiarises the mind with the grandest truths.+
+IV. It is a mighty agency in advocating and moulding national character.+
+V. It keeps alive the enthusiasm of the Church for aggressive enterprise.+
+VI. It demands the most laborious study and practice to render it effective.+
Ver. 17. The Christian Ministry a Solemn and Responsible Trust.
+I. It is Divine in its bestowal.+--"Received in the Lord."
+II. It is personal in its responsibility.+--"Which thou hast received."
+III. It involves the communication of good to others.+--"Ministry."
+IV. It has a special aspect of importance to the individual minister.+--"The ministry."
"That thou fulfil it." The Christian Ministry demands Unswerving Fidelity in accomplishing its Lofty Mission.
+I. Divine truth must be clearly apprehended and profoundly realised.+
+II. The whole truth must be declared.+
+III. The declaration of the truth must be full and courageous.+
"Take heed." The Christian Ministry is surrounded by Peculiar Perils.--A shrewd and ever-wakeful vigilance is needed--
+I. Against the stealthy encroachments of error.+
+II. Against the pernicious influences of the world.+
+III. Against the subtle temptations to unfaithfulness.+
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 18.
Words of Farewell.
Last words have in them a nameless touch of pathos. They linger in the memory as a loved familiar presence, they soothe life's sorrows, and exert upon the soul a strange and irresistible fascination. As the years rush by, how rich in meaning do the words that have fallen from dying lips become, as when Cæsar said sadly, "And thou, Brutus!"; or when John Quincy Adams said, "This is the last of earth"; or Mirabeau's frantic cry for music, after a life of discord; or George Washington's calm statement, "It is well"; or Wesley's triumphant utterance, "The best of all is, God is with us." And these closing words of the high-souled apostle written from his Roman prison, in prospect of threatened death, carry with them a significance and tenderness which will be felt wherever this epistle is read. In these words we have a personally inscribed salutation, a touching reminder, and a brief benediction.
+I. A personally inscribed salutation.+--"The salutation by the hand of me Paul." The rest of the epistle was dictated by the apostle to an amanuensis, who, in this case, was probably Timothy. Paul adds his own personal salutation, not only as an expression of his anxious love, but also as a mark of the authenticity of the document, and of his unqualified approval of its contents. It would surely be a scene worthy of the pencil of genius to portray the noble prisoner, whose right hand was linked to the left of his military gaoler, tracing with tremulous fingers the final words to those for whose sake he was in bonds! How would the hand-writing of such a man be prized and venerated, and with what holy eagerness would his words be read and pondered!
+II. A touching reminder.+--"Remember my bonds." The apostle was in prison, not for any offence against the laws of God or man, but for the sake of the Gospel he loved to preach, and which had wrought so marvellous a change in the lives of those to whom he wrote. His bonds bore irrefragable testimony to the truth he was called to proclaim, and to his unalterable determination to insist upon the rights and privileges of the Gentiles, on whose behalf he suffered. He wished to be remembered in prayer, that he might be sustained in his imprisonment, and that he might be speedily delivered from it, so that he might preach the glorious news of spiritual liberty to the benighted and fettered sons of men. "Remember my bonds." These words seem to indicate that the illustrious prisoner was more concerned to exhibit a spirit and deportment betting the Gospel than to be released from his incarceration. The Church of Christ in all ages has had abundant reason to remember with gratitude and praise the bonds of the great apostle, not only for the stimulating example of holy patience and dignified submission displayed under trying circumstances, but for the unspeakably precious literary treasures they enabled him to bequeath to the world. Bishop Wordsworth has well said: "The fact that this epistle was written by Paul in this state of durance and restraint, and yet designed to minister comfort to others, and that it has never ceased to cheer the Church of Christ, is certainly one which is worthy of everlasting remembrance." In the prayer for "all prisoners and captives" special reference should be made to those who are now suffering for the truth. The offence of the cross has not yet ceased. We must practically remember the imprisoned when we supply their wants and assuage their sufferings.
+III. A brief benediction.+--"Grace be with you. Amen." The epistle begins and ends with blessing; and between these two extremes lies a magnificent body of truth which has dispensed blessings to thousands and is destined to bless thousands more. The benediction is short, but it is instinct with fervent life and laden with the unutterable wealth of Divine beneficence. Grace is inclusive of all the good God can bestow or man receive. Grace is what all need, what none can merit, and what God alone can give. To possess the grace of God is to be rich indeed; without it "'Tis misery all, and woe." Grace kindles the lamp of hope amidst the darkest experiences of life, supplies the clue which unravels the most tangled mysteries, presses the nectar of consolation into the bitterest cup, implants in the soul its holiest motives and opens up its noblest career, strengthens the dying saint when he traverses the lonely borderland of the unknown, and tunes and perpetuates the celestial harmonies of the everlasting song.
+Lessons.+--1. Praise God for a well-authenticated Bible. 2. Praise God for the teachings of a suffering life. 3. Praise God for His boundless grace.
* * * * * * * *
+Transcriber's Notes+
- Page 371, Introduction, second paragraph, change "ii. 8, 9" to "ch. ii. 8, 9" and "ii. 11" to "ch. ii. 11."
- Page 372, Introduction, first "Occasion" paragraph, apply RC to "Gospel." "Style" paragraph, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 374, notes on chapter i., verse 6, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Verse 9, add right double quote after "prudent." Verse 10, apply RC to "the Gospel"; add left parenthesis before "see ver. 6."
- Page 375, verse 22, change "unblamable" to "unblameable" and "unreprovable" to "unreproveable." Verse 23, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 376, verse 28, apply RC to "the Gospel" (thrice). Lesson "Salutation," point I, apply RC to "Divine." Point II, apply RC to "Divine" (twice).
- Page 377, same lesson, point III, add comma to "won and." Point IV, apply RC to "the Gospel"; remove comma from "Churches, and." Lesson "Estimate," point I 2, remove comma from "faith, and." Point II, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 378, same lesson, point II 3, apply RC to "Divine." Lesson "Causes," point I, remove comma from "God, and." Point II, add comma to "Thus God"; apply RC to "Divine" (twice); remove comma from "good, and." Point III 1, apply RC to "Divinely" and "Divine-human."
- Page 379, same lesson, point III 3, remove comma from "worker, and." Point V 3, apply RC to "the Gospel"; remove comma from "truth, and"; apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice). Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "the Gospel."
- Page 380, "Good News" note, each of points I, III 1, and III 3, apply RC to "the Gospel." "Hope" note, point III, apply RC to "the Gospel." Lesson "True Gospel," introduction, apply RC to "the Gospel" and "Divine"; remove commas from "understanding, and" and "axiomatic, and"; apply RC to "the Gospel" (twice), "Divine" and "the Gospel." Point I, apply RC to "Gospel" (five times); remove comma from "mission, and."
- Page 381, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Point II, apply RC to "Gospel" (thrice); add comma to "Thus it"; apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Point III, apply RC to "Gospel," "Word," "Gospel," "Divine Spirit," and "Gospel" (twice). Point IV, apply RC to "Gospel." Point IV 1, apply RC to "Gospel," "Divinely," and "Gospel."
- Page 382, same lesson, point IV 2 (3), apply RC to "the Gospel." Application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to "Gospel" and "Divine." Each of points 2 and 3, apply RC to "Gospel." "Gospel" note, point III, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 383, lesson "Comprehensive," point II 2, apply RC to "Divine" (thrice). Point II 3, apply RC to "Gospel," "Divine," "Gospel," and "Divine."
- The break between pages 383 and 384 is in a unit that style indicates should not be broken "Lord|--worthy." The whole unit was moved to the earlier page.
- Page 384, same lesson, point III 1, add comma to "purpose we." Point III 2, add comma to "Thus the"; remove comma from "heaven, and." Point III 4, apply RC to "Divine." Point IV 1, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 385, same lesson, point IV 2, apply RC to "Divine" and "Providence." Point IV 3, apply RC to "His cause." "Paul's Prayer" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine." Point III, remove comma from "life, and."
- Page 386, lesson "Meetness," point I 2, capitalise "Divine," referring to a churchman. Point I 3, apply RC to "Divine"; add comma to "Thus all."
- Page 387, same lesson, point II 2, apply RC to "Divine"; add comma to "So men"; remove comma from "realms, and." Point II 3, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 388, "Inheritance" note, point II 1, add double quotes around "inheritance." Point II 2, add double quotes around "saints." Lesson "Translation," point I 1, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 389, same lesson, point II 1, add comma to "So the." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divine"; add comma to "subjects we." Point III, apply RC to "Divine." Point III 1, remove comma from "law, and"; apply RC to "Divine." Point III 2, remove comma from "blessings, but"; apply RC to "Divine" (twice).
- Page 390, same lesson, point III 3, apply RC to "Divine." Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Divine." "Darkness" note, point III, apply RC to "Divine." "Great Blessing" note title, change "Re demption" to "Redemption." Lesson "Relation" title, change "Greated" to "Created." Point I, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 391, same lesson, point II 1 (1), add comma to "Therefore the." Point II 1 (2), apply RC to "First Cause," "Active Agent," and "Grand End." Point II 2 (1), apply RC to "First Cause"; remove comma from "speculation, and."
- Page 392, same lesson, point II 2 (2), change double quotes around "thrones," "dominions," "principalities," and "powers" to single quotes within the Spence quotation. Point II 2 (3), apply RC to "Great End." Point II 3, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 4, remove comma from "Him, and."
- Page 394, lesson "Relation," point II 2, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "Hades, and." Point III 1, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 395, "Church the Body" note, point III 2, apply RC to "Gospel." Point IV 1, remove comma from "Christ, and."
- Page 396, lesson "Reconciling," point I 1, apply RC to "Divine" (twice) and "Divinity"; remove commas from "universe, and" and "beings, and." Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 1, apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Point II 2, add comma to "therefore it."
- Page 397, same note, same point, apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Point II 2 (1), add comma to "aside and." Point II 2 (2), remove comma from "other, and." Point II 2 (3), apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Point III, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 398, "Fulness" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine." Lesson "Blessings," introduction, remove comma from "sin, and"; change "His restoration" to "his," referring to a sinful man. Point I 1, apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 399, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Point II 2, remove comma from "Christ, and"; apply RC to "Divine." Point III, apply RC to "Divine." Point III 2, change "unblamable" to "unblameable"; remove comma from "term, and." Point III 3, change "unreprovable" to "unreproveable" and "unblamable" to "unblameable."
- Page 400, same lesson, same point, change "unreprovable" to "unreproveable." "Reconciliation" note, point II 3, apply RC to "Himself." "Holiness" note, point I, change "unblamable" to "unblameable" and "unreprovable" to "unreproveable." Lesson "Condition," introduction, add comma to "so the"; apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Point I 1, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 401, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II 1, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Point II 2, apply RC to "Gospel," "Divine," and "Gospel" (thrice). Point II 3, apply RC to "Gospel" (thrice); remove comma from "lands, and"; apply RC to "Gospel." Point II 4, apply RC to "Gospel" (four times).
- Page 402, same lesson, same point, remove comma from "phenomena, and"; apply RC to "Gospel." Point II 5, apply RC to "Gospel" (thrice) and "Word." Application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson "Joy," introduction, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 1, add comma to "Thus he."
- Page 403, same lesson, point I 2, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 2, remove comma from "deeper, and"; apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 404, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson "Honor," introduction, apply RC to "Word" and "Gospel." Point I, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 1, apply RC to "Divinely"; change the comma after "own" to a semi-colon, for consistency in punctuating the series; apply RC to "Divine." Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine" and "Gospel."
- Page 405, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "Word." Point II 1, apply RC to "Divine" (thrice) and "Gospel." Point II 2, apply RC to "Gospel" and "Divine" (twice). Point II 3, apply RC to "Divine" and "Gospel." Point II 4, apply RC to "Gospel" and "Divine."
- Page 406, same lesson, point II 4 (1), apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Point II 4 (2), apply RC to "Gospel"; remove comma from "Him, and." Application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Divinely." "Glory" note, point III, apply RC to "Divinely." "Christ in you" note, correct point I to put the period after the number. Lesson "Preaching," introduction, remove comma from "preacher, and"; apply RC to "Gospel" and "Divine."
- Page 407, same lesson, point I 1, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 3, apply RC to "Gospel"; add "Acts iv. 12" reference; remove comma from "theme, but." Point II 2, add "(ver. 28)" for consistency; add comma to "Hence he." Point II 4, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 408, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Point IV, apply RC to "Divinely" and "Gospel"; remove commas from "all, and" and "age, and"; apply RC to "Gospel," "Divine," "Divinely," and "Divine." Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Divine." "Ministry" note, point II, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 410, lesson "Anxiety," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel." Point I, remove comma from "thought, and."
- Page 411, same lesson, point II, remove comma from "truth, but"; capitalise "Divine" as referring to a churchman. Point III 1, add comma to "Hence he." Point III 3, apply RC to "Divine." Point III 3 (1), apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 412, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "Divine." Point III 3 (2), apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Point III 3 (3), apply RC to "Divine," "Gospel" (thrice), and "Divine"; add "Prov. viii. 11" reference. Point IV, apply RC to "Gospel"; remove comma from "outlook, and."
- Page 413, same lesson, same point, add "Eph. v. 6" reference. Lesson "Hidden Treasures," introduction, remove comma from "treasure, but"; apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 414, same lesson, point I 1, remove comma from "Him, and." Point I 2, remove comma from "everywhere, and." Point I 3, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 415, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divine"; change "ar#" to "are"; add comma to "So in." "Unity" note, point I, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 416, lesson "Apostolic Praise," point I, apply RC to "Divine" (twice); remove comma from "brief, but"; add "1 Cor. xiv. 40, xiv. 33, xvi. 14, xi. 34" references. Point II, apply RC to "served Him"; change exclamation point to question mark; remove comma from "form, and."
- Page 417, point III 2, remove comma from "order, and." Lesson "Suggestive," point I, remove comma from "rapidity, and" (twice); apply RC to "Divine." Point I 1, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 418, same lesson, point I 2, remove comma from "law, but." Point III, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 419, same lesson, point III 2, remove comma from "tense, and." Point IV, remove commas from "word, and" and "difficulties, and." Application ("Lessons"), each of points 1 and 2, apply RC to "Divinely." "Retrospection" note, point I 2, apply RC to "Divine." "Imitation" note, point II, remove comma for "imitate, and."
- Page 420, lesson "Marks," introduction, remove comma from "morals, and." Point I, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "Gnosticism, and"; add "Rom i. 21, 22" reference.
- Page 422, same lesson, point V, add "John x. 10" reference. Point VI 1, apply RC to "Gospel." Point VI 2, remove comma from "rest, and." Application ("Lessons"), point 3, remove comma from "false, and." Lesson "Divine Fulness," introduction, apply RC to "Divine." Point I, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 1, add comma to "Hence we"; apply RC to "Divine" (twice), "Divinity," and "Divine." Point I 2, remove comma from "deity, and."
- Page 423, same lesson, point I 3, remove comma from "enshrined, and"; apply RC to "Divine" (four times); add "John i. 14" reference. Point III 1, add "1 John v. 12" reference; apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Point III 2, apply RC to "the Spirit." Point III 3, add "1 Thess. iv. 17" reference.
- Page 424, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to "Divine." Lesson "Circumcision," introduction, apply RC to "Divine"; add comma to "Thus their."
- Page 425, same lesson, point I, add "Ezek. xliv. 9; Duet. xxx. 6" references. Point III, apply RC to "Divine" (twice), remove comma from "law, and." Point IV, remove comma from "dies, and"; apply RC to "Diviner."
- Page 426, same lesson, point VI, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "gift, and"; apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Lesson "Transition," introduction, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 427, same lesson, point I 2, remove comma from "health, and." Each of points I 3 (1) and I 3 (2), apply RC to "Divine." Point I 3 (2), remove comma from "life, and." Point II 1, remove comma from "bondage, and"; apply RC to "Divine." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divine"; add comma to "pardoned and."
- Page 428, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine" (thrice). Lesson "Triumph," point I 1, remove comma from "creation, and." Point II 2, add comma to "again they." Point II 3, remove comma from "death, and."
- Page 430, lesson "Ceremonial," introduction, remove comma from "real, and"; apply RC to "Gospel"; remove comma from "ordinances, and"; capitalise "Christianised." Point I, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 431, same lesson, point II, add comma to "so the"; apply RC to "Gospel." Point III, apply RC to "Antitype"; remove comma from "it, when."
- Page 432, lesson "Seductive," introduction, remove comma from "them, and." Point II 2, remove comma from "God, and." Point II 3, change "mortal man venture" to "mortal man ventures."
- Page 433, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine." Point III 3, apply RC to "Divine" (twice). "How a Church lives" note, point II 1, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 434, lesson "Ceremonial," point II 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 436, same lesson, point IV 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 437, notes on chapter iii., verse 15, change "ii. 18" to "ch. ii. 18." Verse 16, apply RC to "Divine"; add an em-dash at the end of the paragraph. Verse 18, remove comma from "here, and." Verse 23, add double quotes around "Whatsoever ye do, work heartily" and "from the soul."
- The page break between pages 439 and 440 is in a unit that style indicates should not be broken: "conduct.--1. |A." The entire unit was moved to the earlier page.
- Page 438, lesson "Aspirations," point II 1, change "ver. 2" to "ver. 1."
- Page 439, same lesson, point II 2, add an em-dash at the end of the paragraph.
- Page 440, lesson "Present Condition," introduction, apply RC to "Divine light." Point I, remove comma from "past, and."
- Page 441, same lesson, point II 2, add comma to "undiscerning He." Point III, apply RC to "His Word."
- Page 443, lesson "Mortification," point I 3, remove comma from "heart, and"; apply RC to "Divine." Point II, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "come, and"; apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 444, same lesson, point V, remove commas from "disguised, and" and "man, and"; apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 445, lesson "New Nature," introduction, remove comma from "garments, but"; add comma to "So the"; remove comma from "state, but"; add comma to "words he." Point I, apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Point II, remove commas from "once, but" and "possessed, but"; apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 446, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "unsuited, and." Point IV 1, apply RC to "Gospel." Point IV 2, remove comma from "country, and." Point IV 3, apply RC to "Gospel." Point V, apply RC to "Source," "Centre," "Ideal," and "Possession"; change "He" to "he," referring to the believer.
- Page 447, "Religion" note, point II, apply RC to "Divine." "Christ" note, point II, apply RC to "Divine," remove commas from "civ., and" and "hearts, and." Point III, apply RC to "Divine" (twice).
- Page 448, same note, point IV, remove comma from "Him, and." Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 449, lesson "Essentials," point I 1, apply RC to "Divine" and "Son." Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 3, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 451, lesson "Love," introduction, remove commas from "romance, and" and "garment, and." Point I, remove comma from "Ghost, and."
- Page 452, same lesson, point IV 2, remove comma from "changed, if." Lesson "Rule," point I, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 453, same lesson, same point, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "cross, and"; apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "Christ, and." Point II, remove commas from "games, and" and "stadium, and." Point II 1, remove comma from "duty, and"; apply RC to "Divine." Point II 2, remove comma from "temptation, and." Point II 3, remove comma from "right, and"; apply RC to "His Word"; add "Ps. li. 10" reference.
- Page 454, same lesson, point IV 1, apply RC to "Gospel" and "God's Word." Point IV 2, remove comma from "body, so"; apply RC to "Spirit." Point V, change "sin#" to "sins" and "#ll" to "all"; apply RC to "Divine." "Peace" note, point I, apply RC to "His Word."
- Page 455, lesson "Poetry," introduction, remove comma from "first, and"; apply RC to "Divinely" and "Divine Word." Point I, apply RC to "Divine Word." Point I 1, apply RC to "Divine Word," "Word," and "Gospel." Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine Word," "Word," "Divinity," and "Word" (twice).
- Page 456, same lesson, point II, remove comma from "arrangement, and." Point III 1, apply RC to "Word" (twice). After the poem, remove comma from "dying, and." Application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to "Divine Word."
- Page 457, first note, application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Word." Second note, add "I." before first bold point and apply RC to "Word." Point I 3, apply RC to "Word" (twice). Point II 3, apply RC to "Word" (twice). Application ("Lessons"), each of point 1 and 2, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 460, lesson "Duties of Husbands," point I 1, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 461, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divine." Point III 2, remove comma from "supreme, and."
- Page 462, lesson "Duties of Parents," point I 1, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine" (twice).
- Page 463, point II 2, replace left single quote before "Lest" with a left double quote. Lesson "Duties of Masters," introduction, remove comma from "slavery, and."
- Page 464, same lesson, point I, add "Rev. vii. 15" and "Mark x. 45" references; remove comma from "servitude, but." Point II 1, remove commas from "slaves, and" and "slavery, and." Point II 2, add "ver. 22" reference; apply RC to "Divine." Point III 1, add "heartily" into the verse 23 quotation; apply RC to "Divine." Point III 2, apply RC to "Divine"; change "He hath done what he could" to "She hath done what she could" to match KJV and add "Mark xiv. 8" reference.
- Page 465, same lesson, point IV, apply RC to "Divine"; add "1 Pet. i. 4" reference. Point V, remove comma from "light, and." Point VI 2, add "Matt. xxiii. 8" and "Matt. xxv. 40" references.
- Page 466, critical notes for chapter iv., verse 3, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 467, lesson "Efficacy," introduction, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "petitioner, but"; apply RC to "Divine." Point I, remove comma from "make, and."
- Page 468, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine"; add double quotes around the saying of an old writer (assumed to finish the paragraph). Point IV, apply RC to "Gospel." Point IV 1, apply RC to "Gospel"; change "once popular minister" to "once-popular minister." Point IV 2, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice).
- The break between pages 468 and 469 is in the word "declaration": declara|tion.
- Page 469, same lesson, point IV 3, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice), "Divine," and "Gospel." Point IV 4, apply RC to "Gospel" (four times). Application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 470, lesson "Wise," introduction, remove comma from "life, and." Point I 1, add "ver. 5" reference. Point I 2, apply RC to "Spirit." Point I 3, remove comma from "itself, and"; apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 471, same lesson, point I 4, remove comma from "eagerness, and." Point II 3, remove comma from "tongue, and." First note, add sentence-ending period to point IV.
- Page 472, "Truth" note, point III, apply RC to "Divine." Point IV, remove comma from "religion, but." Lesson "Side-lights," introduction, remove comma from "epistle, and." Point I, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 473, same lesson, point II, remove commas from "Paul, and" and "crowds, and"; apply RC to "Gospel" and "Divine." Point III, remove comma from "Ephesus, and."
- Page 474, same lesson, point IV, remove comma from "ritual, and"; apply RC to "Gospel"; add comma to "thus they"; remove comma from "Christ, and"; apply RC to "Gospel"; remove comma from "professors, and."
- Page 475, lesson "Model Pastor," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel"; remove commas from "them, and" and "faith, but"; apply RC to "Divine." Point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II, after poem, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 476, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine." Point IV, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 477, lesson "Greetings," introduction, add "Prov. x. 7" reference. Point I 1, remove commas from "travel, and" and "man, but." Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine" and "Gospel."
- Page 478, same lesson, point II 1, add "1 Cor. xv. 58" reference. Point II 2, remove comma from "city, and"; add comma to "piety he"; apply RC to "Divine." Point III, remove comma from "Colossæ, and."
- Page 479, point IV 1, apply RC to "Gospel"; remove comma from "Lord, and"; apply RC to "Divine." "Luke" note, point V, apply RC to "Great Physician." "Ministry" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 480, lesson "Farewell," point I, change "mo" to "me." Point II, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice).
- Page 481, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Divine."
+THE FIRST EPISTLE+
+TO THE THESSALONIANS.+
* * * * * * * *
+INTRODUCTION.+
+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 Berœa.
+Occasion and design of the epistle.+--With eager impatience the apostle would wait for the messenger with tidings of the Macedonian Churches. The writer of the Proverbs likened "good news from a far country" to "cold waters to a thirsty soul"; so St. Paul says to these Thessalonians: "Now when Timothy came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, . . . we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith: for now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord" (1 Thess. iii. 6-8). Timothy had brought word of their fidelity; but he had also to inform the apostle of the persecutions they had to endure, and also of the troubled minds of some of the Christian brotherhood over the condition of their dead, and their relationship to the Lord whom they daily expected.
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.+
i. 1. Salutation.
2-10. Thanksgiving for reception and diffusion of the Gospel.
ii. 1-12. Appeal to their knowledge of what Paul's ministry had been.
13-16. Thanksgiving for fidelity under the strain of Jewish hostility.
17--iii. 13. Baffled purposes resulting in the despatch of Timothy, and the outburst of joy for the good news with which he returned.
iv. 1-12. Warning against lustful injustice, and exhortation to a further development of brotherly love.
13--v. 11. The Second Advent in its relation to those who already slept.
12-24. Ethics of Church-life and personal life.
25-28. Conclusion.
* * * * * * * *
+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 (1 Tim. 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 (1 Cor. 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.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 1.
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 worship destroyed, and its people scattered, without king, prophet, or leader. The light that shown so full and clear from the seven celebrated Asiatic Churches grew dim and went out, and that region is now wrapped in the darkness of idolatry. And Thessalonica, renowned as a pattern of Christian purity and zeal, now languishes under its modern name of Saloniki, a victim of Turkish despotism, and professing a spurious religion the first founders of the Church there, could they revisit the spot, would certainly repudiate. But the true Church lives, grows, and triumphs.
+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 are grace and peace. Sovereign mercy and favour and reconciliation. 2. These are mentioned in their proper order of time, of cause and effect. 3. These are traced to their proper source. The Father--the Godhead; the Son--all fulness.--Stewart.
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.
+II. Ministerial thanksgiving evokes a spirit of practical devotion.+--"Making mention of you in our prayers" (ver. 2). The interest in his converts of the successful worker is keenly aroused; he is anxious the work should be permanent, and resorts to prayer as the effectual means. Prayer for others benefits the suppliant. When the Church prayed, not only was Peter liberated from prison, but the faith of the members was emboldened. Gratitude is ever a powerful incentive to prayer. It penetrates the soul with a conscious dependence on God and prompts the cry for necessary help. There is no true prayer without thanksgiving.
+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.
+I. There is an eternal election.+
+II. Which comes out in the election made in time.+
+III. Let us rejoice in it, for apart from it none would be saved.+--Stewart.
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 less apparent was the change effected in Thessalonica by the diligent toil and faithful preaching of the apostles. We have here two prominent features in the successful declaration of the Gospel.
+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. Πληροφοία--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 manner of men we were among you, for your sake." Their earnest labours and upright lives showed they were men moved by profound conviction--a blending of evidence that is not less potent in these days.
+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.
2. They received the Word with joy.--"With joy of the Holy Ghost." They realised the joy of conscious forgiveness and acceptance with God. The sinless angels, placed beyond the necessity of pardon, are incapable of experiencing this joy. It belongs exclusively to the believing penitent. The joy of suffering for the truth. Cyprian, who suffered for the Gospel, used to say, "It is not the pain but the cause that makes the martyr." That cause is the cause of truth. Suffering is limited, life itself is limited, but truth is eternal. To suffer for that truth is a privilege and a joy. The joy of triumph, over error, sin, Satan, persecution. This joy is the special product of the Holy Ghost. These twin feelings--sorrow and joy--are typical of the ever-alternating experience of the believer throughout his earthly career.
+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 the Gospel by their gratitude for the special grace which had brought it to them with saving power, by their supreme attachment to its vital truths and their experience of the suitableness of these truths to their wants as sinners, by their commiseration for those who were yet in a state of nature, by their love to the Lord Jesus, by the express command of God, by the hope of reward.--G. Brooks.
Ver. 8. The Power of Example--
+I. In a faithful declaration of the Gospel.+
+II. In its far-reaching influence on others.+
+III. Speaks for itself, rendering explanation unnecessary.+
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, loving service. The idolater is enslaved by his own passions and the iron bands of custom. His worship is mechanical, without heart and without intelligence. The service acceptable to God is the full, spontaneous, pure outflow of a loving and believing heart. It is an ennobling service. Man becomes like what he worships; and as the object of his worship is often the creation of his own depraved mind, he is debased to the level of his own gross, polluted ideas. Idolatry is the corrupt human heart feeding upon and propagating its own ever-growing corruptions. The service of God lifts man to the loftiest moral pinnacle and transfigures him with the resplendent qualities of the Being he adores and serves. It is a rewardable service. It brings rest to the world-troubled spirit, fills with abiding happiness in the present life, and provides endless felicity in the future--results idolatry can never produce.
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--
+I. In religious belief.+
+II. In corresponding conduct.+
+III. In the hope cherished.+--1. Of the second coming of Christ. 2. Proved by His resurrection from the dead. 3. The object of His second coming to deliver from wrath. 4. The spirit of earnest but patient waiting induced.
Ver. 10. The Christian waiting for his Deliverer--
+I. Implies a firm belief in Christ's second coming.+
+II. Habitually endeavouring to be prepared for His second coming.+
+III. Earnestly desiring it.+
+IV. Patiently waiting for it.+--Bradley.
The Wrath to come.
+I. It is Divine wrath.+
+II. Unmingled wrath.+--Judgment without mercy; justice without the least mixture of goodness.
+III. Provoked wrath.+
+IV. Accumulated wrath.+--A wrath we have inflamed and increased by every act of sin we have committed.
+V. Future wrath.+--The wrath to come; lasting as the holiness of the Being who inflicts and the guilt of the sinners who endure it.
+VI. Deliverance from wrath.+--1. Undeserved. 2. Complete. 3. Eternal.--Ibid.
* * * * * * * *
+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 Where thrift may follow fawning'" (Ibid.).
+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 2 Cor. 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 (1 Cor. ix. 11) as compared with the self-sacrifice of the apostolic toilers.
Ver. 10. +Ye are witnesses, and God also.+--A solemn reiteration (see ver. 5). +Holily and justly and unblameably.+--"The holy man has regard to the sanctities, the righteous man to the duties of life; but duty is sacred and piety is duty. They cover the whole field of conduct regarded in turn from the religious and moral standpoint, while unblameably affixes the seal of approval both by God and man" (Findlay).
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 human earnestness, and of Divine truth and force. We trace in their ministerial endeavours four essential elements that are ever found in all successful preaching--boldness, sincerity, gentleness, moral consistency. Consider, first, their boldness.
+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.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
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 to the natural man--its humiliating exposure of our depravity and helplessness, its holiness, its mysteries, the unbending severity of its law, and the absolute character of its claims. The temptation is sometimes great to temper and modify the truth to carnal prejudice, and sacrifice faithfulness to popularity. But the apostles risked everything so that they secured the Divine approval. "As of sincerity, as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ" (2 Cor. ii. 17).
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 sun melt the ponderous iceberg more speedily than the rolling billows of an angry ocean; the silent action of the atmosphere wastes the rock which remains immovable under the strokes of the heaviest weapon; a look from Moses vanquished the calf-idolatry of the Israelites which the fluent eloquence of Aaron had been powerless to resist; a calm, quiet word from Jesus paralysed with fear the band of soldiers who came to arrest Him in Gethsemane. True gentleness is never weak. It is the tough, indestructible material out of which is formed the hero and the martyr. This quality was conspicuous in the preachers at Thessalonica.
+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" (2 Tim. 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, and to give His life" (Matt. xx. 28; Mark x. 45). A similar spirit imbued the apostle when he assured the weeping elders of Ephesus in that pathetic interview on the lonely shore--"Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus" (Acts xx. 24). The love of science nerves the adventurous voyager to brave the appalling dangers of the arctic ice, amid which so many have found a crystal tomb; but a nobler love inspires the breast of the humble worker, who cheerfully sacrifices all the world holds dear to rescue men from woe.
+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" (1 Cor. 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 mercenary gain, but the proclamation of the Gospel of God--an example which has its counterpart in the brave, devoted, self-denying labours of many a modern missionary.
+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 Can censure 'scape: back-wounding calumny The whitest virtue strikes."
+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.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 13.
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" (1 Peter 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 worketh also in you that believe." As the planet receiving the light of the sun is transformed into an imitation sun, so the believing soul receiving the light of the Word is changed into the image of that Word. Whatever the Divine Word prescribes, that it works in us. Does it prescribe repentance?--it works repentance; faith?--it works faith; obedience?--it works obedience; knowledge?--it enlightens to know. Its transforming power, is continually demonstrated. It makes the niggardly generous, the profane holy, the drunkard sober, the profligate chaste. Faith is the vital force that connects the soul with this converting power.
+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 people--people with whom we have lived in amity and concord, but from whom conscience compels us to differ. Who can fathom the deep anguish of the Psalmist sounding in that sharp, bitter cry of startled surprise, "For it was not an enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it; but it was thou, a man, mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance"! (Ps. lv. 12, 13). It was a horrible discovery of nature engaged in a terrible suicidal war with itself! Nature grown monstrously unnatural and savagely retaliating on its own; natural love turned into unnatural enmity! What a revelation, too, is this of the desperate nature of all persecution! Its insensate malice rudely sunders all bonds of fatherland, friendship, and kindred. The close affinity between Cain and Abel does not arrest the murderer's hand; the tender ties between Saul and David, woven with much reciprocal kindness and affection, avail not to curb the mad cruelty of the infuriate king. Ah! how deep and changeless is the truth, "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. iii. 12). The suffering that tests is still from the same source, "A man's foes are they of his own household" (Matt. x. 36).
+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 and buried--life blooming amid the ghastly emblems of death. And, in the world of religious thought and opinion, while Divine truth remains in its essence unchangeably the same, old forms and old definitions are ever giving place to the new. The transition from the old to a new order of things in the progress of religion is not always accomplished without opposition. Age is naturally and increasingly tenacious; and the old religion looks on the new with suspicion, with jealousy, with fear, with anger. The Jews had resisted the attempts of their own Divinely commissioned prophets to rouse the nation to a purer faith and more vigorous religious life; but their fury reached its climax in their blind, unreasonable, and fiendish opposition to Christianity. The text describes the fury of the old religion against the new.
+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 Berœa, 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 bigotry and cruelty to deny to our fellow-men the only means of salvation. Into what monsters of barbarity will persecution turn men! Pharaoh persisted to such a degree of unreasonableness as to chastise the Hebrews for not accomplishing impossibilities! Julian, the apostate from Christianity, carried his vengeful spirit to his deathbed, and died cursing the Nazarene!
+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, Books v., 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--
+I. Often misled by professed zeal for truth.+
+II. Tortured and murdered the noblest men of their own race.+
+III. Opposed the Gospel with violent and unreasoning severity.+
+IV. Have themselves been persecuted by all the nations among whom they sojourned.+
+V. Furnish an unanswerable argument for the truth of Christianity.+
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" (2 Cor. 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" (1 Tim. 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" (2 Cor. 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 to return; and, after the lapse of five years, their hopes were realised. Satan acted by means of wicked men (Acts xvii. 5-8, 13).
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 Berœa 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.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 18. Satanic Hindrances--
+I. Are veiled by subtle and specious pretexts.+
+II. Work mischief in individuals and in Churches.+
+III. May succeed in diverting for a time the best intentions of the good.+
+IV. Should be diligently and prayerfully watched.+
+V. Are frustrated by a superior power.+
Vers. 19, 20. The Joy of a Minister in his Converts--
+I. As they are living witnesses of the power of the Gospel.+
+II. As they are the crowning reward of his labours.+
+III. As he shares the joy of Christ in their salvation and final glory.+
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER III.+
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
Ver. 1. +When we could no longer forbear.+--This latter word occurs in 1 Cor. 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 2 Thess. 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 2 Thess. iii. 5). So the Holy Ghost is called the Lord (2 Cor. iii. 17). Love is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. v. 22), and His office is to establish in holiness (ver. 13; 1 Pet. i. 2) (Faussett).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 1, 2.
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, Built nobly, pure the air and light the soil, Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts And eloquence."--Milton.
"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" (1 Tim. i. 2; 2 Tim. 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.
+IV. This mission was charged with a work of high importance and necessity.+--"To establish you, and to comfort you, concerning your faith" (ver. 2).
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--
+I. Affords a painful opportunity to reflect on its moral condition.+--"He saw the city wholly given to idolatry."
+II. Awakens profound concern in a great soul.+--"His spirit was stirred in him."
+III. Rouses to immediate action in promoting the welfare of the citizens.+--"Therefore disputed he in the synagogue and in the market daily."
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 us to know that our trials do not happen without the knowledge and consent and purpose and control of God, and that their extent and duration are regulated by His infinite, fatherly wisdom and love. The Divine appointment of suffering is designed for our highest discipline and culture--withdrawing our affections from the temporal and centring them on eternal realities; exposing our hypocrisies and cleansing the moral corruptions that have entered into our lives, like filth on standing waters, and strengthening us to do the right, undismayed by the bitterest afflictions. The greatest suffering often brings us into the neighbourhood of the greatest blessing. "Gold is cleaner after it has been put into the fire: be thou gold, and the fiery persecution shall not hurt thee."
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 (2 Thess. 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 frustrated by a momentary temptation of the wicked one. How different might have been the moral history of thousands if they had not yielded to the first fiery trial!
"Of all the sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these--it might have been."
+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.
+I. That afflictions are disturbing and distressing to the children of God.+
+II. That afflictions are appointed by God for His people's good.+
+III. That Christians are forewarned to expect affliction.+
+IV. That Satan uses affliction as a means of temptation.+
+V. That the faithful minister must labour and watch in order to secure the steadfastness of believers under his care.+--Herbert, the saintly poet of the seventeenth century, exhorts the preacher to make the consolations of the Gospel his main theme:
_"Oh, let him speak of comfort, 'tis Most wanted in this vale of tears."_
--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.
+I. The apostle was gladdened with good tidings of faith maintained.+--"Timothy came from you to us, and brought us good tidings of your faith."
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" (1 John 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.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 7-10.
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 (3 John 3, 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 fountain of joy breaks forth. This joy filled his soul even in the secret presence of God. It was a pure, sincere, undissembled, overflowing joy, such as God could approve.
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--
+I. Produce comfort of mind+ (ver. 7).
+II. Make life more enjoyable+ (ver. 8).
+III. Are the occasion of thankful joy before the Lord+ (ver. 9).
+IV. Excite to assiduous and earnest prayer+ (ver. 10).
Vers. 9, 10. Religious Joy--
+I. Is occasioned by the religious progress of others.+
+II. Is mingled with ingenuous gratitude.+
+III. Is enjoyed as in the presence of God.+
+IV. Is accompanied with fervent prayer.+
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 11-13.
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, that ye should love one another" (1 John iii. 11); and, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another;" urges St. Peter, "with a pure heart fervently" (1 Pet. i. 22).
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 (1 Tim. 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--
+I. Acknowledges and invokes the Divine source of all spiritual good.+--"The Lord make you."
+II. Growth in piety is growth in Christian love.+--"Increase and abound in love."
+III. Growth in piety is the establishment of the soul in unblameable holiness.+--"To the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness."
+IV. Growth in piety is essential to gain the approval of God at the second advent of Christ.+--"Before God, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."
Ver. 13. The Coming of Christ--
+I. Will be an imposing spectacle.+
+II. Should be ardently longed for.+
+III. Demands on our part diligent moral preparedness.+
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER IV.+
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 1 Pet. 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. 15. +We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord.+--"We must recognise that Paul here includes himself, along with the Thessalonians, among those who will be alive at the advent of Christ. Certainly this can only have been a hope, only a subjective expectation on the part of the apostle" (Huther). +Shall not prevent.+--The meaning of "prevent" is "to go before." But the connotation came to have more prominence than the meaning, so it come to signify to stop (by standing in the way). R.V. gives, "shall not precede." It is the same word as in ch. ii. 16 (in another tense). The apostle says, "We shall not arrive before them."
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 1 Cor. 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."
4. Religion is a life capable of vast expansion.--"So, ye would abound more and more" (ver. 1). Life in its healthiest and intensest form is happiness. As we advance in the religious life our happiness increases. "All the while," says Fuller, "thou livest ill, thou hast the trouble, distraction, and inconveniences of life, but not the sweets and true use of it." God has made every provision for our increase in holiness; we are exhorted to it, and most really promote our highest good and the Divine glory in attaining it. There is no limit in our elevation to a higher sanctity but our faith.
+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 they continue in well-doing?--they must be stimulated to further progress. The end of one task is the beginning of another.
+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.
+I. Our sanctification is the will of God because He is the avenger of all such as do things contrary to that purity which He enjoins.+
+II. Because God has called us, not to uncleanness, but to holiness.+
+III. Because God has given unto us His Holy Spirit.+--The Spirit is called the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Holiness, not only because He is essentially and perfectly holy in Himself, but because He is the Author of holiness in believers. These considerations are motives to stir up and animate our wills to obey and co-operate with the will of God.--R. Mant.
Why was the Spirit sent? or, We must needs be Holy.
+I. The coming of the Holy Ghost is to make us new creatures by giving us the strength to become so.+
+II. Since sanctification is declared to be the special work of the Holy Ghost, this clearly proves the difficulty of that work.+
+III. The work of sanctification is something more than merely driving out the evil one.+
+IV. Love and devotion to God are necessary to holiness.+
+V. Strength--the strength of the Holy Spirit--is necessary to defend holiness.+--A. W. Hare.
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 abstain from fornication" (ver. 3). A word that designates, not only the actual transgression known by that name, but all the sinful lusts of the flesh. This vice is a prolific source of many other vices. It is like the fabled Hydra, or many-headed snake, of which it is said that when one head was cut off another grew in its place. Fornication is the root of extravagance, drunkenness, disease, poverty, profanity, murder, and irreparable infamy. It is a sin the most bewitching, the most prevalent, the most fatal in its tendencies, and against which the most terrible vengeance of Heaven has been declared. It brought the flood on the world of the ungodly, fire and brimstone upon Sodom, pestilence upon the Israelites, and destruction upon the nations of antiquity. Prior to Christianity, it was hardly regarded as a vice. The apostolic teaching revealed its enormity, denounced it with righteous indignation, and supplied the spiritual weapon by which it is to be slain.
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 Begins so slowly and from such slight source, An infant's hand might stem its breach with clay; But let the stream get deeper, and philosophy shall strive in vain To turn the headlong current."
+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.
2. That every violation of justice will be certainly punished.--"Because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified" (ver. 6). The rogue will not always triumph; and his ill-gotten gains may be the instruments of his curse. An all-seeing Eye watches all his sinuous trickeries, and an unseen Hand rests on all his covetous accumulations, and by-and-by the blow of vengeance will be swift and terrible. The successful robber is apt to lull himself into a false security; he has escaped disaster so often and so long that he begins to fancy his villainy may be continued with impunity. But their "judgment lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not," for "the Lord is the avenger of all such" (see Prov. xxii. 22, 23, xxiii. 10; 2 Pet. ii. 3). Not that we are to act honestly from the fear of punishment; but while striving to act rightly from love to God and a lofty sense of duty, it is also salutary to remember that vengeance belongeth unto the Lord, and He will recompense. Where human justice fails, the Divine vengeance will supply the deficiency, that injustice may not escape unpunished.
+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 (1 Pet. 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 endowed for their special ministry by the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost; they were infallibly guided into all truth; they wrought miracles; and their word was with power. Though miraculous gifts are no longer bestowed, Christian ministers are nevertheless called and qualified by the Divine Spirit; they are empowered to proclaim the will of God and to urge men to reconciliation and purity (2 Cor. v. 20). The Rev. F. W. Robertson was once hesitating in the pulpit of a brother-clergyman which of two sermons he should preach. Something whispered to him, "Robertson, you are a craven; you dare not speak here what you believe." He selected a sermon that seemed almost personal in its faithfulness and power. But it was the message given to him for that hour.
+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.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 9, 10.
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 (1 John 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 reproving one another. During the retreat of Alfred the Great, at Athelney, in Somersetshire, after the defeat of his forces by the Danes, a beggar came to his little castle there and requested alms. When his queen informed him they had only one small loaf remaining, which was insufficient for themselves and the friends who had gone abroad in quest of food with little hope of success, the king replied: "Give the poor Christian one half of the loaf. He who could feed five thousand men with five loaves and two small fishes, can certainly make that half of the loaf suffice for more than our necessities." Accordingly, the poor man was relieved, and this noble act of charity was soon recompensed by a providential store of fresh provisions with which the foraging party returned.
+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--
+I. An evidence of practical holiness.+
+II. An affection Divinely taught.+
+III. Should be constantly manifested.+
+IV. Grows by diligent cultivation.+
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 sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. A pacific spirit is another practical evidence of possessing the genuine sanctification so earnestly commended by the apostle. Observe:--
+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 his converts the importance of diligence in one's daily business and set them an example in his own conduct (2 Thess. iii. 7, 8). Honest labour is not beneath the dignity of any, and he who works the hardest has the greater influence in enforcing industry upon others.
+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.
+I. The Bible contains little encouragement for the idler.+
+II. The text enjoins diligence not only in business, but in one's own business.+
+III. The counsel of the apostle is supported by the best wisdom of the world.+--"It becomes a man," said Herodotus, "to give heed to those things only which concern himself."
+IV. The apostle takes it for granted that ours is a worthy business.+
+V. Only by diligence in the care of your own souls will you be able to do really effective work for Christ.+--A. F. Forrest.
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 relation of their deceased friends to that glorious event. While believing that the pious dead would ultimately be raised again, they feared they would not be permitted to share in the joy of welcoming Him back to His inheritance of the redeemed earth and in the triumphant inauguration of His reign. "It was just as if, on the very eve of the day of the expected return of some long absent father, a cruel fate should single out one fond expectant child and hurry him to a far distant and inhospitable shore." But all their fears and perplexities were dissipated by the sublime disclosures contained in this epistle.
+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, I was selfish in my sorrow. I was stubborn, I was weak; Ye have given me strength to conquer, and I stand erect and free, And know that I am human, by the light of sympathy."
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. Du Chaillu 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 glorious resurrection. They wait for "the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body" (Rom. viii. 23).
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.
+I. The dead are said to be asleep because we know they shall wake up again.+
+II. Because they whom men call dead do really live unto God.+
+III. Because they are taking their rest.+
+IV. Death is changed to sleep, so that it becomes a pledge of rest and a prophecy of the resurrection.+
+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.
+I. The heart seeks it.+
+II. The Bible declares it.+
+III. The redemption of Christ secures it.+--A. F. Forrest.
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 the wrongs of the universe never be redressed? If questions like these flit for a moment across the mind, it is not that the Church has lost confidence in the promise. Faith in the second advent of Christ is more widely spread and more firmly held to-day than ever. Long waiting has sharpened the longing, brightened the hope, and clarified the vision. In these words, the apostle assures the Thessalonians of the second coming of Christ, furnishes some important particulars of the event, and points out the bearing of the glorious doctrine in consoling the sorrow of the bereaved.
+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; 1 Cor. i. 8; 2 Tim. iv. 1; Tit. ii. 13; 1 Pet. i. 5; 2 Pet. iii. 12; Jude 14).
+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 1 Cor. 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 and incorruptible splendour. Whatever disadvantages may be the lot of some of God's people over others, they are ever recompensed by some special privilege or prerogative. The best state for us is that in which God places us. And yet every man thinks another's condition happier than his own. Rare indeed is the man who thinks his own state and condition in every respect best for him.
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. The final period of the world the apostles left undetermined.+
+II. Though ignorant of the final period of the world, they were confident it should not come till the prophecies respecting the destiny of the Church were accomplished.+
+III. The Church, being ignorant of the day in which Christ should come to judge the world, should be always ready for that event.+
+IV. Sorrow for the dead is compatible with the hope of a Christian.+--1. When it proceeds from sympathy. 2. From the dictates of nature. 3. From repentance.--Saurin.
Ver. 18. The Day of comforting One Another.
+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. 15. +Evil for evil.+--A quid pro quo, similar in kind and in quantity perhaps, but retaliation delights in interest.
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 (1 Cor. 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.
2. The second coming will be sudden.--"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child" (vers. 2, 3). The thief not only gives no notice of his approach but takes every possible care to conceal his designs. The discovery of the mischief he has wrought takes place when it is too late. The prudent will take every precaution to avoid surprise and to baffle the subtlety and sharpness of the marauder. That which is sinful and unlawful in itself affords a resemblance to express an important truth and to admonish to duty. There is nothing more certain than that the Lord will come; nothing more uncertain when He will come; and both the one and the other should keep His people in an attitude of prayerful expectation and moral preparedness. Faith breeds fear; the more earnestly we believe, the more we tremble at the Divine threatenings. Unbelief lulls the soul into false security. What a dreadful awakening will that be, when the thunder of God's wrath shall suddenly burst from the hitherto tranquil heavens!
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 watch against him. He is a soldier, and a soldier on sentry. The Christian life is not one of soft, luxurious ease; it is a hard, fierce conflict. The graces of faith, love, and hope constitute the most complete armour of the soul. The breastplate and helmet protect the two most vital parts--the head and the heart. With head and heart right, the whole man is right. Let us keep the head from error and the heart from sinful lust, and we are safe. The best guards against error in religion and viciousness in life are--faith, hope, and charity; these are the virtues that inspire the most enterprising bravery. Drunkards and sluggards never make good soldiers.
+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 Must be for ever blest."
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--
+I. A day which will be in some unique and pre-eminent sense His day.+
+II. It is the day of judgment.+
+III. The coming of His day is suggestive of fear.+--"As a thief in the night."
+IV. It will come suddenly.+
+V. Cannot be prevented by any efforts of our own.+
+VI. We may prepare for the day of judgment by judging ourselves in self-examination.+--H. P. Liddon.
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 Church. The right to speak and act in the name of Christ carries with it an aspect of pre-eminence and authority, and the same is implied in the very names that designate the ministerial office--as pastors, or shepherds, teachers, bishops, or overseers. On the other hand, the impressiveness of sacerdotal assumption is checked and limited by the words, "In the Lord." The minister is to rule only in the Lord, recognising the joint union of himself and his Church with the Lord, and the principles and polity by which the Church of Christ is to be governed.
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.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 12, 13. A Public Ministry--
+I. Is ordained by God.+--"Over you in the Lord."
+II. Has clearly defined duties.+--1. To labour. 2. To govern. 3. To admonish.
+III. Should be highly esteemed.+--"Esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake."
Ver. 13. "And be at peace among yourselves." Church Concord--
+I. Possible only where there is mutual peace.+
+II. It is the duty of every member of the Church to promote harmony.+
+III. Peace with God is the condition of peace with each other.+
+IV. Discord in a Church mars the usefulness of the best ministry.+
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 constant doubt and apprehension as to their spiritual condition, and who through fear are all their lifetime subject to bondage. There are some people so weighed down with a sense of modesty as to incapacitate them from using the abilities they certainly possess, though underneath all this modesty there may be the pride of thinking themselves better able to judge of themselves and their abilities than anybody else. Others, again, are so oppressed with the inveteracy of sin, that they despair of gaining the victory over it, and give up all endeavours. These need encouraging with the promises of God, and with the lessons and examples furnished by experience. Heart-courage is what the faint-hearted require.
+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 (1 Cor. 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, Injured he fell, and dying, he forgave; Too noble for revenge, which still we find The weakest frailty of a feeble mind."
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 sought for its own sake, and sought with increasing earnestness and perseverance, as the hunter seeks his prey. It is the great aim and business of life. Goodness is essentially diffusive; it delights in multiplying itself in others. It is undeterred by provocation; it conquers the most virulent opposition.
+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.
+II. The secret of a happy life is in harmony with the Divine will.+--"For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (ver. 18). It is the will of God that His people should be rejoicing, praying, and grateful; and this will is revealed by Christ, as declared in His Gospel, as received in His Church, and as observed by those in communion with Him. What a revelation is this, not of an arbitrary demand of the impossible state of the affections towards God, but a beautiful and consolatory discovery of the largeness of His love and of the blessed ends for which He has redeemed us in Christ. The will of God supplies constant material for gratitude and praise.
+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.
+I. In the exercise of faith.+--1. In the truths of God. 2. In the promises of God.
+II. In the practice of Christian hope.+
+III. In performing the duty of charity.+--Barrow.
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 (2 Tim. i. 6). Christian baptism is baptism "with the Holy Ghost and with fire" (Matt. iv. 11). The descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost was in tongues of fire (Acts ii. 3). The Spirit, as fire, bestows both the light of knowledge and the fervour of love.
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" (1 John 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, Among her friends, among her foes, On Christian or on heathen ground, The flower's divine where'er it grows-- Refuse the prickles and assume the rose."
+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 of evil not only from that which is really and in itself evil, but also from that which has the shape or semblance of evil. Not what we are, but what we appear, determines the world's judgment of us. Our usefulness in the world is very much dependent on appearances. Our abhorrence of evil, both in doctrine and practice, must be so decided as to avoid the very show of it in either. He makes conscience of no sin that makes no conscience of all; and he is in danger of the greatest who allows himself in the least. "By shunning evil things," says Bernard, "we provide for conscience; by avoiding ill, shows we safeguard our fame." The believer has need of a sound judgment, a sensitive conscience, and an ever-wakeful vigilance. To sanction evil in any form is to dim the lustre and stifle the operation of spiritual influence. "Know nought but truth, feel nought but love, will nought but bliss, do nought but righteousness. All things are known in heaven ere aimed at on earth."
+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--
+I. Because they are the sayings of God.+
+II. They are the grand appointed means of our salvation.+
+III. Because we greatly need them.+
+IV. We grieve the Spirit of God thereby.+
+V. It is the sure way of contracting a habit of despising Divine things in general.+
+VI. It lays stumbling-blocks in the way of others.+
+VII. Those who despise destroy themselves.+--E. Hare.
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. 4 Prayerfully.
+II. The extent to which the course of conduct is to be carried.+--"All things." 1. Things taken for granted to be right. 2. Things wrong. 3. Things doubtful.
+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.
+I. Be well assured of the value and goodness of the possession.+
+II. Cherish a deep sense of responsibility because you have been led to prove and to be convinced of the good.+
+III. Be assured that powerful influences will be exerted that you may lose your hold.+
+IV. Do not allow your convictions of its goodness to be unsettled.+
+V. Do not take hold of anything which you cannot hold at the same time that you firmly grasp this.+
+VI. Do not let a little of it go.+
+VII. Hold it more firmly.+
+VIII. Regard how others have been affected by the way they have held.+
+IX. Depend entirely on the grace of God to enable you to do this.+--Ibid.
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 (1 Cor. 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 (1 Cor. 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 (ch. iv. 16). The whole complex nature of man is to be purified. Mere outward decency of conduct is not enough; the inner man, the intellectual, moral, and spiritual faculties must be kept in a state of purity and holiness. He hath sanctity in no part who is not sanctified in every part.
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.
+I. The first power or consciousness in which God is made known to us is as the Father, the Author of our being.+
+II. The second way through which the personality and consciousness of God has been revealed to us is as the Son.+
+III. A closer and a more enduring relation in which God stands to us is the relation of the Spirit.+--It is the graces of the Spirit which harmonise the man and make him one; and that is the end, aim, and object of all the Gospel.--F. W. Robertson.
Ver. 24. The Faith of Man and the Faithfulness of God.
+I. The highest object of man's existence is to hold communion with his God.+
+II. Rightly to believe in Christ is to know and feel this communion.+
+III. The unalterable faithfulness of God is a fidelity to His own gracious engagement.+
+IV. The prominent character of God is unshaken stability.+
+V. God is faithful to his warnings as He is to His promises.+--A. Butler.
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 Berœans 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.
+IV. A gracious benediction.+--"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen" (ver. 28). The epistle closes, as it began, with blessing. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is the fountain of all the good that has flowed in upon and enriched the human race. The three great features of that grace--pardon, peace, holiness--are clearly elucidated in this epistle. The fountain is inexhaustible. Its streams of blessing are ever available for needy, perishing man.
+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.
* * * * * * * *
+Transcriber's Notes+
- Page 483, Introduction, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 484, Contents, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 485, notes on chapter i., verse 1, apply RC to "Gospel." Verse 5, apply RC to "Gospel." Verse 8, apply RC to "Word" (twice). Verse 10, change "Lord's return" to "lord's," referring to the traveler spoken of in the parable.
- Page 486, lesson "Phases," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel." Point I, change "first person plural" to "first-person plural"; apply RC to "Divine." Point II 1, apply RC to "Divinely"; add "John xvii. 21" reference; apply RC to "Divine" (thrice), "Word," and "Divine." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divinely."
- Page 487, same lesson, point III 1, change "finding i#" to "finding it"; add comma to "So our." Point III 2, apply RC to "Divine"; add "Eph. ii. 15" reference. Application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 488, lesson "Thanksgiving," introduction, remove comma from "epistles, and." Point I 1, add comma to "sees and"; add "James ii. 26" reference. Point I 4, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 489, same lesson, point II, remove comma from "God, and." Point III, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 490, lesson "Gospel," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel." Point I, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Point I 1, apply RC to "Victim" and add "Isa. liii. 3" reference. Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 3, apply RC to "Gospel's," "Divine," and "Gospel Word." Each of points II and II 1, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 491, application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to "Gospel," "Word," and "Gospel." Point 2, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Germ note, each of points I, I 1, I 2, and II, apply RC to "Gospel." Point III 4, apply RC to "Word." Lesson "Practical Result," introduction, apply RC to "Divine." Point I, apply RC to "Gospel," "Word," and "Gospel." Point I 1, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 492, same lesson, point I 2, apply RC to "Word" and "Gospel." Point II, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II 2, apply RC to "Word" and "Gospel" (twice); remove comma from "Sea, and." Application ("Lessons"), point I, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 493, "Evidences" note, point IV, apply RC to "Gospel." "Power" note, point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson "Conversion," point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Point I 1, apply RC to "Divine" (twice). Point I 2, apply RC to "Deity."
- Page 494, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Gospel" and "Divinely." "Wrath to come" note, point I, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 495, notes on chapter ii., verse 3, apply RC to "Gospel." Verse 4, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Verse 5, add em-dash before poem; add left double quotes to poem.
- Page 496, notes on chapter ii., verse 10, change "unblamably" to "unblameably." Verse 13, apply RC to "Word." Verse 15, in the Luke quotation, move the right double quote from after "Son" to after "off." Verse 18, remove comma from "one, and." Lesson "Essential Elements I," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 497, same lesson, introduction, apply RC to "Divine." Point I, apply RC to "Divine" and "Gospel"; remove comma from "invectives, or"; add "Matt. xxiii. 33" reference; apply RC to "Gospel." Point II, apply RC to "Gospel." Point III, apply RC to "Divinely" and "Divine"; remove comma from "God, and"; apply RC to "Divine"; add "Jer. xx. 9-11; Jer. i. 7" and "Phil. iv. 13" references.
- Page 498, germ note, each of points I and II 1, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II 3, change "His" to "his," referring to Paul. Lesson "Essential Elements II," in each of introduction and points I 2, I 3, II 1, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divine" and "Gospel."
- Page 499, same lesson, point II 2, apply RC to "Divine"; add "2 Cor. ii. 17" reference. Point II 3, change "cloak" to "cloke" to match A.V. text. Application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 500, lesson "Essential Elements III," point I 1, add "2 Tim. ii. 24, 25" reference. Point I 2, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 501, same lesson, point II 2, add "Matt. xx. 28; Mark x. 45" and "Acts xx. 24" references. Lesson "Essential Elements IV," point I, add "1 Cor. ix. 13, 14" reference.
- Page 502, same lesson, point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II, change "unblamably" to "unblameably"; remove comma from "truth, and"; add left double quote before poem. Point III 2, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "earth, and." Germ note, point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Point III 3, change "unblamable" to "unblameable."
- Page 503, lesson "Correct Estimate," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel" (twice). Point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II, apply RC to "Gospel" and "Divine." Point II 1, apply RC to "Gospel" and "Visitor." Before poem, add em-dash. After poem, apply RC to "Word." Point II 2, add "1 Peter i. 23" reference. Point II 4, apply RC to "Word." Add warning about the word "niggardly." Point III, apply RC to "Gospel."
- The break between pages 503 and 504 is in the word "effectually": effec|tually.
- Page 504, same lesson, point III, apply RC to "Word" (twice) and "Divine Word." Point IV, apply RC to "Gospel" and "Word"; add "Isa. ix. 3" reference. Application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Gospel" and "Word." Point 3, apply RC to "Word." Germ note, each of points I and I 1, apply RC to "Word." Lesson "Suffering," introduction, remove comma from "character, and"; add comma to "So there."
- Page 505, same lesson, point I, add "Ps. lv. 12, 13," "2 Tim. iii. 12," and "Matt. x. 36" references. Point II, add "Matt. xx. 22" and "Matt. x. 38" references; apply RC to "Gospel." Application ("Lessons"), point 1, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson "Fury," introduction, add comma to "vegetation the."
- Page 506, same lesson, introduction, apply RC to "Divine" and "Divinely." Point I 1, add "Matt. xxvii. 25" reference. Point II, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "memory, and."
- Page 507, germ note, point III, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson "Power," point I 1, add "Gen. xliii. 14" reference.
- Page 508, same lesson, point III 2, add "Ps. xvi. 11" reference. Application ("Lessons"), each of points 1 and 2, add comma to "therefore we."
- Page 509, "Joy" note, point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Notes on chapter iii., verse 2, add "Luke xxii. 32" reference. Verse 3, add "James i. 6" reference. Verse 8, add "Phil. i. 21" reference. Verse 11, change "ii. 18" to "ch. ii. 18."
- Page 510, lesson "Mission," introduction, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II, remove comma from "Paul, and"; add em-dash before poem. Point III, add "1 Tim. i. 2; 2 Tim. i. 2" references; add comma to "finally he"; apply RC to "Gospel"; add comma to "Thus Timothy."
- Page 511, same lesson, point IV 1, apply RC to "Gospel" and "Divine." Point IV 2, apply RC to "Gospel"; add "ch. iii. 3" reference. Lesson "Perils," introduction, add comma to "is when"; apply RC to "Gospel." Point I 1, apply RC to "Divine" and "Gospel"; add "Acts xiv. 22" and "John xv. 19" references.
- Page 512, same lesson, point I 1, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 2, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 513, germ note, point V, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson "News," introduction, add "Prov. xv. 25" reference.
- Page 514, same lesson, point I 1, apply RC to "Gospel" and "Divine." Point III 1, apply RC to "Gospel"; remove comma from "difficulties, and." Point III 2, remove comma from "love, and." Application ("Lessons"), point 1, add comma to "maintained and."
- Page 515, lesson "Steadfastness," introduction, apply RC to "Word" and "Gospel." Point II, change "3 John v. 4" to "3 John 3, 4."
- Page 516, same lesson, point III 2, add "ver. 9" reference for consistency. Point III 3, apply RC to "Author" and "Preserver."
- Page 517, lesson "Prayer," point I 1, add "John v. 19" reference. Point II, add "Jer. x. 23" and "Prov. iii. 6" references; apply RC to "Divine." Point III 1, remove comma from "graces, and."
- Page 518, same lesson, point III 1, add "1 John iii. 11" and "1 Pet. i. 22" references. Point III 2, add "ver. 12" reference for consistency, add "Lev. xix. 18" and "1 Tim. i. 5" references. Point III 3, add "ver. 12" reference for consistency; change "ii. 8, 9, 13; iii. 3-5" to "ch. ii. 8, 9, 13; ch. iii. 3-5." Point IV, change "unblamable" to "unblameable." Point IV 1, add "Col. iii. 14" reference. Point IV 2, change "unblamable" to "unblameable" (twice). Point IV 3, apply RC to "Divine." Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Divine." Germ note, point I, apply RC to "Divine." Point III, change "unblamable" to "unblameable."
- Page 519, notes for chapter iv., verse 5, add single quotes around the word "passion."
- Page 520, notes for chapter iv., verse 15, change "ii. 16" to "ch. ii. 16." Lesson "Exhortations," introduction, remove comma from "annihilated, but"; apply RC to "Divine." Each of points I, I 2, and I 3, apply RC to "Divine." Point I 3, change "It is, possible, then" to "It is possible, then"; add comma to "vain the."
- Page 521, same lesson, points I 4 and II, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 1, apply RC to "Divine" (twice), remove comma from "nature, and"; apply RC to "Divine." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divine"; change scripture quotation from "For this the will" to "For this is the will"; apply RC to "He." Point II 3, apply RC to "Divine" (twice); add "Rom. xiv. 14" and "Luke xxii. 42" references. Point III, apply RC to "Divinely."
- Page 522, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Divinely." Lesson "Features," introduction, remove comma from "defect, and."
- Page 523, same lesson, point I 1, add comma to "Christianity it."
- Page 524, same lesson, point II 2, change "Prov. xxii. 10" to "Prov. xxiii. 10"; add "2 Pet. ii. 3" reference; apply RC to "Divine." Point III, apply RC to "Divine," "Caller," and "Divine."
- Page 525, lesson "Word," point I, apply RC to "Divine." Point II, apply RC to "Word." Point III, remove comma from "alone, but"; apply RC to "Divinely"; remove comma from "own, but"; apply RC to "Word"; remove comma from "Heaven, and." Application ("Lessons"), each points 1 and 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 526, lesson "Brotherly Love," point I, apply RC to "Divinely." Point I 1, remove commas from "taught, and" and "Christianity, and." Point I 4, apply RC to "Divinely," "Word," and "Divine."
- Page 527, same lesson, point II, add comma to "Accordingly the." Point III, scripture quote, remove comma from "beseech, you"; text, remove comma from "self-love, and." Germ note, point II, apply RC to "Divinely."
- Page 528, lesson "Pacific Spirit," point I, remove comma from "another, and." Point II 1, add "Prov. xx. 3" reference; change "your neighbours" to "your neighbour's." Point II 2, remove comma from "evils, and."
- Page 529, same lesson, point II 3, remove comma from "business, and." Application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Gospel."
- Page 530, lesson "Sorrow," introduction, remove comma from "child, and." Point II, remove commas from "life, and" and "son, and."
- Page 531, same lesson, point III 1, add "Rom. viii. 23" reference. Point III 2, apply RC to "Divine"; add "Hos. xiii. 14" reference. Point III 3, apply RC to "Word" (twice); remove comma from "grave, and." In-line note about eschatology before "Second Advent" lesson.
- Page 532, lesson "Second Advent," introduction, add comma to "words the." Point I, apply RC to "Divine"; remove comma from "heaven, and"; apply RC to "Divine." Point II 1, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 533, same lesson, point IV, apply RC to "Word"; remove comma from "death, and."
- Page 534, germ note, point II, add comma to "general we." Point II 1, apply RC to "Word." Notes on chapter v., verse 2, in the Findlay quote, change left double quote before "You already know" to a left single quote and add a right single quote after "known." Verse 13, change "iii. 10" to "ch. iii. 10." Verse 14, change "ii. 11" to "ch. ii. 11."
- Page 535, lesson "Attitude," introduction, change "The book that records the first advent" to "A book written by one who knew of [it]" because neither John's Gospel nor his Revelation discuss it; add "Rev. xxii. 20" reference. Point I 1, change "untamable" to "untameable"; add comma to "time there."
- Page 536, same lesson, point I 2, remove comma from "approach, but"; apply RC to "Divine." Point II 1, apply RC to "Gospel." Point II 2, add comma to "therefore our"; remove comma from "day, and."
- Page 537, same lesson, point IV 1, apply RC to "Divinely" (thrice).
- Page 538, "Moral Sleep" note, point I, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson "Treatment," introduction, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 539, point II 1, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 3, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 540, lesson "Precepts," point I, remove comma from "themselves, and"; add comma to "cases warning." Point II, change "ii. 14" to "ch. ii. 14" and "iv. 13" to "ch. iv. 13."
- Page 541, same lesson, point IV, remove comma from "duties, and."
- Page 542, lesson "Happy Life," introduction, remove comma from "mould, and"; apply RC to "Divine"; capitalise "Divine" referring to a churchman. Point I, change "iv. 4" to "Phil. iv. 4" for concreteness; apply RC to "Divine Word."
- Page 543, same lesson, point II, apply RC to "Divine" and "Gospel." "Self-recollectedness" note, point I, remove comma from "wanderings, and." Lesson "Influence," introduction, add comma to "verses we."
- Page 544, same lesson, point III, add "1 John iv. 1" reference. Poem, set the second line flush left with the rest of the poem.
- Page 545, "Despise" note, point IV, apply RC to "Divine." "Prove" note, point I 1, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 546, same note, point IV 2, apply RC to "Word."
- Page 547, lesson "Prayer," point I 3, change "iv. 16" to "ch. iv. 16." Point I 4, add "Matt. v. 8" reference. Point II, apply RC to "Divine." Point II 2, apply RC to "Divine"; change "iv. 3" to "ch. iv. 3." Point III, apply RC to "Divine." Application ("Lessons"), point 2, apply RC to "Divine."
- Page 548, "Trinity" note, point I, apply RC to "Author." Point III, apply RC to "Gospel." Lesson "Closing Words," point III, apply RC to "Word"; remove comma from "Bible, and."
- Page 549, same lesson, application ("Lessons"), point 3, apply RC to "Word." "Public Reading" note, point I, remove comma from "Scripture, and." Point III, apply RC to "Word" and "Divine."
+THE SECOND EPISTLE+
+TO THE THESSALONIANS.+
* * * * * * * *
+INTRODUCTION.+
+Occasion and design.+--Probably little more time elapsed between the two epistles than was necessary for the messenger of Paul to return to him. This appears likely from the fact that Silvanus and Timothy were still with Paul, at Corinth, as when the first letter was sent. The condition of the Church at Thessalonica had meanwhile grown more trying, the flame of persecution burnt more fiercely, and the conviction that this presaged the immediate appearance of the Lord from heaven grew stronger. "Religious effervescence had come to a sort of paroxysm; an ever-increasing number of Christians gave up all their worldly concerns and duties for the sake of living a life of contemplation, inquisitive idleness, and begging. In order, therefore, to abate the intensity of this carnal rather than spiritual flame the apostle is obliged to make use of all the means at his disposal, and the two principals of these are instruction and discipline" (Godet).
The design of the epistle is heard in the phrase, "that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind nor yet be troubled . . . as that the day of the Lord is immediately impending" (ch. ii. 2).
+Style and character of the epistle.+--In style these two epistles to Thessalonica are alike. We need not expect the style in which St. Paul writes to the Churches which had become faithless--then his language defies style--nor of that to those whose edification in the doctrines of the Christian faith is his aim. There is much in common between these letters and that to the other Macedonian Church. "They are neither passionate, nor argumentative; but practical, consolatory, prompted by affection, by memory and hope. Hence they represent, as it has been aptly said, 'St. Paul's normal style,' the way in which he would commonly write and talk to his friends" (Findlay).
In their character, "they are (1) the letters of a missionary, (2) singularly affectionate letters, (3) especially cheering and consolatory letters, and (4) eschatological letters, i.e. they set forth the last things in Christian doctrine" (Ibid.).
+Outline of the Epistle.+
i. 1, 2. Greeting.
3-12 & ii. 13-17. The thanksgiving, with exhortations and prayers.
ii. 1-12. The doctrinal section: the Man of Sin.
iii. 1-16. The practical section, with messages, concluded with prayer.
17, 18. Autographic conclusion and benediction. (Farrar)
+CHAPTER I.+
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
Ver. 3. +We are bound to thank God.+--We owe a debt of gratitude to God. It is not so much what is seemly that comes into prominence here, as what is due. +Even as it is meet.+--The word for "meet" directs attention to the value of the increase of the faith of the Thessalonians. As though the apostle said, "It is something worth giving thanks for." +Your faith groweth exceedingly.+--The word for "groweth exceedingly" does not occur again in the New Testament. It means "to increase beyond measure." The faith of the Thessalonians was like "a fruitful bough by a fountain whose branches run over the wall," though "the archers have solely grieved it, and shot at it and persecuted it" (Gen. xlix. 22, 23). +The charity of every one of you toward each other aboundeth.+--This is high praise indeed--a plethora of love. Like a brimming fountain kept always full, so the love of these early Christians overflowed, Cf. on 1 Thess. iv. 9.
Ver. 4. +We ourselves glory in you.+--St. Paul had to rebuke the Corinthians for the factious spirit which set off the excellencies of one teacher against those of another. Here he plays off one Church against another, as a schoolmaster might seek to stir up his pupils by mentioning the names of those who have taken scholarships. But St. Paul well knew that this needed care (see Col. iii. 21; R.V. or Greek).
Ver. 5. +Which is a manifest token.+--"An indication." The steadfast and resolute continuance in the profession and adornment of the Christian faith, in face of opposition, might suggest to persecutors, as to Gamaliel, the possibility of the Divine origin of the faith, to oppose which was to fight against God (Acts v. 39).
Ver. 6. +Seeing it is a righteous thing.+--"There is no unrighteousness in Him" (John vii. 18). However stern the retribution, none who suffers will ever be able to impugn the justice. +To recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.+--The R.V. comes nearer to the original, "affliction to them that afflict you." This lex talionis is a sword that is dangerous to any hand but His who said, "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay" (Rom. xii. 19).
Ver 7. +And to you who are troubled rest with us.+--The idea suggested by the words is that of poor, hunted fugitives with nerves tensely strung and with a wild look of fear in the eyes. As the guardians of the infant Jesus were assured of safety by the death of him who sought the child's life, so the strain of fear shall be relaxed in the case of the persecuted Thessalonians.
Ver. 8. +In flaming fire.+--Lit. "in a fire of flame." "Fire is a symbol of Divine anger and majesty in Scripture; and flame is fire in motion, leaping and blazing out" (Findlay). +Taking vengeance on them that know not God.+--St. Paul does not consider ignorance as a valid excuse where knowledge might be had, any more than a man would be looked on as innocent who should plead that, being a foreigner, he did not know that the law of any country which he visits forbids murder. "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John iii. 19).
Ver. 9. +Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction.+--R.V. "who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction." It has been repeatedly shown that only arbitrariness can limit the meaning of this terrible phrase. Our comfort must be that He with whom "it is a righteous thing to recompense affliction" (ver. 6) will always be self-consistent. +From the presence of the Lord.+ The fulness of joy is there, and they who, like Cain, go out from it carry the ache of an irreparable loss with them. The Hebraism in the phrase is brought out by the R.V. "from the face of the Lord."
Ver. 10. +To be glorified in His saints.+--Two meanings at least suit this phrase: (1) It may be the apostle thought of the great ascription of praise rising from the vast assembly of saints, or (2) it may be he is thinking of the saints as the trophies of the Redeemer's love and power--the work that speaks the Master's praise. +And to be admired.+--R.V. "marvelled at." The same work describes the fawning sycophancy of men of the Balaam spirit, or it might describe the open-eyed and speechless wonder of an African chief in a State function.
Ver. 11. +And fulfil all the good pleasure.+--R.V. "every desire of goodness." "As much as to say, May God mightily accomplish in you all that goodness would desire and that faith can effect" (Findlay).
Ver. 12. +That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you.+--A little mirror may not increase the sum-total of sunlight, but it may cause some otherwise unobservant eye to note its brightness. So, Christ's infinite and eternal glory cannot be augmented but only shared by Christians (John xvii. 22).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 1, 2.
Phases of Apostolic Greeting.
Under this heading we have already treated homiletically the apostle's formula of salutation, which is the same here as the beginning of the first epistle.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 3, 4.
Congratulatory Features of a Prosperous Church.
We have here a suggestive example of the apostolic method of dealing with a Church in which the incipient elements of error were beginning to operate. He applauds first what is really good, and then faithfully, almost fiercely, warns of the threatening evil. He who would effectually rebuke must first learn how to tenderly sympathise. These verses indicated what are the congratulatory features of a prosperous Church.
+I. There is a vital and progressive faith.+--"Your faith groweth exceedingly" (ver. 3). Faith feeds on truth; and all truth leads to and unites with God, its source. A living faith can only be sustained by a living truth; and where there is life there will be growth. We are ruled by our beliefs; if they are wrong, our track is wrong, our life a mistake, our energies wasted. The faith of the Thessalonians was so real, so vivid, so vitalising, so deeply rooted in the quickening soil of Gospel truth, that it flourished with tropical luxuriance. The doom of a Church is sealed when its faith is dead and its creed inert. It is like a fossil in the grasp of a fossil--a museum of dry, bony, musty remains.
+II. There is a reciprocal and expansive charity.+--"And the charity of every one of you all towards each other aboundeth" (ver. 3). Love is the fruit of the Christian spirit, and the proof of its genuineness. It should be manifested to every believer in Christ. The love of a common Saviour and the sharing in a common suffering tend to intensify mutual esteem and affection. The prayer of the apostle on behalf of the Thessalonians was fulfilled (1 Thess. iii. 12)--an encouragement to pray on behalf of others. Where charity abounds, there is mutual forbearance with one another's faults and frailties, the absence of suspicion and jealousy, no tendency to pass harsh and rapid judgments on the conduct of others, a disposition to think the best of each other, to share each other's trials, and bear each other's burdens.
+III. There is a patient fidelity under suffering.+--"Your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure" (ver. 4). These trials began with the first planting of the Gospel in Thessalonica and seemed to have continued without cessation. The Jews were the principal agents and instigators stirring up the populace against the Christians and rousing the suspicions of the magistrates who were specially jealous of religious innovations (Acts xvii. 5-8). Their faith made them patient and uncomplaining under the pressure of affliction; they believed the Gospel was still the power of God unto salvation, though their profession of it brought on them sorrow and suffering. The former warnings and teachings of the apostle were not in vain; their faith triumphed over persecution. Suffering is the opportunity for patience and the test of faith. Troubles come not alone, but are like chain-shot, or like the billows of the sea, linked one to another, each succeeding blow being more destructive than the other. Patience without faith is simply dull, stupid, stoical endurance. It is faith that renders the soul invincible and triumphant.
+IV. There is ample ground for apostolic gratitude and commendation.+--"We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet; . . . so that we ourselves glory in you in the Churches of God" (vers. 3, 4). Even the enemies of the Church are sometimes constrained to admire and applaud the spirit of harmony, the affection and enterprise which characterise its members. It is also encouraging to have the approbation and good word of the ministers of God, especially of those who have been instrumental in converting men to the truth; but no Church could command the respect of the good if it did not first secure the smile and blessing of God. The apostle thanks God as the great Giver of all the grace which he rejoices to see has done so much for the Thessalonians. God had wrought this work of faith and love and patience in their hearts, and He would make it prosper and increase. He had put this fire in them and would make it burn; He had laid this leaven in the dough or meal of their hearts, and He would make it heave and work till the whole was leavened. The apostle felt it at once his duty and joy to thank God on their behalf and to boast of their attainments to others. "We are bound to thank God always for you, as it is meet; . . . we ourselves glory in you in the Churches of God." It is a noble Christ-like spirit to sympathise with the sufferings and rejoice in the prosperities of the Church. A cheery word, a simple, hearty prayer, an act of sympathy and kindness, will do much to animate and encourage the struggling people of God. One lively Church is the means of rousing the zeal and emulation of others.
+Lessons.+--1. Vigorous Church-life is the result of an intelligent and active faith in the truth. 2. Suffering is no sign of the Divine displeasure, but often a means of spiritual prosperity. 3. Those who rejoice in the success of the Church are most likely to share in the blessings of that success.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 3. Growth in Grace.
+I. Evidences of growth.+--1. Taking increasing pleasure in God's Word. 2. A growing attachment to the doctrines of Christ. 3. Increasing acquaintance with the mind of God. 4. In love one to another for the truth's sake.
+II. Importance of growth.+--1. Brings glory to God. 2. Influences the ministry of the Word. 3. Not to grow, our religion declines and becomes doubtful.--Sketches.
Ver. 4. Christian Fidelity--
+I. Is severely tested by tribulations.+
+II. Is a stimulating example to others.+
+III. Is a theme of grateful boasting.+
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 5-7.
The Recompense of Suffering for the Truth.
It is not an uncommon spectacle to see vice prosperous and triumphant, while virtue is ignored and oppressed. To a superficial observer it would seem that all the great prizes of the world--wealth, power, social status, gaiety, display, pleasure--were thrown indiscriminately and with lavish abundance into the lap of the wicked, and that the God-fearing few are left in obscurity to struggle with hardships, penury, and affliction. Nor is it always an easy matter to reconcile the sufferings of the good with the goodness and justice of God. But all things come round to the patient man. We must look to the future for the faithful redress of present grievances. In this chapter the apostle ministers consolation to the suffering Thessalonians by assuring them of a coming day in which they would be abundantly recompensed for all they had to endure, and in which the righteousness of God would be publicly vindicated. Observe:--
+I. That the maintenance of the truth often entails considerable suffering.+--"The kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer" (ver. 5). They who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. The world is violently opposed to the Church, and that opposition is full of malignant hatred and cruelty. Socrates once said something like this--that if goodness were to become incarnate in one man, so that man would be perfectly good, the world would put him to death. What Socrates said was realised in Christ. "If they have persecuted Me," said Christ to his followers, "they will also persecute you" (John xv. 20). It is not the least among the trials of the good that they are obliged to come in contact with evil in so many forms, and that they are so savagely assailed and oppressed with it. Athanasius regarded the suffering of persecution to be a special note of a Christian man, observing: "It is the part of Christians to be persecuted; but to persecute the Christians is the very office of Pilate and Caiaphas."
+II. That suffering for the truth has a morally educating influence.+--"That ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God" (ver. 5). The believer has no worthiness in himself, nor can he acquire any by the merit of his own works. This worthiness is but another word for meetness--that meetness of state and character, as sinners justified and sanctified, without which no man shall enter the kingdom. Only to such has the kingdom been promised. And the sufferings they endure on behalf of the kingdom, so far from impairing their title, serve rather to confirm and illustrate it. Every Christian grace is tested, developed, and trained by suffering. "The least reproach augments our glory. Every tear is not only noted and kept in the bottle but made as varnish to add to our brightness and glorious splendour. No drop of our blood but wins us a river of glory; effusion of it the whole ocean of beatitude." When Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was cast to the lions, he exclaimed: "I am God's wheat, and must be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts that I may be found His pure bread."
+III. That suffering for the truth will be Divinely recompensed.+--"Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God" (ver. 5)--i.e. their sufferings and the constancy with which they endured them proved God's justice. A strange assertion! The people of God have often been staggered by the fact that the wicked persecute and prosper, and the poor saints are plagued and oppressed (Ps. lxxiii. 1-14; Jer. xii. 1-4). But from this very fact the apostle derives consolation. It is a proof to him of a future state in which all this apparent inconsistency will be set right, in which the saint and the persecutor will each receive his own proper recompense.
1. Suffering will be Divinely recompensed in the deliverance of the sufferer.--"And to you who are troubled rest with us" (ver. 7). The word "rest" really means the slackening of strings that had been pulled tight. To the persecuted and afflicted Thessalonians, the happiness of heaven is held out under the image of rest and relief after suffering. It is, as it were, the relaxing of tension after having been stretched on the rack. The keenest suffering for the truth is limited in its duration; and the righteousness of God is pledged to sustain and deliver His afflicted ones. The sweet rest of heaven will be all the more enjoyable because shared with those who have passed through a similar conflict.
2. Suffering will be Divinely recompensed in the punishment of the persecutor.--"Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you" (ver. 6). The punishment of the persecutor is as just as the relief of the oppressed; and God has both the intention and the power of accomplishing what He thinks just. The law of retaliation will be rigidly enforced. The very measure the persecutors have dealt they are to receive back again; and the retaliation will be all the more terrible because of its unanswerable justice. Truth must triumph over all its enemies. Its watchword is "no surrender." The apostate Julian spent his strength in trying to destroy the true Church; but when he fell on the battle-field, as the blood was gushing from his breast and his eyes were closing in death, he hissed between his setting teeth, "Galilean, Thou hast conquered!" And the Galilean must and will conquer, and all His enemies shall receive their just measure of punishment.
+Lessons.+--1. The sufferings of the good afford an opportunity for the display of Divine justice. 2. Suffering is no evidence of Divine displeasure. 3. The glory of the future will infinitely outweigh the sufferings of the present life.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 6, 7. Rest in Heaven for the Troubled.
+I. Our Lord's coming is called a revealing of Him.+--Here He is revealed in the outer world and in the Gospel. There he will be revealed in glory, without disguise or veil.
+II. Look at the troublers and their portion.+--"It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you." Sorrow of the acutest kind without comfort or alleviation.
+III. Look at the portion of the troubled.+--"Rest." A heaven of quietness and repose, and yet of ceaseless and tireless activity in praising God.
+IV. The righteousness of the Divine conduct.+--"It is a righteous thing with God." The Lord's second coming is not on an errand of mercy; His main business is to dispense justice.--C. Bradley.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 7-10.
The Day of Judgment.
The apostle sought to comfort the persecuted and suffering Church at Thessalonica by assuring them of a coming day of recompense, in which the Divine righteousness would be satisfactorily cleared, His enemies punished, and His people rewarded. He now proceeds to depict the startling scenes of that promised day--"that day for which all other days were made"--and to indicate the twofold aspect of severity and mercy which will characterise the awards of the great Judge. In dealing with a subject of such overwhelming import, and which affords such scope for the play of the most powerful imagination, special care should be taken to keep within the limits of the revealed Word. These verses suggest:--
+I. That the day of judgment will be ushered in with awful splendour.+--1. The person of the Judge will be clothed with dazzling brightness. "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire" (vers. 7, 8). The career of Christ on earth was one of obscurity, humiliation, and suffering, relieved now and then with outbursts of Divine glory; but when He comes the second time, He will appear in all the unveiled charms of His peerless majesty, clad with heavenly splendour and brilliant as a fiery flame. The revelation of Jehovah is often referred to in the Old Testament under the emblem of fire (Exod. xiii. 21; Num. ix. 15; Deut. iv. 24; Isa. x. 16, 17, etc.). The glimpse caught by the seer of Patmos of the ineffable beauty and glory of the God-man bowed him with astonishment and awe (Rev. i. 13-17). And who shall stand before the flashing splendours of the great and holy Judge! Heaven is too narrow for the full display of the Divine majesty; it glances on every globe; it irradiates the universe.
2. The Judge will be attended by an angelic retinue.--"With His mighty angels" (ver. 7). The pomp and state of the earthly judge, the gaily decked chariot, the sounding trumpets, the accompanying officers of justice, are but a feeble representation of the pomp and state of the heavenly Judge, "who maketh the clouds His chariot, who walketh upon the wings of the wind" (Ps. civ. 3), and whose gorgeous train is composed of hosts of mighty angels, who attend to execute His will, to punish the wicked, and to assist at the final consummation (Matt. xiii. 41, 42). These angels of might are ministers of His power, and by their agency He will make His power felt. We have an illustration of the colossal mightiness of these angelic messengers in the apparent ease with which one angel in a few hours laid thousands of the Assyrians low (2 Kings xix. 35).
+II. That the day of judgment will be a time of punishment to the disobedient.+--1. The objects of punishment. "Them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 8). Not that ample opportunity has not been given to all to acquire a knowledge of God. To punish for not knowing what we cannot know would be an injustice and a cruelty. God has given to all the double light of His works and Word. He has also given the eyes of sense and reason, and the help of His Holy Spirit to guide all to the knowledge of Himself and of "the glorious gospel of the blessed God" (1 Tim. i. 11). It is not the involuntary ignorance of the uninstructed that is meant, but the wilful ignorance of the determined adversary, who not only rejected the Gospel himself, but barbarously persecuted those who received and obeyed it. Knowledge of God is of little value if it does not lead to obedience. Confused, indistinct, inoperative knowledge is no knowledge. To know and not to obey the Gospel involves a heavier condemnation.
2. The character of the punishment.--"Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power" (ver. 9). Awful words! Who can fully explain what they really involve? If destruction means annihilation, how can it be everlasting? Besides, the notion of the absolute extinction of anything God has made--the reduction to nothingness of either a reasonable soul or a material atom--has as little support from the teachings of revelation as of science. Again, it is urged that "everlasting" does not always in Scripture mean what lasts for ever, but sometimes what lasts only for a long period. But the utmost this argument could prove would be that the present possibly may be, not that it is, one of these peculiar cases. Were it the only fact in the case, there would still be the terrible uncertainty. "But then remember," says Dr. Lillie, "that if it had really been intended to teach the eternity of future punishment, no stronger words, phrases, and images could have been found for the purpose than those actually employed." Whatever the punishment may be in itself, is it not punishment enough to be for ever excluded "from the presence of the Lord," driven, a moral wreck, "from the glory of His power"? Let the words of this ninth verse be seriously weighed in private meditation, and some sense of their awful signification cannot fail to be realised.
+III. That the day of judgment will be a revelation of the glory and blessedness of the faithful.+--1. The glory of Christ is bound up and reflected in His Church. "When He shall come to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all them that believe in that day" (ver. 10). The Church is the creation of Christ; for her He lived, suffered, died, and triumphed, and into her He poured the glory of His matchless character. "The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them" (John xvii. 22). His Church, like a mirror, shall reflect to the gaze of an admiring universe the unutterable glory of the great Redeemer. "The beauty of the Lord our God shall be upon her, and His glory shall be seen upon her" (Ps. xc. 17). How great a change is this from the sins, the struggles, the failures, the disappointments, and sufferings of earth!
2. A life of faith leads to a life of glory.--"Because our testimony among you was believed" (ver. 10). Faith rests on testimony and is vitally affected by the character of the testimony. Saving faith relies on the infallible testimony of the Word of God concerning Christ. The faith exercised in the midst of discouragements and persecution is often tenacious and vigorous. The Gospel is backed by evidence sufficient to convince every sane and reasonable mind. All may believe it who will; none will be excluded from glory but those who will not believe. In ancient Athens were two temples--a temple of Virtue and a temple of Honour--and none could enter the temple of Honour but by passing through the temple of Virtue. So, none can enter the temple of Glory who does not first pass through the temple of Faith.
+Lessons.+--1. The day of judgment, though future, is inevitable. 2. The proceedings of that day will be in harmony with the holiest principles of Divine justice. 3. That day should be solemnly contemplated in its approach, in its attendant circumstances, and in its final decisions.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 7, 8. The Divine Judge--
+I. Has appointed a day of retribution.+
+II. Will be revealed on that day in terrible majesty.+
+III. Will take vengeance on the disobedient.+
Vers. 9. 10. Divine Retribution--
+I. Will be in strict harmony with the principles of universal righteousness.+
+II. Means terrible punishment to the wicked.+
+III. Will bring unspeakable felicity to the good.+
+IV. Will be recognised as faultlessly just.+
+V. Will enhance the Divine glory.+
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 11, 12.
A Prayer for Completeness of Moral Character.
To meet Christ at His coming, and to dwell with Him in the bliss of the future, demands a moral preparedness. To promote this should be the constant, unwearied solicitude of both pastor and people. The possession of any measure of Divine grace supplies the strongest motives for seeking the highest possible degree of moral excellence. In this passage observe:--
+I. That completeness of moral character is really the attainment of the Divine ideal.+--"That our God would count you worthy of this calling" (ver. 11). The tyro in religion pictures to himself a more or less definite outline of what he may become and what he may do. The charm of novelty, the enthusiasm of first love, the indefiniteness of the untried and the unknown, throw a romantic glamour over the Christian career, and the mind is elated with the prospect of entering upon grand enterprises and winning signal victories. But mature thought and experience and a more familiar acquaintance with the Divine mind lead us to modify many of our earlier views, and to readjust the main features of our own ideal of the Christian character, so as to be more in harmony with the Divine ideal. God calls us to purity of heart and life, and makes us worthy, and gives us power to attain it. We have no worthiness in ourselves or in our works. The fitness for heavenly glory is acquired by following out the God-given inspiration to "live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present world" (Tit. ii. 12).
+II. That completeness of moral character consists in the delighting in goodness.+--"And fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness" (ver. 11) Some are influenced to be good because they are afraid of the penalties attached to a life of sin. Others because of the substantial rewards and benefits found in a life of probity and uprightness. But the highest type is to love goodness for its own sake, and to delight in it as goodness; to be wholly possessed with a life-absorbing passion to find and to diffuse goodness everywhere. This approaches nearest to the Divine ideal. "He hath pleasure in uprightness, and hath no pleasure in wickedness" (1 Chron. xxix. 17; Ps. v. 4). There is no pleasure like that we find in true goodness. Severus, emperor of Rome, confessed on his deathbed, "I have been everything, and now find that everything is nothing." Then, directing that the urn should be brought to him, he said, "Little urn, thou shalt contain one for whom the world was too little."
+III. That completeness of moral character is attained by the exercise of a Divinely inspired faith.+--"And the work of faith with power" (ver. 11). We have no innate righteousness. It is God-given. It is received, maintained, and extended in the soul by faith in the merits of the all-righteous Saviour. "While faith itself is the gift of God, it is no less an exercise of the mind and heart of man. And because, like everything else about man, it partakes of his great weakness, it needs ever, as it walks in the light of the Divine Word, to stay itself on the Divine hand." Faith is the mighty instrument by which the Divine life is propagated in the soul, and by which the loftiest blessings are secured.
+IV. That completeness of moral character promotes the Divine glory.+--"That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in Him" (ver. 12). It will be seen at the last that Christ has been more abundantly glorified by a humble, holy life than by wealthy benefactions or by gigantic enterprises. The name now so much despised, and for which those who now bear it suffer so much, shall be magnified and exalted "above every name" (Phil. ii. 9). The followers of Christ shall share in the glory of their Lord. Their excellencies redound to His glory; and His glory is reflected on them in such a way that there is a mutual glorification. "What a glory it will be to them before all creatures that He who sits upon the throne once shared their sorrows and died for them! What a glory that He still wears their nature and is not ashamed to call them brethren! What a glory to be for ever clothed with His righteousness! What a glory to reign with Him and be glorified together!" (Lillie).
+V. That completeness of moral character is rendered possible by the provisions of Divine grace.+--"According to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 12). The source or all human goodness, in all its varying degrees, is in the Divine favour. It is worthy of note that Christ is here recognised as on an equality with the Father, and as being with Him the fontal source of grace. The glory which it is possible for sanctified humanity to reach is "according to grace." The grace is "exceeding abundant" (1 Tim. i. 14); so is the glory. There is a fathomless mine of moral wealth provided for every earnest seeker after God.
+VI. That completeness of moral character should be the subject of constant prayer.+--"Wherefore also we pray always for you" (ver. 11). The Thessalonians where favoured in having the prayers of the apostles. It is a beautiful example of the unselfishness of the Christian spirit when we are so concerned for others as to pray for them. We value that about which we pray the most. We have need of prayer to help us to attend faithfully to the little things which make up the daily duties of the Christian life. Attention to trifles is the way to completeness of moral character. The great Italian sculptor, Michelangelo, was once visited by an acquaintance, who remarked, on entering his studio, "Why, you have done nothing to that figure since I was here last?" "Yes," was the reply, "I have softened this expression, touched off that projection, and made other improvements." "Oh!" said the visitor, "these are mere trifles." "True," answered the sculptor, "but remember that trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle."
+Lessons.+--1. It is important to have a lofty ideal of Christian perfection constantly in view. 2. While humbled by failures we are not to be disheartened. 3. Earnest, persevering prayer wins great moral victories.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 11, 12. Genuine Religion illustrated.
+I. Religion in its nature.+--It is a worthiness into which we are called and with which we are invested.
+II. Religion in its source.+--The goodness of God. 1. All present religious views and feelings are the effect of Divine grace. 2. Man has no rightful claim to Divine grace. 3. Religion has its true source in the good pleasure of God.
+III. Religion in its principle.+--Faith. "The work of faith with power." The producing and sustaining principle of religion.
+IV. Religion in its end.+--1. The glory of the Redeemer. "That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you." 2. The glory of the redeemed. "And ye in Him."
+V. Religion in its measure or rule of dispensation.+--"According to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."--Zeta.
Ver. 12. Christ glorified in His People.--The bust of Luther was shut out from the Walhalla, or German Westminster Abbey. The people were indignant, but said, "Why need we a bust when he lives in our hearts?" And thus the Christian ever feels when he beholds many around him multiplying pictures and statues of Christ, and he can say, "I need them not, for He is ever with me; He lives perpetually in my heart."
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER II.+
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
Ver. 1. +Beseech . . . by the coming of our Lord.+--The English reader who consults the similar phrase "to beseech by" in Rom. xii. 1 will be wholly astray. St. Paul begs his readers not to be thrown into consternation or kept in a flutter of excitement over that matter of the Parousia, or "coming."
Ver. 2. +Not soon shaken.+--Like a house built on sand when the storm breaks to fury, or like the mobile vulgus in Thessalonica who were only too willing to follow the lead of Jewish agitators (Acts xvii. 13). +In mind.+--R.V. "from your mind." "Out of your wits" expresses the apostle's meaning exactly. They are to behave like men in whom reason is supreme--not like men in a panic. +Or be troubled.+--The same word was used in reporting our Lord's counsels on the same subject. "Be not troubled: . . . the end is not yet" (Matt. xxiv. 6). +By epistle as from us.+--Either by misinterpretation of something St. Paul had written, or by a forged letter purporting to have come from him.
Ver. 3. +Let no man deceive.+--R.V. "beguile or cheat you." +A falling away.+--Lit. "the apostasy," a desertion from the army of God; a recantation of faith in Christ. Our Master foretold that when "iniquity shall abound the love of many shall be blown cool" (Matt. xxiv. 12). +That man of sin.+--Another reading is "lawlessness." The man in whom sin gathers itself up into a head--the last product of sin. +The son of perdition+--par excellence, sharing the title with him whom Christ so named (John xvii. 12). Abaddon (Rev. ix. 11) may claim him as his own ultimately.
Ver. 4. +Who opposeth and exalteth himself.+--The participle rendered "who opposeth" is used twice by St. Luke in the plural as "adversaries." So in the singular (1 Tim. v. 14). The compound word for "exalteth himself" occurs (2 Cor. xii. 7), and is given as "exalted-above-measure." +Above all that is called God.+--The shudder of horror in these words reminds us how a monotheistic Jew must regard the impious act. We can understand that a Roman emperor would regard the God of Jew or Christian as a tutelary deity; but the acme of profanity is reached in this act of Antichrist. +Or that is worshipped.+--R.V. margin, "Gr. an object of worship." "The very name Sebastos, the Greek rendering of the imperial title Augustus, to which Dieus was added at death (signifying 'the one to be worshipped'), was an offence to the religious mind. . . . Later, Cæsar or Christ was the martyr's alternative" (Findlay). +Showing Himself that He is God.+--Or, as we would say, "representing Himself to be God." Compare Herod's acceptance of the worship (Acts xii. 22).
Ver. 6. +What withholdeth.+--R.V. "that which restraineth." "A hint was sufficient, verbum sapientibus: more than a hint would have been dangerous" (Ibid.).
Ver. 7. +He who now letteth.+--R.V. "there is one that restraineth." The old word for "obstruct" is found in Isa. xliii. 13: "I will work, and who shall let (i.e. hinder) it?" "Where then are we to look . . . for the check and bridle of lawlessness? Where but to law itself? The fabric of civil law and the authority of the magistrate formed a bulwark and breakwater against the excesses both of autocratic tyranny and of popular violence" (Ibid.).
Ver. 8. +And then shall that Wicked be revealed.+--R.V. "and then shall be revealed the lawless one." Outward restraint being withdrawn, there is no inward principle to keep him back: he is "lawless." +And shall destroy.+--R.V. "bring to nought." It is the same word as that which describes the effect of the revelation of the Gospel on "death" in 2 Tim. i. 10--to render absolutely powerless. +With the brightness of His coming.+--R.V. "by the manifestation of His coming." Lit. "by the epiphany of His presence."
Ver. 9. +Even Him, whose coming, etc.+--These words look back to the beginning of ver. 8. "The two comings--the parousia of the Lord Jesus and that of the Man of Lawlessness--are set in contrast. The second forms the dark background to the glory of the first" (Ibid.). +Power and signs and lying wonders.+--Simulating the supernatural evidences of the Gospel as the magicians of Egypt those of Moses.
Ver. 10. +Deceivableness of unrighteousness.+--R.V. "deceit." The deceit which is characteristic of unrighteousness, or marks its methods. +They received not the love of the truth.+--The sine qua non for an answer to Pilate's question (John xviii. 38) is this love of the truth.
Ver. 11. +God shall send them strong delusion.+--R.V. "God sendeth them a working of error." "It is a just, but mournful result, that rejecters of Christ's miracles become believers in Satan's, and that atheism should be avenged by superstition. So it has been and will be" (Ibid.). One is reminded of the old saying that "the gods first drive mad those whom they mean to destroy."
Ver. 12. +Believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.+--Here again we have the mental rejection of truth consequent on a liking for that which truth condemns. If "the heart makes the theologian," the want of it makes the infidel.
Ver. 13. +We are bound to give thanks.+--The same form of expression as in ch. i. 3, save that here "we" is expressed separately and emphatically.
Ver. 15. +Stand fast.+--Ready for any shock which may come unexpectedly through the insidious methods of Antichrist. +Hold the traditions.+--As of the apostle said, keep a strong hand on them. Tradition is that which is handed over from one to another. Compare 1 Cor. xi. 23. "I received of the Lord . . . I delivered unto you . . . He was betrayed." Here the words "delivered" and "betrayed" represent a doing, of which the word for "tradition" is the act completed. Paul handed over that which his Lord charged him to transmit; Judas handed over Christ to the Jews.
Ver. 16. +Everlasting consolation and good hope.+--Consolation, or comfort, is ministered by the Paraclete (John xiv. 16; Acts ix. 31), who abides for ever with those who are Christ's.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 1-12.
Antichrist Portrayed.
Various interpretations of this remarkable paragraph have been attempted. Some modern German critics would divest it of any prophetic significance and treat it as a representation of the writer's own personal feelings and forebodings. Others would restrict its application to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and to persons, principles, and events that preceded that catastrophe. The commonly received Protestant interpretation is to identify the Man of Sin and his doings with the Papacy; and there are certainly many points of that interpretation that accord very remarkably with the prophecy. But there are serious objections to all these views. We believe the revelation of the Antichrist here depicted is yet future, though the elements of his power are now in preparation. From the whole passage we gather the following suggestions:--
+I. That Antichrist will be embodied in some living personality.+--He is called "that man of sin, the son of perdition": "that Wicked"--the lawless one (vers. 3-8). The fathers of the early Church, for at least three centuries after the apostolic age, while differing on some minor details, seemed unanimous in understanding by the Man of Sin, not a system of deceit and wickedness, or a succession of individuals at the head of such a system, but some one man, the living personal Antichrist, the incarnation of Satanic craft and energy, who should put forth his power to weaken and destroy the Church.
1. He will arrogantly assume Divine prerogatives.--"Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (ver. 4). In these words we note Antichrist's intrusion into the special dwelling-place of God, his usurping session there, and his blasphemous and ostentatious assumption of Divinity. The wildest excesses of pride and audacity cannot exceed this.
2. His advent will be accompanied with remarkable displays of Satanic power.--"Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders" (ver. 9). Antichrist as the masterpiece of Satan will be endowed with extraordinary qualities. The devil will tax his prodigious abilities to the utmost in making this great adversary of the Church as potent for mischief as possible. We know how readily the man of science can impose upon the ignorant with his experiments. And how easy it is for Satan, with his vast knowledge and resources, to delude thousands with his simulations of the miraculous! The advent of Antichrist is to be a fiendish caricature and audacious mockery of the glorious coming of the Son of God!
+II. That Antichrist will work deplorable mischief in human souls.+--1. He seeks by secret methods to promote apostasy from the Church of God. "A falling away first" (ver. 3). "The mystery of iniquity doth already work" (ver. 7). Here we detect the germs and preparation of the antichristian curse that is to work such havoc. The primitive Church of apostolic times was not such a model of perfection as we sometimes imagine. The leaven of iniquity, of lawlessness, the essence of all sin, was already working. Observe the sorrowing references of the apostles to the many evils of the different Churches: Tit. i. 11; 1 Tim. vi. 5; 2 Cor. xi. 26; Philem. 9; 2 Tim. i. 15; 1 John ii. 18-20; 2 John 7; 3 John 9. Passim. The most disastrous apostasies have been the result of long, secret endeavours.
2. He begets a dislike to saving truth.--"With all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth that they might be save" (ver. 10). The truth was revealed, its saving benefits were offered; they had but to accept the truth and they were safe. But they rejected the truth; they loved it not. Their treatment of the Gospel rendered them more easy victims to the deceptions of Antichrist; fascinated by his unrighteous glamour, they recede from the truth and cherish a bitter hostility towards it.
3. His victims are abandoned to self-delusion and condemnation.--"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned"--might be judged according to their individual character and works--"who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (vers. 11, 12). See here the fearful consequences of a hatred to and rejection of the truth! The soul takes delight in sinning--has "pleasure in unrighteousness." It is, then, not only abandoned to its iniquity, but its delusions are intensified so as to embrace the most palpable falsehoods as truth. It shall then be judged on its own merits, so that God shall be justified in His speaking and clear in His judging. Terrible indeed is the fate of the victims who fall under the spell of Antichrist.
+III. That the coming of Antichrist is for a time restrained.+--"And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. . . . Only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way" (vers. 6, 7). There is an external power with an individual at its head which holds back the power of Antichrist until the proper season comes. What that power is is not revealed; but God can use any power for this purpose, until the Divinely appointed time shall come for the revelation and overthrow of Antichrist.
+IV. That Antichrist shall be summarily destroyed.+--"Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth"--as insects wither on the mere approach of fire--"and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming" (ver. 8)--with the appearing of His coming, as it were the first gleaming dawn of His advent. For a time Antichrist shall reign in pomp and splendour and delude many to their ruin; but at the coming of the true Lord of the Church the great impostor shall be dethroned and utterly abolished. "It is enough," says Chrysostom, "that He be present, and all these things perish. He will stay the deception simply by appearing."
+V. That the followers of Christ need not be afraid of losing any benefits to be conferred by His second coming.+--"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand" (vers. 1, 2)--on hand, has already come. When Paul wrote the first epistle, the Thessalonians "were sorrowing by the graves of their departed friends, and the grief of nature was enhanced by the apprehension that their beloved ones might suffer loss at the coming of the Lord. But now, should they hear that He had come and had not called for them, a yet deeper, more agitating motion must seize them, lest they themselves had forfeited their share in the glory of the kingdom." These words would allay their fears. Christ has yet to come, and before that coming Antichrist is to arise and reign. Wait patiently, labour diligently, and be not harassed with too great an eagerness to know future events. All the blessings of Christ's second coming shall be shared by you and by all who are to be gathered together unto Him.
+Lessons.+--1. There are trying times ahead. 2. The only safety for the soul is to hold fast the truth. 3. At the darkest moment of the Church's trial the glory of God will appear.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 1-6. A Warning against Imposition.
+I. The danger.+--1. Their faith was imperilled. 2. Daily duties were interfered with.
+II. Signs of the coming end.+--1. By a great apostasy. 2. The appearance of Antichrist as the man of sin and son of perdition. 3. The proud pretensions of Antichrist. (1) Opposing Christ. (2) Substituting error for truth. (3) Overweening self-exaltation.
+III. Hindrances to the spread of truth+ (ver. 6)--1. The civil powers of that day. 2. The machinations of Satan at all times. 3. The unfaithfulness of God's people.
Vers. 1-3. A False Alarm--
+I. May arise from a misconception+ +of an important truth.+--"Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him" (ver. 1).
+II. Is aggravated by unwarrantable deceptions.+--"Let no man deceive you by any means" (ver. 3). "Neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is come" (ver. 2).
+III. Is the cause of much real suffering.+--"Shaken in mind--troubled" (ver. 2)--like a ship escaped from its moorings, tossed in a rolling sea.
+IV. Is allayed by the affectionate entreaty of competent teachers.+--"We beseech you, brethren" (ver. 1).
Ver. 5. Memory--
+I. Is freighted with treasures of precious truth.+--"I told you these things."
+II. Associates the presence and character of the teacher with the truth taught.+--"When I was yet with you."
+III. Is often vividly reminded of the value of its possession.+--"Remember ye not."
Vers. 7-10. The Mystery of Iniquity--
+I. Is the deepest and most subtle form of error.+
+II. Is propagated with great cunning and persistency.+
+III. Is embodied in a powerful and wicked personality+ (vers. 7, 8).
+IV. Is Satanic in its origin and manifestation+ (vers. 9, 10).
Vers. 10-12. The Destructive Subtlety of Sin.
+I. It has manifold methods of deception.+--"With all deceivableness of unrighteousness" (ver. 10).
+II. It incites the soul to a hatred of saving truth.+--"That received not the love of the truth that they might be saved" (ver. 10).
+III. It abandons its victims to judicial self-deception.+--"God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie" (ver. 11).
+IV. It leads to inevitable condemnation.+--"That they all might be damned" (ver. 12).
+V. It encourages sin for the love of sin.+--"Who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (ver. 12).
Vers. 11, 12. Strong Delusions.
+I. Believing a lie as truth.+
+II. Sent as a judgment for not believing the truth.+
+III. Are brought on by those who have pleasure in sin.+
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 13, 14.
Salvation a Divine Act.
When the air is thick with antichristian theories, sincere inquirers after truth are perplexed, the grasp of the hesitating is loosened, and the fidelity of the strongest severely tested. Only those who fully yield themselves up to the teaching and guidance of the Divine spirit are safe. A clever inventor has recently constructed a fireproof dress, which enables him to walk about unharmed in the midst of the fiercest fire. Experimental godliness is a fireproof dress, and the soul clothed with this is safely guarded from the fiery darts of the wicked and will pass unscathed through the fiercest fires of temptation. We never know what it is to be really saved till we personally experience the sanctifying power of the truth. These verses teach that salvation is a Divine act.
+I. Salvation is an act of the Divine will.+--1. The Divine will is actuated by Divine love. "Brethren beloved of the Lord, God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation" (ver. 13). When we examine the sources of salvation, we find them not in ourselves, but in some power outside of ourselves. We are saved, not because we are good, or better than others, or more favourably circumstanced, but because God has chosen us. And if we ask still further how it is that God should lavish the grace of His salvation on sinful man, we are reduced, in the final analysis, to this answer: Such is the Divine will--a will swayed in all its mighty potentialities by infinite love.
"Love, strong as death; nay, stronger-- Love mightier than the grave; Broad as the earth, and longer Than ocean's widest wave. This is the love that sought us, This is the love that bought us, This is the love that brought us, To gladdest day from saddest night, From deepest shame to glory bright, From depths of death to life's fair height, From darkness to the joy of light."--Bonar.
2. The Divine will provides the means of salvation.--"Whereunto He called you by our gospel" (ver. 14). The Gospel is God's method of salvation, and it is through this Gospel He "will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. iii. 4). If the Gospel were but a human expedient, it would fail; but, as it was originated and devised in the Divine mind, so it is backed and made forceful by the operation of the Divine will.
+II. Salvation as a Divine act is in harmony with individual freedom.+--1. Salvation implies personal holiness. "Through sanctification of the Spirit" (ver. 13). The Spirit sanctifies the individual soul, and the soul, in the exercise of its voluntary power, co-operated with the Spirit. The soul feels the need of being sanctified, is willing to be sanctified, earnestly desires to be sanctified, and gives free, unrestricted scope to the Spirit in His sanctifying work.
2. Salvation implies personal faith.--"And belief of the truth" (ver. 13). This clause brings out distinctly that the sanctification of the Spirit is not wrought on a passive and unresponsive agent. Faith is the gift of God, but it is an act of man. It is a self-giving; the surrender of his own freedom to secure the larger freedom that salvation confers on the soul that trusts. Without God's gift there would be no faith, and without man's exercise of that gift there is no salvation. It is not faith that saves, but the Christ received by faith. Erskine puts it thus: "As it is not the laying on the plaster that heals the sore, but the plaster itself that is laid on, so it is not the faith, or receiving of Christ, but Christ received by faith that saves us. It is not our looking to the brazen serpent mystical, but the mystical brazen serpent looked unto by faith--Christ received by faith--that saves us."
+III. Salvation as a Divine act aims at securing for the soul the highest blessedness.+--"To the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 14). The saved soul aspires after glory, but it is glory of the loftiest type. It is not the changeful glory of worldly magnificence. It is not the glory of Paul, or of the greatest human genius. It is "the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." When the soul catches a glimpse of the splendour of this Divine blessedness, it can be satisfied with no lower aims. "Paint and canvas," said Guthrie, "cannot give the hues of a rainbow or of the beams of the sun. No more can words describe the Saviour's glory. Nay, what is the most glowing and ecstatic view that the highest faith of a soul, hovering on the borders of another world, ever obtained of Christ, compared with the reality? It is like the sun changed by a frosty fogbank into a dull, red copper ball--shorn of the splendour that no mortal eyes can look upon." As it is Christ's glory that we seek, so it is Christ's glory we shall share.
+IV. Salvation as a Divine act affords matter for unceasing gratitude.+--"But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you" (ver. 13). The mercy of God in our salvation is ever providing fruitful themes for gratitude on earth: the glory of Christ as revealed in heaven will be the song of everlasting thankfulness and praise. Every added trophy of saving power augments the gratitude and joy of the faithful.
+Lessons.+--1. The rejection of the truth is the rejection of salvation. 2. Salvation brings the highest good to man and the greatest glory to God. 3. Salvation will be the exhaustless theme of the heavenly song.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 13. The Holy Ghost the Sanctifier.
+I. Connect the Divine purpose and agency that the nature and effect of the latter may be more apparent.+--To collect a people out of the wreck of human life has been God's purpose from the first. To sanctify them is to separate them to God in fact and in effect. The Holy Ghost is given by Christ to sever the once dead in sins from the dead around them.
+II. The scope of this agency.+--God's work is perfect. It has its stages; but the Holy Ghost conducts it from first to last. Sanctification is progressive. The end of sanctification is salvation.
+III. The ordinary means through which the Holy Ghost operates.+--Through belief of the truth, the Gospel. The Spirit sanctifies through the truth.--H. T. Lumsden.
Ver. 14. The Glory of Sainthood--
+I. Is the object of the Gospel to promote.+--"Whereunto He hath called you by our gospel."
+II. Is a conscious personal possession.+--"To the obtaining of the glory."
+III. Is a sharing of the glory of Christ.+--"Of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
What Saints should be.--In the cathedral of St. Mark, Venice, a marvellous building lustrous with an Oriental splendour beyond description, there are pillars said to have been brought from Solomon's temple; these are of alabaster, a substance firm and endurable as granite, and yet transparent, so that the light glows through them. Behold an emblem of what all true pillars of the Church should be--firm in their faith and transparent in their character; men of simple mould, ignorant of tortuous and deceptive ways, and yet men of strong will, not readily to be led aside or bent from their uprightness.--Spurgeon.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 15.
Christian Steadfastness.
In all ages the people of God have been assailed with the weapons of a subtle and plausible philosophy which has sought to supplant the simple truth of the Gospel with human opinions. The evil heart of man chafes under the righteous restrictions of the truth, and in its angry and delirious opposition has sought to rid itself of God and of all the laws that bind it to a life of obedience and holiness. And when it fancies it has succeeded in demolishing the truths it hated and against which it rebelled, it is aghast at the desolation it has wrought and recoils in alarm from the dark, horrible gulf to the brink of which it has forced itself. Stricken with bewilderment and despair, man strives to construct a religion for himself, and he seeks to substitute his own wild ravings for the truths of Divine revelation. It is the attempt of a bold, impious infidelity to put error in the place of truth, philosophy in the place of religion, human opinion in the place of God. The exhortation of this verse is always timely.
+I. Christian steadfastness is an important and ever-present duty.+--1. It is necessary to growth and maturity in personal piety. Trees must grow or die. So it is with piety; it must grow or perish. No plant or tree can thrive that is being perpetually plucked up and transplanted; nor can the soul prosper unless it is steadfastly rooted in the soil of truth. Darwin describes a marine plant--the Macrocystis pyrifera--that rises two hundred feet from the depths of the Western Ocean and floats for many fathoms on the surface, uninjured among the waves and breakers, which no masses of rock, however hard, can long withstand. It maintains its strength by clinging tenaciously to the rocks far down below the surface of the sea. So personal piety grows and flourishes by maintaining a firm hold of the Rock of Ages.
2. It is necessary in bearing witness for Christ.--The value of a lighthouse or a landmark to the mariner is, that he can rely on always finding it in the same place. And the value of a Christian testimony is that it is not erratic and changeful, but stable and reliable: it hesitates not to witness for Christ in any place. Fifty years ago at a dinner-party in the west end of London, the conversation was dishonouring to Christ. One guest was silent, and presently asked that the bell might be rung. On the appearance of the servant he ordered his carriage, and with polished courtesy apologised to his host for his enforced departure, saying, for I am still a Christian. This gentleman was the late Sir Robert Peel.
3. It is a stimulating example to the weak and faltering.--There are timid, feeble followers of Christ who, until they become well grounded, lean on others; and if their exemplars vacillate and change, so do they. Few have the courage to break away from a pernicious example. When travelling on the Continent, Dr. Duff made the acquaintance of Cardinal Wiseman, and for some time travelled with him; but when at Antwerp he saw the cardinal prostrate himself before the Virgin, he courteously but firmly bade him "good-bye."
+II. Christian steadfastness is shown in an unflinching maintenance of apostolic doctrine.+--"Hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle." These traditions were the doctrines preached by the apostles. For some years after the ascension of Christ, there was no written Gospel or epistle. The truth was taught orally by those who were living witnesses of the facts on which the doctrines--or traditions--were based.
1. Apostolic doctrine must be clearly apprehended.--It must therefore be diligently studied, and the truth sifted from the mass of errors with which false teachers surround it. What is not intelligently comprehended cannot be firmly held.
2. Apostolic doctrine must be earnestly embraced.--Not simply discussed, not simply admired and praised, but prayerfully and cordially accepted--taken in as spiritual food, and systematically fed upon to give strength and stamina to the soul.
3. Apostolic doctrine must be firmly held and stoutly defended against all errors.--"Hold the traditions." Believe them when tempted to disbelieve; defend them when assailed by the enemy. A brave Athenian, who wrought deeds of valour in the battle of Marathon, seized with his right hand a stranded galley filled with Persians. When his right hand was cut off, he seized the boat with his left, and when that was smitten, he held on with his teeth till he died. The grasp of truth by a Christian believer should not be less tenacious than the dogged heroism of a heathen warrior.
+III. Christian steadfastness is emphatically enforced.+--"Therefore, brethren, stand fast." Though misunderstood and misrepresented, though savagely opposed by the enemies of the truth, stand fast. As the wings of the bird are strengthened by the resistance of the atmosphere in which it floats, so your graces will be strengthened by the opposition with which you resolutely contend. In order that your own personal piety may be matured, that your witnessing for Christ may be unmistakable, and that your example may be a stimulating encouragement to others, "stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught."
+Lessons.+--1. The unstable are the prey of every passing temptation. 2. The Word of God is the unfailing source of moral strength.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 16, 17.
Prayer an Expression of Ministerial Anxiety.
The apostle had warned the Thessalonians of the errors that were becoming rife among them. Indeed, the existence of these errors, and the grave injury they threatened to the faith of the new converts, prompted him to write these epistles--the first in a series of magnificent apostolic polemics. The apostle knew that if the simplicity of the Gospel was vitiated at the beginning of its world-wide mission, unspeakable disaster would ensue, as the checkered history of the Church in the early centuries unhappily proved. Hence his anxiety, not only to clearly state, but with all his resources of logic and persuasion, resolutely to defend the cardinal principles of the Gospel. He not only argues but prays. These verses teach that prayer is the expression of ministerial anxiety.
+I. It recognises the need of spiritual consolation.+--"Now our Lord . . . comfort your hearts" (vers. 16, 17). You have sorrowed over the loss of friends and harassed yourselves as to their condition in another world. I have pointed out to you that your fears were groundless (1 Thess. iv. 13-18). Now, I commend you God as the Source and Giver of all consolation and pray that He may specially comfort you. "It is God's presence," says Burroughs, "that constitutes the saint's morning. As the stars may impart some light, and yet the brightness of all combined cannot form the light of day, but when the sun appears there is day forthwith, so God may make some comfort arise to a soul from secondary and inferior means; but it is He Himself alone who, by the shining of His face and the smiles of His countenance, causes morning." A comfort that is made up of our fancies is like a spider's web that is weaved out of its bowels and is gone and swept away with the turn of a besom.
+II. It recognises the perils that beset the path of obedience.+--"And establish you in every good word and work" (ver. 17)--or, according to the Revised Version, "every good work and word." Work is better than speech, deeds more eloquent than words, though both are necessary. The best safeguard against temptation is to be employed. "The busy man is tempted by one devil, the idle man by a thousand." The force of gunpowder is not known till some spark falls on it; so the most placid natures do not reveal the evil that is in them till they are assailed by some fierce and sudden temptation. Excellence in anything can only be reached by hard work; so stability in grace is attained only by being diligently engaged in God's service. Steadfastness is not dull quiescence: it is self-absorbing activity. If you would be strong, you must work.
+III. It recognises the Divine source of all spiritual help.+--1. That this help is the outcome of Divine love. "Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God even our Father, which hath loved us" (ver. 16). God helps because He loves. His love evokes the best and noblest in us, as the master-musician brings out melodies from an instrument that inferior players have failed to produce.
"Love is a passion Which kindles honour into noblest acts."
"O let Thy love constrain us To give our hearts to Thee; Let nothing henceforth pain us But that which paineth Thee.
"Our joy, our one endeavour, Through suffering, conflict, shame, To serve Thee, gracious Saviour, And magnify Thy name."
2. That this help meets every possible exigency of the Christian life.--"And hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace" (ver. 16). The consolation refers to everything in the present, the good hope to everything in the future. The consolation is constant, everlasting, as flowing from inexhaustible sources, and is ever available in all the changes and needs of life; and the hope turns our fears into confidence and our sorrows into joy. When the frail barques of the Portuguese went sailing south, they found the sea so stormy at the southern point of Africa that they named it the Cape of Storms; but after it had been well rounded by bolder navigators, they named it the Cape of Good Hope. So, by the Divine help afforded us, many a rough cape of storms has been transformed into a cape of good hope. All spiritual help is given "through grace"--the free, unmerited favour of God--and is therefore a fitting subject of prayer.
+Lessons.+--1. Every minister should be emphatically a man of prayer. 2. Prayer for others has a reflex benefit on the suppliant. 3. An anxious spirit finds relief and comfort in prayer.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 16, 17. St. Paul's Prayer for the Thessalonians.
+I. The objects the apostle addressed.+--1. God, even our Father. 2. Our Lord Jesus Christ.
+II. The gifts the apostle acknowledged.+--1. The manifestation of Divine love. 2. The communication of saving grace. 3. The bestowment of Christian hope.
+III. The blessings the apostle requested.+--1. Increasing felicity in the Lord. 2. Persevering stability in the truth.--Eta.
Ver. 16. A Good Hope through Grace.
+I. The grace of hope.+--1. Refers to the resurrection of the body. 2. To eternal life to be enjoyed by both soul and body. 3. Pre-requisites of this hope.--Conviction of sin. An experimental acquaintance with the Gospel.
+II. The excellency of this hope.+--"A good hope." 1. In opposition to the hopes of worldly men. 2. It is a lively hope. 3. The object of it is an infinite and eternal good. 4. It has a good foundation. 5. It produces good effects.
+III. The source of this hope.+--"Through grace." 1. Man is the subject of infinite demerit. 2. Christ alone possesses infinite merit. 3. The Scripture warns against all self-dependence.--Helps for the Pulpit.
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER III.+
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
Ver. 1. +Have free course and be glorified.+--Probably St. Paul took this image from the Old Testament. In Ps. cxlvii. 15 the word of the Lord is said to "run very swiftly."
Ver. 2. +Unreasonable and wicked men.+--The word for "unreasonable" only occurs twice besides in the New Testament: once, the malefactor on the cross says, "This man has done nothing amiss," or out of place; and again the barbarians "beheld nothing amiss" come to Paul when the viper had fashioned on his hand. The thief is a good commentator here. Men who by their vagaries hold even their friends in painful suspense, and especially such as are indifferent to morality, seem to be meant.
Ver. 3. +And keep you from evil.+--"Keep" here is a military word reminding of the psalmist's name for God--"Shield." The Revisers add "one" after "evil," as in the Lord's Prayer.
Ver. 5. +Direct your hearts.+--The same word for "direct" again occurs only in 1 Thess. iii. 11 and Luke i. 79. A similar phrase in the LXX. of 1 Chron. xxix. 18 (R.V. "prepare"). +Into the patient waiting for Christ.+--A.V. margin and R.V. text, "into the patience of Christ." "The Thessalonians were eagerly awaiting His return: let them wait for it in His patient spirit" (Findlay).
Ver. 6. +Walketh disorderly.+--Falling out of the ranks and desertion of the post of duty are grave faults, which if the esprit de corps does not prevent it must be punished by treating the defaulter as one who has discredited his comrades in arms.
Ver. 7. +We behaved not ourselves disorderly among you.+--"We never lived an undisciplined life among you." Men will bear the sharp rebukes of a martinet, even when they observe that he is as much under discipline as he would have the youngest recruit, as the lives of men like Havelock and Gordon testify.
Ver. 10. +If any would not work, neither should he eat.+--"A stern, but necessary and merciful rule, the neglect of which makes charity demoralising" (Ibid.). It is parasitism which is condemned.
Ver. 11. +Working not at all, but are busybodies.+--"Not working, but working round people," as we might represent St. Paul's play on the words. "Their only business is to be busybodies."
Ver. 13. +Be not weary in well-doing.+--Such bad behaviour under cover of the Christian name is abhorrent to St. Paul. "The loveliness of perfect deeds" must be worthily sustained. Well-doing here points to that which is admirable in conduct rather than that which is beneficent.
Ver. 14. +Have no company with him.+--The difference between this treatment of a delinquent and excommunication may be more in idea than fact. He would feel himself tabooed in either case. But this agrees better with the notion of Christians as being separated. "Come out from among them." Cf. Tit. ii. 10. +That he may be ashamed.+--Not, of course, that he may become a laughing-stock, but that, feeling abashed, he may quickly put himself right with the community.
Ver. 15. +Yet count him not as an enemy.+--When Christ says the impenitent brother is to be regarded as a Gentile, He gives no sanction to the way in which the Jew too often regarded the Gentile. +Admonish him as a brother.+--Who, though in error, has not sacrificed his claim to gentle treatment and consideration.
Ver. 16. +Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always.+--The Church at Thessalonica had been passing through stormy waters. The apostle prays that God may give them to--
"Feel His halcyon rest within Calming the storms of dread and sin."
Ver. 17. +The salutation . . . the token.+--As though he said, "This that I am about to write is my sign-manual."
Ver. 18. +The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.+--Whatever St. Paul's handwriting may have been, it could not well be more characteristic than this word "grace," as certainly he could not have chosen a more beautiful word to engrave on his seal.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses 1, 2.
Prayer for Ministers.
Prayer should not be all on one side. It is a mutual obligation and privilege. The Thessalonians are reminded how often they were the subject of anxious prayer, and they are now asked to remember their own ministers at the throne of grace. Mutual prayer intensifies mutual sympathy and affection and deepens the interest of both parties in promoting the success of the Gospel. Note:--
+I. That prayer for ministers is apostolically enjoined.+--"Brethren, pray for us" (ver. 1). True prayer is spontaneous. It does not wait to be formally authorised. A loving heart loves to pray. Nevertheless, there are laggards in this duty, and they may be prompted to the exercise by employing all the weight of apostolic authority and example. If apostles felt the need of prayer, how much more should we! Ministers are but men; but by the use of the word "brethren" the writer indicates that ministers and people have common privileges, common wants, and common dangers. The ministerial office has also its special responsibilities and perils, and nothing helps more vitally the efficient discharge of its duties than the constant prayers of an appreciative and devoted people.
+II. That prayer for ministers should have special reference to the success of the Gospel.+--1. The Gospel is Divine. "The word of the Lord" (ver. 1). The Gospel is a message to man, but it is more than a human message. It is the voice of God speaking to man through man. If it had been simply of human origin, it would have been forgotten and superseded by the changing theories ever teeming from the fertile brain of man. Every human institution is liable to be supplanted by another. There is nothing permanent in philosophy, government, or morals that is not based on eternal truth. The Gospel is abiding, because it rests on unchanging truth. It is the "word of the Lord."