n 1 Cor. i. 9. & x. 13.

2 Thess. iii. 3.

o Col. iv. 3.

2 Thess. iii. 1.

P Rom. xvi. 16.

|| Or, adjure.

q Col. iv. 16.

n

24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

25 Brethren, pray for us.

26 P Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.

q

27 I || charge you by the Lord that this epistle

2 Thess. iii. 14. be read unto all the holy brethren.

25. " Pray for us." B., D., add "also."

27. "The holy brethren." So A., K., L., P.; but &, B., D., F., G., a few Cursives, d, e, f, g, omit "holy."

"Unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Rather at, or in, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Compare Ephes. v. 27: "That he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." And again, (iii. 13), "To the end, that he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God and our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."

24. "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." He will do it if you continue to desire it and to pray for it. His having called you to holiness is a pledge of His desire for your complete sanctification, but you must continue to meet and further His desire.

25. "Brethren, pray for us." Some MSS. read "for us too." We are not above your prayers. Remember Phil. i. 19, “I know that this (that Christ is preached every way), shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ."

26. "Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss." This was not a kiss to be given in private, but in all probability a part of the solemnity of the Eucharistic celebration. (See my notes on Rom. xvi. 16, and 1 Cor. xvi. 20.)

27. “I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren." This is far stronger in the original. It is, “I adjure you, I put you on your oath before the Lord that this Epistle be read," &c.

We should scarely have supposed that they needed so very solemn an appeal on such a matter, but the fact that St. Paul saw fit to use such an adjuration is very suggestive. He would not have done so unless he had been thoroughly assured that the contents of

СПАР. V.]

GRACE.

133

r

28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with Rom. xvi. 20, you. Amen.

24. 2 Thess. iii. 18.

T The first epistle unto the Thessalonians was written from Athens.

his letter was the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Bishop Wordsworth makes two valuable remarks. 1. That the fact that he so solemnly ordered his own letter to be read in their public assemblies as if it were Scripture, seems to necessitate that he should have supplied them with some account of the words and actions and Death and Resurrection of our Lord to be similarly read, and 2, that the command to read such a document from the first was a guarantee of its genuineness. It will suffice to convince all reasonable persons that the Epistles which we have in our hands bearing the Apostle's name, cannot well have been tampered with, and that these Epistles, as a whole, and every part of them, are what they profess to be, the writings of the blessed Apostle St. Paul, for unless this Epistle had been undoubtedly his, when it was included amongst the canonical writings the Thessalonian Church would have protested that they never had had such a document read in their midst.

28.

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." The Epistle ends with an Invocation of Grace from Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and it is a sure proof of the Lord's Godhead, for from whom could grace be invoked except from One Who was in His own Person the Giver of Grace ?

THE

SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS.

CHAP. I.

PAT

AUL, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord

a 2 Cor. i. 19.

b 1 Thess. i. 1.

c 1 Cor. i. 3.

d 1 Thess. i. 2, 3. & iii. 6, 9. ch. ii. 13.

Jesus Christ:

c

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

d

3 We are bound to thank God always for you,

1. "Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians," &c. From this we gather that these three were together, as at the writing of the first Epistle. This proves, according to Mason, that this Epistle was written before the end of the second missionary journey, i.e., before the events narrated in Acts xviii. 19-22; for we do not read of Silvanus being in the company of Paul after this time.

1, 2. "Unto the Church ... God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." This is the same salutation as at the beginning of the first Epistle. There can be no doubt respecting the retention of the words, "From God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ" here, though some editors out of deference to some MSS. of the neutral text, omit them in the first Epistle.

3. "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because," &c. "We are bound to thank God ... as it is meet." Why should St. Paul so earnestly give thanks on their behalf? Because they would be his hope and joy, and crown of rejoicing at the coming of Christ: but even putting any personal considerations, however exalted and holy, out of the question, it is a matter

CHAP. I.]

YOUR PATIENCE AND FAITH.

135

brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

14. & ix. 2.

in

2 Cor. vii. Thess. ii. 19,

20.

ye

fi Thess. i. 3.

4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God 'for your patience and faith all your persecutions and tribulations that endure:

g 1 Thess. ii.

14.

of thanksgiving to a holy creature to see the manifestation of the glory of God in the triumph of good and the eradication of evil: thus in the Gloria in Excelsis we say, "We give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty."

"Because that your faith groweth exceedingly." Here again are faith and love mentioned together as if inseparable. Faith made them discern in every brother who endured persecution patiently the triumph of God's grace, and so it grew, because it had so many examples to nourish it; and the sympathy which was engendered by the sight of such heroic examples of endurance made their love to abound.

"The charity of every one of you." From this we gather that St. Paul had not only a general knowledge of the state of the Church, but a particular knowledge of the patient endurance of each one. Let the reader remember Acts xx. 81, where with respect to, as we should suppose, a much larger Church, he says that he "ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." 4. "So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience." He spoke of their patience and faith in the Church of Corinth and the neighbourhood, in every church which he visited in Macedonia and Achaia.

"For your patience and faith." He does not say for their patient faith, but he speaks of the two as distinct Christian graces; but the one upheld the other; the patience strengthened the faith, because it was faith in exercise (and a limb by exercise grows stronger); and the faith strengthened the patience, because it (the faith) was the evidence of the unseen reward of endurance. Persecution and tribulation are not the same. Persecution implies active, powerful, personal enemies. Tribulation may be inflicted by no enemy, but may be entirely from within.

h Phil. i. 28.

h

5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

1 1 Thess. ii. 14.

k Rev. vi. 10.

1 Rev. xiv. 13.

6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7 And to you who are troubled 'rest with us,

m

m 1 Thess. iv. when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from

5. "Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God." This place brings out wonderfully clearly the faith which St. Paul had in God as a righteous judge. If for a time the wicked were permitted to triumph, if God was just, it would only be for a time, and such permission of a short-lived triumph of evil must be for a good purpose which is here expressed by "that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which ye also suffer." "Being counted worthy of the kingdom," means, of course, that they were made really and truly worthy of it. In the kingdom of a heart-searching God they who are accounted worthy must answer to that which they are accounted to be.

That they were persecuted was a manifest token-a proof-that in the all-ruling providence of God their enemies will some day (the day of the Lord) be punished. It cannot be otherwise if God is a righteous God; and so he says:

6. "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation," &c. The great principle involved here is applicable to all cases of persecution and injustice, no matter by whom inflicted, or by whom endured. It is a righteous thing with God to render just retribution, and even if so-called believers have persecuted unbelievers, they must receive retribution just as others, for they have exhibited conduct which is not only contrary to Christianity but is always a serious hindrance to its success.

7. "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus," &c. It is to be remarked how the Apostle makes the rest to date, not from the falling asleep with Jesus, but from the Second Coming. Death is ignored, and all hope, even of rest, fixed on the Second Advent, "When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels."