2 THESSALONIANS 1 COMMENTARY

EDITED BY GLENN PEASE

INTRODUCTION

WILLIAM KELLY, The first Epistle to the Thessalonians dealt with a mistake of the saints there

as to those who fall asleep in Christ. In their immature and absorbing occupation with the coming or

presence of the Lord, they had too hastily affirmed that such saints as were not found alive and

waiting for Him would lose their part, not of course in eternal life and salvation, but at that blessed

moment of His advent. This error was dissipated, not only by bringing in the grand principle of a dead

and risen Christ with whom we are associated, and of especial cheer to those who are put to sleep by

Him, but by a special revelation which discloses the Lord descending to raise the dead in Christ, and

change the believers surviving till His coming, in order to their all coming together along with Him.

In the second Epistle, the delusion which false teachers sought to foist on the saints, and even with

the claim of the Spirit, and a pretended letter of the apostle, concerned the living whom the enemy

endeavoured to shake and trouble under the apprehension of the presence of the day. All knew that

the day of the Lord is to be ushered in by darkness and divine judgments, and these Satan sought to

inflict on the saints so as to fill them with terror and distress. Clearly this is the natural expectation of

a Jew, who even if he fully confided in the faithfulness of God, cannot but look for an awful season of

tribulation and of judicial dealings to precede the kingdom of glory for Israel on the earth. (Isa. 2 - 4:

13; Jer. 30, Joel 2, 3. Amos 5; Zeph. 1 - 3). As the enemy is ever at work to draw back the heart of the

Christian to the law, if he cannot entice him into lawlessness, so did he at Thessalonica, and ever

since, put forth his wiles to judaise the hope, presenting the Lord as about to appear in judgment,

instead of letting him rejoice in His coming as the Bridegroom for the bride. The deception is the more

perilous, because the day of the Lord is a weighty truth in itself, and the revealed period of divine

intervention and blessing for the ancient people of God. How the coming of the Saviour, for us who

now believe and wait for Him from heaven, would fit in with the prophetic testimony, must have been

as yet vague, for there was no written word to define the matter or solve the difficulty. Hence the

importance of this fresh communication. For the question was raised by Satan's attempt to pervert

the saints from the enjoyment of their own proper hope. They were agitated under the false alarm

that the day was actually come. This more or less completely obscured from their eyes their bright

and longing expectation of the Saviour's coming to receive them to Himself, and present them,

perfectly like Him in glory, before the Father with exceeding joy.

As in the first Epistle, the apostle does not immediately grapple with the error, but prepares the

hearts of the saints gradually and on all sides so as to clench the truth and exclude the error once it is

exposed. This is the way of divine grace and wisdom; the heart is set right, and not the mere point of

error or evil dealt with. The very snare is thus made the occasion of fresh and deeper blessing; and as

all truth is consolidated, so the Lord is more enjoyed.

It is impossible to accept as sound and satisfactory Chrysostom's remarks on the address to "the

church" rather than to "the saints," as in other epistles. (Field's ed. v. 314, Oxon. 1855). It has nothing

to do with comparative paucity of numbers, and their aggregation in a single company. For in no city

perhaps were the saints more numerous than in Jerusalem, when we read of the church or assembly

there (Act_5:11; Act_8:1; Act_11:22; Act_15:4; Act_15:22). A similar remark applies to Antioch,

Ephesus, Corinth, or to any other place where we know the numbers were great comparatively, and

there might be, as in Jerusalem, not a few houses where the saints met to break bread, but all

composed "the assembly" there. Never, in short, whatever the number do we in Scripture hear of

"assemblies" in a city (as of a province), but always of "the assembly." No doubt the apostle addresses

those at Ephesus and Colosse and Philippi and Rome as "saints", but this, because of the truth he was

communicating by the Spirit of God, and not because of their greater numbers. In fact, we read of

"the assembly in Ephesus" (Rev_2:1) after his Epistle to "the saints" as well as before (Act_20:17).

Nobody can deny that a long time had passed and the organisation was complete, when St. John

wrote to "the assembly" there; and therefore Chrysostom's reason is invalid. The true ground lies in

the perfection of wisdom with which the Holy Spirit addresses according to the nature of that which

He is making known.

Thus the apostle again associates with himself in the salutation those dear fellow-labourers whom the

saints in Thessalonica knew already when the assembly was founded there: and he again

characterises the assembly as in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: the one severing them from

Gentiles, as the other from Jews. Indeed at bottom both contrasted them with both. For what did a

Jew more than a Gentile know of such a new living, and intimate relationship with God as Father? And

what knew a Gentile more than a Jew of a rejected but risen Lord and Saviour in heaven? "Our" is

added here, as compared with the opening formula in the first Epistle. Is is not to rivet emphatically

those saints, who, however well they walked in most respects, needed to be reminded more than

ever of their common relationship with him who wrote, and with all saints, to Him whose grace is the

source of all blessing?

Thanks as before he owns as due to God always for them, not simply because they were objects of His

grace, but as was meet because their faith was greatly growing, and the love of each individually and

of all mutually was abounding. This was much; but what of their joy of hope in the Holy Ghost? Of this

he says nothing. And the absence is the more striking, because in the introduction to the first Epistle

he had spoken of remembering without ceasing, not only their work of faith and labour of love, but

also their patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Here, to the close observer, there is an ominous

silence on any such enduring constancy of hope. Yet there is nothing said to damp their hearts, but all

he could say to encourage. The fact is that their hope of Christ was consciously but seriously

undermined and clouded, not by undue excitement but by agitation and trouble of mind as if the

awful day of the Lord were upon them. This brought in fear which darkened their experience of

persecution and of outwardly trying circumstances, though the apostle could boast in them among

the assemblies of God for their patience and faith in all their persecutions, and the tribulations they

were sustaining.

But patience and faith need the power of hope to sustain in freshness. There will and must be a lack

when Christ is not personally before the heart as One who may at any moment come to receive His

own to Himself. But yet more, there cannot but be an exposure, as we shall find here, to the counter

and disturbing influence of fear, which leaves the soul open to the positively delusive power of the

enemy. Even in the first Epistle the apostle was not without apprehension on that side; and therefore

did he send Timothy to establish them and comfort them concerning, their faith, that none might be

moved by these afflictions; knowing as they did that hereunto we are appointed. For they had surely

not forgotten that Paul, when with them, told them beforehand that we are to suffer affliction, even

as, they knew full well, it came to pass. But this did not hinder, rather did it draw out, the solicitude of

the apostle on their behalf, "lest by any means the tempter had tempted you, and our labour should

be in vain" (1Th_3:5).

For the enemy has, of course, no real good or blessing to hold out; but he can and does work most

effectively through fear of evil, especially where the conscience is bad or gets troubled. Therein lies

his great power in awakening terror, availing himself of God's own threatened judgments on a guilty

world. He may deceive the unbeliever by flattering him with false peace and false hopes from this the

believer is freed by the gospel, but if not filled with the hope of Christ, he might easily be distressed

by the pressure and the variety and the continuance of affliction, especially if Satan got him under the

fear that they were judicial inflictions from God on the world in which he was involved like others.

Where the heart is kept in peace and confidence before God, the mind can judge soundly. Fear

unnerves the soul that is occupied with painful circumstances and throws all into confusion; for God

and the word of His grace no longer guide, in the calm trust of a love that never fails, and that gives us

the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The apostle, on the contrary, would have them take fresh courage from all their persecutions and the

afflictions they were enduring, as he lets them know that he himself was boasting in them on that

very account. So he bade the Philippians at a later day be in nothing affrighted by the adversaries

which is for such an evident token of perdition, as it is for the saints of salvation, and this from God;

because it is a real privilege on the behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him but also to suffer for His

sake. It is part of the great conflict ever raging between Satan and those who are of Christ. This the

Thessalonians had to learn more perfectly; and we shall see in what follows how skilfully the apostle

sets their souls right on general grounds before he broaches the direct correction of the error in the

second chapter.

It would seem that the Thessalonian saints had been engrossed with the day of the Lord, as indeed it

occupies a large part, and is the grand issue, of Old Testament prophecy. If grace, righteousness, and

blessing characterise that day, there can be no doubt that darkness, trouble, change and judgments

beyond all previous experience are to usher it in. Hence the apostle felt the need of preparing the

way, by a just determination of its true nature, for his correction of this special error foisted on them.

This he proceeds to set before them that they might be clear in what was indisputable, and so the

better able to judge the delusion.

Their endurance and faith in all their persecutions and the distresses they were then enduring had

been already treated as, to him and those like-minded, an object of glorying in them among the

assemblies of God. He adds now, "a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that

ye be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which ye also suffer; if so be that it is a righteous

thing with God to recompense tribulation to those who trouble you, and to you that are troubled rest

with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with angels of his power in flaming fire,

rendering vengeance to those that know not God and to those that obey not the gospel of our Lord

Jesus" (ver. 5-8).

This moral dealing with their troubles was of the deepest moment. For even saints easily miss their

way in the prophetic word: but God abides and cannot deny Himself, as these saints ought not to have

forgotten. Now they might be to the uttermost tried, and evil in unrighteousness, deceit, or

oppression, might prosper for awhile; but even so the faithful are called to trust confidently and

rejoice exceedingly, reaping better blessings far than if all ran smoothly as the heart could wish. But

the righteous judgment of God is unshaken, and faith rests on it without wavering, but with a solemn

sense of what is at hand for violence no less than corruption, and especially for the hatred which

cannot endure the objects of God's love in an evil world, where they, however unwelcome, are seen

as lights, holding forth the word of life, not overcome of evil but overcoming it with good, and so

much the more intolerable to the evil heart of unbelief which either rejects God or departs from Him.

Does God then regard with indifference His children's persecutions and distresses? On the contrary

their patience and faith in all they are enduring is a demonstration of the just judgment of God; who,

if He tries the righteous, loves righteousness, beholds the upright, and will surely rain fire and

brimstone and a tempest of burning on the wicked. If he sees mischief, it is to requite it with His own

hand. But His children meanwhile are being disciplined in the ways of Christ; and as faith perseveres

without a sign, it may be, so patience must have its perfect work, that they may be perfect and

complete, lacking in nothing. And is it not well worth while? "To the end that ye be counted worthy of

the kingdom of God, for which also ye suffer." So it is His good and holy will: through many

tribulations we must enter into that kingdom. It was Christ's way, it is or should be ours. In that day

the darkness will pass for the world. All will be plain that is now obscure: uncertainty and

complication will be no more. For us the darkness passes away and the true light now shines; and we

who were once darkness are light in the Lord. Then for the world, and especially for that portion of it

which is now darkest and most embittered, the light will have come and the glory of Jehovah be risen

there.

But the very contrariety of the world now to God and to His children only the more proves that the

righteous Lord will surely intervene and vindicate in that day all that looks tangled now. One

understands easily that, if Satan is as God calls him the god of this age, it can only be in the age to

come when the Lord Jesus governs publicly and in power, that as a rule the wicked shall be put down

and the righteous prosper. The unbeliever is hardened at the sight of the just man perishing in his

righteousness, and of a wicked man prolonging his life in his wickedness. The believer awaits the

kingdom of God and suffers for its sake. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed

speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Unto the sons of God it

is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him but to suffer for Him. When the day comes

all will be changed.

"If so be [it is] a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to those that trouble you, and to

you that are troubled rest with us." This none can dispute who believes that God is, and that He is a

rewarder of those that seek Him out, and an avenger of all wrong against God and man. He is now

dealing in grace; in that day He will judge the habitable world (and the dead also in due time) in

righteousness by the Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance to all men in

that He hath raised Him from the dead. In that day, as even a godly Jew did know, He will be merciful

to His land and to His people, as surely as He will render vengeance to His enemies and reward those

that hate Him. What then will be His attitude toward the persecutors of His children and to those of

them who thus suffered? He will dispense to such as troubled them tribulation, and rest to His now

troubled children - rest with Paul and His companions in loving service for their sakes.

The danger is of allowing in this day of grace a judicial spirit, and this not only in our own minds like

the sons of Zebedee who would have called down fire from heaven to consume the adversaries, but

also in our interpretation of God's dealings with others if not with ourselves. The apostle would have

the saints bright in their severest troubles, joyfully anticipating the day of requital when the sufferings

of the saints shall be swallowed up in the glorious rest of the saints, the rest of God we may add,

while their troublers become the objects of His unsparing judgment. For it will be the day of God's

righteous award, in reversal of this day when Satan blinds princes and peoples, as he did when they

crucified the Lord of glory.

This being so, persecutions and trouble were no indications of the day of the Lord; rather were they

proofs that that day had not yet dawned and that grace still calls and would arm the saints unto all

endurance with joyfulness. How different it will be for saints and for sinners when that day of the

Lord is really come! How solemn yet blessed the change when the wicked fall into the hands of the

living God, who is not unrighteous to forget the work of faith and the labour of love on the part of His

children meanwhile called as they are to endure a great fight of afflictions!

For in that day of righteous judgment it will be a "revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with

angels of His power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to those that know not God, and to those

that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus."

It will be observed that not a word here hints that this is the moment when the Lord comes to gather

the saints to Himself. It is not the action of sovereign grace which translates the saints waiting for Him

to heaven, but the display of judicial righteousness by the Lord when He appears in glory. Then, and

not till then, will be the day of divinely apportioned trouble to the troublers, and of rest to the

troubled who suffered for Christ's sake and for righteousness. How unsuitable to be revealed "in

flaming fire with angels of power" to receive unto Himself the children of God, His bride, and to

present them with Himself in the Father's house!

Here it is a question of rendering vengeance, not to unbelievers distinguished by two marks, as Calvin

says, but to two distinct objects of judgment, "to those that know not God," the Gentiles, described

thus expressly in 1Th_4:5, and in substance throughout Scripture; "and to those who obey not the

gospel of our Lord Jesus," as the Jews might well be regarded, who, outwardly owning the true God

and boasting of His law, were now the most resolute, whether vehement or sullen, in disobeying the

gospel.

God is never indifferent to good or evil, and His children learn this and bow to it in His word now

knowing that, if they suffer with Christ, they shall also reign together. Their adversaries despise, hate,

and persecute His unwelcome witnesses of grace and truth, who seek to adorn the teaching of their

Saviour God in all things. Is this day of grace to go on indefinitely? Not so; that day hastens when His

judgment will be revealed. And as glory, honour, and peace will be the portion of every soul that does

good, so tribulation and anguish upon every one that doeth evil, to Jew and Gentile, for there is no

respect of persons: evil will be treated as nothing but evil, when the Lord arises to judge, and this in

the most manifest way before the universe.

Hence the importance, not only that sovereign grace should take to heaven the saints that are

awaiting Him, but that righteous judgment should be displayed at the revelation of the Lord Jesus

from heaven with angels of His power in flaming fire. For the day will then have come to render

vengeance to His and their enemies, whether they be Gentiles that know not God or they be Jews,

who (if not so ignorant as the nations) cannot deny that they obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

As a man cannot shake off his responsibility according to what he once knew of God (Rom_1:19-21)

and his conscience also as well as the law (Rom_2:12-15), so he must then be made to feel the guilt of

his unbelief in his insubjection to God's glad tidings concerning His Son. And this suitably comes into

manifestation before the world when Christ is no longer hidden in God but revealed from heaven, in

order to bring out and display the government of God in power and righteousness and peace; as all

the prophets bore witness from early days, and now the New Testament (so-called) sets its seal to the

Old.

Thus was the balance of truth readjusted in the souls of the Thessalonians, who had been led to fear

that their grievous troubles were the beginning of the day of the Lord. They were now to learn that

this could not possibly be true from the essential character of that day, as one of rest to the troubled

saints and of retributive trouble to their foes. For as it will be the time of divine recompence, so

infallibly the Judge of all the earth will do right. It is not that the saints might not individually go to be

with Christ meanwhile, nor even that He might not previously come for our gathering together unto

Him. But there will be no public display of their righteously awarded rest and of vengeance on their

adversaries till He is revealed thus in flaming fire. Such is the solemn fact, and this the distinctive

principle therein, and the result of the revelation of the Lord from heaven, as here made known to the

agitated saints in Thessalonica. The apostle too knew what tribulation was, and looked for this rest

with them, as they were entitled to expect it with him, in that day which was still before them all. But

as yet he and they were exposed to pass through trouble, and their persecutors were for the present

in honour and ease and power without God. In that day the tables will be turned, His friends at rest

and His enemies in trouble. It will be the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven in judgment of the

quick.

We have had the objects of the Lord's dealing at His revelation from heaven; and they are clearly His

enemies, in no way or degree His friends. It is His judgment of all the earth, Who cannot fail to do

right. This is made yet more apparent by the solemn description which follows: - "Who (, men

of the class which) shall pay as penalty everlasting destruction from [the] presence of the Lord and

from the glory of his might, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be wondered at in

all that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day. Whereunto we also pray

always for you, that our God may count you worthy of the calling and fulfil every good pleasure of

goodness and work of faith with power; so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,

and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and [the] Lord Jesus Christ." (Ver. 9-12).

Present tribulation then through persecutors differs essentially from the trouble of that day, which

shall fall not on saints but on those that hate and injure them. In that day their persecutors shall pay

the penalty of everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.

Like Mat_25:31-46, it is not the great white throne judgment of the wicked dead; it is the judgment of

the quick, yet is it final. Their perdition is irretrievable, being everlasting from His presence and from

the glory of His power; the wicked here (like apostates in Israel, Dan_12:2) are abandoned to shame

and everlasting contempt.

On the other hand, the Lord shall have come at that time to be glorified in His saints and to be

wondered at in all those that believed. Blessed prospect "in that day!" and comforting in this day for

the Thessalonians to hear themselves included, among those to be thus a marvel to His praise, for this

appears to be the gracious motive of the parenthesis, "because our testimony unto you was

believed." The saints in Thessalonica might have erred as to the dead, and been misled as to the

living; yet the apostle fails not to confirm their souls by the intimation that the divine testimony borne

by himself and others had not been in vain, but had really taken effect upon them.

The careful reader will observe that the Lord is not said in that day to come for the saints and receive

them to Himself, and present them in the Father's house, as in John 14. Here He will have come to be

glorified in them, and to be marvelled at in all those that believed. It is an evidently different and

subsequent part of His advent: not the hidden scene, so near to the Lord's desire, that where He is,

they also may be with Him, that they may behold His glory which the Father had given Him, but the

outer display, Christ in them and the Father in Him, when they are in glory thus perfected in one. So

we see in Rev_21:23-24. The world will then know thereby that the Father sent the Son and loved the

saints, appearing with Him in glory, even as He loved Him. Compare Joh_17:22-23. The translation of

His saints to heaven is one thing; quite another and subsequent is their appearing with Him in glory

and judgment of the world.

Further, it is interesting to notice the accuracy of the preterite "believed," instead of the "believe" of

the Received Text, in verse 10. The former is not only the reading in the Complutensian edition, but

that of all the uncials, almost all cursives, as well as the ancient versions and Fathers, unless a Latin

copy or two. Erasmus seems to have misled Stephens, Beza, and others, and so our Authorised

translators. No doubt the present is much the most frequent, but when the aorist occurs, there is

always a special propriety as here. For the glorious display, which is predicated of the saints, refers

with this reading expressly to the past believers' The importance of this becomes the more

impressive, on our learning that the great harvest of blessing for man on earth follows, He and the

glorified reigning over the world, when the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah (and of His

glory, Hab_2:14) as the waters cover the sea, Isa_11:9. In that day it will be no longer a question of

faith as now, and hence the monstrous error of the Peschito (not the Philoxenian) Syriac, etc., which

connect the believing of "our testimony" with that day, and thus make it future, in Pat contradiction

of the very Scripture before them. Whatever may be the dealings of grace in that day, the apostle

carefully restricts the faith and the glorious reward here described to a reception of the testimony

before the display of glory and of righteous judgment arrives.

Thus was the way gradually made plain for the more complete and decisive correction of the error

which had been foisted in at Thessalonica. The true nature of God's intervention has been cleared.

That day will be characterised by the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of His

power in flaming fire. This it would be hard for the most resolute spiritualiser to apply to any such

providential events as were then in progress, of which the enemy was taking advantage to mislead

the saints. Nor had men gone so far in those early days as in later, for such as Macknight to say, that,

when the apostles wrote, there were four comings of Christ to happen - three of them figurative, but

the fourth a real and personal appearing; that these different comings are frequently spoken of in

Scripture; and that, although the coming of Christ to destroy Jerusalem (!), and to establish His

everlasting kingdom! be represented by His apostles as then at hand, no passage from their writings

can be produced in which His personal appearance to judge the world is said or even insinuated to be

at hand! The truth is that it is one and the same appearing of the Lord which shall overthrow the last

head of Gentile power, destroy the man of sin, and display the saints in glory, as He will judge the

world in righteousness in that day also. Nothing can be farther from the truth than that the Spirit does

not speak of one and the same day, which is invariably declared to be at hand, not at a great distance.

Moreover, the presence of the Lord to gather His own to be with Him on high is not separate from the

various aspects of His appearing we have just enumerated, though necessarily anterior to them; for

they follow Him out of heaven for that day and appear with Him in glory, instead of being just then

caught up to meet Him. His coming for the saints is sovereign grace completing its work for us; His

revelation from heaven is to render vengeance to His enemies and be glorified in His saints in the

righteous and retributive government of that day.

Now the apostle lets the saints know his prayer for them, of course in view of their existing

circumstances and need. "Whereunto we also pray always for you, that our God may count you

worthy of the calling, and fulfil every good pleasure of goodness and work of faith in power, so that

the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God

and the Lord Jesus Christ." He had already, while introducing the preliminary topic of their

persecutions, sought to lift up their hearts by speaking of their endurance and faith in all such

troubles. It was a manifest token of God's righteous judgment to the end of their being counted

worthy of His kingdom, for which they too suffered, as the apostle might well remind them, instead of

their tribulation being an indication that God's judgments were let loose upon them. So now he also

prays always for them that God would count them worthy of the calling. Elsewhere we hear of "His"

calling, and of "your" calling, and again of "the calling wherewith ye are called." Here it seems better

to leave "the" in its own generality than to restrict it simply to "your."

The next clause is that He would bring to completion every good pleasure of goodness end work of

faith in power. Certainly this could not be, if they were driven from their steadfastness by listening to

the delusions of false teachers. Confidence in the Master's grace produces faithful service, and loves

to own that, whatever purpose of goodness may be, whatever work of faith, it is only God that fulfils

each and all in power; "so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in him,

according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." As He is not here in fact nor yet reigning

over the universe, the name of our Lord, the revelation of Himself, is given us that it may in the power

of the Spirit be glorified in us, as we serve the true God and await His Son from heaven. It is a

question of keeping His word and not denying His name, whatever the difficulty or discouragements.

But the apostle adds, "and ye in him," for his eye was ever on the bright day, and he would have

theirs drawn from their troubles, and every possible misconstruction of them, to that manifestation of

the glory of His might and righteousness. For as surely as His name is glorified in the saints now, still

more fully, yea absolutely, in that day shall they be glorified in Him, as He is in them (ver. 10). It is no

mere iteration of the previous intimation of the apostle, but fresh thoughts completing all, such as

only the inspiring Spirit could furnish. To say "in it," for "in Him," would be havoc with the truth in

general as well as the context; yet it has been said, doubtless through rage for novelty and lack of

appreciating the truth. May we be kept walking firmly in the truth according to the grace of our God

and the Lord Jesus Christ, even as the apostle prayed for his dear Thessalonians. It is an admirable

introduction, before directly touching the error by which they had been drawn aside from the

freshness of hope into agitation and fear, the result of a misjudgment of the deep trials that were

pressing on them.

It is needless to discuss here at length the true bearing of the last clause, which some, out of zeal for

the divine glory of our Lord, would have to designate His person only: "of our God and Lord Jesus

Christ." But, though this be grammatically a quite possible construction, as it is dogmatically also true

in itself, its contextual suitability is another matter. That one article in the singular rightly in Greek

designates even distinct persons if the object be to express their union in a common category (as here

in "grace"), ought to be known not only to scholars in general, but familiarly to all students of the

later body of revelation in its original tongue. Supposing God the Father to be here meant, as well as

the Lord Jesus Christ, the insertion of the Greek article was not required, though English needs "the"

before Lord Jesus Christ. On the contrary, its insertion in Greek would have been an intrusive error, if

both were expressly to be united in a common object; for the repeated article would have had for its

effect to present the persons as separate agents rather than as joined. And the nature of the case, as

well as the clearly revealed truth of Scripture, shows abundantly that the joint agency of these blessed

persons could not be, save in - that which lies behind all - the unity of the divine nature.

1 Paul, Silas[a] and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ:

1.BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus. (see 1Th_1:1-2).

The company which despatched the First Epistle had not yet broken up. This proves that the

Second Epistle was written before the end of the second missionary journey, for after that time

we do not read of Silvanus being in the company of St. Paul. The salutation is precisely the same

as in the First Epistle, save for the last clause of 2Th_1:2, which is wrongly added in that place,

but stands rightly here. (Canon Mason.)

2. CLARKE, Paul, and Silvanus, etc. - See the notes on 1Th_1:1. This epistle was written a short time after the former: and as Silas and Timothy were still at Corinth, the apostle joins their names with his own, as in the former case.

2B. PAUL KRETZMANN, This opening greeting agrees almost exactly with that of the first letter.

Paul again names Silvanus and Timothy, not as coauthors, but as companions and fellow-laborers, with

whose persons and work the Thessalonians were familiar from their labor in their own city. To the church,

or congregation, of the Thessalonians in God he addresses himself, calling Him our Father and placing

Jesus Christ the Lord on a level with Him. All believers are united by faith in Christ through the mercy of

God; in Christ they are all children of the heavenly Father. But they incidentally recognize Christ as their

Lord, under whom they have enlisted, under whose banners they are fighting. The apostle's salutation

names the greatest gifts, the highest spiritual benefits which may ever fall to the lot of sinful men: grace,

the free and unrestricted kindness and mercy of God which was earned for all men through the vicarious

work of Christ; peace from God the Father, since the payment of all our guilt through the blood of Jesus

has removed the cause of God's displeasure toward us and given us a perfect reconciliation. Again,

Jesus Christ the Lord is placed on the same level with the Father: He is true God from eternity with the

Father, in every way the Father's equal in majesty and power.

2C. G, RICHIESON, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the

Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

We come now to Pauls shortestshortestshortestshortest epistle.

The first two verses make up the salutationsalutationsalutationsalutation. This greeting is essentially the same as in First Thessalonians.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

These are the same three names found in 1 Thessalonians 1:1 . This was an effective

and powerful teamteamteamteam as we saw in our study of First Thessalonians. Paul, a leader, scholar and writer determined to spread the gospel throughout the Roman world.

Silvanus, a Hellenistic Jew, held a prominent part of the Council at Jerusalem. The Council asked him to accompany Paul and Barnabas to Antioch to strengthen the church there. He also joined Paul on his second missionary expedition.

He facilitatedfacilitatedfacilitatedfacilitated both Paul and Peter in the writing and delivery of their epistles.

Timothy was a vest pocket edition of the apostle Paul and Pauls son in the faith. His father was a Gentile and his mother a Jew. Timothy was a pastor and

a troubleshootertroubleshootertroubleshootertroubleshooter for Paul.

To the church of the ThessaloniansTo the church of the ThessaloniansTo the church of the ThessaloniansTo the church of the Thessalonians

Churches in the New Testament often named their churches based on the city or province where they were located (1 Corinthians 16:1 ; 2 Corinthians 8:1 ; Galatians

1:22 ). Paul maintained carecarecarecare for the Thessalonians. He did not love em and leave em. People that we influence for the Lord require our maintenance. Everyone goes through development aches and pains. Perfection is progressive, not instant.

in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

The church at Thessalonica was in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The

church had its origin in a sourcesourcesourcesource, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason that church existed was due to the ministry of the Father and Son. The Father had a mission for the Son. The Son fulfilled that mission. The church at Thessalonica was a result. God has a plan for every church.

Principle:Principle:Principle:Principle:

Our church is not ours but Gods.

Application:Application:Application:Application:

Your church belongs to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of this, we are under divine surveillance. We must remember that our church is not ours. When tempted to cause a problem in our church, we need to keep in mind that God keeps surveillance on it. We must keep that in mind when we want to give someone a piece of our mind. Our church is the church of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, not ours.

3. GILL, Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus,.... These are the persons concerned in this epistle, and who send their greetings and salutations to this church; Paul was the inspired writer of it, and who is called by his bare name, without any additional epithet to it, as elsewhere in his other epistles; where he is either styled the servant, or apostle, or prisoner of Christ, but here only Paul: the reason for it is variously conjectured; either because he was well known by this church, having been lately with them; or lest these young converts should be offended and stumble at any pompous title, which they might imagine carried an appearance of arrogance and pride; or because there were as yet no false apostles among them, who had insinuated anything to the disadvantage of Paul, as in other places, which obliged him to assert his character and magnify his office; or rather because this was the first epistle he wrote, and he being conscious to himself of his own meanness, and that he was the least of the apostles, and unworthy to be called one, chose not to use the title. Silvanus is the same with Silas, who was with the apostle at Thessalonica and at Corinth, when he wrote this epistle; he was originally a member of the church at Jerusalem, and was one of the chief of the brethren there, and a prophet; see Act_17:4, Timothy was also with the apostle at the same place, and was sent back by him from Athens to know their state, and returned to Corinth to him with Silas; he stands last, as being the younger, and perhaps was the apostle's amanuensis, and therefore in modesty writes his name last: the reason of their being mentioned was because, having been with the apostle at this place, they were well known by the church, who would be glad to hear of their welfare; as also to show their continued harmony and consent in the doctrines of the Gospel; they stand in the same order in 2Co_1:19, unto the church of the Thessalonians: which consisted of several of the inhabitants of Thessalonica, both Jews and Gentiles; See Gill on Act_17:4, who were called under the ministry of the word by the grace of God, out of darkness into marvellous light, and were separated from the rest of the world, and incorporated into a Gospel church state. This was a particular congregated church of Christ. Some have thought it was not as yet organized, or had proper officers in it; since no mention is made of pastors and deacons, but the contrary is evident from 1Th_5:12, where they are exhorted to know, own, and acknowledge them that laboured among them, and were over them in the Lord, and esteem them highly for their works' sake. This church is said to be in God the Father; were interested in his love and free favour, as appears by their election of God, 1Th_1:4, and they were in the faith of God the Father, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the profession of it, and so were distinguished from an assembly of Heathens that were in the faith of idols, and not of the one true and living God, and especially as the Father of Christ; they were in fellowship with God the Father, and they were drawn by the efficacy of his

grace to himself and to his Son, and were gathered together and embodied in a church state under his direction and influence; he was the author of them as a church, and they were plants of Christ's heavenly Father's planting, not to be plucked up; and they were, as the Arabic version renders it, "addicted" to God the Father; they were devoted to his service; they had his word among them, which they had received not as the word of men, but as the word of God; and his ordinances were duly and faithfully administered among them, and attended on by them: and in the Lord Jesus Christ; they were chosen in him before the foundation of the world; they were chosen in him as their head and representative; they were in him as members of his body, and as branches in the vine; they were openly in him by the effectual calling and conversion, were in the faith of him, and in the observance of his commands, an in communion with him; and so were distinguished from a Jewish synagogue or congregation: all this being true, at least of the far greater part of them, is said of them all, in a judgment of charity, they being under a profession of the Christian religion: grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the apostle's usual salutation and wish in all his epistles to the churches; See Gill on Rom_1:7, the words "from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" are left out in the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions; and the Arabic version omits the last clause, "and the Lord Jesus Christ"; and the Ethiopic version only reads, "peace be unto you and his grace".

4. HENRY, Here we have,

I. The introduction (2Th_1:1, 2Th_1:2), in the same words as in the former epistle, from which we may observe that as this apostle did not count it grievous to him to write the same things (Phi_3:1) in his epistles that he had delivered in preaching, so he willingly wrote the same things to one church that he did to another. The occurrence of the same words in this epistle as in the former shows us that ministers ought not so much to regard the variety of expression and elegance of style as the truth and usefulness of the doctrines they preach. And great care should be taken lest, from an affectation of novelty in method and phrases, we advance new notions or doctrines, contrary to the principles of natural or revealed religion, upon which this church of the Thessalonians was built, as all true churches are; namely, in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

II. The apostle's expression of the high esteem he had for them. He not only had a great affection for them (as he had expressed in his former epistle, and now again in his pious wish of grace and peace for them), but he also expresses his great esteem for them, concerning which observe,

1. How his esteem of them is expressed. (1.) He glorified God on their behalf: We are bound to

thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, 2Th_1:3. He chose rather to speak of what

was praiseworthy in them in a way of thanksgiving to God than by commendation of them; and,

as what he mentions was matter of his rejoicing, he accounted it matter of thanksgiving, and it

was meet or fit it should be so, for we are bound, and it is our duty, to be thankful to God for all

the good that is found in us or others: and it not only is an act of kindness to our fellow-

christians, but our duty, to thank God on their behalf. (2.) He also glories in them before the

churches of God, 2Th_1:4. The apostle never flattered his friends, but he took pleasure in

commending them, and speaking well of them, to the glory of God and for the excitement and

encouragement of others. Paul did not glory in his own gifts, nor in his labour among them, but

he gloried in the grace of God which was bestowed upon them, and so his glorying was good,

because all the commendation he gave to them, and the pleasure he took himself, centered in the

praise and glory of God.

5. JAMISON, 2Th_1:1-12. Address and salutation: Introduction: Thanksgiving for their growth in faith and love, and for their patience in persecutions, which are a token for good everlasting to them, and for perdition to their adversaries at Christs coming: Prayer for their perfection.

in God our Father still more endearing than the address, 1Th_1:1 in God THE Father.

5B. SBC, I. This Epistle opens with the mention of the same Apostolic group as does the first. Paul was not alone: Silvanus and Timotheus were still with him in closest fellowship of toil and suffering. The Church, too, is described in the same way. Still further, the Apostle gives expression, as before, so again, to his devout thankfulness to God for the graces of the new life which his converts exhibit. So far from there being any decline in these graces, there was conspicuous progress. In the Christian life it ought always to be so. True steadfastness is a standing fast, but it can never be a standing still. Continuance in all the elements of prosperity of soul, as regards both the individual and the community, is insured only by advancement in them. While the Apostle contemplates the increase of these Divine graces in his friends, he also recognises it as a special token of Divine goodness to himself. The exhibition of these graces on the dark background of suffering was not merely an exampleit was not only a spectacle which the heathen had never seen before (for their acts of heroic endurance had no root in patience and faith); it was distinctly a setting forth, an exhibition to all who had the eyes of their understanding enlightened, of the rectitude of Gods dealings.

II. "Rest with us." By the word "rest" Paul directs the thoughts of his reader forward and upward, "All but opening heaven already by his word." There is, indeed, a power in the word to comfort and sustain those in whose hearts burns "the hot fever of unrest." It is a word of promise to all faithful but weary workers in every noble cause. Erasmus once wrote "No one will believe how anxiously, for a long time, I have wished to retire from these labours into a scene of tranquillity, and for the rest of my life (dwindled, it is true, to the shortest space) to converse only with Him who once cried and who still cries, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. In this turbulent, and I may say, raging world, amid so many cares, which the state of the times heaps upon me in public, or which declining years or infirmities cause me in private, nothing do I find on which my mind can more comfortably repose than on this sweet communion with God." The pathetic longing of these words for a repose that comes not at mans call is yet to attain to satisfaction. When earth and time be passed away, "there remaineth a rest to the people of God."

J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 252.

5C. SPURGEON, 2Th_1:1-2. Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

All nations have their special forms of salutation, and this is the Christians greeting to his fellow-Christians, Grace unto you, and peace. How much there is in this prayer! grace the free favor of God, the active energy of the divine power; and peace reconciliation to God, peace of conscience, peace with all men. My brethren, what better things could I desire for you, and what better things could you wish for your best beloved friends than these, Grace unto you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ?

6. EBC, SALUTATION AND THANKSGIVING

IN beginning to expound the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, it is necessary to say a few words by way of introduction to the book as a whole. Certain questions occur to the mind whenever such a document as this is presented to it; and it will put us in a better position for understanding details if we first answer these. How do we know, for instance, that this Epistle is really the second to the Thessalonians? It has been maintained that it is the earlier of the two. Can we justify its appearance in the place which it usually occupies? I think we can. The tradition of the church itself counts for something. It is quite unmistakable, in other cases in which there are two letters addressed to the same people, - e.g., the Epistles to the Corinthians and to Timothy, -that they stand in the canon in the order of time. Presumably the same is the case here. Of course a tradition like this is not infallible, and if it can be proved false must be abandoned; but at the present moment, the tendency in most minds is to underestimate the historical value of such traditions; and, in the instance before us, tradition is supported by various indications in the Epistle itself. For example, in the other letter, Paul congratulates the Thessalonians on their reception of the gospel, and the characteristic experiences attendant upon it; here it is the wonderful growth of their faith, and the abounding of their love, which calls forth his thanksgiving, -surely a more advanced stage of Christian life being in view. Again, in the other Epistle there are slight hints of moral disorder, due to misapprehension of the Lords Second Coming; but in this Epistle such disorder is broadly exposed and denounced; the Apostle has heard of unruly busybodies, who do no work at all; he charges them in the name of the Lord Jesus to change their conduct, and bids the brethren avoid them, that they may be put to shame. Plainly the faults as well as the graces of the church are seen here at a higher growth. Once more, in 2Th_2:15 of this letter, there is reference to instruction which the Thessalonians have already received from Paul in a letter; and though he may quite conceivably have written them letters which no longer exist, still the natural reference of these words is to what we call the First Epistle. If anything else were needed to prove that the letter we are about to study stands in its right place, it might be found in the appeal of 2Th_2:1. "Our gathering together unto Him" is the characteristic revelation of the other, and therefore the earlier letter.

But though this Epistle is certainly later than the other, it is not much later. The Apostle has still the same companions-Silas and Timothy-to join in his Christian greeting. He is still in Corinth or its neighbourhood; for we never find these two along with him but there. The gospel, however, has spread beyond the great city, and taken root in other places, for he boasts of the Thessalonians and their graces in the "churches" of God. His work has so far progressed as to excite opposition; he is in personal peril, and asks the prayers of the Thessalonians, that he may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men. If we put all these things together, and remember the duration of Pauls stay in Corinth, we may suppose that some months separated the Second Epistle from the First.

What, now, was the main purpose of it? What had the Apostle in his mind when he sat down to write? To answer that, we must go back a little way.

A great subject of apostolic preaching at Thessalonica had been the Second Advent. So characteristic was it of the gospel message, that Christian converts from heathenism are defined as those who have turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven. This waiting, or expectation, was the characteristically Christian attitude; the Christians hope was hidden in heaven, and he could not but look up and long for its appearing. But this attitude became strained, under various influences. The Apostles teaching was pressed, as if he had said, not only that the day of the Lord was coming, but that it was actually here. Men, affecting to speak through the Spirit, patronised such fanaticism. We see from 2Th_2:2

that pretended words of Paul were put in circulation; and what was more deliberately wicked, a forged epistle was produced, in which his authority was claimed for this transformation of his doctrine. Weak-minded people were carried off their feet, and bad-hearted people feigned an exaltation they did not feel; and both together brought discredit on the church, and injured their own souls, by neglecting the commonest duties. Not only decorum and reputation were lost, but character itself was endangered. This was the situation to which Paul addressed himself.

We do not need to be fastidious in dealing with the Apostles teaching on the Second Advent; our Saviour tells us that of the day and the hour no man knows, nor angel; nay, not even the Son, but the Father only. Certainly St. Paul did not know; and almost as certainly, in the ardour of his hope, he anticipated the end sooner than it was actually to arrive. He spoke of himself as one who might naturally enough expect to see the Lord come again; and it was only as experience brought him new light that in his later years he began to speak of a desire to depart, and to be with Christ. Not to die, had been his earlier hope, but to have the mortal being swallowed up of life; and it was this earlier hope he had communicated to the Thessalonians. They also hoped not to die; as the sky grew darker over them with affliction and persecution, their heated imaginations saw the glory of Christ ready to break through for their final deliverance. The present Epistle puts this hope, if one may say so, to a certain remove. It does not fix the date of the Advent; it does not tell us when the day of the Lord shall come; but it tells us plainly that it is not here yet, and that it will not be here till certain things have first happened. What these things are is by no means obvious; but this is not the place to discuss the question. All we have to notice is this: that with a view to counteracting the excitement at Thessalonica, which was producing bad consequences, St. Paul points out that the Second Advent is the term of a moral process, and that the world must run through a spiritual development of a particular kind before Christ can come again. The first Advent was in the fulness of the times; so will the second be; and though he might not be able to interpret all the signs, or tell when the great day would dawn, he could say to the Thessalonians, "The end is not yet."

This, I say, is the great lesson of the Epistle, the main thing which the Apostle has to communicate to the Thessalonians. But it is preceded by what may be called, in a loose sense, a consolatory paragraph, and it is followed up by exhortations, the same in purport as those of the First Epistle, but more peremptory and emphatic. The true preparedness for the Lords Second Coming is to be sought, he assures them, not in this irrational exaltation, which is morally empty and worthless, but in diligent, humble, faithful performance of duty; in love, faith, and patience.

The greeting with which the Epistle opens is almost word for word the same as that of the First Epistle. It is a church which is addressed; and a church subsisting in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle has no other interest in the Thessalonians than as they are Christian people. Their Christian character and their Christian interests are the only things he cares for. One could wish it were so among us. One could wish our relation to God and His Son were so real and so dominant that it gave us an unmistakable character, in which we might naturally address each other, without any consciousness or suspicion of unreality. With every desire to think well of the Church, when we look to the ordinary tone of conversation and of correspondence among Christians, we can hardly think that this is so. There is an aversion to such directness of speech as was alone natural to the Apostle. Even in church meetings there is a disposition to let the Christian character fall into the background; it is a sensible relief to many to be able to think of those about them as ladies and gentlemen, rather than as brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet it is this last relation only in virtue of which we form a church; it is the interests of this relation that our intercourse with one another as Christians is designed to serve. We ought not to look in the Christian assembly for what it was never meant to be, -for a society to further the temporal interests of its members; for an educational institution, aiming at the general enlightenment of those who frequent its meetings; still less, as some seem to be inclined to do, for a purveyor of innocent amusements: all these are simply beside the mark; the Church

is not called to any such functions; her whole life is in God and Christ; and she can say nothing and do nothing for any man until his life has been brought to this source and centre. An apostolic interest in the Church is the interest of one who cares only for the relation of the soul to Christ; and who can say no more to those he loves best than John says to Gaius, "Beloved, I pray that in all things thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."

It is in accordance with this Spirit that the Apostle wishes the Thessalonians not any outward advantages, but grace and peace. Grace and peace are related as cause and effect. Grace is Gods unmerited love, His free and beautiful goodness to the sinful; and when men receive it, it bears the fruit of peace. Peace is a far bigger word in the Bible than in common usage; and it has its very largest sense in these salutations, where it represents the old Hebrew greeting "Shalom." Properly speaking, it means completeness, wholeness, health-the perfect soundness of the spiritual nature. This is what the Apostle wishes for the Thessalonians. Of course, there is a narrower sense of peace, in which it means the quieting of the perturbed conscience, the putting away of the alienation between the soul and God; but that is only the initial work of grace, the first degree of the great peace which is in view here. When grace has had its perfect work, it results in a more profound and steadfast peace, -a soundness of the whole nature, a restoration of the shattered spiritual health, which is the crown of all Gods blessings. There is a vast difference in the degrees of bodily health between the man who is chronically ailing, always anxious, nervous about himself, and unable to trust himself if any unexpected drain is made upon his strength, and the man who has solid, unimpaired health, whose heart is whole within him, and who is not shaken by the thought of what may be. It is this radical soundness which is really meant by peace; thorough spiritual health is the best of Gods blessings in the Christian life, as thorough bodily health is the best in the natural life. Hence the Apostle wishes it for the Thessalonians before everything else; and wishes it, as alone it can come, in the train of grace. The free love of God is all our hope. Grace is love imparting itself, giving itself away, as it were, to others, for their good. Only as that love comes to us, and is received in its fulness of blessing into our hearts, can we attain that stable spiritual health which is the end of our calling.

The salutation is followed, as usual, by a thanksgiving, which at the first glance seems endless. One long sentence runs, apparently without interruption, from the third verse to the end of the tenth. But it is plain, on a more attentive glance, that the Apostle goes off at a tangent; and that his thanksgiving is properly contained in the third and fourth verses: "We are bound to give thanks to God alway for you, brethren, even as it is meet, for that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the love of each one of you all toward one another aboundeth; so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which ye endure." It is worthy of remark that the mere existence of faults in a church never blinded the Apostle to its graces. There was much in this congregation to rectify, and a good deal to censure; there were ignorance, fanaticism, falsehood, sloth, unruliness; but though he knew of them all, and would rebuke them all before he had done, he begins with this grateful acknowledgment of a Divine work among them. It is not merely that Paul was constitutionally of a bright temperament, and looked naturally on the promising side of things, -I hardly think he was, - but he must have felt it was undutiful and unbecoming to say anything at all to Christian people, who had once been pagans, without thanking God for what He had done for them. Some of us have this lesson to learn, especially in regard to missionary and evangelistic work and its results. We are too ready to see everything in it except what is of God, -the mistakes made by the worker, or the misconceptions in new disciples that the light has not cleared up, and the faults of character that the Spirit has not overcome; and when we fix our attention on these things, it is very natural for us to be censorious. The natural man loves to find fault; it gives him at the cheapest rate the comfortable feeling of superiority. But it is a malignant eye which can see and delight in nothing but faults; before we comment on deficiencies or mistakes which have only become visible against the background of the new life,

let us give thanks to God that the new life, in however lowly and imperfect a form, is there. It need not yet appear what it shall be. But we are bound, by duty, by truth, by all that is right and seemly, to say, Thanks be to God for what He has begun to do by His grace. There are some people who should never see half-done work; perhaps the same people should be forbidden to criticise missions either at home or abroad. The grace of God is not responsible for the faults of preachers or of converts; but it is the source of their virtues; it is the fountain of their new life; it is the hope of their future; and unless we welcome its workings with constant thanksgiving, we are in no spirit in which it can work through us.

But let us see for what fruit of grace the Apostle gives thanks here. It is because the faith of the Thessalonians grows exceedingly, and their mutual love abounds. In a word, it is for their progress in the Christian character. Here is a point of the first interest and importance. It is the very nature of life to grow; when growth is arrested, it is the beginning of decay. I would not like to fall into the very fault I have been exposing, and speak as if there were no progress, among Christians in general, in faith and love; but one of the discouragements of the Christian ministry is undoubtedly the slowness, or it may be the invisibility, not to say the absence, of growth. At a certain stage in the physical life, we know, equilibrium is attained: we are at the maturity of our powers; our faces change little, our minds change little; the tones of our voices and the character of our handwriting are pretty constant; and when we get past that point, the progress is backward. But we can hardly say that this is an analogy by which we may judge the spiritual life. It does not run its full course here. It has not a birth, a maturity, and an inevitable decay, within the limits of our natural life. There is room for it to grow and grow unceasingly, because it is planned for eternity, and not for time. It should be in continual progress, ever improving, advancing from strength to strength. Day by day and year by year Christians should become better men and better women, stronger in faith, richer in love. The very steadiness and uniformity of our spiritual life has its disheartening side. Surely there is room, in a thing so great and expansive as life in Jesus Christ, for fresh developments, for new manifestations of trust in God, for new enterprises prompted and sustained by brotherly love. Let us ask whether we ourselves, each in his own place, face the trials of our life, its cares, its doubts, its terrible certainties, with a more unwavering faith in God than we had five years ago? Have we learned in that interval, or in all the years of our Christian profession, to commit our life more unreservedly to Him, to trust Him to undertake for us, in our sins, in our weakness, in all our necessities, temporal and spiritual? Have we become more loving than we were? Have we overcome any of our irrational and unchristian dislikes? Have we made advances, for Christs sake and His Churchs, to persons with whom we were at variance, and sought in brotherly love to foster a warm and loyal Christian feeling in the whole body of believers? God be thanked, there are some who know what faith and love are better than they once did; who have learned-and it needs learning-what it is to confide in God, and to love others in Him; but could an Apostle thank God that this advance was universal, and that the charity of everyone of us all was abundant to all the rest?

The apostolic thanksgiving is supplemented in this particular ease by something, not indeed alien to it, yet on a quite different level-a glorying before men. Paul thanked God for the increase of faith and love at Thessalonica; and when he remembered that he himself had been the means of converting the Thessalonians, their progress made him fond and proud; he boasted of his spiritual children in the churches of God. "Look at the Thessalonians," he said to the Christians in the south; "you know their persecutions, and the afflictions they endure; yet their faith and patience triumph over all; their sufferings only serve to bring their Christian goodness to perfection." That was a great thing to be able to say; it would be particularly telling in that old pagan world, which could meet suffering only with an inhuman defiance or a resigned indifference; it is a great thing to be able to say yet. It is a witness to the truth and power of the gospel, of which its humblest minister may feel justly proud, when the new spirit which it

breathes into men gives them the victory over sorrow and pain. There is no persecution now to test the sincerity or the heroism of the Church as a whole; but there are afflictions still; and there must be few Christian ministers but thank God, and would do it always, as is meet, that He has allowed them to see the new life develop new energies under trial, and to see His children out of weakness made strong by faith and hope and love in Christ Jesus. These things are our true wealth and strength, and we are richer in them than some of us are aware. They are the mark of the gospel upon human nature; wherever it comes, it is to be identified by the combination of affliction and patience, of suffering, and spiritual joy. That combination is peculiar to the kingdom of God: there is not the like found in any other kingdom on earth. Blessed, let us say, be the God and Father Of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us such proofs of His love and power among us; He only doeth such: wondrous things; let the earth be filled with His glory.

7. MEYER, FAITHFUL THROUGH FAITH IN A RIGHTEOUS GOD

2Th_1:1-12

Notice the remarkable couplets of this chapter. Grace and peace, 2Th_1:2; faith and love, 2Th_1:3; faith and patience, 2Th_1:4; tribulation for those who trouble, and rest for those who are troubled, 2Th_1:6-7; know not, obey not, 2Th_1:8; the presence of the Lord, the glory of His power, 2Th_1:9; glorified and admired, 2Th_1:10; the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith, 2Th_1:11. Like mirrors that face each other, these words flash back and forth their depths of sacred significance.

What marvelous scenes the future conceals for believers!-such as rest for the weary, palms of victory for the defeated, glory for the name and cause of Christ, and, above all, the revelation of that dear Presence with which we have been so constantly in touch. But how inexpressibly awful and terrible, on the other hand, the fate of the willful rejecters of the love of God!

The final prayer has always been highly prized by Gods people. If they shall ever be worthy of their high calling, it is for Him to make them so. His being glorified and admired in His saints is not a far-off event, but one within the possibilities of the present hour; and the name of Jesus may be magnified here and now in us, as it will be finally and more perfectly. Compare II Thessalon ians 1:10, 12.

8. CALVIN, THE ARGUMENT ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS.

It does not appear to me probable that this Epistle was sent from Rome, as the Greek manuscripts

commonly bear; for he would have made some mention of his bonds, as he is accustomed to do in other

Epistles. Besides, about the end of the third Chapter, he intimates that he is in danger from

unreasonable (625) men. From this it may be gathered, that when he was going to Jerusalem, he wrote

this Epistle in the course of the journey. It was also from an ancient date a very generally received opinion

among the Latins, that it was written at Athens. The occasion, however, of his writing was this that the

Thessalonians might not reckon themselves overlooked, because Paul had not visited them, when

hastening to another quarter. In the first Chapter, he exhorts them to patience. In the second, a vain and

groundless fancy, which had got into circulation as to the coming of Christ being at hand, is set aside by

him by means of this argument that there must previously to that be a revolt in the Church, and a great

part of the world must treacherously draw back from God, nay more, that Antichrist must reign in the

temple of God. In the third Chapter, after having commended himself to their prayers, and having in a few

words encouraged them to perseverance, he commands that those be severely chastised who live in

idleness at the expense of others. If they do not obey admonitions, he teaches that they should be

excommunicated.

1To the Church of the Thessalonians which is in God. As to the form of salutation, it were superfluous to

speak. This only it is necessary to notice that by a Church in God and Christ is meant one that has not

merely been gathered together under the banner of faith, for the purpose of worshipping one God the

Father, and confiding in Christ, but is the work and building as well of the Father as of Christ, because

while God adopts us to himself, and regenerates us, we from him begin to be in Christ. (1Co_1:30)

2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the

Lord Jesus Christ.

1.BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, aul, and Silvanus and Timotheus to the Church of the Thessalonians. After the usual superscription in which St. Paul associates with himself his two missionary companions, we have.

I. The apostolic greeting.

1. Grace and peace blends the Greek and Hebrew modes of salutation, that union of Asiatic repose and European alacrity. But these formulae had become like some precious antique vases, prized for their beauty more than their use, and empty of significance or at least of blessing. But now they are lifted into a higher sphere and attain a holier meaning, grace representing gospel blessing as coming from the heart of God; peace, gospel blessing as abiding in the heart of man; embracing together the fulness of salvation. The right reception of them brings the peace of inward conscience, of brotherly love, of eternal glory.

2. This grace and peace

(1) come from God the Father as the source of all good. No designation brings God nearer the heart than that favourite one of Pauls, the God of peace. It can never come through ourselves or others.

(2) It comes through Him who is our Peace, who reconciles things on earth and things in heaven (Rom_5:1).

(3) When we receive the adoption we have the peace which passed all understanding.

II. The apostolic prayerfulness.

1. Pauls life was one of unexampled activity. The care of all the churches rested on him. But he was not too busy to pray. The busier a servant of God is, the more prayerful he needs to be. Devotion and labour are two sides of the one renewed life. With the Word the preacher influences the world; with prayer he influences heaven. But the intimation here is that Paul had his stated seasons for prayer. It was said of him at his conversion, Behold he prayeth, and ever after the words held good.

2. But in Pauls prayers the element of thanksgiving was always present.

(1) No prayer can be complete without it. It is peculiarly characteristic of Christian prayer. There are prayers in Homers poems, but how few thanksgivings. The Gentile world glorified Him not, neither were thankful.

(2) This thanksgiving, was for others. It sprang from his loving contemplation of the Thessalonians excellences. While prayer for others is common, gratitude for others is rare. It is a duty, notwithstanding, arising from a community of interest in each others welfare.

III. The apostolic congratulation. He has much to say in reproof, so he will begin with praise. This was Christs method towards the Seven Churches. Let the same mind be in us.

1. The ground of his commendation, the three graces of the renewed lifenot in themselves however, but as they manifest themselves in the life.

(1) Your work of faith, i.e. the work which faith produces. Wherever faith is it works onwards to this. This is the Christians duty towards self.

(2) Labour of love is his duty towards his neighbour. Love is infused by God and effused in good works.

(3) Patience of hope is duty in reference to the future and towards God. Manly endurance under trial and stedfast expectation of a happy issue when the just and gentle monarch shall come to terminate the evil and diadem the right.

2. These graces exist and prove their existence

(1) In our Lord Jesus Christ. All three proceed from Him as their origin and terminate in Him as their end.

(2) In the sight of God the Father. This is true of evil works as well as good, but the thought brings no peace to the evil worker, whereas it is the joy and life of the Christian. (J. Hutchison, D. D.)

In God the Father

A man cannot be as a house with doors and windows closed against the light, yet standing in the midst of light. A ship may take refuge in a harbour without receiving anyone on board or sending anyone ashore; but a man cannot so deal with God; he cannot take refuge in God without letting God in. The diver goes down into the water to find treasure, but carefully excludes the water; a man cannot so deal with God and the treasures hid in God. In the very act of finding safety and rest in God he must open his soul to God. (J. Leckie, D. D.)

The introduction to the Epistle

I. A specification of the persons from; whom the letter went.

1. The name of Paul stands first because

(1) He only possessed full apostolic authority.

(2) He alone wrote or dictated the Epistle (1Th_2:8; 1Th_3:5; 1Th_5:27).

2. The connection of Silvanus and Timotheus with Paul and with the Thessalonians is illustrated in the Acts. When Paul set out from Antioch on his second tour, he chose Silas to attend him (Act_15:34; Act_15:40). In the course of their journey they met with Timothy (Act_15:1-3). The three proceeded to Troas (Act_16:8-9), where they crossed the sea and conveyed the gospel to several Macedonian towns. On leaving Philippi, Paul and Silas, if not Timothy, proceeded to Thessalonica (Act_17:1-9). Silas and Timothy remain behind at Berea (Act_17:13-14). Paul proceeded to Athens and Corinth. (Act_17:15; Act_18:1). Here Silas and Timothy, the latter of whom had been sent from Athens to encourage and confirm the Thessalonians, at length rejoined him, and here Paul wrote the Epistle.

3. These details account for three things in this specification.

(1) How natural it was for Paul to address a letter so paternal to a Church he was instrumental in founding.

(2) How appropriate that he should associate with himself men who had been active in ministering to the Thessalonians.

(3) How fitting that Silas the elder should take precedence of Timothy (2Co_1:19).

II. The persons to whom the epistle was sent.

1. Thessalonica was a town of Macedonia. Anciently it bore the names, successively, of Eurathia and Therma. It was restored and enlarged by Cassander, and was called Thessalonica after his spouse, the daughter of King Philip, or, according to another opinion, from a victory which Philip himself achieved. It was a rich commercial city, distinguished for profligacy. It is now called Salonichi, and retains considerable traces of its ancient splendour.

2. There Paul preached on successive occasions in the Jewish synagogue. His doctrine is specified in Act_17:2-3, and his success in Act_17:4. But idolaters were also converted (1Th_1:9).

3. The combined converts formed a Church.

(1) The word means called out, and is used to denote an assembly of persons. The Thessalonian Christians had been set apart by a Divine call in respect of faith, character and profession, and were associated as a religious brotherhood, a commonwealth of saints.

(2) This Church was in God the Father, signifying intimacy of relation. They were protected by His power, guided by His counsel, and cherished by His grace.

(3) In the Lord Jesus Christ denotes the union between Christ and believers, elsewhere likened to that subsisting between the vine and the branches, the members and the head, etc.

III. The blessings invoked.

1. Grace: the favour of God.

2. Peace.

(1) Quiet and tranquillity.

(2) Prosperity (Psa_122:6-7; 3Jn_1:2). (A. S. Patterson, D. D.)

Phases of apostolic greeting

I. It is harmonious in its outflow.

1. Paul, though the only apostle of the three, did not assume the title or display any superiority. The others had been owned of God equally with himself in Thessalonica and were held in high esteem by the converts. Timothy was only a young man, and it is a significant testimony to his character that he should be associated with men so distinguished. Each had his distinctive individuality, talent, and mode of working; but there was an emphatic unity of purpose in bringing about results.

2. The association also indicated perfect accord in the Divine character of Pauls doctrines. Not that it gave additional value to them. Truth is vaster than the individual, whatever gifts he possesses or lacks.

3. What s suggestive lesson of confidence and unity was taught the Thessalonians by the harmonious example of their teachers.

II. Recognizes the Churchs sublime origin.

1. The Church is divinely founded. In denotes intimate union with God, and is equivalent to Joh_17:21.

2. The Church is divinely sustained. Founded in God, it is upheld by Him. Thus the Church survives opposition, and the fret and wear of change. But this is withdrawn from apostate churches.

III. Supplicates the highest blessings.

1. Grace includes all temporal good and all spiritual benefits. The generosity of God knows no stint. A monarch once threw open his gardens to the public during the summer months. The gardener, finding it troublesome, complained that the visitors plucked the flowers. What, said the king, are my people fond of flowers? Then plant some more! So our Heavenly King scatters on our daily path the flowers of blessing, and as fast as we can gather them, in spite of the grudging world.

2. Peace includes all the happiness resulting from a participation in the Divine favour.

(1) Peace with God, with whom sin has placed us in antagonism.

(2) Peace of conscience.

(3) Peace one with another.

3. The source and medium of all the blessings desired. From God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jew 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 Fathers love and the Sons work are the sole source and cause of every Christian blessing.

Learn

1. The freeness and fulness of the gospel.

2. The spirit we should cultivate towards others: that of genuine Christian benevolence and sympathy. We can supplicate for others no higher good than grace and peace. (G. Barlow.)

The pastors prayer

I. The blessings desired.

1. Their nature.

(1) Grace.

(2) Peace.

2. Their connection.

(1) Grace may exist without peace, but not peace without grace.

(2) Yet peace flows from grace.

II. Their source.

1. God the Father is the Fountain of all grace.

2. Christ is the Medium of communication.

III. Their supply.

1. Free.

2. Sufficient for all.

3. Constant.

4. Inexhaustible. (J. Lyth, D. D.)

Timotheus

was a Lyconian born in Derbe or Lystra, where he was religiously trained. He was probably converted by St. Paul during his first visit to Lycaonia (A.D. 45, Act_14:6-7). He was taken on a second visit to be Pauls companion, and circumcised (A.D. 51, Act_16:1, etc.). He was sent from Bares to Thessalonica (Act_17:14; 1Th_3:2); with Silas he rejoins Paul at Corinth (A.D. 52, Act_18:5; 1Th_3:6) and remains with Paul (1Th_1:1; 2Th_2:1). He was with Paul at Ephesus (A.D. 57, Act_19:22; and was sent thence to Corinth (Act_19:22; 1Co_4:17; 1Co_16:10). He is again with Paul (A.D. 58, 2Co_1:1; Rom_16:21). He journeys with Paul from Corinth to Asia (Act_20:4); and is with Paul in Rome (A.D. 62 or 63, Php_1:1; Col_1:1; Phm_1:1). Henceforth his movements are uncertain (A.D. 68-66). He is probably left by Paul in charge of the Church at Ephesus (A.D. 66 or 67; 1 Timothy); received the second Epistle, and sets out to join Paul at Rome (A.D. 67 or 68). Ecclesiastical tradition makes him first bishop of Ephesus and to suffer martyrdom under Domitian or Nerva. (Bleek.)

Silvanus

or Silas was an eminent member of the early Christian Church. The first, which in his full name, is given him in the Epistles, the latter contraction by the Acts. He appears as one of the leaders of the Church at Jerusalem (Act_15:22), holding the office of inspired teacher. His name, derived from the Latin silva wood, betokens him a Hellenistic Jew, and he appears to have been a Roman citizen (Act_16:37). He appointed a delegate to accompany Paul and Barnabas on their return from Antioch with the decree of the council of Jerusalem (Act_15:22; Act_15:32). Having accomplished this mission, he returned to Jerusalem (Act_15:33). He must however have immediately revisited Antioch, for we find him selected by St. Paul as the companion of his

second missionary journey (Act_15:40; Act_17:4). At Beroea he was left behind with Timothy while Paul proceeded to Athens (Act_17:14), and we hear nothing more of his movements until he rejoined the apostle at Corinth (Act_18:5). Whether he had followed Paul to Athens in obedience to the injunction to do so (Act_17:15), and had been sent thence with Timothy to Thessalonica (1Th_3:2), or whether his movements were wholly independent of Timothys, is uncertain. His presence at Corinth is several times noticed (2Co_1:19; 1Th_1:1; 2Th_2:1). He probably returned to Jerusalem with Paul, and from that time the connection between them seems to have terminated. Whether he was the Silvanus who conveyed 1 Peter to Asia Minor (1Pe_5:2) is doubtful. The probabilities are in favour of the identity. A tradition of slight authority represents Silas as Bishop of Corinth. (W. L. Bevan, M. A.)

To the Church

in Galatians, Corinthians and Thessalonians, but to the Saints in Romans, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. It is remarkable that this change of form should take place in all the later Epistles; perhaps because the apostle, more or less in his later years, invested the Church on earth with the attributes of the Church in heaven. The word ecclesia is used in the LXX for the congregation, indifferently with synagogue. It is found also in Matthew, in the Epistles of John and James as well as in Hebrews and Revelation. It could not, therefore, have belonged to any one party or division of the Church. In the time of St. Paul, it was the general term, and was gradually appropriated to the Christian Church. All the sacred associations with which that was invested as the body of Christ were transferred to it, and the words synagogue and ecclesia soon became as distinct as the things to which they were applied. The very rapidity with which ecclesia acquired its new meaning, is a proof of the life and force which from the first the thought of communion with one another must have exerted on the minds of the earliest believers. Some indication of the transition is traceable in Heb_2:12, where the words of Psa_22:23 are adopted in a Christian sense; also in Heb_12:23, where the Old and New Testament meanings of ecclesia are similarly blended. (Prof. Jowett.)

The note of a true Church

There were heathen assemblies in Thessalonica, numerous and powerful; b