EXPOSITION OF SECOND
THESSALONIANS.
I.
THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH.
GOD'S IMPARTIAL JUDGMENT.
1:1-12.
1 Paul, and
Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; 2 Grace to you and peace
from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [For a similar salutation,
see 1 Thess. 1:1.] 3 We are bound to give
thanks to God always for you, brethren, even as it is meet [just],
for that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the love
of each one of you all toward one another aboundeth
[Paul acknowledged himself obliged to give thanks because his prayer at 1 Thess. 3:12, 13 had been answered by the Thessalonians doing
the things which he prayed they might do. Thus he very forcefully recognizes the
good in his converts that he may be listened to with patience when he begins to
correct their faults]; 4 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 [The faith and love of
the Thessalonians were such that, spontaneously, of their own accord, Paul and
his companions delighted to tell of it to the churches at Corinth,
Cenchreæ and in other parts of Achaia. Though the persecutions which
arose while Paul was in Thessalonica were still continuing, yet they neither
exhausted the patience of the Christians so as to drive them to forsake God, nor
their faith so as to lead them to mistrust God. We should [30]
observe that the churches are commonly called, by Paul, as here, churches of
God, though sometimes churches of Christ];
5 which is a manifest token of the righteous
judgment of God; to the end that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God,
for which ye also suffer: 6 if so be that it is a righteous
thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, 7 and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the
revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming
fire, 8 rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and
to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus [The patience and faith
of the Thessalonians were a manifest token (i. e.,
pledge, proof or demonstration) of that coming day wherein God will disclose the
righteousness of his judgments, and wherein all apparent violations of justice
shall be rectified (Eccl. 3:16, 17; Phil. 1:28). The purpose of this judgment
will be that those who suffer for the kingdom of God may graciously be counted
worthy of the heavenly joys of that kingdom, and that the wicked may be
punished. If it is indeed a righteous thing (and who can doubt it?) for God to
recompense evil for evil, so that those who afflict the righteous shall
themselves be afflicted, and those who have suffered affliction for
righteousness' sake may find rest with their fellow-Christians when Jesus, who
is now hidden from their sight in heaven, reveals himself to human vision with
the angels which display his power, and with that flaming fire which at once
shows forth his glory and consumes his enemies (Heb. 10:27; 12:29), rendering
vengeance as a great judge, not as a resentful potentate, to them that willfully
know not God--Ex. 5:2; Rom. 1:28; Luke 12:47, 48; Rom. 2:14, 15 (principally
Gentiles), and them that obey not the gospel (principally Jews)--Rom. 10:3, 16.
In verse 6 Paul draws a comparison between the law which forbids retaliation to
the individual (Rom. 12:17), and that which accords it to all government,
especially the government of God himself, under whose rule unforgiven iniquity never escapes punishment [31] (Heb. 2:2; Rev. 20:12). He does this to show that God is under
the second and not under the first law. In verse 7 we are reminded that the
negative happiness of heaven is rest from all afflictions, sorrows, pains,
persecutions, etc. (Heb. 4:9; Rev. 14:13; 21:4). It is the quiet haven of the
storm-tossed bark. Continuing the thought, Paul says further of the objects of
God's vengeance--]: 9 who shall suffer
punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from
the glory of his might, 10 when he shall come to be
glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all
them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day.
[In that day when Jesus comes to be glorified, those who refuse to know God, and
those who disobey the gospel, shall receive a punishment which is here clearly
described as eternal. The word "destruction" imports the wreck or dissolution of
the organism, but not the annihilation of the essence. The rest of the sentence
implies banishment and separation from the presence of the Lord with all its
joys, and from all participation in that manifestation of his power which will
show itself in the glorification of his redeemed (Matt. 25:41; Col. 3:4). The
latter thought is expanded by Paul throughout the remainder of the chapter. In
that day Jesus shall be "marvelled
at in all them that believe," because they shall reflect his glory as a mirror
gives back the radiance of the sun (2 Cor. 3:18). The
parenthesis ("because," etc.) is injected into the thought for the purpose of
identifying the Thessalonians with the believers, and so with the glorification
promised to believers.] 11 To which end [i. e.,
with a view to this glorious consummation; viz.: of being glorified in Christ]
we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling,
and fulfil every desire of goodness and every work of
faith, with power; 12 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. [Paul prays that the Thessalonians may be counted worthy
of the gospel invitation, so that they may [32] receive,
according to the fullness of God's limitless power, all the blessings to which
they have been invited; viz.: all the graces and glories that ever the goodness
of God desired to bestow, and every aspiration or heavenly ideal for which their
own faith prompted them to strive; that thus their lives might glorify Christ,
and be glorified by Christ, according to the gracious purposes of God in Christ.
Jesus is glorified in his saints by their reflection, and the saints are
glorified in Jesus by his impartation of his divine
excellencies.]
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II.
THE COMING OF CHRIST AND OF ANTICHRIST.
2:1-12.
The section before us expresses the principal
object of this Epistle, which was to correct the misapprehension that the Lord
was about to come at once. Without professing to set forth all the events which
would intervene between the date of his Epistle and the Lord's coming, the
apostle enumerates three: 1. A great apostasy. 2. The
removal of that power which hindered the manifestation of the lawless one. 3.
The manifestation of the lawless one, and his reign. Since Paul gives us only a
bird's-eye view of events, which covers a very
extended range of history, it would be injudicious to fill in his outlines with
elaborate details. The full outline of prophecy covering the Christian
dispensation is given in Revelation, and will be discussed when that book is
reached.
II. 1 Now we beseech
you, brethren [having just prayed for the Thessalonians, Paul now
passes to entreaties to them], touching the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him [the final gathering (1
Thess. 4:17). He entreats them to be soberminded both as to the coming and the
gathering, for each of these events had been used to generate error and
fanaticism--1 Thess. 4:13; 2 Thess. 3:11]; 2 to
the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind [Shaken is a figurative
expression taken [33] from waves agitated by a storm. The
minds of the Thessalonians having been instructed by Paul, and having a thorough
apprehension of the entire subject, ought not to have been so readily, and with
such small reason, confused--Eph. 4:14], nor yet be troubled, either
by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that [as teaching that]
the day of the Lord is just at hand [Paul here enumerates the three
forces which had produced the fanatical unrest at Thessalonica. The first was
probably the cause of this unrest, and the second and third were more likely
used to excuse or justify it. Some highly wrought souls, laboring under morbid
excitement, had delivered exhortations or discourses which were professedly
inspired. While these men ought not to have been despised without due
consideration, neither ought they to have been believed without being thoroughly
tested (1 Thess. 5:20, 21; 1 John 4:1). The Thessalonians, however, despite the
apostle's warning, had imprudently accepted both the prophet and the prophecy,
and had permitted, and perhaps aided and encouraged, the justification of the
prophecy. The prophecy was justified by "words," by which we may understand
misapplications or misquotations either of the apostle's own teaching while he
was with them, or of the words of Christ orally
communicated by him to them, as, for instance, the sayings at Matt. 16:28;
24:34. It was also justified by a misuse of certain phrases in Paul's first
Epistle, as for instance the passages cited in our introduction, Commentators
almost universally contend that by the phrase "epistle as from us" Paul means a
spurious or forged epistle which had been palmed off upon the church as
if it had come from him. In support of this notion it is urged that if Paul had
referred to his first Epistle he would not have disowned it, but would have
explained it. But to this it may be answered that Paul does explain his first
Epistle by thus tersely and emphatically disowning the misconstruction placed
upon it. Against the idea of forgery, four points may be considered: 1.
Ought any of the church at Thessalonica to be lightly accused of such a
fraud? 2. Was there any sufficient inducement for their committing such a fraud?
3. Was such an event [34] likely to be made the subject of
fraud? 4. Would Paul have passed over such a sacrilegious outrage without a
syllable of rebuke, while in verse 5 he even rebukes their forgetfulness, and in
2 Thess. 3:14 he orders the excommunication of any man who fails to give heed to
his Epistle? Had there been a forgery we would reasonably have expected some
such language as that of Gal. 1:6-12. Moreover, had there been a forgery Paul
could not have repudiated it without explanation,
else his repudiation might have been shrewdly used by the forgers to cast
discredit upon his first Epistle. Paul taught that the day of the Lord was at
hand (Rom. 13:12; Phil. 4:5), as did other of the apostles (1 Pet. 4:7; Rev.
1:3), John using a very strong expression (John 2:18); but the phrase "just at
hand" is stronger still; it denotes an imminence nothing short of the actual
appearing of the Lord the next instant--an imminence answering to the fanaticism
of the Thessalonians, and one which Paul had not taught. In teaching us to be
always prepared for the Lord's coming, the Scripture nowhere justifies or
excuses us in letting the thoughts of his coming absorb our mind, or the
expectation of his coming interfere with the most trivial duty];
3 let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the
falling away come first [Paul uses the article "the" because this apostasy
was well known to the church, its coming having been announced by Jesus (Matt.
24:10-12), and reiterated by Paul while at Thessalonica. This apostasy, or
falling away, may be defined to be a desertion of the true religion and the true
God], and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition
[Literally, son of perishing. The man of sin is identical with the antichrist of
1 John 2:18. Though he is distinguished from Satan in verse 9, yet is he in a
sense an incarnation of Satan, for as Satan entered into the heart of Judas
(John 13:27), who was the first great apostate and son of perdition (John
17:12), so he shall enter into the heart of this second apostate and son of
perdition, who shall be a man made up of sin, a veritable manifestation of
concrete wickedness, and thus self-fitted for perdition. The language clearly
shows that he is a person, but there is nothing to forbid [35]
us from regarding him as an official rather than an individual personality, as,
for instance, a line of popes rather than an individual pope. Those who have
denied the right to thus construe his personality, have for the most part
straightway fallen into the solecism of interpreting the phrase "one that
restraineth," of verse 7, so as to make it mean a line of emperors, or
succeeding generations of rulers in our human polity, or some other official
personality that existed in Paul's day and long afterward, though the assertion
of personality is as strong in verse 7 as it is in verse 3. Antichrist does not
cause the apostasy, but is rather the cap-sheaf of it, being revealed in
connection with it, and exalted by it], 4 he that
opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is
worshipped; so that he sitteth in the
temple of God, setting himself forth as God.
[The antichrist will be antagonistic to God, and will exalt himself as a rival
to everything that is worshiped, whether it be king or emperor, mythical god or
true God, even entering, not only into the outer courts of the temple, but
penetrating to the inner sanctuary, and taking his seat where God alone has a
right to rest, and there making an arrogant display of himself as an object of
worship (comp. Acts 12:21-23). The Greek word for "worship" is sebasma:
from it came Sebastus or Augustus (i. e., the Worshipful), which
was the title of the Roman emperors. A man of that age could hardly see this
word in such a connection without thinking that Paul meant to convey the idea
that the antichrist would arrogate to himself all the
reverence then claimed by the great civil lords of the earth, such as emperors,
kings, etc. The temple is Paul's favorite metaphor for the church--1 Cor. 3:16,
17; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21.] 5 Remember ye not, that,
when I was yet with you, I told you these things? [Literally, was telling.
He had repeated the instruction often,
and now reproves the Thessalonians for forgetting what he did say, and being
agitated by false reports of what he did not say.] 6 And
now ye know [because Paul had told them verbally] that which restraineth
[i. e., retards and delays the antichrist], to the end that he
may be revealed in [36] his own season.
[And not prematurely. Thus we see that the Thessalonians had a key to
Paul's prophecy that we do not possess. His probable reason for withholding from his Epistle that which he
freely stated verbally will be given later.] 7
For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only
there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way. [In
verse 6 we have a thing ("that which") restraining the person
of antichrist, and in this verse we have the thing ("mystery of
lawlessness") which would produce the antichrist restrained by a person.
This nicety of expression is important, and should be noted. The traces of that
spirit which overrules God's laws and substitutes its own were abundant in the
church. It showed itself in attempts to engraft both Judaism and paganism into
Christianity, thus paving the way for an apostasy, with a great head apostate.
Romans and Galatians were written to correct Judaizing tendencies, and the
Epistle to the Hebrews was an attempt to wean weak Christians from the sensuous
ritualism of Moses. Tendencies to lapse into paganism are also frequently
reproved. See especially Col. 2:16-23; 1 Cor 5:1-8.] 8 And then shall be revealed the lawless one whom the Lord
Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the
manifestation of his coming [After the removal of the hinderer, the vague
spirit or mystery of lawlessness will become an embodied personality--a
Christ-rival. At the mere thought of his thus being revealed, Paul, in his
fervent zeal for Christ, at once announces the triumph of the Lord over this
adversary, though he has not yet finished describing him. In the next verse we
shall find the apostle returning to tell what manner of ruler the antichrist was
to be, and the quality and destiny of those who should follow him. "Breath,"
etc., does not mean that Jesus shall slay antichrist by converting, and thus
cutting off, his followers; for "breath" does not signify God's truth or
instruction, but the execution of his judgment (2 Sam. 22:16; Job 4:9; 15:30;
Isa. 11:4; 30:27-33). The manifestation (Greek, epiphany) of his coming
is undoubtedly the divine excellency, radiance, glory and sublimity of the [37]
revealed Godhead; for the word "epiphany" conveys this idea (Tit. 2:13; 1 Tim.
6:14-16; comp. Rev. 20:11). The destruction of antichrist will be caused by the
judgment of God, and be effected by the appearing of God. The manifestation of
the real and perfect will stand in awful, consuming contrast to the revelation
of the sham and lie]; 9 even he, whose
coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying
wonders
[To give full force to the Greek we should here translate "all lying power, all
lying signs, all lying wonders." Antichrist shall employ the methods of Satan,
and shall prove his claims by false miracles, like those of Jannes and
Jambres--Ex. 7:10-13; 2 Tim. 3:1-8], 10 and with
all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not
the love of the truth, that they might be saved. [Antichrist comes with
lies, to those who love not the truth as to right and wrong, etc., that they may
be saved by it; but sentence themselves to perish by preferring that deception
leading to unrighteousness--which makes unrighteousness appear the better
course.] 11 And for this cause God sendeth them a
working of error [the threefold working of error mentioned in verse 9],
that they should believe a lie: 12 that they all might be
judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. [God
permits Satan to present lies to those who, because of their love for sin,
desire to be deceived (Deut. 13:1-5). Having given our exposition of the above
passage, we should like also to give a history of its exposition, but must
content ourselves with referring the reader to those given by
Newton, Lunemann, Alford, Gloag, etc. We should like also
to discuss the theory of most commentators who identify the man of sin with the
beast at Rev. 13, and the Roman Empire with the red dragon at Rev. 12, and who find
in the Antiochus of Daniel the prototype of this lawless one. See Newton on the Prophecies,
Dissertation 22. But we will content ourselves with the presentation of the
antichrist, and remarks on this prophecy. The term "antichrist" conveys not only
the idea of one who is opposed to Christ, but [38] also of one who is the antithesis of Christ. This latter
idea has been touched upon, but not fully developed. The antichrist is a
counterfeit or caricature of Christ, and his life is an elaborate parody of that
part of the Christ life which may be so contradicted, contorted and adapted so
as to comport with worldly ambition. The antichrist is the personification of
sin (verse 3), whereas Christ is the incarnation of righteousness (Acts 3:14).
He is the son of perdition (verse 3), just as Jesus is the Prince of life (Acts
3:14). He opposes his will against God, and exalts himself against God, and
enthrones himself in the temple of God, and displays himself as God (verse 4),
while Jesus resigned himself to the Father's will (Luke 22:42) and humbled
himself in complete obedience (Phil. 2:5-8), and, though truly claiming to be
divine (John 14:8-11), waited until he was exalted of God (Phil. 2:9), when he
sat down at the right hand of the majesty in the true temple on high, because he
was divine (Heb. 1:3-5; 8:1, 2). Antichrist has a season or time for revelation
(verse 6), just as Jesus had (Gal. 4:4), and still has a proper time for
revealing himself (Acts 1:6, 7). He first exists as a mystery, and then has his
open revelation (Greek, apocalypse)--verses 7, and 3, 6, 8; and so also
did Jesus (Rom. 16:25, 26). Moreover, as a mystery the antichrist existed as
lawlessness, and finally came forth the lawless one, while Jesus was first
concealed in the mysterious types of the law (John 5:46; Rom. 3:21, 22), and was
born under the law (Gal. 4:4) and was the very incarnation of law (Rom. 10:4;
Matt. 5:17, 18), and is the mystery of godliness (1 Tim. 3:16). He has a coming
(Greek, parousia)--verse 9, just as Christ has
(verse 8). His coming is according to the working of Satan with lying power,
signs and wonders (verse 9), while Jesus came after the working of God (John
5:19, 20; Eph. 1:19, 20), with God's real powers, signs and wonders--Acts 2:22
("powers" being translated "mighty works"). With these lying miracles he
established an anti-gospel, formed in the deceit of unrighteousness and
producing death (verse 10); while Jesus, as is shown by the same verse, brought
the gospel of truth that men might he saved. And [39]
finally, his kingdom rests on belief--the belief of a lie (verse 11)--just as
Christ's rests upon the belief of the truth. Thus, step by step, the antichrist
parodies the glories, but not the humiliations of the Christ, but he fails to
rise to the last step, for he has no manifestation (Greek, epiphany)
answering to that which Christ has, as shown by verse 8. That is to say, he has
no divinity to subdue all things by the outburst of its glory. He can assume the
figure of Christ, but can not rival Christ transfigured.
In interpreting this passage commentators divide themselves into three parties:
1.
Those who think the prophecy long since fulfilled. 2.
Those who regard it as in process of fulfillment. 3. Those who
look upon it as yet to be fulfilled in the future. The first
class fail to note that the antichrist is to be destroyed by the epiphany
of Christ's coming. Hence antichrist can not have come and gone, since this
epiphany is yet to take place. The great body of Protestant
commentators are found in the second class, who look upon the long line
of popes as the antichrist, and the church of Rome as the apostasy. The third
class, of whom Alford and Olshausen are exponents, look upon the pope as a
prefiguration or forerunner of the antichrist, having many of his
characteristics, but not filling up all the Scripture details by which he is
described; Olshausen urging that the pope can not be antichrist, because,
contrary to John 2:22, he confesses that Jesus is the Christ; and Alford
objecting on the two grounds that the pope does not oppose God, and exalt
himself above God, according to verse 4, for the pope is found to be very
worshipful; and because the Papacy has existed for some fifteen hundred years,
and Christ has not yet come, though the revelation of the antichrist is to
immediately
precede the coming of Christ. Taking up these three objections in their order,
we would note, first, that a mere verbal, formal or ceremonial confession of
Christ certainly will not relieve any one from being charged by the Spirit with
having denied Christ. To really confess Jesus as Christ, is to look to him as
the supreme Priest, to be guided by him as the all-authoritative Prophet or
Teacher, to be ruled by him utterly as the divine and absolute King. Does the [40] pope's confession answer to this?
Secondly, the language of verse 4 should not be so strained as to make it
stronger than it is. It must be borne in mind that antichrist is a man,
and not a deity, and hence his opposition to God, exaltation of self against
God, etc., must be such as is possible to man. Alford so construes verse 4 as to
demand not only one who lifts himself against God, but even above
God, so as to make himself the sole object of worship. But Whedon justly
remarks, "If this prophecy is to wait for a being who literally exalts himself
above the Omnipresent and Omnipotent, it waits for
an impossibility." Moreover, in permitting the worship of saints and of the
virgin, the pope does not avoid the charge of opposing all that is worshiped,
for it must be borne in mind that the very spirit of worship demands an
unseen element. If the pope should entirely deny all the unseen, then
worship itself would be at an end. Since he must permit some continuance of this
unseen element or defeat his own purposes, he contents himself with dictating as
to it, deciding for himself in what it shall consist. Too rigorous a denial of
all worship would destroy that which he seeks to parody, and obliterate his
title as antichrist, Lastly, the third objection, that the Papacy has existed
for fifteen hundred years, carries no weight; for the word "immediately," on
which Alford founds it, is neither in the text nor in the thought, and prophecy
has very little perspective at best. It is sufficient that the Papacy still
exists, and if it continues to exist
till the Lord comes, and is brought to naught by that event, it will fulfill
that part of the prophecy under consideration. In short, while we will not
attempt to say that the final form of antichrist, Papal or otherwise, may not
exceed in wickedness all that we have yet seen (for prophecies are certainly
iterative), yet we are constrained to contend that if no other form appears, the
Papacy has already fulfilled the prophecy, for it agrees in all the points, as
follows: 1. It has one official man ever at its head, and the arrogancy of its
claims are centered in him. 2. That man came with and out of all apostasy, and
the very kind of an apostasy which Paul elsewhere describes (1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2
Tim. 3:1-9). Can that apostacy exist for all these centuries,
and antichrist be still unborn of it? 3. The spiritual
pride and lawlessness which worked and would have produced antichrist in Paul's
day, was curbed by the person of the Cæsar whose superior spiritual pride and
lawlessness restrained that of the church by contempt and persecution. 4. When,
notwithstanding the overshadowing emperor, the bishops of Rome began to assert themselves
spiritually,
they were still checked and restrained from revealing themselves as earthly
potentates by the temporal power of the empire, just as the language of
verses 6 and 7 so carefully distinguishes. 5. When the power of the
Roman Empire was taken away, the pope appeared, and has since been
unceasingly in evidence. Paul's readers could readily see how the emperor and
the empire would check the antichrist; but Paul could not openly write that
emperor and empire were to fall, for, had he done so, the Romans would have
appealed to his words as affording a just cause for persecuting the church. So
thought Tertullian (A. D. 150-240), Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386), Ambrose
(340-397), Jerome (342-420), Chrysostom (347-407),
Augustine (354-430), etc. 6. The pope is careful to keep up his line of
succession, so as to establish his identity and claims; and arising out of the
fall of Rome and the apostasy of
the church, which accompanied that event, he has continued for centuries with
little change, and certainly none for the better. 7. He exalts himself against
God and Christ, calling himself the vicar, or infallible substitute for Christ,
and permitting and encouraging his followers to speak of him thus: "Our Lord God
the Pope, another God upon earth . . . doeth whatsoever he listeth, even things
unlawful, and is more than God." Under these titles he presumes to set aside
divine laws in favor of his own. Thus as a substitute person he makes substitute
laws, and arrogates to himself divine power, as did Pope Clement VI.
when he commanded the angels to admit certain souls to paradise. 8. He
sits in the temple of God,
i. e., he has his sphere of dominion in the church, and the temple or
church which he occupies is still a temple erected to [42]
God, albeit the Spirit and presence of God may have long since departed from it.
9. He proves his supreme claims by fraudulent miracles, signs and wonders; of
which cures effected by relics and shrines and
pictures; prayers, made effectual by blessed beads; indulgences; souls prayed
out of purgatory for money; absolution, and transubstantiation are fair
samples.]
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III.
THANKSGIVING, PRAYER, EXHORTATION AND
BENEDICTION.
2:13-3:18.
13 But we are bound
to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God
chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and
belief of the truth [From the sad picture of those who, through love of
unrighteousness, were given over to the working of error unto perishing, Paul
turns to give thanks for the Thessalonians, who were chosen from the beginning
(though Gentiles) unto salvation--a salvation which is worked out on the divine
side in the sanctification of the Spirit, and on the human side in the belief of
the truth. From the beginning God had determined that the Gentiles should be
saved, and had arranged his plans to that end--Rom. 9:23-26; Eph. 3:5, 6]:
14 whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the
obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. [To this working of
salvation God had called the Thessalonians, not by an arbitrary election, but by
the gospel which Paul had preached to them, and he had called them that they
might be possessors, or sharers, in the glory of Christ--"joint heirs" with
him--Rom. 8:17.] 15 So then, brethren, stand fast
[in contrast to being shaken, as stated in verse 2], and hold the traditions
which ye were taught, whether by word, or by epistle of ours. [God was doing
his part in calling and in sanctifying, and so the Thessalonians are here
exhorted to do their part in firmly [43] adhering to the
truth which they had believed. For if one would hold the gospel salvation he
must hold the gospel truths. These truths are here called traditions; for,
though inspired truths, they were as yet falling from the lips of living men,
and were not yet reduced to writing, though we see by these two epistles of Paul
that the New Testament record was in process of construction.]
16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our
Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work
and word. [Paul, as a minister of Christ, was endeavoring to comfort and
establish the Thessalonians in their words and deeds, and he here prays that
Christ himself and God the Father may thus comfort and establish them; and he
describes the Father as one who loved them (John 3:16), and through mere grace
had given them the means of never failing consolation, and a good hope of a
final salvation, which is more than consolation.]
III. 1 Finally,
brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even
as also it is with you [Here, as elsewhere, Paul asks for the prayers
of the disciples (1 Thess. 5:25; Eph. 6:19); the
request at Col. 4:2, 3, being very similar. The unselfishness of his request
should be noted. He asks nothing for himself, but desires that the truth may
prosper in his hands elsewhere, as it was now prospering in Thessalonica. He
speaks of the Word as a thing of life (comp. Ps. 19:5; 147:15; 2 Tim. 2:9); for
the Word, being energized of God, approaches a living personality. The Word is
glorified when it saves souls (Acts 13:48). Possibly there is here an allusion
to the applause of the people when a racer wins his race];
2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men; for all have not
faith. [i. e., all professed
Christians are not really such. A phrase answering to that at Rom. 9:6.] 3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and
guard you from the evil one. [Evidently Paul, while at Corinth, met with some of
the false brethren of whom he speaks (2 Cor. 11:13,
26). These refused [44] to be moved by argument or
persuasion, and were evil and without faith; that is, faithless, insincere, as
the word means at Matt. 23:23; Tit. 2:10. These false brethren no doubt added
greatly to Paul's distress, though he was already suffering, or about to suffer,
persecution at the hands of the Jews (Acts 18:12). In asking prayers for
deliverance from these, Paul joyfully pauses to contrast this
his fellowship with false brethren, with the condition of the
Thessalonians who were in the fellowship of that faithful God who would
establish them and guard them from the evil one.] 4 And
we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye
both do and will do the things which we command. [The faithfulness of God to
supply power and protection gave the apostle confidence that the Thessalonians
were living in obedience to his instructions, and would continue to so live.]
5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of
Christ. [From expressions of confidence in God, Paul easily passes to prayer
to him, that the Thessalonians may be led to love him, and to exercise in their
trials and persecutions the patience which Christ exhibited under unparalleled
suffering. To love God, together with the brotherly love which they already
possessed (1 Thess. 4:9, 10), constituted a fulfillment of the law (Matt.
22:37-40; Rom. 13:10), and hence led to acceptable obedience.]
6 Now we command you [because confident, as we have just said, that you will
obey], brethren [not the officers, but the whole church],
in the name of [by the authority of] our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye
withdraw yourselves from [abstain from your habitual fellowship with]
every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after
the tradition [Christian rules of life] which they received of us.
[Paul does not specify any particular disorder, but the next verse shows that he
had a special reference to parasitical idleness.] 7 For
yourselves know how ye ought to imitate us: for we behaved not ourselves
disorderly among you; 8 neither did we eat bread for nought [gratis, without compensation] at any man's
hand, but in labor and travail, working night [45] and
day, that we might not burden any of you [1 Thess.
2:9]: 9 not because we have not the right
[to demand support while preaching--Luke 10:7; 1 Cor.
9:1-18], but to make ourselves an ensample unto you, that ye should
imitate us. [Many of the Thessalonian converts
were from the laboring classes. Now, laborers in that day were brought into
competition with slave-labor, and hence were disposed to look upon all manual
work as degrading. This false view of life was the main influence which produced
that vast multitude of parasites that then swarmed in every large city of the
empire. To correct this mistaken pride, and to restore labor to its just
dignity, Paul had made tents and supported himself by his hands while at
Thessalonica. For these and other reasons he had also waived his right to
support and had sustained himself while at Corinth (Acts 18:3; 2 Cor. 11:9) and at Ephesus (Acts 20:34). But notwithstanding
his example and instruction, and despite his written rebuke (1 Thess. 4:11, 12), idleness appears to have increased rather
than diminished; so the apostle here devotes some space to it.] 10 For even when we were with you [and so even before
we wrote you our first epistle], this we commanded you, If any will
not work, neither let him eat. [This precept is founded on Gen. 3:19. It
forbids the Christian to exercise that false charity which genders beggary and
becomes the parent of manifold crime.] 11 For we hear
[probably by the returning messenger who carried his first epistle] of some
that walk among you disorderly, that work not at all, but are busybodies.
[A paranomasia, or play on words; "work"
and "busybodies" being cognate; so it may be translated, "who have no business,
and yet are busy with everybody's business"--such as lead a lounging, gadding,
gossiping, meddlesome life.] 12 Now them that are such we command and exhort
[mixing entreaty with authority] in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with
quietness they work, and eat their own [this word is emphatic] bread. 13 But ye [who stand in contrast to the disorderly],
brethren, be not weary [lose not heart] in well-doing. [A general exhortation as to all well-doing. As applied to
the [46] parasites, it might mean that disgust at them should
not discourage true charity. The great body of commentators, including the
ablest, attribute this idleness to the erroneous notion that the Lord was about
to come; but there is no hint of this in the text; and we find the idleness
existing when Paul wrote them his first Epistle, though there was then no such
exciting expectation. Moreover, such expectations as to the
Lord's coming have often been repeated in history, and have not been found to be
very productive of idleness, and certainly not in that "busybody" form which is
here rebuked. On the whole, it is best to suppose that the Christian
spirit of love opened the hearts of the wealthy to liberal charities, and the
parasitical tendency, always strong, took advantage of it.]
14 And if any man obeyeth not our word by this epistle, note that man, that ye
have no company [fellowship] with him, to the end that he may be ashamed.
[By noting your moral indignation, and seeing his conduct repudiated by the
church.] 15 And yet count him not as an enemy,
but admonish him as a brother. [They were not to give him the complete
estrangement of Matt. 18:17. The purpose of discipline is to save (1
Cor. 5:5). It is medicine for curing, not poison for killing; it is not
to gratify the hatred of the judge, but to admonish the offender who is judged
(Gal. 6:1). Yet the safety of the church sometimes demands complete
excommunication.] 16 Now the Lord of peace himself
give you peace at all times in all ways.
[Peace outward and inward, for time and for eternity.] The Lord be with you all. 17 The salutation of
me Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.
[I. e., this is my penmanship.] 18 The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
[This, like most of Paul's Epistles, was dictated. Verses 17 and 18 were written
by Paul's own hand, this being a guarantee of the Epistle's
genuineness, just as our signatures are to-day. With some slight
variation of form, "grace" closes all Paul's Epistles, and the Epistle to the
Hebrews.] [47]
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