Comfort and Constancy
(No. 2363)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY JUNE 3, 1894.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH
15, 1888.
"Now our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, and God, even our Father, which
has loved us, and has given us everlasting consolation and good hope
through Grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good Word
and work." 2 Thessalonians 2:16,17.
THE Thessalonians had been a good deal confused by certain persons who
had said that the coming of the Lord was immediately at hand. Paul,
therefore, bade them to be steadfast and not be worried and perplexed
by any such teaching. And then he presented this prayer to God for
them, that they might have these two things, comfort and
constancy–that God would comfort their hearts and establish them–"in
every good Word and work." It is a very blessed and comprehensive
prayer and, while we are thinking of it, let us be praying it for
ourselves and for one another, that the Lord may comfort our hearts and
establish us "in every good Word and work."
I. The first enquiry to be answered is this, WHY IS THERE THE
CONJUNCTION OF THESE TWO THINGS IN THIS REMARKABLE PRAYER? Why is it
put thus, "Our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, and God, even our Father…
comfort your hearts and establish you in every good Word and work"?
I answer, first, the two things, comfort and constancy, are put
together because comfort by itself is not enough. We do not desire,
first and above all things, that Christians should have comfort. It is
a very great privilege to be comforted, especially by the Comforter,
for such comfort is sound, safe and holy, but, at the same time, they
err who think that the first and chief reason for knowing God is that
you may feel comforted and happy! I fear that there are many who are
under that notion. They expect every sermon to comfort them–otherwise
they think it is a wasted opportunity. Even when they are alone in
prayer, their chief thought is that they need to be comforted by their
own devotion. But, sometimes, rebuke is better than comfort, and
spiritual quickening and especially true sanctification, are more
greatly to be valued than any measure of comfort whatever! If we were
to confine ourselves to prayer for the Lord only to comfort His people,
we would have a very imperfect form of intercession. No, it needs that
we should not only be comforted by our religion, but that we should be
led by it into holy activity so as to abound in every good Word and
work, and be established therein.
I give another answer to the question, Why is there this conjunction
between comfort and constancy? Because establishment in every good Word
and work is not enough if it is alone. We need to be comforted as well
as to serve the Lord. Our God is not like Pharaoh who would not give to
the children of Israel even a day in which they might have rest and
worship God. Pharaoh said, "Why do you, Moses and Aaron, let (or
hinder) the people from their works? Get you unto your burdens." But
God does not speak so to us. The service which His children render to
Him is quite compatible with rest. We are like certain birds that are
said to rest on the wing–we never have a better rest than when every
faculty is occupied in the service of our Lord!
But work by itself, establishment in every good Word and work, alone,
might tend to weariness. We might be jaded if God did not minister
Divine consolation to us while we served Him. Moreover, I am sure that
we would never do the work well if God did not comfort us, for unhappy
workers, those who do not love their work and are not at home in it,
those who feel no comfort of religion, themselves, are generally very
poor and unsuccessful workers. The second blessing mentioned in our
text is certainly a very necessary one, this establishing in every good
Word and work, but you also need the first one, that God may, "comfort
your hearts." When you get the two together–when you are up to your
necks in
holy service and up to your hearts in Divine comfort–then these two
things cause you not to be barren or unfruitful and, at the same time,
they help you not to be weary in well-doing. You are made to be
"steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,"
because you are comforted with the belief that, "your labor is not in
vain in the Lord." I see those two reasons for the conjunction of
comfort and constancy in the text. First, because comfort, alone, is
not sufficient and, secondly, because constancy without comfort will
not suffice us.
And next, dear Friends, it is because the comfort of the heart aids in
the establishment of the soul in service. They are put together because
the one helps the other. May the Lord "comfort your hearts and
establish you in every good Word and work!" He that is happy in the
Lord will persevere in the service of the Lord. He that derives real
support and comfort from his religion is the man who will not backslide
from it. I notice that it is usually thus with those who decline– they
first of all lose the comfort and joy of religion–they have not the
brightness and delight that they once had in the things of God. And
then, of course, they drop, first, this particular service, and then
the other–they begin to absent themselves from the means of Grace,
Prayer Meetings and so forth, because they miss what is so material a
stay to the establishment of their minds, that is, the comfort, joy and
peace that true religion used to bring them.
Whenever you are not happy in the Lord, I urge you not to rest until
you become so. It is no small evil to get out of the sunlight of God's
Countenance. A dear child will not say, "If my father is angry with me,
it does not matter; he will not kill me; I shall always be his child."
No, just in proportion as he enjoys his father's love, it will be
painful to him to come in the least degree under his father's
displeasure and he will cry out to be fully restored and to have,
again, from those dear lips the kiss of forgiveness that will put away
all his offenses. So, dear Friends, believe that your lack of comfort
is an evil thing which may lead to your loss of industry and
perseverance in the cause of your Lord. If your heart is not comforted
by God, you are not likely to be "established in every good Word and
work."
Now let me turn the text around the other way. I think that these two
things are put together because establishment in Word and work is so
necessary for our comfort. I said we must be comforted that we might be
constant in the service of God. Now I put it that we must be constant
in the service of God that we may be comforted! God does not give His
dainties to idlers. He has choice secrets into which He does not admit
everybody, nor even all of His own family. When we are diligent in His
service and all our powers are fully consecrated to Him, then He gives
us gracious rewards–not of debt, but according to the discipline of
His own house, wherein He honors the faithful and chastises those who
are negligent.
Now, Beloved, you will miss your comfort when you begin to neglect your
work. I know how it used to be with the boys at home. In cold weather
they huddled round the fire–almost sat on the fire! It was so cold
that they could not tell how they would live through the bitter winter.
But when Father came in, he said, "Now, you boys, set to work and clear
away that snow. Don't sit here idle, go and do something!" And they
came in with ruddy cheeks and, somehow or other, the temperature seemed
to have altered considerably, for they were quite warm from their
exercise. I think the best thing that could happen to some men would be
that they might have something to do. I do not find much about
depression of spirit in the journals of Mr. Wesley or Mr. Whitefield
and men of that sort who spent themselves in the Lord's service.
The fact is, the Lord seemed to carry them on from one work to another
and from strength to strength in their ser-vice–and they were
comforted as to their hearts because they were established in every
good Word and work. These things act and react, one upon another–the
comfort makes us work–the work brings to us a fresh measure of
comfort! See how even the Savior puts it. He says, "Come unto Me, all
you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That is
the first rest, pardon of sin. What next? "Take My yoke upon you, and
learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest
unto your souls." That is another rest over and above what Jesus gives.
"Through bearing My yoke, you shall find in My service rest unto your
souls." God grant us Grace to seek that rest which we are to find, now
that we have received the rest which Jesus gives to those who come to
Him!
I have not yet fully answered this question–Why is there the
conjunction of these two things, comfort and constancy? I think it is
because the two blended together serve a very useful purpose. We are in
this world to bear witness and by our bearing witness we are to bring
others to faith in Christ through the operation of the Holy Spirit.
Now, there are some people who are only to be won for Christ by the
holy confidence and comfort of Believers. I am sure that if a Christian
woman, in the time of affliction at home, is calm, patient, resigned
and happy, she is more likely to see her husband converted by the
comfort that religion brings to her own heart than by taking him to
hear a sermon. By her Christian character she will preach to him and
supply him with evidence of the power of Grace which he will not be
able to deny.
I have known persons, in a storm at sea, exercise great influence over
all in the vessel by the way in which they have been able to live above
the storm, resting patiently in God. And in times of personal sickness,
what a wonderful influence there is about holy patience! Some members
of the family, who never have been moved by the external services of
religion, have been deeply impressed by the patience of great
sufferers–and especially by the serenity of dying saints. They have
said to themselves, "There is something in this religion, after all.
There is no mistake about it–the Grace which could support and calm
the heart at such a time as this must be the gift of God." Now, if this
were accompanied by idleness, it would lose much or all of its force,
but when this holy calm comes over one who, in days of health, was full
of active service for the Master, then the two things, together, become
powerful arguments which gainsayers are not able to resist! Seek to
have this blessed blending, this comfort, like a light that burns
within the lamp, and then this establishment in Word and work, like the
rays of light that stream from the lantern at the head of the
lighthouse, that all may see, both far and near.
And I should like to give one other answer to this query, which is
this. Paul in his prayer puts the two things together, because there is
great need for both. There is great need to pray that our Father would
comfort the hearts of His people, for there is trouble enough in the
land! There is trouble enough in every house–there is trouble enough
for each one of us–we need you to often pray for us, that God would
comfort our hearts. It may be that we have to play the man in public
and yet, when we get away by ourselves, our heart is very heavy and we
have to cry mightily to God for supporting Grace. Some of the strongest
of God's servants, those who carry a smiling countenance, who, if they
fast, anoint their head and wash their face, that they appear not unto
men to fast, yet have need to pray very earnestly to the Comforter that
He would come and sustain their spirit.
And there is equal need that we should have Grace given us to be
constant and instant in every good Word and work, for there is a
tendency in us to think that we have done enough. The feeling creeps
over men of a certain age that it is time for the young people to do
the Lord's work. One says, "I am now at such an age that as much cannot
be expected of me as used to be." Oh, yes, if you have much serving,
Martha is not the only woman that gets cumbered with it, and being
cumbered is not confined to women! Oh, how many there are who are not
women, who are cumbered as much as Martha was! We need to have the
Mary-spirit to keep the heart bright and cheerful, or else we shall
quarrel with our work, or with our sister, or possibly with our Master,
as we say to Him, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to
serve alone?" We need both comfort and constancy and, therefore, I
commend to you this piece of heavenly plaiting–let the two things be
twisted together in your life! May the Lord "comfort your hearts, and
establish you in every good Word and work"!
II. As I look at my text, a second question comes to my mind. WHY DOES
THE APOSTLE SO SPECIALLY ADDRESS THIS PRAYER? Notice to whom he
addresses it–"Now our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, and God, even our
Father… comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good Word and
work." Why is this?
It seems to me that in the first place, in this prayer the whole
Trinity is supplicated. When the Apostle is desiring comfort to be
given, he does not mention the Comforter, for that is needless. It
would occur to every Christian mind that the Holy Spirit was necessary,
since in comforting and quickening He is only exercising His special
office. But the Apostle does mention, "Our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself,
and God, even our Father," so that, to the mind of the thoughtful
reader, the prayer for comfort and establishment is directed to the
ever-blessed Three-in-One. Oh, that we more often remembered the
distinction of the Divine Persons without dividing the Divine
Substance! It becomes instructed Believers to remember that one
blessing comes from the Father, another blessing from the Son and a
third blessing through the Holy Spirit. There are times when it would
seem as if the one blessing must come through the three Divine Persons,
that there must be a manifestation of the whole Trinity to produce the
result. I cannot help noticing that Truth of God and reminding you how
the Savior is especially placed, here, side by side with, "God, even
our Father," that we may see that equal reverence is to be paid to Him
with the Father, and equal prayer to be offered to Him with that
presented to the great Father of spirits.
But then, I think next, that mention is here made of, "Our Lord Jesus
Christ, Himself because, as the prayer is for consolation, He is "the
Consolation of Israel." The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, but Christ,
Himself, is the Comfort– the Holy Spirit gives the consolation, but
Jesus Christ is the Consolation. Beloved, we are never so comforted as
when we turn to our blessed Lord, Himself! His Humanity, His sympathy
with us, His griefs, His bearing our infirmities, His put-
ting away of our sins, His pleading for us at the right hand of God,
His everlasting union with His people–all this makes us turn our eyes
to Him! He is the Sun that makes our day. From Him flows that "river of
the Water of Life" which quenches our thirst. So you see why the "Lord
Jesus Christ, Himself," is mentioned in this prayer for comfort, since
He is the every essence of the Believer's consolation!
But then we are reminded of "God, even our Father," and is not this
expression brought to our mind that we may derive comfort from the
relation which God bears to His people? O you children of God, does not
the recollection that He is your Father comfort you? Children of the
heavenly King, is not the fact of your relationship to Him a well of
unceasing consolation? What more do you require to lift your spirits
out of the dust than to know that this manner of love has been bestowed
upon you, that you should be called the children of God! "And if
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ"? I
believe that if the Holy Spirit only lays home to the heart the fact of
our new birth and our adoption into the family of God, we have enough
comfort to make us swim through seas of trouble without fear! And also
enough motive for the most constant, diligent service, when we know
that it is for our Father who is in Heaven that we are spending the
strength that He, Himself, gives us! Do you not see, therefore, why the
Apostle thus addresses His prayer to "God, even our Father," and to
"our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself"?
And is not this another reason why Paul thus prayed, because he would
remind us that it requires the direct action of the Godhead upon our
hearts to produce comfort and constancy? This is especially evident at
certain times. Very frequently, when I have to comfort mourners–cases
where, perhaps, a young husband has been taken away, leaving a large
family of little children unprovided for–or, perhaps, where two
persons who have been together for many years, till their lives have
grown into one and, all of a sudden, the wife or the husband has been
taken away, I have said and I cannot help saying it often, "My dear
Friend, I cannot comfort you as I should like to. I have never been
exactly in your circumstances and, therefore, I cannot enter into your
peculiar grief. But I would remind you that one Person of the Divine
Trinity has undertaken the office of Comforter and He can do what
nobody else can."
You must, sometimes, have felt the power of a single text of Scripture
laid upon a wound in your heart–it will staunch the bleeding and heal
by a sort of heavenly magic! Have you not, at times, felt in a flutter
of distress so that you could not rest? Christian friends have spoken
kindly to you, but they only seemed to mock you. Then, in a moment, a
soft, calming influence has stolen over your spirit and you have felt
that you could bear 10 times the weight which had almost crushed you an
hour before! God can comfort to purpose–therefore the Apostle did not
say–"I hope you will enjoy the comfort I have given you, or that,
perhaps, your minister, next Lord's-Day may give you." No, this was his
prayer at this particular juncture–"Now our Lord Jesus Christ,
Himself, and God, even our Father, which has loved us, and has given us
everlasting consolation and good hope through Grace, comfort your
hearts, and establish you in every good Word and work." It is grand in
your prayers to fall back upon your God and upon a God whom you know as
your Lord Jesus Christ, and your Father, and to feel, "The case is
beyond me, but it is not beyond my God! The trial overwhelms me even in
my sympathy with the tried one, how much more does it overwhelm the
actual bearer of it? But I put you and your sorrow into hands quite
equal to the emergency and leave you there."
There is much more to be learned than I can tell you, because time
fails me, as to how it was that the Apostle presented this remarkable
prayer in this remarkable manner.
III. The third point, with which I close, is this. WHAT DOES PAUL
MENTION IN HIS PRAYER AS PLEAS? He
mentioned several facts for the strengthening of the faith of those for
whom he prayed and gave arguments which they should use while pleading
with God for others. Let us speak of these arguments very briefly.
There are six of them.
First, Paul says that Jesus is ours. He is asking for comfort and
establishment and he begins his prayer, "Now, our Lord Jesus Christ,
Himself." Do, if you can, get the sweetness of this expression, "Our
Lord Jesus Christ." Why did not Paul say, "The Lord Jesus Christ"? Why
did he not say, "My Lord Jesus Christ"? No, here is a plural possessive
pronoun–"Our Lord Jesus Christ." Is it so, then, that God has given us
the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, to be ours? Can we not only call His
blood ours, and His Resurrection ours, and His Kingdom ours, but is He,
Himself, ours? Oh, can we get a grip of Him as, "My Beloved"? Is He my
Husband, my Covenant Head, my Jesus and my All? Come, then, Beloved–I
was going to say that you hardly need pray for comfort because you have
it, already–you have it in Jesus!
Here is a solid mass of the pure gold of comfort in the fact that Jesus
Christ, Himself, is yours. You are Christ's, but Christ is also yours!
As the husband belongs to the wife, and the wife belongs to the
husband, so there is a mutual posses-
sion between Christ and you who are believers in Him. Are you poor?
What? And yet Christ is yours? Do you say that you are helpless and
friendless? How is that when you can say, "Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Himself"? No, here is a well opened in the desert for you–come and say
to it–"Spring up, O well!" Sing unto it, drink of its Living Water and
fill your earthen vessels to the fullest! There is comfort enough for
all saints in "Our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself."
The second plea in Paul's prayer is that God is our Father–"Now our
Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, and God, even our Father." I have already
shown you what a mine and mountain of delightful consolation lies in
the fact that the God who made the heavens and the earth, the
Omnipotent and Unchangeable Jehovah is "our Father." Do not think that
this is a mere metaphor–that God is only set forth to us under the
image of a father. There is no doubt that He is our Father– it is a
matter of fact if we are trusting His Son. "Doubtless You are our
Father, though Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel acknowledge us not:
You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer; Your name is from
everlasting." We have been begotten again by God–our new birth is from
His power and His Divine energy! We belong to His family and shall
never be cast out of it. Dear Friends, what a plea this is in prayer!
"My Father, will You not comfort my heart? My Father, will You let Your
child despond? My Father, will You not relieve me in the hour of my
distress? Jesus Christ, my Lord Jesus Christ, do this for me, and great
God, my Father, fail not to cheer my heart!"
Then the Apostle goes on to remind us that God has loved us. Kindly
look at the text and remember it–"God, even our Father, which has
loved us." You do not expect me to preach from those words, do you?
"Which has loved us." I cannot comprehend this Truth! I can very well
understand God pitying us, as we pity a beggar in the streets–but
God's loving us always deprives me of the power to explain it! There
was nothing in us to love! There was everything in us loathsome and
nothing lovable, yet the Lord loved us before the world began! He has
loved us without bound, so as to give His only-begotten Son to die for
us! Is not that a powerful plea in prayer? "Lord, comfort my heart,
establish me in every good Word and work, for You have loved me,
therefore continue to love me. If You have given me Your love, surely
You will not deny me the comforts of Your face and the consolations of
Your Word."
Then Paul adds, "Who has loved us, and has given us." God has given us
much and all His past gifts are pleas for more gifts. Men do not plead
so. The beggar in the street cannot say, "Give me a penny, today,
because you gave me one yesterday," else we might reply, "That is the
reason why I will not give you anymore!" But when dealing with God,
this is a good plea. "O flowing Fountain, You have long been flowing,
Flow on still! O blessed Sun, You did shine yesterday, shine today!"
God loves us to make His past mercies arguments for obtaining future
blessings, so the Apostle says, "God, even our Father, which has loved
us, and has given us."
But what has God given us? God has given us "everlasting consolation."
Catch at that expression, for it reminds us of everlasting love, the
Everlasting Covenant, the everlasting promises, everlasting redemption
and the everlasting Heaven. Men, nowadays, clip this word,
"everlasting," round the edges. We do not–we take it as we find it.
That which is everlasting lasts forever–you can be assured of that!
And God has given us consolation which will last us in life and last us
in death–and last us throughout eternity! Well, if He has given us
"everlasting consolation," we may well plead that He would graciously
enable us to lay hold upon it, that our hearts may be comforted and
cheered and that we may be established in every good Word and work!
There is only one more expression upon which I will say a sentence or
so. God has given us "good hope through Grace." It is of Grace and,
therefore, it is a gift! And He has given it to us through the
operation of His Grace upon our hearts. It is a hope, a good hope, a
"good hope through Grace." We have a good hope that God's love will
never fail us and that, when life dies out on earth, we shall enter
into His rest forever and behold His face with joy. We have a good hope
that when days and years are past, we shall meet in Heaven! We have a
good hope of dwelling throughout eternity with our God–"forever with
the Lord." O Father, after You have done so much for us and given so
much to us, it is but little we ask of You, now, when we pray You to
comfort our hearts and to establish us in every good Word and work!
I cannot understand what those do who have no God. I cannot comprehend
the condition of those who have no "good hope through Grace." What can
they do? They have to work very hard from Monday morning to Saturday
night. On Sunday they have no day of rest, no thought of a world to
come, no rising to a purer atmosphere. They lie in bed, perhaps, in the
morning, and then get up and lounge about in their shirtsleeves. There
is nothing for them to get but what is found beneath the moon and very
little of that. It is better to be a dog than a man if there is no hope
of a hereaf-
ter! It is better not to live at all than to live such a dead,
good-for-nothing life as that man lives who lives without God and
without hope!
Surely, you who are without God and without Christ, have your sinking,
your mourning, your dull times, have you not? What do you do, then?
Perhaps you try to drug yourself with strong drink. Alas, some do that
and this is mischievous, indeed–to try to poison conscience and
silence the best friend you have within you! Do not so, but think about
God, and about "our Lord Jesus Christ." This way lies hope, where
stands that Cross, and He pleads, who received, there, those five
wounds for sinners! This way lies your only hope! Oh, that you would
think of it and consider it! If God Himself comes down from Heaven to
save men, it must be worthwhile for man to look and understand what God
did for him in that wondrous Sacrifice. Look, for–
"There is life for a look at the Crucified One"–
look now, for–
"There is life at this moment for you." Especially is there life for
you who came in here troubled, downcast, almost wishing you were not
alive at all, but fearing that when life came to an end, it might be
worse for you than ever, for you have "the dread of something after
death." Oh, that you were reconciled to God through the death of Jesus
Christ! That being done, He would comfort your hearts and you would be
led into every good Word and work through gratitude to the Lord Jesus
Christ, our Savior, and His Grace would save you and preserve you to
the end! May this be the very moment when you shall seek and find the
Lord!" "If you seek Him, He will be found of you." God grant it, for
His dear son's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 2 Thessalonians 2; 3:1-5.
2 Thessalonians 2:1, 2. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that you
be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by
word, nor by letter as from us, as that the Day of Christ is at hand.
Paul believed in the Second Coming of Christ, for he beseeches the
Brothers and Sisters, "by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." He felt
the power of this great Truth. He often exhorts us to be watchful
because of the uncertainty of the time of that coming as far as we are
concerned. But there were some who sprang up in his day, as in ours,
who professed that they knew a great deal about the Second Advent–when
it was to happen, and so on–and they began to foretell and to prophesy
beyond what was really revealed of God. By this means, some persons
were terrified and others driven to a very foolish course of action. It
would seem, from this Epistle, that some people forsook their daily
calling and, on pretence of the near return of Christ, endeavored to
live upon the alms of Christian people instead of themselves working.
Many, however, were shaken in mind, so Paul wrote to reassure and
strengthen them–"That you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled,
neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the
Day of Christ is at hand."
3, 4. Let no man deceive you, by any means: for that Day shall not
come, except there comes a falling away, first, and that man of sin is
revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above
all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, as God, sits
in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. It has been
usually thought that this passage alludes to the great apostasy of the
Church of Rome and, certainly, if there were a hue and cry raised for
the culprit here described, one might well arrest that apostasy upon
suspicion! It may not, however, be the man of sin, or the son of
perdition–it may be that general spirit which springs up again and
again, one of the many anti-Christs that were already in the world even
in John's day. There are many such spirits that are constantly rising
up, not outside the Church–there, we could deal with them–but inside
the Church, using the Words of Truth, and the signs of Truth to signify
something far other than the Truth of God! This is the great rook that
threatens destruction! Oh, that God's Church might always be kept from
striking upon it! But there is this rook which would, if it were
possible, wreck the very elect ship of Christ, itself!
5-7. Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these
things? And now you know what withholds that he might be revealed in
his time. For the mystery of iniquity does already work: only He who
now lets will let, until He is taken
out of the way. There was something that hindered the full development
of anti-Christ in Paul's day. When that is taken out of the way, then
will there be a fuller revelation of this sinful system.
8-12. And then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the
brightness of His coming. Even him, whose coming is after the working
of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness, in them that perish, because they
received not the love of the Truth, that they might be saved. And for
this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the
Truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. We will not attempt to
explain all this in detail. It would be too much of a task for a mere
exposition, but the Church has always to be on her guard against that
which comes as an angel of light, but is really a spirit of darkness.
13. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God has, from the beginning, chosen you to
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth.
How the saints praise one another! How sweet is Christian fellowship!
How we rejoice in the blessed love of God to His people when we are
assailed by those who battle against His Truth! Then is the love of the
Brethren stronger than ever and our faithfulness to God is largely
increased. The Apostle falls back upon the doctrine of electing
love–"God has, from the beginning, chosen you to salvation." And he
admires the methods by which that love effects its purpose–"Salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth." Men are
made holy by the Spirit of God–the holiness is that of life and of the
understanding. They attain to a belief of the Truth of God, as well as
to a practice of the Divine Commands. Oh, happy people who are
ordained, from the beginning, unto salvation through sanctification of
the Spirit and belief of the Truth!
14. To which He called you by our Gospel, to the obtaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. How the Apostle loved the Gospel! It was
Christ's Gospel, but Paul calls it, "Our Gospel." He and his Brethren
had made it so completely their own and it had become so much their own
in contradistinction to "another gospel, which is not another," that he
speaks of it with unction and joy! "He called you by our Gospel, to the
obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
15. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you
have been taught, whether by word, or our Epistle. "The things which we
have handed out to you, which you have been taught, whether by word, or
our Epistle." They had heard Paul preach. He had not only written to
them, but he had also spoken to them. And he bade them treasure up what
he had said and what he had written, and hold it fast as for dear life.
The Apostle did not preach that which he, afterwards, left, as the
ostrich leaves its eggs, but he watched over it and he watched over the
people who had heard it, anxious that the Truth of God to which they
had listened should prove in them to be the message of everlasting
life! Oh, my dear Hearers, are there not still some of you who have
heard our Gospel, to whom we have often and long spoken and yet,
notwithstanding, it has not yet been the message of eternal life to you
though it has been to many others? God have mercy upon you and yet
bring you to the feet of Jesus! As for others who come to listen to the
Word for the first time– may it be the power of God unto salvation on
the very first occasion of their hearing it, to the praise of God and
the Glory of His Son!
16. 17. Now our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, and God, even our Father,
which has loved us, and has given us everlasting consolation and good
hope through Grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good
Word and work. I believe in an established Church–not established by
acts of Parliament–but established by the purpose and by the Presence
of God in the midst of it. Oh, to be a member of a Church established
in every good Word and work! Do you know God's Word? Seek to know it
better, still! Try to strike your roots down deeply into this fruitful
soil! Suck out the Divine nutriment of it, that you may grow so strong
that none shall be able to tear you away from it!
Have you begun to work for Jesus? May you be established in that good
work! Go on working more and more, with both your hands and all your
heart, that somehow you may glorify His blessed name! Let me read these
sweet verses again–"Now our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, and God, even
our Father, which has loved us, and has given us everlasting
consolation and good hope through Grace, comfort your hearts, and
establish you in every good Word and work."
2 Thessalonians 3:1. Finally, brethren, pray for us. "Pray for us,"
says the Apostle. "Pray for myself and the Brothers who are with me.
Pray for all the Apostles and preachers of the Word." "Finally,
Brethren." If this were the last word we had to say to you, we would
make just this request, "Finally, Brothers and Sisters, pray for us."
You cannot tell how much God's servants are helped by the prayers of
His people! The strongest man in Israel will be the better for the
prayers of the weakest saint in Zion! If you can do nothing else, you
can pray for us–therefore, day and night, be at the Mercy Seat on our
behalf. "Finally, Brethren, pray for us."
1. That the Word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified,
even as it is with you. "You Thessalonians enjoy the power of the Word.
Pray that it may be so everywhere else." Paul is said to have written
this Epistle from Corinth or Athens, and he longed that, there, the
Word of God might prevail as it had done at Thessalonica. Pray just now
that in every part of the world, God's Word may have free course! There
are many who stand in the way of it. Pray God that they may be swept
out of the way, that the Word of the Lord may have free course. We need
the Gospel to run and spread till the whole earth shall know its
blessed message!
2. And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for
all men have not faith. All men are not candid, or true. "All men have
not faith."
3. But the Lord is faithful. What a wonderful contrast this is and how
suggestive of comfort! "All men have not faith. But the Lord is full of
faith, faith-ful." True, He keeps all His promises. "The Lord is
faithful."
3-5. Who shall establish you, and keep you from evil. And we have
confidence in the Lord touching you, that you both do and will do the
things which we command you. And the Lord direct your hearts. You see,
Paul does not command the Thessalonians to do anything but what he can
pray God to work in them. The command of a man, by itself, is nothing,
but when he only asks that to be done which he can pray God to do, then
there is power about his message! "We have confidence in the Lord
touching you, that you both do and will do the things which we command
you. And the Lord direct your hearts."
5. Into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. May
the Lord hear that prayer for all of us, for Christ Jesus' sake! Amen.