Ver. 13. +The word of God which ye heard of us.+--R.V. "The word of
the message, even the word of God." The preposition "_from_ us" is
"properly used in relation to objects which come from the
_neighbourhood_ of a person--out of his _sphere_" (_Winer_); but the
Word originates, not with Paul, but in God. +Which effectually
worketh also.+--There is no original word corresponding to
"effectually" here; but the word "worketh" of itself, unemphasised,
is too weak. We might almost say "becomes energetic."
Ver. 14. +Became followers.+--R.V. "imitators." The usual meaning of
imitators hardly seems to obtain in full strength here. We cannot
think the Thessalonians consciously copied the Judean Christians, to
do which they would have had the superfluous task of raising up
opposition. The words seem to mean no more than, "Ye came to
resemble." +Of your own countrymen.+--Lit, "fellow-tribesmen." One is
reminded of Shylock's words--
"Sufferance is the badge of all our _tribe._"
Ver. 15. +Who both killed.+--The New Testament form of the verb is
always compound--as we should say, "killed off." A tragic contrast to
what might have been expected is set forth in our Lord's parable. "It
may be they will _reverence_ My Son. . . . They cast Him out and
_killed Him off_" (Luke xx. 13-15). +Have persecuted us.+--A.V.
margin, "chased us out." R.V. text, "drave." How deeply humbling was
the thought to St. Paul, that he had at one time taken part in this
hounding! The A.V. margin gives us a most vivid picture. +They please
not God.+--This expression is thought by some to be a _meiosis,_ a
softening down of the hard reality by the negative form of the
language. Is not the best comment found in John xvi. 2, "Whosoever
killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God"? The
sophistry that makes "killing no murder" and sanctions an _auto da
fé_ is something quite other than pleasing to God. +Are contrary to
all men.+--"The sense of God's displeasure often shows itself in
sourness and ill temper towards one's fellows. Unbelief and cynicism
go together. The rancour of the Jews against other nations at this
time was notorious. . . . The quarrel between Judaism and the world,
alas, still continues, as the _Judenhasse_ of Germany and Russia
testifies" (_Findlay_).
Ver. 16. +Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles.+--The very spirit
of the dog in the manger! They would not even have left the
"uncovenanted mercies" to the Gentiles. +To fill up their sins
alway.+--The phrase signifies ripeness for judgment, and is used in
Gen. xv. 16 of the Amorites in Abraham's time--an ominous parallel
(_Ibid._). +For the wrath.+--R.V., "_but_ the wrath." As though he
said, "But the end comes at last; they have always been sowing this
harvest, now it has to be reaped" (_Ibid._).
Ver. 17. +Being taken from you.+--R.V. "bereaved of you." St. Paul,
absent from Thessalonica, feels like a parent who has lost a child,
and regards them as children who feel the loss of a parent (See John
xiv. 18).
Ver. 18. +But Satan hindered us.+--Lit. "beat us in." The figure is a
military one and indicates the obstruction of an enemy's progress by
breaking up the road (destroying bridges, etc.).
Ver. 19. +Crown of rejoicing.+--R.V. "glorying." The victor's wreath.
St. Paul regards his steadfast converts as the proof of his
successful efforts.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1, 2.
_Essential Elements of Success in Preaching. I. Boldness._
Outsiders testified of the success of the Gospel, and the apostles
could confidently appeal to the converts in confirmation of the
report. "For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you that
it was not in vain" (ver. 1). In the first twelve verses of this
chapter Paul is describing the special features of their ministry,
the manner and spirit of their preaching; and what he denies is, not
so much that their labours had been vain, fruitless, and without
result, as he denies that those labours were in themselves vain,
frivolous, empty of all human earnestness, and of Divine truth and
force. We trace in their ministerial endeavours four essential
elements that are ever found in all successful preaching--boldness,
sincerity, gentleness, moral consistency. Consider, first, their
_boldness._
+I. This boldness manifested in the earnest declaration of the
truth.+--"We were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God
with much contention" (ver. 2). Bold in their conception of the
Divine origin and vast scope of the Gospel, and its wondrous
adaptation to the wants of universal man, they were not less bold in
its faithful proclamation. Their deep conviction of the supreme
spirit in Paul on other occasions, when his fearless words roused the
ire of Festus, shook the conscience of the thoughtless Felix, or
swayed the heart of Agrippa towards a wise decision. We see it in
Elijah as he rebuked the sins of the wicked Ahab with withering
invectives or threw the baffled priests of Baal into maddening
hysteria--himself the while unmoved and confident. We see it
conspicuously in _Him,_ who came in the spirit and power of Elias,
whose burning words assailed every form of wrong, and who did not
scruple to denounce the deluded leaders of a corrupt Church in the
most scathing terms--"Ye serpents! ye generation of vipers! How can
ye escape the damnation of hell?" (Matt. xxiii. 33). _"With much
contention"_--amid much conflict and danger. This kind of preaching
provoked opposition and involved them in great inward struggles. The
faithful messenger of God fears not the mote violent assault from
without; but the thought of the fatal issues to those who obstinately
reject and fight against the Gospel fills him with agonising concern.
+II. This boldness no suffering could daunt.+--"Even after that we
had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at
Philippi" (ver. 2). They had come fresh from a city where they had
been cruelly outraged. Though Roman citizens, they had been publicly
scourged and, to add to their degradation, were thrust into the inner
prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks--treatment reserved
for the vilest felons. But so far from being dismayed, their
sufferings only deepened their love for the Gospel and inflamed the
passion to make it known. A German professor has lately made
experiments with chalcedony and other quartzose minerals, and he has
demonstrated that when such stones are ground on large and rapidly
revolving wheels they exhibit a brilliant phosphorescent glow
throughout their entire mass. So is it with the resolute worker. The
more he is ground under the strong wheel of suffering and
persecution, the more intensely will his entire character glow with
the radiance of an unquenchable bravery.
+III. This boldness was Divinely inspired.+--"We were bold _in_ our
God" (ver. 2). It was not the froth of a senseless presumption, not
the wild, aimless effort of a reckless bravado; but the calm, grand
heroism of a profound faith in the Divine. They fell back completely
upon God and drew their deepest inspiration and mightiest strength
from Him. The prophet Jeremiah, in a moment of despondency, decided
to "speak no more in the name of the Lord"; but when he could say,
"The Lord is with me as a mighty, terrible One," his courage
returned, and he obeyed implicitly the Divine mandate, "Thou shalt go
to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou
shalt speak" (Jer. xx. 9-11; Jer. i. 7). Similarly commissioned, Paul
once exclaimed, "I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me" (Phil. iv. 13). Endowed with the like spirit,
Luther uttered his noble protest at the Diet of Worms--"Here I stand:
I cannot do otherwise: God help me!"
+Lessons.+--1. _Boldness is absolutely indispensable in attacking,
not simply in the mass, but in detail, the crying evils of the age._
2. _Boldness is acquired only by studious and prayerful familiarity
with God's message and with God._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._