+I. Is occasioned by the religious progress of others.+
+II. Is mingled with ingenuous gratitude.+
+III. Is enjoyed as in the presence of God.+
+IV. Is accompanied with fervent prayer.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11-13.
_A Comprehensive Apostolic Prayer._
The prayers of the apostle Paul are among his sublimest utterances.
The frequency with which they occur in his writings indicates the
habitual devoutness of his mind. In both the epistles to the
Thessalonians nearly every chapter is distinguished and sealed by a
fervent outbreathing of his soul to God. In these verses he
expresses, in the most comprehensive and suggestive terms, his
dearest wishes for the welfare of the Church.
+I. This prayer recognises the essential oneness of the Father and
the Son.+--1. _Christ is invoked equally with the Father._ "Now God
Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 11). The
word "Himself" stands foremost in the sentence and refers to both
persons, as if the writer said, "May our God and Father, and our Lord
Jesus Christ, _Himself_ direct our way unto you." It should be also
noted that the verb "direct," belonging to both persons, is in the
singular number. This fact was urged as an important point by
Athanasius in the great Arian controversy in the fourth century. As
the Son partakes equally with the Father in the honour of invocation,
so also in excellency of nature. Divine properties are also ascribed
to the Son in overruling by His providence the affairs of men. "What
things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise"
(John v. 19).
2. _It is the privilege of the believer to realise a personal
interest in the Father and in the Son._--By an act of appropriating
faith we can say, God _our_ Father and _our_ Lord Jesus Christ.
Similar phrases occur no less than twenty-six times in these two
epistles. Blessed confidence! What a wealth of tenderness, of
comfort, of satisfying assurance, and of joyous triumph is involved
in the earnest, trustful cry of the soul--_My_ God! _my_ Saviour!
+II. This is a prayer for providential guidance in securing a much
desired interview.+--"Direct our way unto you" (ver. 11). Hitherto
the way to Thessalonica had been insuperably blocked up. The brethren
there were as eager to welcome Paul as he was to be present with
them; but Satan had hindered by interposing many obstacles.
Nevertheless, let God give the signal and all impediments from men or
devils would vanish. The road would at once become straight and
plain. God should be recognised in the simplest affairs of life. "It
is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. x. 23); and
only those journeys are prosperous wherein God is pilot. There are
crises in life when everything depends on being guided in the right
way--_e.g._ in selecting a school or college, entering on the
religious life, commencing business, contemplating marriage, or in
change of residence. In these and all other matters acknowledge God,
and He shall direct thy paths (Prov. iii. 6). Our prayer for guidance
must ever be in submission to the Divine will. The apostle's prayer
was not answered immediately; five years elapsed before he again
visited Macedonia. That path is safest and best in which God's finger
points. Let His call be our loadstar; His hand the cloud, to move or
pause as He directs.
+III. This is a prayer for the bestowal of an increased measure of
the highest Christian affection.+--1. _Christian love is progressive
and mutual._ "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love
one toward another" (ver. 12). The apostle had before commended their
labour of love, and Timothy had brought good tidings of their
continued love. Now he prays they may increase and excel more and
more. Love is the indispensable badge of the genuine Christian. He
cannot have too much of it--the more the better. It grows with all
other graces and causes them to grow. There is no limit to its
expansion but our finiteness. But love must be mutual in its
exercise--"one toward another." "For this is the message," says St.
John, "that ye heard from the beginning, that ye should love one
another" (1 John iii. 11); and, "Seeing ye have purified your souls
in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the
brethren, see that ye love one another;" urges St. Peter, "with a
pure heart fervently" (1 Pet. i. 22).
2. _Christian love is unselfish._--"And toward all men" (ver. 12).
The old Levitical law declared, "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any
grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself" (Lev. xix. 18). And the New Testament
reiterates the truth, that charity out of a pure heart, and of a good
conscience, and of faith unfeigned is the fulfilling of the royal law
(1 Tim. i. 5).
3. _Here we have Christian love practically exemplified._--"Even as
we do towards you" (ver. 12). Paul and his co-labourers had given
unmistakable evidence of their sincere love for the Thessalonian
converts in their self-denying labours, uncomplaining sufferings, and
unceasing anxiety on their behalf (ch. ii. 8, 9, 13; ch. iii. 3-5).
Love is the soul of self-sacrifice, prompts to labour, braves all
suffering, and persists in doing good to others, even to those who
least appreciate and most violently oppose the best endeavours.
Ministers should exemplify in their own lives what they prescribe to
others.
+IV. This is a prayer for confirmation in a state of unblameable
personal purity.+--1. _There is no stability in Christian graces
apart from love._ "To the end he may establish your hearts" (ver.
13). If it were possible to possess every other grace but love, it
would be like a varied summer landscape, very beautiful but
transient, having in it no element of permanency. Above all other
graces we are exhorted to "put on charity which is the bond of
perfectness" (Col. iii. 14)--a girdle which adorns and binds together
all the rest. Love is the fulfilling of the law, the infallible test
and evidence of stability.
2. _Unblameable holiness is the legitimate and necessary outcome of
love._--"To the end He may stablish your hearts in holiness" (ver.
13). The apostle prays for an increase of love _in order to_ the
attainment of a higher personal purity. All defects in obedience
issue from a defect in love. Our love of God makes us solicitous to
know and obey Him and fearful to offend Him. Our love of man makes us
careful to preserve his honour, life, and possessions, and in no way
to impair his happiness. The whole of the law is love. There is no
duty to God or man but love inclines unto, and no sin from which it
does not restrain. To be unblameable in holiness, store the soul with
love. When love fails, obedience and all holy duties fail.
3. _Holiness screens the soul from Divine censure at the second
advent of Christ._--"Unblameable in holiness before God, even our
Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints"
(ver. 13). Christ will come in glorious pomp attended by His holy
ones--saints and angels. He who remains steadfast in holiness shall
be held blameless then. Our outer _life_ may be censured by men; but
if God, even our Father, who stablishes our _hearts_ in holiness,
absolves and approves, it will be enough. That holiness alone is
genuine which will bear the searching scrutiny of Omniscience.
+Lessons.+--1. _Recognise God in every event of life._ 2. _To attain
the highest degree of personal purity pray for an increase of love._
3. _Act in all things so as to secure the Divine approval._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._