+I. Possible only where there is mutual peace.+
+II. It is the duty of every member of the Church to promote
harmony.+
+III. Peace with God is the condition of peace with each other.+
+IV. Discord in a Church mars the usefulness of the best ministry.+
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 14, 15.
_A Group of Christian Precepts._
The supernatural character of Christianity is not less apparent in
the purity and loftiness of the morality it inculcates, than in the
superiority of the truths it reveals. It is intensely practical in
its teaching and aim. It is not like a glow of light that irradiates
the external character for a time; it is an inward radiance that
cannot help making itself visible in the outer life. It is not a
sentiment; it is a principle. The moral precepts of Christianity can
be appreciated and obeyed only by the soul that has become thoroughly
possessed by the Christian spirit. Each precept in these verses may
be fittingly used as the homiletical heading of a distinct paragraph.
+I. Warn them that are unruly.+--The unruly are those who, like
disorderly soldiers, break their ranks, and become idle, dissolute,
and worthless in their lives. This disorderliness was a besetting sin
of the primitive Churches, not excepting the Thessalonian. Many of
them, entertaining false ideas about the nearness of Christ's second
coming, became indifferent to the ordinary work of life, and sank
into listlessness and apathy, and even worse. Says the proverb, "An
idle brain is the devil's workshop," and when a man is not diligently
employed in some healthy and vigorous occupation, he is apt,
notwithstanding his Christian profession, to become an instrument of
evil and a disturber of the Church, the peace of which he is pledged
to maintain. It is difficult to pin some people down to a bit of fair
and honest work. They are full of schemes and suggestions for other
people to carry out; they lay down the line of conduct with the
utmost precision, but never themselves illustrate the easiness or
difficulty of on keeping the line; they make laws and regulations
which they never dream of observing themselves and are for ever
finding fault that other people do not observe them. These are the
restless gipsies of the Church, the pests of every Christian
community into which they intrude, the mischief-makers and busybodies
in other people's matters. Warn such. Admonish gently at first,
putting them in mind of their duty. It is the fault of many to limit
admonitions to gross and grievous sins; but in these cases, warning
often comes too late. If admonition in the earlier stage is not
effectual, then proceed to sharper and more faithful reproof. If that
is unavailing, hesitate not to take more summary measures--separate
yourselves from their society.
+II. Comfort the feeble-minded.+--More correctly--encourage the
faint-hearted. The reference is not to the intellectually weak, but
to such as faint in the day of adversity, or are ready to fall away
before the prospect of persecution and suffering (ch. ii. 14), or who
are disheartened and desponding in consequence of the loss of friends
(ch. iv. 13). It may also include those who are perplexed with
constant doubt and apprehension as to their spiritual condition, and
who through fear are all their lifetime subject to bondage. There are
some people so weighed down with a sense of modesty as to
incapacitate them from using the abilities they certainly possess,
though underneath all this modesty there may be the pride of thinking
themselves better able to judge of themselves and their abilities
than anybody else. Others, again, are so oppressed with the
inveteracy of sin, that they despair of gaining the victory over it,
and give up all endeavours. These need encouraging with the promises
of God, and with the lessons and examples furnished by experience.
Heart-courage is what the faint-hearted require.
+III. Support the weak.+--A man may be weak in judgment or weak in
practice. There may be lack of information as to certain great truths
necessary to be believed and stoutly maintained, or lack of capacity
in clearly understanding and grasping those truths. Such was the
condition of many in the apostle's day, who, not apprehending the
complete abrogation of the Mosaic law, and thinking they were still
conscientiously bound to observe ordinances, were weak in faith. Some
linger for years in the misty borderland between doubt and certainty,
with all its enfeebling and poisonous malaria--ever learning, but
never coming to a knowledge of the truth. Defective faith implies
defective practice. Support such with the moral influence of our
sympathy, our prayers, our counsel, our example. While not
countenancing their sins, we may bear or prop them up by judiciously
commending in them that which is good, by not too severely condemning
them in the practice of things indifferent (1 Cor. ix. 20), and by
striving to rectify their errors with all gentleness and fidelity.
+IV. Be patient toward all men.+--Not only toward the weak, the
faint-hearted, and the disorderly, but towards all men--the most
wayward and perverse, the bitterest enemies and persecutors. Consider
the patience of God towards ourselves, while for years we refused His
calls and despised His admonitions; and let us strive to imitate His
longsuffering and kindness. Lack of present success is no warrant to
any to cease from obvious duties and leave things to drift in
hopeless entanglement and ruin. The triumphs of genius in art,
science, and literature are triumphs of patience.
+V. See that none renders evil for evil unto any man.+--Retaliation
betrays a weak, ignoble, and cruel disposition. Pagan morality went
so far as to forbid only the unprovoked injuring of others, and it is
not without noble examples of the exercise of a spirit of
forgiveness,
"Exalted Socrates, divinely brave,
Injured he fell, and dying, he forgave;
Too noble for revenge, which still we find
The weakest frailty of a feeble mind."
The Jews prostituted to purposes of private revenge the laws which
were intended to administer equitable retributions between man and
man. It is Christianity alone that teaches man to bear personal
injuries without retaliation. "Hath any wronged thee?" says Quarles;
"be bravely avenged--slight it, and the work is begun; forgive it,
and it is finished. He is below himself that is not above an injury."
Public wrongs the public law will avenge; and the final recompense
for all wrong, private and public, must be left to the infallible
Judge of all (Rom. xii. 19, 20).
+VI. But ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to
all men.+--The noblest retaliation is that of good for evil. In the
worst character there is some element of goodness, that may call out
the desire to do good towards it. Our beneficence should be as large
as an enemy's malice (Matt. v. 44, 45). That which is good is not
always that which is pleasing to the objects of our benevolence, nor
is it always pleasing to ourselves. Goodness should be sought for its
own sake, and sought with increasing earnestness and perseverance, as
the hunter seeks his prey. It is the great aim and business of life.
Goodness is essentially diffusive; it delights in multiplying itself
in others. It is undeterred by provocation; it conquers the most
virulent opposition.
+Lessons.+--1. _The preceptive morality of Christianity is a signal
evidence of its transcendent glory._ 2. _Practice is more potent than
precept._ 3. _The Christian spirit is the root of genuine goodness._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 16-18.
_The Secret of a Happy Life._
Happiness is not found in anything external. It is a certain state of
the soul when it is filled with the peace of God and lit up with the
sunshine of heaven. It is a mockery to talk about cultivating
happiness. It is not a potato to be planted in mould and tilled with
manure. "Happiness is a glory shining far down upon us out of heaven.
It is a Divine dew which the soul, on certain of its summer mornings,
feels dropping upon it from the amaranth bloom and golden fruitage
off paradise." An aged Divine once gave this advice to a newly
married pair: "Don't try to be happy. Happiness is a shy nymph, and
if you chase her, you will never catch her; but just go quietly on
and do your duty, and she will come to you." In these verses we have
revealed to us the secret of a happy life.
+I. The secret of a happy life is found in constant and faithful
discharge of Christian duties.+--1. _It is our duty continually to
rejoice._ "Rejoice evermore" (ver. 16). To rejoice is not only a
privilege, but a duty; the believer is as much obliged to rejoice as
he is to believe. It seems a mockery to direct people to rejoice in
the midst of a world of sin, sorrow, and death, and in a Church which
is sorely tried; and yet such was the condition of things when these
words were penned, and when similar counsel was given to the
Philippians (Phil. iv. 4). Religion is never recommended by sour
looks, sepulchral tones, and suppressing every external manifestation
of gladness. No wonder the Christian is able to rejoice continually,
when we remember the inexhaustible sources of joy he possesses in his
relations to Christ, to God, and to the Holy Ghost, in the promises
of the Divine Word, and in a long, beneficent, and holy life. By
becoming religious, a man does not lose his joys, but exchanges
them--transitory, fading, earthly joys--for joy unspeakable,
glorious, and that fadeth not away.
2 _It is our duty to pray always._--"Pray without ceasing" (ver. 17).
As we are every moment in need, so should we every moment seek help
in prayer. The Lord requires not only frequency in prayer, but also
unwearied importunity. We must guard against the error of the
Euchites, who flourished in the fourth century, and who regarded all
other exercises of religion than inward prayer as unnecessary and
vain. Live in the spirit of prayer. Let the whole work of life be as
prayer offered to God. He who prays the most lives the best. Prayer
surrounds the soul with a golden atmosphere, through which is sifted
the sunbeams of heavenly joy.
3. _It is our duty to be ever grateful._--"In everything give thanks"
(ver. 18). Prayer should ever be accompanied with thanksgiving. What
we may pray for, for that we must give thanks; and whatever is unfit
matter for prayer is unfit for thanksgiving. The Christian can meet
with nothing in the way of duty that is not a cause for thankfulness,
whatever suffering may be entailed. When we think of the ceaseless
stream of God's mercies, we shall have ample reasons for
unintermitted thanksgiving.
+II. The secret of a happy life is in harmony with the Divine
will.+--"For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you"
(ver. 18). It is the will of God that His people should be rejoicing,
praying, and grateful; and this will is revealed by Christ, as
declared in His Gospel, as received in His Church, and as observed by
those in communion with Him. What a revelation is this, not of an
arbitrary demand of the impossible state of the affections towards
God, but a beautiful and consolatory discovery of the largeness of
His love and of the blessed ends for which He has redeemed us in
Christ. The will of God supplies constant material for gratitude and
praise.
+Lessons.+--_Learn the three indubitable marks of a genuine
Christian:_ 1. _To rejoice in the mercy of God._ 2. _To be fervent in
prayer._ 3. _To give thanks to God in all things._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._