_Paul requests their Prayers, and exhorts them to Stedfastness_ In view of the opposition of spiteful and unbelieving men, Paul requests the Thessalonians to pray for him that he may be enabled to continue his work, and that nothing may avail to prevent the Gospel being preached and accepted. He re... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:1. PRAY FOR US. Paul knew how to magnify his office, when occasion required: but in the apostle he never ceased to be a humble, natural, Christian man. He not only prays for his ‘children' in Christ, but begs them to pray for him. But in another sense the man is absorbed in the apo... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:2. THAT WE MAY BE DELIVERED FROM UNREASONABLE AND WICKED MEN. Ellicott says that ‘to find here [as Jowett does] a mere shrinking of the flesh on the part of the apostle from the dangers that awaited him, is to assign to the apostle a character that never belonged to him.' But when... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:3. BUT FAITHFUL IS THE LORD. The contrast between the mischievous opposition of wicked men and the protecting care of Christ, is sharpened by the slight and easy play on the word: men are faithless, but faithful is the Lord. Their faithlessness prompts them to hostility; but His fa... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:4. This verse farther expresses the confidence which Paul felt that, by the faithfulness of the Lord, the Thessalonians would not be moved by persecution, but would boldly continue in the life to which he had introduced them, not fearing to carry out any of the commands he had laid... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:5. MAY THE LORD DIRECT, _i.e._ may Christ, who is faithful (2 Thessalonians 3:3), direct. INTO THE LOVE OF GOD. To love God is to have in the heart the root of all activity and endurance, the spring of duty, and the fountain of all virtue. AND INTO THE STEDFASTNESS OF CHRIST. T... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:6. NOW WE COMMAND YOU. ‘In what follows, the exhortations of the former Epistle (chap. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:14) are repeated and expanded with more studied distinctness of language, it being probable that the evils previously alluded to had advanced among some... [ Continue Reading ]
_Exhortations to Industry, and Directions regarding the Treatment of Idle and Disorderly Persons._ In this concluding paragraph of his Epistle, Paul warns the Thessalonians against neglecting their worldly occupations, and by idleness becoming dependent on others for a livelihood. He bids them also... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:7. On this and the following verse, see notes on the First Epistle, chap. 2.... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:9. NOT BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT POWER. This is the idea which Paul expands in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, chap. 9; where he shows at large the reasonableness of ministerial work being paid for, proves that the principle on which ministers claim support is found both in nature... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:10. IF ANY WOULD NOT WORK, NEITHER SHOULD HE EAT. This seems to have been a proverbial expression among the Jews, and the idea was inculcated by the Rabbis, sometimes in the very words used _by_ Paul. It was the fundamental law of labour, early impressed on the Jewish mind by the n... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:11. For. Paul gives his reason for introducing this subject at all. And he further defines ‘walking disorderly.' He leaves no doubt as to the persons about whom he speaks. They were those who were excitedly busy, but doing no useful work; running hither and thither, meddling with e... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:12. WITH QUIETNESS THEY WORK, AND EAT THEIR OWN BREAD. One of the Jewish Rabbis says: ‘When a man eats his own bread, he has quietness and composure of mind; but when he eats the bread of his parents or of his children not to speak of the bread of strangers he loses this quietness... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:13. BUT YE, BRETHREN. Ye on whom I rely (2 Thessalonians 3:4), and who have not ceased to labour. BE NOT WEARY IN WELL-DOING. Do not be tempted to imitate the fanatical idleness of those around you do not weary of ‘the trivial round, the common task,' do not crave for some great... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:14. IF ANY MAN OBEY NOT OUR WORD. Paul had just (2 Thessalonians 3:12) laid his command, in Christ's name, on the idle busybodies; but he viewed it as a possible thing that they might disregard this command. Already he had learned that his authority was not by all parties willingly... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:15. COUNT HIM NOT AS AN ENEMY. Though deprived, as we say, of church privileges, and shut out from fellowship with the members of the church, he was not to be counted hopeless. This discipline was to be expected to terminate in his repentance and reclamation. And for this end, he w... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:16. THE LORD OF PEACE. That God the Father is here meant may be argued from the use of the expression in Romans 15:33; Romans 16:20, and especially in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 5:23. That Jesus Christ is meant may be argued from the common application... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:17. THE SALUTATION OF PAUL WITH MINE OWN HAND.' These words apparently form the commencement of the autograph salutation with which the apostle attests the genuineness and authenticity of the Epistle, the two verses (2 Thessalonians 3:17-18) having apparently both been written by t... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Thessalonians 3:18. ALL. Possibly this word is added to the benediction with which the First Epistle was closed, that even those who had been censured might feel that they were sharers in it.... [ Continue Reading ]