1 Thessalonians 3

1 Thessalonians 3:1

tration of his love, the apostle informs the Thescare to send Timothy to them from Athens, and assure with which he received the tidings which brought him; he also assures them that he was ing for them, and for an opportunity of making visit, in order to promote their edification, which heart. 1 Thes. III. throughout.

1 THESSALONIANS III. 1.

SUCH is the affection we feel for you, and therefore, as we were by persecution separated from you, while as yet your church was in a very tender and unsettled state, (Acts xvii. 10,) we could not but be solicitous, to be more particularly informed how it fared with you. And, being able no longer to endure the uncertainty in which we were with relation to you, we acquiesced in the uncomfortable circumstances of being left aloneᵃ at Athens, where we had some peculiar need of the countenance and comfort of an approved companion and friend; And sent Timothy, our dear brother, and a faithful servant of God, and whom we highly esteem, as our diligent and affectionate fellow labourer in the gospel of Christ, whom you had formerly known under that character;ᵇ we parted with him, inconvenient as it was, for your sakes, that, by making you a visit, at a time when we concluded you so much needed it, he might strengthen and comfort you, exhort and advise you as occasion required, concerning the evidences of your faith in general, and any particular branches of it in which you might need farther instruction. That no man might be shaken and discouraged from his adherence to the Christian profession and hope, by the

ᵃ Left alone.] It seems from this circumstance, that Silas was absent from Paul, while that apostle was at Athens, though some have been of a different opinion. Compare Acts xviii. 5, which seems farther to confirm that fact.

ᵇ Fellow labourer] It appears from Acts xvii. 14, that Timothy had been in those parts before, as Paul’s fellow labourer, and so no doubt but he was known to the Thessalonians, and his coming on this occasion would be the more agreeable to them.

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greatest severity of these afflictions with which we are surrounded; for ye yourselves know that we are appointed to these, and that one part of the scheme of God in establishing the Christian church, was to raise a society of men, who should glorify his name, and illustrate the force of true religion, by enduring the greatest extremities in its defence with fortitude and cheerfulness. For even when we were with you, we did not flatter you with any vain hopes of an easy and pleasurable life, but plainly and candidly told you, before you engaged with us, that we should certainly be afflicted, as it came to pass in fact; and ye well know, from the very nature of things, and from comparing the religion you have embraced with the tempers, prejudices, and interests of men, that there was the greatest reason to expect it. For this cause also, being (as I was just saying) no longer able to endure the uncertainty I was in with regard to persons that in such circumstances lay so near my heart, I sent to know the state of your faith under such violent assaults, lest by any means the tempter, taking the advantage of the weakness of human nature, might have tempted you to suppress the conviction of your minds, or at least the public profession of your faith, so as to return to idolatry again; and so our labour should with respect to you have been in vain, as in such a case it certainly would have been, whatever secret persuasion of the truth of religion might have remained. But now Timothy, having returned to us from you, and having brought to us the good tidings of your continued faith, and fervent abounding love, and assured us that ye have always a good and affectionate remembrance of us, as your spiritual father in Christ, greatly desiring, if Providence might permit it, speedily to see us again, as we also assuredly do [to see] you; We were hereby comforted, brethren, concerning you, and found the happy effects of these heart reviving consolations, in all our tribulation and necessity, which grew more supportable to us than it would otherwise have been, by means of this happy assurance of your faith, which God hath blessed us as the instrument of roducin.

arnestly that he may be restored to them again.

For now we do indeed live, we relish and enjoy life, if ye stand fast in the gospel and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, retaining strenuously that holy profession and precious faith which ye have embraced: whereas, were ye to be drawn aside to renounce it, our very heart would be wounded, and it would be as bitter as death unto us. For what sufficient thanks can we ever render to God concerning you, for all the flow of holy joy with which we rejoice on your account, for your conversion and progress in religion, when we have been presenting ourselves before our God, and breathing out our heart at his footstool; Night and day enlarging upon this, as a petition which lay nearest to our very souls, and, if I may be allowed such an expression, superabundantly making it our request, to see your face, and to complete the deficiencies of your faith, by instructing you in any article of religion, which, being so suddenly torn away from you, by the storm that was raised, we had not an opportunity of opening to you so clearly, as your edification might have required. And we still continue to urge the humble supplication; that God himself, even our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom the supreme government of the kingdom of providence is committed, may, by a secret, but powerful interposition, so dispose and overrule all things, as to clear and smooth our way to you, by removing these obstructions which at present remain; And, in the mean time, yea above all, that the Lord Jesus Christ, by the powerful operation of his Spirit on your hearts, may cause you to be enlarged and to abound in love toward each other, and to all Christians, yea towards the whole human race, even as we do indeed abound in affection towards you, and shall always rejoice in any opportunity of manifesting it, by whatever we may be able to do, or may be called to suffer for your sakes.

May you feel this noble principle of universal goodness more and more active in your minds, that, by the experience of its efficacy, your hearts may be strengthened in every virtue,

is well known, that happiness, and Dr. Whitby has pr s li e is often put for many instances of it in his note her

Reflections on the admonitions given by the apostle.

SECT. [and you] may at length [be] found blameless in hearts unblameable iv. holiness before God even our Father, at the ap- in holiness before 1 Thes. pearance of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his God even our Father, iii. 13 saints around him, in that illustrious day, when at the coming of our their sanctity and glory shall be completed, Lord Jesus Christ and all their labours and sufferings in his cause with all his saints. abundantly recompensed.

IMPROVEMENT.

Not farther to insist on the tender affection of Paul to the Thessalonians, which has already afforded matter for so many 3 profitable remarks, let us recollect that, as Christians, we also are appointed to afflictions, by the experience of which our fitness for heaven and our relish for our everlasting rest are to be im- 4 proved. It was faithful and kind in the apostles, after the example of their great Master, to give us such admonitions; but let us not be moved by the apprehension of any sufferings that may await us, for he who hath undertaken to support and defend us can make us more than conquerors; he can, even while we continue in this state of warfare, establish our hearts unblameable in holiness; and how blessed a connection will that have with our 13 being presented faultless and blameless before the presence of his glory, when Christ shall appear with all his saints, and when the sanctity of each shall be a glory to their common Master, as well as an everlasting blessing to every one of those spotless souls! 8 Let the ministers of the gospel nobly rise above all attachment to secular views, and make it their great business to advance in their hearers such a temper. Let it be their life, to see those Christian friends, whom God hath committed to their care, 19 standing fast in the Lord. And, if they have reason to joy for their sakes before God, let them render their thanks to God for it, and night and day be urgent in their prayers for them, that whatever comfort they have may be continued, and that whatever is wanting in their faith and their love, may be perfected, by the Divine blessing on ministerial labours.