2 THESSALONIANS 3 COMMENTARY

EDITED BY GLENN PEASE

Request for Prayer

1 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for

us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly

and be honored, just as it was with you.

1. BARNES, Finally, brethren, pray for us - That is, for Paul, Silas, and Timothy, then engaged in arduous labors at Corinth. This request for the prayers of Christians is one which Paul often makes; see the notes, 1Th_5:25.

That the word of the Lord may have free course - That is, the gospel. The margin is run. So also the Greek. The idea is, that it might meet with no obstruction, but that it might be carried abroad with the rapidity of a racer out of whose way every hindrance was removed. The gospel would spread rapidly in the earth if all the obstructions which men have put in its way were removed; and that they may be removed should be one of the constant subjects of prayer.

And be glorified - Be honored; or appear to be glorious.

As it is with you - It is evident from this that Paul met with some obstructions in preaching the gospel where he was then laboring. What they were, he mentions in the next verse. He was then at Corinth (see the introduction), and the history in the Acts of the Apostles informs us of the difficulties which he had to encounter there; see Acts 18.

2. CLARKE, Finally, brethren - The words do not mean finally, but, furthermore - to come to a conclusion - what remains is this - I shall only add - any of these phrases expresses the sense of the original.

Pray for us - God, in the order of his grace and providence, has made even the success of his Gospel dependent, in a certain measure, on the prayers of his followers. Why he should do so we cannot tell, but that he has done so we know; and they are not a little criminal who neglect to make fervent supplications for the prosperity of the cause of God.

May have free course - They were to pray that the doctrine of the Lord, ,

might run, , an allusion to the races in the Olympic games: that, as it had already got into the stadium or race course, and had started fairly, so it might run on, get to the goal, and be glorified; i.e., gain the crown, appointed for him that should get first to the end of the course.

3. GILL, Finally, brethren, pray for us,.... The apostle now proceeds to the last and closing part of the epistle, which respects church discipline, and the removing of disorderly persons from their communion; and introduces it with a request to pray for him, and the rest of his fellow ministers, particularly Silvanus and Timothy, who joined with him in this epistle: he signifies that nothing more remained; this was the last he had to say, that they, "the brethren", not the preachers of the word only, but the members of the church, would be solicitous for them at the throne of grace; as it becomes all the churches, and the several members of them, to pray for their ministers: with respect to their private studies, that they might be directed to suitable subjects; that their understandings might be opened to understand the Scriptures; that their gifts might be increased, and they be more and more fitted for public service: and with respect to their public ministrations, that they be brought forth in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ; that they have a door of utterance given them to preach the Gospel freely and boldly, as it ought to be spoken; and that their ministry be blessed to saints and sinners: and with respect to the world, and their conduct in it, that they be kept from the evil of it, and so behave as to give none offence, that the ministry be not blamed; and that they be not allured by the flatteries, nor intimidated by the frowns of the world, but endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ: and with respect to their persons and state, that their souls may prosper, and that they may have much of the presence of God, and much spiritual joy, peace, comfort, and strength of faith; and that they may enjoy bodily health, and their lives be spared for further usefulness. This request is frequently urged by the apostle; which shows his sense of the importance of the work of the ministry, the insufficiency of men for it, the necessity of fresh supplies of grace, and the great usefulness of prayer. The particular petitions he would have put up follow, that the word of the Lord may have free course. By "the word of the Lord", or "of God", as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, is meant the Gospel; which is of God, and not of man, comes by the Lord Jesus Christ, and is concerning him, his person and offices, and concerning peace, pardon, righteousness, life, and salvation by him, as the subject matter of it: and the request is, that this might "have free course": or "might run": be propagated and spread far and near: the ministry of the word is a course or race, and ministers are runners in it, having their feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; which is the message they are sent with, and the errand they run upon: which comes from heaven, and is to be carried into all the world, and spread: Satan and his emissaries do all they can to hinder the progress of it; God only can remove all obstructions and impediments; when he works none can let; all mountains become a plain before Zerubbabel. Wherefore the apostle directs to pray to him for it, with what follows, and be glorified, even as it is with you; the Gospel is glorified when it is attended upon by large numbers, and is heard with a becoming reverence; when it is received in the love of it, is greatly prized and highly esteemed; when it is cordially embraced, and cheerfully obeyed. It is glorified when sinners are converted by it, and the lives of the professors of it are agreeably to it; and thus it was glorified in these several instances at Thessalonica; and therefore the apostle puts them upon praying, that it might be so elsewhere, as there; even "everywhere", as the Syriac version adds.

4. HENRY, In these words observe,

I. The apostle desires the prayers of his friends: Finally, brethren, pray for us, 2Th_3:1. He

always remembered them in his prayers, and would not have them forget him and his fellow-

labourers, but bear them on their hearts at the throne of grace. Note, 1. This is one way by which

the communion of saints is kept us, not only by their praying together, or with one another, but

by their praying for one another when they are absent one from another. And thus those who are

at great distance may meet together at the throne of grace; and thus those who are not capable

of doing or receiving any other kindness may yet this way do and receive real and very great

kindness. 2. It is the duty of people to pray for their ministers; and not only for their own

pastors, but also for all good and faithful ministers. And, 3. Ministers need, and therefore should

desire, the prayers of their people. How remarkable is the humility, and how engaging the

example, of this great apostle, who was so mighty in prayer himself, and yet despised not the

prayers of the meanest Christian, but desired an interest in them. Observe, further, what they

are desired and directed to pray for; namely, (1.) For the success of the gospel ministry: That the

word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, 2Th_3:1. This was the great thing that

Paul was most solicitous about. He was more solicitous that God's name might be sanctified, his

kingdom advanced, and his will done, than he was about his own daily bread. He desired that

the word of the Lord might run (so it is in the original), that it might get ground, that the

interest of religion in the world might go forward and not backward, and not only go forward,

but go apace. All the forces of hell were then, and still are, more or less, raised and mustered to

oppose the word of the Lord, to hinder its publication and success. We should pray, therefore,

that oppositions may be removed, that so the gospel, may have free course to the ears, the

hearts, and the consciences of men, that it may be glorified in the conviction and conversion of

sinners, the confutation, of gainsayers, and the holy conversation of the saints. God, who

magnified the law, and made it honourable, will glorify the gospel, and make that honourable,

and so will glorify his own name; and good ministers and good Christians may very well be

contented to be little, to be any thing, to be nothing, if Christ be magnified and his gospel be

glorified. Paul was now at Athens, or, as some think, at Corinth, and would have the

Thessalonians pray that he might have as good success there as he had at Thessalonica, that it

might be as well with others even as it was with them. Note, If ministers have been successful in

one place, they should desire to be successful in every place where they may preach the gospel.

5. JAMISON, 2Th_3:1-18. He asks their prayers: His confidence in them: Prayer for them: Charges against disorderly idle conduct; his own example: Concluding prayer and salutation.

Finally literally, As to what remains.

may have free course literally, may run; spread rapidly without a drag on the wheels of its course. That the new-creating word may run, as swiftly as the creative word at the first (Psa_147:15). The opposite is the word of God being bound (2Ti_2:9).

glorified by sinners accepting it (Act_13:48; Gal_1:23, Gal_1:24). Contrast evil spoken of (1Pe_4:14).

as it is with you (1Th_1:6; 1Th_4:10; 1Th_5:11).

5B. SPURGEON, Pray for us, says the apostle, pray for myself and the brethren who

are with me, pray for all the apostles and preachers of the Word. Finally, brethren. If

this were the last word we had to say to you, we would make just this request, Finally,

brethren, pray for us. You cannot tell how much Gods servants are helped by the prayers

of his people. The strongest man in Israel will be the better for the prayers of the weakest

saint in Zion. If you can do nothing else, you can pray for us; therefore, day and night, be

ye at the mercy-seat on our behalf: Finally, brethren, pray for us.A most important

request. What can the ministers of the gospel do, if their people cease to pray for them?

Even if their own prayers be heard, as they will be, and a measure of blessing be given, yet

it will be but a scant measure, compared with what it would be if all the saints united in

their intercessions. Whenever we see the word of God very mighty in one place it ought to

encourage us to pray that it may be the same in another place, for it is the same word and

the hearts of all men are alike, The same spirit can give the same blessing in every place.

Hence Paul says, Pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be

glorified even as it is with you. Now, if any of you in your church are enjoying rich

prosperity, pray for others, that they may have the same. And, it you are without it, take

courage from any church which you see prospering, and ask the Lord to do the same things

for you. Very likely if we prayed more for ministers they would be more blessed to us.

There is many a man who can not hear his minister and the reason may be that God

never hears him pray for his minister.

2 Thessalonians 3:1. That the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even

as it is with you:You Thessalonians enjoy the power of the Word. Pray that it may be so

everywhere else. Paul is said to have written this Epistle from Corinth or Athens, and he

longed that there the Word of God might prevail as it had done at Thessalonica. Pray just

now that, in every part of the world, Gods Word may have free course. There are many

who stand in the way of it, pray God that they may be swept out of the way, that the Word

of the Lord may have free course. We want the gospel to run, and spread, till the whole

earth shall know its blessed message.

6. CALVIN, 1To the Church of the Thessalonians which is in God. As to the form of salutation, it were

superfluous to speak. This only it is necessary to notice that by a Church in God and Christ is meant

one that has not merely been gathered together under the banner of faith, for the purpose of worshipping

one God the Father, and confiding in Christ, but is the work and building as well of the Father as of Christ,

because while God adopts us to himself, and regenerates us, we from him begin to be in Christ.

(1Co_1:30)

7. EBC, MUTUAL INTERCESSION

THE main part of this letter is now finished. The Apostle has completed his teaching about the Second Advent, and the events which precede and condition it; and nothing remains to dispose of but some minor matters of personal and practical interest.

He begins by asking again, as at the close of the First Epistle, the prayers of the Thessalonians for himself and his fellow workers. It was a strength and comfort to him, as to every minister of Christ, to know that he was remembered by those who loved him. in the presence of God. But it is no selfish or private interest that the Apostle has in view When he begs a place in their

prayers; it is the interest of the work with which he has identified himself. "Pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified." This was the one business and concern of his life; if it went well, all his desires were satisfied.

Hardly anything in the New Testament gives us a more characteristic look of the Apostles soul than his desire that the word of the Lord should run. The word of the Lord is the gospel, of which he is the principal herald to the nations; and we see in his choice of this word his sense of its urgency. It was glad tidings to all mankind; and how sorely needed wherever he turned his eyes! The constraint of Christs love was upon his heart, the constraint of mens sin and misery; and he could not pass swiftly enough from city to city, to proclaim the reconciling grace of God, and call men from darkness. unto light. His eager heart fretted against barriers and restraints of every description; he saw in them the malice of the great enemy of Christ: "I was minded once and again to come unto you, but Satan hindered me." Hence it is that he asks the Thessalonians to pray for their removal, that the word of the Lord may run. The ardour of such a prayer, and of the heart which prompts it, is far enough removed from the common temper of the Church, especially where it has been long established. How many centuries there were during which Christendom, as it was called, was practically a fixed quantity, shut up within the limits of Western European civilisation, and not aspiring to advance a single step beyond it, fast or slow. It is one of the happy omens of our own time that the apostolic conception of the gospel as an ever-advancing, ever-victorious force, has begun again to take its place in the Christian heart. If it is really to us what it was to St. Paul-a revelation of Gods mercy and judgment which dwarfs everything else, a power omnipotent to save, an irresistible pressure of love on heart and will, glad tidings of great joy that the world is dying for-we shall share in this ardent, evangelical spirit, and pray for all preachers that the word of the Lord may run very swiftly. How it passed in apostolic times from land to land and from city to city-from Syria to Asia, from Asia to Macedonia, from Macedonia to Greece, from Greece to Italy, from Italy to Spain-till in one mans lifetime, and largely by one mans labour, it was known throughout the Roman world. It is easy, indeed, to overestimate the number of the early Christians; but we can hardly overestimate the fiery speed with which the Cross went forth conquering and to conquer. Missionary zeal is one note of the true Apostolic Church.

But Paul wishes the Thessalonians to pray that the word of the Lord may be glorified, as well as have free course. The word of the Lord is a glorious thing itself. As the Apostle calls it in another place, it is the gospel of the glory of the blessed God. All that makes the spiritual glory of God-His holiness, His love, His wisdom is concentrated and displayed in it. But its glory is acknowledged, and in that sense heightened, when its power is seen in the salvation of men. A message from God that did nothing would not be glorified: it would be discredited and shamed. It is the glory of the gospel to lay hold of men, to transfigure them, to lift them out of evil into the company and the likeness of Christ. For anything else it does, it may not fill a great space in the worlds eye; but when it actually brings the power of God to save those who receive it, it is clothed in glory. Paul did not wish to preach without seeing the fruits of his labour. He did the work of an evangelist; and he would have been ashamed of the evangel if it had not wielded a Divine power to overcome sin and bring the sinful to God. Pray that it may always have this power. Pray that when the word of the Lord is spoken it may not be an ineffective, fruitless word, but mighty through God.

There is an expression in Tit_2:10 analogous to this: "Adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things." That expression is less fervent, spoken at a lower level, than the one before us; but it more readily suggests, for that very reason, some duties of which we should be reminded here also. It comes home to all who try to bring their conduct into any kind of relation to the gospel of Christ. It is only too possible for us to disgrace the gospel; but it is in our power also, by every smallest action we do, to illustrate it, to set it off, to put its beauty in the true light before the eyes of men. The gospel comes into the world, like everything else, to be judged on its merits;

that is, by the effects which it produces in the lives of those who receive it. We are its witnesses; its character, in the general mind, is as good as our character; it is as lovely as we are lovely, as strong as we are strong, as glorious as we are glorious, and no more. Let us seek to bear it a truer and worthier witness than we have yet done. To adorn it is a calling far higher than most of us have aimed at; but if it comes into our prayers, if its swift diffusion and powerful operation are near our hearts in the sight of God, grace will be given us to do this also.

The next request of the Apostle has more of a personal aspect, yet it also has his work in view. He asks prayer that he and his friends may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men, he says, have not faith. The unreasonable and wicked men were no doubt the Jews in Corinth, from which place he wrote. Their malignant opposition was the great obstacle to the spread of the gospel; they were the representatives and instruments of the Satan who perpetually hindered him. The word here rendered unreasonable is a rare one in the New Testament. It occurs four times in all, and in each case is differently translated: once it is "amiss," once "harm," once "wickedness," and here "unreasonable." The margin in this place renders it "absurd." What it literally means is, "out of place"; and the Apostle signifies by it, that in the opposition of these men to the gospel there was something preposterous, something that baffled explanation; there was no reason in it, and therefore it was hopeless to reason with it. That is a disposition largely represented both in the Old Testament and the New, and familiar to everyone who in preaching the gospel has come into close contact with men. It was one of the great trials of Jesus that He had to endure the contradiction, of those who were sinners against themselves; who rejected the counsel of God in their own despite; in other words, were unreasonable men. The gospel, we must remember, is good news; it is good news to all men. It tells of Gods love to the sinful; it brings pardon, holiness, immortal hope, to everyone. Why, then, should anybody have a quarrel with it? Is it not enough to drive reason to despair, that men should wantonly, stubbornly, malignantly, hate and resist such a message? Is there anything in the world more provoking than to offer a real and indispensable service, out of a true and disinterested love, and to have it contemptuously rejected? That is the fate of the gospel in many quarters; that was the constant experience of our Lord and of St. Paul. No wonder, in the interests of his mission, the Apostle prays to be delivered from unreasonable men. Are there any of us who come under this condemnation? who are senselessly opposed to the gospel, enemies in intention of God, but in reality hurting no one so much as ourselves? The Apostle does not indicate in his prayer any mode of deliverance. He may have hoped that in Gods providence his persecutors would have their attention distracted somehow; he may have hoped that by greater wisdom, greater love, greater power of adaptation, of becoming all things to all men, he might vanquish their unreason, and gain access to their souls for the truth. In any case, his request shows us that the gospel has a battle to fight that we should hardly have anticipated-a battle with sheer perversity, with blind, wilful absurdity-and that this is one of its most dangerous foes. "Oh, that they were wise," God cries of His ancient people, "Oh, that they understood." He has the same lament to utter still.

We ought to notice the reason appended to this description of Pauls enemies: absurd and evil men, he says; for all men have not faith. Faith, of course, means the Christian faith: all men are not believers in Christ and disciples of Christ; and therefore the moral unreason and perversity of which I have spoken actually exist. He who has the faith is morally sane; he has that in him which is inconsistent with such wickedness and irrationality. We can hardly suppose, however, that the Apostle meant to state such a superfluous truism as that all men were not Christians. What he does mean is apparently that not all men have affinity for the faith, have aptitude or liking for it; as Christ said when He stood before Pilate, the voice of truth is only heard by those who are of the truth. So it was-when the apostles preached. Among their hearers there were those who were of the truth, in whom there was, as it were, the instinct for the faith; they welcomed the message. Others, again, discovered no such natural relation to the truth; in spite

of the adaptation of the message to human needs, they had no sympathy with it; there was no reaction in their hearts in its favour; it was unreasonable to them; and to God they were unreasonable. The Apostle does not explain this; he simply remarks it. It is one of the ultimate and inexplicable facts of human experience; one of the meeting points of nature and freedom, which defy our philosophies. Some are of kin to the gospel when they hear it; they have faith, and justify the counsel of God, and are saved: others are of no kin to the gospel; its wisdom and love wake no response in them; they have not faith; they reject the counsel of God to their own ruin; they are preposterous and evil men. It is from such, as hinderers of the gospel, that Paul prays to be delivered.

In the two verses which follow, he plays, as is were, with this word "faith." All men have not faith, he writes; but the Lord is faithful, and we have faith in the Lord touching you. Often the Apostle goes off thus at a word. Often, especially, he contrasts the trustworthiness of God with the faithlessness of men. Men may not take the gospel seriously; but the Lord does. He is in indubitable earnest with it; He may be depended upon to do His part in carrying it into effect. See how unselfishly, at this point, the Apostle turns from his own situation to that of his readers. The Lord is faithful who will stablish you, and keep you from the Evil One. Paul had left the Thessalonians exposed to very much the same trouble as beset himself wherever he went; but he had left them to One who, he well knew, was able to keep them from falling, and to preserve them against all that the devil and his agents could do.

And side by side with this confidence in God stood his confidence touching the Thessalonians themselves. He was sure in the Lord that they were doing, and would continue to do, the things which he commanded them; in other words, that they would lead a worthy and becoming Christian life. The point of this sentence lies in the words "in the Lord." Apart from the Lord, Paul could have had no such confidence as he here expresses. The standard of the Christian life is lofty and severe; its purity, its unworldliness, its brotherly love, its burning hope, were new things then in the world. What assurance could there be that this standard would be maintained, when the small congregation of working people in Thessalonica was cast upon its own resources in the midst of a pagan community? None at all, apart from Christ. If He had left them along with the Apostle, no one could have risked much upon their fidelity to the Christian calling. It marks the beginning of a new era when the Apostle writes, "We have confidence in the Lord touching you." Life has a new element now, a new atmosphere, new resources; and therefore we may cherish new hopes of it. When we think of them, the words include a gentle admonition to the Thessalonians, to beware of forgetting the Lord, and trusting to themselves; that is a disappointing path, which will put the Apostles confidence toward them to shame. But it is an admonition as hopeful as it is gentle; reminding them that, though the path of Christian obedience cannot be trodden without constant effort, it is a path on which the Lord accompanies and upholds all who trust in Him. Here there is a lesson for us all to learn. Even those who are engaged in work for Christ are too apt to forget that the only hope of such work is the Lord. "Trust no man," says the wisest of commentators, "left to himself." Or to put the same thing more in accordance with the spirit of the text, there always is room for hope and confidence when the Lord is not forgotten. In the Lord, you may depend upon those who in themselves are weak, unstable, wilful, foolish. In the Lord, you may depend on them to stand fast, to fight their temptations, to overcome the world and the Wicked One. This kind of assurance, and the actual presence and help of Christ which justified it, are very characteristic of the New Testament. They explain the joyous, open, hopeful spirit of the early Church; they are the cause, as well as the effect, of that vigorous moral health which, in the decay of ancient civilisation, gave the Church the inheritance of the future. And still we may have confidence in the Lord that all whom He has called by His gospel will be able by His spiritual presence with them to walk worthy of that calling, and to confute alike the fears of the good and the contempt of the wicked. For the Lord is faithful, who will stablish them, and preserve them from the Evil One.

Once more the Apostle bursts into prayer, as he remembers the situation of these few sheep in the wilderness: "The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ." Nothing could be a better commentary than one of Pauls own affectionate Epistles on that much-discussed text. "Pray without ceasing." Look, for instance, through this one with which we are engaged. It begins with a prayer for grace and peace. This is followed by a thanksgiving in which God is acknowledged as the Author of all their graces. The first chapter ends with a prayer-an unceasing prayer-that God would count them worthy of His calling. In the second chapter Paul renews his thanksgiving on behalf of his converts, and prays again that God may comfort their hearts and stablish them in every good work and word. And here, the moment he has touched upon a new topic, he returns, as it were by instinct, to prayer. "The Lord direct your hearts." Prayer is his very element; he lives, and moves, and has his being, in God. He can do nothing, he cannot conceive of anything being done, in which God is not as directly participant as himself, or those whom he wishes to bless. Such an intense appreciation of Gods nearness and interest in life goes far beyond the attainments of most Christians; yet here, no doubt, lies a great part of the Apostles power.

The prayer has two parts: he asks that the Lord may direct their hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ. The love of God here means love to God; this is the sum of all Christian virtue, or at least the source of it. The gospel proclaims that God is love; it tells us that God has proved His love by sending His Son to die for our sins; it shows us Christ on the cross, in the passion of that love with which He loved us when He gave Himself for us; and it waits for the answer of love. It comprehended the whole effect of the gospel, the whole mystery of its saving and recreating power, when the Apostle exclaimed, "The love of Christ constraineth us." It is this experience which in the passage before us he desires for the Thessalonians. There is no one without love, or at least without the power of loving, in his heart. But what is the object of it? On what is it actually directed? The very words of the prayer imply that it is easily misdirected. But surely if love itself best merits and may best claim love, none should be the object of it before Him who is its source. God has earned our love; He desires our love; let us look to the Cross where He has given us the great pledge of His own, and yield to its sweet constraint. The old law is not abolished, but to be fulfilled: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind." If the Lord fix our souls to Himself by this irresistible attraction, nothing will be able to carry us away.

Love to God is naturally joyous; but life has other experiences than those which give free scope for its joyous exercise; and so the Apostle adds, "into the patience of Jesus Christ." The Authorised Version renders, "the patient waiting for Christ," as if what the Apostle prayed for were that they might continue steadfastly to hope for the Last Advent; but although that idea is characteristic of these Epistles, it is hardly to be found in the words. Rather does he remind his readers that in the difficulties and sufferings of the path which lies before them, no strange thing is happening to them, nothing that has not already been borne by Christ in the spirit in which it ought to be borne by us. Our Saviour Himself had need of patience. He was made flesh, and all that the children of God have to suffer in this world has already been suffered by Him. This prayer is at once warning and consoling. It assures us that those who will live godly will have trials to bear: there will be untoward circumstances; feeble health; uncongenial relations; misunderstanding and malice; unreasonable and evil men; abundant calls for patience. But there will be no sense of having missed the way, or of being forgotten by God; on the contrary, there will be in Jesus Christ, ever present, a type and a fountain of patience, which will enable them to overcome all that is against them. The love of God and the patience of Christ may be called the active and the passive sides of Christian goodness, -its free, steady outgoing to Him who is the source of all blessing; and its deliberate, steady, hopeful endurance, in the spirit of Him who was made perfect through suffering. The Lord direct our hearts into both, that we may be perfect men in Christ Jesus.

8. BI, The power of prayer

The Apostle Paul is now writing from Greece, either from Athens or from Corinth. The note at the foot of the epistle mentions Athens. The same ancient subscription testifies that the first epistle was written from Athens. There is, however, the strongest reason for believing that both the epistles were written from Corinth; and without discussing the question we will assume that at least this second epistle was. Thus we see that Paul desired that the Word of the Lord might be as unimpededly spread and as illustrious in renown when he preached it in Corinth as when he had published it in Thessalonica.

I. And first, an apostle asking help of private Christians. God alone is really independent. Only God can say, I am that I am. All the creatures of God within the range of our knowledge are mutually dependent, including man, the divinest of all terrestrial beings. The highest officers which the Church of Christ has known were apostles, and those were extraordinary functionaries; yet one of these, and that the greatest, pens the words of our text, saying to the young men and to the little children in the Church of Thessalonica, Brethren, pray for us. The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Now, ye are the body of Christ and members in particular, and it is just this mutual dependence which is recognized in the request of Paul as embodied in the text. There are four things which are likely to make us forget our dependence upon othersgifts or endowments, office, position or standing, and past successful service. These four thingsgifts, office, position, successful serviceare very likely to make us forget our dependence upon others unless we be on the watch against the mischievous influences which occasionally proceed from them. And there are four things in others which tend to make us overlook the assistance they can afford uslow temporal estate (especially in these days when wealth is becoming in our churches a false god), the possession of a single or but few talents, a retiring disposition, and the not holding any office in the Church of Christ.

II. Let us look at prayer cooperating with preaching and securing its success. Who can tell what is being wrought, and what has been effected, by the ordinance represented by this Little word pray? In asking his friends in Thessalonica for assistance the apostle said to them Pray. Prayer is very different from preaching, and yet a moments reflection will show how they work together. Prayer speaks to God for man; preaching speaks to man for God. Prayer seeks to bring God to man; preaching aims to bring man to God. Prayer moves God towards man; preaching persuades man to seek after God. Prayer makes known unto God mans request; preaching reveals to man Gods mind and will. Preaching casts in the seed; prayer brings the rain and the sunshine. Preaching deposits the leaven; prayer secures the hand which adds its working. Preaching utters the good tidings; prayer carries the sound to the ear and makes that all sensitive. Preaching is doing the practical work which man can do; prayer asks for what God only can do, and for that which is necessary to the success of that which the man can do. But although prayer occupies this lofty position, we are all more or less in danger of being diverted from it. Those who reason much upon religious matters are diverted by a secret scepticism. Those who are carnal and walk as men are diverted by their fondness for a quick and visible return for all their efforts. Those who think of themselves more highly than they ought to think are diverted by self-sufficiency. Those whose estimate of human nature is too valuable are diverted by their too strong expectation of what may be done by the simple presentation of the truth; for there are men so excessively simple that even now, after eighteen centuries of trial, they will tell you that if you only put Gods truth as well as you can before men they will take it in.

III. Thirdly, at a Church in a Macedonian city being requested to sympathize with a Church in a city of Achaia. This request recognizes the common relations of man and the supreme relations of Christ. Thessalonica, as the school boy knows, was a chief city of Macedonia, a then northern and Roman division of Greece, as Corinth of Achaia was the southern division of the same country. The Macedonian city had become, under the Romans, great, populous, and wealthy, and contained a large number of Jews. It has been called, very justly I think, the Liverpool of Northern Greece, on account of its commerce, ships sailing from its harbours to all parts of the then commercial world. Corinth was also a magnificent mercantile city, extremely rich and densely populated; the population consisting of Jews, Greeks, and Romans, with a smaller proportion of Jews than were found in Thessalonica. Where Thessalonica has been compared to Liverpool, Corinth has been likened to modern Paris. Now considering that the two cities were but some four or five hundred miles apartthat they were chief cities in two provinces of the same countryand that they had several national and civic features in common, the existence of sympathy, it may be said, must be taken for granted, and as scarcely worthy of remark. But would such a saying be reasonable and true? Men in great cities are generally inclined to become isolated, and exclusive, and self-absorbed. Moreover great cities are proverbially envious, and jealous, and contemptuous of each othercompare, for instance, Glasgow and Edinburghso that it is no small thing to have the men of one city greatly concerned for the men of another. Now Paul would have the Gentile in Thessalonica lovingly interested in the Jew of Corinth, and the Jew of Thessalonica in the Gentile of Corinth. The disposition which looks upon all men now as a family, and all Christians as a household, is preeminently the spirit of Jesus Christ, and to this Paul appeals when he writes: Brethren, pray for us that the Word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as with you.

IV. The latter part of the text expresses the one thing to be desired wherever the Gospel is preached. This is the fourth object at which we said we would look. The language here employed is evidently derived from the public races. The word here rendered have free course is elsewhere translated run. Paul in passing from Athens to Corinth would go along the isthmus where the Grecian games were celebrated. He would see the stadia and theatre; he would look upon the busts and statues of successful competitors, and would see the very trees which yielded the corruptible crown. Accustomed, like the Great Teacher, to draw his illustrations from near sources, he would naturally use an institution which increased the fame of the renowned city. Hence he speaks of the Word of the Lord running as a racer without impediment, or as a chariot without a drag on the wheel, and being honoured and applauded at the end of the course. In plain language Paul requests the Thessalonians to pray that the Word of the Lord may speedily be communicated to man, may be cordially received, may appear to be not the word of man but the Word of God, and may produce all promised results, being universally acknowledged as worthy of all acceptation. Now these words imply that there were hindrances to the spread of the Gospel in Corinth. Some of these were peculiar to Corinth and others were common to all places. Our Lord Jesus Christ had forewarned his apostles of these obstacles when he spoke to them of the hatred and persecution which they would encounter for the Gospels sake, also in some of the similitudes by which he represented the kingdom of heaven, especially in the parable of the sower. Therein Christ teaches that the counteracting work of sense, the want of comprehension and appreciation in the hearers, the lack of depth of feeling, the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, the lust of other things, the wealth and pleasures of this life impede the Word. All this every hearer has more or less experienced, and every preacher more or less observed, ever since Christ spake the parable whose lessons we are quoting. Now from the commencement of his apostleship Paul saw this. Paul was not a man to look on the most pleasant side of an object. Invariably, as we all know, he turned a thing round and round, and looked at it on all sides. Heathenism and Judaism had opposed the spread of that Word in Thessalonica, especially Judaism. The Jews envied the apostles their miraculous powers and their influence over the Gentiles, and raising a fierce tumult against them, drove them from the

city; but they could not banish the word of the Lord, and now in Corinth it found embodiment again. The luxury of the city, the vain show, the expensive habits of the people, the attractive immorality, the self-indulgent habits of the citizens, presented peculiar obstacles in Corinth, but the chief of them are common to all places, all races, and all ages of the world. Men do not care for any word of the Lord. They do not feel their need of this peculiar Word of the Lord that we call the Gospel. Men have their ears filled with the words of man. But, it here occurs to me that we have scarcely noticed recently what is meant by the Word of the Lord. According to the text the Word of the Lord is something definite and positive. That of which Paul speaks, is not any or every word of the Lord, but some word which, on account of its importance and blessedness, he calls The Word. It is the Gospel of our salvation, which is sufficiently definite to enable one to detect another Gospel. Now some men seem to say that the Gospel of our salvation is not definite at all. As the God revealed in the Bible is a personal God, so the Word of the Lord is a peculiar and positive revelation that Paul here actually personifies, so distinct and well defined does it appear to his eye. Then this Word of the Lord has a special mission to mankind. It needs to have free course. Its free course is like the going forth of the sun from horizon to meridian, spreading on its way light and heat, fruitfulness and life. Or, returning to the allusion of the text, its free course is like the successful running of a racer, or the driving of the charioteer, upon whose supremacy is staked, not the laurel, but liberty and lifenot crowns, but the very existence of peoples and of kingdoms. Hence the prayer that the Word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified. Brethren, you who know the Word of the Lord publish it. Keep it not as a sacred trust in the treasury of your spirit. As you, then, publish the Word of the Lord, lay your account to the existence and to the manifestation of impediments. Expect to see it proceeding, sometimes, slowly as a chariot whose wheels are lockedslowly as a racer encumbered by reason of long and heavy train. Yet imagine the reverse of thisthe Word of the Lord having free course. Think of this; nay, more expect this. Remove impediments by your own hands if possible; but in every instance ask the Lord who spake the Word to give His Word free course. Give others who are publishing the Word of the Lord your interest. Pray for all mothers and fathers of the land. (S. Martin.)

Prayer for ministers

If Paul with all his supernatural endowments required the prayers of Gods people, how much more ordinary ministers. The progress of the gospel is not to be attributed to the power of the minister, however great, but to the power of God in answer to prayer.

I. The nature of prayer generally.

1. Sincere desire.

2. Believing expectation of the blessings supplicated. The prayer of the man who doubts, of the heart which wavers, refuses to give glory to God by confiding in the promises He has made. But there must be some ground on which the believing expectation rests, viz., the testimony of God concerning His Son, and not mere sincerity, good character, attendance or the ordinances of religion.

3. The influence of Gods Spirit. Without the Spirits regenerating power, we can have no spiritual vision or believing confidence. We cannot call God Father but by the Spirit of adoption, and therefore cannot offer the prayer of children.

4. Petitions in accordance with the revealed will of God. It is possible to seek what God has never promised, and even what He has forbidden. It is important, therefore, not to trust our own feelings, but to rely upon Gods Word.

II. The duty of prayer for ministers in particular. Such prayer

1. Connects devotion with public instruction. Mere critical hearing or indifferent hearing destroys the chances of edification. We should remember that we are not only in the presence of the preacher, but of the preachers God. When we link the pulpit to the throne, there will be a blessing in the feeblest ministrations.

2. Associates ministerial success with its true cause. There is a great danger of attributing this to the talent of the preacher, and giving the glory to man which is due to God alone. Prayer will help us to recognize the agency of God in the instrumentality of man.

3. Creates a right state of mind in regard to ministerial failure. The blame may be not his but yours. Success may be withheld not because of any failure in his powers, but in the failure of your prayers.

III. The influence of a praying people on the state of the world and the Church with regard to the diffusion of the Gospel. Prayer exercises an important influence in this direction because it

1. Increases and maintains love to God. Prayer leads to acquaintance with God, and the more we are acquainted with God the more we shall love Him.

2. Love to man. Prayer for conversion is at once an evidence and a means of growth of that love.

3. Zeal. Without zeal there will be no success; but what promotes love to God and man will inflame zeal; and inflamed zeal gives energy to philanthropy.

4. Practical activity, which is inseparable from love and zeal.

5. Patience. Without prayer, difficulty assumes unreal proportions and begets despondency; but by prayer the believer knows that they are not unsurmountable, and works hopefully for their removal.

6. Devotedness. Prayer is the secret of entire consecration, without which there can be no success. (J. Burnet.)

The power of prayer

I once knew a minister who was constantly successful, who enjoyed a revival every year for twelve years, and could not account for it until one evening at a prayer meeting a brother confessed that for a number of years past he had been in the habit of spending every Saturday evening till midnight in prayer for his pastor the next day. That explained the secret, in part, at least. Such a man praying would make any ministry successful. (C. G. Finney, D. D.)

Prayer and success

No one can tell how much power maybe imparted to a pastors preaching if even one person be among his hearers whose thoughts are wrestling with God that the word may be made effective unto salvation. In a church it was noticed that for several years one young man after another became a communicant. This could not be referred to the preaching of the pastor, nor to any known agency. At last it was found that an old coloured woman who sat in the gallery had been doing this. She selected one young man whom she saw in the congregation, and made him the object of her prayers. She prayed for him in her home and when she was at church. After he united with the church she selected another. And thus for years She had been praying. This reminds us of the legend so sweetly put into verse by Adelaide Procter:

The monk was preaching: strong his earnest word,

From the abundance of his heart he spoke,

And the flame spread,in every soul that heard

Sorrow and love and good resolve awoke;

The poor lay brother, ignorant and old,

Thanked God that he had heard such words of gold.

Still let the glory, Lord, be thine alone,

So prayed the monk, his breast absorbed in praise;

O Lord, I thank Thee that my feeble strength

Has been so blessed; that sinful hearts and cold

Were melted at my pleading,knew at length

How sweet Thy service and how safe Thy fold;

While souls that love, Thee saw before them rise

Still holier heights of loving sacrifice.

So prayed the monk, when suddenly he heard

An angel speaking thus: Know, O my son,

Thy words had all been vain, but hearts were stirred,

And saints were edified, and sinners won

By his, the poor lay brothers, humble aid

Who sat upon the pulpit stair and prayed,

God give us in all our churches the lay brother who prays. He is the best prayer book. (George S. Mort, D. D.)

Confidence in prayer

Upon one occasion of great difficulty, Melancthon and Luther had met together to consult about the best means to be adopted. After having spent some time in prayer, Melancthon was suddenly called out of the room, from which he retired under great distress of mind. During his absence, he saw some of the elders of the reformed church, with their parishioners and families. Several children were also brought hanging at the breast; while others a little older were engaged in prayer. This reminded him of that passage, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings has thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and avenger. Encouraged by this pleasing scene, he returned to his friends with a mind set at liberty, and a cheerful countenance. Luther, astonished at this sudden change, said, What now! what has happened to you, Philip, that you are become so cheerful? O Sirs, replied Melancthon, let us not be discouraged, for I have seen our noble protectors, and such as, I will venture to say, will prove invincible against every foe! And pray, returned Luther, filled with surprise and pleasure, who, and where are these powerful heroes? Oh! said Melancthon, they are the wives of our parishioners, and their little children, whose prayers I have just witnessedprayers which I am sure our Godwill hear: for as our heavenly Father, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has never despised nor rejected our supplications, we have reason to trust that He will not in the present alarming danger. (Scottish Christian Herald.)

That the Word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified

The unfettered gospel

St. Paul had just prayed for the Thessalonians, he now asked them to pray for him. But it is worthy of remark that the first point mentioned has no reference to himself, but to his work. His life was in danger, and in verse 2 he begs them to pray that he may be delivered, etc.; but this was not the thing nearest his heart.

I. The Word of the Lord. What this was we may gather from the record of another missionary (Act_10:36-43). It included the heavenly mission, miracles, life, death, resurrection and future coming of Christ, and the certainty of pardon through trust in Him.

1. How inestimable this privilege.

2. How universal.

II. Its free course. Marg. run, indicating progress overcoming whatever obstructions. The psalmist prayed that Gods saving health might be known among all nations: how much more should we, the professed servants of Him who said Go ye into all the world, etc. We should pray that the gospel may have free course

1. In ourselves.

2. In our families, including servants.

3. In our neighbourhoods.

4. Among our countrymen in overgrown towns and neglected villages.

5. Among our emigrants, so many of whom go forth, no man caring for their souls, to found our colonies.

6. Among the heathen.

III. Its glorification, i.e., its eminent success. What kind of success the Apostle explains, as it is with you. How was that? The word of the Lord came to them

1. In power (1Th_1:1-10; 1Th_2:1-20; 1Th_3:1-13; 1Th_4:1-18; 1Th_5:1-28), as a fire burning in the conscience; as a hammer breaking their wills; as a two-edged sword, discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart. This glorious power was given to the Word by the Holy Ghost.

2. Bringing assured peace and joy. They were not merely startled by it at first, but the more they heard the more they were edified.

3. Resulting in continued obedience.

4. Ministering to the increase of holiness.

IV. The connection of prayer with all this. The gospel will not run and succeed as a mere matter of course. But prayer lays hold of the power of God which alone can

1. Overcome difficulties. Is anything too hard for the Lord.

2. Make the gospel effectual in salvation. (D. Fenn.)

The glorification of the Gospel

I. The great object of Christian devotion.

1. The free and unimpeded circulation of the gospel.

(1) There are impedimentsthe spirit of persecution, the prevalence of idolatry, superstition, and infidelity, the inconsistency and corruptions of the Churchall of which are resolved into the opposition of the human heart.

(2) The allusion is to the stadium or racecoursein which it was necessary that every obstacle should be removed, crooked places made straight, etc. The Son of God is riding forth in the chariot of His gospel, and the prayer is that nothing may be allowed to stop His progress.

2. The removal of hindrances was only a means to the end of the glorification of the gospel.

(1) It would not be enough if in every part the most unrestricted freedom were enjoyed, that all obstacles to evangelism were removed, that spacious churches were everywhere raised, and that all rank and authority were made subservient to the progress of truth.

(2) The word of God is glorified only when it is the medium of spiritual renovation, when its supreme authority is acknowledged by its professors, when its discoveries are cordially received, its injunctions practised, its holy influences exemplified.

II. The duty of fervent prayer in order to its accomplishment. The connection between prayer and the success of the gospel involves many important principles.

1. Prayer honours the agency of God. If we have the ear of God we are sure of His hand. If the spirit of supplication be poured out upon us, that itself is a pledge of success. And God honours prayer because prayer acknowledges that it is not by might, nor by power, etc.

2. Prayer is expressly enjoined. Ask, and it shall be given you. For all these things I will be inquired of, etc.

3. All history demonstrates that the spirit of prayer is invariably connected with success. No one ever prayed for himself that did not succeed. Let this encourage the anxious inquirer. Can you refer to any praying church that was not a successful church?

4. Those engaged in promoting this object have especial claims on you. Pray for us. It is the prayer of the Christian minister. Like Moses of old, he is upheld in the hands of prayer.

5. In proportion to the spirit of prayer shall we cherish the spirit of activity, liberality, and zeal.

III. Known instances of success are grounds of encouragement. As it is with you. Not that we are to be satisfied with success; on the contrary, notwithstanding it, we have much cause for humiliation. Still humiliation is not incompatible with thanksgiving for what has been done in and by us. The apostle quotes the case of the Thessalonians as an illustration of what God can do and a pledge of what He will do. Look upon the history of your own conversion. What God can do for you He can do for every one. Conclusion: The subject

1. Demands inquiry.

2. Encourages hope.

3. Enjoins activity. (J. Fletcher, D. D.)

The success of the gospel

I. The object proposed. That the Word of the Lord may have free course, etc.

1. By the Word of the Lord we understand that revelation of Gods will contained in the Holy Book, a revelation of every doctrine necessary to be believed, and of every duty to be practised. This is the Word of the Lord

(1) For it bears the stamp of Divinity upon it, being authenticated by miracle and fulfilled prophecy.

(2) Because the subject matter is what God alone could reveal. Creation, mans nature, the way of salvation through redemption by Christ, and regeneration by the Spirit.

2. This gospel is the great instrument which is intended for human salvation. It is Gods instrument for enlightening the mind; His tender of pardon; His directory of the way to heaven. The age prior to the gospel abounded with great men; but the world by wisdom knew not God. The gospel, however, is the power of God unto salvation.

3. The object proposed is that this Word of God may have free course. Some see here a reference to the Greek races. Here is a course to be run, and the glory relates to the crown and the plaudits of the spectators. But the more natural view is that of a river. The gospel is the river of the water of life. Wherever it comes the wilderness and solitary place are made glad. Trees of righteousness laden with fruits of peace overhang its margin.

(1) The gospel in its course has met with opposition from high and low, rich and poor, etc. Heathens and infidels have entered the lists against it. Its progress has been impeded by subtle errors. But the greatest obstacle has been the inconsistencies of its professors.

(2) The text contemplates this gospel as rising and bearing down every opposing barrier, and rolling the majestic tide of truth to the utmost regions.

4. And be glorified. It is glorious in itself, but it is the manifestation of this glory that the text has in view. The Word of the Lord is glorified

(1) In its rapid and extensive progress. This was the case when three thousand were converted under the ministry of Peter, when Luther arose, and Wesley, and in modern missions.

(2) In its effects on the character of its converts, e.g., Saul of Tarsus.

(3) In the happy deaths of Christians.

II. The means indicated. Pray for your ministers because

1. They are instruments of God for the dissemination of the gospel. The gospel is an offer of peace and they are ambassadors of God; it is good news and they are the messengers; it is a mystery for mans benefit and they are the stewards; the world is a field and they are the cultivators; the Church is an edifice and they are the builders. Other powers are auxiliary, e.g., Sunday schools, tract and Bible societies; but preaching leads the way and has the special sanction of Christ. In view of all this, pray for us.

2. They meet with many discouragements, arising from their weakness, their responsibility, and their failures.

3. The efficacy of their preaching depends upon the unction of the Spirit, and this can be secured only by prayer.

4. It is your duty. It is enjoined by God. They pray, study, preach for you; the least that can be asked is that you should pray for them.

5. It will be beneficial to yourselves. Without prayer you cannot expect to profit by their ministrations.

Conclusion:

1. Great is the efficacy of prayer.

2. You cannot be neutral in this work. You are either for the gospel or against it, and prayer or the neglect of it will determine which. (J. Brown.)

The gospels conquests

A captain once rushed into the presence of the general in hot haste, and said: General, we can never fight them, they are so numerous. Captain, said the general, coolly, we are not here to count them, but to conquer them, and conquer them we must. And conquer them they did. (J. Ossian Davies.)

The diffusion of the gospel

It begins in the individuals heart; and secretly, silently, but powerfully, it spreads till the whole nature is penetrated by its influence, and animated to a new character. It is silent as the dew of heaven, but as saturating also. Like a sweet stream, it runs along many a mile in silent beauty. You may trace its course, not by roaring cataracts, and rolling boulders, and rent rocks, but by the belt of verdure and fertility that extends along its margin. The fact is all great forces are silent; strength is quiet; all great things are still. It is the vulgar idea that thunder and lightning are the mightiest forces. Gravitation, which is unseen, binds stars and suns in harmony. The light which comes so silently that it does not injure an infants eye, makes the whole earth burst into flowers, and yet it is not heard. Thus love and truth, the compound elements of the gospel leaven, are quiet but mighty in their action; mightier far than hate, persecution, bribes, falsehood, and swords. Souls are won, not by might, or by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts; and this Spirit is secured by the quiet efficacy of prayer. (J. Cumming, D. D.)

Spreading the gospel

At the close of the war with Great Britain I was in new York. One Saturday afternoon a ship was discovered in the offing, which was supposed to be a cartel, bringing home our commissioners at Ghent from their unsuccessful mission. The sun had set before any intelligence from the vessel had reached the city. Expectation became painfully intense as the hours of darkness drew on. At length a boat reached the wharf, announcing the fact that a treaty of peace had been signed, and was waiting for nothing but the action of our government to become law. The men on whose ears these words first fell, ran in breathless haste to repeal them to their friends, shouting as they rushed through the streets, Peace, peace, peace! Every one who heard the sound repeated it. From house to house, from street to street, the news spread with electric rapidity. The whole city was in commotion. Men bearing lighted torches were flying to and fro, shouting like madmen, Peace, peace, peace! When the rapture had partially subsided, one idea occupied every mind. But few men slept that night. In groups they were gathered in the streets and by the fireside, beguiling the hours of midnight by reminding each other that the agony of war was over. Thus every one becoming a herald, the news soon reached every man, woman and child in the city; and in this sense the whole city was evangelized. All this, you see, was reasonable and proper; but when Jehovah has offered to our world a treaty of peace, why is not a similar zeal displayed in proclaiming the good news? Why are men perishing a all around us, and no one has ever personally offered them salvation through a crucified Redeemer? (Dr. Wayland.)

The progress of Christianity

In the first 1,500 years of its history Christianity gained 100,000,000 of adherents; in the next 300 years 100,000,000 more; but in the last 100 years 210,000,000 more. Make these facts vivid. Here is a staff. Let it represent the course of Christian history. Let my hand represent 500 years. I measure off 500, 1,000, 1,500 years. In that length of time how many adherents did Christianity gain? 100,000,000. I add three finger breadths more. In that length of time how many adherents did Christianity gain? 100,000,000. In the 800 years succeeding the Reformation Christianity gained as many adherents as in the 1,500 years preceding. But I now add a single fingers breadth to represent one century, How many adherents has Christianity gained in that length of time? 210,000,000 more. Such has been the marvellous growth of the Christian nations in our century, that in the last eighty-three years Christianity has gained more adherents than in the previous eighteen centuries. These are facts of colossal significance, and they cannot be dwelt on too graphically and too often. By adherents of Christianity I mean nominal Christians, i.e., all who are not Pagans, Mohammedans, or Jews. At the present rate of progress, it is supposed that there wilt be 1,200,000,000 of nominal Christians in the world in the year 2,000. (Joseph Cook.)

2 And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and

evil people, for not everyone has faith.

1. BARNES, And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men - That is, from opposition in their endeavors to spread the gospel. Paul encountered such men everywhere, as all do who labor to diffuse the knowledge of the truth, but it is probable that there is particular reference here to the opposition which he encountered when in Corinth. This opposition arose mainly from the Jews; see Act_18:5-6, Act_18:12-13. The word unreasonable

is rendered in the margin as absurd. The Greek word ( atopos) means, properly, out of place; then absurd, unusual, strange; then improper, unreasonable, wicked. It is rendered in Luk_23:41 as amiss; in Act_28:6 as harm. It does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It refers here to people who acted amiss or improperly; people who were not found in the right place, or who did not have the right views of things; and probably does not refer so much to their being positively wicked or malicious, as to their putting things out of their proper place.

They gave an undue prominence to certain things, and less importance to others than they deserved. They had a distorted vision of the value of objects, and in tenacious adherence to their own views, and prosecuting their own objects to the exclusion of all others, they presented a constant obstruction to the true gospel. This word would apply, and probably was designed to be applied, to Jewish teachers (see Act_18:5-6), who gave an undue prominence to the laws of

Moses; but it will apply well to all who entertain distorted views of the relative importance of objects, and who put things out of their place. People often have a hobby. They give more importance to some object than it deserves. They, therefore, undervalue other objects; press their own with improper zeal; denounce others who do not feel the same interest in them which they do; withdraw from those who will not go with them in their views; form separate parties, and thus throw themselves in the way of all who are endeavoring to do good in some other method. It was from people who thus put themselves out of place, that the apostle prayed to be delivered.

And wicked men - Men with bad aims and purposes. It is not always true that those who would come under the appellation of what the apostle here calls unreasonable, are wicked. They are sometimes well-meaning, but misguided people. But in this case, it seems, they were men of bad character, who were at heart opposed to what was good, as well as inclined to put things out of their place.

For all men have not faith - Of the truth of this, no one can doubt. The only question is, as to its bearing on the case before us. Some suppose it means, there are few men whom we can safely trust; others, that it means that they have not that upright and candid disposition which would engage men to receive the testimony of the apostles (Doddridge); others, that all men do not embrace the Christian faith, but many oppose it (Benson); and others, that all men do not believe, but the worthy only - Bloomfield. The connection seems to require us to understand it as meaning that all people are not prepared to embrace the gospel. Hence, they set themselves against it, and from such people Paul prayed that he might be delivered; compare 2Ti_3:8. The state of mind in which the apostle was when he wrote this, seems to have been this: He recollected the readiness with which the Thessalonians had embraced the gospel, and the firmness with which they held it, and seems to suppose that they would imagine the same thing must be found true everywhere. But he says all people have not the same faith; all were not prepared cordially and fully to embrace the gospel. There were unreasonable and wicked people whom he had encountered, from whom he prayed that he might be delivered.

2. CLARKE, Unreasonable and wicked men - The word , which we translate unreasonable, signifies rather disorderly, unmanageable; persons out of their place - under no discipline, regardless of law and restraint, and ever acting agreeably to the disorderly and unreasonable impulse of their own minds.

For all men have not faith - The word is without doubt, to be taken here for fidelity or trustworthiness, and not for faith; and this is agreeable to the meaning given to it in the very

next verse: But the Lord is faithful, .

There are many, even of those who have received a measure of the Divine light, in whom we cannot confide; they are irregular, disorderly, and cannot be brought under regular discipline: to these we cannot trust either ourselves or any thing that concerns the cause of God. But the Lord is worthy of your whole confidence; doubt him not; he will establish you, and keep you from any evil to which you may be exposed by these or such like persons.

3. GILL, And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men,.... Either from the unbelieving Jews, see Rom_15:30 who were the avowed enemies of the Gospel, and did all they could to hinder the spread of it; and who were the implacable and constant

adversaries of the apostle; who often lay in wait for him, and opposed him, and gave him trouble in all places, stirring up the people against him: or from the false teachers, and those of their party, who are the false brethren by whom he often was in perils; who were enemies of the cross of Christ, and great hindrances to the spread of the Gospel; being men of absurd principles, and of wicked lives and conversations, whereby they perverted the Gospel of Christ, brought a reproach upon it, stumbled some, and overthrew the faith of others; and from these the apostle desires to be delivered: for all men have not faith: no man has faith of himself, it is the gift of God, and the operation of his Spirit; and it is only given to the elect of God, who are ordained unto eternal life, and therefore it is called the faith of God's elect; all mankind have it not, none but Christ's sheep; and the reason why others have it not is, because they are not of his sheep. This is a truth; but rather the true sense of the words is, that all that are professors of religion, and members of churches, and even all that are preachers of the word, have not faith. They may have an historical and temporary faith and the faith of miracles, and even all faith but the true faith; they may profess to believe, and yet not believe, as Simon Magus, and his followers seem to be intended here; for this is given as a reason why the apostle desired to be delivered from the above men. The Jews say (o), that

"he that studies not in the law, , "there is no faith in him"--and it is forbidden to come near him, or to trade with him, or to walk with him, "because there is no faith in him".'' The apostle seems to allude to this custom.

4. HENRY, For the safety of gospel ministers. He asks their prayers, nor for preferment, but for preservation: That we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, 2Th_3:2. Note, Those who are enemies to the preaching of the gospel, and persecutors of the faithful preachers of it, are unreasonable and wicked men. They act against all the rules and laws of reason and religion, and are guilty of the greatest absurdity and impiety. Not only in the principles of atheism and infidelity, but also in the practice of the vice and immorality, and especially in persecution, there is the greatest absurdity in the world, as well as impiety. There is need of the spiritual protection, as well as the assistance, of godly and faithful ministers, for these are as the standard-bearers, who are most struck at; and therefore all who wish well to the interest of Christ in the world should pray for them. For all men have not faith; that is, many do not believe the gospel; they will not embrace it themselves, and no wonder if such are restless and malicious in their endeavours to oppose the gospel, decry the ministry, and disgrace the ministers of the word; and too many have not common faith or honesty; there is no confidence that we can safely put in them, and we should pray to be delivered from those who have no conscience nor honour, who never regard what they say or do. We may sometimes be in as much or more danger from false and pretended friends as from open and avowed enemies.

II. He encourages them to trust in God. We should not only pray to God for his grace, but also place our trust and confidence in his grace, and humbly expect what we pray for. Observe,

1. What the good is which we may expect from the grace of God - establishment, and preservation from evil; and the best Christians stand in need of these benefits. (1.) That God would establish them. This the apostle had prayed for on their behalf (2Th_2:17), and now he encourages them to expect this favour. We stand no longer than God holds us up; unless he hold up our goings in his paths, our feet will slide, and we shall fall. (2.) That God will keep them from evil. We have as much need of the grace of God for our perseverance to the end as for the beginning of the good work. The evil of sin is the greatest evil, but there are other evils which

God will also preserve his saints from - the evil that is in the world, yea, from all evil, to his heavenly kingdom.

5. JAMISON, that we ... be delivered from unreasonable ... men literally, men out of place, inept, unseemly: out of the way bad: more than ordinarily bad. An undesigned coincidence with Act_18:5-9. Paul was now at Corinth, where the JEWS opposed themselves to his preaching: in answer to his prayers and those of his converts at Thessalonica and elsewhere, the Lord, in vision, assured him of exemption from the hurt, and of success in bringing in much people. On the unreasonable, out-of-the way perversity of the Jews, as known to the Thessalonians, see 1Th_2:15, 1Th_2:16.

have not faith or as Greek, the faith of the Christian: the only antidote to what is unreasonable and wicked. The Thessalonians, from their ready acceptance of the Gospel (1Th_1:5, 1Th_1:6), might think all would similarly receive it; but the Jews were far from having such a readiness to believe the truth.

6. SPURGEON, MEN are often as devoid of reason as of faith. There are with us still

unreasonable and wicked men. There is no use in arguing with them or trying to be at

peace with them: they are false at heart and deceitful in speech. Well what of this? Shall

we worry ourselves with them? No, let us turn to the Lord, for He is faithful. No promise

from His Word will ever be broken. He is neither unreasonable in His demands upon us,

nor unfaithful to our claims upon Him. We have a faithful God. Be this our joy.

He will establish us so that wicked men shall not cause our downfall, and He will keep

us so that none of the evils which now assail us shall really do us damage. What a

blessing for us that we need not contend with men, but are allowed to shelter ourselves

in the Lord Jesus, who is in truest sympathy with us. There is one true heart, one faithful

mind, one never changing Love; there let us repose. The Lord will fulfill the purpose of

His grace to us His servants, and we need not allow a shadow of a fear to fall upon our

spirits. Not all that men or devils can do can hinder us of the divine protection and

provision. This day let us pray the Lord to establish and keep us.

2 Thessalonians 3:2. And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for

all men have not faith.All men are not candid, or true: all men have not faith.I really do

not know which is the worst to put up with an unreasonable man or a wicked man. A

wicked man may do you all sorts of mischief, but you soon know him. But an unreasonable

man you do not know where to find him, and he can attack you from all sorts of places.

Alas! there are some very unreasonable Christians, very good in some points, but very

stupid; and a stupid man may set a village on a blaze quite as easily as a wicked man. The

stupid mans accident may be as dangerous as another mans design. Pray also that we

may be delivered from wicked and unreasonable men, for all men have not faith, and all

men have not sense, I may also add.

3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you

and protect you from the evil one.

1. BARNES, But the Lord is faithful - - Though human beings cannot be trusted, God is faithful to his promises and his purposes. He may always be confided in; and when people are unbelieving, perverse, unkind, and disposed to do us wrong, we may go to him, and we shall always find in him one in whom we may confide. This is an exceedingly interesting declaration, and is a beautiful illustration of the resource which a truly pious mind will feel that it has. We often have occasion to know, to our sorrow, that all men have not faith. We witness their infidelity. We see how they turn away from the truth. We see many who once gave some evidence that they had faith, abandon it all; and we see many in the church who seem to have no true faith, and who refuse to lend their aid in promoting the cause of religion. In such circumstances, the heart is disposed to despond, and to ask whether religion can be advanced in the midst of so much indifference and opposition? At such times, how consoling is it to be able to turn, as Paul did, to one who is faithful; who never fails us; and who will certainly accomplish his benevolent purposes. Men may be faithless and false, but God never is. They may refuse to embrace the gospel, and set themselves against it, but God will not abandon His great purposes. Many who are in the church may forget their solemn and sacred vows, and may show no fidelity to the cause of their Saviour, but God himself will never abandon that cause. To a pious mind it affords unspeakably more consolation to reflect that a faithful God is the friend of the cause which we love, than it would were all men, in and out of the church, its friends.

Who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil - see the notes on Joh_17:5; compare the notes on Eph_6:16. The allusion is to the Evil One, or Satan, and the meaning is, that God would keep them from his wiles.

2. CLARKE, From evil - may be translated, from the devil or from the evil one. They had disorderly men, wicked men, and the evil one or the devil, to contend with; God alone could support and give them the victory; he had promised to do it, and he might ever be confided in as being invariably faithful.

3. GILL, But the Lord is faithful,.... Or "God" as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, as do also the Alexandrian and Claromontane copies. This is said for the comfort of the saints, lest they should be discouraged upon hearing that all professors of faith in Christ had it not, who might be ready to take it to themselves, and fear, that either they had it not, or if they had, that they might lose it, and fall from it. Wherefore the apostle observes to them the

comfortable attribute of God's faithfulness, which he will not suffer to fail. He has promised many things, and he is faithful that has promised, who also will do them, nor will any good thing he has promised ever fail. Who shall stablish you: in the doctrines of the Gospel, so as not to be moved away from them, or be finally and totally seduced by those unreasonable and wicked men; and also in the grace of faith, which though it may be weakened, and there may be a falling from a degree of the steadfastness of it, as to its act and exercise, yet it shall never finally and totally fail, he who is the author will be the finisher of it; and likewise in the profession both of the doctrine and grace of faith, which true believers shall hold fast unto the end; for God will not suffer the righteous to be moved, or to depart from him; he has promised them perseverance, and he is faithful to give it to them. And keep you from evil: from the evil of sin; not from the being and commission of it entirely, which is not to be expected in this life; but from the dominion of it, at least from its reigning unto death, and from the damning power of it: and also from that evil one Satan; from his snares and temptations, so as to be entangled and overcome by them; for God is faithful, who will not suffer his to be tempted beyond their strength, but will enable them to bear it, and make way for their escape, and deliver out of it; and likewise from evil men, unreasonable and wicked men, so as not to be drawn aside by them, by their principles and practices, by their frowns or flatteries.

4. HENRY, What encouragement we have to depend upon the grace of God: The Lord is

faithful. He is faithful to his promises, and is the Lord who cannot lie, who will not alter the

thing that has gone out of his mouth. When once the promise therefore is made, performance is

sure and certain. He is faithful to his relation, a faithful God and a faithful friend; we may

depend upon his filling up all the relations he stands in to his people. Let it be our care to be true

and faithful in our promises, and to the relations we stand in to this faithful God.

5. JAMISON, faithful alluding to faith (2Th_3:2): though many will not believe, the Lord (other very old manuscripts read God) is still to be believed in as faithful to His promises (1Th_5:24; 2Ti_2:13). Faith on the part of man answers to faithfulness on the part of God.

stablish you as he had prayed (2Th_2:17). Though it was on himself that wicked men were making their onset, he turns away from asking the Thessalonians prayers for HIS deliverance (2Th_3:2 : so unselfish was he, even in religion), to express his assurance of THEIR establishment in the faith, and preservation from evil. This assurance thus exactly answers to his prayer for them (2Th_2:17), Our Lord ... stablish you in every good word and work. He has before his mind the Lords Prayer, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; where, as here, the translation may be, from the evil one; the great hinderer of every good word and work. Compare Mat_13:19, the wicked one.

6. BI, The faithfulness Of God

No apostle insisted more strongly on the liberty of God than St. Paul. This is understood when we remember that he wrote to churches largely composed of Jews whose inveterate inclination was to believe that God had bound Himself to them by an inviolable and exclusive covenant. To uproot this he teaches that the covenant with Israel did not prevent

God being the God of the Gentiles. But that teaching may raise a formidable objection. The freedom of God; is not that arbitrariness? No; Paul the great defender of Divine liberty is also the one who insists with most force on the Divine faithfulness, that attribute which affirms that God is without shadow of turning. The two truths thus balance each other.

I. The Lord is faithfulhas not God written that thought in all His works? Do we not each spring read it in the renewed nature?

1. Alas I we can count on that faithfulness and not recognize its source. The peasant who, perhaps, has never bent his knee to God, turns up the ground, confides the grain to its furrows, and awaits the future with confidence. The atheist who denies the sovereign ordainer believes in universal order in nature. The scientist counts so on the exactitude of the laws of nature that a thousand years beforehand he announces the minute when two stars will meet in space. Everything in our plans for the future rests on the confidence that what God has done until now, He will do again. Yet the carnal man stays himself in this very fidelity in order to dispense with God, and because everything happens as it did in the time of his fathers, he infers the uselessness of prayer. The very faithfulness which ought to fill him with gratitude serves as an excuse for his unthankfulness.

2. What then is necessary that Gods action may be manifested? That He interrupts the course of His benefits? This He does sometimes, and with what results? Man says Chance alone governs us. Thus whatever God does, man succeeds in eluding Him. If order reigns, the sinner says I can dispense with God; if disorder occurs, There is no God.

II. Gods faithfulness appears in the moral order.

1. What are moral laws? Not variable commands which God is able to change when He likes, but expressions of His very nature, Be ye holy for I am holy.

2. This being so, I can understand why God cannot contradict Himself, and that at all costs His law must be accomplished. You would regard him as a fool who would trifle with steam, but look without terror on the sinner who violates the Divine will. Yet which is the most certain. I can conceive of a world where the law of gravity does not exist, but not one where, by the will of God, evil would be good. I cannot believe, without tearing my conscience in two, that if the seed buried in the soil must appear, yet what a man sows he will not reap.

3. On what does the confidence of the greater part of men rest? On the idea that Gods justice is never vigorous. Who told us so? Sinners interested in believing it. But is a criminal to witness in his own cause and pronounce his own verdict? Let us not abase God by such an idea under the pretext that He is good. God is faithful to Himself, cannot give the lie to His holiness, and according to His immutable laws sin must entail suffering.

4. Though all sinners should agree in denying Gods judgment that will not hinder them from being carried each minute towards the judgment which awaits them. I can believe everything except that God ceases to be holy; and convicted of that, the only suitable prayer is God be merciful to me a sinner.

5. There is the admission the gospel wishes to draw from us. And when repentant men by faith throw themselves on the Divine mercy, they find in God a reconciled Father, and the thought of His faithfulness becomes the source of the firmest assurance, and the sweetest consolation.

6. Gods faithfulness, like the wilderness pillar, is at once dark and light: to the sinner it is justice, to the penitent mercy.

7. Not that God in pardoning sacrifices His righteousness; righteousness has received this sanction on the Cross.

8. But will not such a doctrine countenance presumption. Yes, just as if you take one of the elements out of air you can make it poison. But the perversity of man must not prevent us from preaching Gods mercy. For wherever that was believed it has produced obedience. Do you encounter the most lax lives among those who believe most in the love of a faithful God? The danger is in believing in it too little. At the time of the errors of your youth, did the pure and holy kiss of your mother make you indifferent and trifling? Inspire an army, weak and demoralized, with a steadfast confidence in its general, and they are already half-way to triumph; and the Christians cry of victory is The Lord is faithful.

III. What part does this faithfulness play in our lives?

1. Have you understood it? Is there anything below more beautiful than a faithful attachment? Ah, perhaps you enjoyed it yesterday. That happiness was only lent you for a few days. Sooner or later the strongest and tenderest ties must be broken; but if you have known them only for a single day, you have caught a glimpse of the faithfulness of God.

2. The Lord is faithful. Lay hold of that word and oppose it

(1) to all the events of your life. It will help you to traverse the gloom. We must walk by faith, not by sight. When the sculptor attacks a block of marble, who could discern the noble image which one day will be disengaged? So let the Divine artist act, let all that ought to disappear fall under His faithful hand.

(2) To all the failings and variations of your heart. If we are unbelieving, He abideth faithful.

(3) To all the temptations which beset you. His faithfulness will provide a way out of it.

(4) To all the discouragements which would paralyze your activity. (E. Bersier, D. D.)

Divine faithfulness and Christian obedience

I. Encouragement to depend upon God.

1. The Divine Promiser. The Lord is faithful to His promises, and is the Lord who cannot lie (Num_23:19), who will not alter the thing that is gone out of His mouth. He is faithful to His relation to us, to His own truth, to His own character. Men may be faithless and false, but God never. They may refuse to embrace the gospel, and set themselves against it, but God will not abandon His great purpose on which