The apostle prays for the A. M. 4058. m A. D. 54. 21 Prove all things; hhold fast || you wholly; and I pray God your A. M. 4058. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify 1 Cor. ii. 11, 15; 1 John iv. 1. h Phil. iv. 8.- Chap. iv. 12. * Phil. iv. 9. Chapter iii. 13.- 1 Cor. i. 8. not here speaking of extraordinary gifts, but of such passes unto you, if in repentance and faith you turn as are ordinary. It seems one means of grace is to him, but on these terms preaching peace to you put for all; and whoever despises or makes light of by Jesus Christ: sanctify you wholly―That is, may any of these, much more that sets them at naught, he carry on and complete the work of purification as the original expression, e5edevεLTE, properly signi- || and renovation begun in your regeneration, redeemfies, under whatever pretence, will surely, thoughing you from all iniquity, Tit. ii. 14; cleansing you perhaps gradually and insensibly, quench the Spirit. || from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, 2 Cor. vii. 1; Some neglect attending the ministry of God's word, stamping you with his whole image, and rendering on pretence that they are so well instructed that || you a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, they can receive little or no benefit from it. But let or any such thing, but made holy toward God, dedisuch consider that the spiritual life is maintained ||cated to and employed in his service, and without and increased in the soul, not so much by receiving || blame in the whole of your conduct toward men. new discoveries in divine knowledge, "as by the The word oλoreλets, here rendered wholly, signifies recollection of matters formerly known, and by se- every part of you, and every part perfectly; implyrious meditation thereon." Persuaded, therefore, ing that every faculty of their souls, and every sense that a regular attendance on the ministry of the and member of their bodies, should be completely word will greatly tend to cherish the influences of purified, and devoted to the service of God.` And I the Spirit, and a neglect thereof will proportionably pray God-These words are not in the original, obstruct them; listen with attention and reverence which is literally, and may the whole of you, ohoкλnpov to the ministers of Christ, while they interpret and vuwv, your whole constitution, the whole frame of apply to men's consciences the Holy Scriptures, or your nature, all belonging to you, all of and about speak to them by way of instruction, warning, re- you, be made and preserved blameless. And what proof, exhortation, or comfort: and own the autho- the apostle means by this whole constitution, or rity of God as speaking in and by his appointed frame, of their nature, he immediately specifies, messengers. Meantime prove all things-Which mentioning the spirit, the soul, and the body. Here, any preacher teaches, enjoins, or recommends; try says Whitby, "the apostle justifies the ancient and every doctrine, precept, advice, or exhortation, by true philosophy, that man is, as Nemesius styles the touchstone of Scripture; and hold fast that him, TрLuεрns vooraσis, a compound of three differwhich is good-Zealously, resolutely, and diligently ing parts. This was the doctrine of the Pythagopractise it, in spite of all opposition. "What a glo- ||reans, and also that of the Platonists, who held that rious freedom of thought," says an eminent divine, || there is in man a soul irrational, which includes the "do the apostles recommend! And how contempt- || affections of the body; and a mind, which uses the ible, in their account, is a blind and implicit faith! || body as its instrument, and fights against it. This May all Christians use this liberty of judging for also was the doctrine of the Stoics, whence Antoninus themselves in matters of religion, and allow it to saith, The three constituent parts of man are owpa, one another, and to all mankind!" It must be ob-vxn, ves, the body, soul, and mind. Irenæus, and served, however, that those who heap up for them- || Clemens of Alexandria, and Origen, say the same." selves teachers, having itching ears, under pre- He adds, "those two excellent philosophers, Gastence of proving all things, have no countenance sendus and Dr. Willis, have established this philosoor excuse from this text. And be equally zealous phy beyond all reasonable contradiction." It appears and careful to abstain from all appearance of evil also, as the learned Vitringa has very accurately --From every disposition, word, and action, which shown, a notion prevailed among the rabbis, as well you judge or suspect to be sinful; or which you as the philosophers, that the person of a man was have reason to fear might prove to you an occasion constituted of three distinct substances; 1st, the of sin. Nay, in some, yea, in many cases, abstain || rational spirit, which survives the death of the body, from those things which appear to others to be evil, and is immortal; 2d, the animal soul, which man or the lawfulness of which they question, though has in common with the beasts, and which dies with you do not. For it is better to avoid such things, the body; and, 3d, the visible body. Many other than by an uncharitable use of your Christian liberty learned divines, however, are of opinion, that as the to cause your weak brother to stumble, or to preju- apostle's design was to teach mankind religion, and dice others against the truth. not philosophy, he might use the popular language to which the Thessalonians were accustomed, without adopting the philosophy on which that language was founded: consequently that it is not necessary to consider him as intending more by his prayer than that the Thessalonian believers might be tho( 26*) Verses 23–26. And the very God of peace-AUTOs de o cos e inung, literally, May the God of peace himself; that is, he who is ready to give you peace with himself after all you have done; who is in Christ reconciling you to himself, not imputing your tres 402 b Paul directs the epistle to be A. M. 4058. 24 CHAPTER V. read to all the brethren. A. D. 54. Faithful is he that calleth you, || tle be read unto all the holy brethren. A. M. 4058 who also will do it. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. 25 Brethren, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you by the Lord that this epis ¶ The first epistle unto the Thessalonians was written from Athens. 1 Cor. i. 9; x. 13; 2 Thess. iii. 3. Col. iv. 3; 2 Thess. || Or, adjure.- - Col. iv. 16; 2 Thess. iii. 14.- Rom. xvi. iii. 1.- Rom. xvi. 16. 20, 24; 2 Thess. iii. 18. roughly sanctified, of how many constituent parts adjure you, that is, I lay you under the obligation of soever their nature consisted. "To comprehend," an oath; that this epistle-The first he wrote; be says Macknight, "the distinction between soul and read to all the holy brethren-Namely, of your spirit," which the sacred writers seem to have in- church. The reader must observe, that in judicial timated in some passages, "the soul must be con- oaths, the custom among the Jews was not for the sidered as connected both with the body and with the person who came under the obligation of an oath spirit. By its connection with the body, the soul to pronounce the words of swearing with his own receives impressions from the senses; and by its mouth, but an oath was exacted from him by the connection with the spirit, it conveys these impres-magistrate or superior, and so he became bound to sions, by means of the imagination and memory, answer upon oath, by hearing the voice of swearing, to the spirit, as materials for its operations. The || or adjuration rather, as the LXX. render it. Here, powers last mentioned, through their connection with the body, are liable indeed to be so disturbed by injuries befalling it, as to convey false perceptions to the spirit. But the powers of the spirit not being affected by bodily injuries, it judges of the impressions conveyed to it as accurately as if they were true representations, so that the conclusions which it forms are generally right." It may not be improper to add here, that the spirit, as distinguished from the two other parts included in the human constitution, scems to be supposed by the apostle (Heb. iv. 12) to be capable of being separated from the soul, his expression being, The word of God is quick, fc., piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit; and some have thought that he intimates, (1 Cor. xiv. 14, 15,) that the one may know what the other does not. Be this, however, as it may, the apostle's words were certainly not intended to teach us philosophy, or to imply more than a prayer that all our powers of mind and body, the rational, including the understanding, the judgment, conscience, and will; the animal, comprehending the affections, passions, and sensations; and corporal, namely, the members and senses of our bodies, should be wholly sanctified; that is, purified from pollution, dedicated to God, and employed in glorifying him. Unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ-To call you hence by death, or to summon you to appear at his bar. Faithful is he-To his word and promises; that calleth you-By his gospel; who also will do it-Will preserve you blameless to his coming, unless you quench the Spirit. He "will not," says Whitby, "be wanting in what is requisite on his part toward it; I say his part, for if the faithfulness of God required that he should sanctify and preserve us blameless to the end without our care, or should work in us absolutely and certainly that care, and the apostle believed this, how could he fear lest the Thessalonians should be so overcome by Satan's temptations, as that his labour with them might be in vain, chap. iii. 5; this being, in effect, to fear that God might be unfaithful to his promise." Verses 27, 28. I charge you-Greek, oрki vμas, I therefore, a solemn act of divine worship is paid to PREFACE ΤΟ THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. THIS second epistle to the Thessalonians is thought, by the best critics and chronologers, to have been written from Corinth, soon after the former, chiefly on account of some things therein which had been misunderstood. This appears probable for this reason, among others, that Timothy and. Silvanus, who joined him in his first letter, were still with him, and joined him in this second. And, seeing in this epistle he desired the brethren to pray that he might be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, (chap. iii. 2,) it is probable he wrote it soon after the insurrection of the Jews at Corinth, in which they dragged him before Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, and accused him of persuading men to worship God contrary to the law," Acts xviii. 13; we cannot therefore be much mistaken, in supposing that it was dated in or about the year of our Lord 55. The epistle begins with a devout acknowledgment to God for the eminent attainments which the Thessalonians had made in faith and other Christian graces, and especially for the zeal and fidelity with which they adhered to the gospel in the midst of persecution, chap. i. 1-4. II. To support and animate them under their trials, he reminds them of the distinguished honour that would be conferred on all the saints at the coming of Christ, and the vengeance that would at the same time overtake all the enemies of the gospel; assuring them of his constant prayers for their further improvement in true religion, verses 5-12. III. Lest, by mistaking the meaning of what he had said or wrote to them at any time upon that subject, or by any other means, they should be deceived into an opinion that the day of final judgment was near at hand, he informs them, that before that awful time there would be a grand apostacy in the church, and an antichristian power, which he calls the man of sin, would arise, and greatly obstruct the progress of the gospel, arrogantly assuming to itself the divine authority, and, by pretending miracles, leading multitudes into the most fatal delusions. Some beginnings of this power, he signifies, were already discoverable; and as soon as those restraints which then lay upon it were removed, it would break out in all its force, and continue to spread, till it should be finally destroyed by the coming of Christ, chap. ii. 1-12. IV. By these views, he is led to express his thankfulness to God that the Thessalonians had escaped this corruption which had begun so early to prevail in the church, and had given such convincing proofs of their entering into the true spirit of Christianity, in which he exhorts them to persevere with steadfastness and constancy, adding his earnest supplications for their increasing comfort and establishment, verses 13-17. V. He desires their prayers that his labours might be attended with the same success among others as they had been among them; and that he might be delivered from the opposition of unreasonable men, expressing withal his confidence in their continued regards to the instructions he had given them, chap. iii. 1-5. VI. He gives directions for their conduct toward some disorderly members of the church, who, neglecting their proper business, meddled in the concerns of others. These he exhorts to attend to their own affairs, and to provide carefully for their own subsistence, that they might not be a burden to others; reminding them of the example he had set, while at Thessalonica, in maintaining himself by the labour of his own hands, verses 6-12. VII. If any one, notwithstanding, should refuse to comply with this exhortation, he directs the other members of the church to exclude him from their company and friendship, that he might be made sensible of his fault; concluding with his usual salutation, verses 13-18. It is justly observed by Dr. Doddridge, from whose Introduction PREFACE TO THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. to this epistle the above analysis of its contents is extracted, that "though this is the shortest of all St. Paul's epistles, it is not inferior to any of them in the sublimity of the sentiments which it contains, and the excellent spirit which it breathes. And besides those marks of its genuineness and divine authority which it bears in common with the rest of these epistles, it has one peculiar to itself, from the exact representation it contains of the Papal power, under the characters of the 'man of sin' and the mystery of iniquity.' For, considering how directly opposite the principles here described were to the genius of Christianity, it must have appeared, at the time when this epistle was written, highly improbable to all human apprehension that they should ever have prevailed in the Christian Church; and, consequently, a prediction like this, which answers so exactly, in every particular, to the event, must be allowed to carry its own evidence along with it, and to prove that the author of it wrote under a divine influence." b 405 THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE THESSALONIAN S. CHAPTER I. After the introductory salutation and benediction, the apostle, (1,) Expresses his gratitude to God for the constancy with which the Thessalonians adhered to the cause of Christ, 3, 4. (2,) He encourages and animates them under the persecutions to which they were still exposed, by the prospect of that glory that would be conferred upon them at the coming of Christ, 5–10. (3,) He prays that God would finish his work in and upon them, and make them meet for the felicity of heaven by his grace, for the manifestation of the glory of the Father and of Christ, 11, 12. A. D. 54. A. D. 51. A. M. 4058. PAUL, a and Silvanus, and Timo- || of every one of you all toward each A. M. 4058. theus, unto the church of the other aboundeth; Thessalonians bin God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. e 4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, for your patience and faith 2 Grace unto you, and peace, from God our in all your persecutions and tribulations that Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity a2 Cor. i. 19. b1 Thessalonians i. 1.-1 Cor. i. 3. 41 Thess. i. 2, 3; iii. 6, 9; Chap. ii. 13.- Le 2 Cor. vii. 14; ix. 2; NOTES ON CHAPTER I. ye endure: of joy to faithful ministers; it is the faith and love, Verses 3-5. We are bound to thank God-It is patience and constancy, of the people to whom they highly observable that the apostle here wraps up his minister. The apostle's address here is admirable. praise of men in praise to God, giving him the He excited the emulation of other churches by glory of the increase of grace which was manifest boasting of the Thessalonians to them. And he in the Thessalonian believers. That your faith quickened the Thessalonians by telling them how groweth exceedingly-Notwithstanding all that is much he had praised them in the hearing of the done by your enemies to prevent its increase, and churches."-Macknight. In all your persecutions even to destroy it. Probably he had heard from them || and tribulations-Arising probably both from the since he sent them the former letter. And the cha- Jews and their own countrymen. Concerning the rity-Or love rather, of every one of you aboundeth-particulars of these persecutions we have no inforLike water that overflows its banks, and yet in- mation. Which is-Or shall be; a manifest token— creases still more. Their faith, it appears, derived Evdeiyua, proof, or demonstration, of the righteous new confirmation from their sufferings, and their judgment of God-Of the equity of the divine judgsense of them engaged them tenderly to pity, and ment, which shall be fully manifested in due time do their utmost for the relief of, those who shared by God's amply rewarding you, and punishing your in those sufferings, and at the same time endeared enemies; that ye may be counted worthy-That it to them that one body, that church of Christ, which may appear by the integrity, faith, and patience, the the carnal world so cruelly hated, and so maliciously meekness and superiority to this transitory world, endeavoured to destroy. So that we ourselves glory which you manifest under these severe trials, that in you—Or boast of you; in the churches of God-you are fit to be admitted into that glorious kingThis passage shows us what is a principal occasion || dom of God for which you suffer. |