1. The illative particle therefore, because God hath chosen you and called you, and given you such advantages against error and seduc- tion.
2. The duty inferred, aTiJKere, standfast ; it is a military word; you have the same in other places: 1 Cor. xvi. 13, 'Watch ye, stand ye fast,' &c ; Eph. vi. 14, ' Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.' The word intimateth perseverance.
3. The means of perseverance, hold the traditions lohich ye have been taught, luhether by icord or our epistle.
Where observe :— (1.) The act ; (2.) The object.
[1.] The act, Kparelre, hold with strong hand ; the word implieth a forcible holding against assaults, whether of error or persecution. The Thessalonians Avere assaulted in both kinds ; the heathens perse- cuted them, and some were gone abroad that began the mystery of iniquity, and were ready to pervert them.
[2.] The object; which is propounded — (1.) By a common and general term, the traditions lohich ye have been taught. (2.) By a distribution, whether by luord or our epistle.
488 THE SCUIPTURE SUFFICIENT [2 ThES. II. 15.
First, The common and general term, the traditions luJiich ye have been taught. There are two sorts of traditions — human and divine.
1. Human traditions are certain external observances instituted by men, and deUvered from hand to hand, from progenitors to their pos- terity ; tliese may be either beside or contrary to the word of God. (1.) Beside the word ; as the institutions of the family of the Rech- abites, in the observance of which, from father to son, they were so exact and punctual that God produceth their example to shame the disobedience of his people: Jer. xxxv. 6, 7, ' Jonadab, the son of Eechab, our father, commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, nor build houses, nor plant vineyards,' &c. (2.) Contrary to the word of God ; such as were those of the Pharisees, Mat. xv. 2, ' Why trans- gress ye the commandment of God by your tradition ? ' Human inventions in religion are contrary to, and destructive of, divine laws.
2. Traditions divine are either heavenly doctrines revealed by God, or institutions and ordinances appointed by him for the use of the church. These are the rule and ground of our faith, worship, and obedience. The whole doctrine of the gospel is a tradition delivered and convej'Cd to us by fit messengers, such as the apostles were : 1 Cor. xi. 2, ' Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances,' mavfj.—^ traditions, as I delivered them to you.' So that holding the traditions is nothing else but per- severance in apostolical doctrine.
Second, Distribution ; that no cheat might be put upon them under any pretence, therefore he saith, whether by ivord or our epistle ; that is, by word of mouth when present, or by epistle when absent ; and lie saith not epistles, but epistle, as alluding to the former wrote unto them. They were bound to yield to both alike credence and obedience, for, whether in speaking or writing, the apostolical autho- rity was the same. To improve this verse for your benefit, I shall lay down several propositions.
Pro}). 1. That whatever assurance we have of God's preserving us in the truth, yet we are bound to use' diligence and caution ; for the apostle had said that God had chosen and called them to the belief of the truth, and yet saith, therefore, brethren, standfast. First, reason will tell us — (1.) That when we intend an end we must use the means, otherwise the bare intention and desire would suffice, and to the ac- complishing of any cifect we need no more than to will it ; and then the sluggard would be the wisest man in the world, who is full of wishiugs and wouldings, though his hands refuse to labour ; but common experience showeth that the end cannot be obtained without a diligent use of the means : Prov. xiii. 4, ' The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat ; ' that is, rewarded with the intended benefit. (2.) Tlie business in hand is, whether God's election, calling, or promise doth so secure the end to us, as that we need not be so careful in the diligent use of means. Such a notion or conceit there may be in the hearts of men, therefore let us attack it a little by these considerations.
1. God's decree is both of ends and means, for all his purposes
2 ThES. II. 15.] WITHOUT UNWRITTEN TRADITIONS. 489
are executed by fit means. He that liatli chosen us to salvation bringeth it about by the belief of the truth and sanctification of the Spirit, 2 Thes. ii. 13 ; and without faith and holiness no man shall see God and escape condemnation. God had assured Paul, that ' there should be no loss of any man's life among them, except of the ship,' Acts xxvii. 22; and yet afterward, ver. 31, Paul tellcth them, 'Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.' How could that assurance given to Paul from God, and Paul's caution to the mariners, stand toge- ther ? Doth the purpose of God depend upon the uncertain will and actions of men ? I answer — Not as a cause, from whence it receivetli its force and strength, but as a means, appointed also by God, to the execution of his decree, for, by the same decree, God appointeth the event what he will do, and the means by which he will have it done ; and the Lord revealing by his Avord the conjunction of ends and means, there is a necessity of duty lying upon man to use these means, and not to expect the end without them. God intended to save all in the ship, and yet the mariners must abide in the ship ; therefore, what God hath joined together let no man separate. If we separate these things God doth not change his counsel, but we pervert his order to our own destruction.