The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Thessalonians — Section 12

influence human conduct. Their faith was, therefore, a fruitful faith. (2) The Jabour of love suggests the sacrifices which we are ready to make for the objects of our love. It was not "love in word or in tongue," but "in deed and in truth " (1 ,John iii, 18). (3) 'l'he patience of hope suggests the severity of present afflictions, which are borne with constancy and perseverance because the sufferers are cheered by hnpe. But it is "hope in our Lord Jesus Chri8t;" that is, hope of his second advent; for the Tbessa- luuians had a constant and overwhelming sense of the nearness of bis coming, which in ijOITie cases broke in upon the continuity of their daily duties. II. 'fHE OOOASION, CIRCUMSTANCES, AND FREQUENCY 011' THE APOSTLE'S TBAl!r:KBGIVING. "We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers." 1. It was in his prayers for them t!,at he expressed his thanksgiving. " Even in the sight of God and our I?atber." 'l'he care of all the Churches was upon him daily (2 Cor. xi. 28), and under such a burden he "bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." It is happy for Christians to be remembered in the prayers of saints, to be borne upon their hearts, to be borne up before God in intercessory prayer (Rom. L 9; Eph. i. 16). His thanksgivings were as constant as his prayers. 2. The thanksgiving, were addressed to God because the spiritual prosperity at Thessalonica was due neither to the converts themselves nor to the preachers of the gospel. We must ever speak of the grace of God, and exalt it in our praises. 3. The thanksgiving was all the more hearty and full beca'U8e it had regard to the prosperity of the entire community. "All of you," because they were an eminent seal of his apostleship, a blessed effect of his ministry among them.-T. 0. Vers. 4-6.-Their election and it, fruits another ground of thanksgiving. The apostle, Jew as he was, addresses these Gentiles as his brethren, and represents them as the objects of Divine love. "Knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election.• I. THERE Ill AN ELECTION ACCORDING TO GBACE. 1. The election referred to her, wa, not an election to external privilege <Yr ecclesiastical relationahip; for that might have had a very uncertain issue, and would not have been the subject of such abounding thankful- ness as he expresses in this passage. 2. It was not even the call to obtain glory, which they had received through his gospel (2 Thess. ii. 13, 14); for the election only realized itself in that call, Scripture always distinguishing the order of election and calling. "Whom be did predestinate, them he also called" (Rom. viii. 30). 3. Much less is the election fo be identified with regeneration, conversion, or faith. These were its effects. 4. It was an election to eternal life, involving all the vario'US processes of his gr~. (Rom. xi. 5.) (1) It is an election in Christ (Eph. i. 4). (2) It is irrespective of merit (Rom. ix. 11). (3) It is through faith and the sanctification of the Spirit (2 These. ii. 13). (4) It is to eternal glory ( Hom. ix. 23). II. THE KNOWLEDGE 011' THIS ELECTION 18 A POSSIBLE AND AN ACTUAL ·EXFEBIENCE. The apostle's krwwledge was not derived from special revelation, neither was it the mere credulity of a kindly charity," hoping all things" in the absence of evidence. It had a double ground-one subjective and the other objective; one based upon the apostle's conscious experience in preaching the gospel, the other upon their practical and hearty reception of the truth. 1. The subjective evidence. " For our ~ospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." (1) It did come in word, for it was conveyed to the Thessalonians in human speech, albeit not "in the enticing words of man's wisdom," but it passed beyond the word, It did not merely sounc! in the ear nor touch the understanding. (2) But it came in power-on the part of the preachers with an overwhelming force and persuasiveness, so that" the faifh of the prople should not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God" (1 Cor. ii. 5). '!'here was a conscious abounding energy which carried them beyond themselves, with an overmastering conviction that they would prevail. (3) It came also "in the llol_y Ghost," or, as the apostle elsewhere phrases it, "in demonstration of the Spirit aud_ of power " (1 Cor. ii. 9: The _W o~·d would otherwise have been a dead letter and a killing letter, but the Spmt gave 1t hie. The power of the gospel, therefore, was due to the efficient operation of the Spirit. (4) It came also "in much assurance,'' not on the part of the Thessalonians, but on the part of the preachers of the gospel, who were folly convinced of its truth, and had th?rou'.!h confidence in its power. (5) This suhjective evidence Wl>II confirmed by their own  8 THE FlRS1' EPISTLE 1'0 'l'HE 1'HESSALON1ANS. [cu. 1. 1-10.