Ver. 11.-Quietness and faithfulness in worldly duties. 1. Quietness. A true Christian is of a quiet and retiring disposition; he shrinks from worldly bustle; he is free from worldly ambition; like the lily of the valley, he loves the shade; he knows that this is not his home, and he looks for a better country, even a heavenly. 2. Fai.thful,nua. A true Christian faithfully performs his worldly duties, because he believes them to be assigned him by the Lord; and he labours assiduously at his calling, because he recognizes it aa the law of Providence that if any man do not work neither shu.ll he eat.
Ver. 12.-Honesty. 1. Its nature. We must guard against commercial dishonesty; all attempts to go beyond and defraud our brother; all overestimating what we sell, and underestimating what we buy; all shrinking from the payment of debts; all mean practices to gain customers. 2. Its importance. Temptations to dishonesty in this commercial age. Dishonesty combined with religious profession gives occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme. We must walk honestly toward them that are without. The independence and loftiness of character which honesty imparts.
Ver. 13.-The death offriends. 1. The <Jhristian's sorrow for the death of f1·ienda, All sorrow not here forbidden; only commanded not to sorrow as those who have no hope. The Christian sorrow is a submissive sorrow, which discerns the hand of God ; a holy sorrow, which improves the affliction; a disinterested sorrow, which, whilst it mourns over the loss, is comforted at the thoughts of the happiness of the departed; an enlightened sorrow, which looks forward to the future, and regards our separation from our departed friends as being neither final nor complete. 2. The <Jhristian's improve- ment of the death of fri.ends. It teaches us the vanity of the world, the power of religion, and the necessity of preparation for our own death. Ver. 14.-Resurrection of believers. The ground of their resurrection rests on their union to Christ and on his resurrection. Not only are their souls immortal, but their bodies shall be redeemed from the grave. The voice of the archangel and the trump of God will call them from their graves, and, endowed with spiritual bodies, they shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 'fhe resurrection is purely a doctrine of revelation ; it formed no part of the religion of nature; the natural analogie■ which are e.dducell. an defective in essential point& 011. IT.1-18.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESBALONIANS. 79
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. " Vera. 1, 2.-Tlu, importance of living in har'Tl'lml1J ttnlh the Divine will. The pnc-- ticAI part of the Epistle begins at this point. I. MARK THE AFFEOTIONATE MANNER OF THE APOSTI,E'il ADDRESS. "We beseech you and exhort by the Lord Jesus." He does not speak in the language of comm:,.nd, much Ieee assume the air of a lord over God's heritage, but meekly and affectionately in the way of entreaty. But there was all the force of authority in the very entreaty because it was grounded in the Lord Jesus as its source and element. II. THE IMPORTANT NATURE OF BIB REQUEST. "That according 118 ye received from us how ye ought to walk and please God, ye would abound yet more." I. It is the duty of a minister to enforce moral duties as well as gospel doctri'Tlts. Scripture knows nothing of antinomianism except to condemn it. It is necessary for ministers to expound duty as well as doctrine. 2. It is possible to please God in holy walking. This does not imply that the saints' acceptance depends upon themselves, but that God is pleased with what a believer does in faith from a principle of love, in the grace of Christ, for the Divine glory. "The Lord taketh pleasure in his people." Even when our hearts con- demn us, "he upbraideth not" ( J as. i. 6). 3. It is necessary to increase in godlintss. "So ye would abound yet more." (1) The apostle recognizes their begun sanctifi- cation. The best texts add the words, "even as also ye walk." (2) He enforces the necessity of making further increase in holy walking. There must be an "exercising of themselves unto godliness," a resolute "going on unto perfection " in the exercise of every grace, in the discharge of every duty, " perfecting holineBS in the fear of God " (2 Cor. vii. 1). III. ENFORCEMENT OF THE EXHORTATION. "For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus." 1. The apostle's position was purely ministerial, for he 11,erely delivered what he bad received from the Lord. 2. The moral duties he enjoi·n11 are based in the gospel, of <Jhriat, which supplies the motives to a full-hearted obedience. -T.C. Ver. 8.-Banctijicaeion a Divine arrangement. "For this is God's will, your aancti- fication." The first duty expressed is personal holiness. I. TBE NATURE OF SANCTIFICATION. 1. It implies the con,ecration of all our facultiu and powers, both of body and mind, to God's service. 2. It impli63 persunal, purity in heart and life. We are to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. vii. 1). II. THE GROUND OF THE EXHORTATION. 1. It is God's will. That ought to stimulate to exertion and encourage to prayer. "Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God." 2. It was the design of Ohrist's death; for he "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus ii. 14). Ill. THE MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION. 1. It is by the truth. "Sanctify them by thy truth : thy Word is truth." 2. It is by his ordinances. 3. It is by his providences. (Ps. cxix. 71; Heh. xii. 10; Rom. ii. 4.) 4. It is, above all, by the Spirit of holiness, a, illl sok Author.-'!'. C.
Ver. 3.- Warning against sins of impurity. The apostle comes at once to par- ticulars. "That ye should abstain from fornication." Though adultery and ir.cest were crimes among the heathen, fornication was not accounted a sin at all. Therefore we can understand the emphatic place which is assigned to this sin in the synodal letters to the Gentile Churches (Acts xv. 20--29). The Gentiles" walked after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness." I. CONSIDER THE HEINOUSNESS OF THIS SIN. 1. It is a ,in against God. So Joseph regarded it (Gen. xxxix. 9). The law to restrain from this sin is grounded in the reason, "For I the Lord am holy " (Lev. xix. 2). The Divine nature which believers ,bare through grace is quite inconsistent with "the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Pet. i. 4). 'l'hiB sin is likewise inconsistent with the design of tihe ~ospel of Ohriet aod the work of the Holy Spirit <2 Cor. vii. 1; Eph. iv. 291 30). 3. I, 80 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. [oa rv. 1-18.