The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Thessalonians — Section 9

L To GROUND OF HIB PBill!BII. " For your patience and falth ln all your per- secutions and tribulRtions that ye endure." 1. .Afftictiorn,, wh,ther in the form ~f•harp persecutum or of more geM/"CU trottbk, are the lot of God's faithful children. They are "appointed. thereunto" (1 Thess. ii. 3). 2. It ia the glory of a Christian to bear 1uch afftictu,rn, with patience and faith. The Thessaloniane had not been "moved by these Rffiictions" (1 Thess. iii. 8). (1) Their patience was the result of their faith. "The trial of your faith worketh patience" (Jas. I. 3). Their trials did not uproot their faith. They had "the patience of hope." The faith and the patience are always closely allied. "I know thy faith and thy patience" (Rev. ii. 19), (2) It is for the 11:lory of God and for the good of believers that" patience should have its perfect work" (Jas. i. 4; 1 Pet. ii. 20). (3) It is necessary to the inheritance of the promises (Heb, vi. 12; x. 86). II. IT I8 NOT UNLAWFUL, BUT EXPEDIENT, THAT A HINISTEU SHOULD GLORY IN ms PEOPLE. Not in their social rank, or riches, or numbers, but in the graces of the Spirit manifested. in their life. The apostle elsewhere advises us not to glory ID. men, but in the Lord. But in this case the glory is given to God, not to man. III. IT PBOHOTES THE SPffiITUAL WELFARE OF CHUROHES TO HEAB OF THE SUOOESS OF THE GOSPEL IN OTHER CHURCHES. The example of faith, love, and patience at Thessa- lonica would stimulate the saints in all Greece.-T. C. Ver. 5.-TJ~ Bi.gnifican,ce of these sufferings in relation to Divine judgmffll, He comforts them with the thought of the certainty of the future judgment. I. 'l'HEBE WILL BE .A RIGHTEOUS JUDGHENT OF HEN. ,. Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth" (Ps. lviii. 11). The afflictions of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked in the present world are not inconsistent with this righteous judgment. The problem is an old one, how to understand the mystery of Divine providence. The 13ook of Job sets forth its conditions and its mysteries. The disturbing effect of sin is not sufficiently considered in estimating the character of the Divine administration. It is the inequalities in Divine providence th/Lt lead us to expect a future rectification of \\Tongs; for God's ju~oment is righteous. 11 THE PATIENT HEROISM OF THE SAINTS IS ITSELF .A SIGN OF Go»'s RIGHTEOUS JUDGHD-'T. "Which is a token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer." 1. It ia not that believers sulfer, receiving here their evil thinga, while the wicked receive their good things. 2. It is not becawe God is Just and there must be a future judgment. 3. It ia not that the persecution was an indicatwn how tlui judgment would go at the last day. 4. It is that ~ patience of ~ saints accredited them, by the righteous judgment of God, as meet heirs of his kingdom, while it was a presage of the cominii: judgment, when the future would bring its double compensation for the present. The idea is the same as in the Philippian Epistle: "And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God" (Phil. i. 28). It follows, therefore, (1) that God is not forgetful or indifferent to the sufferings of bis saints; (2) that patience is a special qualification for the enjoyment of God's kin:gdom; (3) that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future happiness of the saints, who will have an eternal weight of glory.-T. C. Vel'I!. 6-10.-The future iudgment as to its righteousness, time, circumstanca, and remlte to the two classes concerned in it. The apostle proceeds to set forth the certainty of the Divine judgment as affecting the saints and their persecutors. 1 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THIS JUDGMENT. "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you; and to you who are afflicted rest with Wi." 1. .An appeal u made to man's innate aense of justice. A want of this element of justice in human character is regarded as a defect. A right-minded man is iudignant at wrong, and delights in the retribution that falls upon wrong-doers. This sentiment of justice is but a reflection of Divine character, for we are made in the image of that God who hates sin with "a perfect hatred" (Ps. cxxxix. 22). 2. God is "not ur.rigl.teoua who taketl. vengeance" (Rom. iii. 6), for he has established in his govern- lll':lnt of the world au i11separable connection betwoon sin and misery, Therefore we m&y expect to see a Divine retaliation u1on tranBgressore-"affliction to them that OH, 1. 1-12.J 'l'HE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 7