The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Thessalonians — Section 80

you disorderly, that work not at all, but are busybodius." There were some, the few among them, who did not observe the order given by the Lord. Specially, they did n_ot obMerve the Lord's appointment of labour. They are described as working not al ail. They wero not idlers pure nnd simple, to begin with. They did not work, becauM,. they thought the coming was already commenced. They were really in a high state of tension. And, as their energies were not allowed scope at all within their proper work, they had to find scope in work beyond. This is brought out in the Greek 1111 it cannot so well be brought .:>ut in the English translation. It is literally, and in a paradoxical way, "working nothing, but working beyond.' They did not busy them- selves with work that belorJged to them ; they even energetically busied themselve~ in a meddlesome way with work that did not belong to them. V. THE l>ISORDERLY BRETHREN ADDRESSED. "Now them that are such we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." 'l'he Lord's authority and suasion is brought to bear on them as a class. It was not sufficient excuse for them that they took the Lord's coming to be imminent. Even though their impression had been well founded, they were not therefore justified in freeing themselves from the Divine ordinance. If we knew when definitely we were to die, it would still be our duty, our strength being continued to us, to work up tu the very last moment. That would be in the way of preparing for our change. So they should rather have thought of being called away from their ordinary work by Christ at his coming. They would thereby have saved themselves from much sinful and dis- quieting speculation and intrusion into what did not concern them. When we work, and work with all the might of our nature, within our own proper sphere, we can have the accompaniment of quiet. We can have restlessness banished from our mind; and we can avoid the annoyance that comes from meddling with the affairs of others. When we work, too, with a diligent hand, we are put in a position of honourable inde- pendence. We do not need to be a burden upon others. We can eat our own bread, eat what we have earned by the sweat of our brow. To orderliness, then, in the form <l)f attention to the duties of their worldly calling, with all the weight of the Lord's authority, with all the charm of the Lord's suasion, the preacher11 sought to bring back the few among the Thessalonians who had been disorderly. VI. THE CHURCH ADDRESSED AS RIGHT-IIIINDED. "But ye, brethren, be not weary in well-doing." From the way in which the Church is addressed, it can be seen that the right-minded from their numbers were properly representative. From the context, " well-doing" is to be understood in its less restricted sense. Those were doing well, in honouring the Lord's appointment of labour. The position in which they were placed was trying. It was hard for them to work on amid all the excitement that prevailed, especially if they themselves had the impression that the cominl!: was impending. What need was there for work, when a new order of things was being introduced ? Was it not more commendable to lay down their tools and devoutly wait for the heavens being opened over them? By this unsettling influence some of their number had been carried away. And the position of matters was aggravated by the support of these unprofitable members being thrown upcn the Church. All the more honour, then, tu them, the right-minded, that, amid temptation, they held to the old order, that they thought it the right thing to labour on diligently, till they actually heard their Lord's voice on earth commanding them to cease from labour. Let them not weary in follow- ing o.n upright course. When an upright mnn sees his unscrupulous neighbours taking many an advantage which in his conscience he is not free to take, he is tempted to ask what advantage there is in uprightness. But, though the disadvantages were a hundred times greater tl,an they really are, it would still be our duty to follow Lhe Divine !endings. Let us not weary in the path that lends to God and life. There is nothing that is in the eod wearying and wearing out but a mind that ie com;cious of wrong-doing. VII. FunTHER SPECIFICATION OF THE OOURBE TO JIB FOLLOWED WITH THE Dl~ORDERLY BROTHER, "And if any man obeyeth not our word by this Epistle, note that nHui, that ye have no company with him, to the end that he may be ashamed." The right- minded beincr numerous could act in the name of the Church. The disorderly brother could be call~d before them, or before a court representative of the Lord's autnority in the Church. In Eum11 way his attention was to be specially directed to the- Fart of the  80 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE 'l'HESSALONlANS. [en. m. 1-18.