(3) That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. (4) For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.
It should seem, that part of the sorrows of the Thessalonians was on the Apostle's account. They knew that he had been driven from them by the storm raised round the house of Jason, from whence the brethren had sent away Paul by night. See Acts 17:1-15. And as he had been obliged to flee to Athens from Berea, their fears on his account were increased. How sweetly Paul reminds them of what he had continually preached as the true marks of the Apostolic character. No man should be moved by afflictions. It is Jesus which appoints, watches over, regulates, and sanctifies them. How little understood are those things in the present hour? If a faithful minister of Christ was to be sought for, in the present day by this mark of persecution, to what congregation would the enquiry be made? The general feature of the times is, to soften as much as may be, doctrines which are not palatable, for others of a more accommodating spirit. The primitive days of our fathers, after the Lord, in his mercy had caused this land to emerge from popery, were remarkable for holding forth the word of life. The great truths of our holy faith, such as the election of God, redemption wholly by Christ, the regeneration by the Holy Ghost, and the everlasting safety of the Church, in the final perseverance of the Lord's redeemed ones, were never lost sight of in their ministry. But how are these esteemed in the present hour, when, under the delusive pretence of spreading the truths of God, men of the most opposite principles in religion mingle together, concealing their different views of faith, that they may give no offence to each other. What would Paul have said to this smothering spirit, had he lived in these days? His affectionate Epistle to the Thessalonians, in charging them not to be moved by the afflictions of persecution, would have been totally unnecessary.