CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
2 Thessalonians 2:16. Everlasting consolation and good hope.—Consolation, or comfort, is ministered by the Paraclete (John 14:16; Acts 9:31), who abides for ever with those who are Christ’s.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
Prayer an Expression of Ministerial Anxiety.
The apostle had warned the Thessalonians of the errors that were becoming rife among them. Indeed, the existence of these errors, and the grave injury they threatened to the faith of the new converts, prompted him to write these epistles—the first in a series of magnificent apostolic polemics. The apostle knew that if the simplicity of the gospel was vitiated at the beginning of its world-wide mission, unspeakable disaster would ensue, as the checkered history of the Church in the early centuries unhappily proved. Hence his anxiety, not only to clearly state, but with all his resources of logic and persuasion, resolutely to defend the cardinal principles of the gospel. He not only argues, but prays. These verses teach that prayer is the expression of ministerial anxiety.
I. It recognises the need of spiritual consolation.—“Now our Lord … comfort your hearts” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17). You have sorrowed over the loss of friends, and harassed yourselves as to their condition in another world. I have pointed out to you that your fears were groundless (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Now, I commend you God as the Source and Giver of all consolation, and pray that He may specially comfort you. “It is God’s presence,” says Burroughs, “that constitutes the saint’s morning. As the stars may impart some light, and yet the brightness of all combined cannot form the light of day, but when the sun appears there is day forthwith, so God may make some comfort arise to a soul from secondary and inferior means; but it is He Himself alone who, by the shining of His face and the smiles of His countenance, causes morning.” A comfort that is made up of our fancies is like a spider’s web that is weaved out of its bowels, and is gone and swept away with the turn of a besom.
II. It recognises the perils that beset the path of obedience.—“And establish you in every good word and work” (2 Thessalonians 2:17)—or, according to the Revised Version, “every good work and word.” Work is better than speech, deeds more eloquent than words, though both are necessary. The best safeguard against temptation is to be employed. “The busy man is tempted by one devil, the idle man by a thousand.” The force of gunpowder is not known till some spark falls on it; so the most placid natures do not reveal the evil that is in them till they are assailed by some fierce and sudden temptation. Excellence in anything can only be reached by hard work; so stability in grace is attained only by being diligently engaged in God’s service. Steadfastness is not dull quiescence: it is self-absorbing activity. If you would be strong, you must work.
III. It recognises the divine source of all spiritual help.—
1. That this help is the outcome of divine love. “Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God even our Father, which hath loved us” (2 Thessalonians 2:16). God helps because He loves. His love evokes the best and noblest in us, as the master-musician brings out melodies from an instrument that inferior players have failed to produce.
“Love is a passion
Which kindles honour into noblest acts.”
“O let Thy love constrain us
To give our hearts to Thee;
Let nothing henceforth pain us
But that which paineth Thee.
“Our joy, our one endeavour,
Through suffering, conflict, shame,
To serve Thee, gracious Saviour,
And magnify Thy name.”
2. That this help meets every possible exigency of the Christian life.—“And hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace” (2 Thessalonians 2:16). The consolation refers to everything in the present, the good hope to everything in the future. The consolation is constant, everlasting, as flowing from inexhaustible sources, and is ever available in all the changes and needs of life; and the hope turns our fears into confidence and our sorrows into joy. When the frail barques of the Portuguese went sailing south, they found the sea so stormy at the southern point of Africa that they named it the Cape of Storms; but after it had been well rounded by bolder navigators, they named it the Cape of Good Hope. So, by the divine help afforded us, many a rough cape of storms has been transformed into a cape of good hope. All spiritual help is given “through grace”—the free, unmerited favour of God—and is therefore a fitting subject of prayer.
Lessons.—
1. Every minister should be emphatically a man of prayer.
2. Prayer for others has a reflex benefit on the suppliant.
3. An anxious spirit finds relief and comfort in prayer.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17. St. Paul’s Prayer for the Thessalonians.
I. The objects the apostle addressed.—
1. God, even our Father.
2. Our Lord Jesus Christ.
II. The gifts the apostle acknowledged.—
1. The manifestation of divine love.
2. The communication of saving grace.
3. The bestowment of Christian hope.
III. The blessings the apostle requested.—
1. Increasing felicity in the Lord.
2. Persevering stability in the truth.—Eta.
2 Thessalonians 2:16. A Good Hope through Grace.
I. The grace of hope.—
1. Refers to the resurrection of the body.
2. To eternal life to be enjoyed by both soul and body.
3. Pre-requisites of this hope.—Conviction of sin. An experimental acquaintance with the gospel.
II. The excellency of this hope.—“A good hope.”
1. In opposition to the hopes of worldly men.
2. It is a lively hope.
3. The object of it is an infinite and eternal good.
4. It has a good foundation.
5. It produces good effects.
III. The source of this hope.—“Through grace.”
1. Man is the subject of infinite demerit.
2. Christ alone possesses infinite merit.
3. The Scripture warns against all self dependence.—Helps for the Pulpit.