CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
2 Thessalonians 3:1. Have free course and be glorified.—Probably St. Paul took this image from the Old Testament. In Psalms 147:15 the word of the Lord is said to “run very swiftly.”
2 Thessalonians 3:2. Unreasonable and wicked men.—The word for “unreasonable” only occurs twice beside in the New Testament: once, the malefactor on the cross says, “This man has done nothing amiss,” or out of place; and again the barbarians “beheld nothing amiss” come to Paul when the viper had fastened on his hand. The thief is a good commentator here. Men who by their vagaries hold even their friends in painful suspense, and especially such as are indifferent to morality, seem to be meant.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2
Prayer for Ministers.
Prayer should not be all on one side. It is a mutual obligation and privilege. The Thessalonians are reminded how often they were the subject of anxious prayer, and they are how asked to remember their own ministers at the throne of grace. Mutual prayer intensifies mutual sympathy and affection, and deepens the interest of both parties in promoting the success of the gospel. Note:—
I. That prayer for ministers is apostolically enjoined.—“Brethren, pray for us” (2 Thessalonians 3:1). True prayer is spontaneous. It does not wait to be formally authorised. A loving heart loves to pray. Nevertheless, there are laggards in this duty, and they may be prompted to the exercise by employing all the weight of apostolic authority and example. If apostles felt the need of prayer, how much more should we! Ministers are but men; but by the use of the word “brethren” the writer indicates that ministers and people have common privileges, common wants, and common dangers. The ministerial office has also its special responsibilities and perils, and nothing helps more vitally the efficient discharge of its duties than the constant prayers of an appreciative and devoted people.
II. That prayer for ministers should have special reference to the success of the gospel.—
1. The gospel is divine. “The word of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 3:1). The gospel is a message to man, but it is more than a human message. It is the voice of God speaking to man through man. If it had been simply of human origin, it would have been forgotten and superseded by the changing theories ever teeming from the fertile brain of man. Every human institution is liable to be supplanted by another. There is nothing permanent in philosophy, government, or morals that is not based on eternal truth. The gospel is abiding, because it rests on unchanging truth. It is the “word of the Lord.”
2. The spread of the gospel is beset with difficulties.—“That the word of the Lord may have free course” (2 Thessalonians 3:1). The pioneers of the gospel in Thessalonica had to contend with the malignant hatred of the unbelieving Jews, with the seductive theories of the Grecian philosophy, and with the jealous opposition of the Roman power. All hindrances to the gospel have a common root in the depravity of the human heart—hence the difficulties occasioned by the inconsistencies of half-hearted professors, the paralysing influence of scepticism, and the violence of external persecution. The chief difficulty is spiritual, and the weapon to contend against it must be spiritual—the weapon of all-prayer. Savonarola once said, “If there be no enemy, no fight; if no fight, no victory; if no victory, no crown.” We are to pray that the gospel “may have free course”—may run, not simply creep, or loiter haltingly on the way, but speed along as a swift-footed messenger. “Take courage from thy cause: thou fightest for thy God, and against His enemy. Is thy enemy too potent? fear not. Art thou besieged? faint not. Art thou routed? fly not. Call aid, and thou shalt be strengthened; petition, and thou shalt be relieved; pray, and thou shalt be recruited.”
3. The glory of the gospel is to change men’s hearts and ennoble men’s lives.—“And be glorified, even as it is with you” (2 Thessalonians 3:1). You Thessalonians, notwithstanding your imperfect views and defective conduct, are samples of what the gospel can do in changing the heart and giving a lofty purpose to the life. Pray that its triumph may be more complete in you, and that its uplifting influence may be realised by others. “That which Plato was unable to effect,” says Pascal, “even in the case of a few select and learned persons, a secret power, by the help only of a few words, is now wrought upon thousands of uneducated men.”
III. That prayer for ministers should be offered that their lives may be preserved from the violence of cruel and unbelieving enemies.—“And that ye may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith” (2 Thessalonians 3:2). Not all have faith, even among those who profess to have it, and it is certainly true of all those who scout and reject the gospel. The unbelieving are perverse and wicked, and it is from this class that the minister is met by the most unreasonable and malicious opposition. Perhaps the most dangerous foes with which a minister has to contend are those who make some profession of religion, but in heart and practice deny it. “Men will write for religion, fight for it, die for it—anything but live for it.” The minister, girdled with the prayers of his people, is screened from the plots and attacks of the wicked.
Lessons.—
1. The success of the gospel is a signal demonstration of its divine authorship.
2. Ministers of the gospel have need of sympathy and help in their work.
3. The grandest spiritual results are brought about by prayer.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2 Thessalonians 3:1. The Ministerial Request.
I. The request presented.—
1. That the power of religion may be eminently experienced in our own souls.
2. That we may be preserved from the official dangers to which we are exposed.
3. That we may be able ministers of the New Testament.
4. That prudence and fidelity may distinguish our labours.
II. The grounds on which it rests.—
1. It rests on the mutual connection which subsists between ministers and people.
2. On the law of love.
3. On its advantages to yourselves.
4. On the prevalency of fervent prayer.
5. On its connection with the salvation of souls.—Sketches.
2 Thessalonians 3:2. Unbelief—
I.
Abandons the guide of reason.
II.
Leads to a vicious life and causes trouble to others.
III.
We should pray to be delivered from its evil results.