had of them And we have confidence that ye both do and will do 4. It is the duty of people to improve what place they have in the charity of faithful Ministers or discerning Christians as a spur to incite them to further diligence and to walk answerable to that esteem which others have of them and not to rest upon it as if having it they had enough for Paul doth express his charitable confidence of them that they may be thereby incited to their duty We have confidence that ye both do and will do 5. As the life of a Christian is more in practice and in doing than in profession and word-speaking So the rule of their practice is not the example of others Exod. 23. 2. nor yet the dictates of their mother-wit or natural reason Rom. 1. 21 22. and much less the sway and inclination of their corrupt affections Isa. 57. 17. but the word of God and those injunctions of his sent Ministers which they as his Lyon-heraulds do press upon them from him for he expresseth the Christian mans exercise by doing what he commanded them in the name and authority of Jesus Christ. Ye both do and will do the things which we command you saith he 6. The practice and obedience of Christians according to the forementioned rule must be both universal extending it self to all that is commanded and constant so as not only they begin well but also continue unto their Journeys end for so was their obedience We are confident ye both do and will do the things which we command Ver. 5. And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ. Followeth his third exhortation whereby while he prayeth the Lord to direct their hearts or make them straight he doth also indirectly incite them to the exercise of two graces which are chief parts of and have special influence upon the obedience formerly pressed First the love of God understand that whereby we love God under which is contained love to our Neighbour as a stream flowing from that fountain Matth. 22. 37 39. Although the sense and feeling of Gods love to us spoken of Rom. 5. 5. needeth not to be excluded Secondly Patient waiting for Christ or as the word is in the original patience of Christ. It implyeth patience with expectation even such a patient enduring of hardships in the way of our duty for Christs sake as is joined with and floweth from a well-grounded expectation of good things to be received from Christ especially at his second coming Doct. 1. As the hearts of men are in the hand of the Lord who alone can powerfully encline direct and turn them where-ever he will Prov. 21. 1. So it concerneth us highly to see to the heart that it be rightly inclined seeing wheresoever it goeth it doth powerfully draw the whole man with it for Paul doth pray the Lord to direct their hearts 2. That Christians do continue constant in the course of begun obedience there is of necessity required a continual supply of influence from God together with some fervour of love to him and patient expectation of good things to be received from him which may serve as cords to draw us forward in the way of duty against all tentations and discouragements which will be otherwise prevalent to retard and draw us backward 2 Cor. 5. 14. Psal. 27. 13. for as a mean of their continuing to do what he commanded them he prayeth the Lord to direct their hearts into the love of God and patient waiting for Christ. 3. As the heart of man is by nature crooked and perverse So it is in a special manner averse from the love of God whom though he be the chief good yet every man by nature doth hate though not as he is Creator and preserver of the world yet as he is a just Judge armed with vengeance against evil doers yea and there are dregs of this averseness even in the truly Godly who have a law in their members rebelling against the Law of God written in their mind and renewed part Rom. 7. 23. for this crookedness and averseness from love to God is implyed while he prayeth the Lord to direct or make straight their hearts into the love of God 4. The hearts of men by nature are also averse from undergoing a suffering lot for Christ and from taking that comfort under the cross which ariseth from the hope of a promised out-gate and reward as being unwilling to give any further trust to the precious promises than they see of present performance 2 Pet. 3. 4. yea and there are dregs of this averseness also in the truly regenerate though not allowed of by themselves Psal. 42. 9. as appeareth from their desire to shift a cleanly cross Matth. 16. 22. and therefore small courage oft-times under it Heb. 12. 13. or hopes of an out-gate from it 1 Sam. 27. 1 for averseness is also implyed while he prayeth the Lord to direct their hearts into the patient waiting for Christ. 5. How averse soever the hearts of men in nature or of men renewed are from the exercise of those or other graces yet there is omnipotency in God to make them straight when he will and to encline them powerfully to love where they hate to take up a cross for Christ contentedly and to hope for what they see not confidently for while the Apostle prayeth that the Lord would direct them to love and patience he doth suppone that God hath power so to direct them 6. The graces of love to God of patience under a suffering lot and of well-grounded hope do well together in so far as where love to God is rooted in the heart together with a firm expectation of all those good things contained in the promise to be received from him there can be nothing too hard to be undergone and suffered for him Rom. 8. 35. 2 Cor. 4. 16. with 5. for Paul doth pray for all those jointly even the love of God and patient waiting for Christ see the Exposition Ver. 6. Now we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye withdraw your selves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us Here beginneth his fourth exhortation upon which he insisteth most and dealeth more peremptorily in it than in any of the former as that which is his great work in the first part of this Chapter and to which all the rest have been preparatory insinuations And first being to handle this purpose more generally to v. 11. he straitly commands them in the name and authority of Jesus Christ to withdraw from or have no familiar intimate fellowship with any brother or Christian in external profession who walketh disorderly or that as a disorderly souldier from which the word in the original is borrowed did any wayes transgress the order bounds and limits of his particular calling and station assigned him by
were with both hands against all opposition as the word signifieth therefore bâ—ethren stand fast and hold 4. The apostasie of many from the truth and the prevalency of errour is so far from being in reason a motive to make us think the less of truth and to follow the drove that it ought to make us love truth the better cleave to it more firmly and become more rooted in the faith of it that so the storm which bloweth others up by the roots may not unsettle us for from what he spoke of a general apostasie to come he exhorts them that therefore they would stand fast and hold the traditions 5. There is no ground here to establish the authority of Popish unwritten traditions as a partial rule of faith and manners of equal authority with the written Word of God for though some of those traditions here mentioned were not written by Paul in any of these two Epistles yet they as all other truths necessary to salvation were committed either before or after this to sacred writ 2 Tim. 3. 15 17. traditions which ye have been taught whether by word or our Epistle Ver. 16. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God even our Father which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace He confirms them thirdly by praying to God for them that he would work those things in them which he was pressing upon them to wit comfort and constancy In which prayer he first layeth down some arguments for strengthning both his own and their confidence in expectation of an answer The first is taken from that near relation wherein Christ and God to whom he prayeth did stand towards them Christ himself being their Lord Jesus Christ and God their Father The second from Gods special love to them The third from the fruits of his love already enjoyed 1. Consolation that is ease of mind from and encouragement of spirit against all causes of sorrow which is actually attained by real believers at some times Psal. 27. 1 2. and all such have sufficient grounds and reason for it alwayes Heb. 3. 17 18. and the meanest measure of it enjoyed by any here is an earnest of that full and perfect freedom and ease from all sorrows and weights of sin and misery which they shall enjoy in Heaven for ever Job 4. 14. and therefore is it called everlasting consolation 2. Good hope that is both solid grounds of hope and the grace of hope it self whereby we make use of those grounds by expecting all the good things which God hath promised Rom. 8. 25. which two fruits of love are described from their common fountain Gods grace and favour not only without but contrary to our deserving Isa. 64. 6. Doct. 1. That precepts and exhortations to duty do not inferr a power in mans free-will to obey fee upon 1 Thes. 5. 23. doct 2. for he here prayeth that God would work that in them which he hath presently pressed upon them Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself c. 2. As it is the Lords blessing and powerful working of his spirit which maketh the word Preached gain ground on hearts 1 Cor. 3. 7. So it is the duty of Ministers and of people also to deal with God in earnest by Prayer for his promised spirit to accompany the Word Preached and make it lively seeing the Lord hath undertaken to give his holy spirit unto those who ask him Luk. 11. 13. for Paul having pressed comfort and constancy doth pray to God that he would comfort and establish them and thereby teacheth them to do the like Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself c. 3. That a man may stand fast especially in trying times there is more required than conviction of duty or a fixed resolution to stand to his duty Matth. 26. 33 35. There must be also a continued influence from the Lord of cheerfulness comfort and courage otherwise all will be to little purpose for Paul seeth this necessary and therefore prayeth for it Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself c. 4. That Jesus Christ is true God equal with the Father appeareth from this that not only he is one who heareth prayer the author and bestower of all spiritual blessings which are here sought from him and said to be already bestowed by him but also he is named before the Father which certainly had been blaspheamous if he were not also true God Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God even our Father c. 5. That Christ is a distinct person from the Father though one in substance with him appears from this that they are here distinguished by Paul Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God even our Father 6. That God the Father is usually named before the Son doth not inferr any inequality betwixt them but only the order of subsistence and working which is among the persons of the blessed Trinity for here Christ the second person is named first to shew there is not any such inequality Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God even our Father 7. That our prayers should be directed unto God only see upon Eph. 1. 17. doct 3. for so doth Paul alwayes direct his Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself c. 8. Our prayers to God should not consist of multiplyed petitions only but ought to be fraughted with such arguments and motives for obtaining what we ask as may strengthen our confidence in expectation of an answer for such are the Apostles prayers Now our Lord which hath loved us and given us c. 9. In seeking things needful from God we should look upon him not as standing disaffected to us and at a distance with us but according to the nearest relations which we can reckon our selves to have unto him for Paul eyeth Christ and God as his and their Christ and Father Now our Lord and God even 〈◊〉 Father 10. The Faith of Gods special love doth strongly underprop the heart with confidence of a gracious answer in prayer as knowing that love in God is communicative of any thing in God that is good and needful for the party loved Psal. 84. 11. and that seeing his love hath given Christ which is more he will not withhold that which is less Rom. 8. 32. for Paul doth strengthen his confidence from this ground while he saith which hath loved us 11. Our former receipts from God should be improved as helps and props for strengthning confidence in expectation of obtaining yet further from him even whatever our necessities call for and his glory shall require at our hand This being the Lords usual way to do good because he hath done good and therefore prayer should not be wholly stuffed with heartless complaints of what we want there should be a mixture of humble and thankful acknowledgement also of what we already have and an argument drawn from thence to plead for more for so doth Paul here Who hath given us everlasting
for that at least what ever be his dealing with us otherwaies For though this people did labour under sad afflictions Chap. 2. 14. yet Paul doth look upon their Election as a ground of thanksgiving to God from him and much more from themselves We give thanks ver 3. Knowing your Election 4. A gracious heart doth judge it a piece of his highest credit to reckon spiritual kindred unto all who are born of God and will love them dearly and carry himself affectionately and affably towards such as are beloved by him For because they were beloved by God they were brethren to him the latter compellation containing in it the cause of the former Ver. 5. For our Gospel came not unto you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake Followeth a third reason of their thanksgiving to God which serveth also for an evidence that there was an Elect people among them which reason is first propounded to wit the lively manner after which he and his associates had Preached the Gospel among them called their Gospel because they were intrusted to Preach it 2 Cor. 5 19. and the manner of their Preaching is set down 1. Negatively it was not in words only that is as he explains himself 1 Cor. 2. 4. not with the inticing words of mens wisdom or varnished over with some fair sophistical flourishes of eloquent language tending more to amuse the hearers tickle the ears and commend the Preacher than to edifie the judgement to work upon the affection and to commend Christ to peoples hearts Next positively it was 1. in power that is accompanied with such boldness liberty Gospel simplicity plainness of language seriousness and fervent edge of affection in the Preachers as did render the word so spoken in some measure apt to work powerfully upon the hearers For so doth Paul himself seem to explain what is meaned by Preaching in power 1 Cor. 2. 4 13. and 4. 19 20. Secondly Their Preaching was in the Holy Ghost that is it was confirmed by Signs and Miracles wrought among them by the Apostle and his Associates as they were extraordinarily assisted thereunto by the Holy Ghost See the Holy Ghost so taken Acts 19. 2. 3. It was in much assurance whereby is meaned that full perswasion above all doubt which was in Paul and the other Preachers of the truth of what they Preached so that they spoke not of these truths doubtingly but confidently and as of things which they had heard and seen 1 Joh. 1. 1. Now that all these three expressions do set forth somewhat in the Preachers according to the sense given rather than the effect of their Preaching upon the hearers spoken of ver 6. appears from the last clause of this Verse where he appeals to the consciences of the Thessalonians if they the Preachers had not in all things carried themselves among them answerable to what he presently spoke and withal sheweth that all that they did of that sort and that God did by them was for their sake and good which doth make the present purpose subservient to the Apostles scope to wit that therefore even upon the account presently mentioned there was ground of thanksgiving to God for them and that they were bound to persevere in that doctrine which God had made to be Preached among them in such a lively manner for their good Hence learn 1. That God hath sent the Gospel in life and power unto a people and given them a lively and powerful Ministry though but for a season to sow the seeds of grace and saving knowledge among them It is no small matter of thanksgiving unto God both from themselves and others on their behalf even though their faithful Pastors afterwards should by force of persecution be for a time removed from them The good and fruit of such a Ministry is not alwaies removed with them but lasteth after they are gone Joh. 4. 37 38. For Paul doth thank the Lord upon behalf of this Church that he and his Associates had Preached the Gospel in life and power among them though they were for the present driven from them We give thanks c. Ver. 2. For our Gospel came unto you in power 2. The Lords usual way is not to send a lively and powerful Ministry unto a place but where he hath some of his Elect to be converted and saved by that means For Paul having affirmed ver 4. that he knew there was an Elect people among them he giveth this as one evidence upon which that knowledge was grounded even because God had sent such a Ministry unto them For our Gospel came unto you in power 3. That a people or person may prove constant in Faith and Piety they would often remember the Love of their first espousals to Christ with what fervency and seriousness he did bear himself in upon them how sweet how lively how ravishing the glad tidings and report of him in the mouth of his servants were once unto them and how much they were then convinced of a beauty in truth and in the feet and carriage of those who did carry the message of truth and peace unto them The remembrance whereof may stir up some longing desires to find that in Christ in Truth and in a sent Ministry which once they found at least may render them ashamed to make defection from them For the Apostles remote scope as we shew in calling them to mind of the lively manner wherein the Word was first Preached among them and how they themselves were witnesses to it and convinced of it is hereby to excite them unto constancy and perseverance For our Gospel came unto you in power 4. As there doth usually but little fruit accompany a Ministry when Ministers do study words more than purpose and to busle their purpose in such a dress of words as may set out themselves rather than commend Christ and tickle the ear rather than edifie the hearer So where a Minister doth make it his study to get Christ formed in and ground gained upon the hearts of hearers and to fall upon such purpose such words and such strains of utterance and delivery of his purpose from affection plainness and holy boldness as may conduce most for that end the pains of such a Ministry are usually seconded most by the Holy Ghost and does afford much matter of thanksgiving to the Lord for by the former the Gospel cometh in word only and by the latter it cometh in power also and Paul sheweth that not the former but the latter was accompanyed with the Holy Ghost and looks upon it as a reason of his thanksgiving to God For our Gospel came not unto you in word only but in powâ—â— also and in the Holy Ghost 5. That the truths of the Gospel were once confirmed by such signs and wonders as none could work but they who were