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34. 19-2
19-2
(b)
Waterways Corporation
Cost of Goods Manufactured Schedule
For the Month of November
Work in process 11/1
Direct materials
Raw materials inventory 11/1 $ 38,000
$ 52,900
Raw material purchases 185,400
Total raw materials available for use 223,400
Less: Raw materials inventory 11/30
Direct materials used
52,700
$170,700
Direct labor
Manufacturing overhead
Depreciation--factory equipment 16,800
22,000
Factory supplies used 16,850
Factory utilities 10,200
Indirect labor 48,000
Rent--factory equipment 47,000
Repairs--factory equipment 4,200
Total factory overhead 143,050
Total manufacturing costs 335,750
Total cost of work in process 388,650
Less: Work in process 11/30 42,000
Cost of goods manufactured $346,650
36. labours and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not
be chargeable to any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God”
(ver. 9). The apostle invariably asserted the obligation of ministerial
maintenance by the Church. In another place he emphatically affirms
that, not merely naked equity and the spirit of the Mosaic law, but also
a positive ordinance of Christ requires that just as “they which
ministered about holy things lived of the things of the temple, and
they which waited at the altar were partakers with the altar, even so
they which preach the gospel shall live of the gospel” (1 Cor. ix. 13, 14).
In the special circumstances and early stage of the work at
Thessalonica, the apostle waived this righteous claim. It might be on
account of the poverty of the majority of the converts, or more
probably on account of the charge of covetousness their enemies had
diligently circulated. To crush all suspicion of interested motives and
self-seeking, those noble missionaries refused “to be chargeable unto
any one of them,” depending for their support upon the occasional
remittances of the liberal Philippians, and on their own manual labour.
Thus did they evidence their supreme desire to be, not mercenary gain,
but the proclamation of the Gospel of God—an example which has its
counterpart in the brave, devoted, self-denying labours of many a
modern missionary.
II. Their moral consistency seen in the maintenance of a
blameless deportment.—“Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily
and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that
believe” (ver. 10). A Roman prince of the celebrated house of Colonna,
whose virtues had sustained him alike in prosperous and adverse
times, was once driven into exile, and when reduced to extremity was
asked, “Where is now your fortress?” He laid his hand upon his heart,
and answered, “Here!” A conscious sense of integrity threw a strength
and majesty around him in the midst of poverty and suffering. It was
an inward consciousness of purity that prompted these Christian
workers to appeal to those who were best acquainted with their walk
and conversation. They behaved holily toward God, justly toward men,
and unblameably in all things. “Among them that believe.” Believers
could best understand the secret of their whole life, its aims and
37. motives, its tendencies and issues, and on them it would have an
irresistible impression. It is often the fate of the public teacher, while
blameless, to be unmercifully blamed by those who are outside the
circle of his work. The world retains all its historic enmity to the truth
and is as venomous as ever in its expression.
“No might, nor greatness in mortality
Can censure ’scape: back-wounding calumny
The whitest virtue strikes.”
III. Their moral consistency seen in their persistent endeavours
to stimulate their converts to the highest attainments.—1. This is
evident in the lofty standard set up. “That ye walk worthy of God” (ver.
12). How sublime and dignified the Christian character may become—
to walk worthily of God!—in harmony with His nature, His law, with
our profession of attachment to Him. To the production of this grand
result all their efforts were bent. “As a father doth his children,” so they
“exhorted” with all earnestness, “comforted” with all loving sympathy,
and “charged” with all fidelity and authority. The preacher must be
master of every art necessary to success.
2. This is evident in the sublime motive that should animate us in
reaching the standard.—The Divine, heavenly calling. “Who hath
called you unto His kingdom and glory” (ver. 12)—His own glorious
kingdom. We are invited to enter this kingdom on earth and
participate in its blessings; but the full splendours of that kingdom are
reserved for the heavenly world. How brief and insignificant will the
sufferings and sorrows of the present appear, contrasted with the
ineffable bliss of the future state! “Do you want anything?” eagerly
asked the loved ones who surrounded the dying couch of Melancthon.
“Nothing but heaven,” was the gentle response, and he went smiling on
his way.
Lessons.—1. In order to success in preaching moral consistency of life
must accompany and sustain the faithful declaration of the truth.
2. That the greatest success is achieved when the highest experience of
the Christian life is constantly enforced by both precept and example.
38. GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 9–12. The High Moral Feeling that should influence the Preacher.
—Illustrated by Paul’s work and conduct.
I. In preaching the Gospel.
II. In labouring for his own support.
III. In his behaviour.—1. Towards God. “Holily.” 2. Towards others.
“Justly.” 3. Unblameable. Prudent and inoffensive. He could appeal to
man and God.—Stewart.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 13.
The Correct Estimate of Gospel Truth.
We have before stated that the population of Thessalonica consisted of
two diverse classes, Greek and Jew—the one representing the
philosophy of paganism, the other being the custodian of the sacred
truths of Revelation. Among the Hebrews Moses was recognised as the
central human figure and head of their legal system, and his words
were profoundly venerated; and the Gentiles were not less devout and
ardent in their admiration of Plato and his far-seeing wisdom. The
influence of these two systems was all-potent with the Thessalonians;
it supplied thought, moulded character and life, and filled up the
widest circle of their hopes. The Gospel impinged upon these ancient
and revered institutions, and they reeled beneath the shock. The
bigoted followers of Moses and Plato were compelled to admit the
higher authority of the apostolic message. They formed a correct
estimate of Gospel truth when they “received it, not as the word of
men, but as it is in truth, the word of God.”
I. The Gospel is superior to all human wisdom.—It is “not the word
of men.” 1. Human wisdom is limited in its range. The greatest mind is
39. restricted in its knowledge, and imperfect in using what it knows. A
celebrated Roman scholar once exclaimed with petulance and disgust:
“The human mind wanders in a diseased delirium, and it is therefore
not surprising that there is no possible folly which philosophers, at one
time or another, have not propounded as a lesson of wisdom.”
2. Human wisdom is changeable.—Aristotle, the great father of natural
philosophy, summed up his impressions on this subject with his usual
hard, unyielding logic when ye said: “There is no difference between
what men call knowledge and mere opinion; therefore, as all opinion is
uncertain, there can be no certainty in human knowledge.”
3. Human wisdom is unsatisfying.—It is with a sigh of bitter
disappointment that one of the most profound thinkers of antiquity
concluded his long and deep inquiry into human affairs, and summed
up the result with these sad, melancholy words: “Nothing can be
known; nothing therefore can be learned; nothing can be certain; the
senses are limited and delusive; intellect is weak; life is short!”
II. The Gospel is essentially Divine.—1. It is authoritative. There is
an old proverb, “When the lion roars, the beasts of the forest tremble.”
So when the Gospel speaks, unbelievers may well be filled with fear.
Milton thus describes Adam in his innocency advancing to meet his
celestial Visitor: He—
"walks forth without more train
Accompanied than with His own complete
Perfections: in Himself was all His state."
In like manner God’s Word comes to us clothed with the majesty and
authority of its own innate power. It bends the ear to attention, the
mind to faith, the heart to reverence, the will and conscience to
obedience.
2. It is immutable.—It is “the word of the Lord that liveth and abideth
for ever” (1 Peter i. 23). (1) Its promises are sure; (2) its threatenings will
certainly be executed.
40. 3. It is complete.—There is nothing to add, nothing to subtract. It
contains the fullest revelation of God, of man, of eternal issues—such
as can never be found elsewhere.
4. It is worthy of universal credence.—“If we receive the witness of men,
the witness of God is greater.” It is to the everlasting commendation of
the Thessalonians, and of millions since their day, that when they
heard the Word of God they “received it, not at the word of men, but as
it is in truth, the word of God.”
This next paragraph includes the word “niggardly,”
which is a fine word, meaning “stingy,” “grasping,” or
“parsimonious;” but to someone who is not familiar with
the word or not paying complete attention, it can sound
like a racial slur. When teaching this material, please
strongly consider substituting a synonym.
III. The Gospel is efficacious in transforming character.—“Which
effectually worketh also in you that believe.” As the planet receiving the
light of the sun is transformed into an imitation sun, so the believing
soul receiving the light of the Word is changed into the image of that
Word. Whatever the Divine Word prescribes, that it works in us. Does
it prescribe repentance?—it works repentance; faith?—it works faith;
obedience?—it works obedience; knowledge?—it enlightens to know.
Its transforming power, is continually demonstrated. It makes the
niggardly generous, the profane holy, the drunkard sober, the
profligate chaste. Faith is the vital force that connects the soul with this
converting power.
IV. The correct estimate of Gospel truth is matter of ceaseless
thanksgiving to the preacher.—“For this cause also thank we God
without ceasing.” No disappointment is keener to the anxious preacher
than that of unproductive labour. Some of the choicest ministers of
God have to mourn over comparative failure. Think of the anguish of
the sympathetic Jeremiah when the Word of the Lord which he
declared was turned into daily reproach and derision; and to Ezekiel,
when he wept over rebellious Israel! But the joy of success is
41. irrepressible, and the full heart pours out its thanks to God. “They joy
before Thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when
they divide the spoil” (Isa. ix. 3).
Lessons.—1. The word of man, while it may charm the understanding,
is powerless to change the heart. 2. The correct estimate of Gospel truth
is to regard it as the Word of God. 3. The Word of God is efficacious to
the individual only as it is received believingly.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE.
The Efficacy of the Word of God and the Way of receiving it.
I. The description given of the Word.—1. The Word not of men, but
of God. 2. Known by its effects. (1) Producing conviction of sin.
(2) Binding up the broken heart.
II. In what manner it should be received.—1. With attention and
reverence. 2. With humility and teachableness. 3. As the instrument for
conversion and edification.—E. Cooper.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 14.
Suffering: the Test of Conversion.
It often happens that suffering reveals new features of individual
character and awakens powers that were before dormant. It takes a
great deal to thoroughly rouse some people. We are told that Agrippa
had a dormouse that slumbered so profoundly that it would never
wake till cast into a cauldron of boiling lead. So, there are some natures
which put forth all their powers only when in suffering and extremity.
The piety of God’s people has been most severely tested in the midst of
persecution and affliction. The faith of thousands has failed in the
hour of trial, while those who have borne the strain have gained an
accession of moral nerve and bravery. The Thessalonians imitated the
42. Churches in Judea in boldly facing the storm of malignant opposition,
and standing under it with calm, unconquerable firmness.
I. The suffering of the Thessalonians had a common origin.—“For
ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they
have of the Jews.” Just as the Jews who embraced Christianity met with
the maddest violence from their own unbelieving countrymen, so the
Gentiles found their fiercest foes among their fellow-countrymen, who
blindly clung to the worship of the gods. It is the unkindest cut of all
that comes from the sword of our own people—people with whom we
have lived in amity and concord, but from whom conscience compels
us to differ. Who can fathom the deep anguish of the Psalmist
sounding in that sharp, bitter cry of startled surprise, “For it was not an
enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it; but it was thou,
a man, mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance”! (Ps. lv. 12, 13). It
was a horrible discovery of nature engaged in a terrible suicidal war
with itself! Nature grown monstrously unnatural and savagely
retaliating on its own; natural love turned into unnatural enmity!
What a revelation, too, is this of the desperate nature of all
persecution! Its insensate malice rudely sunders all bonds of
fatherland, friendship, and kindred. The close affinity between Cain
and Abel does not arrest the murderer’s hand; the tender ties between
Saul and David, woven with much reciprocal kindness and affection,
avail not to curb the mad cruelty of the infuriate king. Ah! how deep
and changeless is the truth, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution” (2 Tim. iii. 12). The suffering that tests is still from
the same source, “A man’s foes are they of his own household” (Matt.
x. 36).
II. The suffering of the Thessalonians was borne with exemplary
Christian fortitude.—“For ye, brethren, became followers of the
Churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus.” The same thought
is expressed in the first chapter, where the apostle says, “Ye became
followers of us and of the Lord.” For at the head of the long line is
Jesus, the Captain of salvation; and all whom He leads to glory walk in
His steps, imitate His example, and so become followers one of
43. another. It is not, however, suffering in itself that purifies and exalts
Christian character, so much as the spirit in which it is borne. The
hardest point of obedience is to obey in suffering. It was enough to cool
the fiery ambition of the aspiring disciples when Jesus said, “Are ye able
to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?” (Matt. xx. 22). And yet the
following of Christ in suffering is the true test of discipleship. “He that
taketh not his cross and followeth me is not worthy of Me” (Matt.
x. 38). It is a grand proof of the supernatural efficacy of Gospel truth
that it inspires so intense a love of it as to make us willing to endure the
most exquisite suffering for its sake. The love of truth becomes
supreme. John Huss, lamenting the rupture of an old and valued
friendship, said: “Paletz is my friend; truth is my friend; and both
being my friends, it is my sacred duty to give the first honour to truth.”
The soul, penetrated with this sublime devotion to truth, will pass
unscathed the fiery test of suffering. On the destruction by fire of the
London Alexandra Palace a few years ago, it was found that, while
many specimens of old English porcelain exhibited there were reduced
to a black, shapeless mass, the true porcelain of Bristol, though broken
into fragments, still retained its whiteness, and even its most delicate
shades of colour, uninjured by the fire. So the truly good, though
wounded and maimed, shall survive the fiercest trial, and retain intact
all that specially distinguishes and beautifies the Christian character.
Lessons.—1. Our love of the Gospel is tested by what we suffer for it.
2. The similarity of experience in all times and places is a strong
evidence of the truth of the Christian religion. 3. Suffering does not
destroy, but builds up and perfects.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 15, 16.
The Fury of the Old Religion against the New.
It is the natural order of things that the old must give place to the new.
The inexorable operation of the law of progress is seen in a thousand
different forms. In the world of vegetation, the old life is continually
44. yielding supremacy to the new. The leaves, buds, and blossoms of the
tree, as they force their way to the light, fling their shadows on the
grave where their predecessors lie decayed and buried—life blooming
amid the ghastly emblems of death. And, in the world of religious
thought and opinion, while Divine truth remains in its essence
unchangeably the same, old forms and old definitions are ever giving
place to the new. The transition from the old to a new order of things in
the progress of religion is not always accomplished without opposition.
Age is naturally and increasingly tenacious; and the old religion looks
on the new with suspicion, with jealousy, with fear, with anger. The
Jews had resisted the attempts of their own Divinely commissioned
prophets to rouse the nation to a purer faith and more vigorous
religious life; but their fury reached its climax in their blind,
unreasonable, and fiendish opposition to Christianity. The text
describes the fury of the old religion against the new.
I. The fury of the Jews is seen in their inhuman treatment of the
great leaders of religious thought.—“Who both killed the Lord
Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us” (ver. 15).
1. They plotted against the life of the world’s Redeemer; and in spite of
insufficient evidence to convict, and the endeavours of the Roman
procurator to release, they clamoured for the immediate crucifixion of
their innocent Victim, exclaiming in the wild intoxication of malignant
passion, “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matt. xxvii. 25)—a
self-invoked imprecation that fell on them with terrible and desolating
vengeance.
2. The sin of murder already darkly stained their race.—The best and
noblest of their prophets were unoffending victims: Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Amos, Zechariah, met with violent deaths. The charge of the proto-
martyr Stephen was unanswerable (Acts vii. 52).
3. The apostles were subjected to similar treatment.—“And have
persecuted us”—have chased and driven us out. They drove them out
of Thessalonica, afterwards out of Berœa, and were at that moment
engaged in instigating an insurrection to drive the apostle out of
45. Corinth. The spirit of persecution is unchanged. Wherever the attempt
is made to raise the Church from the grave of spiritual death and
reanimate her creed and ritual with intenser reality and life, it is met
with a jealous, angry opposition. What a wretched, short-sighted
policy does persecution reveal! It is the idolised weapon of the tyrant
and the coward, the sport of the brutal, the sanguinary carnival of
demons!
II. The fury of the Jews was displeasing to God.—“They please not
God” (ver. 15). They fondly imagined they were the favourites of
heaven, and that all others were excluded from the Divine
complacency. They had the words of the law carefully committed to
memory and could quote them with the utmost facility to serve their
own purpose. They would support their proud assumption of
superiority and exclusiveness by quoting Deut. xiv. 2, wilfully shutting
their eyes to the vital difference between the holy intention of Jehovah
and their miserably defective realisation of that intention. In their
opposition to Christianity they thought they were doing God service;
yet all the time they were displeasing to Him. How fatally blinding is
sin, goading the soul to the commission of the most horrible crimes
under the sacred guise of virtue!
III. The fury of the Jews was hostile to man.—1. Their hostility was
directed against the world of mankind. “Are contrary to all men” (ver.
15). The Jews of that period delighted in hatching all kinds of “sedition,
privy conspiracy, and rebellion.” They were adversaries of all, the
despisers of all. Tacitus, the Roman historian, brands them as “the
enemies of all men:” and Apion, the Egyptian, according to the
admission of Josephus, calls them “atheists and misanthropes—in fact,
the most witless and dullest of barbarians.”
2. Their hostility was embittered by a despicable religious jealousy.
—“Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved”
(ver. 16). Here the fury of the old religion against the new reached its
climax. It is the perfection of bigotry and cruelty to deny to our fellow-
men the only means of salvation. Into what monsters of barbarity will
persecution turn men! Pharaoh persisted to such a degree of
46. unreasonableness as to chastise the Hebrews for not accomplishing
impossibilities! Julian, the apostate from Christianity, carried his
vengeful spirit to his deathbed, and died cursing the Nazarene!
IV. The fury of the Jews hurried them into irretrievable ruin.—
1. Their wickedness was wilfully persistent. “To fill up their sins alway”
(ver. 16)—at all times, now as much as ever. So much so, the time is
now come when the cup of their iniquity is filled to the brim, and
nothing can prevent the consequent punishment. The desire to sin
grows with its commission. “Sinners,” says St. Gregory, “would live for
ever that they might sin for ever”—a powerful argument for the
endlessness of future punishment. The desire to sin is endless.
2. Their punishment was inevitable and complete.—“For the wrath is
come upon them to the uttermost” (ver. 16)—is even now upon them.
The process has begun; their fury to destroy others will accelerate their
own destruction. Punishment fell upon the wicked, unbelieving, and
resisting Jews, and utter destruction upon their national status and
religious supremacy (vide Josephus, Wars, Books v., vi.).
Lessons.—1. There is a fearful possibility of sinking into a lifeless
formality, and blind, infatuate opposition to the good. 2. The rage of
man against the truth defeats its own ends, and recoils in vengeance on
himself.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 15, 16. The Persecuting Jews—
I. Often misled by professed zeal for truth.
II. Tortured and murdered the noblest men of their own race.
III. Opposed the Gospel with violent and unreasoning severity.
IV. Have themselves been persecuted by all the nations among
whom they sojourned.
V. Furnish an unanswerable argument for the truth of
Christianity.
47. MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 17–20.
The Power of Satan, Great but Restricted.
St. Paul had a profound, unhesitating belief in the reality and personal
activity of Satan. An examination of the apostle’s own writings and
discourses places this beyond doubt. We need refer to but a few
passages. Satan is “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. ii. 2); “the god of this
world, blinding the minds of them which believe not” (2 Cor. iv. 4). To
convert to the Christian religion is to bring men “from the power of
Satan unto God” (Acts xxvi. 18). To relapse is “to turn aside after Satan”
(1 Tim. v. 15). To commit sin is to “give place to the devil” (Eph. iv. 27). If
Paul suffered from some grievous bodily ailment that checked him in
his evangelical labours, it was “the angel of Satan to buffet him” (2 Cor.
xii. 17); and when he was prevented from paying a visit to the struggling
Church at Thessalonica, it was “Satan that hindered him.” Observe:—
I. The power of Satan forcing an unwilling separation.—“But we,
brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in
heart” (ver. 17).
1. The separation was painful, but temporary.—“Being taken from
you”—literally, being orphaned of you. This grief was like that of a
father bereft of his children, or children of their parents. Their
emotions were expressed by Jacob—“If I am bereaved of my children, I
am bereaved” (Gen. xliii. 14). They hoped speedily to return; and, after
the lapse of five years, their hopes were realised. Satan acted by means
of wicked men (Acts xvii. 5–8, 13).
2. The separation did not lessen their spiritual attachment.—“In
presence, not in heart.” Satan may deprive of the opportunity of social
intercourse, but not of reciprocal Christian love. Augustine, referring
to different kinds of friendship, shows the pre-eminence of the
spiritual, where the link is grace and the Spirit of God: “Natural
affection want of presence diminisheth; mundane friendship, where
48. profit makes the union, want of profit unlooseth; but spiritual amity
nothing dissolves, no, not that which dissolves all others, lack of
society.”
II. The power of Satan hindering an earnestly desired visit.—
1. Opposition intensified their desire to see their converts. “Endeavoured
the more abundantly to see your face with great desire” (ver. 17). As
lime is influenced by water, as a stream grows more furious by the
obstacles set against it, so genuine affection is increased in fervour by
that which opposes it.
2. The opposition succeeded in baffling repeated attempts to carry out
that desire.—“Wherefore, we would have come unto you, even I Paul,
once and again; but Satan hindered us” (ver. 18). The apostle halted at
Berœa on his way to Athens, and probably attempted then to return to
Thessalonica, but was thwarted in his design. Though no express
reference is made in the history to the agency of Satan, Paul had
unmistakable evidence of its operation in many ways. Satan hindered
us—perhaps by imprisonment, tempests at sea, or by keeping him so
fully occupied with incessant conflicts and ever-new tribulations of his
own, as to leave him no leisure for carrying out his plan. The verb
signifies to cut a trench in the way of a pursuing enemy, so as to hinder
his progress.
III. The power of Satan unable to rob the Christian worker of the
joy and reward of success.—Great as is the power of Satan, it is not
omnipotent. The Christian warrior can successfully withstand it (Eph.
vi. 11–13); and he is assured that God will bruise Satan under his feet
(Rom. xvi. 20).
1. Success in soul-saving is productive of unutterable joy.—“For what is
our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye?” (ver. 19). The
merchant rejoices over his gains, the warrior over his victories, the
artist over the achievements of genius; but there is no joy so sweet, so
exquisite, so abiding, as the successful winner of souls.
49. 2. The joy of success in soul-saving will be among the highest rewards of
the future.—“In the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?
For ye are our glory and joy” (vers. 19, 20). The return of Christ to
heaven, after the judgment, is here compared to the solemnity of a
triumph, in which the apostle is to appear crowned in token of victory
over the false religions of the world, attended by his converts; and
because they are the cause of his being thus crowned, they are, by a
beautiful figure of speech, called his crown of rejoicing. Special honour
is promised to the successful worker (Dan. xii. 3). (1) Joy enhanced by
the recognitions in the future life. “Are not even ye in the presence of
our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?” If Paul knows his converts in the
heavenly world, shall we not know our loved ones who have gone
before? (2) By the presence and approbation of the Lord Jesus for
whom we have laboured. “In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right
hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. xvi. 11).
Lessons.—1. The power of Satan works through many agencies;
therefore, we have need of watchfulness. 2. The power of Satan is
limited; therefore, we need not be discouraged.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 18. Satanic Hindrances—
I. Are veiled by subtle and specious pretexts.
II. Work mischief in individuals and in Churches.
III. May succeed in diverting for a time the best intentions of the
good.
IV. Should be diligently and prayerfully watched.
V. Are frustrated by a superior power.
Vers. 19, 20. The Joy of a Minister in his Converts—
I. As they are living witnesses of the power of the Gospel.
II. As they are the crowning reward of his labours.
50. III. As he shares the joy of Christ in their salvation and final
glory.
CHAPTER III.
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
Ver. 1. When we could no longer forbear.—This latter word occurs in
1 Cor. xiii. 7 to describe the endurance of love.
Ver. 2. Fellow-labourer is omitted from the R.V. text, which reads,
“our brother and God’s minister in the gospel of Christ.” To establish
you.—To fix firmly; as Christ said to Peter, “Stablish thy brethren”
(Luke xxii. 32).
Ver. 3. That no man should be moved.—The word seems to imply
“moved to softness,” as Professor Jowett intimates. It is used especially
of the motion of a dog’s tail as it fawns on its master. So the word
passes over to the mental sphere (compare on St. James’ figure, James
i. 6). “That no man should amidst his calamities be allured by the
flattering hope of a more pleasant life to abandon his duty” (Tittmann).
Ver. 4. We should suffer tribulation.—In the verse previous the noun
from the same root as the one here translated “suffer tribulation” is
given as “afflictions.” “The actual persecution of the Roman
government was slight, but what may be termed social persecution and
the illegal violence employed towards the first disciples unceasing”
(Jowett).
Ver. 5. When I could no longer forbear . . . sent to know.—The
whole verse shows the tension of the apostle’s mind.
Ver. 6. And brought us good tidings.—R.V. “glad tidings.” “The one
word for ‘brought-glad-tidings’ everywhere else in the New Testament
51. signifies the glad tidings. . . . Hence the peculiar force of the word
here. . . . It was a gospel sent to him in return for his gospel brought to
them” (Findlay). Ye have good remembrance of us.—Kindly
remembrance. The tempter had not been able to turn to gall the sweet
thoughts of grateful appreciation of the apostle’s work.
Ver. 8. For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.—The man who
later could say, “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. i. 21), prepares us for
that saying by this. Life to him is desirable only as others benefit by it.
Ver. 9. For what thanks can we render to God again.—In the R.V.
“again” is joined with “render,” representing the one word of St. Paul.
The same verb is found twice in Luke xiv. 14 as “recompense.” The
apostle feels what a poor requital any thanksgiving must be for the
mercy of the good news from Thessalonica (see 2 Thess. i. 6).
Ver. 11. Direct our way unto you.—Acts xvi. 6, 7 should be read. Satan
might hinder (ch. ii. 18); if God “makes straight” the way, progress will
be easy.
Ver. 12. The Lord make you abound in love.—The Lord may here be
the Holy Spirit, as the three persons of the Trinity will be appealed to
(cf. ver. 13, as in 2 Thess. iii. 5). So the Holy Ghost is called the Lord
(2 Cor. iii. 17). Love is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. v. 22), and His office is
to establish in holiness (ver. 13; 1 Pet. i. 2) (Faussett).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 1, 2.
A Difficult and Important Mission.
Paul had been compelled to leave Thessalonica in consequence of the
malignant opposition of the Jews. They thirsted for his life, and it
would still be dangerous for him to visit the city. But Timothy might
venture where it would be perilous for the apostle to appear. While the
wrath of the Jews raged against the Gospel as a whole, it culminated in
its fury around the head of Paul, the ringleader and champion of the
movement. Fearing that his absence might be misconstrued, and
52. anxious to strengthen the faith of the infant Church in the midst of
trial, the apostle determines to send a trusted messenger. It is a
significant testimony to the sound judgment and prudence of Timothy,
that he is selected for this difficult and important mission.
I. This mission was the suggestion of an uncontrollable anxiety.
—“Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear” (ver. 1). This anxiety
sprang from the intensity of the apostle’s love. It is a striking feature of
genuine, Christian love that, while it bears with uncomplaining
patience any amount of external suffering, it is restless with a holy
impatience of delay in doing good to those it embraces. The devoted
mother can endure anything but restraint in her desire to promote the
best welfare of her child. David was indifferent to the exposure and
dangers of his wilderness-life; but his soul panted after God with all
the raging thirst of the hart in autumn for the cooling water-brook.
II. This mission involved great personal inconvenience.—“We
thought it good to be left at Athens alone” (ver. 1). The unselfishness of
true love ever prefers another’s good to its own. Timothy had travelled
so constantly with Paul and had been so great a comfort to him in his
captivities and trials, that his absence was a keenly felt loss. Specially
was his sympathy and co-operation needed when the great Gentile
missionary entered the region—
“Where on the Ægean shore a city stood,
Built nobly, pure the air and light the soil,
Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts
And eloquence.”—Milton.
“At Athens alone.” What a sublime historical picture is portrayed in
these words! Christianity embodied in a single, lonely man, standing in
the midst of the populous metropolis of pagan culture and idolatry! Yet
the power sustained in that solitary man broke up and scattered the
huge fabric of heathenism. “Solitude is one of the highest enjoyments
of which our nature is susceptible. Solitude is also, when too long
continued, capable of being made the most severe, indescribable,
unendurable, source of anguish” (Deloraine).
53. III. This mission was entrusted to a thoroughly qualified
messenger.—The high character of Timothy and the relations existing
between the two preachers are brought out in the epithets applied to
him. “Timothy our brother” (ver. 2). In other places Paul calls him his
“own son in the faith,” his “dearly beloved son” (1 Tim. i. 2; 2 Tim. i. 2);
but in speaking of him to the Churches he recognises him on the equal
footing of a brother. He was also a minister of God, solemnly set apart
to this service by the voice of prophecy, and by the consecrating hands
of the presbytery, and of Paul himself. And finally, he was Paul’s fellow-
labourer in the Gospel of Christ, not only as all God’s ministers are
fellow-labourers, working the work of the same Lord, but also on the
ground of that special intimacy of personal intercourse and co-
operation, to which he was from the first admitted by the apostle
(Lillie). Thus, Timothy was thoroughly qualified—(1) to carry out the
apostle’s wish concerning the Thessalonians, and (2) to sympathise with
the Church’s peculiar difficulties and trials. He was more than a mere
courier. He was faithful to Paul’s instructions, and valuable to the
Church in himself.
IV. This mission was charged with a work of high importance and
necessity.—“To establish you, and to comfort you, concerning your
faith” (ver. 2).
1. To establish—to comfort, or set fast their faith by a fresh,
authoritative manifestation of the Gospel truth and its Divine
evidences; and this would be done by private conversation and public
ministration.
2. To comfort.—The word means also, and especially here, to exhort,
though doubtless comfort would be mingled with the exhortation. The
Thessalonians were exposed to the storm of persecution that was
everywhere raging against the Gospel and its adherents, and they were
exhorted to steadfastness, “that no man should be moved by these
afflictions” (ch. iii. 3). Paul and Barnabas had a similar mission to the
Churches in Lesser Asia (Acts xiv. 22). There are none so strong in faith
but need confirmation, none so courageous but need comfort.
54. Lessons.—1. The establishment of believers is ever a subject of anxiety
to the true minister. 2. The desire to promote the highest welfare of the
Church should ever be paramount.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE.
Ver. 1. “At Athens alone” (cf. Acts xvii. 16, 17). The Solitude of a Great
City—
I. Affords a painful opportunity to reflect on its moral
condition.—“He saw the city wholly given to idolatry.”
II. Awakens profound concern in a great soul.—“His spirit was
stirred in him.”
III. Rouses to immediate action in promoting the welfare of the
citizens.—“Therefore disputed he in the synagogue and in the
market daily.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 3–5.
The Perils of Suffering.
A storm among the Highlands of Scotland often effects great and rapid
changes. The huge mountain that slumbers harmlessly in the sunshine,
with such calm and sullen majesty, is transformed by the tempest into
a monster of fury. Its sides are suddenly sheeted with waterfalls, and
the ferocious torrents work devastation among the glens and straths
that lie in their impetuous course. The trees and shrubs that are but
slightly rooted are swept away, and only the firmly grounded survive.
So it is, when the storm of persecution breaks upon the Gospel and its
adherents. The new converts, the roots of whose faith have not
penetrated so deeply into the soil of truth, are in danger of being
disturbed and carried away. Their peril is matter of anxiety to the
Christian worker. Hence the apostle sends Timothy, and writes this
55. epistle to the Thessalonians, to confirm and establish them in the faith.
He shows:—
I. That suffering is the inevitable lot of God’s people.—1. That
suffering is a Divine ordinance. “For ye yourselves know that we are
appointed thereunto” (ver. 3). A strange way, one would think, of
reconciling people to affliction, by telling them that they have nothing
else to expect. It is a grand proof of the triumph of the Gospel over the
rebellious human heart that it prescribes such conditions and
reconciles men to the acceptance of them; and it does so both by the
grace which it imparts for the present and by the glorious hope it holds
out for the future. It is laid down as a law of Christian progress “that we
must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts
xiv. 22). The very purity of the Church, imperfect as it is, coming into
contact with the sin and misery prevalent in the world, produces
suffering. “Because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John xv. 19). It is enough for
us to know that our trials do not happen without the knowledge and
consent and purpose and control of God, and that their extent and
duration are regulated by His infinite, fatherly wisdom and love. The
Divine appointment of suffering is designed for our highest discipline
and culture—withdrawing our affections from the temporal and
centring them on eternal realities; exposing our hypocrisies and
cleansing the moral corruptions that have entered into our lives, like
filth on standing waters, and strengthening us to do the right,
undismayed by the bitterest afflictions. The greatest suffering often
brings us into the neighbourhood of the greatest blessing. “Gold is
cleaner after it has been put into the fire: be thou gold, and the fiery
persecution shall not hurt thee.”
2. That suffering was the subject of frequent apostolic warning.—“For
verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer
tribulation” (ver. 4). It is intimated here that it was not so much one
single statement on some particular occasion as it was the constant and
habitual tenor of the apostle’s teaching that suffering was to be
expected. Paul himself was an illustrious example of heroic fortitude in
56. suffering for Christ’s sake. “The Holy Ghost,” said he, “witnesseth in
every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me” (Acts xx. 23). It is
both wise and kind to forewarn God’s people of coming afflictions, that
they be not overtaken unexpectedly and unprepared. The predictions
of the apostle were verified: “Even as it came to pass, and ye know.”
Their first acquaintance with the Gospel was in the midst of
persecution and trial. The violent opposition continued, but the
warnings and exhortations of the apostle were not in vain (2 Thess.
i. 4).
3. That the suffering of God’s people is a cause of ministerial anxiety.
—“For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your
faith” (ver. 5). It has been pithily said, “Calamity is man’s true
touchstone.” The strongest have then become a prey to the malice and
subtlety of Satan. The faithful minister, knowing the perils of suffering
and the awful consequences of apostasy, is anxiously concerned about
the faith of his converts. “There are three modes of bearing the ills of
life—by indifference, which is the most common; by philosophy, which
is the most ostentatious; and by religion, which is the most effectual”
(Colton).
II. That suffering exposes God’s people to the disturbing forces of
Satanic temptations.—“Lest by some means the tempter have
tempted you” (ver. 5).
1. A suggestive designation of Satan.—“The tempter.” What
unspeakable vileness, ruin, misery, and terror are suggested by that
name! All human woe may be traced directly up to him. The greatest
champions of Christendom, such as Paul and Luther, had the most
vivid sense of the personality, nearness, and unceasing counter-
working of this great adversary of God and man. There is need of
sleepless vigilance and prayer.
2. The versatility of Satanic temptations.—“Lest by some means.” He
may descend suddenly, clothed with terror and burning with wrath, to
surprise and terrify into sin. More frequently he appears in the
seductive and more dangerous garb of an angel of light, the deceptive
57. phantom of what he once was. Infinite are his methods; his aim is one
—to suggest doubts and impious references as to God’s providential
dealings of severity, and to produce apostasy from the faith.
III. That the temptations of a suffering state imperil the work of
God’s servants.—“And our labour be in vain” (ver. 5). In vain as
regards the great end of their salvation; they would lapse into their
former heathenish state, and by apostasy lose their heavenly reward;
and in vain as regards the joy which the apostle anticipated from their
ultimate salvation. It is true no work done for God is absolutely in vain;
the worker shall receive his just reward; but it may be in vain with
regard to the object to which his best efforts have been directed. It is
bitterly disappointing to see the work that has cost so much, utterly
frustrated by a momentary temptation of the wicked one. How
different might have been the moral history of thousands if they had
not yielded to the first fiery trial!
“Of all the sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these—it might have been.”
IV. That God’s people may triumph over the greatest suffering.
—“That no man should be moved [drawn away by flattery or shaken]
by these afflictions” (ver. 3). While piety is tried, it is also strengthened
by suffering. The watchful and faithful soul may use his troubles as aids
to a richer experience and a firmer consolidation of Christian character.
“Thus God schooleth and nurtureth His people, that so, through many
tribulations, they may enter into their rest. Frankincense, when it is
put into the fire, giveth the greater perfume; spice, if it be pounded,
smelleth the sweeter; the earth, when it is torn up by the plough,
becometh more fruitful; the seed in the ground, after frost and snow
and winter storms, springeth up the ranker; the nigher the vine is
pruned to the stock, the greater grape it yieldeth; the grape, when it is
most pressed and beaten, maketh the sweetest wine; fine gold is the
better when it is cast into the fire; rough stones, with hewing, are
squared and made fit for the building; cloth is rent and cut that it may
make a garment; linen that is thrown into the tub, washed, and beaten,
is the fairer” (Jewell).
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