Thelast verse was addressed to all those whose consciences would prick them on hearing it read at the Eucharist. Now the writer turns to the orderly brethren, as quite a distinct class. The rhetorical effect of this quick apostrophe would be the same as in the well-known story of Napoleon addressing the rioters, and requesting the gentlemen to separate themselves from the canaille. The distinction is so invidious that every one would hasten to join the ranks of the respectable. (Canon Mason.)
Weariness in well doing
Readthe two previous verses, and mark the apostle’s censure of those who are busybodies, “working not at all.”
1. A church should be like a hive of working bees.
2. There should be order, and there will be order where all are at work. The apostle condemns disorder in 2Th_3:11.
3. There should be quietness; and work promotes it (2Th_3:12).
4. There should he honesty; and work fosters it.
5. The danger is, lest we first tire of work, and then fancy that we have done enough, or are discharged from service by our superior importance, or by our subscribing to pay a substitute. While any strength remains we may not cease from personal work for Jesus.
6. Moreover, some will come in who are not busy bees, but busybodies: they do not work for their owe bread, but are surprisingly eager to eat that of others; these soon cause disturbance and desolation, bat they know nothing of “well-doing.” The apostle endeavours to cure this disease, and therefore gives--
I. A summary of Christian life. He calls it “well-doing.”
1. Religious work is well-doing, Preaching, teaching, writing books and letters, temperance meetings, Bible classes, tract distributing, personal conversation, private prayer, praise, etc.
2. Charitable work is “well-doing.” The poor, the widow and the fatherless, the ignorant, the sick, the fallen, and the desponding, are to be looked after with tender care,
3. Common labour is “well-doing.” This will be seen to be the point in the text, if we read the previous verses. Well-doing takes many forms: among the rest--Support of family by the husband. Management of house by the wife. Assistance in housework by daughters. Diligence in his trade by the young man. Study of his books by the child at school. Faithful service by domestics in the home. Honest toil by the day labourer.
4. Certain labour is “well-doing” in all these senses, since it is common labour used for charitable and religious ends. Support of aged people by those who work for them. Watching over infirm or sick relatives. Bringing up children in the fear of the Lord. Work done in connection with the Church to enable others to preach the gospel in Comfort,
5. Everything is “well -doing” which is done from a sense of duty, with dependence upon God, and faith in His Word; out of love to Christ, in good-will to other workers, with prayer for direction, acceptance, and blessing. Common actions become holy, and drudgery grows divine when the motive is pure and high. We now think it will be wise to gather from the epistle--
II. A warning as to causes of weariness in well-doing.
1. Unworthy receivers of charity weary generous workers (2Th_3:10).
2. Idle examples tempt the industrious to idleness (2Th_3:11).
3. Busybodies, and disorderly persons in the church, hinder many from their diligent service (2Th_3:11-12).
4. Troublers, such as “unreasonable and wicked men,” dispirit those who would serve the Lord (2Th_3:2).
5. Our own flesh is apt to crave ease, and shun difficulties. We can make too much or works, and it is equally easy to have too few of them. Let us watch against weariness. Let us now conclude with--
III. An argument against weariness in well-doing. “But ye, brethren, be not weary in well-doing.”
1. Lose not what you have already wrought.
2. Consider what self-denials others practise for inferior things: soldiers, wrestlers, rowers in boat race, etc.
3. Remember that the eye of God is upon you, His hand with you, His smile on you, His command over you.
4. Reflect upon the grandeur of the service in itself as done unto the Lord, and to His glorious cause.
5. Think upon the sublime lives of those who have preceded you in this heavenly service.
6. Fix your eye on Jesus, and what He endured.
7. Behold the recompense of reward: the crown, the palm. If others tire and faint, be not ye weary. If others meanly loaf upon their fellows, be it yours rather to give than to receive. If others break the peace of the church, be it yours to maintain it by diligent service, and so to enjoy the blessing of 2Th_3:16. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Perseverance
If I mistake not, there is one of our noble families which has for its motto the single word “Persevera.” It is a very grand motto, and I can well believe that a man whose forefathers had that single word inscribed upon their banners, and who himself had lived with that word ever speaking to him from the escutcheon of his house, would be a braver and more steadfast man by reason of the influence which such an eloquent motto would exercise upon his character. And yet there is a very great inclination in certain stages of society, and certain periods of our lives, to feel a kind of contempt for this same perseverance. Mere patient labour is thought but meanly of for the most part; we give it all sorts of bad names. We sneer at a “plodder.” We half suspect a “painstaking” boy of being a stupid one. We become considerably amazed where unpresuming “carefulness” carries the day over more dashing “style.” It seems dull to us to go on from year to year, practising at the same thing, toiling at the same kind of work, and so very slowly rising towards perfection in anything. We are inclined to fancy when we start in life that great talents--that indefinable power which we call genius--will be sure to bear all before it, and must carry the world by storm. By and by we get to find that the world is very much larger than we fancied, and that there is a great deal of talent--nay, a great many geniuses in it, and that eminence is not to be obtained at a bound, but only by long and patient climbing. But this is a hard lesson to learn, and we dislike the learning it too. When we begin to see that it must be learnt, many of us revolt from the necessity; some are discouraged, and fairly give in at once; some few bow before the law, and these succeed. This is true of all things. What makes the savages in the Pacific able to swim for miles, so that they are almost as much at home in the water as on the land? What makes the Australian native able to follow and track by such slight indications as you and I could not even understand? What makes the tea taster in London able to tell whether this chest of tea was packed in Shanghai or that in Canton? What makes the clerk at the Bank of England able to detect in an instant the single forged note out of a heap of a thousand genuine ones which he handles too rapidly for our eyes to follow? It is persevering carefulness, without which all the natural gifts in the world would not avail for the doing of any one of these things. But is all this true of the highest things? Is it true that in religion, in godliness, it is perseverance that best serves to produce the true Christian temper and the truly Christian life? God forbid that we should lose sight for an instant of the cooperating grace of the Holy Spirit, or put anything into the place which His grace can alone occupy; but with that reservation it is undoubtedly true that even in religion, and the building up of a Christian character, it is perseverance that is of the most vital and essential importance, and that, indeed, without a persevering continuance in the painful practice of what our conscience sanctions and commands, there can be no real godliness, no true religion. If there be one thing more than another which marks the man of genius, it is his courageous steadfastness. They say that the tiger once balked in its first spring, will not again renew the charge, but skulks back into the jungle cowed and ashamed. We know that it is ever so with the craven spirits in the world; the first check and discouragement crushes them, they have no heart to recover from a fall. Such men do not bargain for work; they only bargain for success. But God’s Word says, bargain for work only, and leave success to follow or not as it may. Working is success, for after doing, something--something I say--must be done; and after well-doing, something good is done. (A. Jessop, D. D.)
Weariness in well-doing
I. The causes tending to failure in well-doing.
1. Love of ease.
2. Necessity of self-denial.
3. False humility.
4. Deficient cooperation.
5. The fact that in God’s cause the object and effect of well-doing are much less palpable than in some other provinces of action.
6. Distrust in God.
II. Some motives against being weary.
1. The consciousness and the pleasure of pleasing God.
2. This is the fittest introduction and discipline for the other world.
3. No relief is gained by yielding to weariness. (John Foster.)
The tendency to weariness in well-doing illustrated and opposed
Amongthe Thessalonians some were acting inconsistently. But while the apostle reproved such, and directed the Church to withdraw from them, they were not to be given up in despair. The Church was not to weary in their reclamation.
I. The causes of weariness in well-doing.
1. Love of novelty. This works in us when our own interests are concerned, and much more when the interests of others only are at stake. To go on in a steady course of kind exertion requires great strength of principle and perseverance. On first hearing of a distressing tale our feelings are strongly agitated, but by degrees ardour naturally cools. Familiarity with suffering blunts the edge of the feelings towards it. Some new object presents itself which engenders remissness towards the former one.
2. Want of success. Having been disappointed we are apt to become tired, discouraged, despairing. The sinner we have tried to reclaim seems inveterate, the enemy we have endeavoured to conciliate is implacable, and the temptation is to abandon an apparently impossible task.
3. Injurious treatment. We may have met with ingratitude, or been deceived by designing persons; our attempts at conciliation have only inflamed resentment; reproach and calumny seems the only fruit of our labour. In these and other cases the temptation to desist from our labour of love is strong.
II. Some considerations which may help to oppose this tendency.
1. The example of Christ. This is binding on all His followers. Was He weary in well-doing? Remember the ingratitude, reproach, and persecution He endured.
2. The conduct of Christ toward yourself. While He has been forward to do you good, have you not abused His kindness? He might justly have been wearied of you, and shall you then be wearied of well-doing to your fellow-creatures? “Freely ye have received, freely give.”
3. There is an express promise given to perseverance in well-doing. “In due time we shall reap if we faint not.” (E. Cooper.)
The cure of weariness
The well-doing of the text refers to the duties of life generally. The Apostle was informed that there were in the Church at Thessalonia persons who walked disorderly, working not at all, but were busybodies. The hospitality of the members enabled them to go from house to house, and the less spiritual would welcome them for the sake of gossip. They were commanded to work, and eat their own bread. Then the text follows as a general exhortation.
I. The duties of life are onerous. Every man who lives an earnest life knows the pinch of the shoe.
1. The initiatory stages of life involve labour. There are hundreds in the world this moment whose entire failure, through an undisciplined youth, will end in idleness and misery. You can bend the twig, but not the sturdy branch. Parents should teach their children that life is a matter of paramount importance. “Train up a child,” etc.
2. The discharge of life’s duties demands energy and perseverance. God has ordained labour more for the development of man’s powers than for its own sake. Every branch of human work has its difficulties. It is the case with some that they think other avocations or professions easier than their own. It is a mistake. Do not run from one thing to another in search of ease; you must work hard in whatever department, or fall a victim to fancy.
3. There are special circumstances of a crucial nature to overcome. So far we have only touched on the general, but men do not go through life without an occasional tension that taxes all their strength. The mariner encounters storms. In the lives of great men trials are great, but in the lives of ordinary men trials are as great as they can bear. The Book of Proverbs is a great monitor.
II. Life’s duties can be discharged--faint not “in well-doing.” God has measured your task by your strength. He will not lay upon us more than we can bear.
1. Faint not, because well-doing is divinely ordered. Men fail because they look on labour as a human imposition. The first man, who was lord of all he could survey, was a gardener. All nature is at work.
2. Be not weary, because there is a sweetness in well-doing. Work is its own rewarder. The indolent speak of drudgery, but the industrious think of satisfaction in labour. It has a harvest to follow.
3. Faint not, because industry and perseverance form character. “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” Some think that they are Christians because they sing hymns, while business is going to the dogs. Life is the occasion to develop principle.
4. Faint not, because God will continue your strength. (Weekly Pulpit.)
Christian activity
Dr. Adam Clarke said that “the old proverb about having too many irons in the fire was an abominable old lie. Have all in it--shovel, tongs, and poker.” Wesley said, “I am always in haste, but never in a hurry: leisure and I have long taken leave of each other.” Coke crossed the Atlantic eighteen times, preached, wrote, travelled, established missions, and at nearly seventy years of age started to Christianize India. (J. L. Nye.)
Motive and work
All indolence is infectious. It may be contracted by contagion; but it may be a malaria with which the atmosphere is charged. However the evil is communicated, it captures men just in the measure of their predisposition to it. Not even an apostolic Church was free from the spell which paralyzes Christian energy in these later days. But Paul’s greatest concern was for those who had not entirely given up godly effort, but were in danger of yielding to self-indulgent idleness. Surrounded as they are by cavillers, grumblers, and obstructionists, Christians at work run a great risk.
I. Weariness implies work.
1. There is a vast difference between weariness in and weariness of work. There is good hope for the first, but very little for the last. Like Gideon’s three hundred, these Thessalonians were “faint, yet pursuing.” Their enthusiasm was not as great as it had been, their schemes of aggression not so far-reaching, their blows not so vigorous; but they had not thought of becoming like Ephraim, who, “being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.” Yet they were somewhat infected by the indolence that was about them. Like the stupor of the Arctic frost-sleep, it is only to be cast off by renewed exertion.
2. What would all the promises of the heavenly rest be worth it Christians did not experience the fatigue, discouragement, and reaction of active effort. The comfort of home is just in proportion to the sense of weariness which business has wrought.
3. With every day’s work for Jesus it becomes a more joyous thing to dare and do. Easier becomes His yoke and lighter His burden, till we in heaven with winged obedience follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.
4. Be not cast down with the consciousness of flagging zeal. It is a plain proof that you have not always been a sluggard. The slothful man is weary only of idleness. Defraud Satan of his purpose by renewed consecration.
II. Work expresses motive.
1. Force is never lost either in physics or morals. It changes its form and applications, but is never annihilated. The heat from the sun is not buried in sod or sea. It appears again in the exhalations which in time descend to give freshness, fulness, beauty to vegetation. The revolving wheels, ascending piston rod are all the story of the heat which is the motive force. It may propel a gigantic steamer through a boisterous sea, turn the spinning jenny or the corn mill; but however grand or commonplace the application, the motive is the same. And then the intensity of the cause appears in the effect. Precisely the amount of heat employed in machinery is distributed in the friction of its many parts.
2. The same holds good in the mental and moral forces.
(1) Work expresses and discriminates the measure and character of motive. Duty and love are two diametrically opposed incentives, and have a way of showing themselves in their achievements. There is a difference between prison labour and that outside the walls. Love for his last can make even a shoemaker an artist.
(2) Christian work follows the same rule. “If ye love Me, ye shall keep My commandments.” What a difference between primitive Christianity with its constraining love of Christ, and mediaeval Christianity with its legalism and penances.
(3) But every Christian workman in the measure of his energy determines to what degree he is controlled by the love of Christ. Duty may do for a day, but love alone can govern a life. If you have been labouring as galley slaves it is no wonder that you are weary. If you have been counting your charities as so many compensations for your sins, your life must indeed be joyless.
III. Failing motive makes fainting work. Love is always lavish. It does not stop to compute values. It breaks its alabaster and fills the house, the church, and the world with its fragrance before legalism has finished its calculation. If you are conscious of weariness, is it not because your estimate of the preciousness of Jesus has been dwarfed? And if you would be awakened to energy again you must contemplate first the fulness of His propitiatory work and the loveliness of His character, so that gratitude and love may twine together on the lattice of His promise, and bring forth much fruit that shall remain. Go measure the love of Calvary. Tell your soul again the gospel story. Be found “looking unto Jesus.” Then shall your Christian work be an ever-growing delight. (S. R. Tyng, jun.)
The base life and the beautiful
These words are spoken to a young Church whose growth in grace had been marvellously rapid. St. Paul was able to call to mind a “work of faith,” etc., such as we associate rather with mature Christian life. They were on the “one hand so young that weariness might seem to be the least of their perils, and yet on the other so strong that the cloud was scarcely visible in their horizon.
I. Well-doing is not found elsewhere in the compound. It is not beneficence or “doing good,” but the moral beauty of the new man in Christ. St. Paul had a keen eye for the beautiful in grace, if not in nature. He loved to contemplate the grander attributes of humanity as developed under the “healthful spirit of God’s grace” and the “continual dew of God’s blessing.” This thought has a powerful persuasion for the heart of a young man, who would bitterly resent the idea of having parted with his manliness or taste by becoming a Christian.
II. Be not weary. The collision of the two opposites, the “beautiful” and the “base,” is striking. “Wax not base in your beautiful life.” This baseness is that faint heart which makes cowards of us; that sinking of spirit in the face of trial or peril, which in one case breeds sluggards and in the other deserters. Be not faint hearted in that glorious work which is yours as Christians, for if you suffer that ugly influence to steal over you, there is an end at once of all nobleness and greatness. You will be mere cumberers of the ground in common times, and in some crisis may be seen as runaways first, and then castaways.
III. How natural this weariness is to us. The daily resumption of the common duties of praying and reading, the daily recurrence of the same troublesome attacks from indwelling, soliciting, besetting sin, the finding myself always beginning, never advancing in the work of duty and the fight of faith--how wearisome is all this. To look forward to a long life of this perpetual to and fro, how many have intermitted the struggle and gone back into the world.
IV. There is an alternative. This last stage of weariness is not reached unconsciously. There are beginnings which may be watched, and by earnest prayer counteracted. God is on our side. Deal truly with yourself, and He will deal bountifully with you. Concentrate yourselves on your duties till they become all to you. Place yourself in thought each day before the great white throne. Above all, live much in His presence who quickened the dead. (Dean Vaughan.)
2Th_3:18
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Amen
The benediction
I. Its contents. Grace.
II. Its comprehensiveness. It embraces all.
III. Its power. It is yea and amen. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
What Paul calls his “salutation” is the prayer, showing that the whole business they were then about yeas spiritual; and even when he must give a salutation there must go some benefit along with it, and it must be a prayer, not a mere symbol of friendship. It was with this he would begin, and with this he would end, fencing round that which be said with mighty walls on either side; and safe were the foundations he laid, and safe the conclusion that he laid thereon. “Grace to you,” he cries, “and peace”; and, once more, “Peace always,” and “The grace,” etc. (Chrysostom.)
The benediction is the same as in the First Epistle, with the significant addition of “all.” It serves a loving purpose here. Caught up, as it may be, from 2Th_3:16, where it is so prominent, it is meant to include the disorderly brethren, regarding whom he had painfully dictated words of severity. He would, indeed, have the censure written; but he would, before he closes, take away its sting. All, without exception, are enfolded in his loving embrace. Upon all he asks the Divine grace to descend. (J. Hutchison, D. D.)
Grace
I. Its source.
II. Its fulness.
III. Its flow.
IV. Its power. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Without the grace of Christ
The late Rev. Mr. Brown, of Haddington, towards the close of life, when his constitution was sinking under his multiplied and unintermitted labours, preached on the Monday after the dispensation of the Lord’s Supper, at Tranent, a serious and animated sermon from these words: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” After the service was concluded by prayer and praise, and he was just about to dismiss the congregation, it occurred to him that he had made no direct address to those who were destitute of the grace of the Lord Jesus; and, though worn out by his former exertions, he at considerable length, and with the most intense earnestness, represented the horrors of their situation, and urged them to have recourse, ere the season of forbearance was past, to the rich and sovereign grace of the long despised Saviour. This unlooked for exhortation apparently made a deep impression, and was long remembered by the more serious part of the hearers. (J. Whitecross.)
