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In these words our apostle declares the transcendant joy and overflowing comfort, which was found in his soul, upon the knowledge he had received of the constancy and stedfastness of the faith of these Thessalonians; we were comforted in our affliction by your faith:
Of all comforts which the people of God can afford to the ministers of the gospel, there is none comparable with that which results from the unfainting perseverance in the faith, and the unblameable holiness of their life.
No comfort can be greater than our people's gracious demeanour; this put a kind of new life into St. Paul, in the midst of all the sorrows and sufferings, the afflictions and persecutions, he underwent.
Now we live, says he, if ye stand fast in the Lord, that is, a life of joy and comfort; or, we live, that is, it will be a mean to prolong our life, as well as add to the comfort of it; and the contrary tends to the shortening of our days.
Those that do impair the cheerfulness of their minister's lives, such as deaden their spirits, and break their hearts, by their obstinate non-compliance with the rules of the gospel, are no better than murderers in the account of God.
If ministers may, as all other persons do, value their lives by the joy and comfort of them, then may they say, with the great apostle, "We live, as we see any of our people stand fast in the Lord; and we die, as we see others stick fast in their sins."
Observe farther, how highly thankful the apostle was to God, and what unspeakable praise he renders to him, for administering to him this occasion of joy, by the constancy and perseverance of the Christian faith at Thessalonica; What thanks can we render to God for you, and for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes?
The faithful ministers of Christ think that their hearts can never sufficiently be carried forth in thankfulness to God, for the success of their labours in the lives of their people; What thanks can we render? As if he had said, "I can never be sufficiently thankful, or I can never fully express my thankfulness to God for this honour, this favour, this benefit, that any one soul should be brought home to God by my ministry, much more that a Christian church should be planted by my endeavours at Thessalonica; and that God should keep them steady and stedfast in shaking times, and support them under such persecutions and trials as would shock an ordinary patience and constancy of mind: O! What thanks can I render God for this joy?"