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Here we have another positive duty pressed upon the Thessalonians, in which a great part of their sanctification or holiness would discover itself, namely, justice and equity in all their dealings, man with man. Thessalonica was a city of great trade and merchandise; therefore, the apostle directs them, in their traffic and commerce, neither by fraud nor force, to over-reach and go beyond one another: and the apostle saying, let none go beyond or defraud his brother, that is, his fellow Christian, doth not suppose if lawful to defraud such as were not their brethren, but only lets them see, that for Christians to defraud and cheat, to over-reach and go beyond one another, would be a very great aggravation of their crime, seeing the laws of their religion, as well as the light of nature, condemns all such injustice and dishonesty: and accordingly, the apostle adds a reason to enforce his exhortation, drawn from the dreadful effect of all such sins; namely, that it exposes and lays open the guilty person to the direful vengeance of God: The Lord is the avenger of all such.
Learn hence, 1. That the wisdom of God has variously dispensed the gifts of providence to mankind; to some more, to others less; to some in one kind, to others in another: so that men cannot live without mutual commerce one with another.
Learn, 2. That there is such a covetous and insatiable desire of wealth in the heart of man, that little regarding the measure of worldly things, which God has dispensed unto him, he lies at catch to take all advantages of his neighbour in matters of commerce, and, by defrauding and over-reaching him, seeks to increase his own worldly estate with impairing that of others; Let no man go beyond his brother: The apostle, by forbidding this evil, plainly supposes man to be very prone and ready to fall into it.
Learn, 3. That the sin of injustice in traffic and commerce, is so very heinous in the sight of God, that such men as are guilty of it, without repentance, must never expect to escape the vengeance of God, either here or hereafter; God is the avenger of all such.
Observe next, the reasons urged by St. Paul to enforce his foregoing exhortations to purity and justice.
The first is taken from the design of God in their vocation; when called out of their heathenish state to Christianity, they were called not to uncleanness, but out of uncleanness unto holiness.
The second is taken from the heinousness of their sin, who shall despise or reject the commands here given for holiness and sanctification; he that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God.
To despise the minister of God in a command which he delivers from God, is to despise God himself; the apostle gave these commands by the direction of the Holy Spirit, which was given him for that end; Who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit: Therefore, says he, he that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God.
Where note, that although the reason here given, why such as despised the apostle, despised God himself, be peculiar to St. Paul, who had the Holy Spirit to guide him infallibly; yet so far as the ordinary ministers of Christ do follow the apostle's steps, and deliver nothing but what is agreeable to the word of God, the contempt of their message is a despising of God himself: He that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God.