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 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.

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.+

+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 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 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_).

+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.

+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 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 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 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_).

+Lessons.+--1. _To live a godly life involves suffering._ 2. _A period of suffering is ever attended with powerful temptations._ 3. _The grace of God is sufficient to sustain and deliver His people amid the perils of acutest suffering._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Vers. 3-5. _The Necessity and the Perils of Affliction._

+I. That afflictions are disturbing and distressing to the children of God.+

+II. That afflictions are appointed by God for His people's good.+

+III. That Christians are forewarned to expect affliction.+

+IV. That Satan uses affliction as a means of temptation.+

+V. That the faithful minister must labour and watch in order to secure the steadfastness of believers under his care.+--Herbert, the saintly poet of the seventeenth century, exhorts the preacher to make the consolations of the Gospel his main theme:

_"Oh, let him speak of comfort, 'tis Most wanted in this vale of tears."_

--_P. Mearns._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 6.

_News that gladdens._

With what anxiety the father entrusts his son with a commission to visit an estate in a distant land, and to investigate its affairs, which are threatened for the time being with impending dangers. He is in suspense until he receives intelligence of the safe arrival of his loved messenger, and that there is no reason for apprehension concerning the estate itself. But when that son returns in person and assures him that everything is prosperous and hopeful, the father's satisfaction is complete. "As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country" (Prov. xv. 25). Such, in a higher sense, was the experience of Paul when he despatched Timothy to inquire into the condition of the suffering Thessalonian Church, and when he brought back the cheering report as to the fidelity and affection of its persecuted members.

+I. The apostle was gladdened with good tidings of faith maintained.+--"Timothy came from you to us, and brought us good tidings of your faith."

1. _Their faith in the great truths of the Gospel was maintained._--The revelation of Divine truth is the basis of faith. This truth as it affected their salvation had been clearly, earnestly, and successfully declared to them by the apostle and his companions. They comprehended its meaning, felt its force, embraced it in their understanding and heart, and were transformed by its agency. Amid the shock of persecution, and the insidious whisperings of false teachers, they held fast to "the form of sound words" they had joyfully received.

2. _Their faith as a principle of active spiritual life was maintained._--True faith is not simply a belief, but a life; not merely an assent of the mind to a grand truth or a group of correlated truths, but the impartation to the soul of a spiritual force which starts it on a new career. It forms a new era in the experience and history of the soul. It unites us to the living God, and expands to our view, however dimly, the vast outline of the life of God as the pattern of our own. Their faith, as the realisation of a life springing from God and leading to God, was in sound and vigorous operation.

+II. The apostle was gladdened with good tidings of love manifested.+--"Brought us good tidings of your charity." Love is the legitimate fruit of a genuine faith, both in its inward experience and outward manifestation. Faith and love are indissolubly combined. "And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment" (1 John iii. 23). The first exercise of love is towards God; and then, in ever widening and intensified outflow, towards all whom God loves. Such love is _impartial_ and _universal_--manifested towards all in whom we discern the image of God, whatever their country, colour, rank, sect, or condition. Where faith and love reign there is a living, healthy, and prosperous Church.

+III. The apostle was gladdened with good tidings of continued personal regard.+--1. _The apostle was fondly remembered._ "And that ye have good remembrance of us always." There are some scenes of nature, which, beheld but for a moment, never fade from the memory; there are some faces we can never forget; and there are some individuals, the influence of whose character remains with us as a charm and inspiration through life. The Thessalonians had good reason to remember Paul. He was the first to proclaim to them the good news of salvation; and how great was their privilege to hear the Gospel from the lips of such a preacher! He counselled them in their difficulties and sympathised with them in their sufferings. The minister who first led us to the cross will ever have the pre-eminence in our affection and the choicest spot in our memory. A high appreciation of the Christian minister is one of the evidences of possessing genuine faith and love.

2. _They were as solicitous as the apostle for a renewal of Christian fellowship._--"Desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you." There is no bond at once so tender and so strong as that existing between the preacher and his converts. He must needs love the souls he has been instrumental in saving and who are his glory and his joy. The intercourse between such is of the purest and highest kind. Never was there a more loving heart than that of the apostle Paul. The Thessalonians warmly reciprocated that love and longed to renew the fellowship by which they had so richly profited.

+Lessons.+--1. _That Church has the best reputation where faith is maintained, and love manifested._ 2. _The Christian minister is cheered by the affection and stability of his converts._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-10.

_Steadfastness of Believers a Source of True Ministerial Satisfaction._

The scholar finds his happiness in intellectual exercises and accumulating stores of knowledge; the politician in the excitement of debate and the triumph of great principles; the scientist in testing and harmonising the laws of nature; the merchant in his gains; and the minister of God's Word in the increase of converts to the truth, and in their consistency, fidelity, and perseverance in the practice of godliness. The truly Christian heart rejoices in the success of the Gospel in any part of the world, but more particularly in the locality where personal labour has been expended. The effect upon Paul of the good tidings from Timothy, concerning the steadfastness of the believers in Thessalonica, is described in these verses. Observe:--

+I. Their steadfastness was a source of genuine comfort.+--1. _The apostle was comforted in the midst of intense personal suffering._ "Therefore, brethren, we were comforted in all our affliction and distress" (ver. 7). Paul was in Corinth when he received Timothy's report. In that city the customary opposition of the Jews rose to an unwonted pitch of malignity, and even blasphemy, so much so that the apostle resolved to abandon them to their fate--"He shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles" (Acts xviii. 6). So great was his anguish on behalf of his own countrymen, and so manifold his cares, privations, and perils, that the Lord thought it needful to encourage him with a vision, saying, "Be not afraid: I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee" (_Ibid._, 9, 10). The bitterness of his afflictions at this time was sweetened by hearing of the constancy of his Thessalonian converts. It revived, refreshed, and strengthened him. The faithlessness and disobedience of the people are a grief to the true minister now; but at last the horror will be theirs.

2. _The apostle was comforted concerning their faith._--"We were comforted over you, by your faith" (ver. 7). Timothy had been commissioned to inquire into the state of their faith, and his report was eminently satisfactory. He spoke not only of their faith as the primary root of the Christian life, the basis of all stability and fruitfulness, but of its active outgoings in love to God and in affectionate remembrance of the apostle. The Church is in danger and a cause of deep anxiety when the faith wavers.

+II. Their steadfastness intensified the pleasure of living.+--"For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord" (ver. 8). The apostle was perhaps more than usually despondent when Timothy arrived. The good news thrilled his soul with new life. _For now,_ whatever else befall--_now,_ in the face of Jewish fury and Gentile scorn--_now,_ amid infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions, distresses, and deaths oft--_now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord._ The relation of the minister to his people is so close and vital that they have in their power to make his life happy or supremely miserable. There is a method of destroying life without its becoming utterly extinct. Ezekiel speaks of the false prophets whose lies made the hearts of the righteous sad; and we read of Elijah, under the juniper tree, sighing for death because of the idolatry and wickedness of Judah. To lessen the cheerful flow of life, and depress the spirits of the man of God, is a species of murder; to starve him into submission by studied neglect and privation is diabolical. The ministerial life and energy of even an apostle depended on the sympathy, faith, and steadfastness of the brethren (3 John 3, 4).

+III. Their steadfastness was productive of grateful joy.+--1. _This joy was copious and sincere._--"For the joy wherewith we joy before our God" (ver. 9). The transitions of the emotions are rapid. From the midst of the apostle's grief a fountain of joy breaks forth. This joy filled his soul even in the secret presence of God. It was a pure, sincere, undissembled, overflowing joy, such as God could approve.

2. _This joy arose from a disinterested love._--"For your sakes" (ver. 9). True love gives us an interest in the safety and happiness of others. He who possesses this never lacks joy; it flows not on his own behalf, it does on behalf of others. Bernard has said: "Of all the motions and affections of the soul, love is the only one we may reciprocate with God; to re-love Him is our happiness; woe if we answer Him not in some measure of re-loving affection."

3. _This joy was expressed in fervent thanksgiving._--"What thanks can we render to God again for you?" (ver. 9). His gratitude was so great that he knew not how to give it adequate expression. The grateful heart prizes blessings that may seem to others of small value. He rendered thanks to God, the Author and Preserver of their faith. The heartiest thanksgiving seems cold and utterly insufficient when compared with the mercies of God.

+IV. Their steadfastness excited an earnest longing for the opportunity of imparting additional good.+--1. _The apostle assiduously prayed for the opportunity of a personal interview._ "Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face" (ver. 10). The longer the absence, the more eagerly he desired to see them. The good tidings of their constancy increased the desire. A love like his could be satisfied only with personal spiritual intercourse. It was not enough simply to write. Voice and manner have a pre-eminent charm in the interchange of mind with mind. Reading, praying, and all other endeavours will be unavailing if we despise prophesying--the oral declaration of the truth.

2. _The apostle sought this interview to supply what was deficient in their faith._--"And might perfect that which was lacking in your faith" (ver. 10). None so perfect in faith as not to be susceptible of improvement. Faith is based on knowledge; and as knowledge, especially in the things of God, is capable of indefinite extension, so faith may be continually increased--broadening and deepening its foundation and consolidating its structure. The less distinctly the great subjects of faith are understood, the more defective is faith; the more explicit, the more perfect. They most vaunt of faith who have least experience in its practice. "Empty vessels sound the loudest." We have all need to cry, _"Lord, increase our faith."_

+Lessons.+--1. _The true minister cannot be indifferent to the spiritual state of his people._ 2. _The fidelity and perseverance of believers is an inspiration and unspeakable joy to the anxious worker._ 3. _Faith and practice powerfully react upon each other._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Vers. 7-10. _Glad Tidings of Christian Steadfastness_--

+I. Produce comfort of mind+ (ver. 7).

+II. Make life more enjoyable+ (ver. 8).

+III. Are the occasion of thankful joy before the Lord+ (ver. 9).

+IV. Excite to assiduous and earnest prayer+ (ver. 10).

Vers. 9, 10. _Religious Joy_--

+I. Is occasioned by the religious progress of others.+

+II. Is mingled with ingenuous gratitude.+

+III. Is enjoyed as in the presence of God.+

+IV. Is accompanied with fervent prayer.+

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11-13.

_A Comprehensive Apostolic Prayer._

The prayers of the apostle Paul are among his sublimest utterances. The frequency with which they occur in his writings indicates the habitual devoutness of his mind. In both the epistles to the Thessalonians nearly every chapter is distinguished and sealed by a fervent outbreathing of his soul to God. In these verses he expresses, in the most comprehensive and suggestive terms, his dearest wishes for the welfare of the Church.

+I. This prayer recognises the essential oneness of the Father and the Son.+--1. _Christ is invoked equally with the Father._ "Now God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 11). The word "Himself" stands foremost in the sentence and refers to both persons, as if the writer said, "May our God and Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, _Himself_ direct our way unto you." It should be also noted that the verb "direct," belonging to both persons, is in the singular number. This fact was urged as an important point by Athanasius in the great Arian controversy in the fourth century. As the Son partakes equally with the Father in the honour of invocation, so also in excellency of nature. Divine properties are also ascribed to the Son in overruling by His providence the affairs of men. "What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise" (John v. 19).

2. _It is the privilege of the believer to realise a personal interest in the Father and in the Son._--By an act of appropriating faith we can say, God _our_ Father and _our_ Lord Jesus Christ. Similar phrases occur no less than twenty-six times in these two epistles. Blessed confidence! What a wealth of tenderness, of comfort, of satisfying assurance, and of joyous triumph is involved in the earnest, trustful cry of the soul--_My_ God! _my_ Saviour!

+II. This is a prayer for providential guidance in securing a much desired interview.+--"Direct our way unto you" (ver. 11). Hitherto the way to Thessalonica had been insuperably blocked up. The brethren there were as eager to welcome Paul as he was to be present with them; but Satan had hindered by interposing many obstacles. Nevertheless, let God give the signal and all impediments from men or devils would vanish. The road would at once become straight and plain. God should be recognised in the simplest affairs of life. "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. x. 23); and only those journeys are prosperous wherein God is pilot. There are crises in life when everything depends on being guided in the right way--_e.g._ in selecting a school or college, entering on the religious life, commencing business, contemplating marriage, or in change of residence. In these and all other matters acknowledge God, and He shall direct thy paths (Prov. iii. 6). Our prayer for guidance must ever be in submission to the Divine will. The apostle's prayer was not answered immediately; five years elapsed before he again visited Macedonia. That path is safest and best in which God's finger points. Let His call be our loadstar; His hand the cloud, to move or pause as He directs.

+III. This is a prayer for the bestowal of an increased measure of the highest Christian affection.+--1. _Christian love is progressive and mutual._ "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another" (ver. 12). The apostle had before commended their labour of love, and Timothy had brought good tidings of their continued love. Now he prays they may increase and excel more and more. Love is the indispensable badge of the genuine Christian. He cannot have too much of it--the more the better. It grows with all other graces and causes them to grow. There is no limit to its expansion but our finiteness. But love must be mutual in its exercise--"one toward another." "For this is the message," says St. John, "that ye heard from the beginning, that ye should love one another" (1 John iii. 11); and, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another;" urges St. Peter, "with a pure heart fervently" (1 Pet. i. 22).

2. _Christian love is unselfish._--"And toward all men" (ver. 12). The old Levitical law declared, "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Lev. xix. 18). And the New Testament reiterates the truth, that charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned is the fulfilling of the royal law (1 Tim. i. 5).

3. _Here we have Christian love practically exemplified._--"Even as we do towards you" (ver. 12). Paul and his co-labourers had given unmistakable evidence of their sincere love for the Thessalonian converts in their self-denying labours, uncomplaining sufferings, and unceasing anxiety on their behalf (ch. ii. 8, 9, 13; ch. iii. 3-5). Love is the soul of self-sacrifice, prompts to labour, braves all suffering, and persists in doing good to others, even to those who least appreciate and most violently oppose the best endeavours. Ministers should exemplify in their own lives what they prescribe to others.

+IV. This is a prayer for confirmation in a state of unblameable personal purity.+--1. _There is no stability in Christian graces apart from love._ "To the end he may establish your hearts" (ver. 13). If it were possible to possess every other grace but love, it would be like a varied summer landscape, very beautiful but transient, having in it no element of permanency. Above all other graces we are exhorted to "put on charity which is the bond of perfectness" (Col. iii. 14)--a girdle which adorns and binds together all the rest. Love is the fulfilling of the law, the infallible test and evidence of stability.

2. _Unblameable holiness is the legitimate and necessary outcome of love._--"To the end He may stablish your hearts in holiness" (ver. 13). The apostle prays for an increase of love _in order to_ the attainment of a higher personal purity. All defects in obedience issue from a defect in love. Our love of God makes us solicitous to know and obey Him and fearful to offend Him. Our love of man makes us careful to preserve his honour, life, and possessions, and in no way to impair his happiness. The whole of the law is love. There is no duty to God or man but love inclines unto, and no sin from which it does not restrain. To be unblameable in holiness, store the soul with love. When love fails, obedience and all holy duties fail.

3. _Holiness screens the soul from Divine censure at the second advent of Christ._--"Unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints" (ver. 13). Christ will come in glorious pomp attended by His holy ones--saints and angels. He who remains steadfast in holiness shall be held blameless then. Our outer _life_ may be censured by men; but if God, even our Father, who stablishes our _hearts_ in holiness, absolves and approves, it will be enough. That holiness alone is genuine which will bear the searching scrutiny of Omniscience.

+Lessons.+--1. _Recognise God in every event of life._ 2. _To attain the highest degree of personal purity pray for an increase of love._ 3. _Act in all things so as to secure the Divine approval._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Vers. 12, 13. _A Prayer for Growth in Personal Piety_--

+I. Acknowledges and invokes the Divine source of all spiritual good.+--"The Lord make you."

+II. Growth in piety is growth in Christian love.+--"Increase and abound in love."

+III. Growth in piety is the establishment of the soul in unblameable holiness.+--"To the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness."

+IV. Growth in piety is essential to gain the approval of God at the second advent of Christ.+--"Before God, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."

Ver. 13. _The Coming of Christ_--

+I. Will be an imposing spectacle.+

+II. Should be ardently longed for.+

+III. Demands on our part diligent moral preparedness.+

* * * * * * * *

+CHAPTER IV.+

_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._

Ver. 1. +And to please God, so ye would abound more and more.+--R.V. inserts "even as ye do walk after God."

Ver. 2. +What commandments.+--R.V. "charge"; margin, "charges." "The Greek word signifies an announcement, then a command or advice publicly delivered" (_Findlay_).

Ver. 3. +Your sanctification, etc.+--"The reception of Christianity never delivers, as with the stroke of a magician, from the wickedness and lusts of the heathen world which have become habitual; rather a long and constant fight is necessary for vanquishing them" (_Huther_). The sanctification here is first negative--abstinence.

Ver. 4. +How to possess his vessel.+--R.V. "to possess himself of his own vessel." With the long list of names in view of those who interpret "vessel" as meaning "body," it is almost daring to hint at another meaning. The list, however, is strong of those who regard the expression as a figurative designation for a wife, and 1 Pet. iii. 7 decides us.

Ver. 5. +Not in the lust of concupiscence.+--R.V. "not in the passion of lust." "The word 'passion' signifies not so much a violent feeling as an overpowering feeling, one to which a man so yields himself that he is borne along by evil as if he were its passive instrument; he has lost the dignity of self-rule, and is the slave of his lower appetites" (_Findlay_).

Ver. 6. +That no man go beyond and defraud.+--R.V. "transgress, and wrong." "More exactly, that none overreach and take advantage of his brother in the matter. 'The matter' of the last two verses. . . . The apostle sets the wrong in the strongest light; it is to cheat one's brother, and that in what touches most nearly the sanctities of life" (_Ibid._). +The Lord is the avenger.+--The heathen deities, so far as they were anything, were oftener patterns than avengers of such things, and they who made them were only too like them.

Ver. 8. +He therefore that despiseth.+--Margin and R.V. "rejecteth." He who pushes aside sanctification in his preference for uncleanness will have to reckon with God Himself.

Ver. 9. +Ye have no need that one write to you.+--St. Paul admits the brotherly love amongst them. It was adroit on his part, therefore, to make uncleanness an offence against brotherly love. +Taught of God.+--Is an expression only found here in the New Testament. We are reminded of Isa. xxviii. 26. The mother-wit of the farmer who had no "school of agriculture" is traced by the prophet to God; he is God-taught to distinguish his methods. So these Thessalonians took to brotherly love naturally, as we say.

Ver. 10. +We beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more.+--Brotherly love is a good thing, of which St. Paul evidently thought too much could not be had.

Ver. 11. +Study to be quiet.+--R.V. margin, "Go: be ambitious." "An example of St. Paul's characteristic irony; the contrast between ambition and quiet, giving a sharper point to his exhortation, as though he said, 'Make it your ambition to have no ambition!'" (_Ibid._). +To do your own business.+--To be occupied with your own affairs.

Ver. 12. +That ye may walk honestly.+--The adverb here is used to match the verb--to walk with a dignified and gentlemanly bearing. St. Paul's ideas of gentlemanliness--"working with the hands"--would not suit the youth of gentlemanly habits who wants to be adopted where he will have nothing to do. +And may have need of nothing.+--What a nobly independent soul! What a splendid text these verses would make for some plain words to Christians who indulge in sharp practices, or waste until they have to throw themselves on any one who will support them!

Ver. 13. +Them which are asleep.+--The R.V. reading changes the perfect participle ("them who have fallen asleep and continue to sleep") unto the present, "them that fall asleep," as they drop off one after another. See on the expression our Lord's beautiful words, Luke viii. 52; John xi. 11 f.

Ver. 15. +We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord.+--"We must recognise that Paul here includes himself, along with the Thessalonians, among those who will be alive at the advent of Christ. Certainly this can only have been a hope, only a subjective expectation on the part of the apostle" (_Huther_). +Shall not prevent.+--The meaning of "prevent" is "to go before." But the connotation came to have more prominence than the meaning, so it come to signify to stop (by standing in the way). R.V. gives, "shall not precede." It is the same word as in ch. ii. 16 (in another tense). The apostle says, "We shall not arrive before them."

Ver. 16. +With a shout.+--Like the ring of command heard over the noise of battle. "We must not look for literal exactness where things are depicted beyond the means of sense" (_Findlay_). +With the trump of God.+--The trumpet here, like that in 1 Cor. xv. 52, is the military trumpet.

Ver. 17. +Shall be caught up.+--The idea conveyed by the word is that of sudden or violent seizure, as when the fiery messengers carried off the prophet Elijah, or as when St. Paul was "caught up" to the third heaven.

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-3.

_Earnest Exhortations to a Higher Sanctity._

Purity is the perfection of the Christian character. It is the brightest jewel in the cluster of saintly excellencies, and that which gives a lustre to the whole. It is not so much the addition of a separate and distinct grace as it is the beauteous and harmonious development of all the graces in the most perfect form. As Flavel has said: "What the heart is to the body, that the soul is to the man; and what health is to the heart, holiness is to the soul." Purity is the sound, healthy condition of the soul and its vigorous growth towards God. In the concluding prayer of the preceding chapter the apostle indicates that God will, through His spirit, fill the Thessalonians with love--the great distinctive feature of a genuine and higher sanctity. He now urges upon them the necessity of earnest and persistent endeavours after its attainment. Human agency is not annihilated but stimulated by the Divine. Observe:--

+I. That a higher sanctity consists in living under a sense of the Divine approval.+--1. _Religion is a life._ "How ye ought to walk" (ver. 1). A walk implies motion, progression, continual approach to a definite goal. Religion is not an ornament to wear, a luxury to enjoy, a ceremony to observe, but a _life._ It penetrates every part of our nature, throbs in every pulse, shares every joy and sorrow, and fashions every lineament of character. We make sad mistakes; but there is goodness hived, like wild honey, in strange nooks and corners of the world.

2. _Religion is a life modelled after the worthiest examples._--"As ye have received of us how ye ought to walk" (ver. 1). The Thessalonians not only received the wisest counsels from their teachers, but they witnessed their holy and consistent lives; and their attention was constantly directed to the all-perfect example--Christ Jesus. It is the tendency of all life to shape itself after the character of its strongest inward force. The love of God is the mightiest power in the life of the believer; and the outer manifestation of that life is moulded according to the sublime pattern of the inner Divine ideal.

3. _Religion is a life which finds its chief joy in the Divine approval._--"And to please God" (ver. 1). It is possible, then, so to live as to please God. What a powerful incentive to a holy life is the thought, the Lord taketh pleasure in His people! We can rise no higher in moral excellence than to be acceptable to God. To enjoy the sense of His approval fills the cup of happiness to the brim. In vain, the world frowns or demons rage, if God smiles. The learned and pious Donne, when taking solemn farewell of his friends on his deathbed, said: "I count all that part of my life lost which I spent not in communion with God or in doing good."

4. _Religion is a life capable of vast expansion._--"So, ye would abound more and more" (ver. 1). _Life_ in its healthiest and intensest form is _happiness._ As we advance in the religious life our happiness increases. "All the while," says Fuller, "thou livest ill, thou hast the trouble, distraction, and inconveniences of life, but not the sweets and true use of it." God has made every provision for our increase in holiness; we are exhorted to it, and most really promote our highest good and the Divine glory in attaining it. There is no limit in our elevation to a higher sanctity but our faith.

+II. That the necessity of a higher sanctity is enforced by Divine authority.+--"For this is the will of God, even your sanctification" (ver. 3).

1. _A higher sanctity involves a conformity to the Divine nature._--God is holy, and the loftiest aim of the believer is to be like Him. There is to be not only an abstinence from all that is impure, but a positive experience of its opposite--purity. By faith we participate in the Divine nature and possess qualities analogous to those which constitute the Divine perfections--mercy, truth, justice, holiness. The grand purpose of redemption is to bring man into holiest fellowship with God.

2. _A higher sanctity is in harmony with the Divine will._--"For this is the will of God, even your sanctification." Not only the attitude and tendency of the soul, but all its active outgoings must be holy. Such is the will of God. What He proscribes must be carefully avoided; what He prescribes must be cheerfully and faithfully done in the manner He prescribes it. His will is here emphatically expressed; it is supported by abundant promises of help; and it is declared that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. The will of God is at once the highest reason, the strongest motive, and the final authority.

3. _The Divine will regarding a higher sanctity is enforced by duly authorised messengers and well-understood precepts._--"For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus" (ver. 2). The Divine will is expressed in definite commandments. The apostle did not assume authority in any dictatorial spirit. He delivered unto others, and powerfully enforced what he had received "by the Lord Jesus" (Rom. xiv. 14). He taught them to observe all things whatsoever the Lord had commanded--_all_ those things, only those, and no others. These precepts were well known, "For ye know what commandments we gave you." Obedience should ever be in proportion to knowledge. Knowledge and practice are mutually helpful to each other. Knowledge, the mother of practice; practice, the nurse of knowledge. To know and not to do is to incur the heaviest condemnation. A certain Stoic, speaking of God, said: "What God wills, I will; what God wills not, I will not; if He will that I live, I will live; if it be His pleasure that I die, I will die." Ah! how should the will of Christians stoop and lie down at the foot of God's will! "Not my will, but Thine be done" (Luke xxii. 42).

+III. That the possession of a higher sanctity is repeatedly urged by earnest exhortations.+--"Furthermore then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you" (ver. 1). Doctrine without exhortation makes men all brain, no heart; exhortation without doctrine makes the heart full, leaves the brain empty. Both together make a man. The apostle laboured in both, and it is difficult to say in which of the two he displayed most earnestness. In addition to all he had urged before, he _beseeches_ and _exhorts_ the Thessalonians to press onward to higher attainments; in which we have a fine example of the combination of a tender, brotherly entreaty, with the solemn authority of a Divinely commissioned ambassador. Some people, says a certain writer, are as thorns; handle them roughly and they pierce you; others as nettles--rough handling is best for your safety. A minister's task is an endless one. Has he planted knowledge?--practice must be urged. Is the practice satisfactory?--perseverance must be pressed. Do they continue in well-doing?--they must be stimulated to further progress. The end of one task is the beginning of another.

+Lessons.+--_The believer is called to the attainment of a higher sanctity._--1. _By the voice of God._ 2. _By the voice of His faithful ministers._ 3. _And by the aspirations of the life Divinely planted within him._

_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._

Ver. 3. _Uncleanness Inconsistent with a Profession of the Gospel._

+I. Our sanctification is the will of God because He is the avenger of all such as do things contrary to that purity which He enjoins.+

+II. Because God has called us, not to uncleanness, but to holiness.+

+III. Because God has given unto us His Holy Spirit.+--The Spirit is called the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Holiness, not only because He is essentially and perfectly holy in Himself, but because He is the Author of holiness in believers. These considerations are motives to stir up and animate our wills to obey and co-operate with the will of God.--_R. Mant._

_Why was the Spirit sent? or, We must needs be Holy._

+I. The coming of the Holy Ghost is to make us new creatures by giving us the strength to become so.+

+II. Since sanctification is declared to be the special work of the Holy Ghost, this clearly proves the difficulty of that work.+

+III. The work of sanctification is something more than merely driving out the evil one.+

+IV. Love and devotion to God are necessary to holiness.+

+V. Strength--the strength of the Holy Spirit--is necessary to defend holiness.+--_A. W. Hare._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3-7.

_Distinctive Features of a True Sanctification._

It is comparatively easy for some minds to grasp the broad outlines of a grand undertaking, but they fail in working out the details. It is a fatal defect and involves the ruin of the whole scheme. The peculiar genius of minds like these is to deal with things in the mass; but they have not the ability or the patience to master a numerous and complicated series of minute particulars. They are more theoretical than practical; they are strong in the concrete, but feeble in the abstract faculty. So it is possible to form a bold conception of some great, leading Christian virtue, to expatiate on its exquisite beauty, to exalt in grandiose terms its supernatural dignity, and to enforce with magisterial importance its superlative necessity, but all the while to be lamentably deficient in practical attention to the thousand and one little details which, in every-day life, constitute the essence of the virtue. Sanctification is an aspect of the Christian life, facile and seductive in theory, but difficult and commonplace in practice. It is the essence and perfection of the Christian life, and is attained, not by some magical feat of the mental powers, but by patient plodding, stern conflicts, and hard-won moral victories. It is the sublime but little understood science of living aright, in the sight of God and man. Secretary Walsingham, in writing to Lord Burleigh, said: "We have lived long enough to our country, to our fortunes, and to our sovereign; it is high time that we began to live for ourselves and for our God." In the above verses are portrayed the distinctive feature of a true sanctification. Observe:--

+I. A true sanctification consists in the maintenance of a personal chastity.+--1. _This involves an abstinence from gross sensual indulgence._ "That you should abstain from fornication" (ver. 3). A word that designates, not only the actual transgression known by that name, but all the sinful lusts of the flesh. This vice is a prolific source of many other vices. It is like the fabled Hydra, or many-headed snake, of which it is said that when one head was cut off another grew in its place. Fornication is the root of extravagance, drunkenness, disease, poverty, profanity, murder, and irreparable infamy. It is a sin the most bewitching, the most prevalent, the most fatal in its tendencies, and against which the most terrible vengeance of Heaven has been declared. It brought the flood on the world of the ungodly, fire and brimstone upon Sodom, pestilence upon the Israelites, and destruction upon the nations of antiquity. Prior to Christianity, it was hardly regarded as a vice. The apostolic teaching revealed its enormity, denounced it with righteous indignation, and supplied the spiritual weapon by which it is to be slain.

2. _Involves a rigid maintenance of bodily purity._--"That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour" (ver. 4). The vessel of the body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and whatever would defile or disgrace that sacred shrine must be carefully avoided. The apostle seems to imply there is a kind of art in chastity which all should practise. "That every one of you should know"--should have skill--the power of self-control. Christianity is the science of sciences, the art of living well, and no small skill is necessary in regulating the exercise of the Christian virtues. To _possess_--to rule the body in purity, keep a diligent guard upon the senses (Job xxxi. 1; Prov. xxiii. 33; Gen.