In the second Epistle to the Thessalonians, the Apostle corrects some errors into which these disciples had fallen, with regard to the day of the Lord, through certain false teachers; as, in part of the first Epistle, he had enlightened the ignorance of the believers themselves, respecting the portion of the saints at the coming of Christ to take them to Himself; a point on which they were evidently but little instructed.
A measure of Jewish darkness was on their minds; and they were, in some points, still subjected to the influence of that unhappy nation, which was ever struggling to maintain a position lost through its unbelief.
This Jewish influence enables us to understand why the Apostle spoke as he did in chap. 2:15, 16, of the first Epistle. At that time, this influence she wed itself in the tendency of the Thessalonians to lose sight of the heavenly side of the Lord's coming, to think that He would return to the earth, and that they should then be glorified with Him—as a Jew might have believed—and that the dead saints would therefore not be present to share this glory. I do not say that this thought had assumed a definite form in the minds of the Thessalonians! to them, the principal and living object was the Lord Himself; and they were awaiting His return with hearts full of joy and life; but the heavenly side of this expectation had not its place clearly marked in their minds, and they connected the coming too much with the manifestation, so that the earthly character predominated, and the dead seemed to be shut out from it.
When the second Epistle was written, this Jewish influence had another character; and the false teachers were more directly concerned in it.
TH 2{The faithful at Thessalonica had learned to contemplate "the day of the Lord " as a day of judgment. The Old Testament had spoken much of this day of the Lord, a day of darkness and of unparalleled judgment, a day of trial to men (comp. Isa. 13, Joel 2, Amos 5:1818Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. (Amos 5:18)). Now the' Thessalonians were undergoing dreadful persecution. Perhaps their hope of an earthly intervention of the Lord, during their life-time, was weakened. The Apostle, at least, rejoiced at the increase of their faith, and the abundant exercise of their love, while he is silent with regard to their hope; and the joy of Christian life is not found here as it was manifested in the first Epistle. Nevertheless, they were walking well, and the Apostle gloried in them, in the churches of God. But the false teachers profited by their condition, to mislead them by means of their sufferings, which weighed more heavily on their hearts, from the joy of hope being a little weakened; and, at the same time, the remains of the influence of Judaizing thoughts, or of habits of mind formed through them, furnished occasion to the assaults of the enemy. The instruments of his subtle malice told them that the day of the Lord, that fearful time, was already come-the word (chap. 2:2) is not "at hand," but "come," "present "- and all that the Thessalonians were suffering, and by which their hearts were shaken, appeared like a testimony to prove it, and to confirm the words of the false teachers. Was it not written that it should be a day of trial and anguish? The words of these teachers, moreover, had the pretension of being more than human reasoning; it was a word of the Lord, it was the Spirit who spoke, it was a letter from an inspired channel; and so bold and wicked were they in regard to this matter, that they did not fear to adduce the Apostle's own name as their authority for declaring that the day was come. Now, the dominion of fear, which Satan can exercise over the mind, when it is not kept of God in peace and joy, is astonishing. " In nothing terrified by your adversaries," is the Apostle's word to the Philippians, "which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God." In such a state of mind as this, everything is believed: or, rather, everything is feared, and nothing believed. The heart gives itself up to this fear, and is ready to believe anything; for it is in darkness, and knows not what to believe. Thus the Apostle exhorts the Thessalonians (chap. 2) not to be soon shaken in mind, so as to lose their stability in the truth, and not to be troubled.
The Apostle deals with the case in the same manner as in the first Epistle. Before entering on the error, he treats the same, subject in its true light, building upon the knowledge which the Thessalonians already possessed. Only he sets it forth with clearness in its application to the circumstances of the moment. By this means, they were delivered from the influence of the error, and from the disturbance of mind which it had caused; and were rendered capable of looking at the error, as being themselves outside it, and of judging it according to the instruction that the Apostle gave them.
They were persecuted, and were in distress and suffering, and the enemy took advantage of it. The apostle puts that fact in its right place. The "day of the Lord " was the coming of the Lord in judgment; but it was not to make His own suffer, that He was coming—it was to punish the wicked. Persecution, therefore, could not be the day of the Lord; for, in persecution, the wicked had the upper hand, and did their own will, and inflicted suffering on those whom the Lord loved. Could that be His day? The apostle does not apply this argument to the question, but he puts the facts in their place; so that all the use which the enemy made of them, fell of itself to the ground. The truth of the facts was there in its simplicity, giving them their evident and natural character. When God should take the thing in hand, He would recompense tribulation to those who troubled His children, and these should have rest, should be in peace. The moment of their entering into this rest, is not at all the subject here; but the contrast between their actual condition, and that which it would be, if Jesus were come. It was not to persecute and harass His own that He was coming. In His day they should be at rest; and the wicked in distress; for He was coming to punish the latter, by driving them away forever from the glory of His presence. When we understand that the Thessalonians had been induced to believe that the day of the Lord was already come, the import of this first chapter is very plain.
Two principles are here established. First, the righteous judgment of God. It is righteous in His eyes, on the one hand, to reward those who suffer for His Kingdom's sake; and, on the other, to requite those who persecute His children. In the second place, the glorious manifestation of the Lord Jesus: His own should be in rest and happiness with Him, when His power should be in exercise.
We see also here, two reasons for judgment—they did not know God, and they did not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. All being without excuse as to the testimony that God had ever given concerning Himself, some among them had added the rejection of the positive revelation of His grace in the Gospel of Christ, to their abuse of their natural relationship with God, and their forgetfulness of His majesty.
Meanwhile, the apostle presents the positive result in blessing, of the manifestation of Jesus in glory. He will come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that have believed in Him, and therefore in the Thessalonians; a thorough proof, at least, that they were not to view their persecuted condition as a demonstration that the day was come. With regard to themselves, they were thus entirely delivered from the confusion by which the enemy sought to disquiet them; and the apostle could treat the question of this error, with hearts which, as to their own condition, were set free from it, and at rest.
These considerations characterized his prayers on their behalf. He sought from God that they might always be worthy of this vocation, and that the Lord might be glorified in them by the power of faith, which would shine the brighter through their persecutions; and that, afterward, they might be glorified in Him at the manifestation of His glory, according to the grace of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that the apostle has placed their souls on the ground of truth, he enters upon the subject of the error, sheaving that which had occasioned his remarks. Of this, we have already spoken.
In answering this error, and in guarding them from the wily efforts of seducers, he puts everything in its place here, by appealing to precious truths, of which he had already spoken. Their gathering together unto Christ in the air, was a demonstration of the impossibility of the day of the Lord being already come.
Moreover, with regard to this, he presents two considerations. First, the day could not be already come, since Christians were not yet gathered to the Lord, and they were to come with Him; second, the wicked one who was then to be judged, had not yet appeared, so that the judgment could not be executed.
The apostle had already instructed the Thessalonians with regard to this wicked one, when at Thessalonica; and, in the former epistle, he had taught them concerning the rapture of the Church. In order that the Lord should come in judgment, iniquity must have reached its height, and open opposition to God have been manifested. But the truth had another and more precious side: the saints were to be in the same position as Christ, to be gathered together unto Him, before He could manifest Himself in glory to those outside. But these truths require a more connected examination.
Their gathering together unto Christ before the manifestation, was a truth known to the Thessalonians; it is not revealed here, it is used as an argument. The Lord Jesus was coming, but it was impossible that He should be without His Church in the glory. The King would, indeed, punish His rebellious subjects; but, before doing so, He would bring to Himself those who had been faithful to Him, amid the unfaithful; in order to bring them back with Him, and publicly to honor them in the midst of the rebels. But the apostle here speaks only of the rapture itself, and he adjures them by that truth, not to allow themselves to be shaken in mind, as though the day were come. What an assured truth must this have been to Christians, since the apostle could appeal to it, as to a known point, on which the heart could rest. The relationship of the Church to Christ, its being necessarily in the same position with Him, rendered the idea that the day was already come, a mere folly.
In the second place, the already known fact is asserted, that the apostasy must previously take place, and then the man of sin be revealed. Solemn truth Everything takes its place. The forms and the name of Christianity have long been maintained—true Christians have been disowned; but now there should be a public renunciation of the faith-an apostasy; true Christians should have their true place in heaven. But, besides this, there should be a person who would fully realize, in sin, the character of man without God. He is the man of sin. He does his own will—it is but Adam fully developed; and, incited by the enemy, he opposes himself to God; it is open enmity against God, and he exalts himself above all that bears the name of God; he assumes the place of God in His temple. So that there is apostasy, i.e., the open renunciation of Christianity in general, and an individual, who concentrates in his own person (as to the principles of iniquity) the opposition that is made against God.
It will be noticed that the character of the wicked one is religious here, or rather anti-religious. The apostle does not speak of a secular power of the world, whatever its iniquity may be. The man of sin assumes a religious character. He exalts himself against the true God, but he shows himself as God in the temple of God. Observe here, that this sphere is on earth. It is not a God for faith. He shows himself as a God for the earth. The profession of Christianity has been abandoned. Sin then characterizes an individual, a man, who fills up the measure of the apostasy of human nature, and, as man, proclaims his independence of God. The principle of sin in man is his own will. He arises, as we have already seen, out of the rejection of Christianity. In this respect also, evil is at its height.
This man of sin exalts himself above God, and, sitting as God in the temple of God, he defies the God of Israel. This last feature gives his formal character. He is in conflict with God, as placing himself publicly in this position; skewing himself as God, in the temple of God. It is the God of Israel who will take vengeance on him.
Christianity, Judaism, natural religion, all are rejected. Man takes a place there on earth, exalting himself above it all, in opposition to God; and, in particular, arrogating to, himself (for man needs a God, needs something to worship) the place and the honors of God; and of the God of Israel.
These verses present the wicked one in connection with the state of man, and with the different relationships in which man has stood towards God. In them all, he shows himself an apostate, and then he assumes the place of. God Himself,- the first object of human ambition, as its attainment was the first suggestion of Satan.
In that which follows, we see, not the condition itself of apostasy with regard to the different positions in which God had placed man, but simply man unrestrained, and the work of Satan. The man is but the vessel of the enemy's power.
Man, in whom is the fullness of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus, and man filled with the energy of Satan, are opposed to each other. Before, it was man forsaking God; wicked, and exalting himself. Here, it is opposition against God, on the part of man, unrestrained, and inspired by Satan himself. Consequently, we have not the wicked one, but) the lawless, the unbridled one The principle is the same, for sin is lawlessness (see 1 John 3:44Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4), Greek). But in this first case, man is viewed in his departure from God, and in his guiltiness; in the second, as acknowledging none but himself.
To this condition, in which all restraint will be removed, a barrier as yet existed.
The apostle had already told them of the apostasy, and of the manifestations of the man of sin. He now says that the Thessalonians ought to know the hindrance that existed to his progress, presenting his manifestation before the appointed time. He does not say that he had told them, but they ought to know it. Knowing the character of the wicked one, the barrier revealed itself. The main point here is, that it was a barrier. The principle of the evil was already at work: a barrier alone prevented its full development. Its character, when developed, would be unbridled will, which exalts and opposes itself.
Unbridled self-will being the principle of the evil, that which bridles this will is the barrier. Now it exalts itself above all that bears the name of God, or to which homage is paid: that which hinders it, therefore, is the power of God acting in government here below, as authorized by Him. The grossest abuse of power still bears this last character. Christ could say to Pilate,
Thou couldst have no power against me except it were given thee from above." Wicked as he might be, his power is owned as coming from God. Thus, although men had rejected and crucified the Son of God, so that their iniquity appeared to be at its height, the hindrance still existed in full. Afterward, God, having sent His Spirit, gathers out the Church, and although the mystery of iniquity began immediately to work, mingling the will of man with the worship of God in Spirit, God had always (He still has) the object of His loving care upon the earth; the Holy Ghost was here below; the Church, be its condition what it might, was still on earth, and God maintained the barrier. And as the porter had opened the door to Jesus, in spite of all obstacles, so He sustains everything, however great the energy and progress of evil. The evil is bridled; God is the source of authority on earth. There is one who hinders, until He be out of the way. Now when the Church is gone, and consequently the Holy Ghost, as the Comforter, is no longer dwelling here below, then the apostasy takes place, the time to remove the hindrance is come, the evil is unbridled, and at length (without saying how much time it will take), the evil assumes a definite shape in him who is its head. The beast comes up from the abyss. Satan -not God—gives him his authority; and in the second beast all the energy of Satan is present. The man of sin is there.
Here, it is not outward and secular power that is spoken of, but the religious side of Satan's energy.
With regard to the individual instruments who compose the barrier, they may change every moment, and it was not the object of the Holy Ghost to name them. He who was one of them when this epistle was written, would not be so at the present time; to have named him then, would have been of no use to us in the present day. The object was to declare, that the evil which should be judged was already working, that there was no remedy for it, that it was only a hindrance on God's part which prevented its full development: a principle of the highest importance with regard to the history of Christianity.
Whatever form it might take, the apostasy of the men who would renounce grace would necessarily be more absolute than any other. It is opposition to the Lord. It has the character of an adversary. The other principle of human iniquity enters into it, but this is the source of the "perdition." It is the rejection of goodness: it is direct enmity.
" That which hinders " is in general only an instrument, a means which prevents the manifestation of the man of sin- the wicked one. So long as the Church is on earth, the pretension to be God in His temple, cannot take place, or at least would have no influence. Satan has his sphere, and must needs have it, in the mystery of iniquity; but there is no longer a mystery when the place of God in His temple is openly taken. That which hinders is, therefore, still present. But there is a person active in maintaining this hindrance. Here, I think, indeed, that it is God, in the person of the Holy Ghost—who for the time called " the things that are"-restrains the evil and guards divine authority in the world. As long as that subsists, the unrestrained exaltation of wickedness cannot take place. Consequently, I do not doubt but that the rapture of the Church is the occasion of the hindrance being removed and all restraint loosed; although some of the ways of God are developed before the full manifestation of the evil.
This thought does not rest upon great principles only: the passage itself supplies elements which skew the state of things when the power of evil develops itself. 1st. The apostasy has already taken place. This could hardly be said if the testimony of the Church still subsisted, as it had in time past, or even yet more distinctly as being freed from all false and corrupting elements. 2nd. Authority as established of God—has disappeared from the scene, for the wicked one exalts himself against all that is called God, and to which homage is paid, and presents himself as God in the temple of God. Compare Psa. 82, where God stands among the gods (the judges), to judge them before He inherits the nations. Before that solemn hour when God will judge the judges of the earth, this wicked one, despising all authority that comes from Him, sets himself up as God; and that, on the earth, where the judgment will be manifested. And then, 3rdly, in place of the Holy Ghost and His power manifested on the earth, we find the power of Satan, and with precisely the same tokens that bore witness to the person of Christ. So that the passage itself, whether as to man, or as to the enemy, gives us in the three points of which we have spoken, the full confirmation of that which we have ventured to set forth.
The Church, the powers ordained by God upon the earth, the Holy Ghost present here as the Comforter, in lieu of Christ, have all (as regards the manifestation of the government and the work of God) given place to the self-willed unbridled man, and to the power of the enemy.
We speak of the sphere of this prophecy, which, moreover, embraces that of the public testimony of God on earth.
Definitively, then, we have here, man in his own nature—as it has displayed itself by forsaking God—in the full enjoyment of his own will in rebellion against God; the willful man, developed as the result of apostasy the position of! grace in which the Church stood, and in contempt of all the governmental authority of God on the earth. And since that authority had shown itself directly and properly in Judea, this contempt, and the spirit of rebellion in man, who exalts himself above everything, but who cannot be heavenly (Heaven, and all pretension to Heaven, is given up by man, and lost by Satan), display themselves by men taking the place of God in His temple, under the most advanced form of Jewish apostasy and blasphemy. At the same time, Satan acts—God having loosed his bridle—with a power (a lying power, indeed, but) which gives the same testimony before men, as that which the works of Christ did to the Savior; and also with all the skill that iniquity possesses to deceive. It is in the wicked, the lawless one, that Satan works these things. Our consideration of the development of the latter part of this solemn scene, will come (God willing) in the Book of Revelation. We may add, that there we have this wicked one as the false Messiah, and especially as prophet; in Dan. 11 as king; here, as the unbridled man, and in particular as the result of the apostasy, and the manifestation of Satan's power. In a word, instead of the Church, the apostasy; instead of the Holy Ghost, Satan; and instead of the authority of God, as a restraint upon evil, the unbridled man setting himself up as God on the earth.
Another circumstance, already mentioned, demands particular attention. I have said that he presents himself as the Messiah; that is to say, in His two characters as king and prophet, which are His earthly characters. In heaven, Satan has then nothing more to do; he has been cast out from thence, so that there is no imitation of the Lord's high-priesthood. In that respect, Satan had, in his own person, acted another part. He was previously, in heaven, the accuser of the brethren. But, at the time of which we are speaking, the Church is on high, and the accuser of the brethren is cast out, never to return there. In a man inspired by him, he makes himself prophet and king. And in this character, he does the same things (in falsehood) as those by which God had sanctioned the mission of Christ before men (comp. Acts 2:2222Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: (Acts 2:22)). In Greek, the words are identical. I would also recall here, another solemn fact, in order to complete this picture. In the history of Elijah, we find that the proof of the divinity of Baal, or that of Jehovah, is made to rest upon the fact of their respective servants bringing down fire from heaven. Now, in Rev. 13, we learn that the second beast brings down fire from heaven in the sight of men. So that we find here the marvelous works that sanctioned the Lord's mission; and there, that which proved Jehovah to be the true and only God. And Satan performs both, in order to deceive men.
This may give us an idea of the state in which they will be; and it indicates, also, that these things will take place in relation with the Jews, under the double aspect of their connection with Jehovah, and their rejection of Christ, and reception of Antichrist.
Thus, thank God, the truth is abundantly confirmed, that these things do not relate to the Church, but to those who, having had opportunity to profit by the truth, have rejected it, and loved iniquity. Neither does it relate to the heathen, but only to those among whom the truth has been set forth. They refused it, and God sends a lie; and an efficacious lie, that they may believe it. He does this in judgment; He did the same thing with the nations (Rom. 1:24,26,2824Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: (Romans 1:24)
26For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: (Romans 1:26)
28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; (Romans 1:28)); He did it also with the Jews (Isa. 6:9,109And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. (Isaiah 6:9‑10)); He does it here with nominal Christians.
This applies even to the Jews, as a nation that rejected the truth, the testimony of the Holy Ghost (Acts 7); but still more to Christians (in name). In short, to all those who will have had the truth presented to them.
With nominal Christians, this has, necessarily, the character of apostasy; or, at least, it is connected with this apostasy, and is consequent upon it, as verse 3 teaches us, the apostasy takes place, and then the man of sin is revealed.
In connection with the man of sin, he presents himself, without restraint, as God, in the temple of God. In relation to the lying power of Satan, and his efficient work, he presents himself in the character of Christ—be is the Antichrist; assuming, consequently, a Jewish character. It is not only the pride of man exalting itself against God, but the power of Satan in man, deceiving men, and the Jews in particular, by a false Christ; so that, if it were possible, the very elect would be deceived. We may remark, that all these characters are precisely the opposite of Christ; falsehood instead of truth, iniquity instead of righteousness, perdition instead of salvation.
It is to a power like this, of lies and destruction, that man -having forsaken Christianity, and exalted himself in pride against God will be given up. The apostasy (that is to say, the renunciation of Christianity) will be the occasion of this evil; Judea and the Jews, the scene in which it ripens and develops itself in a positive way.
The antichrist will deny the Father and the Son, i.e., Christianity; he will deny that Jesus is the Christ. This is Jewish unbelief. With the burden upon him, of sin against Christianity, grace, and the presence of the Holy Ghost, he will ally himself with Jewish unbelief, in order that there may be, not only the full expression of human pride, but also, for a time, the Satanic influence of a false Christ, who will strengthen the throne of Satan among the Gentiles, occupied by the first beast, to whom the authority of the drag on has been given. He will also set up his own subordinate throne over the Jews, as being the Messiah, whom their unbelief is expecting; while, at the same time, He will bring in idolatry, the unclean spirit long gone out, who then returns to his house, which is devoid of God.
And now, with regard to his destruction; whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the spirit of His mouth, and destroy with the manifestation of His presence, or of His return. The first of these means characterizes the judgment; it is the word of truth applied in judgment, according to the power of God. In the Revelations, it says that the sword proceeds out of His mouth. Here He is not spoken of in the character of a man of war, as in Rev. 19. The spirit of His mouth is that inward and divine power which kindles and executes the judgment. It is not an instrument, it is the divine source of power which executes its purpose by a word (comp. Isa. 30:3333For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. (Isaiah 30:33)). But there is another aspect of this judgment. The Lord, the man Jesus, will return. His return has two parts; the return into the air to take His Church to Himself, and the public manifestation in glory, of this return.
In the first verse of our chapter, we have read of His return, and of our gathering together unto Him. Here, verse 8, is the manifestation of His presence publicly in creation. At the time of this public manifestation of His coming, He destroys the whole work and power of the wicked one. It is the Man formerly obedient on the earth, exalted of God, and become Lord of all, who destroys the lawless man that has exalted himself above everything and made himself as God, instead of being obedient to God.
This evil—on the side of Satan's influence—was already working in the apostle's time, only it was bridled and kept back, until that which restrained it should no longer be on the scene. Then should the wicked one be revealed. To sum Up. The taking away of the Church, and the apostasy, were first necessary; and then this man should present himself as an apostate Jew, and the power of Satan' would be displayed in Him.
We are taught positively by John, that the rejection of Christianity and Jewish unbelief are united in the Antichrist.
It appears that apostasy with regard to Christianity, and Jewish unbelief are connected and go together; and afterward Jewish apostasy, and open rebellion against God, which, causing the cry of the remnant, brings in the Lord, and all is ended. Now, the apostle (ii. 3, 4) presents the complete picture of man's iniquity, developed when apostasy from the grace of the Gospel had taken place. Be exalts himself even to the making himself God, without touching the Jewish side or the manifested power of Satan. These verses show us the man of sin, in result of the apostasy which will break out in the midst of Christendom. Verse 9 begins to teach us in addition, that the coming of this wicked one is also in immediate connection with a mighty display of the energy of Satan, who deceives by means of marvelous works and by a strong delusion, to which God gives men up; and of which we have spoken in the text. It is man and Satan here, with enough to show its connection with Judaism in the last days (even as the mystery of iniquity was linked with Judaism in the days of the apostle), although it is not the occasion of giving the detail of the Jewish development of the evil. We must look for these details elsewhere, where they are in their place -as in Daniel. The Apocalypse and 1 John, furnish us with the means of connecting them. We do but allude here to this connection.)
Now, this Satanic influence was for those who had rejected the truth. Of the Thessalonians—to whom he had given these explanations respecting the day which they had fancied was come—the apostle thought very differently. God had chosen these "brethren beloved of the Lord" from the beginning, for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, to which He had called them by Paul's Gospel (and that of his companions), and to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus. How different was this from the visitations of the day of the Lord, and the circumstances of which the apostle had spoken. They were numbered among those who should be the companions in that day of the Lord Jesus Himself.
There is nothing very particular in the apostle's exhortations. His great concern was the explanation which we have been considering. He prays that God, and the Lord Jesus Himself, who had given them the sure and everlasting consolations of the Gospel, would comfort their hearts and establish them in every good word and work. He asks for their prayers, that he may be preserved in his labors. He could not but expect to find men unreasonable and at enmity, for faith was not the portion of all. It was only a case for the protecting hand of God. With regard to them, he counted, for this end, on the faithfulness of the Lord. He reckoned also on their obedience, and prays God to direct their hearts towards these two points, of which we have spoken when studying the First Epistle; the love of God and the patient waiting with which the Christ waited—the two points in which the whole of Christian life is summed up, with regard to its objects, its moral springs. Christ Himself was waiting—sweet thought! they were to wait with Him, until the moment when His heart and the hearts of His own should rejoice together in their meeting.
It was this which they needed. On the one hand, they had believed that the dead saints would not be ready to go and meet the Lord; on the other, they had thought the day of the Lord already come.. The enjoyment of the love of God, and peace of heart in waiting for Christ, were necessary for them.
This excitement into which they had been led, had also betrayed itself in some among them, by their neglect of their ordinary labors, "working not at all, but being busy bodies," intermeddling in the affairs of others, The apostle had set them a very different example. He exhorts them to be firm, and to withdraw from those who would not hearken to his admonitions, but continue to walk disorderly and in idleness; not, however, in such a manner as to treat them as enemies, but to admonish them as brethren.
It will be observed here, that there is no longer the same expression of the energy of communion and of life, as previously (compare 3:16 with 1 Thess. 5:2323And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)). Nevertheless, the Lord was still the Lord of peace; but the beauty of that entire consecration to God, which would shine forth in the day of Christ, does not present itself to the apostle's mind and heart as in the First Epistle. He prays for them, however, that they may have peace always and by all means.
The apostle points out the method by which he assured the faithful of the authenticity of his letters. With the exception of that to the Galatians, he employed other persons to write them, but he attached his own signature, in order to verify their contents to the Church; adding the prayer of blessing.