We exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children. Thess. 2:11
by F G. Patterson
There is something very beautiful in the condition of soul in which we find the Christians at Thessalonica. There is something so fresh, and bright, and happy in the whole tone of their life, walk and ways. Paul's letter to them is not so much a grand doctrinal essay, as some portions of his epistles, but it is the joyous outflow of the heart of one who looked on them as a father does his children (1 Thess. 2:1111As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, (1 Thessalonians 2:11)), or as a nurse does over her charge, over whose growth and wants she has watched and whom she has cherished.
We see this state of soul sometimes in a young Christian, or a young assembly of saints. There is such freshness and earnestness and love, and the things of Christ are so dearly prized. The Spirit of adoption is so strong, and the confiding love of children so marked that even an older saint, while he can truly desire a deepening knowledge of Christ Himself to possess the soul, must feel his heart warmed and encouraged when he sees it.
How sad, too, is the reverse, or the declension from this state, when the heart grows calculating and cold, and the freshness of the things of Christ has lost its power, when the truth is feared, and the world is not overcome. The faces of those who strengthened the laborer when he saw them drinking in the truth, and who, as regularly as the hour came, were at their accustomed place in the assembly—were now seldom there. And when he meets them, there is no longer the old, warm welcome and the bright, intelligent look when Christ is mentioned, but the heart is filled with other things, and open to the charge, "Thou hast left thy first love.”
In God the Father
The Thessalonians is the only epistle in which Paul addresses the assembly as "in God the Father." It was their characteristic feature. As little children, the Spirit of adoption filled them while they waited for God's Son from heaven (ch. 1:9, 10). And this, their blessed hope on which they dwelt much, worked into the very texture of their whole life here below. The coming of the Lord Jesus for His own was what they awaited, and by this Paul would see the fruit of his labor, as Paul's Master would also see the fruit of His labor (ch. 2:19).
To be established unblameable in holiness, and the time when holiness would have its true value, would be at that day (ch. 3:13). Those who had slept in Jesus would not lose the blessing of such a hope, and those who mourned their loss, for the moment, would see them again at that day (ch. 4:13-18). And lastly, God preserved His people to the time when Christ would come for them (ch. 5:23).
How heartily, then, could Paul give thanks about them, and always make mention of them in his prayers—not as though they needed something, but that they might be preserved in the freshness and true-heartedness of this beautiful condition of their Christian life. "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.”
Faith, Hope and Love
All the graces of Christian life which ever abide—faith, hope and love—the "threefold cord" binding together all that they did, were there. If they wrought, it was a work of faith. The soul counted on God and was sustained in doing His work, that He would be with His servants and own their service as His own. Their labor was not a mere routine or duty, but it was a labor undertaken in love. And the Lord Jesus was the object before the heart, and the affections were centered on Him. He who had identified Himself with His people was coming; while the labor went on, He sustained the heart, and the heart waited patiently for Him.
The conscience, too, was kept right—each one walking before a God and Father's eye, and in His presence nothing was allowed contrary to His nature and will. Thus heart and conscience were filled and directed. Nothing can exceed this beautiful picture of the freshness of the first blush of Christian life in the world.
Affliction
Surely, then, it did not need that the Apostle should see into the counsels of the Book of Life, to know if they had been the objects of God's election. In their lives he saw that which was as plain as day to him. "Our gospel," he says, "came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." And they became followers of Paul and of the Lord, "having received the word in much affliction." How could the enemy permit such a bright testimony in his domain without persecuting and afflicting those who bore it?
What can you do? What can he do with those who, if they are beaten before the council, depart, rejoicing that they are counted worthy to suffer shame for His name? (Acts 5:4141And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. (Acts 5:41).) What can be done to those who, if imprisoned with their feet made fast in the stocks, fill the prison courts with praises sung to God? (Acts 16:2525And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. (Acts 16:25).) When put in prison and in chains, they could lift up a triumphant head and desire that their captors might have what they had, the joy which filled their hearts, and the helmet of salvation which covered their heads, except the bonds (Acts 26:2929And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. (Acts 26:29)). What can you do to people who, if the enemy kills them, go to heaven praying for their enemies, unmindful of the stones which killed them? (Acts 7:6060And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:60).)
Such, in its truest sense, is Christianity. God filled the hearts of these beloved ones "with joy of the Holy Ghost," when the enemy cast them into the fire of affliction. God was seen in these beloved people, and His Word had produced in them what the world had to bear testimony to—a power that was above its malice, and do what it would, it could not take this away.
The Thessalonians
Paul had no need to speak of his loved children in the faith. The world took knowledge of them in spite of itself, and their faith to God was spread abroad. How wonderful it is when the enemy is forced to bear testimony to such a state of the children of God, instead of having to point at them with the finger of scorn, when they are not in the practice of what they profess to be in their faith. In some weak measure we can enter into the deep anxiety of Paul's heart when he would know how they were enduring these afflictions. Also we share the joy he had when he had learned how they had endured, and how they had held him in the affectionate remembrance of their hearts. "Now," says he, "we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord." (Chapter 3:8.)
May the Lord give His beloved people to know, in their inmost heart, that He has never changed, and that they may count on Him with all the confidence of these first children in the faith. May He energize their hearts to more earnest devotedness in view of His still nearer coming, and a more true-hearted following of Him. And may they be "steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."