Thessalonian Letters
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his Redeemer increases, so also does love for his fellow men. He has
severe trials, as had his Master; but he does not allow affliction to sour
his temper or destroy his peace of mind. He knows that trial, if well
borne, will refine and purify him, and bring him into closer fellowship
with Christ. Those who are partakers of Christ’s sufferings will also
be partakers of His consolation and at last sharers of His glory.
“We beseech you, brethren,” Paul continued in his letter to the
Thessalonians, “to know them which labor among you, and are over
you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly in
love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.”
The Thessalonian believers were greatly annoyed by men coming
among them with fanatical ideas and doctrines. Some were “disorderly,
working not at all, but ... busy-bodies.” The church had been properly
organized, and officers had been appointed to act as ministers and
deacons. But there were some, self-willed and impetuous, who refused
to be subordinate to those who held positions of authority in the church.
They claimed not only the right of private judgment, but that of publicly
urging their views upon the church. In view of this, Paul called the
attention of the Thessalonians to the respect and deference due to those
who had been chosen to occupy positions of authority in the church.
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In his anxiety that the believers at Thessalonica should walk in the
fear of God, the apostle pleaded with them to reveal practical godliness
in the daily life. “We beseech you, brethren,” he wrote, “and exhort
you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to
walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye
know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is
the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from
fornication.” “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto
holiness.”
The apostle felt that he was to a large extent responsible for the
spiritual welfare of those converted under his labors. His desire for
them was that they might increase in a knowledge of the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom He had sent. Often in his ministry he would
meet with little companies of men and women who loved Jesus, and
bow with them in prayer, asking God to teach them how to maintain a
living connection with Him. Often he took counsel with them as to the
best methods of giving to others the light of gospel truth. And often,
when separated from those for whom he had thus labored, he pleaded