We always thank God for all of you, remembering you in our prayers Sermons
I. THE GROUND OF THANKSGIVING. "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." We consider here: 1. The graces of the Christian life. We have here, in the first Epistle ever written by the apostle, his favorite trilogy of Christian principles. (1) The three graces are fundamental. As the three principal colors of the rainbow - red, yellow, and blue, representing respectively heat, light, and purifying power - supply in their combination all the other colors, so, by a sort of moral analysis, it can be shown that faith, hope, and love lie at the foundation, or enter into the composition, of all other Christian graces whatever. (2) They are three inseparable graces. Faith always works by love, and love is inseparable from hope, for "hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost" (Romans 5:5). Faith is the necessary root, as hope and love are its unfailing fruits. As faith works by love, it is also the substance of things hoped for. (3) They are at once the defense and the adornment of Christian life. "Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation" (1 Thessalonians 5:8). (4) They are the abiding principles of Christian life: "Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three" (1 Corinthians 13:13). They do not die with death; for in eternity the Church will 'be made perfect in love, as it will ever continue to trust in the Lord, and hope for new developments of truth and new disclosures of blessedness. 2. The practical aspect of these graces as forces in the life of the Church. There is a climax in the exhibition of the three graces. The apostle does not say, "the work of faith, the work of love, the work of hope," but ascends from work to labor, and from labor to endurance. There is a work that is a refreshing exercise of our energies, but it involves no exhaustion or fatigue; but when work has deepened into labor we become conscious of the limitation of our strength, and then we have to call in the new principle of endurance, or "patience," if we are to carry it to a triumphant result. (1) The work of faith points to a work springing out of faith; for faith is the most active of all the principles which influence human conduct. Their faith was, therefore, a fruitful faith. (2) The labor of love suggests the sacrifices which we are ready to make for the objects of our love. It was not "love in word or in tongue," but "in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18). (3) The patience of hope suggests the severity of present afflictions, which are borne with constancy and perseverance because the sufferers arc cheered by hope. But it is "hope in our Lord Jesus Christ;" that is, hope of his second advent; for the Thessalonians had a constant and overwhelming sense of the nearness of his coming, which in some cases broke in upon the continuity of their daily duties. II. THE OCCASION, CIRCUMSTANCES, AND FREQUENCY OF THE APOSTLE'S THANKSGIVING. "We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers." 1. It was in his prayers for them that he expressed his thanksgiving. "Even in the sight of God and our Father." The care of all the Churches was upon him daily (2 Corinthians 11:28), and under such a burden he "bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." It is happy for Christians to be remembered in the prayers of saints, to be borne upon their hearts, to be borne up before God in intercessory prayer (Romans 1:9; Ephesians 1:16). His thanksgivings were as constant as his prayers. 2. Tile thanksgivings were addressed to God because the spiritual prosperity at Thessalonica was due neither to the converts themselves nor to the preachers of the gospel. We must ever speak of the grace of God, and exalt it in our praises. 3. The thanksgiving was all the more hearty and full because it had regard to the prosperity of the entire community. "All of you," because they were an eminent seal Of his apostleship, a blessed effect of his ministry among them. - T.C.
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers I. IS EXPANSIVE IN ITS CHARACTER. It is our duty to be grateful for personal benefits, but it displays a nobler generosity to be thankful for the good of others. Paul thanked God —1. Because of their work of faith.(1) Faith itself is a work; it is the laying hold of Christ for salvation. In its exercise man meets with opposition, and it becomes a fight.(2) It is the cause of work — the propelling and sustaining motive in all Christian toil. "Faith without works is dead." 2. Because of their labour of love. Labour tests the strength of love. We show our love to Christ by what we do for Him. Love makes even drudgery an enjoyment. It leads us to attempt what we would once have shrunk from in dismay. 3. Because of their patient hope. It was severely tried, but not quenched. It is hard to hope in the midst of discouragement. It was so with Joseph in prison, with David in the mountains of Judah, with the Jews in Babylon. But the grace of patience gives constancy to hope. 4. Because of their election, not as individuals, this could not he, but as a people. St. Paul here means that from what he saw of the operations of Christian grace in them he knew they were God's elect. As Bengel says, "Election is the judgment of Divine grace, exempting in Christ, from the common destruction of men, those who accept their calling by faith. Every one who is called, is elected from the first moment of his faith; and so long as he continues in his calling and faith, he continues to be elected; if at any time he loses calling and faith, he ceases to be elected." Observe the constancy of this thanksgiving spirit — "We give thanks always for you all." As they remembered without ceasing the genuine evidences of conversion so did they assiduously thank God. II. EVOKES A SPIRIT OF PRACTICAL DEVOTION. "Making mention of you in our prayers." The interest of the successful worker in his converts is keenly aroused; he is especially anxious the work should be permanent, and resorts to prayer as the effectual means. Prayer for others benefits the suppliant. When the Church prayed, not only was Peter liberated from prison, but the faith of the members was emboldened. III. IS RENDERED TO THE GREAT GIVER OF ALL GOOD. "We give thanks to God." God is the author of true success. In vain we labour where His blessing is withheld. (G. Barlow.) A praying engineer used to run from Boston on the morning express train. A very faithful man he was in his business; and he was a man of ardour and enthusiasm for souls. He used to make me ride with him, and he would give me an account of his hunting and fishing for souls. I suppose he was the means of rescuing fifty men from the devil's grasp, clothing them and getting them into business. Even while he was running his engine he was thinking of his work — for his real work was among souls. The moment he got to the terminus off went his engineer's clothes and on went his ordinary dress, and he started around town to look after some of his cases to inquire about them, and to speak with them. He drew out his praying list one day! I found that he had a strip of paper on which were written ten or fifteen names; and he said that each day he prayed for every single one of them. Sometimes he was more particularly moved in behalf of this one, and sometimes in behalf of that one. Said he, "As soon as one of these is converted I put another on the list. There are ever so many waiting to get on the list; but I cannot put more than fifteen on." He was always praying somebody on or somebody off from that list of his. He gave me some of the most affecting accounts that I ever heard in my life.(H. W. Beecher.) There is nothing better than to always have before your mind some one at whose conversion you are aiming. There may be a withering plant in your garden, but it will respond to the touch of the water with which you sprinkle it, and there will be an awakening to new strength and beauty. And who will say that less effective will be the power of the Holy Ghost; that the Christian may not pray down an influence like the waters of life to any soul wasted away by sin? It is so hopeful, this personal work in behalf of souls. It is most effective when its aim is single, and one by one you separate men and make them special, individual objects of your attention. Such work, if persisted in, will tell wonderfully by and by. The results will grow into mountains. They may not aggregate as rapidly as did Dr. Hopkins, the old Newport parson, and the famous author of Hopkinsonism. He made a list of the members of his congregation, and for each one made separate supplication. There were thirty-one conversions after those separate prayers. You may not have such a success, but enough stars will shine in your crown to make a constellated glory there forever!People Paul, Silas, Silvanus, Thessalonians, Timotheus, TimothyPlaces Achaia, Macedonia, ThessalonicaTopics Always, Constantly, Continually, Keeping, Making, Memory, Mention, Mentioning, Praise, Prayers, Thank, ThanksOutline 1. The Thessalonians are told both how mindful of them Paul was in thanksgiving, and prayer;5. and also how well he was persuaded of the truth and sincerity of their faith and conversion to God. Dictionary of Bible Themes 1 Thessalonians 1:2 5109 Paul, apostle 7726 evangelists, ministry 3221 Holy Spirit, and prayer Library A Summary of Experience and a Body of DivinityIn those days there was a good deal of practical atheism abroad, and therefore the wonder was not so much that men left their idols, as that they turned unto the living God. It became a matter of talk all over the city, and the Jews in their violence helped to make the matter more notorious; for the mobs in the street and the attack upon the house of Jason all stirred the thousand tongues of rumour. Everybody spoke of the sudden appearance of three poor Jews, of their remarkable teaching in the synagogue, … Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 30: 1884 The Beginning of the New Testament The Christian Church Of Love to God Christ's Exaltation The Christian's Hope Man's Misery by the Fall Links 1 Thessalonians 1:2 NIV1 Thessalonians 1:2 NLT 1 Thessalonians 1:2 ESV 1 Thessalonians 1:2 NASB 1 Thessalonians 1:2 KJV 1 Thessalonians 1:2 Bible Apps 1 Thessalonians 1:2 Parallel 1 Thessalonians 1:2 Biblia Paralela 1 Thessalonians 1:2 Chinese Bible 1 Thessalonians 1:2 French Bible 1 Thessalonians 1:2 German Bible 1 Thessalonians 1:2 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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