2 Thessalonians 3:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. These words are spoken to a young Church whose growth in grace had been marvellously rapid. St. Paul was able to call to mind a "work of faith," etc., such as we associate rather with mature Christian life. They were on the "one hand so young that weariness might seem to be the least of their perils, and yet on the other so strong that the cloud was scarcely visible in their horizon. I. WELL-DOING is not found elsewhere in the compound. It is not beneficence or "doing good," but the moral beauty of the new man in Christ. St. Paul had a keen eye for the beautiful in grace, if not in nature. He loved to contemplate the grander attributes of humanity as developed under the "healthful spirit of God's grace" and the "continual dew of God's blessing." This thought has a powerful persuasion for the heart of a young man, who would bitterly resent the idea of having parted with his manliness or taste by becoming a Christian. II. BE NOT WEARY. The collision of the two opposites, the "beautiful" and the "base," is striking. "Wax not base in your beautiful life." This baseness is that faint heart which makes cowards of us; that sinking of spirit in the face of trial or peril, which in one case breeds sluggards and in the other deserters. Be not faint hearted in that glorious work which is yours as Christians, for if you suffer that ugly influence to steal over you, there is an end at once of all nobleness and greatness. You will be mere cumberers of the ground in common times, and in some crisis may be seen as runaways first, and then castaways. III. HOW NATURAL THIS WEARINESS IS TO US. The daily resumption of the common duties of praying and reading, the daily recurrence of the same troublesome attacks from indwelling, soliciting, besetting sin, the finding myself always beginning, never advancing in the work of duty and the fight of faith — how wearisome is all this. To look forward to a long life of this perpetual to and fro, how many have intermitted the struggle and gone back into the world. IV. THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE. This last stage of weariness is not reached unconsciously. There are beginnings which may be watched, and by earnest prayer counteracted. God is on our side. Deal truly with yourself, and He will deal bountifully with you. Concentrate yourselves on your duties till they become all to you. Place yourself in thought each day before the great white throne. Above all, live much in His presence who quickened the dead. (Dean Vaughan.) Parallel Verses KJV: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. WEB: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. |
    |