The apostle proceeds to set forth the certainty of the Divine judgment as affecting the saints and their persecutors.

I. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THIS JUDGMENT. "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you; and to you who are afflicted rest with us."

1. An appeal is made to man's innate sense of justice. A want of this element of justice in human character is regarded as a defect. A right-minded man is indignant at wrong, and delights in the retribution that fails upon wrong doers. This sentiment of justice is but a reflection of Divine character, for we are made in the image of that God who hates sin with "a perfect hatred' (Psalm 139:22).

2. God is "not unrighteous who taketh vengeance" (Romans 3:5), for he has established in his government of the world an inseparable connection between sin and misery. Therefore we may expect to see a Divine retaliation upon transgressors - "affliction to them that afflict you" - the penalty partaking of the very character of the sin. On the other hand, God is not "unrighteous to forget your work of faith and labour of love." The afflicted shall be recompensed with "rest," as well as reward for all their patience.

II. THE TIME OF THE JUDGMENT. "When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven."

1. There is a day appointed for the judgment of the world; for God "hath appointed a day in which he wilt judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained" (Acts 17:30, 31).

2. The day is that which is to be the manifestation of the Lord from heaven. He is now in heaven, "sitting at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56); but he shall then come forth in glory to those who "wait for him," to the judgment of the world.

3. The time of the judgment is unknown to man. The day of the Lord "shall come as a thief in the night."

III. THE SUBORDINATE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE JUDGMENT.

1. The angelic retinue. "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with the angels of his power."

(1) They manifest his power and enhance his glory. They will be with him when he "shall come in glory, and shall sit on the throne of his glory" (Matthew 25:31).

(2) They execute his purposes, whether of wrath or mercy.

(a) They "gather together his elect from the four winds" (Mark 13:27).

(b) They "shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, and shall east them into a furnace of fire" (Matthew 13:41, 42).

2. The flaming glory of his manifestation. It shall be "in flaming fire;" not as the instrument of vengeance, but as enhancing the glory of the Divine presence. "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens flora above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people" (Psalm 50:3, 4).

IV. THE RESULTS OF THE JUDGMENT TO THE TWO CLASSES.

1. The class of persecutors. "Those which afflict you."

(1) Wicked men cannot endure the saints. It is with them as with Cain, who slew his brother. Wherefore? "Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous" (1 John 3:12).

(2) The cry of the saints rises to heaven against them. "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:10).

(3) The persecutors are of two classes. "Them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

(a) The first class refers to Gentile persecutors. "They know not God." Ignorance is their great sin. They had resisted the light of nature.

(α) It was wilful ignorance, for they had the truth brought to their doors in Thessalonica;

(β) their ignorance made confidence in God impossible,

(γ) as well as an intelligent worship of God.

(b) The second class refers to Jewish persecutors - "that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." As ignorance was the sin of the Gentiles, disobedience was the sin of the Jews. They knew God, but rejected the gospel of Christ. They were fiercer persecutors of the saints even than the Gentiles.

(α) Christ is the Author of the gospel as well as its theme.

(β) The gospel is to be obeyed as well as received, and is therefore called "the obedience of faith;" for faith without obedience is dead, as obedience without faith has no value.

(4) The judgment upon the persecutors. It is described first generally and then more definitely. The Lord Jesus shall take vengeance upon them. They "shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." This represents "the wrath of the Lamb" (Revelation 6:16, 17).

(a) The judgment is everlasting destruction. This does not imply annihilation - an idea equally opposed to Scripture and to the facts of natural science. The term "everlasting" associated with it neutralizes the idea of annihilation, which implies a point of time in which the wicked cease to exist. The duration of the punishment will be as the duration of the blessedness (Revelation 16:26; Hebrews 9:14; Matthew 25:46).

(b) It involves separation from "the face of the Lord, and the glory of his strength." It is heaven to "see Christ as he is," to be "with him where he is, that they may behold his glory." The sum of all woe is, "Depart from me." A great gulf is fixed between the saved and the lost (Luke 16:26). The wicked are to be outside the apocalyptic city of God. "Outside are dogs" (Revelation 16:14, 15).

2. The class of saints. The results of the judgment as affecting them are thus described.

(1) They are to be accounted "worthy of the kingdom of God."

(a) They are heirs of it, as children of God.

(b) They are called into it.

(c) The kingdom "shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High" (Daniel 7:27). "The saints shall judge the world" (1 Corinthians 6:2, 3). They shall "inherit the kingdom" (Matthew 25:34). This is "the grace that is to he brought to them at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:13).

(2) They shall receive rest - "rest with us," as the Lord's recompense for all their sufferings. It points to their release from persecutions.

(a) There is a rest - a sabbatism - "for the people of God" (Hebrews 4:9). They "shall rest from their labours, and their works do follow them" (Revelation 14:13).

(b) It is rest in the fellowship of all saints - "rest with us."

(3) The effect of the Lord's second advent - "that he may be glorified in his saints, and be admired in all them that believe."

(a) The Church is to be "the glory of Christ." Jesus said, "The glory which thou gavest me I have given them" (John 17:10, 22). "The beauty of the Lord God shall be upon her," and "his glory shall be seen upon her" (Psalm 90:17); Isaiah 60:2). The Church is addressed thus: "There shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God" (Isaiah 62:3).

(b) Christ shall be an Object of wonder to believers in that day. "To be admired in all them that believe." The wonder will spring out of the extraordinary manifestations of his glory and power. - T.C.

I. THE TERM APPLIED TO OUR LORD'S COMING "revealed." To reveal is to uncover what is hidden. This may be done in two ways —

1. Spiritually, as Jesus is now evidently set forth in His gospel.

2. Outwardly.(1) In this way Christ has been already revealed, but only partially. Few saw Him, and those few very little.(2) By and by He will come without disguise and "every eye shall see Him."

II. THE DIFFERENT PORTIONS WHICH WILL THEN BE GIVEN TO VARIOUS PERSONS.

1. The troublers and their portion.(1) Wherever God has a people there will sure to be troublers.(2) Sometimes God visits such with His displeasure here, just to show that He marks what they are doing, but generally He seems to let them alone.(3) Their position is —(a) Tribulation. Of this we all know something, but the deepest sorrow we have ever felt compared with this is as a summer cloud to winter midnight.(b) Recompense. It is to come upon them as a consequence of their unkindness to God's people. Wretched they would have been had they let these people alone, but because they would not they shall be still more wretched.(4) How seldom do some of us think of this. We regard "the hard speeches" of the ungodly as little more than the outbursts of prejudice, ill-humour, or harmless pleasantry; but God regards them differently.(5) How this truth magnifies the love Christ bears to us, grounding His judicial proceedings on the conduct of men towards us as well as toward Himself. "He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of My eye."

2. The portion of the troubled.(1) We must not think that we are in the number of these because the world ill-treats us. The world frequently torments its own followers.(2) The blessing pronounced is —(a) rest. The very thing for which most of us long. We are often grieved at this longing: but Christ in His compassion shows us that holy Paul had the same longings, and that they were lawful. This compassion is further shown in this revelation of heaven. Were we in that place where they" rest not day nor night" we should never call it by that name. That activity is quite in harmony with this rest; but Christ does not dwell upon it because He is addressing weary men.(b) "Rest with us." It will be a rest of the same kind as that enjoyed by the highest saints. It may be enough to be with Christ; but if we love Him we shall love His people, and to meet with the latter also will augment our joy. Paul could enter into this. It gave him as much joy as them.

III. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THIS.

1. Christ came as a Saviour, and accordingly displayed love and mercy; He will come as a Judge, and what we look for in a judge is equity. God's justice now is very much a matter of faith, but then it will be made fully manifest.

2. To bring this about there must be evident justice in the portions assigned to different men. Their destinies must be suited to their character and conduct. See standing before the Judge two separate companies. Here are those who bore willingly hatred and reproach for His name's sake — there are those who reproached and hated them because they loved His name. Without looking any farther we see the force of these words.(1) These latter have troubled God's people, and it is but their desert that they should be troubled in their turn.(2) The harassed people find rest. True they merit it not, and remembering what they are we should have expected the apostle to say, "It is a merciful thing with God to give you rest." This he does say elsewhere, but here he enters into his Master's feelings who thinks only of His people's services and forgets their sins.

3. What the grace of God leads Him to promise His justice will lead Him to perform.

(C. Bradley, M. A.)Divine retribution a manifestation of Divine justice: —

I. THE JUSTICE OF GOD.

1. Justice is God's attribute as Governor. It is twofold.(1) General — the perfection of the Divine nature. This is the same with His holiness. God loves righteousness and hates iniquity necessarily (Psalm 5:4; Zechariah 3:5).(2) Particular which respects His office as Judge of the world (Deuteronomy 32:4).

2. Of His government there are two acts.(1) Legislative justice, which determines man's duty, binds him to the performance and defines the rewards and punishments which shall be due upon man's obedience and disobedience (Deuteronomy 30:15).(2) Judiciary or distributive justice, whereby He renders to all men according to their works (Romans 2:6; 1 Peter 1:17). This is twofold.

(a)Rewarding (Hebrews 6:10; 2 Timothy 4:8).

(b)Vindictive or punishing (Romans 2:7-9; John 3:19; Hebrews 10:29).

3. This distributive justice is exercised.(1) More darkly here: yet even here the wicked are punished and the righteous rewarded (Romans 1:18; Psalm 58:11).(2) More plainly hereafter (Romans 2:5). The difference between the last time and this is —(a) That the righteous and the wicked have but the beginnings of their reward and punishment: the wicked inwardly (Hebrews 2:15; Ephesians 4:19; Psalm 81:12) and even outwardly, as witness the fall of nations, and the sudden and otherwise unaccountable destruction of individuals; so the righteous have inwardly much of his love, peace, etc.; and outwardly the wicked have it not all their own way (Malachi 3:17, 18).(b) God's justice now appears more negatively than positively, i.e., God does nothing contrary to justice. As to His rewards His servants have deserved nothing which they enjoy; and as to His restraint of due punishment it is to bring the sinner to repentance.

II. THIS JUSTICE AS APPLIED TO THE DIFFERENT RECOMPENSES.

1. "Tribulation to them that trouble you" for a double reason.(1) Their own disobedience to God's laws (Romans 2:8).(2) Their opposition to those that would obey God, so consenting with the devil in his apostasy (Matthew 23:13; Matthew 24:49).

2. "To you who are troubled rest." How is this just? Things may be said to be righteous with God.(1) In respect of strict justice when what is done deserves reward by its intrinsic value. So no obedience of man or angel can bind God to reward it.(2) In respect of His bounty God is just. When He rewards man because he is in some way righteous. This capacity of reward respects either the righteousness of Christ (Romans 3:25, 26), or the difference between the person recompensed and others. General justice requires that He should put a difference between the godly and the wicked (Psalm 11:7).(3) In respect of His promise (1 John 1:9).

3. Particularly discuss these two effects.(1) The troublers are to be troubled (Romans 2:9). The law of retaliation operates often in the course of providence (Judges 1:7; Obadiah 1:5). Ahab's blood was lapped up by dogs where Naboth was murdered. Haman was executed on the gallows he had erected for Mordecai. Henry III of France was killed in the chamber where the massacre was contrived; and Charles IX died flowing in his blood in his bed. The rich glutton wanted a drop who gave not a crumb.(2) The troubled rest — and the rest in proportion to the trouble.

(T. Manton, D. D.)

While walking through the streets of the city we passed a man whose head was whitened and body bowed by the hardships of not less than sixty years. His limbs trembled under their heavy burden, and with much apparent effort he advanced but slowly. We overheard him talking in a low and subdued voice, evidently mourning over his weariness and poverty. Suddenly his tone changed and his step quickened, as he exclaimed, "I'll rest when I get home." Even the thought of rest filled him with new life, so that he pursued with energy his weary way. To us it was a lesson. If the thought of the refreshing rest of home encourages the careworn labourer so that, almost unmindful of fatigue and burdens, he quickens his step homeward, surely the Christian, journeying heaven ward, in view of such a rest, should press onward with renewed vigour. This little incident often comes to mind amid the perplexing labours of the day, and stimulates to more constant and earnest effort. Each labourer toiling in his Master's vine yard, bearing the heat and burden of the day, can say, "I'll rest when I get home."

None of us who have not read deeply into history can under stand how utterly the Russian and German peoples were threshed, as straw is threshed on the summer threshing floor, by the iron flail of Bonaparte. So extreme was the suffering that it broke the heart of that most beautiful and noble woman, the wife of King William, the father of the late Kaiser. She died, as it were, struggling with the sorrows of her people. For her her husband erected a tomb in the environs of Berlin. I can hardly mention it without tears. It is peculiarly built, standing alone in a forest, with glass that throws a sombre light upon all the hither part of it, while on the far part the golden and natural light of the sun shines — as if this side, where you enter, represented the gloom of this world, and the other side, where she lies, carved in marble over her dust, represented the light and the glory of the more blessed land. When I first was there I had read about, but never had fairly conceived of, that which met my eyes. The queen, sculptured at full length, lies as one upon a bed at rest. There is the most exquisite expression of having at last come to full, perfect, and joyful rest.

(H. W. Beecher.)

I. WHAT IS THIS REST? It is —

1. A felicitating rest. In it there is —(1) Freedom from all troublesome evils.(a) Sin (Romans 7:24) is the most grievous, but in heaven there is no sin (Ephesians 5:27). In paradise there was a tempter, but not in heaven.(b) Misery and affliction (Revelation 22:4).(2) An enjoyment of all good, even God. To our felicity three things are necessary.

(a)A prepared faculty;

(b)a suitable object;

(c)the conjunction of these.In a state of glory these things concur. The faculty is more prepared than here as we are purged from sin and fleshly delusions — the object is more manifested (1 Corinthians 13:12); the conjunction is more intimate; for here it is by faith, there by vision, here by an imperfect, there by a perfect love.

2. A holy rest, a perpetual sabbatizing (Hebrews 4:9). The Sabbath is not a time of idleness; on it the sacrifices were doubled (Numbers 28:1). So our service is not ended with our lives; holy work will be part of the blessedness of heaven (Revelation 7:14, 15).

3. A rest for the whole person — body and soul.

II. WHY OUR REWARD IS REPRESENTED AS REST. Because it suits —

1. The aim of the saints. It is the end of motion. None have it but those that seek after it. We are all travelling to the other world. Some are posting to eternal torment on the broad road, others to life and rest by the narrow way (Matthew 7:13, 14). Every day a Christian gets nearer the goal (Romans 13:11).

2. The goodness of God, who delights to recompense His people for their pain and weariness. He has a care for His weary servants here and gives them rest (Isaiah 50:4; Matthew 11:28).

III. "REST WITH US."

1. All Christians have the same felicity for substance though the degrees are different. Those who have been together in the labour, duty, and danger shall be together in the rest and recompense (Matthew 25:1). The grounds of essential happiness are the same to all.(1) The same Redeemer (Exodus 30:15; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Romans 3:22).(2) The same covenant which is the common charter of the saints (Acts 2:39). It is a covenant which —

(a)Offers the same benefits, pardon, life (Romans 4:23, 24; 2 Timothy 4:8).

(b)Requires the same duties (Galatians 6:16; Romans 1:16).

2. Though the essential happiness of the saints is the same, yet there are degrees in glory. What relation holiness has to heaven, so more holiness here means more happiness there.

3. It is a comfortable adjunct to our felicity that we shall have such company there (Matthew 8:11; Hebrews 12:22, 23; Ephesians 2:19; Ephesians 3:15). Let this promote church unity.

(T. Manton, D. D.)

No one will easily believe how anxiously, for a long time, I have wished to retire from these labours into a scene of tranquility, and, for the rest of my life (dwindled, it is true, to the shortest span) to converse only with Him who once cried, "Come unto Me all ye that labour," etc. In this turbulent and raging world, amid so many cares, which the state of the times heaps upon me in public, or which declining years and infirmity cause me in private, nothing do I find on which my mind can more comfortably repose than on secret communion with God.

(Erasmus.)

Epaminondas, before going into battle with the Lacedaemonians, sat down to rest for a few moments, when his seat fell under him. "That," quoth the soldiers, "bodes no good." "Nay," said their leader, with happy pre sence of mind; "it is an intimation to me that I have no business to be sitting here when I should be leading you against the enemy."

(Percy Anecdotes.)

There is the tradition of an Indian chief who with his wife fled before the prairie fires till he had crossed a broad river; when he struck his tent pole into the ground and cried, "Alabama!" ("here we may rest"). He was no prophet. Hostile tribes overpowered them; and they found only their graves where they sought a home. This is, may be, a parable of the soul; for it earth has no Alabama.

(E. Foster.)

The pass of Glencoe in Scotland is reached by a long, steep, and winding path; but at its top is a stone with the inscription "Rest and be thankful." Such is the pilgrim's path; but at its end is heaven, on whose gates may be read a similar inscription.

(T. Guthrie, D. D.)

Paul, Silas, Silvanus, Thessalonians, Timotheus, TimothyThessalonicaAct, Afflict, Afflicting, Affliction, Deems, God's, Indeed, Judgement, Least, Plain, Recompense, Render, Repay, Requite, Reward, Righteous, Righteousness, Seeing, Token, Tribulation, Trouble, Troubling1. Paul certifies the Thessalonians of the good opinion which he had of their faith, love, and patience;
11. and therewithal uses various reasons for the comforting of them in persecution.

2 Thessalonians 1:6

     5499   reward, divine

2 Thessalonians 1:5-7

     9414   heaven, community of redeemed

2 Thessalonians 1:6-7

     5059   rest, eternal
     5350   injustice, hated by God
     5566   suffering, encouragements in
     9240   last judgment

2 Thessalonians 1:6-8

     8797   persecution, attitudes

2 Thessalonians 1:6-10

     5110   Paul, teaching of
     5493   retribution
     8729   enemies, of Christ

Sanctification
TEXT: "This is the will of God, even your sanctification."--1 Thess. 4:3. It is quite significant that the Apostle Paul writes explicitly concerning sanctification to a church in which he had such delight that he could write as follows: "Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the Church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

Twenty Sixth Sunday after Trinity God's Judgment when Christ Returns.
Text: 2 Thessalonians 1, 3-10. 3 We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, even as it is meet, for that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the love of each one of you all toward one another aboundeth; 4 so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which ye endure; 5 which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God; to the end that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Christ Glorified in Glorified Men
'He shall come to be glorified in His saints; and to be admired in all them that believe.'--2 THESS. i. 10. The two Epistles to the Thessalonians, which are the Apostle's earliest letters, both give very great prominence to the thought of the second coming of our Lord to judgment. In the immediate context we have that coming described, with circumstances of majesty and of terror. He 'shall be revealed . . . with the angels of His power.' 'Flaming fire' shall herald His coming; vengeance shall be …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Worthy of Your Calling
'We pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power; 12. That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in Him.'--2 THESS. i. 11, 12. In the former letter to the Church of Thessalonica, the Apostle had dwelt, in ever-memorable words--which sound like a prelude of the trump of God--on the coming of Christ at the end to judge the world, and to gather His servants into …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Lecture for Little-Faith
And now, beloved, having thus given you two thoughts which seemed to me to arise naturally from the text, I shall repair at once to the object of this morning's discourse. The apostle thanks God that the faith of the Thessalonians had grown exceedingly. Leaving out the rest of the text, I shall direct your attention this morning to the subject of growth in faith. Faith hath degrees. In the first place, I shall endeavor to notice the inconveniences of little faith; secondly, the means of promoting …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

Approbation and Blessing.
"Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."--2 THESS. i. ii, 12. Two words sum up the Christian life--Grace and Glory; and both are associated with the two Comings of the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace particularly with the first Coming, …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

Meditations for the Morning.
1. Almighty God can, in the resurrection, as easily raise up thy body out of the grave, from the sleep of death, as he hath this morning wakened thee in thy bed, out of the sleep of nature. At the dawning of which resurrection day, Christ shall come to be glorified in his saints; and every one of the bodies of the thousands of his saints, being fashioned like unto his glorious body, shall shine as bright as the sun (2 Thess. i. 10; Jude, ver. 14; Phil. iii. 21; Luke ix. 31;) all the angels shining …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Of the Practice of Piety in Holy Feasting.
Holy feasting is a solemn thanksgiving, appointed by authority, to be rendered to God on some special day, for some extraordinary blessings or deliverances received. Such among the Jews was the feast of the Passover (Exod. xii. 15), to remember to praise God for their deliverance out of Egypt's bondage; or the feast of Purim (Esth. ix. 19, 21), to give thanks for their deliverance from Haman's conspiracy. Such amongst us is the fifth of November, to praise God for the deliverance of the king and …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

How the Forward and the Faint-Hearted are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 9.) Differently to be admonished are the forward and the faint-hearted. For the former, presuming on themselves too much, disdain all others when reproved by them; but the latter, while too conscious of their own infirmity, for the most part fall into despondency. Those count all they do to be singularly eminent; these think what they do to be exceedingly despised, and so are broken down to despondency. Therefore the works of the forward are to be finely sifted by the reprover, that …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Perfect in Parts, Imperfect in Degrees.
And 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 Thess. v. 23. The Scriptural doctrine that sanctification is a gradual process perfected only in death must be maintained clearly and soberly: first, in opposition to the Perfectionist, who says that saints may be "wholly sanctified" in this life; secondly, to those who deny the implanting of inherent holy dispositions in God's children. …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

"There is Therefore Now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who Walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. "
Rom. viii. 1.--"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." There are three things which concur to make man miserable,--sin, condemnation, and affliction. Every one may observe that "man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward," that his days here are few and evil. He possesses "months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed" for him. Job v. 6, 7, vii. 3. He "is of few days and full of trouble," Job xiv. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Sanctions of Moral Law, Natural and Governmental.
In the discussion of this subject, I shall show-- I. What constitute the sanctions of law. 1. The sanctions of law are the motives to obedience, the natural and the governmental consequences or results of obedience and of disobedience. 2. They are remuneratory, that is, they promise reward to obedience. 3. They are vindicatory, that is, they threaten the disobedient with punishment. 4. They are natural, that is, happiness is to some extent naturally connected with, and the necessary consequence of, …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Extracts No. X.
"Dear sir and brother--In remarking on your reply to my 8th number, as in a former case I shall follow the arrangement which you have made; taking up the articles in the same order. "1st. I did not suppose but that the method which I proposed to account for the absence of the body of Jesus would be liable to serious objections; and these objections are increased by connecting with them, circumstances which, if the resurrection be false, must be considered equally false. Because, if the resurrection …
Hosea Ballou—A Series of Letters In Defence of Divine Revelation

"And the Life. " How Christ is the Life.
This, as the former, being spoken indefinitely, may be universally taken, as relating both to such as are yet in the state of nature, and to such as are in the state of grace, and so may be considered in reference to both, and ground three points of truth, both in reference to the one, and in reference to the other; to wit, 1. That our case is such as we stand in need of his help, as being the Life. 2. That no other way but by him, can we get that supply of life, which we stand in need of, for he …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The Greatness of the Soul,
AND UNSPEAKABLENESS 0F THE LOSS THEREOF; WITH THE CAUSES OF THE LOSING IT. FIRST PREACHED AT PINNER'S HALL and now ENLARGED AND PUBLISHED FOR GOOD. By JOHN BUNYAN, London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682 Faithfully reprinted from the Author's First Edition. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Our curiosity is naturally excited to discover what a poor, unlettered mechanic, whose book-learning had been limited to the contents of one volume, could by possibility know …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Of Meditating on the Future Life.
The three divisions of this chapter,--I. The principal use of the cross is, that it in various ways accustoms us to despise the present, and excites us to aspire to the future life, sec. 1, 2. II. In withdrawing from the present life we must neither shun it nor feel hatred for it; but desiring the future life, gladly quit the present at the command of our sovereign Master, see. 3, 4. III. Our infirmity in dreading death described. The correction and safe remedy, sec. 6. 1. WHATEVER be the kind of …
Archpriest John Iliytch Sergieff—On the Christian Life

Wisdom and Revelation.
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

Paul a Pattern of Prayer
"Go and inquire for one called Saul of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth."--ACTS ix. 11. "For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting."--1 TIM. i. 16. God took His own Son, and made Him our Example and our Pattern. It sometimes is as if the power of Christ's example is lost in the thought that He, in whom is no sin, is not man as we are. Our Lord took Paul, a man …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Of the Nature of Regeneration, and Particularly of the Change it Produces in Men's Apprehensions.
2 COR. v. 17. 2 COR. v. 17. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. THE knowledge of our true state in religion, is at once a matter of so great importance, and so great difficulty that, in order to obtain it, it is necessary we should have line upon line and precept upon precept. The plain discourse, which you before heard, was intended to lead you into it; and I question not but I then said enough to convince many, that they were …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Growth in Grace
'But grow in grace.' 2 Pet 3:38. True grace is progressive, of a spreading and growing nature. It is with grace as with light; first, there is the crepusculum, or daybreak; then it shines brighter to the full meridian. A good Christian is like the crocodile. Quamdiu vivet crescit; he has never done growing. The saints are not only compared to stars for their light, but to trees for their growth. Isa 61:1, and Hos 14:4. A good Christian is not like Hezekiah's sun that went backwards, nor Joshua's …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

How to Make Use of Christ, as Truth, for Comfort, when Truth is Oppressed and Born Down.
There is another difficulty, wherein believing souls will stand in need of Christ, as the truth, to help them; and that is, when his work is overturned, his cause borne down, truth condemned, and enemies, in their opposition to his work, prospering in all their wicked attempts. This is a very trying dispensation, as we see it was to the holy penman of Psalm lxxiii. for it made him to stagger, so that his feet were almost gone, and his steps had well nigh slipt; yea he was almost repenting of his …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

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