2 Thessalonians 1:1-3 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: What is summer worth in the desert of Sahara? It found it sand, and leaves it sand. The sun and the summer are worthless to the desert. And what is the Church worth to you? It is worth just what it develops in you, as an educating institution. Its whole design is to hold you up in weak hours; to inspire you with higher thoughts and with sweeter dispositions; and to give you power to lift yourself up to the invisible. The Church is neither to be worshipped nor to be rested upon. You are not safe because you are in it, any more than the child is learned because it has been at school. The school is of great value; there knowledge is gained more readily than it can be gained elsewhere: but we do not undervalue it when we say that you should not worship it. And the Church — should I disparage that — I, a minister, that have received its blessings, and that have seen them imparted to others? No; but its value is in this: that it teaches you. to neglect the lower, and to centre your affections on the higher. For nothing less than God can satisfy the human soul — no ordinance, no service, nothing but love, down dropping from the everlasting Fountain of sympathy, of pity, and of compassion. The love of God can satisfy you; and the uniting with the Church is good to you just in proportion as you, through the Church, look up and see God. (H. W. Beecher.) Parallel Verses KJV: Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: |
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