1 Thessalonians 4:9-11 But as touching brotherly love you need not that I write to you: for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another.… The text tells us that we must study to be quiet in doing the business of this life. And that means that our work should be — I. STEADY work. The race is not always to the swift or the battle to the strong. The feet that are to climb the lofty mountain must first tread the lowly valley. We cannot enter heaven at a bound. II. PATIENT work. If in the race of life you show me the brilliant, quick, hasty runner, one who has no staying power, and if you show me the steady, earnest plodder, I will tell you who will come in first at the end. III. CONTENTED work. Without this it can be neither quiet nor successful. Those who murmur simply neglect a great portion of their work. IV. MODEST work. A Spanish fable tells us how, when a number of great men were boasting of their deeds, how one had gained a great victory, and another had painted a great picture, and another had made a great speech, a spider descended by his web into their midst and claimed equal honour with them. Since all man's deeds are like a spider's web, and when we hear of a man who has done something remarkable, we may think of him as a spider who has spun his web a little better than other spiders. V. OUR "OWN" work. Let the gossip and the busybody take this to heart. The meddler in other folks' affairs, the tale bearer, and the scandalmonger never do their own business, and hinder honest people from doing theirs. Conclusion: 1. In religious work preeminently we are called upon to be quiet. There are some Christians who make a great noise. Their religion seems to be formed on the model of the earthquake, and the whirlwind, and the fire, and knows nothing of the "still small voice." They have to learn that in "quietness and confidence" lies their strength. In these hurrying excitable days this is more important than ever. 2. This quietness is not indifference or cowardice. You are Christ's builders and you work for Him like the builders of the Temple, without the sound of a hammer; you are Christ's soldiers, and can fight His battles without a flourish of trumpets. 3. Every Christian worker has a model in Christ Jesus, who worked the salvation of men quietly. (H. J. W. Buxton.) Parallel Verses KJV: But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. |
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