Lessons.—1. There is much in the work of the minister to test his patience and faith. 2. The true minister gratefully traces all success directly to God. 3. A thankful spirit prompts the minister to increased Christian enterprise.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 2. Thanksgiving and Prayer.
I. The apostle had the burden of all the Churches and their individual members.
II. The effect of the remembrance on himself.—1. He gives thanks. They were the seals of his ministry, the recipients of the grace of God, the earnest of a more abundant harvest.
2. He prays.—They had not fully attained. They were in danger. None trusts less to human means than the most richly qualified.—Stewart.
Ver. 3. Grace and Good Works.
I. All inward graces ought to bloom into active goodness.—1. Faith is to work. 2. Love is to labour. 3. Hope is to endure.
II. All active goodness must be rooted in some inward grace.—1. The root of work is faith. 2. The spring of labour is in love. 3. We need to refresh ourselves by a perpetual onward glance, a confident anticipation of the coming triumph.—Local Preacher’s Treasury.
Ver. 4. Election of God.