III. That brotherly love is susceptible of continuous enlargement.—“But we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more” (ver. 10) Notwithstanding the commendation of the apostle, he exhorts the Thessalonians to seek greater perfection in this grace. What is the sun without light? What is fire without heat? So what is life without love? The rich seek to increase their store, the wicked add to their iniquities; the saint should not be less diligent in increasing unto every good word and work. “A child that stayeth at one stature and never groweth bigger is a monster. The ground that prospereth not and is not fruitful is cursed. The tree that is barren and improveth not is cut down. So must all increase in the way of godliness and go forward therein. Unless we go forward, we slip back” (Jewell). The growth of charity is extensive, as it adds to the number of the objects loved, and intensive as to its inward fervour and tenacity. The more we apprehend the love of God to ourselves, the more our hearts will enlarge in love to Him and all saints. True brotherly love crushes all self-love and is more anxious to hide than pry into the infirmities of others. Seldom is a charitable man curious, or a curious man charitable.
Lessons.—1. That brotherly love is the practical manifestation of the love of God in man. 2. That brotherly love should be constantly cultivated. 3. That brotherly love is a crowning feature of the higher Christian life.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 9, 10. Brotherly Love—
- An evidence of practical holiness.
- An affection Divinely taught.
- Should be constantly manifested.
- Grows by diligent cultivation.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 11, 12.
A Pacific Spirit another Proof of a True Sanctification.
To pass from the subject of brotherly love to the necessity of maintaining a quiet and peaceable disposition was for the apostle a natural and suggestive transition. Love and peace are twin virtues—“Two lovely berries moulded on one stem.” Brotherly love can have no place in the heart from which peace has fled and where war and discord reign. The quiet spirit is not a weak, meaningless, cowardly condition of mind, but contains in it all the elements of patient endurance, unconquerable bravery, and inviolable moral power. It is not the quietness of the shallow lagoon, on whose surface the heaviest storm can raise but a few powerless ripples; it is rather the profound calm of the ocean, which, when roused by the tempest, is overwhelmed in its impetuous onset. Christ is likened to the lamb—gentle, harmless, pacific; but when His fury is once let loose upon the ungodly, the distracted victims will shriek for the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. A pacific spirit is another practical evidence of possessing the genuine sanctification so earnestly commended by the apostle. Observe:—
I. That a pacific spirit is to be studiously cultivated.—“And that ye study to be quiet” (ver. 11). The word “study” signifies to seek after an object with a holy and active ambition, as though it were the highest honour to possess it. How different this is from the restless spirit of the world! There is nothing some people dread so much as being quiet. They delight in a row; and if one does not happen as frequently as they wish, they make one for themselves. The political agitator, the avaricious money-getter, the fiery advocate of war, all seek to attain their selfish ends in the midst of tumult and confusion. Nor is the sacred circle of the Christian Church, which should ever be the abode of peace and harmony, free from the violence of the irrepressible disturber. There are some people who never will be still; you cannot hold them still. They are full of endless suggestions for other people to carry out. Their tongue is a perpetual clatter. They fly from one department of work to another and create distraction in each. They are always on the go. No sooner have they related to one, with such evident satisfaction, the details of the latest uproar they were in, than they are off to brew another. They try one’s temper; they harry one’s nerves; they break one’s peace most cruelly. To such people it would be the severest task to obey the apostolic injunction, “That ye study to be quiet,” and yet no one in the world has more need to do so than they. A pacific spirit cannot be secured without much self-denying effort; but it is a jewel worth all the trouble and all the sacrifice (Prov. xx. 3; Col. iii. 12–15).
II. That a pacific spirit is attained by a persevering industry in personal duties.—1. That personal duties have the first claim upon our efforts. “Do your own business” (ver. 11). Attend first to your personal concerns—whatever comes within the compass of your general or particular calling. The man who is inattentive to his own special duties cannot with any reason dictate as to the duties of others. To do one’s own business is the best safeguard against idleness and meddling curiosity. Solomon declared, “Every fool will be meddling” (Prov. xx. 3). An officious interference with the business of others creates discords. All strifes—domestic, social, ecclesiastical, and political—may be traced to meddlesomeness. The meddling man is a fool, because he gratifies his own idle curiosity at the expense of his own well-being and the happiness of others. See that the business you do is your own business, and that you let that of your neighbour’s alone. “Be not eavesdroppers, hearkening what is said or done in your neighbour’s house. Wide ears and long tongues dwell together. They that love to hear all that may be told them do also love to blab out all they hear” (Jewell).