“The heavens themselves, the planets and this centre,
Observe degree, priority, and place,
Insisture, course, proportion, season, form,
Office and custom, in all line of order.”—Shakespeare.
II. Christian consistency is enforced by apostolic example.—“For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you” (ver. 7). The apostles illustrated what they taught, by a rigid observance of the rules they imposed on others. Precept was enforced by practice. While the preachers laboured among the Thessalonians, the influence of their upright examples kept the Church in order. Much depends upon the conduct of a leader in Church or State. It is said of a certain military commander on taking charge of an army that had been somewhat lax in discipline: “The presence of a master-mind was quickly visible in the changed condition of the camp. Perfect order now reigned. He was a rigid disciplinarian, and yet as gentle and kind as a woman. He was the easiest man in our army to get along with pleasantly, so long as one did his duty, but as inexorable as fate in exacting its performance. He was as courteous to the humblest private who sought an interview for any purpose as to the highest officer under his command.”
III. Christian consistency is to be maintained by separation from the lawless.—“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly” (ver. 6). If all efforts to recover the recalcitrant fail, then the Church has the highest authority for separating completely from the society and fellowship of such. Continued communion with them would not only seem to condone their offence, but destroy discipline, and put an end to all moral consistency. Such a separation from the unruly would be more marked in the early Church, when there was only one Christian community, and when the brethren were noted for their affectionate attachment to each other.
Lessons.—Christian consistency—1. Is defined by the highest law. 2. Avoids association with evil. 3. Is a reproof and pattern to the unbelieving.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 6, 7. The Disorderly in Church Life—
- Violate the rules that give compactness and strength to all Church organisation.
- Ignore the highest examples of moral consistency.
- Should be faithfully warned and counselled.
- If incorrigible, should be excluded from the privileges of Christian fellowship.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 8, 9.
Self-denying Labour.
Pioneer work involves hard toil and much patience and self-denial. The character and surroundings of the people whose highest good is sought must be studied. The apostle took his measure of the Thessalonian converts, and, perhaps foreseeing the extravagances to which they would yield, he and his co-labourers determined to set them an example of unselfish industry, even to the extent of surrendering their just rights.