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God, and he cries out, “W hat th ank s giving can we render again unto God for you, for all th e joy wherew ith we joy for your sakes before our God?” (cf. Ps. 1 16 :12 ).. W hat a revelation we have in these words of the wealth of P au l’s love for his converts and of his constant recognition of God’s hand in all good, and his abounding g ratitud e to Him. In v. 7 it was “ com fort” th a t he had over them , hu t now it has gotten beyond th a t, it is “ joy.” This joy was of the highest and holiest kind, it was “ before our God.” This joy was accom panied by and led to unceasing prayer. P au l’s longing to see those he so loved and over w hom -h e so rejoiced drove him to unceasing prayer, “ n igh t and day praying exceedingly (ra th er, “ ex ceedingly abundan tly ,” the same word is used in Eph. 3:20) th a t we may see your face.” This prayer was answered, bu t not for five years (Acts 2 0 :1 ). The g reat reason why P aul desired to see them was in order th a t he m ight “ per fect th a t which is lacking in your faith (literally, the lackings of your f a ith ) ” . Though the Thessalonians were exem plary Christians (cf. ch. 1:3, 7-10), they were not perfect. We find some suggestion of points where they needed improvement in chapters four and five and 2 Thess. 3:10-15. P au l’s prayer for them was no t only constant, “ night and day,” h u t it was intense, “ praying exceeding abund an tly .” WEDNESDAY, Ja n u ary 8 th . 1 Thess. 3:11-13. And now P au l prays again. The prayer is to “ our God and F a th e r H im self and our Lord Jesu s.” This brings out very clearly th e tru e Deity of Christ. I t would he impossible for a rev eren t m ind to couple th e name of any finite being w ith th a t of th e Deity in th is way. It shows also th a t it is rig h t to p ray to th e Lord Jesu s as well as to our God and F ath er. Pdu l’s prayer to the F a th e r and to th e Lord Jesu s was th a t they would “ d irect” (literally, “m a te stra ig h t” ) his way unto them . And now P aul offers a prayer for them . It is a prayer worthy of study, “The Lord Jesus make you to increase and abound in love one tow ard another, and tow ard all men.” Love is th e one th ing needful. They already had love (cf. ch. 1 :3 ), hu t they needed more love, abounding love. This prayer was answered (cf. 2 Thess. 1 :3 ). P aul made his own abounding love for
able, bu t always actu ally comes out precisely as predicted. When any one tre a ts th e Scriptures as if they were tru e, they always prove tru e in experi ence. Because P aul knew th a t perse cution had surely overtaken them for a little while he could “ no longer for b ea r” i. e., bear up under his anxiety for them . Therefore, he “sent th a t” he “m ight know th e ir (your) faith ,” i. e., th a t he m ight know w hether th eir faith had stood th e te st and thu s proved itself to be real, “ lest by any means the tem pter, (i. e. S atan the prime mover in all tem ptation and persecution), had tem pted” them , and P au l’s own labor th u s be come to nothing. Timothy had ju s t retu rn ed from th is visit (v. 6 R .V .), he had “ brought P aul (us) glad tidings of th e ir (your) faith and love” (cf. ch. 6 :3 ). F u rth erm o re, Timothy b rough t word th a t they had “ good remembrance of us always” and were “ longing (better, eagerly desiring) to see” him, ju st as he was to see them . There was a beau tifu l and intense m u tu al affection between them. MONDAY, Ja n u ary 6. 1 Thess. 3 :7 , 8. “ F o r th is cause (i. e., because of the good news th a t Timothy b rough t of th e steadfastness and faith and the love of th e believers in Thessalonica and of th e ir good remembrance of P aul and eag er desire to see him ” ) P aul was “ com forted over” them all in all his “ distress and affliction th rough ” th eir “ faith .” P aul was suffering much from opposition in Corinth a t th is time (Acts 18 :6 -11 ), hu t he forgot th a t in joy over th e steadfastness of th e con v erts in Thessalonica. Their “ fa ith ” had been m anifested by th e ir standing fa st in persecution (cf. Heb. 10:38, 3 9 ). P aul expresses his com fort and joy in th e ir steadfastness in th e most em phatic and rem arkable way, “ for now we live, if ye stand fast in th e Lord.” Their steadfastness was like life itself to Paul, th e ir falling away would have been like death. Have we such a love as th a t for our converts? (cf. 3 John 3 :4 ). TUESDAY, Ja n u ary 7. 1 Thess. 3 :9 , 10. As P au l th ink s of th e joy th a t has come to him over the steadfastness of th e believers in Thessalonica, his h ea rt goes ou t in u nu tterab le g ratitu d e to
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