2 Thessalonians 1:3
THE GROWTH OF FAITH

NO. 3250
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 18TH, 1911,
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON,
ON LORD’S-DAY EVENING, JAN. 24TH, 1864.

“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly.”-2 Thessalonians 1:3.

Beware of imagining that you have reached finality in religion. Just as some politicians have said, “We have gone as far in reform as we ever mean to go, so he we shall stop,” certain religious professors say, “We have gone as far in religion as there is any need to go; we are converted, we are saved, so here we shall remain.” Beware, I say, of such a spirit as that, but rather imitate the example of the apostle Paul, who wrote, “Forgetting these things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which am before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We are not content with merely being alive, we wish to be in health as well as in life; and we ought not to be satisfied with being saved, we should desire to have our faith in full strength, and to have all our graces at the highest degree of development. The men of this world are not usually content with just bread to eat and raiment to put on, they are like those daughters of the horseleech that cry, “Give, give;” but when spiritual things are concerned, these insatiable cravings are not so manifest. Many are content to be wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked when they might buy of Christ all spiritual blessings without money and without price. Even there who have fled for refuge to, lay hold upon the hope set before them are often quite content to lie down just inside the City of Refuge as if they had been sent into this world simply with the selfish end of being saved, and as if there were nothing for them to do in the way of serving God, and reflecting before other men that glory of God which, in his grace, has been made to shine upon them. So again I say, beware of that spirit of finality which would permit you to rest content with your present attainments; for if you are, I shall not be, able to shank God that your faith groweth exceedingly, and you will miss the joy that comes to the believer who is growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I am going to special to you, first, upon how Christians grow in faith; secondly, upon the signs of that growth; and then, thirdly, I hope to give you some reasons why we should not be satisfied without this growth in faith.

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I. First, then, let us consider How Christians Grow In Faith.

There are many ways in which the Lord causes faith to grow. One is from the force of life itself; it is natural for life to grow until it has reached its maturity. Here is a living seed; if it, be put into the earth under proper circumstances, nothing can prevent it from bursting its shell. In due time, the green bade must be seen. You may conjure that green blade to remain at the same length as at present, but, if you pass that way in another month, you will find that it has disobeyed your command; for, because it lives, it must grow; and if you should continue to visit it, until it bends its head in the ripeness of autumn, you would see that it, must, by the very law of its nature: still keep on growing. It is the same with us; the anatomist will tell you that every part of the infant’s body is so prepared that it can grow, there is provision for the growth of every organ and every limb so that, slowly and without difficulty, the whole shall be developed into a full-grown man. It is life that grows. Put a bar of iron into to best soil that you can find, water it, and manure it, and let the genial sun shine upon it, but never a leaf or a rootlet will you find upon it, for it is dead. It is not so with the Christian man; because of tine life that is in him, he must grow. Ye who are the living branches in the living Vine prove it by your growth. Ye who are the children of God should increase in wisdom, and stature, and go on from strength to strength until ye appear in Zion before God. If your faith is as feeble now as it was twenty years ago, if you have not made any spiritual advance during the last ten years, you ought very gravely to question whether you have any spiritual life at all. You may not be able to see the growth, but there must be growth if the is life. There are some plants in which the unseen growth is more valuable than that which is visible; the gardener prizes the potatoes that are underground more than the tops that everyone can see. But with the Christian there must be both the visible growth in zeal and good works and the hidden growth in his deep humility and communion with his Lord in secret. So the force of life within produces growth.

There are certain circumstances under which believers especially grow, and they grow in faith by the exercise of faith. See the blacksmith’s boy when he first tries to swing his father’s big hammer, how soon he gets tired, but, ask the smith whether his arms ache.” Oh, no!” he says, “I have made too many horseshoes for that.” Exercise has developed his muscles and strengthened his sinews to such an extent that the bringing down of that big hammer with a merry ring is but child’s play to him. So the young Christian, when he begins to exercise faith, can perhaps only imitate him who said, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief;” but speak to him, some years later, when his faith has been much exercised, and then you will find that he has grown more like Abraham, who “staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” You know that, if you let your arm lie unused, in time you will be unable to use it, like the Indian fakir who holds up his hand in the air until he has lost all power of moving it. So a man may keep his faith unused until it can scarcely be called faith at all; therefore mind that your faith is kept in full exercise for so only will it grow.

Christians also grow in faith by holy walking. Living with Jesus,-and to live with him we must be consistent in holiness,-we, get to know him better, and to trust him more. It is said of some men that “the better they are known, the less, they are trusted,” but it is not so with the Lord Jesus Christ. Two cannot walk together except they be agreed, but if there is an agreement between our life and the character of Christ, and we are, by grace, enabled to walk scrupulously in the path of integrity, our faith will grow stronger and stronger as we get to know more of Christ. Sinning is most injurious to faith. I think it is Brookes who says that “either sinning will kill our assurance or our assurance will kill our sinning.” Sin indulged will prevent the full assurance of faith, and even a little sin will do this. Have you ever had a small stone in your boot? If so, and you have tried to walk, you have found it very uncomfortable, travelling. If you have tiny splinter of wood beneath your nail, you know how painful it is; you get it extracted as soon as you can, lest you should lose your finger, or even your hand. Beware of little sins, beloved, for they will keep all comfort out of your life, and effectually hinder the growth of your faith.

Another way of helping faith to grow is by a diligent use of gospel ordinances. There are some of you who are very lax in this respect; some who come to the Tabernacle twice on the Lord’s-day do not come at all during the week. Your bodies would not grow strong if you only fed them once a week, and it is the same with your souls. Prayer-meetings are most, soul-fattening ordinances. Many of us can testify that, at such gatherings, we have often been able to say, “This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” I do not expect to see you all at the prayer-meetings, for some of you have home and business duties requiring your attention, and these must not be neglected; still, there are many more of you who might come if you would. And while I an speaking of ordinances, I must not forget that very precious one, of the Lord’s supper, nor its companion, believers’ baptism. Both of these are exceedingly helpful to the Christian, and all the means of grace help the growth of faith and every other virtue. Of course I include the private as well as the public means of grace. Private prayer is like a conservatory in which Gads plants grow very rapidly. Christians need a temperature higher than this world can give them; they are rare exotics, plants of heavenly birth, and they need divine warmth, before they can bloom and bring forth fruit unto perfection, and this can only be obtained by private prayer, secret fellowship with Christ, and devout meditation upon the Scriptures.

I will only further say, upon this point, that a Christian may expect to grow in faith the more troubles he has. If you have ever been at sea in a storm, and noticed how unconcerned about it the weather-beaten sailors have been, you must have realized that is was because they had been hardened in many as tempest that they could so calmly go an with their duties while you and other landsmen were in dread of sinking, or longing for the end of the voyage. Storms help to make the sailors sturdy, and trials help to make Christians strong in faith and in every other grace. Damascus blades have to be annealed, and those who are to be like sharp sword in the Lord’s hand will have to pass through the fire. The mere the wind blows, the firmer will the oak’s roots grip the soil.

“March winds and April showers
Bring forth May flowers”

and you, as Christians, must have your stormy times and your rainy days if you are to bring forth the flowers of grace and the fruit of the Spirit. You will probably grow more in the cloudy and dark day of adversity than you will while the sun of prosperity is shining brightly upon you; so be of good courage, beloved, under the most adverse circumstances, for they are working for your lasting good.

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II. I will not say more about how Christians grow in faith; but, in the second place, I will try to point out Some Of The Marks And Evidences Of That Growth.

First, however, let me say that swelling is not necessarily growing. We know some people who seem to fancy that they have grown in grace because they have such big notions as to their own attainments. They evidently imagine that they are the people, and that wisdom will die with the. We never like to see a child with to big a head, for we fear it is only as indication of disease, and not a sign of health; and we fear that many professors of religion are suffering in a similar fashion. They know to much, for they are wise above what is written, and are not content to be teachable, and to sit as little children at the feet of Jesus, the great Teacher.

But there is such a thing as true growing, and this can be seen in various ways. First, if you are growing in faith, Christ becomes increasingly precious to you. Perhaps you walked by a park one day, and you said to yourself, “That is a very pretty place.” Possibly, the next time you went that way, somebody said to you, “I should not wonder if that estate should belong to you some day;” and that made you take a much more personal interest in it. By-and-by, the owner died, and you learned that he had left the estate to you; how greatly your interest in it increased then, and how much more you valued the mansion, the park, the gardens, and everything belonging to the estate! In like manner, Christ was precious to me when I first began to hope that he might one day be mine, he was more precious to me who I first realized that he really was mine, and the more fully I am assured of my interest in him, to more precious does he become to me. This is the best test I can give you, beloved, the most accurate thermometer by which you can ascertain the rise or fall off your spiritual temperature,-Is Christ Jesus more precious to you than he ever was before? If so, then I am bound to thank God always for you, brethren, because your faith groweth exceedingly.

Further, if you are growing in faith, you want to be more like Christ, and you are more and more dissatisfied with yourself because you are so little like him. You are longing to be so completely conformed to his image that all the virtues of his character shall be reflected and reproduced in you. It is a sure proof of genuine faith in Christ, that it produces likeness to him, and growth in faith is good evidence of growth in likeness to him. Art than more like Christ than thou wast years ago, or dost thou desire above everything else to be more and more like him? If so, my brother or sister, I feel confident that thou art growing in faith, and I thank God that it is so.

“Lord, if thou thy grace impart,
Poor in spirit, meek in heart,
I shall as my Master be, rooted in humility.”

Another evidence of growing in faith is that the promises become more consolatory to us, and our heart and mind, are kept more restful under their gracious influence. On board ship, though the vessel may rock and reel, and turn whichever way the helmsman may guide, the faithful needle always points to the pole; and it is the same with the true Christian.

Let cares like a wild deluge come,
And storms of sorrow fall

his faith still points to heaven, his trust is fixed on Jesus. Whatever else may move, he remains firm and steadfast, and he cries, as David did when he was hunted by Saul as a partridge upon the mountains, My heart is fixed, O God, my heart, is fixed: I will sing and give praise.” I do not know whether your experience is similar to mine, but I find myself, on, the whole, more equable in spiritual things than I used to be. When one has known the Lord for fourteen years, one can look back over a considerable period; and taking such a survey as that, I can discover certain times: when I had great bursts of exhilaration, great heights, of holy joy, followed by deep sinking of spirit, and utter prostration of soul. I have both those experiences still at times, but not often either of them now. On the whole, I find my soul calmly and quietly resting upon the promises of God, neither unduly delighted at the prospect of the joys of heaven nor too much depressed by the cares of the world, the responsibilities of my ministry, or the sin that still troubles me; but, just simply resting upon the rock Christ Jesus, having few doubts and fears, and comforting assurance of salvation, but not so much of the ecstatic rapture that was one of the characteristics of my early faith. I suppose that this is the condition of many Christians, and I am inclined to regard it as one of the evidences of growth in grace when we become more equable in our spiritual temperament. Children as very much excited over matters which a full-grown man scarcely notices; and the spiritual child is swayed hither and thither by many winds which have little or no effect upon one, who has come to the full stature of a man in Christ Jesus.

Love to the saints is another choice and clear proof of the growth of faith. In the verse from which our text is taken, Paul thanks God, “as it is meet,” for the two graces which her perceives in the church of the Thessalonians “because that your faith, growth exceedingly, and the charity or, love of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth.” So love to the saints is thus linked with the growth of faith. We want far more true Christian love toward one another, though probably we have less cause for complaint in that respect than most other communities have, for we have learned the blessedness of dwelling together in unity. In some of our churches there is still far too much caste feeling, too much bowing down before rank and fashion. I met, the other day, with a pretty story concerning Philip Henry, the father of Matthew Henry, the commentator. He wanted to marry the daughter of a gentleman who was one of his hearers. The father of the young lady said to her, “I have no personal objection to Mr. Henry; he is a good man, a Christian gentleman, but I do not know where he came from, so I cannot consent, be your marriage with him.” “Well, father>,” said the young lady, “though we don’t know where he came from, we do know where he is going, and I would like to go there with him.” When I meet a genuine Christian, I may not know where he came from; he may have sprung, as men say, from the dunghill, his parents may have been the poorest, of the poor but what does that matter? I know where he is going, and that is a much more important consideration; he is going to the upper house where there are many mansions; he is going to the palace of the great King eternal, immortal, invisible, where the princes of the blood royal are for ever to bask in the sunshine of the presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords, and I would like to go with him; that I may form one of the blessed company. Never mind the corduroy or the fustian that the man may wear, or the cotton or calico of the poor woman, I love them as brethren and sisters in Christ, and I want to go to the heaven whither they are bound. The real test of a man’s nobility is not, “Whence did he come” but “Whither is he going?” If he is going where the people of God are going, if God is his Father, and Jesus Christ is his Savior, and the Holy Spirit is his Guide and Counsellor, if heaven is the haven whither he is bound, it will be one of the proofs that your faith is growing if you feel an intense love for him “and wish to share with him all the blessings” of the covenant of grace in time and throughout eternity.

Another sign of the growth of faith is the growth of zeal. I cannot see a man’s faith, but I can see the evidences that it is growing when I perceive how zealous he is in all good works for his Lord. When a train travels at a very rapid rate, the axles grow hot; and the greater the speed, the greater is the heat that is generated by the friction; and, in like manner, the more rapidly a man travels in the path of a divine life by faith, the greater is the earnestness which he displays in the service of Christ. Dost thou care but little for the souls of those around thee? Art thou not doing all that thou canst to bring glory to God by the extension of the kingdom of Christ amongst the sons of men? Then we cannot thank God that thy faith is growing exceedingly. Indeed, there is grave cause to fear whether thou dost possess the faith of God’s elect if this evidence is lacking. Remember that question of the apostle James, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he has faith, and have not works?” and his very emphatic answer, “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” I find it well often to adopt those lines of Dr. Watts, and would advise you to do the same,-

“Awake my zeal, awake my love,
To serve my Savior here below,
In works which perfect saints above,
And holy angels cannot do.

“Awake my charity, to feed
The hungry soul, and clothe the poor:
In heaven are found no sons of need,
There all these duties are no more.”

And the more faith you have, the more liberality will you display. I do not wonder that some people give so little to the cause of God; they give only as much or, as little as they believe. It is said that Dean Swift, preaching from that text, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto thee Lord and that which he hath given will he pay him again,” made this characteristic commencement to his sermon, “If you like the security, down with the dust!” It seems as if there were many people, nowadays, who do not like the security, for they keep their “sordid dust” to themselves, hoarding it up for those who come after them to scatter as they please. But the more a man believes in the security of godliness, the more will he give to, the poor, and to the cause of Christ, and to every worthy object that he can help. After all, the great stimulant, to Christian liberality is that which Paul used when he wrote to the Corinthians, “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich;” or that which the Master himself used with his disciples, “Freely ye have received, freely give.”

If I were to try to tell you all the good which growth in faith will do to us, I should need to keep you here all night. I was much struck with a remark that I read, the other day, to the effect that faith may be compared to the gastric juice in the stomach. When that solvent is in a healthy state, all the food that, is eaten is properly dissolved and digested, and then the entire man becomes healthy from head to foot; but if anything should be amiss with this necessary fluids then everything will go wrong. So, a growing faith is essential to a healthy spiritual life. Let faith be in increasingly vigorous exercise, then the whole life will benefit; but let faith become feeble and inactive, then the whole of your spiritual being will be weakened and injured. I will dare even to say that faith affects heaven, and earth, and hell. If you have but little faith, you cannot tread the world beneath your feet, nor laugh at its troubles, nor smile at its cares. If you have but little faith, you cannot open the windows of heaven, you cannot bring down a blessing from God. Even hell itself feels the influence of your faith. Satan trembles when he knows that your faith is firm and strong; but if it is tottering and trembling, then he sounds the note of triumph, and seeks to lead on his hosts to make a full end of you because you are beginning to relax your grip of your shield. It was not without good reason that Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked;” and to the Hebrews, “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.” The Lord grant that we may have cause always to thank him because your faith groweth exceedingly!

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III. I intended, before closing my discourse, to give you Some Reasons Why We Should Not Be Satisfied Without This Growth In Faith; but my time has almost gone, and I hope I have already said sufficient to prove to you the urgent need of an evergrowing faith.

For your own soul’s sake, for your own happiness and usefulness, for Christ’s sake, for sinners’ sake, for the Church’s sake, if you would adorn the doctrine of God your Savior in all things, if you would be a blessing to your day and generation, if you would bring into the fold of the good Shepherd the lost sheep and lambs that are wandering away from him, cry continually to him, “Lord, increase our faith.”

I have only time for just a word or two with you who have no faith at all. Sad must be the resections of there of you here who are not believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. What can you mean by such sinful folly? The Son of God has come from heaven to earth seeking the lost, and yet, you do not believe in him though you are amongst the lost! A proclamation of liberty is made to you who are slaves to sin and Satan, yet you will not accept the emancipation which would be so great a blessing to you! Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; and you have been told, over and over again, that if you will but trust him, you shall be saved even though you are among the chief of sinners; yet you will not believe in him! O soul, why wilt thou not trust in Jesus? Is he not worthy of thy confidence? Where will you find anyone else in all the world who so richly deserves to be trusted? No happy or miserable feelings are needed to fit you for believing in him; no meritorious deeds, no gifts of alms are required as a preparation for faith in him. Jesus Christ can save you just as you are if you will but trust him, so trust him now with your whole heart, and you shall be saved. Trust to him as completely as the drowning man trusts to the lifeboat or the lifebuoy; if he tried to swim to land, he would to lost, his only hope of being saved is in trusting to a power greater than his own. It is just so with thee, sinner; thou art powerless to save thyself, but all power in heaven and in earth has been committed to Christ, he is mighty to save, therefore trust him to save thee. Rest wholly upon what he is as the Christ of God, the anointed and appointed Savior, and upon what he has done upon Calvary’s cross to save all who believe in him, and thou shalt be saved this very hour. Trust Jesus here and now, and thou shalt be saved here and now, and to God shall be all the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

2 Thessalonians 1:3
THE NECESSITY OF GROWING FAITH

NO. 1857
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD’S-DAY MORNING, AUGUST 30TH, 1885,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth.” — 2 Thessalonians 1:3.

Last Lord’s-day I tried to say cheering and encouraging words to “Little-faith.” I trust that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, did thereby strengthen some to whom the Savior said, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” But none of us would desire to remain among the Little-faiths; we long to press forward in our march to the better land. If we have just started in the heavenly race, it is well; there are grounds of comfort about the first steps in the right way; but we are not going to stop at the starting-point; our desire is towards the winning-post and the crown. My prayer at the commencement of this discourse is, that we may each of us rise out of our little faith into the loftier region of assurance, so that those who love us best may be able to say, “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly.”

The church of Jesus Christ at Thessalonica did not commence under very propitious circumstances. Remember that oft-quoted text about the Bereans: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so.” That record does not relate to the converts in Thessalonica, but to those Jews who heard Paul preach in the synagogue, and refused to test his teaching by a reference to the Old Testament. They were not a noble sort of people, and yet from among them there were taken by almighty grace a certain company who were led to believe in the true Messiah. Thus they became more noble than even the Bereans; for we do not hear of a church in Berea, neither was an epistle written to the Bereans. Thessalonica received two epistles, bright with hearty commendations. Paul praised the Philippians, but the Thessalonians he praised yet more, thanking God at every remembrance of them, and glorying in them among the churches of God for their patience and faith.

I shall ask you, with your Bibles open, to see whether we cannot account in smile measure for this remarkable condition of things. The verse before us is full of thanksgiving to God for the growth of the Thessalonians in faith and in love; and to my mind it sounds like an echo of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians. The First Epistle is the key and the cause of the Second. Very often a man’s success in this place, or in that, will tally with his own condition of heart in relation to that place. As we sow we reap. The grace of God enabled Paul to sow toward the Thessalonians with great hopefulness, and trust, and prayerfulness, and consequently he reaped plentifully.

Observe how (1 Thess. 1:2, 3) Paul began by distinctly recognising the existence of faith and love in that Church. “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.” Recognise the root, and then look for the flower. See that faith is in the soul, smile upon it and foster it, and then you may expect that the faith will steadily increase. In our text Paul mentions faith as growing, and love as abounding, while in the next verse he mentions patience, which is the outgrowth of hope — “the patience of hope.” He noticed in the Thessalonians the birth of those three divine sisters — faith, hope, and charity. That which he recognised with pleasure he afterwards saw growing exceedingly: those who cherish the seed shall rejoice in the plant. Observe in the children under your care the first blossoms of any good thing, and you shall observe its increase. Despise not the day of small things. When you have learned to recognize faith in its buds, you shall find see faith in its flowers, and faith in its fruits. Do not overlook feeble grace, or criticize it because it is as yet imperfect; but mark its beginnings with thankfulness, and you shall behold its advance with delight.

In addition to recognising the beginnings of faith, Paul labored hard to promote it. Look in the second chapter, and read verses 7, 8, 11, 12: — “But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: so being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.” He threw his whole strength into the work of upbuilding that church, toiling night and day for it; and consequently he obtained his desire; for still it is true in the husbandry of God, that those who sow, and steep their seed in the tears of earnestness, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them.

Paul had accompanied his public labors with his private prayers. See how 1 Thessalonians 3:12 tallies with our text: — “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.” This was his prayer — and he received exactly what he prayed for. He saw abounding love in each one towards every other. The Lord seemed to have noted the wording of Paul’s prayer, and to have answered him according to the letter of his request. If we open our mouth wide, the Lord will fill it. Brethren, what we comfortably recognize in its gracious beginnings, what we labor to increase and what we earnestly guard with prayer, shall in due time be granted to us!

More than this: Paul had gone on to exhort them to abound in love and faith. Look at Chapter 4 verse 9: “As touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more.” Paul did not only quietly pray for the church, but he added his earnest admonitions. He bids them increase more and more; and in response they do increase, so that he says, “Your faith groweth exceedingly.” When a man says, “more and more” it is only another way of saying “exceedingly”: is it not so? There was a big heart in Paul towards the Thessalonians. He wanted them to grow in faith and love “more,” and then to take another step, and add another “more” to it. The exhortation being given out of a full heart, behold, God has fulfilled it to his servant, and the people have willingly followed up the apostolic precept.

But Paul had added faith to his prayers and his exhortations. Look at chapter 5:23, 24, and see if it is not so. “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” When we are sure that God will do it, it will surely be done. We miss many a blessing because we ask without faith. The apostle believed that he had the petition which he had sought of the Lord; and he received according to his faith. He who can firmly believe shall ere long fervently pour out thanksgiving. The church at Thessalonica, the child of Paul’s prayers, the child of his labors, and at last the child of his faith, obtained a remarkable degree of faith, and a singular warmth of love. The Lord give to us who are workers. The mind and spirit of Paul, and lead us to follow him in our conduct to others, and then I do not doubt that our good wishes shall be realized. If we are right ourselves, we shall see prosperity in the churches, or classes, or families whose good we seek; and as we feel bound to pray about them, we shall also feel bound to thank God concerning them.

Before I plunge into the sermon, I should like to pause, and ask whether we as Christian men and women are such that Paul could say of us, “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth.” What think you? Could your pastor bless God for you? Could your nearest and dearest Christian friend feel that he was bound to thank God always for you? If not, why not? Oh that we may rise into such a happy state that we shall be the cause of gratitude in others! It ought to be so; we ought to glorify God, causing men to see our good works, and praise our Father in heaven.

One more question: Do you think we are in such a condition that it would be safe for anybody to praise us? Would it be safe to ourselves for us to be thus commended, and made subjects of thankfulness? It takes a great deal of grace to be able to bear praise. Censure seldom does us much hurt. A man struggles up against slander, and the discouragement which comes of it may not be an unmixed evil; but praise soon suggests pride, and is therefore not an unmixed good. “As the fining-pot for silver, and the furnace for gold, so is a man to his praise.” Would it be safe if Paul were here to say good things about you as he did about the Thessalonians? Did it not prove that the brethren there were sober, well-established believers?

Once more, do you ever feel it in your heart to talk like this about your fellow-Christians? Paul himself was in a fine condition when he could thus extol his brethren. Few men are ready with hearty commendations of others. We are greedy in receiving praise, and niggardly in dispensing it. We seldom speak too kindly of one another. Now and then you hear a person say, “There is no such thing as love in the church at all.” I know that gentleman very well, and I never saw any excess of love in him. I heard one say, “Brotherly love is all a mockery; there is no reality in Christian charity” — and truly he measured his own corn very accurately. Most men would see others better if their own eyes were clearer. When a man honestly feels that his fellow-Christians are for the most part much better than himself, and that he would willingly sit at the feet of many of them, then he is himself in a healthy state. I admire the grace of God in many around me. I see their imperfections as though I did not see them. I am not looking for the thorns, but for the roses; and I see so many of them that my heart is glad, and in spirit I bless the name of the Lord.

The man who can commend the work of the Lord in others without saying a word about himself, has, by that fact, given himself a good character; his eyes must have been washed in the fountains of love; they must have been cleansed from the dust of pride, envy, and self, or he would not have so seen or so spoken. I love the text because it is an instance of a man of great grace, of a man under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, who yet delighted to speak enthusiastically of a church which certainly was far from perfect. I delight in that eye which can be a little blind to faults while it exercises a clear vision in seeing all that is good and praiseworthy towards God.

So, then, we come to our text, and the subject runs thus: for us to grow in faith is a subject for devout thanksgiving; and in the second place, it is an object for diligent endeavor. Thirdly, if we greatly grow in faith it will be the source of other growths: for as faith increases, love, patience, and every other virtue, will flourish.

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I. For us to grow and increase in faith is A Subject For Devout Thanksgiving.

Paul gives a commendation of the Thessalonian church which is exceedingly warm and hearty. One critic says the words may be regarded as somewhat extravagant, after the mode of the Apostle when he wishes to be emphatic. He writes fervidly: “Your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth.” It is an intense and unreserved commendation. As I have already said, this church was not absolutely perfect; for, because of the love of every one towards another, and their great kindness towards the poor, certain unworthy persons encroached upon their liberality. To use a very rough word, cadgers were multiplied among them, as they always are where generosity abounds. Shame that it should be so. Read chapter 3 verse 11: “For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.” There had been also among them here and there a person of loose life and of sharp business dealings, and to such he spoke in the First Epistle; but these flies in the pot of ointment did not destroy its sweetness. They were so few comparatively that Paul speaks of the whole body with approbation. When our faith shall grow and our love abound, it may be proper for a pastor to speak with unrestricted admiration of what the Lord has done.

The blessing of increased faith is of unspeakable value, and therefore praise should be largely rendered for it. Little faith will save, but strong faith is that which building up the church, which overcomes the world, which wins sinners, and which glorifies God. Little-faith is slow and feeble, and to suit his pace the whole flock travel softly. Little-faith is a wounded soldier, and has to be carried in an ambulance by the armies of the Lord; but faith which grows exceedingly, lifts the banner aloft, leads the van, meets hand to hand the foes of our Prince, and puts them to the rout. If we were invoking blessings upon a church we could scarcely ask for a larger boon than that all the brethren might be strong in faith, giving glory to God. Strong faith ventures into large endeavors for Christ, and hence missions are projected: Strong-faith carries out the projects of holy zeal, and hence daring ideals are turned into facts: Strong-faith is a shield against the darts of error, and hence she is the object of the contempt and hatred of heresy. Strong-faith builds the walls of Zion, and casts down the walls of Jericho. Strong-faith smites the Philistines hip and thigh, and makes Israel to dwell in peace. Oh that the night of Little-faith were over, and that the day of glorious faith would come! Soon would our young men see visions, and our old men dream dreams, if faith were more among us. When the Son of man cometh shall he find faith in the earth? At the revival of faith we shall see another Pentecost, with its rosining mighty wind, and its tongues of flame; but during our lack of faith we still abide in weakness, and the enemy will exact upon us. O God, we beseech thee, make thy face to shine upon us, cause our faith to grow exceedingly, and our love to abound yet more and more; then shall there be times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.

Paul thus fervently gave thanks to God because the blessing came to the church at a remarkably seasonable time. The people of Thessalonica had risen against the church and persecuted it; thus, without without were fightings, but within there were no fears; for the brethren were firm in faith and fervent in love. The church was subject to constant tribulation; but its faith grew exceedingly. Has it not often been so with the Lord’s people? Times of cloud and rain have been growing times. Pharaoh dealt hardly with Israel; but the more he oppressed them, the more they multiplied. The more the church of God is down-trodden, the more it rises into power and influence. The bush burns and is not consumed; nay, rather, it flourishes in the flame. I say not that this increase of faith is the immediate effect of persecution, but it is singularly the attendant put upon it. God knew that when his poor servants were haled to prison, when they were brought before rulers and kings for his name’s sake, when they were spoiled of their goods, they wanted increased strength, and therefore he gave it to them by grow in faith. As the persecution rose upon them like the deluge, their confidence in God rose above it, like Noah’s ark, which rose the higher the deeper the waters became. They stood fast in the day of trial, and became an example to all other churches, whether persecuted or not; and this because their faith grew exceedingly. Beloved, I pray for each member of this church that your confidence in God may rise from ebb to flood. We need it much just now. This is a time of depression in trade, when many are suffering want, land almost all find their means decreased. We need to be rich in faith, for we are growing poor in pocket. Many children of God cannot find employment wherewith to earn their bread. This is, moreover, a time of abounding vice. Perhaps never in our memories were any of us so shocked as we have been of late by the discoveries of unspeakable abominations. We need that our faith should grow exceedingly, for sin runs down our streets in torrents. It is also a period of grievous departure from the faith once delivered to the saints. Looking back to our younger days, we are amazed at the progress of error. We mourned in those days that men trifled with the doctrines of the gospel; but what shall we now say, when men deride those doctrines, and mock at them as antiquated fables? The foundations of the earth are removed, and only here and there will you find a man who beareth up the pillars thereof; therefore do we need that our faith should be exceeding steadfast. I charge you, brethren, to be rooted and grounded in faith, seeing the times are evil! I cannot speak emphatically enough upon the abounding dangers of the times: they demand of us that we be not of doubtful mind, but that we take firm hold of infallible truth, and endure as seeing him who is invisible. He that cannot say, “I believe, and am sure,” is one born out of due time.

The apostle’s commendation was meet and fit, since, if there be any growth in faith, it is the work of God’s Spirit. Faith is the gift of God in its beginnings, and it is equally the gift of God in its increase. If thou hast faith as a grain of mustard seed, God gave it thee; and if thou hast faith as a spreading tree, God has given the increase. The infancy of faith is of God, and so is its perfect manhood. In the natural world we ought as much to admire God’s hand in growth as in creation; for, indeed, the outbursting of spring, the advance of summer, and the maturity of autumn, are all a sort of creation, seen in detail. Even thus the progress of faith reveals the same power as the commencement of faith. If thou dost not look to God for more faith, thou wilt never have more faith: great faith in its strong broad current flows as much from the fountainhead of grace as in its first trickling streamlet of hope in Christ. Let God have all the glory of faith from its Alpha to its Omega. If thou be a strong man in Christ Jesus take heed that thou do not sacrifice to thine own net, nor burn incense to thine own drag, and glorify thine own experience as if thou madest thyself strong and rich in the things of God. We are bound to render all the thanks giving unto God; it is meet that it should be so. Look how the apostle puts it: “We are bound to thank God always for you.” I like the modesty of that. He does not so much say that he did thank God, though he did do so; but in deep humility he admits the debt which he could not fully pay. He did not judge his thanksgivings to be sufficient, but owned that he was still under bonds to render more praise. I rejoice to be bound with these bonds, to be bound to thank God every day, and all the day. I wear these golden fetters and count them my best ornaments. “Bind the sacrifice with cords, even with cords to the horns of the altar.” I would be bound over, not to keep the peace, but to keep praise for ever. Let the altar of incense be always burning, yea, flaming higher and higher with the sweet spices of love and gratitude. Blessed be God for what he is doing for his people, when he causes their faith to grow; for it is a blessing so immense, so incalculable, that our praises ought to rise to the height and glory of loud-sounding hallelujahs. Brethren, let us bless God for every good man we know whose faith has grown, for every holy woman whose love in the church is manifest unto all; and when we have done so, let us turn our eye to God, and say, “Lord, make me such a one that others may glorify God in me also, I am as yet sadly weak and undeveloped; make me to grow till all thy image shall be seen in me, and my fellow-Christians shall bless God concerning me.” Thus have I set growth in faith before you as a subject for thanksgiving. It is indeed a jewel worth more than both the Indies.

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II. In the second place, it is worthy to be An Object For Diligent Endeavor.

If you have it not, labor speedily to attain it. As the merchantman seeketh goodly pearls, so seek a growing faith. Covet earnestly the best gifts and the noblest graces. Never be self-satisfied, but cry with Jabez, “Oh that the Lord would bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast.”

Why? Because the proof of faith lies in the growth of faith. If thou hast a dead faith, it will always be the same; but if thou hast the faith of God’s elect, it must grow. If I heard of a child that was born some years ago, and had never grown, I should begin to guess that my friend was entrapping me, and that the child was dead from the birth. Life in its earliest stages is ever attended with growth. Brother, thou must have more faith, or we shall fear that thou hast no faith; thou must have more love, or else for sure thou hast no love at all. That which does not grow unto God does not live unto God.

We ought to have more faith because God’s truth deserves it. It ought to be the easiest thing in the world for us to trust God; to believe every word of the Lord should be an act to which we need not to be exhorted; it should be as natural as for the lungs to heave, or the heart to beat. We ought, as children of God, to believe our Father by instinct, even as young eaglets hide under the mother’s wing. We ought to exercise faith even as the eye sees, and the ear hears, because thereunto we were created by the Holy Spirit. It should be a necessity of our spiritual existence, that we must and will trust the Lord Jesus Christ yet more and more. I pray that it maybe so; for unbelief is a horrible crime. Have you doubted God? Have you in any sense mistrusted him? Have you limited the Holy One of Israel? Then continue not the slave of such a sin, but give unto God your heart’s confidence from this time henceforth, and for ever.

Moreover, we ought to grow in faith, because it will be so much for our own spiritual health, and strength, and joy. Does Little-faith know what it might be, and do, and enjoy if it could only quit its littleness? There are many ways of being a Christian, as there are many ways of being an Englishman; but all are not equally desirable. I may be an Englishman in banishment, or in the workhouse, or in prison; but I prefer to be an Englishman at home, in health, and at liberty. So you may be a Christian, and be weak, timorous, and sad; but this is not desirable; it is better to be a happy, holy, vigorous, useful Christian. As your being an Englishman does not depend on your health or wealth, so neither does your salvation turn upon the strength or joy of your faith; yet much does depend on it. Why not glorify God on the road to heaven? Why not have foretastes of it now? It is not my desire to go through the world in miserable style, singing always —

“Do I love the Lord or no?
Am I his, or am I not?”

Infinitely do I prefer so to trust God that my peace may be like a river and my righteousness like the waves of the sea. Look at the difference between Abraham, the Father of the faithful, and his nephew Lot. Lot was righteous, but he was by no means so strong in faith as Abraham, neither was he so great or so happy. Abraham is calm, bold, royal; Lot is greedy, timid, trembling. Lot, in Sodom, is with difficulty made to run for his life, while Abraham alone with God is interceding for others. Lot escapes from a burning city with the loss of all things, while Abraham dwells peacefully with the Lord who is the possessor of heaven and earth. Abraham’s faith makes him rise like some lone Alp till he touches the very heaven of God. It is well to be Lot, but it is infinitely better to be Abraham. Do seek the utmost degree of faith; for if this be in you and abound, you shall not be barren or unfruitful. Heaven lies that way. More faith, more rest of heart. To grow heavenly we must grow more believing.

The question is, How is this to be done? How is my faith to be made to grow exceedingly? I have already told you it is the work of the Holy Spirit: but still he uses us for the increase of our own faith. If we are to grow in faith certain evils are to be avoided with scrupulous care. Avoid continual change of doctrine. If you have a tree in your garden and you transplant it often, it will yield you scanty fruit. Those who are everything by turns, and nothing long, are “ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Unstable as water, they shall not excel. Those brethren who believe this to-day, and that tomorrow, and the other thing the next day, do not believe anything in downright earnest. They cannot grow; they are not rooted and grounded. Like the moon, they are always changing, and what light they have is cold and sickly. He who can change his religion has none to change. Those who prefer philosophy to Christ never knew him.

Then, again, if you had a tree, and did not transplant it, but began to dig away the earth from it, removing the ground in which it stood, you would impoverish it, and prevent its fruitfulness. I know certain professors who are giving up the ground which their souls should grow in. One doctrine after another is forsaken, till nothing is held to be important. They do not believe much now, and they are on the line to believe nothing at all. The experiment of the Frenchman who had just brought his horse to live on a straw a day when it died, is being repeated among us, faith being literally starved to death. What low diet do some men prescribe for their souls! Marrow and fatness they do not even smell at! How can your faith grow when vital truths are abandoned, or held with feeble grasp? Oh for a band of Puritan believers! Oh for a troop of spiritual Ironsides!

Next, a tree cannot grow if it is shut out from sun, and rain, and dew. Without heavenly influences we must be barren. Plant a little tree right under a great oak so that it is always in the shade, and it cannot grow; clear the big tree away, or the sapling will dwindle to death. Some men’s faith cannot grow because it is overshadowed by worldliness, by tolerated sin, by love of riches, by the pride of life, by cares of lower things. The pursuit of Christ crucified must be all-absorbing, or it will be ineffectual. To know what you believe, and to abide steadfast in it, is the way to be robust in faith. Men whose hearts are not in their trades, men who chop and change — these are the men whose names appear in the Gazette; are not many spiritual bankruptcies due to the same cause?

There are methods which the spiritual husbandman uses to cause faith to grow. First, faith grows by an increase of knowledge. Many persons doubt because they are not instructed. Some doubt whether they shall hold on to the end; they are ignorant of the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints. Some are in despair because they find evil desires arising in their hearts; they do not know the teaching of Scripture as to the two natures and the warfare between flesh and spirit. Many think themselves condemned because they cannot wholly keep the law; they forget that they are justified by faith. A great deal of unbelief vanishes when knowledge, like the morning sun, drives away the mists. Unbelief is an owl of the night, and when the sun arises, it hides away in a dark corner. Study the Word of God: give your heart to searching it; seek to get at the inner teaching, and learn the analogy of faith; practice deep sea-fishery, and you will reach those mysterious truths which are the secret riches of the soul. These truths are much despised now; but those who rejoice in them will find their faith growing exceedingly.

Better still than mere knowledge, which atone would puff you up, faith grows by experience. When a man has tried and proved a thing, then his confidence in it is largely increased. Take a promise and test it, and then you will say, “I know that is so.” When you have tested it again, and again, and again, nobody will be able to shake you, for you will say, “I have tasted and handled of this good word; I have made it my own, and I am not to be driven from it.” The experienced Christian is the established Christian. The man who proved all things is the man who holds fast that which is good. God give grace to increase our faith by knowledge and by experience!

Faith also grows by much meditation and walking with God. If you want to believe in a man, you must know him. Half the disputes between Christian people arise from their not knowing one another. There is a hymn of Mr. Sankey’s which I venture to alter thus:

“When we know each other better
The mists will roll away.”

When we know each other, our suspicions, prejudices, and dislikes will speedily disappear. I am sure it is so with our God. When you walk with him, when your communion with him is close and constant, your faith in him will grow exceedingly. Some of you, I am afraid, do not give five minutes in the day to meditation. You are in too great a hurry for that. In London life men get up in a hurry even as they went to bed in a hurry and slept in a hurry. They swallow their breakfast in a harry; they have no time to digest it; the bell is ringing at the station, and they must hurry to catch the train; they reach business in a hurry they hurry through it, and they hurry to get back from it. Men cannot think, for they have barely time to wink their eyes. As to an hour’s meditation and reading the Scriptures, and communing with God, many professors nowadays would think they committed robbery against the god of this world if they took half-an-hour out of his service to give it to fellowship with the world to come. If our faith is to grow exceedingly, we must maintain constant intercourse with God.
Another way of increasing faith is by much prayer. Pray for faith and pray with faith, thus shall thy soul become firm in its reliance on the promises. It is while we wrestle with the angel that we find out our weakness, as the sinew of our thigh shrinks; but at the same time we prove our God-given strength, since as princes we wrestle with God and prevail. Power from prayer as well as power in prayer is what we want. On our knees we gather strength, till doubting and fearing disappear.

We must be careful to render obedience to God. A man cannot trust God while he lives in sin: every act of disobedience weakens confidence in God. Faith and obedience are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God, trusts God, and he that trusts God, obeys God. He that is without faith is without works; and he that is without works is without faith. Do not oppose faith and good works to one another, for there is a blessed relationship between them; and if you abound in obedience your faith shall grow exceedingly.

Again, faith grows by exercise. The man who uses little faith he has will get more faith; but he that says, “I have not enough faith for such and such work,” and therefore shrinks back, shall become more and more timid, till at last, like a coward, he runs away. Go forward with thy little faith, and to thy surprise it shall have grown as thou hast advanced. Accomplish much, and then endeavor something more, and something more. I have often used an illustration taken from a person who teaches the art of growing taller. I do not believe in that art: we shall not add a cubit to our stature just yet. But part of this professor’s exercise is, that in the morning, when you get up, you are to reach as high as ever you can, and aim a little higher every morning, though it be only the hundredth part of an inch. By that means you are to grow. This is so with faith. Do all you can, and then do a little more; and when you can do that, then do a little more than you can. Always have something in hand that is greater then your present capacity. Grow up to it, and when you have grown up to it, grow more. By many little additions a great house is built. Brick by brick up rose the pyramid. Believe and yet believe. Trust and have further trust. Hope shall become faith and faith shall ripen to full assurance and perfect confidence in God Most High.

This then, brethren, is what I commend to you. May God the Holy Ghost help you all to go from faith to faith.

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III. Finally, this growing faith becomes The Centre Of Other Christian Graces.

“Your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth.” A firm faith in gospel verities will make us love one another for each doctrine of truth is an argument for love. If you believe in God as having chosen his people, you will love his elect; if you believe in Christ as having made atonement for his people, you will love his redeemed, and seer: their peace. If you believe in the doctrine of regeneration, and know that we must be born again, you will love the regenerate. Whatever doctrine it is that is true, it ministereth toward the love of the heart. I am sure you will find a deep, firm, fervent unity with one another in those that hold the truth in the love of it. If you are not filled with brotherly love, it must be because you are not firmly believing that truth which worketh toward love.

Firmness in the faith ministers toward the unity of the church. The church at Thessalonica did not have a secession, or a split, as some call it: the church at Thessalonica did not divide under the pressure of persecution: they adhered closely to one another, all the more they were hammered, the more they were consolidated. They were welded into one solid mass by the hammer of persecution and the fire of love, and the reason was because they each one held the truth with all firmness. I am always afraid of a church that is made up of mixed elements, when some are Calvinistic, some Arminian, some Baptist and some Paedobaptist. When the minister who holds them together dies, they will disintegrate. When certain reasons that now make them cohere cease to exist, the church will divide like quicksilver, each little bit breaking into smaller bits, and so they will go rolling about in innumerable factions. But given a church that holds the truth firmly, with deep and strong faith, then if the pastor dies, or twenty pastors die, they believe in a Pastor who lives for ever, and whoever comes or does not come, the truth they hold, holds them in living unity. I cannot imagine a greater blessing for you as a church in years to come than for each man and woman to be intelligently established in the truth you have received. Who shall separate the men who are one in Christ by the grip of mighty faith? I commend firm faith to you with all my heart, as the source of love and the means of unity in years to come.

This faith breeds patience in men, and patience assists love. Truth to tell, God’s people are, some of them, a singular tribe. A countryman was accustomed to say that if God had not chosen his people before they were born, he would never have done so afterwards. There is truth in that saying. Therefore if a man loves his fellow-Christians as an act of mere nature, he will often feel himself baffled; he will say, “They acted very unkindly to me. Who can love people that are so ill-mannered, so ungrateful?” But when faith is strong, you will say, “What is that to me? I love them for Christ’s-sake. If I am to have a reward, it shall come from my Lord Christ. As for God’s people, I love them despite their faults; over the head of the mistaken judgments they form of me, I love all my brethren.” The way to make men better is not to be always censuring them, but to love them better. The quickest way to win a sinner, is to love him to Christ; the quickest way to sanctify a believer is to love him into purity and holiness Only faith can do this. May faith, therefore, grow exceedingly; for faith by working patience helps us to bear with others. If there be anything grand, and good, and desirable, anything Christ-like, anything God-like, the way to it is to let your faith grow exceedingly. If this church is to become a missionary church more and more, as I pray God it may, your faith must grow exceedingly. If you are to stand fast as a break-water in these times of departure from the faith once delivered to the saints, your faith must grow exceedingly. If you are to be made a blessing to this wicked city, and shine like a lighthouse over this sea of London, your faith must grow exceedingly: If God has brought you as a church, together with other churches, to the kingdom for such a time as this; if you are to achieve your destiny, and work for God and glorify his name, your faith must grow exceedingly. The man who is timorous and faint-hearted, let him go home; he is not fit for the day of battle. The age requires heroes. The chicken-hearted are out of their place in this perilous century. You that know what you know, and believe what you believe, whose tramp is that of fearless warriors, you have a high calling; fulfill it. You shall see what God will do for you and with you; and it shall be written in the pages of eternity that at such a time the church grew in its faith, and therefore God used it for his glory. May it be so. May those among us who have no faith be led to Jesus. O believers, try your own faith by speaking to unbelievers as they go away this morning: this afternoon in the Sunday-school, prove your faith by winning your dear children for Christ: try your faith every day in the week by airing sinners no rest until they come to Christ. God bless you each one for his name’s sake. Amen.

2 Thessalonians. 2:13:
TITLES OF HONOR

NO. 3300
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 2ND, 1912,
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON,
ON THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 5TH, 1886.

Brethren beloved of the Lord.” — 2 Thessalonians. 2:13.

THE verse from which my text is taken begins thus, “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord,” so I will commence my discourse by saying that we might often find comfort and relief from gloomy apprehensions by associating with those who are “beloved of the Lord.” If you read the chapter through, you will perceive that Paul’s mind was greatly exercised concerning the perilous times which were to come to the Church of Christ. He wrote to warn the Thessalonians concerning the coming of antichrist, and then said that there were some to whom God would send “strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteous.” The apostle’s heart was so heavily burdened with that sorrowful theme that he was glad to turn his pen to quite a different subject, and therefore he wrote, “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord.” Just now, there is a general opinion that the growth of Popery in this land is most alarming, and that the declension of vital godliness is very serious; and while we do not fully agree with the alarmists, we are obliged to admit that these are times of peculiar peril. The tendency of those who look only at the black side of the question is to fret and worry, and to feel that God’s Church is in danger. Brethren, I would not have you shut your eyes to the dangers by which we are surrounded, but I would not have you dispirited by them. There are still many saints left in the world; there are still are who, like those in Sardis, have not defiled their garments; there are still some who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth; there are still many earnest and faithful testifiers to the truth as it is in Jesus; so, although you may mourn over the evils of the times, you are bound to give thanks always to God that there are some “brethren beloved of the Lord” still left upon the face of the earth. David spoke of the saints that were on the earth in his day as “the excellent, in whom is all my delight;” and David’s Lord, our blessed Master, no doubt found no small solace, as a man, in associating with Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus, for he seems to have withdrawn from the multitude who mocked and scoffed, and to have retired into the privacy of domestic piety, and there to have found joy and comfort in the midst of the happy family that was so closely attached to him. There are still in the world many of the precious sons of Zion who are comparable to fine gold, and concerning whom the Lord says, “They shall be mine in that day when I make up my jewels.” Be wise, my brethren, and let it be said of you as it was said of them of old, “They that feared the Lord spake often one to another,” for there is comfort to be found in the society of God’s saints, let the times be never so perilous’ and dark.

But I would advance a step beyond this preliminary observation, and remark that, when things are outwardly not as the children of God would like them to be, and when there is much within them that is not as it should be, they may often derive much solace by reflecting upon their true condition in the sight of God in connection with the Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren and sisters in Christ, I know that many of you have grievous trials to endure; and I am well aware that, if you look within, you will see much that will distress you. You will perceive that the old Adam still lurks within your, and that notwithstanding all the force that has been brought against him by divine grace, he is still far too vigorous. It is true that some of you have also to suffer from poverty, and that your lot is a very hard one; yet we are bound to, give thanks alway to God for you, and you are yourselves bound to give thanks on your own behalf because notwithstanding your poverty, and notwithstanding your infirmity, and notwithstanding even the sin of which you have such cause to mourn, you are still “beloved of the Lord,” and in the person of Jesus Christ you are “without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. When faith recognizes the vital union which exists between Christ and the soul, and realizes the consequent blessedness and security of the saint, then it cries, “I am bound to give thanks alway unto God, for I am still beloved of the Lord notwithstanding and that cause me often to weep and mourn.”
It is my purpose, this evening, to invite all of you who are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ to contemplate your true standing in the sight of God, that you may be uplifted from the dunghills of your complainings, shake off the ashes of your doubts, unwind the sackcloth of your fears, put on your beautiful garments of holy rejoicing, and sing aloud unto him through whose grace you are made worthy to be called “ brethren beloved of the Lord.” There are two topics on which I have to speak; first, the titles mentioned in the text; and, secondly, the wearers of those titles.

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I. First, then, let us think for a while of The Titles Mentioned In The Text: “Brethren” and “beloved of the Lord.”

“Brethren“ is a very special word, the utterance of it awakens an echo in every believer’s heart. It is naturally a silver word, but spiritually God has transmuted it into gold. I do not wonder that a certain sect has appropriated this title, yet we equally claim the name of “brethren” as our own, and we share it with all who are the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. The title “brethren” is very hallowed and very precious to us; let us try to find out what it implies.
First, it indicates a common nature. Whatever opinions any may hold concerning the unity of the human race, there can be no difference of opinion about the unity of nature in those who are born of the same parents. Where should I expect to find a person more in sympathy with myself than; my own brother? Where should I expect to find, beneath the cope of heaven, another soul that should be more akin to mine than the soul of my brother? If there be not peace and love between us, where, can they be found ? However much we may differ from one another in some respects, there must be certain lineaments of feature or traits of character in which we are alike. But even if this is not so naturally, it certainly is so spiritually. All believers are alike partakers of the diving nature; we are all equally begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The inner life of all true Christians is the same; there is not a Baptist life and a Methodist life, or a Nonconformist life and a Church of England life. The diving life is one wherever it is bestowed. The life of my hand and the life of my foot are one and the same, pulsating from the same central source, and maintained by the same power; and the life of God is the same in all the members of the mystical body of Christ. This is something more than brotherhood that idea does not cover the whole truth although it includes much of it. There is a distinct unity of nature in all the saints of the living God. Hence, brethren, I never can tolerate any attempts to limit communion between those who, are really one in Christ. It always seems to me that it would be an infraction of the divine law if I were to say to a brother in Christ that I could not commune with him because of certain minor matters in which we do not quite agree. Besides, whether I am willing to do so or not, I cannot help communing with him, for he is a, part of Christ’s mystical body of which I also am a part; so that, unless I could myself get out of that body, or he could get out of it, which is impossible for either of us, I must remain in spiritual communion with him whatever I may do concerning the outward and visible symbols of that communion. Nay, more than that, if I could go to heaven, and that brother still tarried here upon the earth, our communion would not be broken, for Dr. Watts was right when he sang, —

“The saints on earth, and all the dead,
But one communion make;
All join in Christ, their living Head,
And of his grace partake.”

The term “brethren” also implies a common experience. The brethren in an earthly family have the same parents, they live in the same house, they partake of the some food, they share all the privileges and varied experiences of the some household. So is it with those who are of the household of faith, the family of God. Their experiences may vary even as one child in the home differs from another, but there is much more similarity than there is diversity in the experiences of the living children of the living God. We have all been broken in pieces, we have all been bound up, we have all been emptied, we have all been brought to the cross, we have all been led by one Spirit to drink of the same precious truth. We have not all subscribed to the same creed, yet in substance and in effect the doctrine of all the children of God is to a large extent identical. They rely for salvation upon the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and therein they are all one:. Their pilgrim path is through the same wilderness, they eat the same manna, they drink of the same Rock, they are led by the same cloudy-fiery pillar, and they come at last to the same heavenly Canaan, and go no more out for ever. They are and they must be one, not only because they are one in nature, but because the various processes through which that nature has to pass are so largely the same.

More than this, the title “brethren” implies that we love one another. It is said that there is a lack of love in certain churches that profess to be Christian. Well, perhaps there is; I am not gain” to be an accuser of the brethren in that respect; but I believe there is a great deal more love existing among Christians than many persons imagine. Possibly, those who say there is a lack of love in our midst judge by the state of their own hearts, while those who really love the saints find that the saints also love them. Do not suppose, dear friends, because the preacher has sometimes to proclaim very unpalatable truths, and because he sometimes delivers his message in stern tones, that therefore he has not a tender heart. Fidelity to the truth requires that it should be spoken in such a fashion as to secure public attention, and this involves the use of great plainness of speech, and a manner of delivery which some may resent; and the man who honestly and fearlessly acts thus is more acceptable to God, and has far greater and truer love in his heart than the one who says, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. As I hate Satan and all his works, so my soul hates every false doctrine in this church and in every church; but as I love God and all that God loves, so am I desirous to love every child of the loving God; and I will further say that, not only do I desire to love every child of God, but I think I really do so. Do you not feel, beloved brethren and sisters in Christ, whenever you meet a believer in Jesus, and begin to talk of the things that belong to his kingdom, you have fellowship with him in heart and spirit even though you had never seen him before? When we talk of Jesus, our love to one another soon begins to flow. The true basis of our communion with one another is that we are there in Christ Jesus, and that union manifests itself in love to all who are, as our text puts it, “brethren beloved of the Lord.”

This word “brethren” is a far-reaching word, for it further implies that all Christians have a common Father. Let all believers rejoice that they can unite in saying, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” There is a straight line from my heart to the heart of God, and so there is from your heart, my brother or my sister in Christ, so our Father’s heart is our common meeting place. We were there in purpose before this world was created, we are there by faith at this moment, and we shall be there by blessed experience when this world has passed away, and time shall be no more. Having the same Father, we share equally in that Father’s love. We may not always feel the same love to all our brethren and sisters in Christ, but God’s love to us and his love to them knows no variation. I trust you all realize that our Father is quite impartial in his love to all his children, and that all who are truly members of his family through their union to Christ shall have an equal share of it. Hence the tie of Christian brotherhood become a very solemn and a very precious thing, for it not only binds us fast to our Father in heaven, but it also binds us closely to one another. I pray that the members of this church may always act toward each other as brethren in Christ. I wish that amongst all the saints there might be a sort of spiritual free-masonry so that, whenever we might meet, we should recognize one another by the holy grip of Christian love. There are certain sacred passwords that are common to all the saints, and I will defy the hypocrite or the worldling to pronounce them aright; or if he should be able to utter them with his lips, he can never really know their meaning in his heart. There are certain experiences that cannot be learned without the teaching of the Holy Spirit. There is a certain way of speaking about Christ that can never be acquired as a parrot learns to talk. There is a certain ring which God gives to his gold which is never bestowed upon baser metal, and there is a certain something about a true child of God which enables him to recognize others of the some family, and which also enable; them to recognize him; so that, when they come together, their hearts leap up at the thought that they are “brethren beloved of the Lord.”

Perhaps I have lingered too long over that first title, so now I must turn to the second one, “beloved of the Lord.“ You do need my explanations here, for the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle to give the divine explanation of this title of honour. Turn to the verse from which our text is taken, and you will see, that the first thought concerning the Lord’s love to you is, that of its antiquity: “We are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you.” You always were “beloved of the Lord.” He did not begin to love you when you first repented and turned to him. He saw you in the glass of his eternal purpose, and he loved you then. That love he proved many centuries before you knew anything about it, for hits beloved Son, Jesus Christ your Lord and Saviour, had redeemed you eighteen hundred years before you were born; he gave the fullest proof of his affection for you in laying down his life for you. There was nothing in you to merit this wondrous self-sacrifice on the part of Christ; on the contrary, you were his enemies, you profaned his holy name, and despised his sacrifice after you learned who he had done. But he gave himself for you because from eternity he had loved you with a love that would not be turned from its purpose by anything that, he foresaw would be done by you.

In addition to the antiquity of the Lord’s love to you, think also of its richness. The apostle says, “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation.” Have you grasped the full meaning of that word salvation, beloved? It does not merely mean salvation from hell, though that is included in it; but it means salvation from sin, salvation from the guilt and power of sin, salvation from your doubts, your fears, your troubles, salvation from that besetting infirmity of yours, salvation from the devil s dominion over you, starvation in all its fulness from first to last. To all this “God hath from the beginning chosen you” who are “brethren beloved of the Lord.” This is no mean inheritance, no slender portion, no slight boon; indeed, it is not easy to find words in which adequately to describe all that God has done for you in choosing you “to salvation.” It will need all eternity to fully explain the meaning of that great word. You are indeed “beloved of the Lord” in having such a priceless portion as this bestowed upon you.

Notice, next, the wisdom, of the Lord’s love to you: “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” Had it been possible for you to have had salvation without sanctification, it would have been a curse to you instead of a blessing. If such a thing were possible, I cannot conceive of a more lamentable condition than for a man to, have the happiness of salvation without the holiness of it; happily, it is not possible. If you could be saved from the consequences of sin, but not from the sin itself, and its power and pollution, it would be no blessing to you. But the salvation to which God has from the beginning chosen you is inseparably linked with the cleansing and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, who operates within you through the instrumentality of faith. Your belief of the truth has a purifying influence upon your whole life, and makes you desire to follow in the footprints of your dear Lord and Saviour. Thus God shows his wisdom in the choice of the means which he blesses to your salvation, blessing you as much by the means as by the salvation itself, blessing you as much in the road as in the end to which it leads. You are indeed “beloved of the Lord” in having the Spirit of God thus dwelling in you, and bestowing upon you that precious gift of faith by which you are enabled to believe the truth.

Observe, too, in order to increase your joy in the Lord, the signs of this love. In the next verse, the apostle goes on to say, “whereunto he called you by our gospel.” Do you not remember, you who are “beloved of the Lord,” when you were called by the gospel ? Then was the eternal purpose of God fulfilled in your experience. Go back in thought to the time of your espousal to Christ. Recall the sound of the silver trumpet that then brought you into gospel liberty. You had been to the house of God hundreds of times before when that same trumpet was ringing out the glad refrain, —

“The year of jubilee is come;
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home;” —

but your ears and heart had been sealed to the message. But that day the Lord opened your heart, and unstopped your ears, so that you were numbered among the happy people who heard the joyful sound. Your calling proved your election, and it stands to you still as gracious evidence of God’s eternal love to you. Happy are we, too, if we can say, with the apostle, “whereunto he called you by our gospel.” I know that, however many may preach the gospel better than I do, there is no one who can preach a better gospel than the one I preach, for it is that gospel which “is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” “Our gospel” is the best of gospels, the richest of gospels, it cannot be excelled, it cannot be equalled; in fact, it is the only gospel that is worthy of the name. You remember how Paul wrote to the Galatians, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from, him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; “ that is to say, it is not another gospel, and it brings only a curse both upon him who preaches it and those who receive it; but blessed are ye who have been called unto, salvation by “our gospel.”

There is yet one, more sign of God’s eternal love which is to be seen by us in the future: “to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We who believe in Jesus are so “beloved of the Lord” that he will never be satisfied until we share his glory. So be glad in the Lord, and rejoice in the glorious prospect that he has set before you. God was not content to choose you to happiness here, but he has also chosen you to happiness hereafter; he was not satisfied with making a little heav