CHAPTER VII.

POSITIVE PRECEPTS IN 1 THESS. V. 16—23.

H

ERE we have another set of Positive Precepts which may throw a new "light on our path." The Apostle has been exhorting his beloved Thessalonian converts to be " ready' for the coming of the Lord, putting on the Christian armour, of which he had written more fully in the Epistle to the Ephesians, and seeking to encourage one another in brotherly love. Then follows a series of short and concise precepts, each full of meaning. Let us take them one by one, and consider them more closely.

"Rejoice evermore" is the first note sounded; and the same was written to the Philippians later, from Rome, when the hand that penned it was chained. What a lesson for Christians!

But many will say, "How can we carry out this precept when we are bowed down with some crushing sorrow, or tortured with intense anxiety, or suffering under sickness which affects

the mental as well as bodily state? When nerves are unstrung and the poor weak frame prostrated by pain or languor, we may meekly endure, but how is joy possible?"

But such persons mistake the meaning of the Apostle's precept. "Rejoicing" cannot mean being always in a state of exultant jubilation of spirits St. Paul himself speaks of writing "with much affliction and anguish, with many tears" (2 Cor. ii. 4); and St. Peter tells his converts "that if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold tribulation" (1 Peter i. 7).

The joy spoken of, then, must be consistent with occasional " affliction" and "heaviness," "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." What the Apostle clearly means, is that the believer should remember at all times and keep in mind that however sorely tried, he has a source of rejoicing which can never be taken away; that the sense of being pardoned and accepted in Christ, loved with an everlasting love, and an heir of unspeakable future bliss, is a blessing he would not exchange for all the joys of the happiest life on earth.

And the more this is realized, the deeper and fuller the under current of real comfort and blessing, the more frequently it will rise to the surface, even in the midst of trouble,

We must not write bitter things against ourselves for mourning when in affliction; but neither must we allow sadness to take possession of our minds as if we had no hope in the future.

It has been observed that "love is the sweetness of the fruit, joy the colour." The sweetness and colour of fruits go together, in general; and both depend mainly on the fruit growing in the sunshine. If we desire to grow in love and joy, let us seek to dwell in the sunshine of Christ's presence.

Pray without ceasing: in everything give thanks." To "rejoice evermore" rightly, we must also carry out the next precept, "Pray without ceasing." It is the praying Christian who will ever be the rejoicing one. But what is " unceasing prayer"? Literally, it could not be carried out on this earth. Many sincere but unenlightened persons have tried to compass it by prayers fixed for so many times in the day, or relays. of worshippers in perpetual adoration, or "contemplative orders," whose prayers should make up for the deficiencies of others. But all these are attempts quite wide of the mark, and commonly end, as all such attempts do, in mere formalism. To "pray without ceasing," is simply to bring the spirit of prayer into our

daily life; to make prayer part of our life-work, knitting earth to heaven, as has been well remarked, "by a golden chain of supplications and heavenward thoughts." It is to bring our daily tasks, our letters, whatever work we have in hand, to the Lord for His blessing-to seek wisdom from Him, like Nehemiah before the King, in a secret "cry to Him," in all our dealings with others to lay all our cares and perplexities at His feet, and encounter all difficulties, great or small, with the weapon of "all-prayer," and accompany it with “giving of thanks." "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving." Never let us forget to unite our prayer with thanks for prayer answered -with remembrance of the lovingkindness which has been "ever with us,"-" counting up our mercies." How often is the comparatively prosperous Christian put to shame by the thankfulness of some afflicted sufferer who was more ready to praise for small alleviations than most others for unnumbered blessings! Let us see that we are ready to act on the words of the Psalmist, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me." It was when Jehoshaphat and his army "began to sing and praise," that the Lord put their enemies to flight.

The two next warnings appear closely con

nected, "Quench not the Spirit,” and “Despise not prophesyings." At the time they were written, the infant Christian Church was ministered to by some who were endowed with visible gifts of the Spirit, and “prophecy" was one of those gifts. The Apostles could speak with authority as the "oracles of God." But we have no infallible mode of judging whether Christian teachers are speaking by the distinct and direct power of the Holy Ghost, or of themselves. For though we cannot doubt that the promised help of that Blessed Spirit is granted to all true Christians, both in their daily lives and in teaching others, still we are not given the power of distinguishing between the thoughts inspired by the Holy Ghost and the movements of the human mind, either in ourselves or others. We can only test the work by its fruits, in conduct, and by its conformity to the standard of Scripture, in teaching and preaching.

The most practical way, then, of using the Apostle's warning now, is in watching against the ways of " quenching the Spirit" in ourselves. We may be very sure that any movement of the soul which leads us to prayer, not formal, but earnest and real,-to a desire to study the Word of God, to a longing to win others to Christ, -to a humbling sense of sin and desire for