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gather His servants into His rest. That great thought seems to have
excited some of the hotter heads in Thessalonica, and to have led to a
general feverishness of unwholesome expectancy of the near approach or
actual dawn of the day. This letter is intended as a supplement to the
former Epistle, and to damp down the fire which had been kindled. It,
therefore, dwells with emphasis on the necessary preliminaries to the
dawning of that day of the Lord, and throughout seeks to lead the
excited spirits to patience and persistent work, and to calm their
feverish expectations. This purpose colours the whole letter.

Another striking characteristic of it is the frequent gushes of short
prayer for the Thessalonians with which the writer turns aside from the
main current of his thoughts. In its brief compass there are four of
these prayers, which, taken together, present many aspects of the
Christian life, and hold out much for our hopes and much for our
efforts. The prayer which I have read for our text is the first of
these. The others, the consideration of which will follow on subsequent
occasions, are these:--'Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our
Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation
and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and stablish you in
every good word and work.' And, again, 'The Lord direct your hearts into
the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.' And, finally,
summing up all, 'The Lord of peace Himself give you peace always, by all
means.' So full, so tender, so directed to the highest blessings, and to
those only, are the wishes of a true Christian teacher, and of a true
Christian friend, for those to whom He ministers and whom He loves. It
is a poor love that cannot express itself in prayer. It is an earthly
love which desires for its objects anything less than the highest of
blessings.

I. Notice, first, here, the divine test for Christian lives: 'We pray
for you, that God would count you worthy of your calling.'

Now, it is to be observed that this 'counting worthy' refers mainly to a
future estimate to be made by God of the completed career and permanent
character brought out of earth into another state by Christian souls.
That is obvious from the whole strain of the letter, which I have
already pointed out as mainly being concerned with the future coming to
judgment of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is also, I think, made probable by
the fac