For the rest, brethren, pray for us, that the word of God may run, and may be glorified, even as among you;

“"Many rod-bearers there are, but few Bacchi," according to Plato. "For many are called, but few chosen." "Knowledge is not in all," says the apostle. "And pray that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith." ...For the many demand demonstration as a pledge of truth, not satisfied with the bare salvation by faith.”

“"Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as also it is with you." He indeed had prayed for them, that they might be stablished; and now he asks of them, entreating them to pray for him, not that he may not incur danger, for to this he was appointed, but that "the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as also it is with you." And the request is accompanied with commendation. "Even as also it is with you."”

“He also says to the Thessalonians, "For the rest, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run and may be glorified even as among you; that we may be delivered from troublesome and evil men, for not all men have faith." How else could the word of God run and be glorified except by the conversion to the faith of those to whom it is preached, when Paul says to present believers, "Even as among you"? Surely he knows that this is accomplished by him to whom he wishes prayer to be made that this may be so, and also that he may be delivered through their prayers from troublesome and evil men. It is for this reason that he adds, "For not all men have faith," as if to say, "The word of God will not be glorified among all, even though you are praying" because those who were likely to believe were the ones "who were ordained to life everlasting," predestined "to the adoption of children through Jesus Christ to himself" and chosen "in him before the foundation of the world." No one is so unlearned, so carnal, so slow of wit as not to see that God does what he commands us to ask him to do.”

“Above he instructed them concerning the things to come at the last times; here he instructs them concerning certain matters which they were to carry out in particular. Here first the instruction is set down; second, the conclusion of the epistle, at the place, but he himself, the God of peace. Likewise, first he admonishes them how they should conduct themselves toward him; second, he shows what confidence he himself has concerning them, at the place, but faithful is God; third, how they should conduct themselves toward others who walk disorderly, at the place, but we declare to you. Concerning the first, first he sets down the prayer; second, what is to be asked in the prayer, at the place, that the word. He says therefore, as for the rest, namely because you are sufficiently instructed, pray for us. Rom. XV, 30: I beseech you therefore, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the charity of the Holy Spirit, that you help me in your prayers for me to God. And this is owed as a debt, because those who are cared for have a care for the good of the flock. Hebr. XIII, 7: remember your prelates, who have spoken to you the word of God, et cetera. Second, he shows what is to be asked, namely that the impediments to preaching be removed; and therefore he says that the word of God may run, because it cannot be totally impeded, but only delayed. Therefore he says, may it run. Col. IV, 3: praying at the same time also for us, that the Lord may open to us a door of speech, to speak the mystery of Christ. Likewise, that it may be made clear, namely through a clear and lucid exposition, among the unlearned and the wise, just as also among you. Rom. I, 14: I am a debtor to the wise and to the unwise. Prov. XIV, v. 6: the teaching of the prudent is easy. Likewise through miracles, which are demonstrations of the faith. For every science is made clear through demonstrations, and this is to be prayed for. Act. IV, 29: grant to your servants to speak your word with all confidence, et cetera. Likewise, second, prayer must be made for the preachers, that they be freed from troublesome and evil men, namely the false apostles, who are troublesome in disputing, evil in seducing. Or from persecutors who have devised iniquity in their heart. And the reason for the petition is that not all have faith, because although they may seem to have it, they do not however have the true faith. Is. LIII, v. 1: Lord, who has believed our report? Rom. X, 16: not all obey the Gospel. Then, when he says, but faithful, etc., he sets down the confidence which he has concerning them. And first he does this; second, he prays for them, at the place, but the Lord, et cetera. Now confidence depends on him who gives grace, and on men who are of free will, that they be directed in grace. He says, first, on the part of God: I trust that you will pray, and you will be heard, because the Lord is faithful, who will confirm you in the good things which he has worked in you. I Petr., last chapter: he will perfect, confirm, and establish, et cetera. And he will guard against evil, both of fault and of punishment. If however they should fall into the evils of punishment, it is for their good, because to those who love God all things work together unto good, as is said in Rom. VIII, 28. Second, on their part he says, but we trust concerning you, brothers, namely from the grace which you have received, but in the Lord, not in your own strength. Hebr. VI, 9: but we trust of you, most beloved, better things, and nearer to salvation, et cetera. Because whatever we command, etc., that is, because you will persevere. Ex. XXIV, 7: all the words which the Lord has spoken, we will do. Then, when he says, but the Lord, etc., he prays for them, saying, but may the Lord direct, namely that you may arrive. Now it belongs to man to prepare the soul, and to the Lord to govern the tongue, as is said in Prov. XVI, 1. And a little after: the heart of man disposes his way, but it belongs to the Lord to direct his steps, namely to the appointed prize. And therefore he says, may he direct our hearts, not only our outward works; and this in the charity of God. Now there are two things by which we advance on the way of salvation, namely the good things which we do, and the evils which we endure. But works are not good, unless directed to the end of charity. I Tim. c. I, 5: the end of the commandment is charity, et cetera. Likewise neither is patience good, except through Christ. Lc. XXI, 19: in your patience you will possess your souls. Matth. V, 11: blessed will you be, when men shall curse you. And therefore he says, and the patience of Christ, that is, the endurance of evils on account of Christ, or after his example. I Petr. II, 21: Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, et cetera. Then, when he says, but we declare, etc., he shows how they should conduct themselves toward disorderly men. And first he sets forth the edict; second, he expounds it, at the place, for you yourselves, etc.; third, he shows the necessity of setting forth the edict, at the place, we have heard. He says therefore: thus you live, and thus I trust; but because there are certain evil men among you, we declare, etc., namely to the perfect, in the name, et cetera. For this belongs to the prelate. Is. LVIII, 1: declare to my people their wicked deeds, and to the house of Jacob their sins, et cetera. Ez. III, 18: I will require his blood at your hand. And the edict follows, saying that you withdraw, et cetera. From this it was introduced into the Church that evil men be avoided, and this lest the weaker be defiled by association with them. Eccli. XIII, 1: he who touches pitch will be defiled by it. I Cor. c. V, 6: a little leaven corrupts the whole lump. Likewise for the healing of the sinner, that shame may turn to his salvation. Eccli. IV, 25: there is a shame that brings sin, and there is a shame that brings glory. Nor should this be done indiscriminately, but with deliberation and maturity. I Cor. V, 4: you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of the Lord Jesus, to deliver such a man to Satan for destruction, et cetera. And thus here it is said, that you withdraw, et cetera. Nor should excommunication be made, except for some sin, because here it is said, disorderly, et cetera. And this is when something is evil in itself, and against the order of natural law, as the Gloss expounds. I Cor. XIV, 40: that all things be done honestly and according to order among you. Rom. XIII, 1: all things that are, are ordained by God. Or because it is forbidden, and against the teaching of the Church. Hence he says, and not according to the tradition, et cetera. Above, in the second chapter of this epistle: hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle. Then, when he says, for you yourselves, etc., he expounds with respect to the last thing he had said, namely, according to the traditions, showing what this tradition is, and how they received it from him. Now this tradition is that they should not be idle, or meddlesome. And first he shows how they received it by example; second, how by word. Likewise, first he shows that he avoided restlessness; second, how; third, he assigns the reason. He says therefore, concerning the tradition which they received, you know, etc., because prelates are to be imitated not in all things, but in those things which are according to the rule of Christ. I Cor. IV, 16 and c. XI, 1: be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ. And in what? Because we were not restless among you. For the Thessalonians were very generous. I Thess. IV, 9: concerning brotherly charity we have no need to write to you, for you yourselves have learned, et cetera. And for this reason the poor lived idly, and out of idleness gave themselves to undue works, not pertaining to them. And this was restlessness. And therefore he says, because we were not restless, et cetera. I Thess. IV, v. 11: give your effort, that you may be quiet, et cetera. Likewise, neither did we eat bread for nothing, etc., because he worked with the works of his hands. Act. XX, 34 it is said: you yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who are with me. And Prov., last chapter: she does not eat the bread of idleness. Num. XVI, 15: you know that I have not even taken so much as an ass from them, et cetera. But in labor and weariness. Not a little, but night and day, that is, continually, because at times he had to preach and teach, and he spent the remainder in labor, lest we should burden any of you. II Cor. XII, 13: what is it in which you had less than the rest, except that I did not burden you? Then, when he says, not as though, etc., he assigns the reason for his manual labor. Where he first excludes a false cause, second sets down the true one. A false cause indeed would be if someone were to say that it was not lawful for him to accept support from them. And therefore he says, not as though we did not have, rather we did have, the power of living from the support of the faithful. I Cor. IX, 13: those who serve the altar, partake with the altar. Matth. X, v. 10: the laborer is worthy of his food. I Cor. c. IX, 14: so also the Lord has ordained for those who preach the Gospel, to live from the Gospel. And thus from the Gospel there are two kinds of men having the power to live from the support of others, namely those who serve the altar, and preachers. Then, when he says, but that you, etc., he sets down the true cause. For we find a twofold cause why the apostle labored with his hands: one among the Corinthians; another here. For those were avaricious, and would have taken it hard, as is said there. But the cause why he labored here was the idleness of these. And therefore he says, that we might give a pattern, etc., namely of laboring. I Tim. IV, 12: be an example to the faithful in word, in conduct, in charity, in faith, in chastity. I Petr. V, 3: made a pattern of the flock. Another cause is given in the Gloss, I Cor. IV, namely when we do not find one who gives to us, and then he labored. A fourth cause was, that like the monks of Egypt they should not be idle. Eccli. XXXIII, 29: idleness has taught much evil. Hence those who have no employment in duty, or study, or reading, live idly at great peril.”

“In these words observe, I. The apostle desires the prayers of his friends: Finally, brethren, pray for us, Th2 3:1. He always remembered them in his prayers, and would not have them forget him and his fellow-labourers, but bear them on their hearts at the throne of grace. Note, 1. This is one way by which the communion of saints is kept us, not only by their praying together, or with one another, but by their praying for one another when they are absent one from another. And thus those who are at great distance may meet together at the throne of grace; and thus those who are not capable of doing or receiving any other kindness may yet this way do and receive real and very great kindness. 2. It is the duty of people to pray for their ministers; and not only for their own pastors, but also for all good and faithful ministers. And, 3. Ministers need, and therefore should desire, the prayers of their people. How remarkable is the humility, and how engaging the example, of this great apostle, who was so mighty in prayer himself, and yet despised not the prayers of the meanest Christian, but desired an interest in them. Observe, further, what they are desired and directed to pray for; namely, (1.) For the success of the gospel ministry: That the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, Th2 3:1. This was the great thing that Paul was most solicitous about. He was more solicitous that God's name might be sanctified, his kingdom advanced, and his will done, than he was about his own daily bread. He desired that the word of the Lord might run (so it is in the original), that it might get ground, that the interest of religion in the world might go forward and not backward, and not only go forward, but go apace. All the forces of hell were then, and still are, more or less, raised and mustered to oppose the word of the Lord, to hinder its publication and success. We should pray, therefore, that oppositions may be removed, that so the gospel, may have free course to the ears, the hearts, and the consciences of men, that it may be glorified in the conviction and conversion of sinners, the confutation, of gainsayers, and the holy conversation of the saints. God, who magnified the law, and made it honourable, will glorify the gospel, and make that honourable, and so will glorify his own name; and good ministers and good Christians may very well be contented to be little, to be any thing, to be nothing, if Christ be magnified and his gospel be glorified. Paul was now at Athens, or, as some think, at Corinth, and would have the Thessalonians pray that he might have as good success there as he had at Thessalonica, that it might be as well with others even as it was with them. Note, If ministers have been successful in one place, they should desire to be successful in every place where they may preach the gospel. (2.) For the safety of gospel ministers. He asks their prayers, nor for preferment, but for preservation: That we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, Th2 3:2. Note, Those who are enemies to the preaching of the gospel, and persecutors of the faithful preachers of it, are unreasonable and wicked men. They act against all the rules and laws of reason and religion, and are guilty of the greatest absurdity and impiety. Not only in the principles of atheism and infidelity, but also in the practice of the vice and immorality, and especially in persecution, there is the greatest absurdity in the world, as well as impiety. There is need of the spiritual protection, as well as the assistance, of godly and faithful ministers, for these are as the standard-bearers, who are most struck at; and therefore all who wish well to the interest of Christ in the world should pray for them. For all men have not faith; that is, many do not believe the gospel; they will not embrace it themselves, and no wonder if such are restless and malicious in their endeavours to oppose the gospel, decry the ministry, and disgrace the ministers of the word; and too many have not common faith or honesty; there is no confidence that we can safely put in them, and we should pray to be delivered from those who have no conscience nor honour, who never regard what they say or do. We may sometimes be in as much or more danger from false and pretended friends as from open and avowed enemies. II. He encourages them to trust in God. We should not only pray to God for his grace, but also place our trust and confidence in his grace, and humbly expect what we pray for. Observe, 1. What the good is which we may expect from the grace of God - establishment, and preservation from evil; and the best Christians stand in need of these benefits. (1.) That God would establish them. This the apostle had prayed for on their behalf (Th2 2:17), and now he encourages them to expect this favour. We stand no longer than God holds us up; unless he hold up our goings in his paths, our feet will slide, and we shall fall. (2.) That God will keep them from evil. We have as much need of the grace of God for our perseverance to the end as for the beginning of the good work. The evil of sin is the greatest evil, but there are other evils which God will also preserve his saints from - the evil that is in the world, yea, from all evil, to his heavenly kingdom. 2. What encouragement we have to depend upon the grace of God: The Lord is faithful. He is faithful to his promises, and is the Lord who cannot lie, who will not alter the thing that has gone out of his mouth. When once the promise therefore is made, performance is sure and certain. He is faithful to his relation, a faithful God and a faithful friend; we may depend upon his filling up all the relations he stands in to his people. Let it be our care to be true and faithful in our promises, and to the relations we stand in to this faithful God. He adds, 3. A further ground of hope that God would do this for them, seeing they did and would do the things they were commanded, Th2 3:4. The apostle had this confidence in them, and this was founded upon his confidence in God; for there is otherwise no confidence in man. Their obedience is described by doing what he and his fellow-labourers had commanded them, which was no other thing than the commandments of the Lord; for the apostles themselves had no further commission than to teach men to observe and to do what the Lord had commanded, Mat 28:20. And as the experience the apostle had of their obedience for the time past was one ground of his confidence that they would do the things commanded them for the time to come, so this is one ground to hope that whatsoever we ask of God we shall receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight, Jo1 3:22. III. He makes a short prayer for them, Th2 3:5. It is a prayer for spiritual blessings. Two things of the greatest importance the apostle prays for: - 1. That their hearts may be brought into the love of God, to be in love with God as the most excellent and amiable Being, the best of all beings; and this is not only most reasonable and necessary in order to our happiness, but is our happiness itself; it is a great part of the happiness of heaven itself, where this love shall be made perfect. We can never attain to this unless God by his grace direct our hearts aright, for our love is apt to go astray after other things. Note, We sustain a great deal of damage by misplacing our affections; it is our sin and our misery that we place our affections upon wrong objects. If God directs our love aright upon himself, the rest of the affections will thereby be rectified. 2. That a patient waiting for Christ may be joined with this love of God. There is no true love of God without faith in Jesus Christ. We must wait for Christ, which supposes our faith in him, that we believe he came once in flesh and will come again in glory: and we must expect this second coming of Christ, and be careful to get ready for it; there must be a patient waiting, enduring with courage and constancy all that we may meet with in the mean time: and we have need of patience, and need of divine grace to exercise Christian patience, the patience of Christ (as some read the word), patience for Christ's sake and after Christ's example.”

“Finally, brethren, pray for us,.... The apostle now proceeds to the last and closing part of the epistle, which respects church discipline, and the removing of disorderly persons from their communion; and introduces it with a request to pray for him, and the rest of his fellow ministers, particularly Silvanus and Timothy, who joined with him in this epistle: he signifies that nothing more remained; this was the last he had to say, that they, "the brethren", not the preachers of the word only, but the members of the church, would be solicitous for them at the throne of grace; as it becomes all the churches, and the several members of them, to pray for their ministers: with respect to their private studies, that they might be directed to suitable subjects; that their understandings might be opened to understand the Scriptures; that their gifts might be increased, and they be more and more fitted for public service: and with respect to their public ministrations, that they be brought forth in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ; that they have a door of utterance given them to preach the Gospel freely and boldly, as it ought to be spoken; and that their ministry be blessed to saints and sinners: and with respect to the world, and their conduct in it, that they be kept from the evil of it, and so behave as to give none offence, that the ministry be not blamed; and that they be not allured by the flatteries, nor intimidated by the frowns of the world, but endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ: and with respect to their persons and state, that their souls may prosper, and that they may have much of the presence of God, and much spiritual joy, peace, comfort, and strength of faith; and that they may enjoy bodily health, and their lives be spared for further usefulness. This request is frequently urged by the apostle; which shows his sense of the importance of the work of the ministry, the insufficiency of men for it, the necessity of fresh supplies of grace, and the great usefulness of prayer. The particular petitions he would have put up follow, that the word of the Lord may have free course. By "the word of the Lord", or "of God", as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, is meant the Gospel; which is of God, and not of man, comes by the Lord Jesus Christ, and is concerning him, his person and offices, and concerning peace, pardon, righteousness, life, and salvation by him, as the subject matter of it: and the request is, that this might "have free course": or "might run": be propagated and spread far and near: the ministry of the word is a course or race, and ministers are runners in it, having their feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; which is the message they are sent with, and the errand they run upon: which comes from heaven, and is to be carried into all the world, and spread: Satan and his emissaries do all they can to hinder the progress of it; God only can remove all obstructions and impediments; when he works none can let; all mountains become a plain before Zerubbabel. Wherefore the apostle directs to pray to him for it, with what follows, and be glorified, even as it is with you; the Gospel is glorified when it is attended upon by large numbers, and is heard with a becoming reverence; when it is received in the love of it, is greatly prized and highly esteemed; when it is cordially embraced, and cheerfully obeyed. It is glorified when sinners are converted by it, and the lives of the professors of it are agreeably to it; and thus it was glorified in these several instances at Thessalonica; and therefore the apostle puts them upon praying, that it might be so elsewhere, as there; even "everywhere", as the Syriac version adds.”

“Finally, brethren - The words το λοιπον do not mean finally, but, furthermore - to come to a conclusion - what remains is this - I shall only add - any of these phrases expresses the sense of the original. Pray for us - God, in the order of his grace and providence, has made even the success of his Gospel dependent, in a certain measure, on the prayers of his followers. Why he should do so we cannot tell, but that he has done so we know; and they are not a little criminal who neglect to make fervent supplications for the prosperity of the cause of God. May have free course - They were to pray that the doctrine of the Lord, ὁ λογος του Κυριου, might run, τρεχῃ, an allusion to the races in the Olympic games: that, as it had already got into the stadium or race course, and had started fairly, so it might run on, get to the goal, and be glorified; i.e., gain the crown, appointed for him that should get first to the end of the course.”