The Expositor's Bible: The Epistles to the ThessaloniansDenney, James
Religion
The Expositor's Bible: The Epistles to the Thessalonians
Denney, James
Bible. Thessalonians -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
of his exclusion, and, as the Apostle says, be ashamed. He is shut out
from the society of others that he may be driven in upon himself, and
compelled, in spite of wilfulness, to judge himself by the Christian
standard.
But reserve, impressive as it may be, is not enough. The erring
brother is to be admonished; that is, he is to be gravely spoken to
about his error. Admonition is a difficult duty. Not every one feels
at liberty, or _is_ at liberty, to undertake it. Our own faults
sometimes shut our mouths; the retort courteous, or uncourteous, to
any admonition from us, is too obvious. But though such considerations
should make us humble and diffident, they ought not to lead to
neglect of plain duty. To think too much of one's faults is in some
circumstances a kind of perverted vanity; it is to think too much of
oneself. We have all our faults, of one kind or another; but that does
not prohibit us from aiding each other to overcome faults. If we avoid
anger, and censoriousness; if we shun, as well as disclaim, the spirit
of the Pharisee, then with all our imperfections God will justify us
in speaking seriously to others about their sins. We do not pretend to
judge them; we only appeal to themselves to say whether they are
really at ease when they stand on one side, and the word of God and
the conscience of the Church on the other. In a sense, this is
specially the duty of the elders of the Church. It is they who are
pastors of the flock of God, and who are expressly responsible for
this moral guardianship; but there is no officialism in the Christian
community which limits the interest of any member in all the rest, or
exempts him from the responsibility of pleading the cause of God with
the erring. How many Christian duties there are which seem never to
have come in the way of some Christians.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account