John Gill Commentary 1 Thessalonians 2

Ver. 1. For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto

1 Thessalonians 2:2

But even after that we had suffered before
Before they came to Thessalonica, which they would not have done, had their ministry been a light and emptyone in itself, and unprofitable to others; and especially had this been the case, they would never haverashly engaged in it again, and exposed themselves to fresh sufferings and dangers, as they did:

and were shamefully entreated, as you know, at Philippi ;
being beaten with many stripes, and put into prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks, at theinstigation of the masters of the damsel that had a spirit of divination, by whom they got much gain, andwhich Paul dispossessed; see (Acts 16:16–24)

we were bold in our God to speak unto you the Gospel of God with
much contention :
and which still made it more manifestly appear, that the errand they came upon was a matter of importance,and that they did not proceed on a slight foundation: what they spoke was "the Gospel", salvation by Christ,and not by the works of the law; the pure Gospel, and not a mixed one, free from the mixture of all humandoctrines and inventions of men, without any adulteration and inconsistency; the whole of the Gospel, and nota part of it only; they declared the whole counsel of God, and kept back nothing that might be profitable:and this is styled the Gospel of God, to distinguish it from the Gospel of men, or that which the falseteachers taught, and which was called the Gospel, though it was not so; and to express the excellency of it,from the author of it, who is God, it being the produce of his wisdom and grace; and from the matter of it,it containing the good will of God to men, setting forth the grace of God in election, redemption,justification, pardon, adoption, regeneration, and glorification, and expressing things relating to thekingdom of God, a meetness for it, and a right unto it; and it being so called shows it to be somethingdivine, a message sent from God to sinful men; and gives a reason why the apostles were so bold to speak it,because it was not of men, but God. The Syriac version renders it the "Gospel of Christ"; see (Romans 1:16)and it being so, they "were bold to speak it"; or they spoke it both with liberty of mind, the Spirit of Godbeing with them, and with freedom of speech, a door of utterance being opened for them; as also with greatcourage and intrepidity, notwithstanding what they had suffered before, and the ill treatment they had metwith at Philippi; and though they knew that the Gospel they spoke was contrary to the Jews, was astumblingblock to them, and they had an inveterate prejudice against it; and was foolishness to the Greeks,and was derided by them, and they were sure to meet with reproach and persecution on account of it: yet theyboldly and faithfully preached it, fearing not the face of men, nor their revilings: though it was

with much contention ;
Referring to the tumult raised by the baser sort, who, instigated by others, assaulted Jason and thebrethren, where the apostles were, (Acts 18:5Acts 18:6) or to the disputes which they had with theunbelieving Jews, who contradicted and blasphemed what they said; or to the division the Gospel made, asthrough the corruption of nature it makes wherever it comes, between the nearest relations and friends, somebeing for it, and others against it; or this may be expressive of the zeal with which the apostles preached,who earnestly contended for it, as persons in a combat or agony; they fought the good fight of faithvaliantly, they endured hardness as good soldiers of Christ, and gave not way to the enemy, no, not for anhour:

and all this was "in our God"; or "by the confidence" of our God, as the Syriac version renders it;trusting in him and relying upon him, being assisted by his grace, and strengthened by his power, andreceiving much encouragement from a view of him as a covenant God; faith in God as a covenant God, will makea man bold in his cause; see (Daniel 3:17) .

For our exhortation
Or "consolation"; for the ministry of the Gospel, which is here meant, consists of doctrines full of comfort to distressed minds, such as free justification by the righteousness of Christ, full pardon by his blood, and complete satisfaction by his sacrifice; as well as of exhortations to the exercise of grace and discharge of duty: and this was

not of deceit ;
or "error", was not "fallacious", as the Ethiopic version renders it; it consisted of nothing but truth, it was the word of truth, and the truth as it is in Jesus; nor did it proceed from any intention to deceive and impose on persons; it was no imposture:

nor of uncleanness ;
it did not spring from any impure affection for any sin, for popular applause, or worldly interest; nor did the ministers of it connive at uncleanness in others, or practise it themselves, as did the false teachers; but bore their testimony against it, both by word and example, and taught no doctrine that encouraged to it; but, on the contrary, the doctrine which is according to godliness, and which teaches men to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts:

nor in guile ;
as there was no deceitful design in the ministry of the word, nor anything impure and immoral in the matter of it; so there was no artifice used in the dispensing of it; it was plain and simple, without any colour and guile, without the hidden things of dishonesty, without craftiness and handling the word deceitfully; and this is a reason why the apostles preached it with so much freedom and boldness, because there was nothing false, impure, or artful in it.

But as we were allowed of God
Or, "approved of God"; not that there were any previous fitness and worthiness in them to be ministers of the word; but such was the good will and pleasure of God, that he from all eternity chose and appointed them to this work; and in his own time by his grace called them to it, and by his gifts qualified them for it, who otherwise were unworthy of it, and insufficient for it:

to be put in trust with the Gospel ;
which is of great worth and value, a rich treasure, and of the last importance; which to be trusted with is a very great honour; and the discharge of such a trust requires great faithfulness, and which the apostles had:

even so we speak ;
the Gospel as delivered to them, both as to matter and manner; neither taking from it nor adding to it, nor mixing it with anything of their own, nor disguising it with any artifice:

not as pleasing men ;
to gain favour and affection, esteem, applause, and honour from them; to escape reproach and persecution, and obtain worldly advantages by dropping, concealing, or blending of truths to make them more agreeable to the taste of natural men:

but God, who tries our hearts ;
studying to approve themselves to God, whose Gospel was committed to them, from whom they received gifts to preach it, and to whom they were accountable for all.

And who being the searcher of the hearts, and the trier of the reins of the children of men, knows the intentions and designs of men, and the springs of all actions; and sees through all artifices, and from whom nothing can be hidden, and who will, in his own time, bring to light the hidden things of darkness.

Under a sense of which faithful ministers act, as of sincerity, and as in the sight of an omniscient God.

For neither at any time used we flattering words
To introduce them into the affections, and gain the esteem and good will of men; they did not in their ministry deliver such things as flattered men with a good opinion of themselves: they did not preach up the purity of human nature, but on the contrary the doctrine of original sin, the imputation of Adam's transgression to his posterity, and the corruption of all human nature; they asserted the universal pollution of it, of all men, and of all the powers and faculties of their souls, that they are all under the power and dominion of sin, are involved in the guilt of it, and are all guilty before God, and liable to everlasting wrath and punishment; and that unless they repented of their sins and believed in Christ, they would perish eternally; thus they dealt roundly and freely with men's consciences, and plainly, openly, and faithfully told them their case as it was.

Nor did they cry up the power of man's free will, which would have been grateful to Jews and Gentiles; but they declared the reverse, they asserted the weakness and impotency of man, to anything that is spiritually good; and represented him as a weak and strengthless creature, and unable to do anything, even to think a good thought of himself; and ascribed all that a man is, or has, or does, that is good, to the grace and power of God, who works in him both to will and to do.

Nor did they plead for the sufficiency of man's righteousness to justify him before God, a doctrine very pleasing to human nature; but, on the contrary, they gave out that there was none righteous, no, not one of the sons of Adam, in and of themselves, or by virtue of any righteousness of their own; so far from it that they were full of all unrighteousness, and were not capable of working out a righteousness, or of attaining to the righteousness of the law; that what they did pretend to was not a justifying righteousness, and would give no right and title to eternal glory; and that the righteousness of Christ was the only righteousness, by which a man could be justified from all things, and in which he could be found safe.

They did not blend and mix their doctrine to suit with the tastes of different men, but with all sincerity and plainness preached the truth, as it is in Jesus; they did not connive at the sins of men, cry Peace, Peace, when there was none, or sow pillows under their armholes, or promise them life, though they should not return from their wicked way; but they with great freedom inveighed against the sins of men, and exhorted them to repentance and reformation, as well as to faith in Christ for pardon and righteousness.

Nor did they wink at the sins of professors, or of one another, the Apostle Paul withstood Peter to the face because he was to be blamed; and when they praised men for their gifts and graces, and the exercise of them, they took care to ascribe them to the grace of God, and give him the glory, and prevent men from boasting in themselves; in short, they acted the reverse of the false teachers, who had men's persons in admiration because of advantage, and by good words and fair speeches deceived the hearts of the simple; but so did not the apostles of Christ, no, never, not "at any time": when they first came to Thessalonica during their stay there, either in public or in private: and though this was true of any other time and place, yet here must be confined to this, since the apostle appeals to this church for the truth of what he said.

as you know;
for flattering words may be discerned; a flatterer is known by his words; though in general such is the weakness of human nature, that men love to be flattered, though they know they are:

nor a cloak of covetousness;
or "an occasion of" it, they did not take the opportunity or advantage by the ministry of the word, to indulge a covetous disposition, or to amass wealth and riches to themselves; or an "excuse" for covetousness, which covetous men are never at a loss to make, always pretending one thing or another to hide and cover their evil; but the apostles made no excuses, nor used any cloak, nor needed any to cover their covetousness, because they had not the thing; they did not pretend one thing and mean another; they did not, as the false apostles did, pretend to serve Christ, preach his Gospel, seek the glory of God and the good of souls, and mean themselves, and design their own worldly advantage; they did not make these a "pretence" for covetousness, they sincerely served Christ, faithfully preached his Gospel, truly sought the glory of God, and were heartily concerned for the good of souls without any mercenary and selfish views; for the truth of which they could appeal to the heart searching and rein-trying God, as the apostle here does, saying,

God is witness;
which is properly an oath, a solemn appeal to God; for since covetousness is an internal and secret sin, and may be so coloured and disguised as not easily to be discerned, as flattering words may, the apostle therefore calls God to witness the truth of what he had said.

Nor of men sought we glory Honour, esteem, and popular applause; for though there is an honour that is due to the faithful ministers of the word, who are highly to be esteemed for their works' sake, and as ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God; and especially there was an honour and glory that belonged to the apostles of Christ as such, who were set in the highest office and place in the church; yet they did not seek after it as the Pharisees and false teachers did, who received honour one of another, and sought not that which comes from God only: but so did not the apostles; they took no steps this way to procure glory and esteem among men, but all the reverse; they preached doctrines which were not of men, nor according to men, nor agreeable to them; and these they delivered in a disagreeable way, not with enticing words of men's wisdom, they did not seek to please men, but spoke and did everything that rendered them mean and despicable in their eyes; so that they looked upon them as the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things:

nor was this any disappointment to them, for to gain the favour of men was not their end and view; they did not seek for glory neither of the men of the world,

neither of you ; the church at Thessalonica, and the inhabitants of that place:

nor yet of others ; of other men, and churches elsewhere:

when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ : or "have used authority", which was given them, though not for destruction, but for edification; put on a magisterial air, and made use of the apostolic rod; appeared with some severity and rigour, and so have commanded awe, respect, and reverence: or "have been in honour"; insisted upon being treated in an honourable way, as the apostles of Christ, his ambassadors, who were sent and came in his name, and represented his person; and therefore to be received as he himself;

though the phrase may rather have regard to an honourable maintenance, as in (2 Corinthians 11:9) which as the apostles of Christ they might have required as their due, but they chose rather to relinquish their right, and labour with their own hands, that they might not be chargeable: and so "glory" in the former clause may mean the same, even great and glorious things for themselves, a maintenance answerable to their high character and office, which they did not seek; but were content with a poor pittance, and such as they could get with their own hand labour; in which sense the phrase, "double honour", seems to be used in (1 Timothy 5:17) as appears by the reason given in the next verse.