1 Thessalonians 1:3

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Remembering without ceasing; the occasion of his constant thanksgivings was his constant remembering of that grace of God that did so abound and work powerfully in them, not as if he had always an actual remembrance of it, but he did not forget it, the habitual sense of it was continually in his mind, and was often actually in his thoughts, especially in his approaches to God; and that is all which is meant in the original word, adialeiptws. While the apostle was with them he saw this in them, but being now absent he remembered it; and with such a practical remembrance as stirred up his heart to thanksgiving. That is a good memory where is treasured up matter of prayer and thanksgiving. Your work of faith; or the work of the faith of you, that is, their faith and the work of it; whereby he intimates their faith was true and real; a faith unfeigned, 2 Timothy 1:5; the faith of God's elect, Titus 1:1; and so distinguished from a dead faith, James 2:26. They received the work in much affection, with joy of the Holy Ghost; they turned from idols to the service of the true God; they waited for the coming of Christ, &c.; here was the work of faith. And labour of love; a labour to weariness, as the word imports; laborious love. True faith hath its work, but love hath its labour; and when faith worketh by love it will work laboriously. Whereby the apostle declares the reality of their love, as well as their faith; it was unfeigned love, yea, fervent love, the labour of it went forth towards that true God whom they now worshipped, that Jesus Christ on whom they now believed, and to the saints that were now their fellow brethren, 1 Thessalonians 4:10; and particularly to the apostle himself, as in other ways, so particularly in the pains and labour that some of them took to conduct and travel along with him from Thessalonica to Athens, Acts 17:15. And patience of hope: the apostle had mentioned before their faith and love, and now their hope; which are called the three cardinal or theological graces, all mentioned together by him, 1 Corinthians 13:13; and by which we have all our communion with God on earth. And as their faith had its work, and love its labour, so their hope had its patience as the fruit and product of it. There is a patience with respect to an expected good, and with respect to an incumbent evil; and both produced by hope. The former is more properly called makroyumia, or length of mind, consisting in waiting for and expectation of some desired good; the latter is utomonh, consisting in patient suffering, or abiding under some present evil. Their former patience is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, they waited for his Son from heaven. The latter in the second chapter, 1 Thessalonians 2:14, Ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen: as they (i.e. the churches of Judea) have of the Jews. This latter is here specially meant in the text; and for which he gives God thanks, 2 Thessalonians 1:4. And hope produceth the former patience, as it looks upon the expected good as that which will come at last; and the latter patience, as it looks upon the suffered evil as that which will not always continue. And when with respect to both these the mind of man is kept sedate and quiet, this is the patience of hope. In our Lord Jesus Christ; or, of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the efficient and author of this hope, and of their faith and its work, and love and its labour: or, in our Lord Jesus Christ, as here rendered; and so he is the object of this hope, 1 Corinthians 15:19 1 Timothy 1:1. And by this the Christian's hope is distinguished from all other. All hope worketh patience. The husbandman's hope to receive the former and latter rain, maketh him wait for it with patience, James 5:7; the hope of the merchant, for the return of his adventure; the hope of the heir, for his inheritance; but the Christian's hope worketh patience as fixed upon Christ: other hope resteth upon the things of this lower visible world, but this is as an anchor sure and stedfast, entering within the veil, where Christ is entered as a forerunner, &c., Hebrews 6:19,20. Faith and love both have Christ for their object; but considered as present; but the patience of hope in Christ respecteth something future, some revelation of him, and salvation by him, which is yet to come. If we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it, Romans 8:25. In the sight of God and our Father: these words are not in the Syriac or Arabic version. And they respect either the apostle's thanksgiving and prayer for them, and his remembering the grace of God in them when he solemnly approached God's presence; for in all duties of worship we come before God, and present ourselves in his sight, and their graces he before mentioned, he remembered them to God, and presented them to his view: or they respect the omniscience of God, that their work of faith, labour of love, &c. were all in God's sight, and he was a delighted spectator of them: or, lastly, they may respect the sincerity of their hearts in all the actings of their faith, love, and hope; they did all this in the sight of God. As the apostle asserts his sincerity in his ministry by this: We speak as in the sight of God, 2 Corinthians 2:17. And thus the apostle mentions their graces, not as the heathen orators, who made great encomiums of virtue to the praise of men, but to the honour and praise of God.