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And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you.

I. A WARNING AGAINST THREE INCONSISTENT AND UNPROFITABLE MODES OF LIFE.

1. They were to guard against a spirit of restlessness. "That ye study to be quiet." There had, perhaps, arisen an unsettlement of mind on account of their belief in the nearness of Christ's advent, as well as some uneasiness on account of the fate of their deceased brethren. It led to a desultoriness of life little effective for any good end. The apostle, therefore, counsels sedateness and calmness. We ought to live "a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty" (1 Timothy 2:2).

2. They were to guard against a meddling and pragmatical spirit. "Do your own business." Love naturally inclines us to "look not on our own things, but also on the things of others" (Philippians 2:4), but it must not prompt either to the neglect of our own business or to undue interference with that of others. We must not be "busybodies in other men's matters."

3. They were to guard against idleness. "Work with your own hands." The converts probably belonged mostly to the artisan class. The belief in the nearness of the advent had unhinged their minds, and led them to neglect the duties of their secular calling. Industry is a commanded duty. "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called" (1 Corinthians 7:20). The Thessalonians needed to be reminded of it, for he had occasion to speak of it in his first visit. Idleness has peculiar temptations.

II. MOTIVES TO THE DISCHARGE OF THESE DUTIES. "That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have need of nothing."

1. We are to have consideration to the opinion of those without. They may misjudge us, yet their judgments may be often true. We must not repel them by our inconsistencies of conduct. We must give "none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully" (1 Timothy 5:14).

2. We are to provide a supply for our own wants,

(1) so as to support ourselves respectably,

(2) and to enable us to supply the need of others.

Christianity is above all things a self-respecting religion, and has the promise even "of the life that now is." Mendicancy is essentially degrading. - T.C.

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KJV: And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

WEB: and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you;