2nd Thessalonians

The Faithfulness of Christ in 2 Thessalonians 3:3-5

Paul expressed the fact that when he was most weak, the Lord's strength was most evident in him, so I'm trusting that that will be true for us today. Now last Lord's Day we began to address verses 3 -5 of 2 Thessalonians 3.

It's the first paragraph of this last chapter, this epistle. And the major theme of verses 3 -5 is the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And so let's read the paragraph once again, verses 1 -5. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.

And we have confidence in the Lord about you that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. The Apostle Paul asked the church at Thessalonica to pray for him, that the Lord would bless the ministry of the Word.

We not only proclaim the Word, we must pray that God would bless the Word, that the Word would run swiftly. And once it arrives at that destination, it will be received, honored by those who hear it. Now the reason Paul was in need of prayer, he said, was due to evil men who opposed him and his fellow servants, probably Silas and Timothy.

They were opposing Paul and attempting to discredit him and refute the Gospel message he was proclaiming. These opposers of the Gospel did not possess the faith, Paul declared, and Paul characterized them as unreasonable and wicked men.

But in contrast to these unfaithful men, Paul made the declaration, but the Lord is faithful,.

Thankfully.

And it's to this blessed truth that we gave our focus last Lord's Day, the Lord is faithful. And really we're continuing that theme this morning with verse 5. Well, after Paul declared that the Lord is faithful, he declared this faithful Lord would be faithful to them.

He said that the faithful Lord would establish them and guard them from the evil one, that being the devil. And moreover, this faithful Lord would continue to enable these Christians to live in obedience to the Word of God.

They were living in obedience and he knew they would continue to do so because of the faithful Lord who was bringing them salvation. And then Paul closed this opening paragraph, this last chapter, by appealing to the Lord himself, that he would direct his people into the love of God and into the patience or steadfastness of Christ.

And it's this verse 5 that we want to give our attention to this morning. Now, last week we previously, we broke down this paragraph, verses 1 through 5, actually verses 3 through 5, in this way. First, the Lord will establish and guard you against the evil one.

And secondly, the Lord will enable his people to continue to obey his Word. We addressed those two points last week. But we want to address this point, this third point today. The Lord will direct the hearts of his people to the love of God and to the steadfastness.

Of Christ.

And so we read, verse 5, the Lord will direct the hearts of his people into the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ. Paul expressed his desire that the Lord, and here, by referring to the Lord, he referred to Jesus Christ, specifically.

That Jesus Christ would direct their hearts to embrace and appreciate two matters. First, he desired that the Lord would direct their hearts to the love of God. And then secondly, the Apostle desired that the Lord would direct their hearts to the steadfastness of Christ.

Now, the grammatical construction of each of these two phrases, to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ, can actually be interpreted in two different ways. Each of those phrases in two different ways.

So there are four possibilities, actually. And really, it centers around that little preposition, the word of. Because the word of can convey different meanings. And let me just give you an example. Suppose we spoke about the love of Christ.

How did you interpret that, the love of Christ? Well, it can mean either the love for Christ. We have the love of Christ. We love Christ. Or it could be speaking about the love that Christ has for us.

The love of Christ. Or the little preposition of can simply mean possession.

Christ's love.

There are other possibilities, too, we won't get into. But the little English word of is a word that can convey different meanings. And oftentimes it's the context that will reveal what is intended. With respect to the first phrase, to the love of God, it can mean either may the Lord direct your hearts to the love that you have for God.

Or it may mean may the Lord direct your heart to the love that God has for you. And the actual Greek text could convey either of those meanings. And so there's a problem in interpreting this precisely.

A 20th century commentator, Leon Morris, described this difficulty in translating these phrases. There is some difficulty in knowing exactly what the following expression signify. An expression like the love of God might mean in Greek either God's love for us or our love for God.

There you have it. Our first difficulty is that the logic of the prayer. In other words, Paul's prayer seems to require some meaning, such as the Lord lead to love God. That seems to be what Paul is saying.

But in Paul's writings, the love of God always seems to mean God's love for man. And then he makes reference to J .B. Lightfoot, who is a quite a well-known 19th century commentator. Lightfoot is probably right in suggesting that the apostles availed themselves of the vagueness or rather comprehensiveness of language to express a great spiritual truth.

In other words, Lightfoot was reasoning, arguing, you shouldn't look at it as either or, but rather both. I think he's probably right. He goes on to suggest that the two senses are combined and interwoven.

We may accept this then. The primary idea will be that God will be that of God's love to us. But there will be also the secondary idea of our love to him. Paul's prayer then will be that the inner life of his friends be so concentrated on God's love for them that this will evoke an answering love for him.

And so both ideas may be suggested. And as I was going through the commentaries I have on 2 Thessalonians, it was interesting to me to pick up different writers. And they seem to take one view or the other to the exclusion of the other.

Now again, the same dual way of interpreting that expression of the love of God may be seen as you look at the second phrase being directed by the Lord to the steadfastness of Christ. It may mean the steadfastness that Christ demonstrated before you.

In other words, Christ was steadfast. May the Lord direct you to consider that and reflect upon that. Or it may mean may the Lord direct your hearts into the steadfastness that Christ is able to give you.

And once again, dramatically it can mean either one of those. And we'll take the position that the Holy Spirit who inspired Paul in writing it in the manner he did was suggesting that both things are true.

And both things are needful. And so all four of these statements then may be shown to be biblical. And you can look at different verses that emphasize each of these four statements. And we'll do so. But I'd like us to consider each of these four truths that are expressed by these two phrases.

May the Lord direct you to the love of God and may the Lord direct your hearts to the steadfastness of Christ. And here you have these four set before you in your notes. One, may the Lord direct your hearts to the love that you have for God.

Second, may the Lord direct your hearts to the love that God has for you. Third, may the Lord direct your hearts to the steadfastness that Christ demonstrated before you. And fourthly, may the Lord direct your hearts to the steadfastness that Christ gives to you or enables you to experience or encounter.

And so first let us consider that the Lord may impart to your hearts love for God. And this is certainly a great need that people have. It's essential that each of us love God richly and supremely. In fact, if we could just all of a sudden elevate in each of our souls a love for God, it would probably take care of most of the problems that we have in life with regard to our relationship with God and our relationships with one another.

All that we are, all that we desire, all that we do with regard to our obedience to God is due to our love for Him. And the love that we have for God is a result of what God has produced in our hearts.

So it's understandable why Paul said, may the Lord direct you to the love of God. May the Lord produce in you the love for God. God imparts a principle of love within His people, whom He has purposed to save from their sins.

And with that love for God, we have therefore a desire to know Him, to serve Him, to be with Him, to please Him, to glorify Him, to obey Him. And it's that love we have for God that the Holy Spirit has given us and moves us in that direction, gives us the longing and desire for these things.

And so we desire that our Lord would be pleased with us, pleased with our thoughts, pleased with our words, pleased with our attitudes, our actions, and our reactions, because we love Him and therefore we want Him to be pleased with how we live, how we think.

And because of this love that God has infused in us, His Word has become precious to us. And so as we read and learn of His Word more fully and clearly, we both value and tremble at His Word and watch over ourselves as we attempt to live in accordance with what His Word teaches us, the Word that He's given to us.

And so we may say as the Apostle, for the love of Christ compels us. See, there's the motivation. The love of Christ, and there you have the love of Christ. Is it Christ's love for us or our love for Christ?

I'll take a subjective here. For the love that we have for Christ compels us, because we judge this, that if one died for all, then all died. He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

Matthew Henry commented on verse 5. Paul, he makes a short prayer for them. It's a prayer for spiritual blessings. Two things of the greatest importance the Apostle prays for. One, that their hearts may be brought into the love of God.

Now he also talks about the steadfastness, and I have that quote at the end of the message. We're only looking at the one here. 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 to truly love God for who He is. Not for what He gives us, although, you know, bless God for what He gives us, but for who He is.

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 heart to right, for our love is apt to go astray after other things.

Is that not true? 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 we could fix that problem, we would be super saints, wouldn't we?

If God directs our love or right upon Himself, the rest of the affections will thereby be rectified. Everything will fall into its proper place and proportion, if we love God rightly. Thomas Manton, who is a, I bought his, a couple of years ago, his 22 volumes, perfect, you know, complete works, and I find him so good and so helpful.

He actually gave two lengthy sermons on chapter 3, verse 5. And he set forth the meaning of the text, that Paul's prayer was that the Lord would enable these Christians to have greater love for God. Now again, there's two possibilities, greater love for God or God's love for us.

Thomas Manton took the position that Paul was praying that God would give us greater love for Him. He first addressed the need for God to impart this grace, because we don't naturally love God. He explained why it was needful for the unregenerate, that is, for the non-Christian.

He won't be changed until God, by His grace, imparts love for God within the soul. He then addressed why Christians who are born again are also in need of recipients of this grace. Paul was praying for Christians, wasn't he?

May the Lord direct you in the love of God. And so, Manton emphasizes that Christians, too, need this grace of God. And so, I want us to consider some of Manton's points that he made. First of all, by considering the need to have the Lord impart to the unregenerate, Regenerate means to be regenerate, reborn, born again.

The unregenerate are those that are not born again, those who are not true Christians. They have a need for this grace of love to be infused within them, given to them by God. Manton wrote of the need of the non-Christian, the unbeliever.

They cannot love till the Lord direct and set their hearts straight. It is a hard thing to say, but we must not mince the matter. That in the carnal, that is, the unconverted state, we are all haters of God.

Now, most people would react to that, but that's the statement of Paul in Romans 1 .28. People who are not Christians in actuality hate the true God. When the true God is revealed and manifested to those who are not Christians, they crucify Him.

And things haven't changed. They would do so today, too. And it were well if this enmity and hatred were thoroughly got out of our hearts. How can this be? Nature tells us that He from whom we receive being and life and all things deserves our love.

That's rational, reasonable, isn't it? I answer, though men may see some reason of love to God as He is our creator and preserver, but as He is lawgiver and a judge, so we all hate Him. Three reasons there are of that natural enmity that is in the hearts of men against God, I would have you consider them seriously, that we may feelingly bewail our own aversion to God.

And so men set forth these three reasons why a non-Christian hates God. First, we hate God as unbelievers because of our natural inclination to carnal things that possess our heart. That runs in conflict with the true love for God.

We love the things of this world, which squeeze out any love for the true God who made this world. Our Lord Jesus declared to a religious but unregenerate man, a non-Christian man, that which is born of flesh is flesh.

Having no principle to incline them to God, they wholly seek to please flesh, please themselves. Because they are fallen men, they are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. An unconverted man can do nothing to correct this preference of love for self and for pleasure.

He cannot change himself. That which is born of flesh is flesh. Nothing will change that unless God intervenes. And so through the new birth, God sets the sinner on a course to desire delight in God, moving him to prefer knowing God and pleasing God above himself.

This is a sovereign work of God's grace and regeneration. And sometimes in the scriptures, this work of regeneration or new birth is described as God circumcising the heart. And in Deuteronomy 30 verse 6, God through Moses declared that the time would come when God would circumcise the hearts of his people.

And notice the result of this circumcision of the heart. They would truly love God. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, that you may live.

And so love for God is only possible for the one that's born from God, born from above, born of God. The circumcision of the heart. God must affect this change. You cannot change your own heart. You can't cause yourself to be born again.

It's a sovereign work of God. And so Manton stated, the heart must be circumcised before it can love God. Till God tear away the foreskin until this carnal love be mortified. In other words, put to death.

There is no place for divine love to be raised and quickened in our hearts. We are entangled in the love of worldly things and shall so remain till God bend the crooked stick the other way and God set our hearts right to himself.

And so the non-Christian hates God because the natural inclination is to carnal things. They possess the heart rather than God. A second reason why unbelievers hate God is because of our preference for what Manton described as carnal liberty.

In other words, I want to be free to do the things I want to do when I do it and no one, not even God, should tell me otherwise. But because God does tell me otherwise, I hate God for that. We hate God as a law giver who would bridle our lusts.

Because of God's laws, we cannot enjoy our lusts with full freedom. There was some action just this last week where there was a big defacing of the Ten Commandments that were on a monument somewhere. People hate them because you have an authoritative God saying, Thou shalt not.

And people want to. No, I will, I shall do what I want to do. And who are you to tell me no? God has given each of us a conscience that will either accuse or excuse our thoughts, our words, our attitudes, and our actions.

And he originally gave this conscience to every human being. And originally this conscience, early in life, was consistent with his law. You have to re-educate the conscience otherwise. And people do to the point where they start declaring good evil and evil good.

But originally the conscience is shaped by God's law. And so even unbelieving Gentiles had God's laws written upon their consciences even in their unconverted state. You go out in the world, even in non-Christian places, and there is intuitive sense on the part of people.

You shouldn't take what belongs to another man. You shouldn't steal. You shouldn't covet what somebody else has. There is a conscience that convicts people in societies and cultures of this. Because God has given them a conscience, a conscience originally shaped by God's laws.

And so God's law prevents our sinning without accompanying guilt. His law would constrain us, and we do not desire restraint. But rather the freedom to do what we please when we want to do it. And therefore when God says no, we hate God, the true God, as a law giver and as a judge.

We hate God as unbelievers because he says this far and no more. Paul wrote, the natural mind is enmity to God. The natural mind is the unconverted mind, the non-Christian. The natural mind is enmity to God.

Not just an enemy to God, but the very opposite, the very hostility to God. For it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be. A non-Christian cannot be truly submissive, obedient to the law of God.

It's just not possible. A fallen man's nature and God's nature are contrary to one another. And so the mind of the unsaved hates the true God when God asserts his lordship over him. It may be said of every non-Christian, you are enemies in your mind by evil works.

So as Manon wrote, we love sin, therefore we hate God, who forbids it and makes it so penal and damnable to us. And that's why if we're faithful in presenting the true God, Christians will love him. Non-Christians will hate him, and probably hate us for presenting him as such.

This is the way it's always been, it's the way it always will be, until the Lord Jesus returns. Then Manon sets forth a third reason why non-Christians hate the true God. We hate God as unbelievers because of the slavish fear we have of the true God.

We hate God because we are afraid of his judgment, to which one day he will summon us. There is within every human being an innate sense of accountability before God, that there is a day of reckoning when we will answer to God for our sins.

And this is a universal concept on the part of the human being. Just about every religion of the world addresses the problem of sin, and how to deal with it. Man's accountability. And this is why the practice of sacrifice is found everywhere in the world.

Because everywhere, everyone, if they think about it, reflect upon it, they think there's sin, and there's accountability. And somehow we have to deal with this in order to stand before God. And it's a slavish fear that squeezes out the possibility for true love for God.

Because when there is the presence of a terror, a sense of terror toward God, there is no room for true love for God. When Adam sinned, he fled from God, for Adam no longer loved God, but was terrorized by God.

So as Manton wrote, a condemning God can never be loved by a guilty creature. But after Manton dealt with how the non-Christian needs to have the love of God infused in him. May the Lord direct you to the love of God.

He then begins to show how Christians also need to have this grace given to them by God. Even though you and I love God, because God has regenerated us, put this love within us, shed abroad in our hearts, love for God.

Nevertheless, the love that we need is not what it should be, is it? Not what it could be. And therefore we need a fresh bestowal of God's grace to move us to love God more. To love God in a more informed way, in a more enriched way, and in a more enduring way.

And so Manton spoke about the need of the Lord to impart to the true Christian, the regenerate, the grace of love for God. You and I need God to give us grace to direct our hearts in the love of God. And just in my own study of this verse in the last couple weeks, I'm realizing that this needs to be something that we need to be praying a lot more for, or I should be.

Because again, I believe if the Lord infused in you and me a fresh, vivid love for God, it would take care of a lot of the deficiencies and departures and defections that we witness. It was to the Christians at the church at Thessalonica that Paul declared, May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God.

These Christians were behind no one in the number and degree of God's blessings of grace upon them. The church at Thessalonica was a stellar church. Nevertheless, they were in great need for the Lord to enable them to love God more greatly than they did presently.

You remember what Paul had written of their love for one another? Not their love for God, but their love for one another. In 1 Thessalonians 4, 9 and 10. But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.

However, he says, but we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more. Well, that was with regard to their love for one another. We could say the same thing with regard to our love for God. We might say this.

But concerning your love for God, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love him. But we would urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more. And so each of us need to have the love for our God increase within our souls.

And this is what Paul was praying for, for these Christians. And so why did the Apostle pray that the Lord would direct the hearts of these Christians to love God? Well, Mattin proposed two main reasons.

And these include, first, because there are many defects in the love of the best of us. Find one among us who loves God the most right now. And there's still some deficiencies there, isn't there? Even in the best of us, there needs to be increase.

And then secondly, there needs much to be done about our love after it's planted in the soul. In other words, although God has infused love within your soul when you were first converted, it needs to be much improved and strengthened and informed in many ways.

And so, Mattin argues, this is why we need to pray that God would direct our hearts to the love of God. Let's take each of these two. The need to have the Lord to impart to the regenerate, the true Christian, the grace of love for God, because there are many defects in the love of the best.

That is, of the best of us. Now, there may be several ways to consider our deficiency in our love for God. And so, assess yourself. First, there is much that we encounter in our daily lives that would draw our hearts after them and away from our full devotion to our God.

Every day, we are exposed to things. They would draw our love toward them rather than toward our God. Mattin asked, how much do we live to ourselves and how little to God? How great a passion have we for earthly things so that they can occupy and intercept the far greatest part of our lives?

And then judge whether we would not need to have that net kept up and the tendency toward God as our end and happiness. We have a natural inclination within us to give ourselves over to whatever is before us.

What our eyes see, what our hands can touch. It is an easy thing for these matters to squeeze out our love for God. They squeeze out our attention to the things of the Lord. Which results in the dulling of our affection for our God.

Mattin wrote, it is the natural disease of man's heart to be loosed from God and to be distracted in a variety of worldly objects. Which obtrude themselves upon our senses. Offer themselves to us daily.

And therefore, it is not enough for man once to resign him over his heart to God as we do in conversion. When this love was first wrought in us. But we need often to beg that God would reclaim us from this wrangling after carnal vanities.

That he would direct and keep us straight and true to our end. That we may love him more and at a better rate. So if you consider the nature of love, the thing is obvious and plain. Unless the Lord maintain this love in us and keep it up, what will become of us?

And so yes, the regenerate, the Christian needs this grace. Is that not right? May the Lord direct you in the love of God. A second way we may consider the need for the true Christian to have the Lord direct him in the love of God.

Is due to our proneness to slavish fears as we purpose to live daily before our Lord. And there are numbers of us I think that are susceptible to this. Some are plagued by their guilty conscience as they serve the Lord.

And the truth be known, they are serving the Lord out of a guilty conscience. Rather than out of a true love for the Lord. They tend to shape their self-identity by their sin rather than their new life in Christ.

Paul addresses that in Romans 6 and 7. We addressed it in our men's group yesterday from us. Rather than identifying themselves with their new life that God has given them in Christ. They identify themselves with their sin.

Woe is me, how can I be a Christian and live this way? How can I love God and sin in this way? And as a result they have this slavish fear that governs them. Rather than a true love for God in Christ that should govern them.

One of the great blessings of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ. Is the ability to serve God with a clear conscience before God. In other words, void of slavish fear. And so the writer to the Hebrews wrote of this.

For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer. Sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh. Talking about the Old Testament sacrifices. It ceremonially cleansed the body.

How much more shall the blood of Christ. Who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God. Cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. We should be able to serve the living God with a clear conscience.

Not slavish fear. However, although we know that we're saved by God's grace. We will tend nevertheless to look to the works of the law. As a basis or means of serving our God. And the result is slavish fear.

That extinguishes true love for God. The Apostle John wrote of this. There is no fear in love. For perfect love casts out fear. Because fear involves torment. And it's a sad thing that I think there are numbers of Christians.

Attempting to serve God.

Walk with God.

But they're doing so in a tormented fashion. Rather than out of a joyful clear conscience. That God has provided for them through the sacrifice of Christ. He who fears has not been made perfect in love.

Is what John wrote. And sometimes this might be more of a problem in reformed churches. And in non-reformed churches. And the reason is we emphasize greatly the use of the means of grace. In our progress toward heaven.

We show forth the scriptural teaching. That though we cannot be saved or sanctified. By the law of God. Nevertheless the law of God continues. To be the standard and measure of our sanctification. Paul the Christian wrote.

So with my mind I serve the law of God. But sometimes Christians can be so focused on the means to holiness. Rather than the grace of the Lord that can only bring about holiness. That they become troubled by their fears.

They are motivated to live before the Lord and serve the Lord. Not out of love for who he is and what he's done. And what he's promised in Christ. But because they are fearful of what might result if they fail to do so.

And that is not the way to live the Christian life as God has designed. And so may the Lord deliver us from slavish fear. So that we will rather be moved by godly fear. A true devotion and desire to please God.

Manton wrote.

Surely we should seek after a spirit of love. That all we do for God may be done with great delight. That we may not serve him by compulsion. But by inclination. Because we're inclined to do so. Not as enjoined only.

In other words not because it's commanded. But as inclined. Because that is our bent. That's our desire. Not as putting a force upon ourselves. But as delighting in our work. As we serve him. And then Manton points out a third way.

That we may consider the need for the true Christian to have the love of God. Bestowed upon him. That the Lord would direct him in the love of God. And this is due to our frequent preferring the profits and pleasures of the world before the service of God.

Esau is a signal example for us. When the blessing of God in the future was measured by a pole of pottage presently before him. He preferred the pottage to the future blessing of God. What an exchange!

You talk about a bad trade. Esau made it, didn't he? We won't read the whole passage. But the warning is given lest there be any of us professing Christians a fornicator or profane person like Esau. Who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.

And the thing about it is each and every day. Some morsel of food can be set before us. And we may choose it because we see it and it's present before us. And that which God has promised off in the future.

Is not keen to our thoughts and our affections. And we barter away that which God has promised us. For that which temporarily satisfies us. What a pitiful exchange Esau made. Bartering away God's blessing for something that would be satisfying only for a few hours.

But that's what we do whenever we sin, isn't it? We wrongly think that that's going to give us pleasure and satisfaction. But only temporarily. But look what you forfeit. A fourth way we may consider the need for the true Christian to have the Lord produce in him love for God.

Is due to the failure to be fully obedient. And the tediousness we may find in our obedience. When our love is keen, our service is delightful. Not tedious. Let us have love for God like that which Jacob had for Rachel.

So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed only a few days to him. Because of the love he had for her. And may our obedience before God be in a similar vein. Because of our love for God. The duty, the servitude that we have for our God is a delight.

Not tedious. For the Christian who is thinking rightly and loving rightly, the Lord's commandments are not burdensome but delightful. Love for God will make duty delightful and fulfilling. Not troubling and tiring.

And then a fifth way we may consider the need for the true Christian to have the Lord direct him in the love of God. Is due to the many conflicts we have in our souls. With carnal self-love. And our own foolish hurtful lusts.

This too shows us that our love for God is not what it should be. Or not what it could be. If the Lord answered our prayer that he direct our hearts to the love of God. Well not only is there need to have the Lord impart to the regenerate the grace of the love for God.

Because there are many defects in the love of the best of us. There is secondly the need to have the Lord impart to the regenerate the grace of love for God. Because there needs much to be done about our love after it's planted in the soul.

When the Lord caused you to be born again he put within you love for him. But that love wasn't, although it was rich and wonderful and glorious. It wasn't all that it should be. And so the Lord has to give us greater measure degrees of that love over the course of a lifetime.

And so after the Lord has planted that love in us. We are in need of the love of God to get rooted in us after he has planted it within us. Manton wrote. Our first affection to God and heavenly things may hastily put forth itself as the earthly blossoms of the spring do.