Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Thessalonians 3:11
Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.
11. Now God himself and our Father ] Now may our God and Father Himself (comp. ch. 1Th 1:3), and our Lord Jesus (R. V.). For this title of Christ, see notes on ch. 1Th 2:15; 1Th 2:19. The copyists have added Christ.
Literally the verse begins, But may our God, &c. There is a transition, by way of contrast, from the thought of Paul’s own (human) wish and longing, that has been so fervently uttered, to the thought of God, Who alone can fulfil His servant’s desire. The prayers of ch. 1Th 5:23 and 2Th 2:16 begin in the same style.
direct our way unto you ] Lit., make straight. This verb is rendered “ guide our feet into the way of peace” in Luk 1:79; 2Th 3:5 gives the only remaining example of it in the N.T. It is frequent in the Septuagint; see, e.g., Psa 37:23, “The steps of a good man are ordered (Greek, directed) by the Lord; and He delighteth in his way.” Perhaps this verse of the Psalm was running in the Apostle’s mind.
It is notable that the Greek verb of the prayer is singular, though following a double subject; similarly in 2Th 2:16-17 (comp. the Salutation, ch. 1Th 1:1). For Christ is one with the Father in the prerogative of hearing and answering prayer. This belief was derived from our Lord’s own teaching: see Joh 5:17; Joh 5:19; Joh 10:30; Joh 10:38; Joh 14:13-14; Mat 28:18 “I and the Father are one If ye shall ask Me (R. V.) anything in My name, I will do it,” &c.
The prayer of 1Th 3:11 has its goal in 1Th 3:13. “Our Lord Jesus” is He whose “coming” Paul and his readers are looking for. And He, together with the Father, is desired to “direct” the Apostle’s steps to Thessalonica, with the aim, ultimately, of furthering their preparation for His coming (comp. ch. 1Th 5:23; also 1Th 1:10).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now God himself – This is evidently a prayer. He earnestly sought of God that he might be permitted to visit them, and that he would so prepare the way that he might do it.
And our Father – Even our Father. The reference is particularly to the Father, the First Person of the Trinity. It does not refer to the divine nature in general, or to God as such, but to God as the Father of the Lord Jesus. It is a distinct prayer offered to him that he would direct his way to them. It is right therefore to offer prayer to God as the First Person of the Trinity.
And our Lord Jesus Christ – This also is a prayer, as much as the former was, for it can be understood in no other way. What can be its meaning, unless the apostle believed that the Lord Jesus had power to direct his way to them, and that it was proper for him to express this wish to him; that is, to pray to him? If this be so, then it is right to pray to the Lord Jesus, or to worship him; see the Joh 20:28 note; Act 1:24 note. Would Paul have prayed to an angel to direct his way to the church at Thessalonica?
Direct our way unto you – Margin, guide. The Greek word – kateuthuno – means, to guide straight toward or upon anything. It is rendered guide, in Luk 1:79, and direct here and in 2Th 3:5. It does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. The idea is that or conducting one straight to a place, and not by a round-about course. Here the petition is, that God would remove all obstacles so that he could come directly to them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Th 3:11-13
Now God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you
A comprehensive apostolic prayer
I.
This prayer recognizes the essential oneness of the Father and the Son.
1. Christ is invoked equally with the Father. The word Himself stands foremost in the sentence and refers to both persons, as if the writer said, May our God and Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself direct our way unto you. It should be also noted that the verb direct, belonging to both persons, is in the singular number. This fact was urged as an important point by Athanasius in the great Arian controversy. As the Son partakes equally with the Father in the honour of invocation, so also in excellency of nature. Divine properties are also ascribed to the Son in overruling by His providence the affairs of men. What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
2. It is the privilege of the believer to realize a personal interest in the Father and in the Son. By an act of appropriating faith we can say, God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Similar phrases occur no less than twenty-six times in these two Epistles. Blessed confidence! What a wealth of tenderness, satisfying assurance, and joyous triumph is involved in my God! my Saviour!
II. This is a prayer for providential guidance in securing a much desired interview. Direct our way unto you. Hitherto the way had been blocked up. The brethren there were as eager to welcome Paul as he was to be present; but Satan had hindered. Nevertheless, let God give the signal and all impediments would vanish. God should be recognized in the simplest affairs of life. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps; and only those journeys are prosperous wherein God is pilot. There are crises in life when everything depends on being guided in the right way–e.g., in selecting a school or college, entering on the religious life, commencing business, contemplating marriage, or in change of residence. In these and all other matters acknowledge God, and He shall direct thy paths. Our prayer for guidance must ever be in submission to the Divine will. The apostles prayer was not answered immediately; five years elapsed before he again visited Macedonia. That path is safest and best in which Gods finger points. Let His call be our loadstar: His hand the cloud, to move or pause as He directs.
III. This is a prayer for the bestowal of an increased measure of the highest Christian affection.
1. Christian love is progressive and mutual. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another. Love is the badge of the genuine Christian. He cannot have too much of it–the more the better. It grows with all other graces, and causes them to grow. There is no limit to its expansion but our finiteness. But love must be mutual one toward another. For this is the message, says St. John, that ye heard from the beginning, that ye should love one another; and, Seeing ye have purified your souls see that ye love one another, urges St. Peter.
2. Christian love is unselfish. And toward all men. The old law declared Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. And the New Testament reiterates the truth, that charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned is the fulfilling of the royal law.
3. Here we have Christian love practically exemplified. Even as we do towards you. Paul and his co-labourers had given unmistakable evidence of their love (1Th 2:8-9; 1Th 2:13; 1Th 3:3-5). Love is the soul of self-sacrifice. Ministers should exemplify in their own lives what they prescribe to others.
IV. This is a prayer for confirmation in a state of unblamable personal purity.
1. There is no stability in Christian graces apart from love. To the end he may stablish your hearts. If it were possible to possess every other grace but love, it would be like a varied summer landscape, beautiful but transient. Above all other graces we are exhorted to put on charity which is the bond of perfectness–a girdle which adorns and binds together all the rest. Love is the fulfilling of the law, the infallible test and evidence of stability.
2. An unblamable holiness is the legitimate and necessary outcome of love. To the end He may stablish, etc. Paul prays for an increase of love in order to the attainment of a higher personal purity. All defects in obedience issue from a defect in love. Our love of God makes us solicitous to know and obey Him, and fearful to offend Him. Our love of man makes us careful to preserve his honour, life and possessions, and in no way to impair his happiness. The whole law is love. There is no duty to which it does not incline; no sin from which it does not restrain.
3. Holiness screens the soul from Divine censure at the second advent (1Th 3:10). He who remains steadfast shall be blameless then. That holiness alone is genuine which will bear the scrutiny of Omniscience.
Lessons:
1. Recognize God in every event of life.
2. To attain purity pray for love.
3. Act in all things so as to secure the Divine approval. (G. Barlow.)
Pauls ejaculatory prayer
We have here an instance of a marked characteristic of Pauls Epistles–the tendency which the course of the argument ever has to break forth into prayer. In this respect they bear a striking resemblance to Davids Psalms.
I. To whom this prayer is addressed.
1. It is quite evident that the apostle regarded Christ as standing in the same relation to prayer as God the Father. The prayer is addressed to both, implying equality of power and unity of will, which imply a still higher unity–even unity of essence. While, then, our Lord is distinguished from the Father in personality, He is one with Him in Godhead, and therefore is He rightly addressed in the language of prayer.
2. Himself is emphatic, suggesting a contrast. Human agency had been frustrated. Satan had (1Th 2:18) so far prevailed. But now Paul turns to God with the confidence of filial reverence and love, and prays that He may remove obstacles and prosper his desire. His prayer was in the spirit of Jer 10:23, and Rom 1:9-10.
II. What he prayed for.
1. That they might increase, and by so increasing abound in love. To have this is to abound in true wealth which no outward reverses can lessen, which increases the more it is expended, which is always useful and can never be exhausted. It has prominence assigned it here, for it is the essence of Christian life, the bond of perfectness, the soul of the graces. As all beauty is cold and lifeless unless there be a soul speaking and breathing through it, so all the elements of moral beauty are worthless without love.
(1) This love is a Christian grace, for it turns first of all to Christ. It lives only in fellowship with Him, and He makes His people to increase in it.
(2) This love in its inner circle is one toward another. It is far in advance of friendship, which was so admired by the ancient heathen. The calumny that Christianity is inimical to friendship, and is a selfish care for the individual soul is refuted here. It broadened and transfigured friendship into love of the brethren.
(3) This love was toward all men. Christianity has broken down the barriers of race and creed, and struck barbarian out of the dictionary of mankind, substituting brother. It tells them of a Divine philanthropy (Tit 3:4), and bids them imitate it.
(4) This love was exemplified by Paul as we do toward you.
2. Love may be regarded as the end of Christian striving, for it brings men nearest heaven; but it is represented here as a means (1Th 3:13).
(1) Christian love going out towards others in blessing comes back laden with new blessings to the soul. The hearts of Christs people become in this way established. Where there is mutual and universal love there is of necessity a steady purpose and aim imparted to the whole life. The heart in this way becomes united (Psa 86:11). All its impulses go forth in the one direction of holiness unblamable before God, and is thus recompensed with the assurance of Divine love.
(2) Even amidst the imperfections and limitations of earth and time the believer has something of this. But the more advanced he is in the Divine life the more does he mourn over his unholiness in the sight of God. Hence the apostle carries our thoughts forward to the second coming (1Co 1:7-8). This is the pivot on which the whole Epistle turns. Very naturally and tenderly does Paul refer to this in order to draw away the thoughts of his friends from the trials, sorrows, and sins of their present lot. He would have them think of the lot of their future inheritance that they may be faithful unto the end. (J. Hutchison, D. D.)
Prayer about a journey
In these profoundly interesting words we have one of the most unfeigned and earnest prayers of the apostle. He desired to be directly instrumental in the farther spiritual benefit of the Thessalonians; and the only way to do so while at a distance was by prayer for them, together with his writing or sending to them.
I. The hearers of prayer. Prayer is made to God, even the Father and our Father, and also to Christ, even our Lord Jesus Christ; therefore Jesus Christ our Lord is God, even as God our Father is God. Prayer is to be offered to God as our Father (Mat 6:9): so Jesus taught His disciples, and so the Spirit prompts them to pray (Rom 8:15). And prayer is not only to be offered up to Christ as our Lord and Saviour, but in the name of Christ as the Lord our Righteousness.
II. The things prayed for. He prays that he might have a prosperous journey to them, by the will of God. The taking of a journey to this or that place, one would think, is a matter depending so much upon a mans own will, and lies so much in his own power, that Paul needed not by prayer to go to God about it; but the apostle knew that we depend upon God in all our motions and actions as well as for the continuance of life and being–that Divine Providence orders all our affairs, and that it is owing thereto if we prosper therein–that God our Father doth direct and order His children whither they shall go, and what they shall do–that our Lord Jesus Christ in a particular manner directs the motions of His faithful ministers, those stars which He holdeth in His right hand. He prayeth, too, for the prosperity of the Thessalonians, whether he should see them or not; and there are two things he desired for them, which we should desire for ourselves and our friends, namely–that they might increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men; and that they might be established unblamable in holiness. This last-mentioned spiritual benefit is the effect of increasing and abounding love. Our desire should therefore be–to have our hearts established in holiness; for then we shall be found blameless at the last advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will surely come, and come in His glory; and when He cometh, His saints will come with Him. And then the excellency, as well as the necessity of pure and perfect holiness, will appear, because without such a state no hearts shall be established at that day, nor shall any one be unblamable, or avoid everlasting condemnation. (R. Fergusson.)
Prayer to Christ
At the very moment of his conversion Saul of Tarsus surrendered himself by a prayer to Christ as the lawful Lord of his being. Lord, he cried, what wilt Thou have me to do? And when afterwards in the Temple our Lord bade St. Paul Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, we find the apostle unfolding to Jesus his secret thoughts, fears, regrets, confessions; laying them out before Him, and waiting for an answer from Him (Act 22:19-20). Indeed, St. Paul constantly uses language which shows that he habitually thought of Jesus as of Divine Providence in a human form, watching over, befriending, consoling, guiding with infinite foresight and power, but also with the tenderness of human sympathy. In this sense Jesus is placed on a level with the Father in these, St. Pauls two earliest Epistles (text and 2Th 2:16-17), in one instance as directing the movements of the apostles life, in the other as building up the inward life of Christians. In other devotional expressions the name of Jesus stands alone (Php 2:19; 1Ti 1:12). Is not this the natural language of a soul which is constantly engaged in communion with Jesus, whether it be the communion of praise or the communion of prayer? Jesus is to Paul, not a deceased teacher or philanthropist, who has simply done his great work and then has left it as a legacy to the world; He is God, ever living and ever present, the Giver of temporal and spiritual blessings, the Guide and Friend of man in his outward and inward life. (Canon Liddon.)
Direction of the way and increase in love
I. Pauls great personal desire.
1. It was evidently more than a natural transcient longing such as would arise in any mind on the remembrance of dear friends who had been left, it was a fixed strong desire. We are away from you for a time, in presence, not in heart. I endeavoured to see your face with great desire, but Satan hindered. I therefore sent Timothy–my dearest and best fellow labourer, and the tidings he has brought has comforted me. But this is not enough. May God direct my way unto you. The inferences from this are–
(1) They must have been a very lovable people. For in this desire we can see more than apostolic function, or simple discharge of duty. Clearly here is that unpurchaseable thing–the whole hearts love on both sides.
(2) This is one of the marvels and triumphs of Christianity that it can thus mutually unite, refine, endear people to each other in any circumstances. What were the circumstances? They had scarcely a days peace in their connection. And yet how they hold on to each other. Is there any other department of life that can be likened to this? Say, that some merchant goes into a distant city, opens a large business, and supplies smaller traders. But unfortunate times comes on. Those who have bought cannot pay, and the merchant sees his capital sunk as in the sea. Would it be wonderful if he closed his stores and departed? Now see the contrast. Paul comes on his great business to Thessalonica–the city is in an uproar, and his friends are glad to get him away with life. And yet the strain Taken from you in presence, not in heart, I shall be back again soon. The religion of Christ is a plant which storms cannot break, which will grow fresh and green above the very snows, and in the dark, damp air of prisons, and will bear some of its best fruits when all other trees are barren.
2. The religious rule he puts it under; the subordination of it to the will of God. He seems to say, There is nothing more that I can do: Satan seems to hold the keys of the city, and he will not let me in if he can help it. People would advise me to give it up. But no, I hold a strange key, that has opened many a door for me, and perhaps it may fit the lock of that city gate. It is called the key of prayer, and it never rusts with me, for it never rests. I use it by night as well as day. Even while I thus write, I use it. Now God direct my way. The teaching is, have your human desire, hold it against all hostility and disappointment; but have it in subjection to the higher Will which knows all the circumstances of which we can only know a part. Says an old writer, Let God be our Pilot if we mean to make a good voyage of it. Let our hand be on the stern, our eye on the star. Let our course as the mariners be guided by the heavens.
II. Pauls great desire for the Church.
1. This desire is not dependent on the fulfilment of the other. He was aware that unless he had an express Divine assurance that the former was not to be calculated upon with certainty. If he is permitted to see them he will supply, by Gods help, what is lacking in their faith, and out of that will spring a fuller love. But if he is not allowed to see them, the Lord could do without his agency.
2. The love here mentioned is discriminated, but it is one thing. Love to God is one thing, with differentiations suited to the character of the individuals. Love in us–
(1) Has its fullest expression when its object is God.
(2) Next to that in excellence is love of Gods own children–our brethren. Very beautiful is this affection when founded on mutual knowledge and esteem, when each sees in the other the Masters image, and are all kindly affectioned one to another. Behold how good and peasant, etc.
(3) It has been said that this mutual love is apt to deteriorate in the very exercise of it, and to become exclusiveness. This is possible. Churches have so attended to the form of this great privilege and duty that they have allowed the spirit of it to evaporate. They have ceased to feel for the miseries about them. Well, we cannot say that the Scriptures have led us astray. For see how inseparably the two things are here joined. And toward all men. There is only that word between them, and that unites and never disjoins. It is Gods strong bridge over the river; Gods marriage service over the two affections, never to be severed more. And what God hath joined together, etc. Let no one say he loves the brotherhood if he despises one human creature. But on the other hand let no man say that he loves the race while he sees nothing to love in his fellow Christians. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
The helplessness of mans self-guidance
A merchant, though he owns the ship, and hath stored it with goods, yet, because he hath no skill in the art of navigation, he suffereth the pilot to guide it. Certainly we shall shipwreck ourselves unless we give ourselves up to be guided by the Spirit of God according to His will. (T. Manton, D. D.)
Just as if a master, who had given his scholar charge to follow wheresoever he might lead, when he sees him forestalling, and desiring to learn all things of himself, should permit him to go utterly astray; and when he had proved him incompetent to acquire the knowledge, should thereupon at length introduce to him what he himself has to teach: so God also commanded man in the beginning to trace Him by the idea which the creation gives; but since they would not, He, after showing by the experiment that they are not sufficient for themselves, conducts them again unto Him by another way. (Chrysostom.)
The right and the wrong way of seeking Gods guidance
The Israelites usually asked council of God by the Ephod, the Greeks by their Oracles, the Persians by their Magi, the Egyptians by the Hierophante, the Indians by their Gymnosophistae, the ancient Gauls and Britains by their Druids, the Romans by their Augurs or Soothsayers. It was not lawful to propose any matter of moment in the Senate before their wizards had made observations from the sky. That which they did impiously and superstitiously, we ought to do in another sense–religiously, conscionably, i.e., not to embark ourselves into any action of great importance before we have observed from heaven, not the flight of birds, not the houses of planets, or their aspects or conjunctions, but the countenance of God, whether it shineth on our enterprises or not, whether He approves of our designs or not. (J. Spencer.)
Guidance honestly sought
I believe that wherever guidance is honestly and simply sought it is certainly given. As to our discernment of it I believe it depends upon the measure in which we are walking in the light. One indulged sin may so cloud the sky that it spreads a mist, so that to see what God is doing is impossible. But neither the casting of lots, the opening of the Bible at a venture, nor the sudden impression of a text, nor freedom in prayer over a matter, nor a dream, furnishes any reliable direction. The Lord rather opens and shuts, throws down the walls of difficulty, or hedges the way with thorns, for those who confidingly seek His guidance by prayer. They know that their concerns are in His hands, and fear to run before He sends, or to delay when He directs an advance. (J. Newton.)
God honoured by seeking His guidance
There is nothing so small but that we may honour God by asking His guidance of it, or insult Him by taking it into our own hands. (J. Ruskin.)
Gods guidance to be sought by prayer
As the sails of a ship carry it into the harbour, so prayer carries us to the throne and bosom of God. But as the sails cannot of themselves speed the progress of the vessel, unless filled with the favourable breeze, so the Holy Spirit must breathe upon our hearts, or our prayers will be motionless and lifeless. (A. Toplady, M. A.)
Divine guidance guaranteed
Do you feel that you have lost your way in life? Then God Himself will show you your way. Are you utterly helpless, worn out, body and soul? Then Gods eternal love is ready and willing to help and revive you. Are you wearied with doubts and terrors? Then Gods eternal light is ready to show you your way, and Gods eternal peace to give you peace. Do you feel yourself full of sins and faults? Then take heart; for Gods unchangeable will is to take away those sins and purge you from those faults. (G. Kingsley, M. A.)
The mysteriousness and methods of Gods guidance
In the daily events of our life we mistake the Divine for the human. You may cross a street, and not know the reason why, and in that very crossing you may be unconsciously obeying a Divine suggestion. You may hold over the letter box a letter, and suddenly you may say, Ill not send it by this post, and your not sending it may occasion you a blessing that you never thought of. You cannot account for these things. You say, I thought just at the last moment I would not do so; but that is a fools explanation of life. I rather believe that Gods angels are overhead, or just by our side, and that we do things by Divine impulse without always knowing what we are really doing. You say, Yes, but dont let us be superstitious. I answer, I am more afraid of people losing veneration than I am afraid of their becoming superstitious; and it is a poor life that does not begin in veneration and continue in worship to the end. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. Now God himself and our Father] That is: God who is our Father, who has adopted us into the heavenly family, and called us his sons and daughters.
Direct our way] As he was employed in God’s work he dared not consult his own inclinations, he looked for continual directions from God, where, when, and how to do his Master’s work.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Here his prayer is expressed. The person to whom he prays is God himself, personally considered as God the Father, and relatively, when he styles him our Father: so ought believers to address themselves to God, not absolutely, but as to their Father. So Christ taught his disciples to pray: Our Father; and so the Spirit of adoption doth prompt the saints to pray: we come to God with greater freedom and confidence when we can come to him as a Father. And he prays also to Christ, whom he styles our Lord Jesus Christ. Whence we may have an argument that Christ is God, else he could not be the object of Divine worship: not that we are to present our prayers distinctly to the Son without considering his union with the Father, nor to the Father distinctly from the Son, but to the Father in and by the Lord Jesus Christ; for so only we can consider him as our Father in prayer. And he speaks of Christ also in his relation to his people: our Lord Jesus Christ. And the thing he prays for is, that God would direct his way unto them; that the hinderances of Satan, whatsoever they were, might be removed, and the providence of God open him a way to come to them: the word direct signifies in the Greek to make straight, and, 2Th 3:5, is applied to the heart: The Lord direct your hearts, & c., which is setting the heart straight towards God; answering to the Hebrew word Jashar, which signifies to be upright, and is often used in the Old Testament. The French read it, address our way. And hence we learn our duty by the apostles practice to pray to have our way in all cases directed by God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. Translate, “MayGod Himself, even our Father (there being but one article inthe Greek, requires this translation, ‘He who is at once Godand our Father’), direct,” c. The “Himself” stands incontrast with “we” (1Th2:18) we desired to come but could not through Satan’shindrance; but if God Himself direct our way (as we pray),none can hinder Him (2Th 2:16;2Th 2:17). It is a remarkableproof of the unity of the Father and Son, that in the Greekhere, and in 2Th 2:16; 2Th 2:17,the verb is singular, implying that the subject, the Fatherand Son, are but one in essential Being, not in mere unity ofwill. Almost all the chapters in both Epistles to the Thessaloniansare sealed, each with its own prayer (1Th 5:23;2Th 1:11; 2Th 2:16;2Th 3:5; 2Th 3:16)[BENGEL]. Paul does notthink the prosperous issue of a journey an unfit subject for prayer(Rom 1:10; Rom 15:32)[EDMUNDS]. His prayer,though the answer was deferred, in about five years afterwards wasfulfilled in his return to Macedonia.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now God himself, and our Father,…. The Oriental versions leave out the copulative “and”, and read, “God himself, our Father” the first person in the Trinity, who is God himself, truly and properly so; and who is a God that hears prayer; and who is omnipotent, and able to do more than the saints can ask or think; and omniscient, and knows their persons and cases, and what is proper for them, and how and when to help and supply them; and he is also the God of all grace, the author and giver of it, and who is able to make it abound, and increase it, and so a very proper object of prayer: and who is likewise the Father of Christ, and of all the saints, not only by creation, in which sense he is the Father of all men, but by adopting grace; and which is mentioned to encourage freedom and boldness in prayer, which children may use with a father, and to raise an expectation of succeeding and receiving an answer; for if earthly parents hear their children, and give good things to them, how much more will not our heavenly Father give his Holy Spirit, and all other good gifts, unto his children? And this shows that the apostle prayed to God in the manner Christ directed, Mt 6:9
and our Lord Jesus Christ: who is equally the object of prayer with God his Father and ours; who is sometimes distinctly prayed unto, as in Ac 7:59 and often in conjunction with his Father, as in all those places in the epistles, where grace and peace are wished for from them both; see Ro 1:7, and sometimes he is set before the Father, as in 2Th 2:16 to show the entire equality between them, and that he is equally addressed as he, being truly and properly God, who knows all things, and is the Almighty, and whose grace is sufficient for us, and therefore rightly applied unto, as here: the petition put up to them both is, that they would
direct our way unto you: a journey is not to be taken without the will of God, without seeking to know it, without submission to it, and dependence on it; nor is there any prosperous one, but by it; see Jas 4:13. Men may devise their own ways, but God directs their goings; especially a good man’s steps are ordered by the Lord, and particularly ministers; who, as they are often directed to subjects and matter, in a very providential way, so to places, and are ordered both where and when to go; see
Ac 16:6. The apostle was aware, that there were obstacles in his way of coming to Thessalonica, for he had attempted it once and again, but Satan, and his emissaries, hindered; and therefore he desires that God and Christ would remove them out of the way, and make his way straight and plain, as the word signifies, that he might once more see their faces.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Apostolic Prayer. | A. D. 51. |
11 Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. 12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: 13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
In these words we have the earnest prayer of the apostle. He desired to be instrumental in the further benefit of the Thessalonians; and the only way to be so while at a distance was by prayer for them, together with his writing or sending to them. He desired that their faith might be perfected, which he could not be the proper cause or author of; for he pretended not to dominion over their faith, nor to have the donation of it, and he therefore concludes with prayer for them. Observe,
I. Whom he prays to, namely, God and Christ. Prayer is a part of religious worship, and all religious worship is due unto God only. Prayer is here made to God, even the Father and our Father; and also to Christ, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore Jesus Christ our Lord is God, even as God our Father is God. Prayer is to be offered to God as our Father. So Christ taught his disciples to pray; and so the Spirit of adoption prompts them to pray, to cry, Abba Father. Prayer is not only to be offered in the name of Christ, but offered up to Christ himself, as our Lord and our Saviour.
II. What he prays for, with respect to himself and his fellow-labourers, and on behalf of the Thessalonians.
1. He prays that himself and fellow-labourers might have a prosperous journey to them by the will of God, that their way might be directed to them, v. 11. The taking of a journey to this or that place, one would think, is a thing depending so much on a man’s own will, and lies so much in his own power, that Paul needed not by prayer to go to God about it. But the apostle knew that in God we live, and move, and have our being, that we depend upon God in all our motions and actions, as well as for the continuance of life and being, that divine Providence orders all our affairs and that it is owing thereto if we prosper therein, that God our Father directs and orders his children whither they shall go and what they shall do, that our Lord Jesus Christ in a particular manner directs the motions of his faithful ministers, those stars which he holds in his right hand. Let us acknowledge God in all our ways, and he will direct our paths.
2. He prays for the prosperity of the Thessalonians. Whether he should have an opportunity of coming to them or not, yet he earnestly prayed for the prosperity of their souls. And there are two things he desired for them, which we should desire for ourselves and friends:– (1.) That they might increase and abound in love (v. 12), in love to one another and in love to all men. Note, Mutual love is required of all Christians, and not only that they love one another, but that they also have a charitable disposition of mind and due concern for the welfare of all men. Love is of God, and is the fulfilling of the gospel as well as of the law. Timothy brought good tidings of their faith, yet something was lacking therein; and of their charity, yet the apostle prays that this might increase and abound. Note, We have reason to desire to grow in every grace, and have need of the Spirit’s influence in order to growth in grace; and the way to obtain this is by prayer. We are beholden to God not only for the stock put into our hands at first, but for the improvement of it also. And to our prayer we must add endeavour. To excite this in the Thessalonians the apostle again mentions his love, his abounding love, towards them. The more we are beloved, the more affectionate we should be. (2.) That they might be established unblamable in holiness, v. 13. This spiritual benefit is mentioned as an effect of increasing and abounding love: To the end that he (the Lord) may establish your hearts. Note, The more we grow and abound in grace, and particularly in the grace of love, the more we are established and confirmed in it. Note also, Holiness is required of all those who would go to heaven, and therein we must be unblamable; that is, we must act in every thing so that we may not in the least contradict the profession we make of holiness. Our desire should be to have our hearts established in holiness before God, and be preserved safe, to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; and that we may be unblamable before God, even the Father, now, and be presented blameless before the throne of his glory, when the Lord Jesus shall come with all his saints. Note, [1.] The Lord Jesus will certainly come, and come in his glory. [2.] When he comes, his saints will come with him: They shall appear with him in glory. [3.] Then the excellency as well as the necessity of holiness will appear, because without this no hearts shall be established at that day, nor shall any one be unblamable, or avoid everlasting condemnation.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Our God and Father himself ( ). Note one article with both substantives for one person.
And our Lord Jesus ( ). Separate article here with . In Titus 2:13; 2Pet 1:1 only one article (not two) treating “our God and Saviour Jesus Christ” as one just like “our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” in 2Pet 1:11; 2Pet 2:20; 2Pet 3:18.
Direct our way ( ). First aorist optative (acute accent on penult, not circumflex first aorist active infinitive) of , old verb to make straight path. Singular verb also, though both God and Christ mentioned as subject (unity in the Godhead). Apart from ( may it not come to pass ) the optative in a wish of the third person is found in N.T. only in 1Thess 3:11; 1Thess 3:12; 1Thess 5:23; 2Thess 2:17; 2Thess 3:5; 2Thess 3:16; Rom 15:5; Rom 15:13.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Direct [] . Lit. make straight. Only in Paul and Luke. See on Luk 1:79, and comp. 2Th 3:5. Frequent in LXX
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Now God himself” (autos de ho Theos) “now God, himself”; the very “elohim”, Godhead, the Trinitarian Deity of unity, Act 17:29.
2) “And our Father” (Kai pater hemon) “Even our Father”; the affectionate protector to whom children turn with their fears, Rom 8:15.
3) “And our Lord Jesus Christ” (kai ho kurios humon lesous) “and our Lord Jesus”; the term “Christ” is omitted in the original text. Perhaps Paul deliberately used the term “Lord Jesus,” meaning your “Savior and present Master”, direct you. The “Christ”, anointed one, is to direct us in the golden millennial age, 1Co 15:25.
4) “Direct our way unto you” (kateuthunai ten hodon hemon pros humas) “May he direct our way (journey) to you all.” It is both a Divine and practical thought that God can and does direct or guide and protect His children in their travels, Psa 34:7; Exo 33:14-15; Pro 3:5-6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11 Now God himself. He now prays that the Lord, having removed Satan’s obstructions, may open a door for himself, and be, as it were, the leader and director of his way to the Thessalonians. By this he intimates, that we cannot move a step with success, (562) otherwise than under God’s guidance, but that when he holds out his hand, it is to no purpose that Satan employs every effort to change the direction of our course. We must take notice that he assigns the same office to God and to Christ, as, unquestionably, the Father confers no blessing upon us except through Christ’s hand. When, however, he thus speaks of both in the same terms, he teaches that Christ has divinity and power in common with the Father.
(562) “ Nous ne pouuons d’vn costé ne d’autre faire vn pas qui proufite et viene a bien;” — “We cannot on one side or another take a step that may be profitable or prosperous.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
1Th. 3:11. Direct our way unto you.Act. 16:6-7 should be read. Satan might hinder (1Th. 2:18); if God makes straight the way, progress will be easy.
1Th. 3:12. The Lord make you abound in love.The Lord may here be the Holy Spirit, as the three persons of the Trinity will be appealed to (cf. 1Th. 3:13, as in 2Th. 3:5). So the Holy Ghost is called the Lord (2Co. 3:17). Love is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), and His office is to establish in holiness (1Th. 3:13; 1Pe. 1:2) (Faussett).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.1Th. 3:11-13
A Comprehensive Apostolic Prayer.
The prayers of the apostle Paul are among his sublimest utterances. The frequency with which they occur in his writings indicates the habitual devoutness of his mind. In both the epistles to the Thessalonians nearly every chapter is distinguished and sealed by a fervent outbreathing of his soul to God. In these verses he expresses, in the most comprehensive and suggestive terms, his dearest wishes for the welfare of the Church.
I. This prayer recognises the essential oneness of the Father and the Son.
1. Christ is invoked equally with the Father. Now God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ (1Th. 3:11). The word Himself stands foremost in the sentence and refers to both persons, as if the writer said, May our God and Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself direct our way unto you. It should be also noted that the verb direct, belonging to both persons, is in the singular number. This fact was urged as an important point by Athanasius in the great Arian controversy in the fourth century. As the Son partakes equally with the Father in the honour of invocation, so also in excellency of nature. Divine properties are also ascribed to the Son in overruling by His providence the affairs of men. What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
2. It is the privilege of the believer to realise a personal interest in the Father and in the Son.By an act of appropriating faith we can say, God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Similiar phrases occur no less than twenty-six times in these two epistles. Blessed confidence! What a wealth of tenderness, of comfort, of satisfying assurance, and of joyous triumph is involved in the earnest, trustful cry of the soulMy God! my Saviour!
II. This is a prayer for providential guidance in securing a much desired interview.Direct our way unto you (1Th. 3:11). Hitherto the way to Thessalonica had been insuperably blocked up. The brethren there were as eager to welcome Paul as he was to be present with them; but Satan had hindered by interposing many obstacles. Nevertheless, let God give the signal and all impediments from men or devils would vanish. The road would at once become straight and plain. God should be recognised in the simplest affairs of life. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps; and only those journeys are prosperous wherein God is pilot. There are crises in life when everything depends on being guided in the right waye.g. in selecting a school or college, entering on the religious life, commencing business, contemplating marriage, or in change of residence. In these and all other matters acknowledge God, and He shall direct thy paths. Our prayer for guidance must ever be in submission to the divine will. The apostles prayer was not answered immediately; five years elapsed before he again visited Macedonia. That path is safest and best in which Gods finger points. Let His call be our loadstar; His hand the cloud, to move or pause as He directs.
III. This is a prayer for the bestowal of an increased measure of the highest Christian affection.
1. Christian love is progressive and mutual. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another (1Th. 3:12). The apostle had before commended their labour of love, and Timothy had brought good tidings of their continued love. Now he prays they may increase and excel more and more. Love is the indispensable badge of the genuine Christian. He cannot have too much of itthe more the better. It grows with all other graces, and causes them to grow. There is no limit to its expansion but our finiteness. But love must be mutual in its exerciseone toward another. For this is the message, says St. John, that ye heard from the beginning, that ye should love one another; and, Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another, urges St. Peter, with a pure heart fervently.
2. Christian love is unselfish.And toward all men. The old Levitical law declared, Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. And the New Testament reiterates the truth, that charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned is the fulfilling of the royal law.
3. Here we have Christian love practically exemplified.Even as we do towards you. Paul and his co-labourers had given unmistakable evidence of their sincere love for the Thessalonian converts in their self-denying labours, uncomplaining sufferings, and unceasing anxiety on their behalf (1Th. 2:8-9; 1Th. 2:13, 1Th. 3:3-5). Love is the soul of self-sacrifice, prompts to labour, braves all suffering, and persists in doing good to others, even to those who least appreciate and most violently oppose the best endeavours. Ministers should exemplify in their own lives what they prescribe to others.
IV. This is a prayer for confirmation in a state of unblamable personal purity.
1. There is no stability in Christian graces apart from love. To the end he may establish your hearts (1Th. 3:13). If it were possible to possess every other grace but love, it would be like a varied summer landscape, very beautiful but transient, having in it no element of permanency. Above all other graces we are exhorted to put on charity which is the bond of perfectnessa girdle which adorns and binds together all the rest. Love is the fulfilling of the law, the infallible test and evidence of stability.
2. Unblamable holiness is the legitimate and necessary outcome of love.To the end He may stablish your hearts in holiness (1Th. 3:13). The apostle prays for an increase of love in order to the attainment of a higher personal purity. All defects in obedience issue from a defect in love. Our love of God makes us solicitous to know and obey Him and fearful to offend Him. Our love of man makes us careful to preserve his honour, life, and possessions, and in no way to impair his happiness. The whole of the law is love. There is no duty to God or man but love inclines unto, and no sin from which it does not restrain. To be unblamable in holiness, store the soul with love. When love fails, obedience and all holy duties fail.
3. Holiness screens the soul from divine censure at the second advent of Christ.Unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints (1Th. 3:13). Christ will come in glorious pomp attended by His holy onessaints and angels. He who remains steadfast in holiness shall be held blameless then. Our outer life may be censured by men; but if God, even our Father, who stablishes our hearts in holiness, absolves and approves, it will be enough. That holiness alone is genuine which will bear the searching scrutiny of Omniscience.
Lessons.
1. Recognise God in every event of life.
2. To attain the highest degree of personal purity pray for an increase of love.
3. Act in all things so as to secure the divine approval.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Th. 3:12-13. A Prayer for Growth in Personal Piety
I. Acknowledges and invokes the divine source of all spiritual good.The Lord make you.
II. Growth in piety is growth in Christian love.Increase and abound in love.
III. Growth in piety is the establishment of the soul in unblamable holiness.To the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness.
IV. Growth in piety is essential to gain the approval of God at the second advent of Christ.Before God, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
1Th. 3:13. The Coming of Christ
I.
Will be an imposing spectacle.
II.
Should be ardently longed for.
III.
Demands on our part diligent moral preparedness.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Text (1Th. 3:11)
11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way unto you:
Translation and Paraphrase
11.
But (now) may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our path (once again) unto you.
Notes (1Th. 3:11)
1.
There are numerous brief prayers, such as this one, in the Thessalonian epistles. 1Th. 3:11-13; 1Th. 5:23; 2Th. 1:11; 2Th. 2:16; 2Th. 3:5; 2Th. 3:16. These written prayers show the character of Pauls mind. He could break into prayer in speaking or writing at any time. He prayed without ceasing. We should develop a similar habit of praying to God at every moment of joy or need. It should be just as easy as talking to any dear loved one.
2.
The prayer which is started in this verse (and goes to the end of the chapter) forms the conclusion of Part One of I Thessalonians. There is also a prayer near the end of Part Two (at 1Th. 5:23).
3.
This prayer that God would direct Pauls path back to the Thessalonians was answered in due time. See the notes on 1Th. 3:10, par. 7.
4.
There is a very notable, even if incidental, testimony to the glory of the Lord Jesus in this verse. Note that Paul addresses his prayer BOTH to God and to Jesus. Evidently Jesus answers prayers as well as God.
But while the subject in this verse is PLURAL (God and the Lord Jesus), the verb is SINGULAR. (This is not apparent in English, but the Greek text shows it plainly.) This should go far to prove that God and Christ Jesus are ONE in the godhead, even though they are separate personalities. (This very Scripture was used by Athanasius against Arius back in the fourth century, to prove the deity of Jesus.)
5.
The American Standard Version and the Greek text omit the word Christ after Jesus. The word Christ is not found in most of the ancient texts. Its omission does not affect the thought one bit.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(11) God himself and our Father.Better, our God and Father Himself. If we are to find any special person with whom the word Himself is intended to enforce a contrast, the contrast is probably not so much with the baffled efforts of St. Paul, as with Satan, who had hindered the journey. But the word is probably added without such specific reference: May God Himself direct us; for in that case who could hinder?
And our Lord . . .An important theological passage. From the use of the singular in the verb direct (which of course the English cannot express), some divines argue in favour of the Catholic doctrine of homosion, or substantial unity of the Son with the Father: it must not, however, be too strongly pressed, or it might otherwise lead to the false notion of a personal unity between Them. Nevertheless, we may admit that the prayer (or, rather, wish) implies the equality of the two Persons, and that it would have been inconceivable for a Catholic Christian to have used the verb in the plural. (See 2Th. 2:17.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. How And now the prayer flows forth. It is three prayers in one: first, for a divinely directed way unto them; second, a perfecting of love; and, third, an unblameable fitness for the coming of Christ. The first is impliedly in order to the second, and both expressly in order to the third. May God himself accomplish what I have in vain attempted, namely, direct, etc. It is a striking fact that both here and in 2Th 2:16-17, the verb is singular in the Greek with God and Christ for the nominative; a striking proof of the apostle’s assumption of their oneness.
Unto you Not simply in order to gratify our affection, but in order to your Christian confirmation and perfection.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love, one toward another, and towards all men, even as we also do towards you, to the end that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.’
In the prayer that closes this section Paul clearly demonstrates that all must be of God. If they are to come to Thessalonika it must be because God directs them, removing the obstacles and the interference of Satan which has prevented it. Note again how God the Father and the Lord Jesus are in parallel. They are our God and Lord, working in full unity. And all our ways must be in their hands. That they are addressed in prayer together confirms the full deity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Then he prays for their growth, that they may ‘increase and abound’. Both words convey the same general idea, growth and fullness. The growth and fullness are to be in love, first towards each other and then towards all men, a love comparable to that Paul has for them. The comparison brings out the genuineness of his love. This will then result in their fulfilling all God’s requirements (Gal 5:14 see also Joh 14:15), and prepare them for the coming of the Lord Jesus (1Th 3:13). Love for one another was a central feature of the final words of Jesus Christ to His disciples (Joh 13:34-35; Joh 15:12-13; Joh 15:17). It was one way by which all men would be able to identify the true disciples of Christ (Joh 13:35).
‘To the end that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.’ The purpose of this love being made to increase and abound in them is that their hearts may be established, ‘unblameable in holiness’, ready to meet God at Jesus’ second coming. We note again the importance of faith (1Th 3:10 b), love (1Th 3:12) and here, the Christian hope, the three foundation pillars manward of Christian belief.
‘He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness.’ The verb ‘establish’ is used in LXX Psa 112:8 to signify someone whose heart is established so that he need not be afraid. It refers to a strong and sure position and attitude resulting from faith (‘the fear of the Lord’) and past experience of righteousness. Thus here faith and its outworking in love is seen as establishing the hearts of Christians ‘unblameable in holiness’. The former, the faith and love, is the outworking of salvation as seen within man, unblameable in holiness is the outworking of salvation on God’s part. It is through the sacrifice of Christ, resulting in sanctification and cleansing, that we are presented before God holy and without blame (Eph 5:25-27; Col 1:22), but it is our faith and love, worked within us by God, that give us the confidence that we will be so, and reproduce something of that holiness within us (see 2Co 7:1).
‘Before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.’ At the coming (parousia) of our Lord Jesus with all His saints (all the people of God) (1Th 4:14) we will be presented before our God and Father. Our Lord will ‘confess us’, bear witness to us, before Him (Mat 10:32; Luk 12:8). Then indeed we will need to be unblameable in holiness. Were that to mean in actuality as a result of righteous living none could stand before Him. We will indeed be clothed with ‘the righteous acts of the saints’ (Rev 19:8), and presented as a chaste virgin to Christ (2Co 11:2), but our final assurance can only rest in the fact that our clothes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14), that Christ is made unto us sanctification (1Co 1:30), that we have become the righteousness of God in Him (2Co 5:21).
‘With all his saints (holy ones).’ The question has been asked whether this means His people as resurrected (1Th 4:14), or His angels, or all His people. But in the New Testament the word ‘holy ones’ always signifies the whole people of God or a section of the whole people of God (sixty times) with the possible exception of Jud 1:14, which is a quotation from extra-Biblical literature.
While therefore it is true that Christ will come with His angels (Mat 16:27; Mat 25:31; Mar 8:38; Luk 9:26; 2Th 1:7), and in LXX angels are sometimes called ‘holy ones’ (Zec 14:5; Dan 8:13), but never in the New Testament outside of Jude’s quotation from pre-New Testament days which is based on Deu 33:2 where the meaning is obscure, the force of the New Testament evidence is on translating this ‘saints’ as meaning the whole people of God or a section of them.
Thus here it probably primarily means the resurrected saints who will accompany Him, although we would not exclude the possibility that it allows for the angels as also coming with them, a splendid and glorious array (the same question arises in Rev 19:14). In view of the close connection with 1Th 4:14 the primary connection with the resurrected saints is surely certain, and the non-mention of angels in that passage must be seen as telling.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul’s Prayer for the Thessalonians In 1Th 3:11-13 Paul prayers a prayer of supplication to return to them in order to establish them in the faith (1Th 3:11), and for God to continue the process of sanctification in their lives (1Th 3:12), so that they would be established at the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (1Th 3:13).
1Th 3:11 “direct our way unto you” Word Study on “direct” – Strong says the Greek word “direct” ( ) (G2720) literally means, “to straighten fully,” and figuratively, “direct.”
Comments – That is, God will remove all hindrances out of our path (1Th 2:18).
1Th 2:18, “Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.”
1Th 3:11 Comments (1) – Paul’s visits to the believers in Thessalonica were for the purpose of establishing their hearts in the faith and in love towards one another. God used these visits to fulfill the purpose that Paul describes in the following verses (1Th 3:12-13), which was for them to walk in love so that their hearts would be established in holiness. Paul’s love towards them compels him to see them again. His visits stirred them up to pursue holiness.
Comments (2) – Paul understood his need to yield himself to God’s divine providence and plan for his own life. He does not boast in 1Th 3:11 that he will come to them by his own plan and efforts, but rather in obedience to God’s call in his life. James warns us about boasting about our own plans for tomorrow (Jas 4:13-15).
Jas 4:13-15, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”
1Th 3:12 Comments – Paul deposits his love into them, pouring it into them so that they might have enough measures of love to pour into others. We are able to love others as we have been loved ourselves.
1Th 3:13 “with all his saints” – Comments – Note similar verses stating that the saints will appear with Jesus Christ at His Second Coming.
Col 3:4, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory .”
Jud 1:14, “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints ,”
Many scholars believe that these verses support the teaching that the rapture of the Church will take place before the Tribulation period, since the saints will need to be in Heaven when Jesus appears at the end of this seven year tribulation period.
1Th 3:13 Comments – The love walk is the key to achieving holiness in the Christian life. When a wife loves her husband, she naturally separates herself to please and serve him alone. She had no desire for other men. Holiness literally means “set apart.” When we love God and our neighbour, we keep ourselves on the path of sanctification.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
1Th 3:11. Direct our way unto you. This prayer of St. Paul was heard, and his request granted; for he had an opportunity to go over Macedonia again once or twice, and to give them much exhortation, Act 20:1-3. He then most probably perfected what was still wanting in their faith, and rectified or confirmed them as to their experience and practice.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Th 3:11 . ] is not a general introductory subject to which the special designations are annexed as an apposition: “but He, God our Father,” etc. (Luther, de Wette, Hofmann, Riggenbach. According to de Wette, whom Koch and Bisping follow, serves for bringing forward the contrast with the petitioner ). But the whole designation of the subject is most closely connected: But God Himself, our Father and our Lord Jesus . It has its contrast in reference to . Paul thinks on a , both on his (man’s) side and on the side of God . The first does not conduct certainly to the end, as in reference to it the power of is given to the devil (comp. 1Th 2:18 ). Only when the is undertaken by God Himself and Christ is its success assured, for then the hindrances of the devil are without power. Thus Paul contrasts simply and naturally God and Christ to himself.
] may be referred both to and to (Hofmann, Riggenbach), so that God is called our (the Christians’) God and our Father : but it is best to restrict it to , so that God is first considered in His existence as God simply, and then afterwards in reference to us as our Father.
] This addition (comp. 2Th 2:16-17 ), particularly with the following , which is to be understood as the third person singular optative aorist, not as the infinitive (see Winer, Exo 5 , p. 383), might appear strange. But, according to the Pauline view (comp. Usteri, Lehrbegr . p. 301), Christ, exalted to the right hand of the Father, takes part in the government of the world, and orders everything for the promotion of His kingdom. And, inasmuch as His will is not different from the will of God, but identical with it, the verb in the singular is suitable.
] make straight, plain , so in order that it can be trod. Without a figure: may cause it to be realized.
] belongs not to , but to .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
(11) Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. (12) And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: (13) To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
Some have thought, that the whole Persons of the Godhead are included in this prayer of the Apostle. God himself the Holy Ghost the great Author of his holy word; and our Father; and our Lord Jesus Christ. But whether so, or not, certainly the whole Godhead is engaged, in those Covenant-acts, as relating to the Church. And in all our removals, from place to place, the Lord’s people are under the special, and personal presence, and blessing, of the whole Godhead. See Joh_14:23; Joh_14:26 ; Rev 1:4-5 . And, it is very precious to a child of God, when he finds a corresponding effect in his own soul, that his access to God, and communion with God, as well as the gracious visits from God; are all bringing testimony with them of those blessings. For this becomes a practical evidence, of living under the constant influence of the love of God, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Ghost. 2Co 13:14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11 Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.
Ver. 11. Now God himself. &c. ] At the very mentioning of prayer, he falls a praying. Good affections soon kindle in a gracious heart.
Direct our way unto you ] “A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps,” Pro 16:9 . Let God be our pilot, if we mean to make a good voyage of it. Let our hand be on the stern, our eye on the star; let our course as the mariner’s, be guided by the heavens.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11 13 .] Good wishes, with respect to this his earnest desire, and to their continued progress in love and holiness .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
11 . ] Not as De W. in contrast with the just spoken of, but as Chrys., , , i.e. it exalts the absolute power of God and the Lord Jesus, if He expedites the way, it will be accomplished, then is in contrast with ourselves , who have once and again tried to come to you, but have been hindered by Satan. Lnem. remarks that is best taken absolute, and referred to only. More majesty is thus given to the , although refers to the whole. Cf. 2Th 2:16-17 .
] not infinitive, but third person singular optative aorist. It certainly cannot be passed without remark, that the two nominatives should thus be followed, here and in 2Th 2:16-17 , by a singular verb. It would be hardly possible that this should be so, unless some reason existed in the subjects of the verb. Mere unity of will between the Father and the Son (Lnem.) would not be enough, unless absolute unity were also in the writer’s mind. Athanasius therefore seems to be right in drawing from this construction an argument for the unity of the Father and the Son.
more naturally belongs to than to , in which case it should be . . .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Th 3:11 . (optative), as already (Act 16:8-10 ; Act 17:1 ). The singular ( cf. II., 2Th 2:16-17 ) implies that God and Jesus count as one in this connection. The verb is common ( e.g. , Ep. Arist., 18, etc.) in this sense of providence directing human actions.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Th 3:11-13
11Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; 12and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
1Th 3:11-13 This is one sentence in Greek. This prayer contains three rare optative verbal forms: “direct” (1Th 3:11), “increase” (v.12) and “abound” (v.12). Optative mood is the mood of potentiality used in prayers.
1Th 3:11 “may. . .direct” This is a rare aorist active singular optative verb, used in several prayers in the NT (cf. 1Th 5:23; 2Th 2:16; 2Th 3:5; 2Th 3:16 and in Rom 15:5-6; Rom 15:13). Note the verb is singular, though it refers to both God the Father and Jesus Christ. This was a way for the NT authors to assert the deity of Jesus of Nazareth (cf. 1Th 1:1; 2Th 2:16).
Another theological point is that just as Satan prevented Paul from coming to them, recorded in 1Th 2:18, Paul asked the Father and Son to make a way (straight or smooth: cf. Luk 1:79) for him to visit them!
“Father” See Special Topic at Gal 1:1.
1Th 3:12-13 Paul prayed for himself in 1Th 3:11, but now his petition turns toward the church at Thessalonica. He prayed for their love for one another and all people (cf. Eph 6:18). He also prayed for the believers’ holiness (cf. 1Th 3:13; Eph 1:4). God’s will for every believer is Christlikeness (cf. Rom 8:28-29; Gal 4:19).
“abound” Special Topic following.
SPECIAL TOPIC: ABOUND (perisseu)
“for all people” God’s love is as wide as the world (cf. Joh 1:29; Joh 3:16; 1Ti 2:4; 2Pe 3:9); so too, must be ours who know Him.
1Th 3:13 “hearts” See Special Topic at Gal 4:6.
NASB”without blame in holiness”
NKJV”blameless in holiness”
NRSV, NJB”in holiness that you may be blameless”
TEV”perfect and holy”
Holiness is both a gift and a task (indicative and imperative). It is characteristic of someone above reproach, against whom no accusation may be brought (cf. Eph 5:27). This leaves Satan with no basis for criticism (cf. Rom 8:31-33). God’s will for every believer is Christlike holiness (cf. 1Th 4:3; Rom 8:28-29; Gal 4:19; Eph 1:4). See note at 2 Thess. 4:3. See SPECIAL TOPIC: BLAMELESS, INNOCENT, GUILTLESS, WITHOUT REPROACH at 1Th 2:10. See SPECIAL TOPIC: NEW TESTAMENT HOLINESS/SANCTIFICATION at 1Th 4:3.
“at the coming of our Lord Jesus” This shows Paul’s continuing concern about end time events (cf. 1Th 2:19; 1Th 4:15-17; also 2 Thessalonians 2).
The exact relationship between the events of the Second Coming, the Rapture (cf. 1Th 4:13-18), the Judgment Seat of Christ (cf. 2Co 5:10), and the White Throne of Judgment (cf. Matthew 25 and Revelation 20) are uncertain. Paul was not a systematic theologian. See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: NT TERMS FOR CHRIST’S RETURN
“His saints” “Saints” (lit. “holy ones”) are either (1) angels who will accompany Jesus (cf. Deu 33:2-3; Zec 14:5; Mat 16:27; Mat 25:31; Mar 8:38; 2Th 1:7; Rev 19:4); or (2) His people, saints (cf. 1Th 4:14-16). Paul never called angels “saints” or “holy ones,” possibly solving the interpretive issue. Probably both angels and saints will return with Him on the clouds of heaven. This church was unsure if the dead saints would participate in the end-time events.
Saints, literally “holy ones,” are called to holiness (cf. 1Th 4:3) by the Holy One (cf. 1Pe 1:15)! The goal of Christianity is “holiness” now (cf. Eph 1:4), not heaven when we die!
SPECIAL TOPIC: SAINTS
For a Special Topic on “Amen” see Gal 1:5.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Father. App-98.
Lord. App-98.
Jesus Christ. App-98. but the texts omit “Christ” here and 1Th 3:13.
direct. Greek. kateuthuno. Here; 2Th 3:5. Luk 1:79. Compare euthuno in Joh 1:23 and Jam 3:4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11-13.] Good wishes, with respect to this his earnest desire, and to their continued progress in love and holiness.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Th 3:11. , Himself) Both epistles to the Thessalonians have almost all the several chapters singly sealed and distinguished by single breathings of prayer [each chapter sealed with its own prayer], ch. 1Th 5:23; 2Th 1:11; 2Th 2:16; 2Th 3:5; 2Th 3:16.-, Jesus) Prayers and vows are also addressed to Jesus Christ; for the word , direct, extends both to Him [as the subject] and to the Father: comp. 2Th 2:16-17.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Th 3:11
Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus,-Paul had earnestly endeavored to visit them, but in vain. Satan had successfully opposed him. But Paul made his appeal to God who is over all, and to the Lord Jesus, their Lord and his. God is mightier and wiser than Satan and his servants, so all is well.
direct our way unto you:-[The petition is that God would remove all obstacles so that he could come direct to them. This prayer, though deferred, in about five years afterwards was fulfilled in his return to Macedonia. (Act 20:1; Act 20:3.)]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
God: 1Th 3:13, Isa 63:16, Jer 31:9, Mal 1:6, Mat 6:4, Mat 6:6, Mat 6:8, Mat 6:9, Mat 6:14, Mat 6:18, Mat 6:26, Mat 6:32, Luk 12:30, Luk 12:32, Joh 20:17, 2Co 6:18, Col 1:2, 1Jo 3:1
and our Lord: Rom 1:3, 2Th 2:16
direct: or, guide
our way: Ezr 8:21-23, Pro 3:5, Pro 3:6, Mar 1:3
Reciprocal: Gen 24:12 – I pray Jdg 18:6 – before 1Ch 29:18 – keep Psa 72:15 – prayer Pro 21:29 – he directeth Isa 58:11 – the Lord Luk 11:2 – Our Joh 5:23 – all men Joh 16:24 – in Act 15:36 – and see Rom 1:7 – and the Lord Rom 1:10 – request Gal 1:4 – our 1Th 2:17 – endeavoured 1Th 3:10 – praying
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Th 3:11. There are just two persons named in this verse, but each of them has more than one name. God is the supreme ruler of the universe, and he is Father to all who will become His children by obedience. Lord means ruler, Jesus means saviour, and Christ means anointed. Paul invoked the help of these two great Beings in making a way for him to revisit the Thessalonians.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Th 3:11. May God himself. Himself is added to give emphasis to the appeal to God; may He whose power cannot be baffled by Satan as my efforts have been, may He whose purposes stand fast and who overrules all human affairs, bring me to you.
And our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is conjoined with God as the object of prayer and as the disposer of persons and events. Divine rank and Divine power are thus ascribed to Him. The circumstance that a verb in the singular follows these two nominatives (God and our Lord Jesus Christ) is certainly worthy of remark, and has commonly been considered as proof that in the apostles mind the Father and Jesus Christ were looked upon as one God. It exhibits them as one source of energy.
Direct our way unto you. Three or four years elapsed before this prayer was answered.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. An implicit acknowledgment that our journeys intended, and visits designed, to be given to our friends, are not in our power, but under the direction of God: we cannot visit a friend when we please, but when God will give us leave; we are not at our own disposal, but God’s.
Accordingly here, St. Paul begs of God to direct his way unto them, that all obstacles and impediments being removed, the providence of God might direct him, as in a right line unto them, as the original word imports.
Observe, 2. The persons whom he directs his prayers to, for this mercy: to God and Christ.
Where note, That Christ is invocated as well as the Father, he is therefore God as well as the Father; because this invocation of him by all persons, proves him omniscient, searching the hearts of men, and also omnipresent, being with his people in all places; and consequently proves our Lord Jesus Christ to be truly and undeniably God.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Paul’s Prayer for the Church in Thessalonica
The ultimate desire of Paul’s prayer was their eternal salvation. He wanted them to be ready when Jesus came again. So, he asked God to help make their hearts such that would not be counted blameworthy. Instead, he desired that they might be counted among the holy ones when Jesus returned to the earth to reclaim His own. The entire group of holy ones may include angels as well as those saints who have died before the Lord’s coming ( 1Th 3:11-13 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way unto you:
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
ARGUMENT 5
SANCTIFICATION GODS WILL
11-13. To establish your hearts blameless in holiness before God even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. Amen. Paul is no low-standard preacher. He here holds high the banner of entire sanctification, inspired by the coming of the Lord with all his saints. Benjamin Abbott, than whom the world has not seen a more powerful preacher since the apostolic age, was a terrible reprobate, fist-fighter, chicken-fighter, blasphemer, etc., till he had passed his fortieth year. Bishop Asburys pioneer circuit-rider produced such a popular sensation in Maryland as to stir the people throughout the whole country, as they had never heard anything but dead preaching. Through sheer curiosity, Abbott rides twelve miles to hear him; finds the house and the yard full of spellbound auditors, the preacher greatly excited, voice roaring, and tears flowing, and the people crying all around him. It was an utter novelty to Mr. Abbott, as he had never before attended a Holy Ghost meeting. Conviction takes hold of him like a nightmare, he thought he was sick, went home, and told his wife that he was going to die. Next morning he goes out to mow his meadow; but his body is so weak he can hardly stand on his feet, much less wield the scythe. Meanwhile a soliloquy in his own breast: Why am I torturing my body to mow this meadow when I will be dead and in hell before night? At this he drops his scythe, and makes for the woods, where he wallows in awful agony, thinking he is dying. As the sun is going down, it seems that the bottom of heaven drops out, filling and flooding him with an unearthly rapture. He goes home shouting aloud, and tells his wife God has wonderfully saved his soul. She was a member of the Church, and thought she was a Christian. So she is much encouraged by her husbands conversion, and the next morning sends him to see her pastor, that he might tell him his experience, and make arrangements to join the Church. The pastor receives him gladly, and, having listened patiently to his recital of his wonderful experience, groans and sighs, and tells him that he is under a powerful delusion of the devil. This, to Mr. Abbott, was like a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky, filling him with gloom bordering on utter despair. As he goes home almost dead with trouble, an inward voice says, Go out in the woods and ask God about it. So again, in the lonely forest, he falls prostrate, and turns the vexed problem over to God. Again the heavens open, and a cataract pours on him even greater than that of the preceding day. He goes home shouting aloud, and tells his wife that her preacher has not a bit of religion. When Bishop Asburys circuit-rider comes around again, having heard of Mr. Abbotts wonderful conversion, he visits him at his home, and hears him relate his Pauline experience. Then he says: Brother, your conversion is all right, blessed and glorious; but God has for you a vastly greater and grander experience entire sanctification. This astonished Mr. Abbott unutterably, as he thought he had all he could possibly receive. The preacher proceeds to tell him about sanctification, and explain it to him; meanwhile his heart begins to reach out after it. So he says, Well, I want this, too. Pursuant to the directions of the circuit-rider, they fall on their knees, and proceed to pray for his sanctification. An hour has flown; their importunate prayers take hold of the Arm that shakes the world. Abbott falls prostrate on the floor, unable to move hand or foot. Satan tells him he is dying. He cries out, O God, remove thy hand, or I die! The physical disability passes off, his strength returns, and he gets up. Still the conversation is on sanctification, and he says, I want it, and must have it. The preacher says: You were right at it awhile ago, and would have received it, if you had not asked God to remove his hand. Now, if you want it, you must pray through, letting God have his way. Then he says, I will have it, or die. Again they get on their knees to pray for his sanctification. Erelong the agony supervenes, the power comes, he falls
prostrate, unable to move hand or foot. But profiting by his former mistake, this time he sticks to the track, lying prostrate. After about two hours, he rises and testifies, that he knows God has sanctified him. I relate this wonderful experience of this noted pioneer Methodist preacher, as a striking corroboration of the Pauline ministry in the Thessalonian Church. After a conversion sky-blue, glorious, and exceedingly fruitful, not only of spiritual joy, hut efficient evangelistic work, Paul notifies them that their faith is deficient, and that they must be blameless in holiness as a qualification to meet their coming Lord with all his saints.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 11
Direct our way unto you, open the way for us to visit you at such a time as shall be in accordance with the divine will.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Paul’s prayer 3:11-13
This prayer illustrates Paul’s genuine concern for the Thessalonians, and it bridges the narrative material in chapters 1-3 and the parenetic material in chapters 4-5. [Note: Martin, pp. 110-11.] Parenesis consists of exhortations to continue based on previous lessons learned and previous commitments made.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Paul summarized the content of his prayer in the form of a wish to conclude this section of the epistle (1Th 1:2 to 1Th 3:13).
"It is characteristic of Paul’s letters that he frequently slips into some short prayer." [Note: Morris, The First . . ., p. 110.]
The apostle asked God his Father and Jesus his Lord to clear the way so he and his fellow missionaries could return to Thessalonica. He addressed two members of the Godhead in prayer. He regarded both of these as God as is clear from his use of a singular verb ("direct") with a plural subject. "Himself" emphasizes Paul’s dependence on God to grant his request.
"We often wonder why the Christian life is so difficult to live, especially in the ordinary everyday relationships of life. The answer may very well be that we are trying to live it by ourselves. The man who goes out in the morning without prayer is, in effect, saying, ’I can quite well tackle to-day myself.’ . . . John Buchan once described an atheist as ’a man who has no invisible means of support.’" [Note: Barclay, p. 229.]