Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Thessalonians 5:1
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1. But of the times and the seasons ] Better, concerning the times and the seasons. The Greek word for “times” denotes stretches of time, that for seasons particular times; the question as to the former was, “How long before the Lord comes? what periods will elapse before the final establishment of His kingdom?” as to the second, “What events will transpire meanwhile? how will the course of history shape itself?” These enquiries our Lord put aside. “It is not for you,” said He, “to know times or seasons, which the Father has put within His own province” (Act 1:7); and previously Jesus had declared respecting the end of the world, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, only the Father” (Mar 13:32). Such knowledge, it appears, is outside the province of human thought. Speculations of this nature have been repeatedly ventured on since the Apostle’s day; they have proved invariably worthless, and afford so many confirmations of the Lord’s warning. Chrysostom remarks on this passage somewhat severely: “Our nature is officious and greedy for the knowledge of things invisible and hidden from us. This comes of our conceit, and from having nothing to do. Often therefore is the mind in haste to learn and understand these things before the time.”
ye have no need that I write unto you ] Lit., that aught he written to you (R. V.). The phrase is a repetition of that of ch. 1Th 4:9, except that there the emphasis lies on you as persons not needing this instruction, here upon the writing as a thing in itself needless. On the topic of the last paragraph, viz. the position of Christians dying before the Lord’s return, it was needful that something should be written; as to the “times and seasons” nothing need be written, for the readers already knew so much as could be known (1Th 5:2).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Section VI. (continued): 1Th 5:1-11
The first part of this Chapter stands in close connection with the last six verses of ch. 4. Together they form the most distinctive and the weightiest section of the Epistle. The two paragraphs of the section touch upon two different aspects of our Lord’s Coming, viewed first as it concerns departed Christians, and then in its relation to men living on the earth. The former passage supplies comfort respecting the dead in Christ, the latter enjoins watchfulness and preparedness upon the living. See note introductory to ch. 1Th 4:13.
From 1Th 5:1-2 it appears likely that the Thessalonians had been enquiring from St Paul “about the times and the seasons” of Christ’s return and the Day of Judgement.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Section VI. The Coming of the Lord Jesus
Ch. 1Th 4:13 to 1Th 5:11
This solemn topic, as we have already seen (note on ch. 1Th 1:10, and Introd., pp. 18 21), is the principal theme of the Epistles to the Thessalonians. It is not treated by way of argument or indoctrination, but as a matter already familiar to the readers; on which, however, further explanation and admonition were needful. The Apostle’s teaching about this event had been on some points misunderstood, while new and anxious questions had arisen respecting it. Death had visited the Christian flock at Thessalonica since St Paul left them; and this had aroused in the survivors a painful fear lest those who were thus snatched away should have lost their place and their share in the approaching advent of Christ. This apprehension the Apostle proceeds to remove; and we may entitle the remaining verses of the chapter: Concerning them that fall asleep.
St Paul (1) bids his readers be assured of the safety of their departed fellow-believers, 1Th 4:13-14; and he makes the revelation (2) that these will have the first place in the assembling of the saints at Christ’s return, 1Th 4:15-17. He goes on to remind them (3) of the uncertainty of the time of His coming, ch. 1Th 5:1-3; and (4) exhorts them to be always ready for the event, like soldiers on guard and fully armed, 1Th 4:4-9.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But of the times and the seasons – See the notes, Act 1:7. The reference here is to the coming of the Lord Jesus, and to the various events connected with his advent; see the close of 1 Thes. 4.
Ye have no need that I write unto you – That is, they had received all the information on the particular point to which he refers, which it was necessary they should have. He seems to refer particularly to the suddenness of his coming. It is evident from this, as well as from other parts of this Epistle, that this had been, from some cause, a prominent topic which he had dwelt on when he was with them; see the notes on 1Th 1:10.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Th 5:1-11
But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you–Perhaps because the apostle had told them, or because the sudden coming of Christ was a universal belief.
So in modern times a preacher might say, There is no need for me to speak to you of the uncertainty of life. (Prof. Jowett.)
The attitude of the Church towards the Second Advent of Christ
As when we ascend a winding river some well-known landmark appears to alter its position seeming now distant, now near, so at different points on the circuitous stream of life the coming of Christ reveals itself as a near or remote event. It is plain, says Archer Butler, that that period which is distant in one scheme of things may be near in another, where events are on a vaster scale, and move in a mightier orbit. That which is a whole life to the ephemera, is but a day to a man; that which in the brief succession of human history is counted as remote, is but a single page in the volume of the heavenly records. The coming of Christ may be distant as measured on the scale of human life, but may be near when the interval of the two advents is compared, not merely with the four thousand years which were but its preparation, but with the line of infinite ages which it is itself preparing. The uncertainty of the time of the Second Advent and its stupendous issues define the attitude of the Church.
I. It is an attitude of expectancy.
1. The time of the Second Coming is uncertain (1Th 5:1)–a gentle hint that all questions on that subject were unnecessary, as there was nothing more to be revealed. The curiosity and daring of man tempt him to pry into secrets with which he has nothing to do, and to dogmatize on subjects of which he knows the least. Many have been fanatical enough to fix the day of the Lords coming (Mar 13:32). This uncertainty is a perpetual stimulant to the people of God to exercise the ennobling virtues of hope, watchfulness, fidelity, humility, inquiry, and reverence.
2. The Second Coming will be sudden (1Th 5:2-3). The thief not only gives no notice of his approach, but takes every possible care to conceal his designs: the discovery of the mischief takes place when it is too late. The prudent will take every precaution to avoid surprise, and to baffle the marauder.
3. The Second Coming will be terrible to the wicked. They shall not escape (1Th 5:3). Wicked men are never more secure than when destruction is nearest. The swearer may be seized with the oath on his tongue: the drunkard while the cup is trembling on his lips. The destruction of the wicked and all they prized most in life will be sudden, painful, inevitable. Now there is place for mercy, but not then (Rom 2:8-9).
II. It is an attitude of vigilance.
1. This vigilance is enforced on the ground of a moral transformation (1Th 5:4-5). Believers are translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. They are children of the day, when the sun shines the brightest when privileges are more abundant, when opportunities multiply and responsibility is therefore increased.
2. This vigilance must be constant (1Th 5:6-7). Let us not, like the drunkard steeped in sottish slumber, be immersed in the sleep of sin and unconcern, neglecting duty, and never thinking of judgment; but let us watch, and, to do so effectually, be sober. We are day people, not night people; therefore our work ought to be day work; our conduct such as will bear the eye of day, the veil of night. A strict sobriety is essential to a sleepless vigilance.
III. It is attitude of militant courage (1Th 5:8). The Christian has to fight the enemy, as well as to watch against him. He is a soldier on sentry. The Christian life is not one of luxurious ease. The graces of faith, love, and hope constitute the most complete armour of the soul. The breastplate and helmet protect the two most vital parts–the head and the heart. Let us keep the head from error, and the heart from sin, and we are safe. The best guards against both are–faith, hope, and charity; these are the virtues that inspire the most enterprising bravery.
IV. It is an attitude of confidence as to the future blessedness of the Church.
1. This blessedness is divinely provided.
2. This blessedness consists in a constant fellowship with Christ. That whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him (1Th 5:10). The happiest moments on earth are those spent in the company of the good; so will it be in heaven.
3. The confidence of inheriting this blessedness encourages edification (1Th 5:11).
Lessons:
1. The great event of the future will be the Second Coming of Christ.
2. That event should be looked for in a spirit of sobriety and vigilance.
3. That event will bring unspeakable felicity to the good, and dismay and misery to the wicked. (G. Barlow.)
Times and seasons
are often found together, but always in the plural in the New Testament (Act 1:7), and not unfrequently in the LXX, and the Apocrypha (Wis 7:18; Wis 8:8), both instructive passages, and Dan 2:21): and in the singular (Ecc 3:1; Dan 7:12). Grotius conceives the difference between them to consist merely in the greater length of the former. But this is insufficient, and fails to reach the heart of the matter. Chronos is time simply as such; the succession of moments (Mat 25:19; Rev 10:6; Heb 4:7). Keiros is time as it brings forth its several births; thus time of harvest (Mat 13:30); time of figs (Mar 11:13); due time (Rom 5:6); and, above all, compare, as constituting a miniature essay on the word (Ecc 3:1-8). Time, it will thus appear, embraces all possible seasons, and being the larger, more inclusive word, may be often used where season would have been equally suitable, though not the converse; thus full time (Luk 1:57), fulness of time (Gal 4:4), where we should rather have expected season, which phrase does actually occur in Eph 1:10. So we may confidently say that the times of restitution (Act 3:21) are identical with the seasons of refreshing (Act 3:19). Here, then, and in Act 1:6-7, times are spaces of time, and these contemplated under the aspect of their duration, over which the Churchs history should extend; but the seasons are the joints and articulations in this time, the critical epoch-making periods foreordained of God (Act 17:26); when all that has been slowly and without observation ripening through long ages is mature and comes to birth in grand decisive events, which constitute at once the close of one period and the commencement of another. Such, e.g., was the passing away with a great noise of the old Jewish dispensation; such again the recognition of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire; such the conversion of the Germanic tribes settled within the limits of the Empire; such the great revival which went along with the first institution of the mendicant orders; such, by better right, the Reformation; such, above all others, the Second Coming of the Lord in glory (Dan 7:22). (Abp. Trench.)
The uncertainty of the time of the Second Advent
Of this true advent season of eternity, though much is known, much too is hidden. There are secrets the Divine Bridegroom whispers not; that the Spirit and the Bride may still say, Come. Between the Church and the Churchs Head there still subsists, even in this intimate union, a mysterious separation; and on the period of that separation a holy reserve. It has already lasted for ages, and we cannot dare to predict at what epoch it is to close. The veil that hangs before the celestial sanctuary is still undrawn; and it is vain for us to marvel as of old the expectants of Zacharias, that the High Priest of our profession tarrieth so long in the temple. He has willed it that, certain of His eventual arrival, we should remain in uncertainty as to its destined moment. This mingling of ignorance and knowledge on the part of Christs people is best suited to keep alive in their breasts the hope whose breathed utterance is Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The Thessalonians knew that the time could not be known, hence there was no need for Paul to write about it. (J. Hutchison, D. D.)
The Second Advent and its issues
I. The apostle tells the Thessalonians it was useless to inquire about the particular time of Christs coming (1Th 5:1). The event is certain–Christ will come, and there is a certain time divinely appointed for Christs coming; but there was no need that St. Paul should write about that specially, and he had no revelation from heaven concerning it. Nor should we inquire into this secret which the Father hath reserved in His own power. Christ Himself did not reveal that day and hour while on earth; for it was not included in His commission as the great Prophet of the Church; nor is it in that of His apostles. A vain curiosity desireth to know many things which there is no need soever of our knowing, and which if we knew them thoroughly would do us no good, but perhaps harm.
II. The apostle tells them the coming of Christ would be a great surprise to most men (1Th 5:2). And this is what they knew perfectly, or might know, because the Lord Himself had so said (Mat 24:44). As the thief usually cometh in the dead time of the night, when he is least expected, such a surprise will the day of the Lord be–so sudden and surprising His appearance. And the knowledge of this fact will prove more useful than to know the exact time, because this will lead us to watch, that we may be ready whenever He cometh.
III. The apostle tells them how terrible will be the coming of Christ to the ungodly (1Th 5:3). It will be to their destruction. It will overtake and fall upon them in the midst of their carnal security and jollity; when they dream of felicity, and please themselves with vain amusements of their fancies or their senses, and think not of it. And it will be unavoidable destruction, too. They shall not escape: there will be no means possible for them to avoid the terror or the punishment of that day; no shelter from the storm, nor shadow from the burning heat that shall consume the wicked.
IV. The apostle tells them how comfortable the coming of Christ will be to the godly (1Th 5:4-5). And here he sketches their character and privilege. They are children of light. They were sometime darkness, but were made light in the Lord. They were the children of the day, for the Sun of Righteousness had risen upon them with healing in His beams. They were not under the dark shadows of the law, but under the bright sunshine of the gospel, which brings life and immortality to light. But this, great as it is, is not all: the day of Christ will not overtake them as a thief, but will be a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. They look for Him, and His appearance to them will be their full salvation. (R. Fergusson.)
The profanity of attempting to determine the time
Mark what Paul saith, Ye have no need that I write unto you of times and seasons; and that our Saviour saith, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons. What may we think then of them that write books and almanacks, and say, Such a year, and at such a time, Christ shall come; and with these speeches frighten and mock the world? Paul was the apostle of Christ, an elect vessel of the Holy Ghost: he said, I have no need to write of it; you cannot know it. What need is there now that such books and pamphlets should be written? Why should the world be troubled with such vanities? Spare me your patience, and give me leave a little to deal with these wizards. Tell me, thou that dost measure and behold the compass of heaven, and markest the conjunctions, and oppositions, and aspects of the stars; and by that wisdom canst foretell the things that shall be done hereafter: where learnest thou this skill? how comest thou by this deep knowledge? Paul was taken up into the third heaven, and heard words which cannot be spoken, which are not lawful for man to utter: yet he knew not this secret, nor might not know it. What art thou then? art thou greater than the apostle of Christ? hast thou been taken up into some place higher than the third heaven? has thou heard such words, as are not lawful to utter? If this be so, why dost thou utter them? Wilt thou take that upon thee, which the holy apostle dareth not? Art thou of Gods privy council? The angels and archangels know not hereof: and shall we think that thou knowest it? art thou wiser than an angel? Consider thyself: thou art a miserable man; thy breath fadeth as the smoke; thou art nothing but dust and ashes: thou canst not attain to the knowledge hereof. (Bp. Jewell.)
Under sealed orders
A Government vessel was about to leave the dock, to sail away for some port. No one knew her destination, whether it was to be near by or far away. Those who had loved ones on board felt sad and anxious; were they to be within reach of cheering words, of letters full of love and encouragement, or were they to be sent afar to some foreign port from which no word could come in weary weeks and months? They could ask the question many and many a time, but there was no echo to the words, no answer to be had. The ship was to sail under sealed orders; orders from the Navy Department that were sealed by Government zeal, which could not be opened until the ship was far out at sea, and away from all possible communication with land. The Captain of our salvation sends us away on sealed instructions. Whither? You do not need to know. You might not like your destination; you might object to the buffeting waves, the billows of trouble might threaten to wreck your soul; the harbour might be hard to reach and the rocks of danger might lie between you and it. Do you caret Does it matter to you if the passage is a stormy one when you know that safety is at the end? that there is a harbour that leads to the Eternal City? and (most comforting thought) when the Father is at the helm, and that He neither slumbers nor sleeps? Let go your moorings, spread the canvas, and in storm or sunshine, by day or by night, go forth with sealed orders.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER V.
The apostle continues to speak of Christ’s coming to judgment,
and the uncertainty of the time in which it shall take place,
and the careless state of sinners, 1-3.
Shows the Thessalonians that they are children of the light;
that they should watch and pray, and put on the armour of God,
being called to obtain salvation by Christ, who died for them;
that whether dead or alive, when the day of judgment comes,
they may live for ever with him; and that they should comfort
and edify each other with these considerations, 4-11.
He exhorts them to remember those who labour among them, and are
over them in the Lord; and to esteem such highly for their
work’s sake, 12, 13.
He charges them to warn, comfort, and support those who stood in
need of such assistance, and to be patient and beneficent
towards all, 14, 15.
He points out their high spiritual privileges; warns them
against neglecting or misimproving the gifts of the Spirit, and
the means of grace, 16-20.
They are also exhorted to prove all things; to abstain from all
evil; and to expect to be sanctified, through spirit, soul, and
body, by him who has promised this, and who is faithful to his
promises, 21-24.
Recommends himself and brethren to their prayers; shows them how
they are to greet each other; charges them to read this epistle
to all the brethren; and concludes with the usual apostolical
benediction, 25-28.
NOTES ON CHAP. V.
Verse 1. But of the times and the seasons] It is natural to suppose, after what he had said in the conclusion of the preceding chapter concerning the coming of Christ, the raising of the dead, and rendering those immortal who should then be found alive, without obliging them to pass through the empire of death, that the Thessalonians would feel an innocent curiosity to know, as the disciples did concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, when those things should take place, and what should be the signs of those times, and of the coming of the Son of man. And it is remarkable that the apostle answers, here, to these anticipated questions as our Lord did, in the above case, to the direct question of his disciples; and he seems to refer in these words, Of the times and the seasons ye have no need that I write unto you, for yourselves know that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night, to what our Lord said, Mat 24:44; Mat 25:13; and the apostle takes it for granted that they were acquainted with our Lord’s prediction on the subject: For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. It is very likely therefore, that the apostle, like our Lord, couples these two grand events-the destruction of Jerusalem and the final judgment. And it appears most probable that it is of the former event chiefly that he speaks here, as it was certainly of the latter that he treated in the conclusion of the preceding chapter. In the notes on Ac 1:6; Ac 1:7, it has already been shown that the , times or seasons, (the very same terms which are used here,) refer to the destruction of the Jewish commonwealth; and we may fairly presume that they have the same meaning in this place.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But when shall these things be? Might some say, as the disciples asked Christ, Mat 24:3,36; Ac 1:6. He tells them:
It is not for you to know the times or the seasons; not that they knew them in particular already, but there was no need they should know them. It may be some among them were too curious to inquire. He doth not say they could not be known, as being put into Gods own power, as Act 1:7; but,
ye have no need that I write of them. The apostle, as in his preaching, so in his writing, had respect to what was most needful and profitable for the people: as when the disciples asked: Are there few that be saved? Christ answered them in that which was most needful to them, Luk 13:24; and so doth the apostle here; instead of acquainting them with the times and seasons, he puts them upon watchfulness, that they might not be surprised, as in the following verses; and to improve the knowledge they had already, which was this, that Christs coming would be sudden.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. timesthe general andindefinite term for chronological periods.
seasonsthe opportunetimes (Dan 7:12; Act 1:7).Time denotes quantity; season, quality. Seasonsare parts of times.
ye have no needthosewho watch do not need to be told when the hour will come, forthey are always ready [BENGEL].
comethpresent:expressing its speedy and awful certainty.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But of the times and the seasons, brethren,…. Of the coming of Christ, his “appointed time” and “his day”, as the Ethiopic version renders it; of the resurrection of the dead in Christ first, and of the rapture of all the saints in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, things treated of in the preceding chapter: and which might excite a curiosity to know the times and seasons of them; as in what year they would come to pass; in what season of the year, whether winter or summer; in what month, and on what day of the month; and whether in the night season, or in the daytime; and in what hour, whether at midnight, cockcrowing, morning, or noonday: to repress which the apostle observes,
ye have no need that I write unto you; to write to them concerning the things themselves was necessary and useful, to stir up and encourage their faith, hope, and expectation of them; to allay their grief for departed friends, and to comfort one another under the various trials and exercises of life; but to write to them about the time of these things would be trifling and unnecessary, would be an idle speculation, and an indulging a vain curiosity; and, besides, was impracticable: for of that day and hour knows no man; the times and seasons the Father hath put in his own power; for these things are equally true of Christ’s second coming, as of the kingdom of Christ coming with power and glory, and of the destruction of Jerusalem, Mt 24:36. The Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions read, “ye have no need that we write unto you”; the reason follows;
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Coming of Christ. | A. D. 51. |
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
In these words observe,
I. The apostle tells the Thessalonians it was needless or useless to enquire about the particular time of Christ’s coming: Of the times and seasons you need not that I write unto you, v. 1. The thing is certain that Christ will come, and there is a certain time appointed for his coming; but there was no need that the apostle should write about this, and therefore he had no revelation given him; nor should they or we enquire into this secret, which the Father has reserved in his own power. Of that day and hour knoweth no man. Christ himself did not reveal this while upon earth; it was not in his commission as the great prophet of the church: nor did he reveal this to his apostles; there was no need of this. There are times and seasons for us to do our work in: these it is our duty and interest to know and observe; but the time and season when we must give up our account we know not, nor is it needful that we should know them. Note, There are many things which our vain curiosity desires to know which there is no necessity at all of our knowing, nor would our knowledge of them do us good.
II. He tells them that the coming of Christ would be sudden, and a great surprise to most men, v. 2. And this is what they knew perfectly, or might know, because our Lord himself had so said: In such an hour as you think not, the Son of man cometh, Matt. xxiv. 44. So Mar 13:35; Mar 13:36, Watch you therefore, for you know not when the master of the house cometh; lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And no doubt the apostle had told them, as of the coming of Christ, so also of his coming suddenly, which is the meaning of his coming as a thief in the night, Rev. xvi. 15. As the thief usually cometh in the dead time of the night, when he is least expected, such a surprise will the day of the Lord be; so sudden and surprising will be his appearance. The knowledge of this will be more useful than to know the exact time, because this should awaken us to stand upon our watch, that we may be ready whenever he cometh.
III. He tells them how terrible Christ’s coming would be to the ungodly, v. 3. It will be to their destruction in that day of the Lord. The righteous God will bring ruin upon his and his people’s enemies; and this their destruction, as it will be total and final, so, 1. It will be sudden. It will overtake them, and fall upon them, in the midst of their carnal security and jollity, when they say in their hearts, Peace and safety, when they dream of felicity and please themselves with vain amusements of their fancies or their senses, and think not of it,–as travail cometh upon a woman with child, at the set time indeed, but not perhaps just then expected, nor greatly feared. 2. It will be unavoidable destruction too: They shall not escape; they shall in no wise escape. There will be no means possible for them to avoid the terror nor the punishment of that day. There will be no place where the workers of iniquity shall be able to hide themselves, no shelter from the storm, nor shadow from the burning heat that shall consume the wicked.
IV. He tells them how comfortable this day will be to the righteous, 1Th 5:4; 1Th 5:5. Here observe, 1. Their character and privilege. They are not in darkness; they are the children of the light, c. This was the happy condition of the Thessalonians as it is of all true Christians. They were not in a state of sin and ignorance as the heathen world. They were some time darkness, but were made light in the Lord. They were favoured with the divine revelation of things that are unseen and eternal, particularly concerning the coming of Christ, and the consequences thereof. They were the children of the day, for the day-star had risen upon them yea, the Sun of righteousness had arisen on them with healing under his wings. They were no longer under the darkness of heathenism, nor under the shadows of the law, but under the gospel, which brings life and immortality to light. 2 Tim. i. 10. 2. Their great advantage on this account: that that day should not overtake them as a thief, v. 4. It was at least their own fault if they were surprised by that day. They had fair warning, and sufficient helps to provide against that day, and might hope to stand with comfort and confidence before the Son of man. This would be a time of refreshing to them from the presence of the Lord, who to those that look for him will appear without sin unto their salvation, and will come to them as a friend in the day, not as a thief in the night.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
But concerning the times and the seasons ( ). See both words used also in Tit 1:2f. is rather an extended period and a definite space of time.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Times – seasons [ – ] . See on Act 1:7. With special reference to the Lord ‘s coming. The plural is used because Paul is thinking of a number of incidents attending the preparation and accomplishment of the second advent, and occurring at different times. The collocation times and seasons only here and Act 1:7. Kairov is the suitable time, cronov the time measured by duration. Hence kairov a juncture, an occasion, as Mt 16:3. The distinction is so well marked that have the phrases cronou kairov the right moment of the time, and eukairov cronov the opportune moment. See Soph. Elec. 1292.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
The Model Walk and the Day of the Lord
1) “But of the times” (peri de ton chronon) “But concerning or regarding the times”, continuing, chronologically moving events of time, a succession of moments and events constituting the frame work of a specific purpose or event, as the coming of Christ.
2) “And seasons, brethren” (kai ton kairon, adelphoi)
and the special eras, seasons, or periods of time, brethren”; such as (a) the regathering of Israel in her land (b) the re-birth of the nation in a day, (c) the two 42 month phases of the time of Jacobs trouble (d) the restoration of the Jewish morning and evening oblations in the rebuilt Temple.
3) “Ye have no need that I write unto you” (ou chreian echete humin graphesthai) “you all have not a need to be written unto”; Mat 24:3; Mat 24:36; Act 1:7; Luk 21:24; Luk 21:28.
See also: Isa 66:8; Eze 37:21-27; Eze 39:25-29; Dan 9:26-27; 2Th 2:5-11; Rev 11:1-4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1 But as to times. He now, in the third place, calls them back from a curious and unprofitable inquiry as to times, but in the mean time admonishes them to be constantly in a state of preparation for receiving Christ. (589) He speaks, however, by way of anticipation, saying, that they have no need that he should write as to those things which the curious desire to know. For it is an evidence of excessive incredulity not to believe what the Lord foretells, unless he marks out the day by certain circumstances, and as it were points it out with the finger. As, therefore, those waver between doubtful opinions who require that moments of time should be marked out for them, as if they would draw a conjecture (590) from some plausible demonstration, he accordingly says that discussions of this nature are not necessary for the pious. There is also another reason — that believers do not desire to know more than they are permitted to learn in God’s school. Now Christ designed that the day of his coming should be hid from us, that, being in suspense, we might be as it were upon watch.
(589) “ Quand il viendra en iugement;” — “When he will come to judgment.”
(590) “ De ce qu’ils en doyuent croire;” — “Of what they must believe.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
PREPARATION FOR THE SECOND APPEARANCE
1Th 5:1-20
IN concluding this study, from I Thessalonians, Paul logically follows his affirmations concerning the Return, the Resurrection and the Rapture, by a practical appeal. And that appeal may be considered under the suggestions, Anticipate the Appearance, Prepare for the Appearance, and Proceed under the Spirit.
ANTICIPATE THE APPEARANCE
It will be sudden and unexpected!
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Everywhere in Scripture the Second Advent is prophesied as an event that will be sudden and unexpected. Jesus Himself confirms the idea, employing the identical figure here used by the Apostle Paul, namely, that of the thief who steals in unexpectedly at night; and He concludes, Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh (Mat 24:44). Again in His parable of the wise and foolish virgins, after having recited how, while the foolish virgins went to buy oil, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut, so that afterward when the others came, he answered, I know you not, He concluded, Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh (Mat 25:13).
Dr. W. L. Pettingill, formerly of the Philadelphia School of the Bible, tells how a friend came to him with three questions. First, Do you believe that Christ will come in six days? Dr. Pettingill said, I do not know when Christ will come! That is a secret God has been pleased to reserve as His own. The friend answered, I know you do not know. I am not asking you what you know, but what you think? Do you expect that Christ will be here in six days, honestly, candidly? Dr. Pettingill answered, I see what you mean and I want to be perfectly honest and say that I doubt if He will; I think it probable that, in six days, things will continue as they are and that the earth-rulers will still be in places of power.
What about six months?
Well, if you want to know what I think, I think probably in six months things will still continue as they are.
Well then, what about six years?
To be honest, I think this age may not close in six years, but that things may continue much as they are now.
Thereat the friend remarked, That is it; you brethren dont believe what you teach. To which Dr. Pettingill instantly answered, Whether we do or not, does not adversely effect the Truth; in fact, it tends to confirm it.
How so? was the question.
That is exactly what Jesus says, In such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.
This subject is not one to sleep over.
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are Hot of the night, nor of darkness.
Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night (1Th 5:4-7).
There are a great many questions and problems concerning which men are wont to say, I would like to sleep over them! Only yesterday I had a financial problem presented to me over long distance phone, and I said to the gentleman making it, Let me sleep over that and I will answer in two or three days. Let me take time to think it over, and by sleep that will refresh and clarify the mind, I will be the better able to clearly judge the matter.
But there are some subjects concerning which a man is not to sleep. There is a story told that seems to be likely, to the effect that a motorist, driving down the Pacific coast, thirty or forty miles north of Los Angeles, at three oclock in the morning, passed a young man afoot. He was neatly dressed and in the light of the car, looked like a gentleman, and the motorist slowed down and waiting until the young man came along side, said, Where are you going?
To Los Angeles, was the answer.
Could I give you a lift?
No, thank you, was the reply.
Why, man; it is more than thirty miles to Los Angeles. It will take you many hours to walk it. You are welcome to a seat in my car!
Thank you, said the young man, I have a reason for walking. I am engaging in a practice of keeping myself awake. I have an experience ahead of me that will require many hours of wakeful watching, an experience that will test my ability to the utmost, and I am in practice for the same! The motorist was immediately interested and said, What is your name?
The young man answered, My name is Charles Lindberg.
A few days later the motorist learned that Lindberg was training himself for the trans-Atlantic flight, on the many hours and thousands of miles of which he dared not sleep for a moment.
So on the subject of the Second Coming, the children of light are not to sleep, as do others, but to watch and be sober.
My soul, be on thy guard;Ten thousand foes arise;The hosts of sin are pressing hardTo draw thee from the skies.
Our very salvation is at stake.
Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him (1Th 5:8-10).
We are not here affirming that the pre-millenarian position is essential to salvation, any more than we would affirm that a sound Scripture view of the Atonement was essential to salvation. But we are declaring that salvation is of the Lord, and that Christ, and Christ alone, is the Author of the same. And the only Christ who can save is the Christ of the Bible; an imaginary Christ can produce only imaginary effects. The real historical Christ is the Redeemer, if redemption is possible. He is the Christ of Old Testament prophecy; He is the Christ born of the Virgin Mary; He is the Christ who wrought the miracles recorded to His credit; He is the Christ who died on Calvarys tree, a substitute for sin; He is the Christ who was buried in Josephs new tomb but who on the third day rose again; He is the Christ who ascended into Heaven; and He is the Christ who said, I will come again.
There are people who imagine that they can eviserate the Gospel and retain Christianity; that they can deny Divine revelation and yet have left them a way of salvation.
Such philosophies are not only false; they are foolish. God hath appointed salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we shall live together with Him. And there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. The coming Christ is not only the Redeemer of the individual but the only hope of a wicked world.
PREPARE FOR HIS APPEARANCE
Employ time in mutual edification.
Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
Christianity is something new under the sun. Until nineteen hundred years ago nothing akin to the same had ever been seen in the earth; and since that time it has had no competitor. It is a novel fraternity, a fraternity that rests not upon wealth, station, honorable birth, or any of the mere accidents of life; it rests in the spirit rather, an indwelling Christ makes men brethren and tends to abolish our paper walls of partition. In Christ there is neither rich nor poor, high nor low, Jew nor Greek, bond nor free. In Him men are made one. It is the only order on earth that can live on that basis. Secret societies sometimes boast their equality with the Church of God, but there is no secret society in existence that could be continued indefinitely and yet utterly repudiate the paper walls of partition put up by man that separates the high from the humble, the rich from the poor, the learned from the ignorant, the men of high birth from the peasant. Such an endeavor would perish in swaddling clothes.
The highest level that has been reached by such orders or organizations, or can be reached, is not a whit above that of mutual insurance societies. It must exist upon a basis of mutual admiration or mutual insurance, or on no basis at all; and they must give promise of some intellectual or social advantage if they are to receive patronage. The Church of God, the Body of Christ and the Body in Christ, exists upon a wholly different basis and (is animated by altogether another principle, namely, a fraternity born of a common experience with Christ. The experience of the souls salvation and its objective is not selfish but unselfish; it is not to get something, but to give. The only institution in existence that sends thousands and millions to people who have never been seen by it, and asks and expects no social, political, financial, or personal return, are the brethren in Christ.
They give to East Indians that they know not; to Africans upon whose faces they will never look; to Chinamen with whom they have no acquaintance, and ask nothing in return, save the salvation of the recipient and the honor of Christ. And they are members of the Body which takes in the rich and the poor, the high and the low, the ignorant and the educated, and yet not only exists but marks progress until today it is the mightiest institution on the face of the earth. Mutual edification therefore, is a holy calling.
In this institution leaders are held in esteem.
We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
And to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake.
Judaism and Christianity, the religions of revelation, have not only been characterized by outstanding leadership, but blessed under the guidance of the same. It was Moses who took a couple of million of slaves and so directed their destinies as to make of them a conquering nation. It was David who assembled in the wilderness the distressed and discouraged and needy, the social outcasts of the hour, and out of that company formed a kingdom of first importance. That leadership is the Divine method is abundantly illustrated in the Fourth Book of Moses, Numbers, where a marvelous organization was effected and where men were set over the great companies that constituted the same. Of the tribe of Reuben, Eleazar was the leader over 46,500; of the tribe of Simeon, Shelumiel was the leader over 59,300; of the tribe of Judah, Nahshon was the leader over 74,600; of the tribe of Issachar, Nethaneel was the leader over 44,400; of the tribe of Zebulun, Eliab was the leader over 57,400; of the tribe of Joseph, and of Ephraim, Elishama was the leader over 40,500; of the tribe of Manasseh, Kamaliel was the leader over 32,200; of the tribe of Benjamin, Abidan was the leader over 35,400; of the tribe of Dan, Ahiezer was the leader over 62,700; of the tribe of Asher, Pagiel was the leader over 62,700; of the tribe of Gad, Elisaph was the leader over 45,650; of the tribe of Naphtali, Ahira was the leader over 53,400.
It will be remembered that this appointment effect in the history of Israel was not forgotten, for when we come to the end of the Divine Revelation, the Eternal City itself is described as having a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the Children of Israel; while the leadership of the New Testament is also celebrated in the same City for the wall of the City had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
What marvelous honor God puts upon leadership and what unspeakable blessing has attended the same in the progress of the Church. Leadership accounts for success in every local body; and in proportion as the great Christian movements themselves come to victory, the explanation is found in Spirit-led leadership.
Again, Seemly conduct should characterize the Christians behavior.
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
As we have emphasized in the previous discourse, the world, as such, does not read the Word of God. Its knowledge, therefore, of Christ comes through Christians. We are epistles known and read of them, and a Godly walk and conversation is the most effective Christian testimony.
It is related that the Duke of Wellington, observing a British officer standing in a slouchy manner, asked, Why do you stand in such an unbecoming attitude? Why not, Sir? I am not on duty! To this the Iron Duke replied, A British officer is never off duty. Resume your military standing. It is a principle that applies to the professed Christian. We are under constant observation and the world will take its view of Him whom we profess to serve from our attitude and walk. Finally, and in further study of this chapter
PROCEED UNDER THE SPIRIT
The closing verses of this chapter have four or five expressions of such procedure.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Rejoice evermore (1Th 5:16).
The cause of Christ often suffers from the lugubrious face and dyspeptic spirit of its professor. The one man who has the best right to be happy, even under adverse and most unfavorable conditions, is the Christian. In fact, it is doubtful if there are any circumstances under which he is justified in losing his joy. It is his privilege not only to be good but to be cheerful; not only to seek a holy life but to live a happy one.
Ward Beecher said: Of all the lights which you kindle in the face, joy will reach farthest out to sea, where troubled mariners are seeking the shore. Even in your deepest griefs, rejoice in God. As waves phosphoresce, let joys flash from the swing of the sorrows of your soul.
People often complain that they would be happy if conditions were better. But as a matter of fact, joy is not the outcome of outward circumstances but of the inner spirit. In proof of that, take the instance of John Bradford of Newgate. The day before he was to be burned in Smithfield, he swung himself on the bedpost in veritable glee, saying, Tomorrow is my wedding day. Addressing one of his comrades in martyrdom, he further said, Fine shining we will make tomorrow when the flame is kindled. And when they led him out he went to his martyrs crown laughing on the way. Charles Spurgeon, referring to that fact, said, Was Bradford mad? Ah, no, but he had the peace of God which passeth all understanding.
Pray without ceasing.
Pray without ceasing (1Th 5:7).
One may say, We cant; we are too busy! But prayer is not the occupation of the hands; it is not the engagement of the feet; it is not even the wagging of the tongue. We are all free to follow whatever vocations demand our energies, for prayer is the souls sincere desire and is consonant with any occupation and can be carried on while at the same.
There is a remarkable story told of James Gilmour, the pioneer missionary to Mongolia, that he never used a blotter in writing, preferring to take the time requiring the drying of the ink for prayer. But even that arrangement was not at all essential to the continuance of his petition; he could have prayed while he wrote. E. M. Bounds, in perhaps the best book on prayer that has yet been written, tells us a better way. Stonewall Jackson was a man of prayer, and Jackson declared, I have so fixed the habit of prayer in my mind that I never raise a glass of water to my lips without asking Gods blessing; never seal a letter without putting a word of prayer under the seal; never take a letter from the post without a brief sending of my thoughts Heavenward; never change my classes in the lecture room without a moments petition for the cadets who go out and for those who come in. Pray without ceasing-.
A throne of grace! then let us go And offer up our prayer;A gracious God will mercy showTo all that worship there.
A throne of grace! O at that throne Our knees have often bent,And God has showered His blessings down As often as we went.
A throne of grace! rejoice, ye saints;That throne is open still;To God unbosom your complaints,And then inquire His will.
A throne of grace, we yet shall need Long as we draw our breath;A Saviour, too, to intercede,Till we are changed by death.
In everything give thanks,
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (1Th 5:18).
Here also is a need for Christian grace, the grace of thanksgiving. Like prayer, it should exist under all circumstances, and even flourish in the atmosphere of adversity. Few people know the history of our thanksgiving day. Dr. Franklin tells us the origin of that day. It was a time of great despondency among the first settlers of New England. A long drought had produced the failure of crops and a solemn assembly was called for a day of fasting and prayer. One after another had related the hardships of the new life and had deplored the destructive drought. Finally an old farmer rose and spoke feelingly of how they had provoked Heaven with their complaints, and reviewed the mercies they had already enjoyed. He reminded them that they had not been as grateful as they should have been for the evidences of Divine favor; and finally moved that instead of appointing a day of fasting they should appoint a day of thanksgiving. This was done and it is claimed that our thanksgiving service is a continuation of that appointment.
The man with whom the feeling of thanksgiving is will find a thousand occasions for the expression of the same.
Lord, it belongs not to my care Whether I die or live;To love and serve Thee is my share,And this Thy grace must give.
If life be long, I will be glad That I may long obey;If short, yet why should I be sad To soar to endless day?
Christ leads me through no darker roomsThan He went through before;No one into His Kingdom comes,But through His opened door.
Come, Lord, when grace has made me meet Thy blessed face to see;For if Thy work on earth be sweet,What will Thy glory be?
Finally, Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good (1Th 5:21).
The Apostle tells us that to this we must abstain from all appearance of evil. But, knowing our inability, he reminds us that the very God of peace can sanctify you wholly and prays to God that the whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then, to further uplift, he says, Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.
The conclusion of this chapter involves a Greeting, a Charge, and a Prayer, and ends with a splendid Amen.
First Thessalonians is one of the finest appeals, of even sacred Writ itself, to high and holy living a clear and elaborate presentation of mans obligation in view of Divine grace. Perhaps we could not finish this discourse in any finer way than to say that Christ looks to His disciples as the agents of His Gospel, yea, as the embodiment of the same, and their deportment will determine the progress of the Church.
It is said that in the days of Tiberius it was counted a crime to carry a ring stamped with the name of Augustus to any mean or sordid place where it might be polluted. Our course of conduct and companionships of life prove our loyalty to our Lord.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
1Th. 5:1. Times and seasons.The one is the even, continuous flow of the river, the other is the cataract. Seasons we may represent as epochs. Our Lord in the same words refused to gratify the curiosity of His followers (Act. 1:7).
1Th. 5:2. For yourselves know perfectly.The adverb here is the same as in Eph. 5:15 (A.V. circumspectly, R.V. carefully). It is used five times only in the New Testament. The translations are interestingMat. 2:8 : A.V. diligently, R.V. carefully. Luk. 1:3 : R.V. accurately. Act. 18:25 (like Mat. 2:8). Perhaps the Thessalonians had asked for precise information. The apostle replies, with a touch of gentle irony, You already know precisely that nothing precise on the subject can be knownthat the great day will steal upon the world like a thief in the night (Findlay).
1Th. 5:3. For when they shall say.R.V. when they are saying. No matter at what hour they say, Peace and security, like the voice of the watchman crying, Alls well. Then sudden destruction.The word for sudden is only found again at Luk. 21:34 in the New Testament. It is really unforeseen. As travail.In the simile there is the suggestion that the day cannot be far off though not exactly known.
1Th. 5:5. Children of light.Quite an Oriental expression. The kings of Egypt called themselves children of the sun. So these of a better sun.
1Th. 5:6. Let us watch and be sober.Ever on the alert as men who live in hourly expectation of their Lords arrival. It is precisely they who maintain the preparedness of spirit who are calm when the midnight cry rings out, The bridegroom cometh.
1Th. 5:7. They that be drunken are drunken in the night.The explanation is given in our Lords wordsbecause their deeds are evil: as though darkness could veil the loss of self-respect.
1Th. 5:9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath.The inevitable sequence of a life of sensual gratification. The very severest forms of expression for wrath fell from the gentlest lips concerning the servant who falls to gluttony and drunkenness because his lord does not appear at the expected hour (Luk. 12:45-46).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.1Th. 5:1-11
The Attitude of the Church towards the Second Coming of Christ.
The book that records the first advent of the Redeemer closes, anticipating, desiring, beseeching the secondEven so, come, Lord Jesus. The revelation concerning that second coming is distinct and emphatic; but the exact period, when the event will happen, is wrapped in uncertainty. As when we ascend a winding river some well-known landmark appears to alter its position, seeming now distant, now nearso, at different points on the circuitous stream of life, the familiar subject of the second Advent reveals itself as a near or remote event. It is plain, says Archer Butler, that that period which is distant in one scheme of things may be near in another, where events are on a vaster scale and move in a mightier orbit. That which is a whole life to the ephemera is but a day to the man; that which in the brief succession of authentic human history is counted as remote, is but a single page in the volume of the heavenly records. The coming of Christ may be distant as measured on the scale of human life, but may be near, and at hand, and at the door, when the interval of the two advents is compared, not merely with the four thousand years which were but its preparation, but with the line of infinite ages which it is itself preparing. The uncertainty of the time of the second Advent and its stupendous issues define the attitude of the Church.
I. It is an attitude of expectancy.
1. The time of the second coming is uncertain. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you (1Th. 5:1). A gentle hint that all questions on that subject were unnecessary, as there was nothing more to be revealed. The untamable curiosity and reckless daring of man tempt him to pry into secrets with which he has nothing to do and to dogmatise on subjects of which he knows the least. Many have been fanatical enough to fix the day of the Lords coming. For a time there has been a local excitement; the day has come and gone; the world has moved on as before, and the prophetic enthusiasts have exposed themselves to scorn and ridicule. Of that day and hour knoweth no man (Mar. 13:32). This uncertainty is a perpetual stimulant to the people of God to exercise the ennobling virtues of hope, of watchfulness, of fidelity, of humility, of earnest inquiry, and of reverential awe.
2. The second coming will be sudden.For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child (1Th. 5:2-3). The thief not only gives no notice of his approach, but takes every possible care to conceal his designs. The discovery of the mischief he has wrought takes place when it is too late. The prudent will take every precaution to avoid surprise and to baffle the subtlety and sharpness of the marauder. That which is sinful and unlawful in itself affords a resemblance to express an important truth and to admonish to duty. There is nothing more certain than that the Lord will come; nothing more uncertain when He will come; and both the one and the other should keep His people in an attitude of prayerful expectation and moral preparedness. Faith breeds fear; the more earnestly we believe, the more we tremble at the divine threatenings. Unbelief lulls the soul into false security. What a dreadful awakening will that be, when the thunder of Gods wrath shall suddenly burst from the hitherto tranquil heavens!
3. The second coming will be terrible to the wicked.And they shall not escape (1Th. 5:3). Wicked men are never more secure than when destruction is nearest, never nearer destruction than when they are most secure. The swearer may be seized while the oath is burning on his tongue, the drunkard engulfed in judgment while the cup is trembling between his lips. The other day a certain suspension bridge was crowded with pleasure seekers; the slender erection, yielding under the unwonted strain, broke in two, and in a moment precipitated numbers into the river rolling below and into a watery grave. Not less fragile is the confidence on which the unbelieving rest; and more terrible still will be the catastrophe that will suddenly overtake them. The destruction of the wickedof all their joy, of all they most prized in this lifewill be sudden, painful, inevitable. Now there is peace, for mercy reigns; but when the great day comes there will be nothing but indignation and wrath, tribulation, and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil (Rom. 2:8-9).
II. It is an attitude of vigilance.
1. This vigilance is enforced on the ground of a moral transformation. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness (1Th. 5:4-5). Believers in Christ are delivered from the power of darkness, of spiritual ignorance, of godless profanity, of dark and dangerous security, and translated into the kingdom of light, of truth, of purity, and felicity. They are children of the day when the light shines the brightest, when privileges are more abundant, when opportunities multiply, and responsibility is correspondingly increased. The light of past ages was but the dawn of the effulgent day which now shines upon the world from the gospel sun. Every inquiring and believing soul passes from the dawn to the daylight of experimental truth.
2. This vigilance must be constant.Therefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night (1Th. 5:6-7). Let us not, like the drunkards steeped in sottish slumber, be immersed in the deep sleep of sin and unconcern, neglecting duty, and never thinking of a judgment; but let us watch, and, in order to do so effectually, be sober. We are day-people, not night-people; therefore our work ought to be day-work, not night-work; our conduct such as will bear the eye of day, and has no need to hide itself under the veil of night. A strict sobriety is essential to a sleepless vigilance.
III. It is an attitude of militant courage.But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet the hope of salvation (1Th. 5:8). The Christian has to fight the enemy, as well as watch against him. He is a soldier, and a soldier on sentry. The Christian life is not one of soft, luxurious ease; it is a hard, fierce conflict. The graces of faith, love, and hope constitute the most complete armour of the soul. The breastplate and helmet protect the two most vital partsthe head and the heart. With head and heart right, the whole man is right. Let us keep the head from error and the heart from sinful lust, and we are safe. The best guards against error in religion and viciousness in life arefaith, hope, and charity; these are the virtues that inspire the most enterprising bravery. Drunkards and sluggards never make good soldiers.
IV. It is an attitude of confidence as to the future blessedness of the Church.
1. This blessedness is divinely provided. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us (1Th. 5:9-10). The whole scheme of salvation was divinely conceived and divinely carried out in all its essential details. And, without discussing other methods by which the salvation of the race could be effected, it is sufficient for us to know that the infallible wisdom of God provided that the death of His Son was the most effectual method. Our sins had exposed us to the wrath of God, who had declared death to be the penalty of sin. This death Christ underwent on our behalf, in our stead, and so saved us from it. In every extremity, at every new challenge of the enemy, on each successive field of effort and peril, this is the password and battle-cry of Gods peopleChrist died for us.
2. This blessedness consists in a constant fellowship with Christ.That whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him (1Th. 5:10). The happiest moments on earth are those spent in the company of the good, reciprocating the noblest ideas and emotions. Christ, by dying for us, has begotten us into a life of ineffable and endless felicity; and the hope of salvation enables us to look forward to the period when, released from the sorrows and uncertainties of this changeful life, we shall enjoy the bliss of uninterrupted communion with Jesus.
The soul to be where Jesus is
Must be for ever blest.
3. The confidence of inheriting this blessedness encourages mutual edification.Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do (1Th. 5:11). All Christians indiscriminately are to use these doctrines for mutual exhortation and mutual edification. And so the spirit of the verse will be this: Comfort one another as to this matter, and then, free from the distracting and paralysing influence of vain misgivings, go on edifying one another in all the relations, and by all the means and appliances of your Church fellowship; even as also ye do. Ye do it now, in the midst of your own secret, personal sorrows and depressing fears. But you will be able to do it more effectively, with the clearer views I have now given you of what awaits us allthose sleeping in Jesus, and us who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord (Lillie).
Lessons.
1. The great event of the future will be the second coming of Christ.
2. That event should be looked for in a spirit of sobriety and vigilance.
3. That event will bring unspeakable felicity to the good and dismay and misery to the wicked.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Th. 5:2. The Day of the Lord
I. A day which will be in some unique and pre-eminent sense His day.
II. It is the day of judgment.
III. The coming of His day is suggestive of fear.As a thief in the night.
IV. It will come suddenly.
V. Cannot be prevented by any efforts of our own.
VI. We may prepare for the day of judgment by judging ourselves in self-examination.H. P. Liddon.
1Th. 5:6. The Pilgrims on the Enchanted Ground.
I. Hopeful keeps awake by goodly counsel and discourse.
II. Ignorance comes up again.
1. Ignorance explains the ground of his hope.
2. Christian explains what good thoughts are.
3. Ignorance speaks reproachfully about things he knows not.
4. He again falls behind.
III. Christian and Hopeful renew their conversation.
1. Reflections over the conduct of Ignorance.
2. Why ignorant people stifle conviction.
3. Reasons why some backslide.
IV. Some lessons from this stage.
1. In times of danger it is wise to recall former experiences.
2. Human philosophy may seem very wise, but the Bible is an unfailing touchstone.Homiletic Monthly.
Moral Sleep.
I. The season devoted to sleep is one of darkness.He is in darkness as to God, himself, and the gospel.
II. Sleep is often sought for and obtained by the use of opiates.These are:
1. The falsehoods of Satan.
2. The pleasures of sense.
3. The fellowship of the world.
III. During sleep the mind is usually occupied with dreams.The life of the ungodly is one continued dream.
IV. He who is asleep is in a great measure insensible to pain.
1. The sting of sin is in mans nature.
2. Through this sleep he feels it not.Stewart.
1Th. 5:9-10. Salvation is of God.
I. The choice of God.
1. It was early.
2. It was free.
3. Efficacious.
4. Appropriating.
II. The work of Christ.He died as our Substitute.
1. This fact explains His death.
2. Vindicates the justice of God in His death.
3. Displays the love of Christ.
III. The privilege and duty of Christians.
1. Life in Christ.
2. Life with Christ.
3. In Him and with Him here and hereafter.G. Brooks.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Text (1Th. 5:1)
1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written unto you.
Translation and Paraphrase
1.
But concerning the (general) times (when the Lord may return) and the (particular) seasons (when that would be most likely to occur), brethren, you have no need that (aught) should be written to you (giving you further information on the subject).
Notes (1Th. 5:1)
1.
When we think about the Lords second coming, we all long to know WHEN it may be. We are like the disciples who asked Jesus, Master, when shall these things be? Luk. 21:7. We have an expectancy of the Lords coming. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Rev. 22:20. This expectancy naturally raises the question, When?
2.
In the outlines we have entitled the section 1Th. 5:1-12 as Times and Seasons of the Lords Coming. The section is closely connected with the preceding section, 1Th. 4:13-18. Both are listed under the heading, The Lords Coming, in the outline.
3.
There are three points of resemblance between sections 1Th. 4:13-18 and 1Th. 5:1-11 :
(1)
Both sections tell how people will fare on the day of the Lord. 1Th. 4:13-18 tells how the dead in Christ will fare on that day, 1Th. 5:1-11 tells how the living will fare on that day.
(2)
Both sections raise a problem, and both give an answer to the problem.
(a)
1Th. 4:13-18 raises the problem, What will happen to the dead in Christ when the Lord comes? Answer: They will be resurrected before the living are caught up.
(b)
1Th. 5:1-11 raises the problem, Exactly when is the Lord coming? Answer: No one can know, but since Christians are always watching, his coming will not take us by surprise.
(3)
Both sections close with an exhortation to comfort one another. 1Th. 4:18; 1Th. 5:11
4.
The expression, times and seasons, is also found in Act. 1:7 and Dan. 2:21. Times refer to time in general. Seasons refer to limited portions of time, with the added notion of suitableness. Note the paraphrase for this distinction.
5.
Many people have set the date for the end of the world and the Lords coming, and all have been wrong. Any such efforts are bound to be in vain.
Jesus said, It is not for you to know the time or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. Act. 1:7. While Jesus was on earth he said, But of that day and hour knoweth no man, nor the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Mat. 24:36. We think that Christ NOW has been given authority over and knowledge of the future (for this is suggested by Revelation chapter 5), but it still remains true that NO MAN on earth knows when Christ is coming. In such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh. Mat. 24:44.
6.
God changes the times and seasons. Dan. 2:21. God had a time set to destroy Nineveh, but He changed His mind when Nineveh repented. Jon. 3:4; Jon. 3:10. Perhaps God has changed His time schedule on the return of Christ, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2Pe. 3:9.
7.
The Thessalonians knew that the coming of the Lord would be unpredictable and unexpected. Paul had told them that. Therefore it was unnecessary for him to go into a discussion of the times and seasons. Probably God had not revealed anything on this subject to Paul anyway.
8.
Some interpreters make a distinction between the day of the Lord, discussed in 1Th. 5:1-11, and the taking up of the saints (the rapture) discussed in 1Th. 4:13-17. They maintain that the Day of the Lord discussed here is several years after the taking up of the saints, and follows a great tribulation.
This interpretation always reminds us of the bed of Procrustes. Procrustes (in mythology) placed his guests on a bed, and stretched short men and chopped off tall men to fit it. There is not the slightest suggestion in the text that this paragraph (1Th. 5:1-11) is talking about a different event from that discussed in 1Th. 4:13-18. If one did not have a certain theory about what will happen when Christ returns, he would never from this Scripture itself (1Th. 4:13-18; 1Th. 5:1-11) get the idea that two different events were being described. We should not force the Scriptures to fit our theories, but make our theories to fit the Scriptures.
(For our reasons for questioning the idea of two returns of Christ, a secret rapture, followed by a tribulation, see notes on 1Th. 4:16, and the Special Studies on pages 238260, particularly studies II and IV.)
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
V.
(1) But of the times.The fourth subject of instruction; the bearing of the doctrine of the Advent upon the Christians own life. Times and seasons is a Hebraism, and in the original, the second word, not the first, is the more explicit: we should say, About day and hour. The plural seems to mean the different periods at which men might conceive the Advent likely to come.
Ye have no need.The next verse shows that this paragraph is not so much intended for an answer to a false theory about the time of the Advent, as practically to cure the restlessness common at Thessalonica.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 5
LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT ( 1Th 5:1-11 ) 5:1-11 You have no need, brothers, that anything should be written to you about the times and seasons; for you yourselves well know that, as a thief in the night, so the day of the Lord comes. When they are saying, “All is well; all is safe,” then sudden destruction comes upon them, just as the labour pains come on a woman who is with child, and very certainly they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in the dark. You are not in a situation in which the day, like a thief, can surprise you. For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to night or darkness. So then, let us not sleep, as the rest of men do, but let us be watchful and sober. For those who sleep sleep at night; and those who get drunk get drunk at night; but, as for us, because we belong to the day, let us be sober and let us put on the breastplate of faith and love, and let us take for a helmet the hope of salvation, because God did not appoint us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, so that, whether we wake or whether we sleep, we may live with him. So then encourage each other and build up one another–as indeed you are doing.
We shall not fully understand the New Testament pictures of the Second Coming unless we remember that they have an Old Testament background. In the Old Testament the conception of the Day of the Lord is very common; and all the pictures and apparatus which belong to the Day of the Lord have been attached to the Second Coming. To the Jew all time was divided into two ages. There was this present age which was wholly and incurably bad. There was the age to come which would be the golden age of God. In between there was the Day of the Lord which would be a terrible day. It would be a day in which one world was shattered and another was born.
Many of the most terrible pictures in the Old Testament are of the Day of the Lord ( Isa 22:5; Isa 13:9; Zep 1:14-16; Amo 5:18; Jer 30:7; Mal 4:1; Joe 2:31). Its main characteristics were as follows. (i) It would come suddenly and unexpectedly. (ii) It would involve a cosmic upheaval in which the universe was shaken to its very foundations. (iii) It would be a time of judgment.
Very naturally the New Testament writers to all intents and purposes identified the Day of the Lord with the day of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. We will do well to remember that these are what we might call stock pictures. They are not meant to be taken literally. They are pictorial visions of what would happen when God broke into time.
Naturally men were anxious to know when that day would come. Jesus himself had bluntly said that no man knew when that day or hour would be, that even he did not know and only God knew ( Mar 13:32; compare Mat 24:36; Act 1:7). But that did not stop people speculating about it, as indeed they still do, although it is surely almost blasphemous that men should seek for knowledge which was denied even to Jesus. To these speculations Paul has two things to say.
He repeats that the coming of the day will be sudden. It will come like a thief in the night. But he also insists that that is no reason why a man should be caught unawares. It is only the man who lives in the dark and whose deeds are evil who will be caught unprepared. The Christian lives in the light and no matter when that day comes, if he is watchful and sober, it will find him ready. Waking or sleeping, the Christian is living already with Christ and is therefore always prepared.
No man knows when God’s call will come for him and there are certain things that cannot be left until the last moment. It is too late to prepare for an examination when the examination paper is before you. It is too late to make the house secure when the storm has burst. When Queen Mary of Orange was dying, her chaplain wished to read to her. She answered, “I have not left this matter till this hour.” It was similar with an old Scotsman to whom someone offered comforting sayings near the end. The old man’s reply was, “Ah theekit (thatched) ma hoose when the weather was warm.” If a call comes suddenly, it need not find us unprepared. The man who has lived all his life with Christ is never unprepared to enter his nearer presence.
ADVICE TO A CHURCH ( 1Th 5:12-22 )
5:12-22 We ask you, brothers, to give due recognition to those who labour among you and to those who preside over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to hold them very highly in love because of the work that they are doing.
Be at peace among yourselves. We urge you brothers, warn the lazy, comfort the fearful, cling to the weak, be patient with all. See that no one pays back evil for evil. Always pursue the good for each other and for all. Always rejoice. Never stop praying. In everything give thanks. For this is God’s will in Christ Jesus for you. Don’t quench the gifts of the Spirit, don’t make light Of manifestations of the gift of prophecy. Test everything, hold fast to the fine thing. Keep yourselves well away from every kind of evil.
Paul comes to an end with a chain of jewels of good advice. He sets them out in the most summary way but every one is such that every Christian should ponder it.
Respect your leaders, says Paul; and the reason for the respect is the work that they are doing. It is not a question of personal prestige; it is the task which makes a man great and it is the service he is doing which is his badge of honour.
Live at peace. It is impossible that the gospel of love should be preached in an atmosphere poisoned by hate. Better far that a man should quit a congregation in which he is unhappy and in which he makes others unhappy and find one where he may be at peace.
1Th 5:14 picks out those who need special care and attention. The word used for lazy originally described a soldier who had left the ranks. The phrase really means “Warn the quitters.” The fearful are literally those whose souls are small. In every community there is the faint-hearted brother who instinctively fears the worst but in every community there should be Christians who, being brave, help others to be brave. “Cling to the weak” is a lovely piece of advice. Instead of letting the weak brother drift away and finally vanish altogether, the Christian community should make a deliberate attempt to grapple him to the Church in such a way that he cannot escape. It should forge bonds of fellowship and persuasion to hold on to the man who is likely to stray away. To be patient with all is perhaps hardest of all, for the last lesson most of us learn is to suffer fools gladly.
Don’t take revenge, says Paul. Even if a man seeks our evil we must conquer him by seeking his good.
1Th 5:16-18 give us three marks of a genuine Church. (i) It is a happy Church. There is in it that atmosphere of joy which makes its members feel that they are bathed in sunshine. True Christianity is an exhilarating and not a depressing thing. (ii) It is a praying Church. Maybe our Church’s prayers would be more effective if we remembered that “they pray best together who also pray alone.” (iii) It is a thankful Church. There is always something for which to give thanks; even on the darkest day there are blessings to count. We must remember that if we face the sun the shadows will fall behind us but if we turn our backs on the sun all the shadows will be in front.
In 1Th 5:19-20 Paul warns the Thessalonians not to despise spiritual gifts. The prophets were really the equivalent of our modern preachers. It was they who brought the message of God to the congregation. Paul is really saying, “If a man has anything to say, don’t stop him saying it.”
1Th 5:21-22 describe the constant duty of the Christian. He must use Christ as touchstone by which to test all things; and even when it is hard he must keep on doing the fine thing and hold himself aloof from every kind of evil.
When a Church lives up to Paul’s advice, it will indeed shine like a light in a dark place; it will have joy within itself and power to win others.
THE GRACE OF CHRIST BE WITH YOU ( 1Th 5:23-28 )
5:23-28 May the God of peace himself consecrate you through and through; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete so that you will be blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. You can rely on him who calls you–and he will do this very thing.
Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I adjure you by the Lord that this letter should be read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
At the end of his letter Paul commends his friends to God in body, soul and spirit. But there is one very lovely saying here. “Brothers,” said Paul, “pray for us.” It is a wonderful thing that the greatest saint of them all should feel that he was strengthened by the prayers of the humblest Christians. Once his friends came to congratulate a great statesman who had been elected to the highest office his country could offer him. He said, “Don’t give me your congratulations, but give me your prayers.” For Paul prayer was a golden chain in which he prayed for others and others prayed for him.
-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
FURTHER READINGS
Thessalonians
J. E. Frame, Thessalonians (ICC; G)
G. Milligan, St. Paul’s Epistles to the Thessalonians (MmC; G)
W. Neil, The Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians (MC; E)
Abbreviations
CGT: Cambridge Greek Testament
ICC: International Critical Commentary
MC: Moffatt Commentary
MmC: Macmillan Commentary
TC: Tyndale Commentary
E: English Text
G: Greek Text
-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible
4. The second advent, though not at hand, will be a sudden surprise to those upon whom it does come, 1Th 5:1-11.
1. But This very distinct outline of the event of Christ’s coming I can reveal, but the when is in the dark background.
Times and the seasons Of the great closing events of the world. The plural is used, as in Dan 2:21, Act 1:7, to denote the general principle that prophecies of the mundane future, though indicated by mystic chronological measures, are essentially timeless. Times are the great time-flows of thousands of years; seasons, the special time-points, or epochs, that divide off the flow. It was on this very point that 2Pe 3:8 declares that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Prophetic time is measured by the arithmetic of God.
No need For they had already been warned by St. Paul of the entire unrevealedness of times, and were in the Christian state of preparedness.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need that anything be written to you, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.’
‘Concerning the times and the seasons.’ The first denotes chronological time and simply signifies that they are already aware of how chronologically events will work out from their own day until the end. The second, something of what will result during those times. They have been well taught concerning coming happenings.
‘You yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.’ It is clear that Paul was satisfied that the Thessalonians had a good grasp of teaching about the second coming and the day of the Lord. To ‘know perfectly’ is to have a good grasp of the subject.
The first thing they knew was that no one knows the time of the end (Mar 13:32). But they did know that Jerusalem must be destroyed and its inhabitants scattered, for Jesus had firmly asserted it (Luk 21:20-24; Mar 13:14-20), and that the church must go through continual tribulation, as indeed they already were (Mar 13:9-13). They knew that at some stage troubles and judgments must come on the world, although they were already no doubt aware of such troubles and judgments, and the 1st century AD was a time of troubles and judgments. Tacitus, a first century Roman historian, after referring to the horrors and calamities, and disasters and portents, of the period, went on to say ‘never has it been better proved, by such terrible disasters to Rome, or by such clear evidence, that the gods were concerned, not with our safety but with vengeance on our sins.’
They also knew that these would come as ‘a thief in the night’, for God would act not only to deliver His people but to bring His judgments on the world. The picture of a thief in the night is of the situation with regard to unbelievers, caught unawares by one who comes to take their possessions. The Lord will not come like a thief in the night to those who are in readiness, only to those who are in darkness and not watching (1Th 5:4; Rev 3:3; Rev 16:15; Luk 12:39, compare 2Pe 3:10). To those who are waiting and ready He comes as their great God and Saviour (Tit 2:13).
‘The day of the Lord.’ This phrase refers to the day when the Lord has His day, when He acts in judgment. In a sense through the Old Testament period there were many ‘days of the Lord’, for it could be used of the day when God brought His judgment both on His faithless people and on the enemies of His people. But all looked forward to a final ‘day of the Lord’, a day of the Lord’s judgments, at the time when final restoration took place (Joe 2:31; Joe 3:14; Zec 14:1).
In the New Testament the phrase appears three times (Act 2:20 quoting Joe 2:31, fulfilled, partially at least, at the resurrection and Pentecost; 2Pe 3:10 and here. 2Pe 3:10 is definitive, it is the time when ‘the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works in it will be discovered’ (or in some manuscripts ‘burned up’), that is will be revealed in God’s eyes and judged. It thus refers to God’s final judgments in the end days including the final Judgment itself. A similar phrase, ‘the Lord’s day’, occurs in Rev 1:10 where it possibly refers to a symbolical depiction of Christ ‘at the door’ on the point of returning.
But in both 1 Thessalonians and 2 Peter ‘the Lord’ has primary reference to Jesus Christ. It is He Who is ‘the Lord’ all through the letter, so ‘the day of the Lord’ has special reference to Him as the one appointed to judge the world (Joh 5:22; Joh 5:27). This is confirmed in that it can also be called ‘the day of the Lord Jesus’ in 1Co 5:5 where it refers to deliverance from the judgment, and 2Co 1:14 where it refers to Christian rejoicing at that day. We can compare also ‘the day of Christ’ (Php 1:10; Php 2:16; 2Th 2:2), where there is a slant towards the Christian’s part in that day, and the day of Jesus Christ (Php 1:6) and the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Co 1:8) which are similar. All references to the day include the time of judgment, whether of Christians with regard to reward, or of all.
Excursus on ‘the day of the Lord’ in the Old Testament.
The term was used in Isa 13:9 of God’s visitation in judgment. Firstly judgment would come on His faithless people through Babylon, and then through the Medes God would bring judgment on Babylon (Isa 13:17). The whole is depicted in apocalyptic language (Isa 13:10; Isa 13:13) and is described as the wrath of the Lord (Isa 13:13). It also has a far view for it depicts the final desolation of Babylon (Isa 13:19-22). In the judgments of God near and far were part of one whole, especially as regards Babylon which was the symbol from the beginning of rebellion against God (Gen 10:9-12; Gen 11:1-9). The earlier judgment was a foretaste of the later one.
Again the day of the Lord was to come on Edom and its allies, its surrounding nations (Isa 34:4; Isa 34:8). ‘All the nations’ refers to these for other nations are called on to witness the event (Isa 13:1). But it is on Edom that the main judgment comes (verse 6). Again it is represented in apocalyptic language (Isa 13:9-10), and such judgment did finally come upon them.
Jeremiah also prophesied a day of the Lord on Egypt and Pharaoh Neco (Jer 46:2, repeated in Jer 46:13), this time at the hands of Babylon (Jer 46:10; Jer 46:26). Thus ‘the day of the Lord’ began to indicate the day of the Lord’s judgments whenever they were.
It could be called ‘the day of the Lord of hosts’ (Isa 2:12), ‘the day of the Lord’s vengeance’ (Isa 34:8 – on Edom), ‘the day of the Lord, the Lord of hosts, a day of vengeance’ (on Egypt – Jer 46:10), ‘the day of the Lord’s anger’ ( on Judah – Lam 2:22; on Judah and surrounding nations – Zep 1:18; Zep 2:2-3), ‘the day of the Lord’s sacrifice’ (on Judah – Zep 1:8), ‘the great day of the Lord’ (on Judah – Zep 1:14), ‘the great and terrible day of the Lord’ (Mal 4:5), which referred to the first coming of Jesus as the beginning of ‘the end days’ (Mat 11:14 with Act 2:17; 1Co 10:11; Heb 1:2; 1Pe 1:20; 1Pe 4:7).
But the basic term was ‘the day of the Lord’ (Isa 13:6; Isa 13:9 – on Babylon through the Medes; Eze 13:5 – on Judah through Nebuchadnezzar; Eze 30:3 – on Egypt through Nebuchadnezzar; Joe 1:15 – on Judah through Nebuchadnezzar; Joe 2:1; Joe 2:11 – on Judah through Nebuchadnezzar; Joe 2:31; Joe 3:14 – in the end days at the time of restoration; Amo 5:18; Amo 5:20 – on Israel through Assyria; Oba 1:15 – on Edom and their allies (for ‘all the nations’ compare Isa 34:1); Zep 1:7 – on Judah; Zec 14:1 – in the end days at the time of restoration, and as the prophets began to look forward to the day when God would set all things right, establish His people and deal with their enemies, it began to be applied especially to that day (Joe 2:31; Joe 3:14; Zec 14:1).
In the New Testament the phrase appears three times (Act 2:20 quoting Joe 2:31, fulfilled, partially at least, at the resurrection and Pentecost; 2Pe 3:10 and here. 2Pe 3:10 is definitive, it is the time when ‘the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works in it will be discovered’ (or in some manuscripts ‘burned up’), that is will be revealed in God’s eyes and judged. It thus refers to God’s final judgments in the end days including the final Judgment itself.
End of Excursus.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Second Coming of Christ In 1Th 5:1-10 Paul teaches the Thessalonians that in order to be ready for the Rapture they must prepare themselves for Christ’s Second Coming. He explains how this event will be sudden for the world (1Th 5:1-3), but can be anticipated if they are alert by walking in the three-fold aspect of their sanctification in faith, love and hope that is emphasized in this epistle (1Th 5:4-8). God’s wrath is not designed for His children (1Th 5:9-10).
Note how Paul calls the event of Christ’s Return the “Day of the Lord.”
1Th 5:2 Comment – The phrase “the Day of the Lord” refers to the time period in which the Lord Jesus Christ will reign on earth from Jerusalem over all mankind. Compare a similar usage of the word “day” in Isa 1:1, where the period of each king’s reign was referred to as “the day of Uzziah,” etc.
Isa 1:1, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”
Paul picks up this subject again in 2 Thessalonians 2 by using the phrases “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” and “the day of Christ.”
2Th 2:1-2, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ , and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.”
Scripture References There are a number of Scriptures that refer to Jesus Christ coming as a thief in the night (Mat 24:43-44, 1Th 5:2, 2Pe 3:10, Rev 3:3; Rev 16:15).
Mat 24:43-44, “But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”
1Th 5:2, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”
2Pe 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
Rev 3:3, “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
Rev 16:15, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”
1Th 5:1-2
Act 1:7, “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”
1Th 5:7 Word Study on “drunken” Strong says the Greek word “drunken” ( ) (G3182) mean, “to intoxicate.” Vine says this Greek word describes the process or state of becoming (G3184), which means, “to drink to intoxication.” ( Strong) The Enhanced Strong says this word is used three times in the New Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “be drunken 2, drunk 1.” Each use of the word is in reference to being intoxicated with alcohol (Luk 12:45, Eph 5:8, 1Th 5:7).
Luk 12:45, “But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;”
Eph 5:18, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
1Th 5:7, “For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.”
1Th 5:8 Comments – We have seen the three words faith, love, and hope used in the opening of this epistle as it refers to the process of our election (1Th 1:3-4).
1Th 5:9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath” – Comments – Just as God has appointed evil doers to His divine wrath (1Th 2:16), He has appointed His children to avoid this wrath.
1Th 2:16, “Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.”
1Th 5:9 “but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” – Comments – The quote from Enoch in the epistle of Jude reveals to us the earliest revelation of the Day of the Lord, or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Jud 1:14-15, “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
God revealed to Enoch in a vision of the night the things that were coming upon the earth in the last days. This verse tells us that the major end-time event that Enoch uses to summarize a group of events is the Second Coming of Jesus, which occurs at the end of the tribulation period. The underlying theme of all of these end-time events is the return of Christ to judge the sinner and glorify the saints. When speaking of the Day of the Lord, Paul says, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1Th 5:9). Therefore, this is a glorious time for the children of God and not a time to fear. It is a time of fear and terror for the sinner, but a time of retribution for those who have suffered for righteousness’ sake. The Second Coming of Christ is the “climax” of a series of events that Jesus Christ spoke of in Matthew 24-25.
1Th 5:10 “whether we wake or sleep” Comments – That is, whether we are alive or dead at Jesus’ second coming.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Sanctification of the Believer – After opening his first epistle to the Thessalonians with a brief Salutation (1Th 1:1), and after introducing the work of divine election in the lives of the Thessalonians from the perspective of the Holy Spirit (1Th 1:2-10), Paul spends the entire body of the letter fully developing the three-fold aspect of divine election. He discusses the role of the Holy Spirit in sanctifying the believer by explaining the process of that a person goes through in order to be fully sanctified, spirit, soul and body (1Th 5:23).
Outline – Note the proposed outline:
A. Sanctification of Man’s Spirit 1Th 2:1 to 1Th 3:13
B. Sanctification of Man’s Body 1Th 4:1-12
C. Sanctification of Man’s Mind 1Th 4:13 to 1Th 5:11
1. The Rapture of the Church 1Th 4:13-18
2. The Day of the Lord 1Th 5:1-11
D. Commending Them Unto Their Leaders 1Th 5:12-13
E. Practical Examples of Sanctification 1Th 5:14-24
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Sanctification of Man’s Mind: Patience of Hope in the Father’s Plan The third aspect of our sanctification will be man’s mind in which dwells our hope, which is the anchor of the soul. Paul places emphasis upon this aspect in 1Th 4:13 to 1Th 5:11. In 1Th 4:13-18 he encourages the Thessalonians by instilling a hope of seeing their loved ones again as he discusses one of the clearest passages in the Scriptures on the Rapture of the Church (1Th 4:13-18). In 1Th 5:1-11 he then teaches them that in order to be ready for the Rapture they must prepare themselves for Christ’s Second Coming (1Th 5:1-11). He explains how this event will be sudden for the world (1Th 5:1-3), but can be anticipated if they are alert by walking in the three-fold aspect of their sanctification in faith, love and hope that is emphasized in this epistle (1Th 5:4-8). God’s wrath is not designed for His children (1Th 5:9-10). Paul closes this passage in 1Th 4:13 to 1Th 5:11 by exhorting the believers to comfort one another with these words of hope (1Th 5:11).
It is important to note that Paul will refer back to this two-fold teaching of the Second Coming in his second epistle to them by saying “by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.” (2Th 2:1)
While 1 Thessalonians places more emphasis upon the Rapture of the Church preceding the Tribulation Period, the second epistle places more on Christ’s Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation Period. But these events are placed before us in these two epistles as the goal of our sanctification.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. The Rapture 1Th 4:13-18
2. The Second Coming of Christ 1Th 5:1-10
3. Closing Exhortation 1Th 5:11
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Christian Watchfulness with Reference to the Last Day.
The unexpected coming of the last day:
v. 1. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
v. 2. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
v. 3. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. The same enthusiasm which looked forward to the coming of the Lord with eager impatience was apt to lead into an unhealthy state of mind, to a morbid anxiety which tried to penetrate into the secrets which the Lord had hidden from the eyes of men. The apostle, therefore, reminds the Christians of Thessalonica of the doctrine which they had learned: Concerning the times and periods, brethren, you are not in need that we should write to you. Paul here corrects both impatient expectancy and drowsy security, choosing such words as may convey the idea of length and repeated alternation of periods as well as of crises which might be expected very soon. It was a most effective way of urging them to maintain a well-balanced judgment and Christian sanity. They should never forget the words of the Lord which they had been taught, Mat 24:44; Mat 25:13: For yourselves know exactly that the day of the Lord, as a thief in the night, so it comes. This saying of the Lord had been given them, they had received instruction concerning the last things, they had exact knowledge to that extent to which the Lord had revealed the truth for all times. The day of the Lord, the last day of this present world, the Day of Judgment, is coming, as a day of terrible doom to the unbelievers, as a day of inexpressible joy to the believers. That is a precise, a definite knowledge. At the same time, however, the date is not known; the day will be a surprise to the whole world. The signs of the times will, in general, indicate when it is due, but the exact date cannot be determined by men, and every attempt to do so must result in disgraceful failure. Unexpectedly, as a thief in the night, this day will come upon the world. See 2Pe 3:10. Such is the manner of its coming, without any definite regard to the time.
This unexpectedness of the last day’s coming is aptly illustrated by the apostle: For when they are saying, Peace and security, then suddenly will come upon them destruction, just as travail to her with child, and they will not escape. This is the attitude taken by the unbelievers, by the scoffers, whom Peter also pictures, 2Pe 3:3-4. Their constant cry is: All’s well; Everything is all right; All is safe; The world was never so secure as today. But at the very moment when they will sometime be crying so loudly, and with great suddenness, the destruction which they considered impossible will be upon them, will lay hold of them. Even as a woman with child knows the approximate time when her delivery may be expected, but cannot tell the day and the hour when labor will set in, being therefore often taken quite unawares, so the destruction of the last Judgment will strike the scoffers, and all escape will then be shut off: it will be too late to repent. There is a solemn warning in these words which needs to be heeded most seriously in our day.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
CONTENTS.With regard to the time of that glorious advent when believers, whether dead or living, will be gathered together to Christ, the Thessalonians had already been fully instructed. They knew well that the day of the Lord would come suddenly and unexpectedly, and surprise an ungodly world. But they were not in darkness so as to be taken by surprise. Still, however, they must exercise constant watchfulness and sobriety, and be armed with the Christian graces of faith, love, and hope, being comforted with the assurance that God had not appointed them to wrath, but to the acquisition of salvation through Jesus Christ, who died for their benefit, in order that, whether living or dead, they might share in the blessings of his advent.
Now follows a series of short admonitions. The Thessalonians were to love and honor their ministers, to live in peace among themselves, to admonish the disorderly, to encourage the faint-hearted, to support the weak, and to exercise forbearance toward all men. They were to be on their guard against revenge, to preserve Christian joyfulness, to be constant in prayer, and to maintain a thankful disposition. They were not to quench the Spirit, nor despise prophesyings, but were to test all things, retaining the good and rejecting the evil. And it was his earnest prayer for them that God would so completely sanctify them that they might be blameless at the advent of the Lord Jesus. After requesting an interest in their prayers, and solemnly charging them to read this Epistle to the assembled Church, the apostle concludes with his apostolic benediction.
1Th 5:1
This verse is connected with what precedes. The apostle was comforting the Thessalonians under the loss of their deceased friends by the assurance that both the living and the dead would be gathered together at the advent. The question would naturally arise, “When shall these things be?” (Luk 21:7); and it would appear that the Thessalonians expected an immediate advent. The apostle represses their curiosity on this point by reminding them of the uncertainty of the time of the Lord’s coming. But of the times and the seasons, brethren; that is, of the time and the precise period of the Lord’s advent. “Times” and “seasons” are elsewhere united together (Ecc 3:1-22.; Dan 2:21; Act 1:7). The word translated “times” denotes time absolutely without regard to circumstances; and the word rendered “seasons” denotes a definite point of time; not merely the day, but the hour (Mar 13:32). Ye have no need that I write unto you; literally, that ought be written unto you (R.V.); comp. 1Th 4:9. The reason why it was not needful for the apostle to write unto them was, not because he regarded the information unprofitable or superfluous, or because he knew it to be impossible, but because he had already informed them when at Thessalonica that the time of the advent was beyond the sphere of his teaching. The apostle mentions this to repress that vain curiosity which is natural to man, and which was the occasion of so much disorder among the Thessalonians. Our duty is, not to pry into the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his own power (Act 1:7), but to exercise constant watchfulness.
1Th 5:2
For yourselves know perfectly; namely, not from Scripture, nor from oral tradition, but from the teaching of the apostle when in Thessalonica. That the day of the Lord. “The day of the Lord” is a common Old Testament expression, denoting the coming of the Divine judgments (Joe 1:15; Joe 2:1); and by the phrase here is meant, not the destruction of Jerusalem, nor the day of one’s death, but the day of the Lord’s advent, when Christ shall descend from heaven in glory for the resurrection of the dead and the judgment of the world. The idea of judgment is contained in the term “day.” So cometh as a thief in the night. The same comparison is used by our Lord himself (Mat 24:43; Luk 12:39), and the very words are employed by Peter (2Pe 3:10). The point of resemblance is evidently the unexpectedness and suddenness of the coming. The thief comes upon people in the night season, when they are asleep and unprepared; so, in a similar manner, when Christ comes, he will find the world unprepared and not expecting his advent. The ancient Fathers inferred from this passage that Christ would come to judgment in the night season, and hence they instituted vigils, or night watches. Some, still more precisely, fixed the coming on Easter night, from the analogy of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt on the paschal evening.
1Th 5:3
For; the best manuscripts omit this conjunction; the description is continuous. When they shall say; namely, the unbelieving world. Peace and safety; peace denoting internal rest, and safety external security. Sudden destruction cometh upon them. When they thought themselves most secure, they were then in the greatest danger; when they were most off their guard, then the crisis came. As travail upon a woman with child. The primary point of resemblance is certainly the suddenness and unexpectedness of the event; as labor comes upon a woman suddenly, so sudden destruction cometh upon the ungodly world. Still, however, the unavoidableness of the judgment may also be here intimated; there is no possibility of escape: this is implied in the last clause, and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4
But ye, brethren; ye believers, in opposition to the unbelieving world. Are not in darkness; referring back to the night (1Th 5:2), when the thief comes. By darkness is here meant, not merely ignorance, but moral depravitythe darkness of sin. Ye are not in the ignorant and sinful condition of the unredeemed world, so as to be surprised by the day of the Lord. With you it is not night, but day; the light of the gospel is shining around you; and therefore the day of the Lord’s coming will not surprise you in an unprepared state. That; a statement, not of result, but of purpose”in order that.” That day; the day; namely, the day of the Lord. Should overtake yousurprise youas a thief.
1Th 5:5
Ye are all the children of the light, and the children of the day. Hebraistic expressions denoting, Ye all belong to the light and to the day. An affirmation, strengthening the previous declaration. The light and the day are synonymous expressionsthe day being the period of light, as opposed to the night and darkness. We are not of the night, nor of darkness; rendering the positive assertion more emphatic.
1Th 5:6
Therefore; because we are the children of the, light and of the day, because we have been enlightened and purified, we ought to be watchful and sober, so that we may not be unprepared for the day of the Lord. Privileges will avail us nothing, unless we use them and walk up to them. Let us not sleep. Sleep is hero evidently used metaphorically to denote religious carelessness. As do others; the unbelieving and ungodly. But let us watch and be sober; evidently to be understood metaphorically of spiritual vigilance and sobriety: watchfulness denoting wakefulness from sleep, and sobriety freedom from intoxication. Both must be combined: we must be watchful, on our guard, and we must be sober, armed and prepared; “for even by day,” observes St. Chrysostom, “if one watches, but is not sober, he will fall into numberless dangers.” The same exhortation is given by Peter, but in the reverse order: “Be sober, be vigilant” (1Pe 5:8).
1Th 5:7
For; the reason of this exhortation. They that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that are drunken are drunken in the night. Here not to be taken in a metaphorical sense, but a simple statement of factwhat occurs in ordinary experience. The night is the season in which sleep and drunkenness usually occur; whereas the day is the season of watchfulness, sobriety, and work. Both heathen and Jews considered it as eminently disgraceful for a man to be seen drunken in the day-time. Hence, when the Jews accused the believers on the day of Pentecost with being filled with new wine, Peter answered, “We are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day” (Act 2:15).
1Th 5:8
But; contrast to the conduct of those who are of the night: let us not only be watchful, but armed. The apostle now adopts a favorite figure, that of spiritual armor. The arms which he here mentions are only twothe breastplate to protect the heart, and the helmet to guard the head; they are both defensive weapons, because the reference here is not so much to the believer’s conflict with evil, as to his defense against surprise. And by these spiritual weapons are denoted the three cardinal gracesfaith, love, and hope (1Th 1:3). Let us who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love. By “faith” is here meant faith in Christ; and by “love,” not so much love to God as love to man. These preserve the heart of a Christian against the assaults and influences of evil, as the breastplate guards the heart of the earthly warrior. And for a helmet, the hope of salvation. Salvation in its most comprehensive sense. The hope of salvation sustains our courage amid all the trials of life by holding out to us the prospect of eternal blessedness. Vigilance is of no avail unless armed by faith, hope, and love. In the Epistle to the Ephesians there is a still fuller enumeration of the Christian armor (Eph 6:14-18); and there is a slight difference in the description of the weapons. Here the apostle speaks of the breastplate of faith and love; there of the breastplate of righteousness and of the shield of faith. Here the helmet is called the hope of salvation; there the apostle speaks of the helmet of salvation. And besides these defensive weapons, other weapons of defense and the sword, a weapon of offence, are mentioned.
1Th 5:9
For. Not a new reason for watchfulness and sobriety, but referring to “the hope of salvation,” why we may with confidence put on such a hope as a helmet. God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtainor, to the acquisition ofsalvation byor, throughour Lord Jesus Christ. Not through the doctrine of Christ, nor even through faith in Christ, but through the Lord Jesus Christ himself, through what he has done for us, and especially through his atoning death. The appointment of God’s grace is here mentioned as the efficient cause of our salvation; and the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Mediator through whom salvation is bestowed.
1Th 5:10
Who died. His death being the meritorious cause of our salvation. For us; that is here, not “instead of us,” but “for our benefit,” or “on our account.” That, whether we wake or sleep. Here not to be taken in an ethical sensewhether we are spiritually awake or asleep, for those who are spiritually asleep will be surprised by the coming of the Lord; nor in a natural sensewhether he come in the night and find us taking our natural sleep, or in the day, when we are awakewhich would be a mere trifling observation; but in a metaphorical sensewhether we are alive or dead. The apostle has just been speaking of those who are dead under the designation of those “who are asleep” (1Th 4:13), and therefore it is natural to interpret the clause, “whether we wake or sleep,” of the condition of believers at the coming of the Lord. There is here certainly a change of metaphor: “sleep” in 1Th 5:6 denotes religious carelessness; in 1Th 5:7, natural sleep; and here, death. We shall live togetheror, in one companywith him. The apostle is still continuing his consolatory address to those who were mourning over their deceased friends; and he tells them that at the advent there will be no difference between those who are then alive and those who sleepboth will live together with the Lord (comp. Rom 14:8, Rom 14:9).
1Th 5:11
Wherefore; because, whether alive or dead, you will equally share in the blessings of the advent. Comfort yourselves together. The words refer back to the last verse of the preceding chapter (1Th 4:18), and with them the apostle concludes his consolatory address to those who were mourning over the loss of their friends. And edify one another; or, build up. It was a favorite figure of the apostle to compare the Christian Church and each individual believer to a building.
1Th 5:12
With this verse commences a new paragraph. The apostle adds in conclusion a few brief and somewhat miscellaneous exhortations. And we beseech you, brethren; an expression of earnestness and affection. To know; that is, to value, appreciate, and esteem. Them which labor among you. It was Paul’s custom to organize the Churches which he had founded, and to appoint presbyters among them. Although the Church of Thessalonica had been so recently founded, yet it had its presbyters. And are over you. The presbyters, in virtue of their office, presided over the Christian assemblies. In the Lord; the sphere in which they were set over the Church; they were ordained to minister in sacred things. And admonish you. There are not three classes or orders of office-bearers here mentionedthose who labored among them, those who presided over them, and those who admonished them (Mac-knight); but all these duties belonged to one class, namely, the presbyters.
1Th 5:13
And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake; that is, both on account of their labors, and especially on account of the dignity of their office, for their work is the work of the Lord. Both love for their persons and respect for their authority are here enjoined. And; to be omitted, as not in the original. Be at peace among yourselves. A new exhortation, entirely independent of the preceding; it is not addressed to the presbyters, but to the members of the Church in general.
1Th 5:14
Now we exhort you, brethren; an exhortation also addressed to all. Warn them that are unruly; or, as in the margin, disorderly (R.V.). Different modes of treatment have to be adapted to different classes; the unruly have to be warned. The word here rendered “unruly” or “disorderly” was originally a military term expressing the character of those soldiers who would not keep their ranksout of the ranks. It would seem from this and other intimations that disorders existed among the Thessalonians; and that, especially being impressed by a belief in the near approach of the advent, several of them neglected the common duties of life, and abstained from working. Comfort the feebleminded. By “the feeble-minded” are meant the desponding or faint-hearted; those who were agitated about the fate of their deceased friends, or those who despaired of the grace of God by reason of their sins. These were not to be reprimanded, but comforted and exhorted. Support the weak. By “the weak” are not meant those who are physically weakthe sick; but those who are spiritually weak, whose faith was feeblethose who were afraid of persecution, or were troubled with vain scruples. These were to be supportedconfirmed in the faith, be patient toward all men; all men in general, whether believers or unbelievers; toward them patience and forbearance were to be exercised.
1Th 5:15
See that none render evil for evil unto any. The prohibition of revenge is peculiarly Christian, neither corresponding to the spirit of heathenism, nor yet clearly revealed in Judaism. A precisely similar prohibition is given in Rom 12:17, “Recompense to no man evil for evil.” But ever follow; pursue after. That which is good; the good, the beneficial. Both among yourselves; your fellow-Christians. And to all men. The human race in general; the one being brotherly kindness and the other charity (2Pe 1:7).
1Th 5:16
Rejoice evermore; or, rejoice always (R.V.). Joy is that feeling of delight which arises from the possession of present good, or from the anticipation of future happiness; and in both respects the believer has abundant reason for constant joy. He possesses the blessedness of forgiveness and the sure prospect of eternal life, and he has the consciousness that all things work together for good to them that love God (Rom 8:28). God wishes his people to be happy, and does not suffer them to be indifferent to their own peace. He commands them to rejoice, yea, to rejoice evermore. “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice” (Php 4:4).
1Th 5:17
Pray without ceasing. The means of promoting religious joy is prayer. This prayer is to be “without ceasing,” implying constancy (Col 4:2) and perseverance (Rom 12:12; Eph 6:18; Luk 18:1). This is not a mere precept “capable of fulfillment in idea, rather than in fact” (Jowett); but it is an exhortation to live in a devotional frame of mind. It is impossible to be always on our bended knees, but we may be in the spirit of prayer when engaged in the duties of our earthly calling. Prayer may be without ceasing in the heart which is full of the presence of God, and evermore communing with him.
1Th 5:18
In everything give thanks. In every circumstancein joy and in sorrow; for everythingfor prosperity and for adversity; in every placein the house of God and on the bed of sickness; Christians should not only be engaged in constant prayer, but in constant thanksgiving; indeed, their prayers should partake largely of the nature of thanksgiving. For this; this thankful spirit. Is the will of God; his desire. In Christ Jesus; the sphere in which this will of God is displayed. Concerning you. God by the gift of his Son has laid us under the obligation of perpetual thanksgiving. Our whole lives ought to be one continued thank-offering for all the blessings of redemption.
1Th 5:19
Quench not the Spirit. The Spirit is here considered as a flame which may be extinguished (Mat 3:11). The descent of the Spirit at Pentecost was in the form of cloven tongues like as of fire (Act 2:3). By the Spirit here is usually understood the miraculous gifts of the Spiritspeaking with tongues or prophesyings; and it is supposed that the apostle here forbids the exercise of these gifts being hindered or checked. In the next verse the gift of prophesying is mentioned. But there is no reason to exclude the ordinary and still more valuable gifts of the Spirit, such as pure thoughts, holy actions, devout affections, which may be effectually quenched by a careless or immoral life. “Quench not the Spirit.” Do not those things which are opposed to his influences. Be on your guard against sin, as opposed to the work of the Spirit in the soul. In this sense the admonition is similar to that given by Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians: “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God” (Eph 4:30).
1Th 5:20
Despise not prophesyings. This refers to the miraculous gift of prophecy possessed by the primitive Church. And by prophesyings here we are to understand, not the prediction of the future, but inspired discourse, conducive to the instruction and edification of the Church. “By the term ‘prophesying,'” observes Calvin, “I do not understand the gift of foretelling the future, but the science of interpreting Scripture, so that a prophet is an interpreter of the will of God.” This useful gift, it would seem, was apt to be despised, and the inferior miraculous gift of tongues to be preferred before it (1Co 14:1-3).
1Th 5:21
Prove all things. This exhortation is closely connected with the preceding. “Prove all things,” namely, whatever was advanced by the prophets in their inspired discourses. “Prove” here means to test, as metals are tested in the fire; and hence the word frequently denotes the favorable result of the testing, or approval. There was a special gift of discerning spirits in the primitive Church (1Co 12:10; 1Co 14:29). But although the words primarily refer to the testing of prophetic utterances, yet they have a general application. We should not rest our faith on the authority of others. The right of private judgment is the characteristic and privilege of Protestantism. We ought thoroughly to examine all doctrines by the test of Scripture, and then, discerning their reasons, we shall be able to take a firmer hold of them. At the same time, the fundamental principle of rationalism, that reason as such is the judge of the doctrines of revelation, is not contained in these words, and cannot be inferred from them. Hold fast; retain. That which is good; the good, the beautiful, the honorable; a different word from that rendered “good” in 1Th 5:15. We are to retain whatever is good in those “all things” which we are to prove or test, namely, in the prophesyings.
1Th 5:22
Abstain from all appearance of evil. This verse is connected with the last, and states negatively what is there stated positively. Test the declarations of the prophets; retain the good, and reject the evil. The word translated “appearance” has been differently rendered; it denotes form, figure, species, kind; so that the clause is to be rendered, “Abstain from all form of evil” (R.V.), or, “of the evil,” the word being an abstract substantive. The whole exhortation is similar to that given in Rom 12:9, only there the negative statement is put first: “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” Some suppose that the metaphor employed is from the practice of money-changers who tested the money offered to them, rejecting what was base and retaining what was genuine. Among the Fathers we meet with the phrase, “Be ye experienced money-changers,” as a traditionary saying of our Lord; and some suppose that the apostle refers to this saying, and give the following paraphrase: “The good money keep; with every sort of bad money have nothing to do; act as experienced money-changers: all the money presented to you as good, test.” Such a supposition is fanciful and far-fetched.
1Th 5:23
And the very God of peace; the God who communicates peace; an expression frequently employed by Paul at the close of his Epistles (Rom 15:33; Rom 16:20; Php 4:9; 2Co 13:11; 2Th 3:16). Sanctify you wholly; that is, perfectly, without anything wanting, referring to the entireness of the sanctification, which is presently expressed in detail. And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body; the adjective “whole” applies to all the three substantives. The apostle here divides human nature into three partsspirit, soul, and body; and this threefold division is not a mere rhetorical statement: “The apostle pouring forth from the fullness of his heart a prayer for his converts” (Jowett); but a distinct statement of the three component parts of human nature. The “spirit” is the highest part of man, that which assimilates him to God; renders him capable of religion, and susceptible of being acted upon by the Spirit of God. The “soul” is the inferior part of his mental nature, the seat of the passions and desires, of the natural propensities. The “body” is the corporeal frame. Such a threefold distinction of human nature was not unknown among the Stoics and Platonists. There are also traces of it in the Old Testament, the spirit, or breath of God, being distinguished from the soul. Be preserved blameless. “The spirit is preserved blameless at the advent when the voice of truth rules it, the soul when it strives against all the charms of the senses, and the body when it is not abused as the instrument of shameful actions” (Lunemann). Unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Th 5:24
Faithful is he that calleth you. Paul knows that he does not beseech God in vain. He who calls you to the Christian faith is faithful to fulfill his promises. God’s calling is the commencement of a series which terminates in glorification (Rom 8:30). A similar appeal to the faithfulness of God is elsewhere made by the apostle (1Co 1:9; 2Th 3:3). Who also will do it; namely, will preserve you blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Th 5:25
Brethren, pray for us; namely, that our apostolic work may be successful; that “the Word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified” (2Th 3:1). The apostle, in almost all his Epistles, requests from his converts an interest in their prayers (Rom 15:30; 2Co 1:11; Eph 6:19; Col 4:3; 2Th 3:1; comp. Heb 13:18). Ministers and people need each other’s prayers, and prayer is a duty which they owe to each other.
1Th 5:26
Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. That certain persons were enjoined to salute the other members of the Church is a proof that the Epistle was given into the hands of the presbyters. The reference is to the mode of salutation in the East. The kiss is called “holy” because it was the symbol of Christian affection. The same exhortation is made in other Epistles (Rom 16:16; 1Co 16:20; 2Co 13:12).
1Th 5:27
I charge you; namely, the presbyters. By the Lord; namely, Christ, an indirect proof of his Divinity, the adjuration being in his Name. The reason of this solemn charge was, not on account of any remissness on the part of the presbyters, but was occasioned by the earnestness of the apostle and by his consciousness that what he wrote was most important to the Thessalonians, and was the command of the Lord Jesus Christ. That this Epistle be read unto all the holy brethren; unto the Church of Thessalonica.
1Th 5:28
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. A similar salutation is to be found at the close of all Paul’s Epistles; indeed, in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, he states that this salutation was the token which he affixed to his Epistles (2Th 3:17, 2Th 3:18). Amen. To be rejected, as not in the original.
HOMILETICS
1Th 5:6 – Watchfulness and sobriety.
The day of the Lord is uncertain as regards its time. The early Christians were mistaken in regarding that time as at hand, and we perhaps may be equally mistaken in regarding it as distant. But there is an event which to each of us is, to all intents and purposes, the same as “the day of the Lord,” which is both near and uncertainthe day of our death. Let us be watchful, so that that day may not overtake us in an unprepared state; and let us be sober, never indulging ourselves in any course of action in which we would not wish death to surprise us.
1Th 5:8 – Spiritual armor.
We must not only be watchful, but be armed sentinels. To guard against surprise we must especially provide ourselves with two defensive weapons.
1. The breastplate of faith and love. By faith in Christ and love to man we shall effectually preserve our hearts against evil influences. Faith imparts courage, and love preserves us from selfishness, the great inlet to evil. The stronger and the more living our faith, and the purer and the more active our love, the more completely shall we be guarded against evil.
2. The helmet of the hope of salvation. By “the hope of salvation” we shall preserve our head from being filled with the idle dreams of worldly happiness, whether of power or fame. Hope will defend us from being seduced by the world’s pleasures or allured by the world’s honors.
1Th 5:15 – Christian forgiveness.
1. Its peculiarity. Forgiveness of our enemies is pre-eminently a Christian virtue. It had no place in the morality of the heathen. The utmost they could attain to was, “Thou shall love all men except those who have wronged thee.” It was very obscurely revealed in the Old Testament. The ancient saints did not distinguish between sinners and their sins; hence David’s bitter curses against his and the Lord’s enemies. Jesus Christ was the first to lay special stress on forgiveness.
2. Its properties. Forgiveness must be free, full, and universal; no feelings of enmity or ill will to any of our fellow-men ought to lodge in our hearts. We must imitate the example of our Savior, who on the cross prayed for the forgiveness of his murderers.
1Th 5:16 – Religious joy.
1. Its sources. Religious joy springs from four sources: from the relation in which believers stand to God, and then it is the joy of love; from the interest which they have in Christ, and then it is the joy of faith; from the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and then it is the joy of holiness; and from the hopes which they have of heaven, and then it is the joy of hope.
2. Its properties. Religious joy is ordinarily calm; it is serious; it may be often interrupted; it is purifying; it is generally greater at peculiar seasons; and it is often sensibly felt at the hour of death.
3. Means of obtaining it. We must live by faith in Christ, guard against seeking our chief happiness in any creature-good, and be diligent in the performance of our religious duties.
1Th 5:17 – Unceasing prayer.
We ought not only to have stated hours of prayer, but to be continually raising up ejaculatory prayers, carrying on a constant intercourse between God and our souls; our prayers should be like the angels which Jacob saw continually ascending the mystic ladder to the throne of God. Unceasing prayer implies:
1. A devotional spirit: walking with God.
2. Ejaculatory prayer: our thoughts rising in prayer amid our daily occupations.
3. Perseverance in prayer: not leaving off until our prayers are answered.
4. Regularity in prayer: carefully keeping the appointed seasons for prayer.
5. Conjunction of thanksgiving with our prayers: realizing God’s mercies and grace.
1Th 5:19 – Quenching the Spirit.
1. How we may quench the Spirit. We quench the Spirit by the commission of grievous sins, by the indulgence of sensuality, covetousness, pride, and the irascible passions, and by formality and lukewarmness in our religion.
2. How we may cherish the Spirit. We cherish the Spirit by earnest desires for his influences, by a diligent use of the means of grace, by a spirit of trust and dependence, and by compliance with his secret impressions.
1Th 5:21, 1Th 5:22 – Use of reason in religion.
1. The office of reason in religion. Reason is of use to examine the evidences of revelation, to ascertain the contents of revelation, and to judge that there is no contradiction to reason and morality in those doctrines which we suppose are deducible from Scripture.
2. The limitation of reason in religion. Distinction between what is above reason and what is contrary to reason. When once we prove that Scripture is the Word of God, and that such and such doctrines are contained in it, then it is the province of reason to submit to faith, because the truth of these doctrines rests on their being part of a Divine revelation; the doctrines of revelation are above, but they can never be proved to be contrary to, reason.
HOMILIES BY T. CROSKERY
1Th 5:1-5 – Certainty of the time of the second advent.
There is a natural curiosity to know “the times and the seasons” connected with an event so transcendently important to the human race. “But of the times and the seasons ye have no need that I write unto you.”
I. GOD HAS TIMES AND SEASONS IN HIS OWN POWER. It is solemnly true that “to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the sun” (Ecc 3:1). God has “determined the times before appointed” (Act 17:26). His Son came “in the fullness of time” (Gal 4:4). There is often a curious periodicity in the great time-intervals marked in sacred history.
II. GOD HAS HID FROM MAN THE PRECISE DATE OF THE SECOND COMING. “Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mar 13:32); “It is not for you to know the times and the seasons the Father hath put in his own power” (Act 1:7).
III. THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL BE PERFECTLY UNEXPECTED. “The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”
1. It is the day of the Lord, as it is “the day of the Son of man.“ “The day of God;” “the day of redemption,” involving that of the body as well as the soul; “the last day,” the day which winds up the destinies of the universe.
2. It will be sudden and unexpected. It will be “as a thief in the night,” who comes without previous warning at such an hour as we are not looking for him. This is true, even though there may be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and distress of nations, and men’s hearts failing them for fear (Luk 21:1-38.). These will be the first signs to break up the calm, but the wicked will not see them in their true light. There is nothing in the simile of the thief to justify the opinion that Jesus will come in the night.
IV. THE SECURITY OF THE WICKED. “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
1. Their condition is one of “ peace,“ inner quiet, and “safety,“ external tranquility.
2. Their fate. “They shall not escape.” It will be with them as with the men in the days of Noah and Lot (Mat 24:36-39). The catastrophe will be as inevitable and as full of fear as in the case of a “woman in travail.”
V. THE PREPAREDNESS OF THE RIGHTEOUS. This lies in their character. “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
1. They were “not in darkness.“ They were “sons of light, sons of the day.” Darkness is the characteristic of the wicked.
(1) There is darkness in their understanding.
(2) There is darkness in their hearts. “Their foolish hearts are darkened.”
(3) They walk in darkness, and therefore stumble and go astray.
(4) They live in darkness (Psa 107:10), they belong to “the kingdom of darkness” (Col 1:13); they are under “the world-rulers of this darkness” (Eph 6:12).
(5) But the darkness does not hide them from God’s vengeance.
2. Believers are “sons of light.“ “Sons of the day.”
(1) They walk in the light (1Jn 1:7); for “he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (Joh 8:12).
(2) They are in fellowship with God, for they cannot have it and walk in darkness (1Jn 1:6, 1Jn 1:7).
(3) They “have cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light” (Rom 13:12).
(4) They are in fellowship with all believers; for “he that walketh in darkness hateth his brother” (1Jn 2:9)T.C.
1Th 5:5-8 – A warning against watchlessness.
The apostle says that, as children of light and of the day, believers ought to exercise vigilance and sobriety in view of the solemn prospects before them.
I. THE SIN AND DANGER OF SPIRITUAL SLEEP. “Let us not sleep, as do others.” There are three kinds of sleep spoken of in Scripturethe sleep of nature, which restores the wasted energies of the body; the sleep of death; and the sleep of the text, which is always fraught with peril, its prevailing idea being insensibility. The sleeper is:
1. Not aware of his danger.
2. Forgetful of his duty.
3. Unconscious of the real world around him.
4. Immovable to all appeals.
5. May not even know that he is asleep.
II. THE DUTY OF WATCHFULNESS AND SOBRIETY. “But let us watch and be sober,” so as to be always prepared for the Lord’s coming. We are not to be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, so that that day should overtake us unawares. Let us watch that we may be sober.
1. The reason is that sleep and drunkenness are works of darkness done in the night. “They that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.” Those spiritually asleep “sleep through all life’s agitations, beneath the thunders of Sinai, and the pleadings of mercy from the cross.” Like drunken men, they are intoxicated with life’s delights, “minding earthly things,” occupied supremely with “the unfruitful works of darkness.” Believers are not so, into whose heart “God has commanded the light to shine out of darkness, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus” (2Co 4:6).
2. Another reason for watchful sobriety is that our life is a spiritual warfare. The believer is to be a sentinel always on guard, or a soldier on the battle-field”having on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.” As a good soldier, bound to endure hardness, he goes forth into the conflict of life, equipped in Divine armor, not for aggression but for defense. The pieces of armor here enumerated are for the protection of vital parts, the heart and the head.
(1) Faith is the principal part of this spiritual armor. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1Jn 5:4, 1Jn 5:5). It is by faith they resist the devil (1Pe 5:9). It is by it all difficulties are overcome (Mat 17:20). If it is by the “sword of the Spirit, the Word of God,” we are to conquer, faith is the arm that wields the sword. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews illustrates the power of faith as a principle of action and as a principle of endurance.
(2) Love is joined with faith to form the breastplate, for “faith worketh by love” (Gal 5:6). Love preserves from apostasy, and knits the saints together, because it is the bond of perfection, and thus enables us to bear all trial through love to the Redeemer.
(3) The hope of salvation is the helmet. In the corresponding passage in Ephesians, the helmet is salvation itself; but the difference is not material, the salvation in the one case being partially enjoyed, in the other an object of future hope. Hope is a protection to the believer, as it nerves him to meet danger, and enables him to brave difficulties, by looking to the glorious objects in view. Therefore it is “the patience of hope.” Thus the three Christian graces make the soul watchful and ready for the Lord’s coming.T.C.
1Th 5:9-11 – The source, channel, and end of the salvation hoped for.
The apostle is now led to illustrate the hope of salvation.
I. ITS SOURCE. “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation.”
1. The calling is according to the purpose. “Whom he predestinates, them he also calls.” The security of the believer depends, not upon himself, but upon God’s unchangeable and loving purpose.
2. The purpose is not to wrath, but to salvation. Though believers were once ‘”children of wrath,” they are now reconciled to God, and saved from wrath to come.
3. God‘s purpose of mercy toward us does not free us from the necessity of being watchful concerning the means of salvation.
II. THE CHANNEL OF SALVATION. “By our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1. The covenant was “ordained in the hand of a mediator.“ (Gal 3:19.)
2. His death, not his doctrine or example merely, was necessary to our salvation. “Who died for us.”
3. His death was substitutionary. It was “for us.”
III. THE END OF THIS SALVATION. “Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live with him together.” This was “the joy set before him” for which “he endured the cross” (Heb 12:2) that we might live to him in order to our living with him.
1. It is life with Christ. Not merely life in him, but life with him in glory. “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better” (Php 1:23). It is the greatest joy and glory of heaven (Rom 14:8, Rom 14:9; 1Co 5:9).
2. It is life with all believers. They are to live with him, unsevered from one another; for whether they “are alive and remain,” or whether they are of those who “have fallen asleep,” they will be together, in Christ’s society. Thus the great salvation is the “common salvation.”
IV. THE CONSOLATORY ASPECT OF THESE TRUTHS. “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.“ These truths afforded a grand basis for mutual comfort and edification. The Thessalonians ought, therefore, to dismiss their despondency and alarm, and encourage each other with the blessed hopes of the gospel.T.C.
1Th 5:12, 1Th 5:13 – The due recognition of Christian pastors.
The apostle next touches upon the relation of the Church to its teachers.
I. THE APPOINTMENT OF PASTORS IN THE CHURCH.
1. This was by Divine appointment. “He gave pastors and teachers” (Eph 4:11). There is no hint given in Scripture of a time when pastors would cease to be necessary, and when the Church would be served by an “any-man ministry.”
2. It was the custom of the apostles to “appoint elders in every city,“ for they understood the advantages of a full ecclesiastical organization.
II. THE OFFICIAL POSITION AND DUTIES OF PASTORS.
1. They are laborers in the Church. “We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you.”
(1) This work is no sinecure, but a hard exhausting service, with heavy responsibilities and many cares.
(a) It is labor in preaching. For they “labor in the Word and doctrine” (1Ti 1:5), “rightly dividing the Word of truth” (2Ti 2:15), giving each of the household of faith “a portion of meat in due season” (Luk 12:42).
(b) It is labor in earnestly contending for the faith as well as in dispensing the ordinances of religion.
(2) It is labor in a Divine partnership. For pastors are “laborers together with” God in the work of perfecting the Church (1Co 3:9).
2. They are presidents in the Churches. “Those which are over you in the Lord.” This refers to the elders or presbyters, who are also called pastors, or shepherds, or bishops (Act 20:17, Act 20:28).
(1) The appointment of rulers is essential to order and harmony m the Church.
(2) Yet they are not a sacerdotal caste, nor “lords over God’s heritage” (1Pe 5:3).
(3) Their official superiority is “in the Lord,” because from him deriving its warrant, motive, and blessing.
3. They are spiritual guides. “And admonish you.” They have “to watch for your souls as they that must give account” (Heb 13:17). Therefore they must “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine” (2Ti 4:2). They have to “warn every man, and teach every man in all wisdom, that they may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Col 1:28). They have to warn against sins committed, and urge to duties neglected.
III. THE OBLIGATIONS OF CHRISTIAN PEOPLE TO THEIR PASTORS.
1. They must give them due recognition as pastors. They must “know them.” They must make themselves acquainted with them, that pastors may be the better able to know the state of their souls, and they must acknowledge their position as “stewards of the mysteries of God,” and submit to their ministry.
2. They must “esteem them very highly in love for their work‘s sake.“
(1) The bond is not to be one of mere official relationship, but of affection.
(2) A due respect for the ministry is an important element in its efficiency and success. Therefore we are to “hold such in reputation,” and to count them “worthy of double honor.”
3. The ground of this claim is “for their work‘s sake.“ Not for the mere office, which may be often filled unworthily, though it is still entitled to consideration, but for the sake of the “labors of love” involved in its faithful discharge. Ministers who “make full proof of their ministry” challenge the abiding respect of their flocks.T.C.
1Th 5:13 – Inculcation of mutual peace.
“And be at peace among yourselves.” This is connected with the previous verse, for a faithful pastorate tends to unity and peace.
I. THIS PEACE DEPENDS UPON OUR DIVINE CALLING. For it is the “peace unto which we are called” (Col 3:15).
II. IT IS ESSENTIAL TO GROWTH AND BLESSING. (Eph 4:3; Psa 133:1; Jas 3:18.)
III. IT IS ONE OF THE BLESSINGS ALWAYS TO BE PRAYED FOR. (Psa 122:6-8.)
IV. IT IS ONE OF THE BEATITUDES WITH A PROMISE. (Mat 5:9.)
V. IT IS ONE OF THE FAIREST GROWTH OF THE SPIRIT. (Gal 5:22.)T.C.
1Th 5:14 – Mutual duties of Church members.
The Church must act as well as its pastors.
I. ADMONITION TO THE DISORDERLY. “Warn them that are unruly.”
1. The unruly are, literally, those who break rank, taking exceptional courses, to the injury of the peace or unity of the Church. Probably the apostle refers to the unhinging effect of the error concerning the near approach of the advent, leading individuals to abandon work and loiter about in a sort of meddlesome idleness.
2. Such persons need to be warned, even with sharpness of reproof, yet in love; for “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, in all the Churches of the saints” (1Co 14:33). Warn them to “do their own business, and work with their own hands.”
II. COMFORT THE FEEBLE–MINDED. “Comfort the feeble-minded.”
1. These persons were overburdened with sorrow on account of the dead, under the influence of error respecting their safety. They were not intellectually feeble, but had become dispirited and desponding through their failure to realize the hope of the resurrection at the advent.
2. They were to be comforted; not rebuked or admonished for their sins, but exhorted lovingly in the truth. It is the Lord’s way “to raise them that are bowed down,” and “to comfort them which be in any trouble” (2Co 1:4). There is “consolation in Christ.”
III. SUPPORT FOR THE WEAK. “Support the weak.”
1. The weak in faith, or other Christian graces, who may still feel the lingering influence of Jewish prejudice and pagan delusions. We are to “bear the infirmities of the weak.”
2. They must be sustained, not despised for their weakness. “Be eyes to the blind; be feet to the lame.” Thus “we fulfill the Law of Christ.” We must “lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees” (Heb 12:12, Heb 12:13).
IV. PATIENCE TOWARD ALL MEN. “Be patient toward all men.”
1. Patience or long-suffering, in view of the perverseness, or defects, or follies, or sins of men. It points to a temper not easily moved or offended, to a disposition to bear and forbear after the example of that Father who “is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2Pe 3:9). This disposition greatly promotes the comfort and usefulness of life.
2. It is to be exercised toward all men. Even to those outside the household of faith who may gainsay or persecute the truth.T.C.
1Th 5:15 – Abstinence from revenge, and the steadfast pursuit of good.
To a people fleshly emerged out of paganism this counsel was still most appropriate, for the Greeks were remarkable for their undying feuds.
I. WARNING AGAINST RETALIATION. “See that none render evil for evil to any man.”
1. Retaliation is condemned both by the Old and the New Testaments. (Le 19:18; Rom 12:19.)
2. It is condemned by Christ‘s beautiful example of forbearance. (1Pe 2:23.) “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not.”
3. It is expressly rebuked by Christ in the case of the disciples James and John. (Luk 9:54, Luk 9:55.)
4. It springs from a spiteful heart. (Eze 25:15.)
5. It indicates a want of trust in God. (Pro 20:22.)
II. INCULCATION OF THE PURSUIT OF GOOD. “But ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men.” Believers are not to resist evil, but to return good for evilto overcome evil with good.
1. The good to be done is after the example of Christ, who “went about every day doing good.”
2. It is done in virtue of union with Christ. (Joh 15:4, Joh 15:5; Php 1:11.)
3. It is the preordained pathway of God‘s children. (Eph 2:10.)
4. Christians ought to provoke each other to good. (Heb 10:24.)
5. It is a grand argument for the gospel. (Mat 5:16.)
6. It is to be catholic in its spirit; for it is to he done, not to believers only, but “to all men.” The believer is to have “brotherly kindness” as well as “love” (2Pe 1:7).
7. It is to be earnestly pursued. “Follow after that which is good.”
(1) Because it glorifies God (Mat 5:16).
(2) Because God remembers it (Heb 6:9, Heb 6:10).
(3) Because it is an evidence of faith (Jas 2:14-20).
(4) Because it shall be brought into judgment (2Co 5:10).T.C.
1Th 5:16 – The duty and the privilege of constant joy.
“Rejoice evermore.” (See homiletical hints on Php 3:1; Php 4:4.)T.C.
1Th 5:17 – The duty of constant prayer.
“Pray without ceasing.” There is a mutual affinity between joy, prayer, and thanksgiving, as we see by other passages of Scripture (Php 3:4-6; Col 4:2).
I. PRAYER THE DUTY, THE PRIVILEGE, THE INTEREST, OF ALL BELIEVERS.
1. It is a commanded duty. (Mat 7:7.)
2. It is a sign of conversion. (Act 9:11.)
3. Saints delight in it. (Psa 42:4; Psa 122:1.)
4. It is recommended:
(1) By the example of Christ (Luk 22:32).
(2) By the experience of past mercies (Psa 4:1).
(3) By the faithfulness of God (Psa 143:1).
(4) By the fullness of the promises (Psa 119:49; 1Jn 5:15).
II. THE NECESSITY OF CONSTANT SUPPLICATION. Pray without ceasing.”
1. There is nothing in the words to justify the neglect of other duties. The apostle traveled and preached and labored with his hands as well as prayed; but he cultivated a constant spirit of supplication. It is not true, therefore, that it can be fulfilled only in idea.
2. It is a command not to be fulfilled by set hours of prayer, much less by adherence to a monastic ragout of devotion. Yet it is not inconsistent with set hours. The psalmist prayed at evening, morning, and noon (Psa 55:17). Yea, “seven times a day do I praise thee” (Psa 119:164). Daniel prayed three times a day (Dan 6:10).
3. The apostle enjoins a constant spirit of prayer in view of our constant dependence on the Lord. Prayer should interspace all our works. The heart may rise to a throne of grace in inward prayer when the hands are busy with the duties of life.T.C.
1Th 5:18 – The duty of thanksgiving.
It is the natural fruit of joy as it is the natural accompaniment of prayer. “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
I. THANKSGIVING IS THE EXERCISE OF A JOYFUL AND PRAYING HEART.
1. It is a mark of the wicked that they have no thankfulness. They who glorified not God “neither were thankful” (Rom 1:21). It is a sign of the antichristian apostasy that men “shall he unthankful” (2Ti 3:2). Since “every good gift and every perfect gift” comes from the Father of Lights, the guilt of such ingratitude is great.
2. It is the mark of the saints in heaven that they are full of thanksgivings. (Rev 19:6, Rev 19:7; Rev 7:12.)
3. It is likewise a mark of the saints on earth. “Blessed are they which dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee” (Psa 84:4). They abound in faith with thanksgiving (Col 2:7). They offer sacrifices of thanksgiving (Psa 116:17). They habitually offer thanksgiving (Dan 6:10).
II. THANKSGIVING MUST BE UNIVERSAL IN ITS SPHERE. “In everything give thanks.”
1. For the supply of our bodily wants. (1Ti 4:3, 1Ti 4:4.)
2. For the gift of Christ. (2Co 9:15.)
3. For the goodness and mercy of the Lord. (Psa 106:1.)
4. In all circumstances of prosperity and adversity, joy and sorrow, health and sickness. Job could say in the depth of his affliction, “Blessed be the Name of the Lord” (Job 1:8, Job 1:20, Job 1:21).
III. THE GROUND AND REASON OF THIS DUTY. “For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” The Scripture as well as the light of nature directs to it, as it sets forth that “good and perfect and acceptable will of God,” “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.” In Jesus Christ is this will revealed and made effectual; for all God’s mercies reach us through the channel of his mediation. Therefore we “are to give thanks unto God and the Father by him” (Col 3:17); therefore “by him let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually” (Heb 13:15).T.C.
1Th 5:19-21 – Exhortations regarding spiritual gifts.
These three verses refer to one subject, the extraordinary manifestations of the Spirit so frequent in the Church at this period, but apply likewise to his ordinary influence in believers.
I. THE SIN AND DANGER OF QUENCHING THE SPIRIT. “Quench not the Spirit.” Perhaps there was a tendency to repress spiritual utterances, either because they had become fanatical, or from an undue love of order. It is possible to resist the Spirit. God strives with man, who may yet resist all his importunities (Act 7:51.), “insulting the Spirit of grace” (Heb 10:29). Even in the case of believers, “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh” (Gal 5:17). It is both sinful and dangerous for believers to “grieve the Holy Spirit of God, whereby they are scaled to the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30). The text suggests the idea of quenching a fire.
1. The Spirit acts upon the believer‘s nature like a fire, warming, purifying, refining.
2. The fire may be quenched by neglecting it quite as much as by casting water upon it. This is the tendency of neglect.
3. Sin has a tendency to quench the Spirit, as water quenches fire. We ought to stir up our gifts and graces that they may shine the brighter, and give both light and heat around us. Yet provision is made in the covenant of grace that the fire once kindled will never be quenched.
II. THERE MUST BE NO UNDERVALUATION OF PROPHESYINGS. “Despise not prophesying.”
1. These were spiritual utterances, sometimes in psalms and hymns, “for the edification and exhortation and comfort” of believers, though they had the effect sometimes of laying bare the hearts of unbelievers (1Co 14:25). They were more important than other gifts of the Spirit, and therefore more to be coveted (1Co 12:31).
2. They were, therefore, not to be despised.
(1) Perhaps there had been “false prophets” at Thessalonica who had tried to pervert the truth, or weak members who had abused the gift of prophecy. The tendency, therefore, to underrate the gift was natural, but not proper.
(2) Perhaps the exercise of this gift created less wonder or made less visible impression than other gifts, like those of tongues and healing. Therefore it came to be rather despised.
III. THE NECESSITY OF TESTING SPIRITUAL GIFTS. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” Instead of rejecting prophesyings, they were to test them by a due spiritual discernment.
1. They were to be tested:
(1) By a comparison with the original tradition given to them (2Th 2:2).
(2) By a comparison with the prophesyings of others who sat as judges (1Co 14:29). There was, besides, a supernatural gift of “discerning of spirits” (1Co 12:10, 1Co 12:14, 1Co 12:29).
(3) By marking the practical fruits of these prophesyings. “Hold fast that which is good.” Our Lord said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Mat 5:15, Mat 5:16). True doctrine is “according to godliness” (1Ti 6:3). Thus Christians are to examine the grounds of their faith, to hold fast nothing that has not first been tried, and to retain only “that which is good.”
2. Believers have the capacity as well as the right to test all things. They are “to try the spirits whether they are of God” (1Jn 4:1).
(1) They are the spiritual; “they judge all things, yet they themselves are judged of no man “(1Co 2:15). They have “an unction from the Holy One, and they know all things” (1Jn 2:20).
(2) A right state of heart is necessary to this power of insight. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God” (Joh 7:17). “Walk as children of light… proving what is acceptable unto God” (Eph 5:8-10).T.C.
1Th 5:22 – Warning against every form of evil.
“Abstain from every form of evil,” whether practical or doctrinal.
I. WE NEED TO BE WARNED AGAINST EVIL.
1. Because we naturally tend to do evil.
2. Because evil is so injurious to our spirits, in repressing joy, prayer, and thanksgiving.
3. Because it gives offence to others. Therefore we ought to abhor that which is evil, to cleave to that which is good.
II. THE FORMS OF EVIL ARE VERY VARIOUS, AND THEREFORE NOT EASILY DETECTED. Truth is one; error is manifold. Satan can disguise error under forms difficult of detection. It is sometimes difficult to decide what is evil. But “a sound heart is the best casuist.”T.C.
1Th 5:23, 1Th 5:24 – Prayer for the sanctification and preservation of Thessalonian believers.
I. IT IS A PRAYER FOR PERFECT SANCTIFICATION. “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly.”
1. It is the design of the God of peace to do this. Our Lord came to “save his people from their sins,” to “redeem them from all iniquity.”
2. This sanctification is to extend to body, soul, and spirit.
(1) The body is to be sanctified, for it is to become an “instrument of righteousness,” a “temple of the Holy Ghost,” and eventually will receive its “redemption” in the resurrection (Rom 8:23).
(2) The soul is to be sanctified. It is the principle of animal life. It is the self. The individual life of man is to be fully sanctified.
(3) The spirit points to the inner life as coming from God, as the soul is life as constituted in man. The spirit is the higher aspect of self, the spiritual man being man as grace has reconstructed him. Yet the two words are parallel, though not equivalent; signifying not two separate natures in man, but two separate functions of the same nature. Provision is made for the sanctification of the whole man.
3. It is not perfect in the present life. The very prayer that God might sanctify them wholly implies that it was an attainment yet to be reached.
II. IT IS A PRAYER FOR THE PRESERVATION OF SAINTS TILL THE COMING OF CHRIST. “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless.”
1. It is God only who can keep us. He “keeps us from falling,” that “he may present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jud 1:24). He “keeps us from evil” (Joh 17:15). Saints are “kept by his power” through faith unto salvation (1Pe 1:5).
2. The preservation is to extend till the second advent. Not till death, but till his coming, implying that body and soul are alike to share in the final redemption. “He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it till the day of Jesus Christ” (Php 1:6).
III. THE GROUND OF HIS CONFIDENCE IN GOD‘S PURPOSE OF SANCTIFICATION AND PRESERVATION. “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”
1. God‘s faithfulness is the guarantee. He “also will do it.” He will be faithful to his oath, to his promises, to his covenant; for he has promised to cleanse his people from all their sins, and preserve them to his kingdom and glory. God is faithful “by whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son” (2Co 1:8, 2Co 1:9).
2. Effectual calling is another guarantee. For whom he calls he justifies and glorifies. If he gives grace, he gives glory. The calling implies perfection, as it is the first step to it.T.C.
1Th 5:25-27 – Three closing injunctions.
I. THE APOSTLE ASKS AN INTEREST IN THE PRAYERS OF THE THESSALONIANS. “Brethren, pray for us.”
1. He did not feel himself independent, in spite of all his high graces and gifts, of the intercessions of the humblest disciples. His request is a proof of his deep humility.
2. His position, with the care of all the Churches upon his heart, entitled him to their prayers. He said to the Roman Christians, “Strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.”
(1) He wanted a door of utterance as well as a door of entrance.
(2) He wanted to be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men.
(3) He wanted to see the gospel flourishing in all the Churches.
II. EXHORTATION FOR CHRISTIANS TO SALUTE EACH OTHER. “Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.” Eastern customs differ from Western; but the salutation ought still to prevail in all our Churches, not in the letter, but in the spirit. It ought to express the feeling of oneness, of affection, of equality among the disciples of the same Lord. Christianity purifies and elevates worldly courtesy.
III. SOLEMN ADJURATION TO HAVE THE EPISTLE READ TO ALL THE BRETHREN. “I charge you by the Lord that this Epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.” Conjectures have been freely expressed that the elders at Thessalonica may have been disinclined to read the letter to the Church. There is not much ground for the opinion.
1. This Epistle was the first ever written by the apostle to any Church; and as the disciples may not have known how to use it, he gives specific directions on the subject.
2. He recognizes the right of all the brethren to read it. Rome denies to the laity this right.T.C.
HOMILIES BY B.C. CAFFIN
1Th 5:1-11 – “The day of the Lord.”
I. THE TIME OF ITS COMING.
1. There was no real need to write to them about this. St. Paul had spoken of it; it had been a principal subject of his teaching. They knew all that could be known, all that they needed to know for their souls’ health. But there was a restless curiosity, an eager longing “to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power.” Such knowledge was not for the apostles; it is not for the Church. “Of that day and that hour knoweth no man.” But, in spite of these words of Christ, human thought has ever busied itself, it busies itself still, to pry into this awful secret. St. Paul had told the Thessalonians all he knew; there was no need to write it again. But he deals gently with them. He tries to quiet their restless anxiety.
2. They knew that it could not be known. It cometh suddenly, when men are least expecting it; when they say, “Peace and safety.” It cometh as a thief in the night. They knew the Lord’s illustration. St. Paul had told them. It was enough for them to know. Suddenly, as the lightning that cometh out of the east and shineth even to the west, the Son of man shall come. That we know; nothing more can be known. It is a thought full of awfulness, full of deep lessons and solemn warnings.
II. READINESS FOR ITS COMING.
1. Christians are not in the darkness. Darkness is the element, the sphere of the unconverted life. Darkness is ignorance of God, ignorance of the atoning work of Christ, ignorance of the blessed influences of God the Holy Ghost. Such darkness is either intellectual, darkness of the understanding; or spiritual, darkness of the heart and will. The two act and react upon one another. Darkness of the understanding produces in some cases and in some measure darkness of the heart. Darkness of the heart often results in darkness of the understanding. There are cases of darkness which seem to us the most perplexing of problems; men and women who have from the very beginning of life been enveloped in an atmosphere of ignorance, brutality, and sin, from which there seems to be no escapewho seem to us, as people say, to “have no chance,” no possibility, humanly speaking, of attaining to enlightenment and the knowledge of God. What can be done in such cases? We must, each one of us, do all that lies in our power to help the helpless and to teach the ignorant; and then, when we have “done what we could,” we can only leave them, in the trustfulness of faith, to his mercy who, we know, will require little of those to whom little has been given. But the darkness which we have to face in our daily walk is, more commonly, not like this, but willful darkness. “He that hateth his brother” (St. John says) “is in darkness even until now.” Any willful sin deliberately indulged darkens the heart. “If thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” The soul that cherishes a secret sin cannot believe, cannot see God, cannot be in readiness for the coming of the Lord. If such are not awakened to a sense of guilt and danger, the great day must overtake them as a thief, coming upon them in all its sudden awfulness.
2. They are sons of light. “God hath shined in their hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” The true light now shineth. We are in the light, the light of the knowledge of God, the light of the presence of God. We belong to the light; it is all around us; it is in us. Indeed, the true light “lighteth every man.” The Lord is loving unto every man. “The Lamb of God taketh away [beareth] the sin of the world.” We must believe, in spite of sad and dark appearances, that there is no child of man on whom the heavenly Father hath not shined; none who are left to perish without a hope of salvation. The light shineth upon all; but they are sons of light whose souls within are lighted with that heavenly glow, who come to the light and rejoice in the light, and in the brightness of that light see what others cannot see because their eyes are holdenthe fair beauty of the Lord, the exceeding loveliness of the blessed Savior’s life, the aureole of golden light that bathes the cross of Christ in a glory of unearthly radiance.
3. Therefore they must walk in the light. They must live in the consciousness of that light, feeling its warmth and glory; as they move hither and thither in their daily life, they must walk in the sense of that light which is all around them. It shows things in their true colors. Sin is hateful, loathsome; you see its utter hideousness when the light shines upon it. Holiness is fair and bright; you see its attractive beauty when the heavenly light shines on it in its glory. The light shines into our hearts; it shows us our guilt, our misery, our danger. But, blessed be God, it does more than that. It hath a purifying power; it cleanses what was unclean; it brightens what was dark. “If we walk in the light… the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.”
4. They are sons of day, therefore they must watch. The light shows the danger of sloth; it rests upon those awful words, “Thou wicked and slothful servant,” and brings them out into full distinctness. They must not sleep, as do others. Indifference and apathy are deadly enemies of the soul. The unbelieving multitude sleep; they are thoughtless about their souls, careless of the awful destinies which lie before us. The believer will watch; for he will remember the reiterated commandment of his Lord, “Watch, therefore…. What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.” Watch. fullness is thoughtfulness; it is a vivid interest in everything that belongs to the spiritual life, an earnest desire to quicken it into ever new energies, a freshness of spirit, an active vigilance in guarding against all the dangers and temptations that surround us. “They that sleep, sleep in the night,” but we are sons of day. We must watch as men that wait for their Lord. We know not when he cometh; we must be watchful always lest that day overtake us as a thief. It cometh as a thief. This warning of our Lord is not only recorded in the Gospels, but St. Paul, St. Peter, St. John, re-echo the solemn words, it made a deep impression on the minds of the early Christians; witness the name Gregory (“watchful”) so common in the ancient Church. Would that that impression remained, that we too might be stirred to ever-deepening watchfulness. “The Lord is at hand.”
5. They must be sober. “They that be drunken are drunken in the night.” The Christian must he sober. Intoxication causes drowsiness; it is inconsistent with watchfulness. The intemperate cannot watch. The Christian must be temperate in all things; strictly temperate as regards food and drink, for temperance is the fruit of the Spirit, and drunkenness is one of those works of the flesh of which it is written that “they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” He must be temperate in all his enjoyments; for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,all these things intoxicate their votaries, and make them slothful and drowsy in the concerns of the soul. But we must be sober, for we are of the day; we walk in the light of day and are looking for the coming of the day of the Lord.
6. They must be prepared for the assaults of temptation. They must be clothed with the armor of light.
(1) The breastplate of faith and love. The hosts of darkness will gather round the Christian warrior as he stands watchful at his post. They cannot harm him if he continue faithful; the fiery darts of the wicked one cannot pierce the breastplate of faith and love. Faith is trustfulness. The soul that trusts in Christ is fixed and steadfast. Trust not in earthly things; they will fail you at the last. But trust in Christ; he abideth faithful; he is able to save even to the uttermost; his love is stronger than death. Faith protects the Christian’s heart. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved.” Faith overcomes the world. Love springs out of faith, and quickens faith. Believe in Christ, and love him you must, for faith realizes his presence in all his grace and tenderness. “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us;” “We love him, because he first loved us.” Love reacts on faith; for God, who is Love, can be known only of those who have learned of him the great lesson of love. “Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” Like is known by like. He who knows not in his own heart what it is to love, cannot know God, who is the eternal Lure. Love grows out of faith, and love fills faith with life and joy and holy enthusiasm. Love and faith protect the Christian as he watches; they sustain his energies. Faith preserves him from anxious doubts; the holy love of God keeps out all carnal loves.
(2) The helmet of the Christian warrior. The hope of salvation guards his head. Other hopes may fall in shattered ruins on him; they will not crush him; they may vex and bruise, but they will not reach a mortal part; they may strike him as he stands erect and fearless; they will glance off from the polished surface of the helmet of salvation. The blessed hope of Bib eternal living in the heart supports the Christian in toil, in sorrow, in sickness, and in death. “Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three.” He will watch who hath these blessed graces; he will persevere, faithful unto death, looking always for the coming of the great and awful day.
7. God is their Strength. Without him they can do nothing, He did not appoint us to wrath, He is our Father; he is not willing that any should perish. He willeth that all men should be saved. Salvation, great and blessed word, is what God willeth for us all.
8. The work of the Lord Jesus. Our salvation is his work. He died for us, on our behalf and in our stead; his precious death is the high example of entire self-sacrifice for the sake of others; it is the atonement for our sins. “For us.“ Those great words stimulate us to love and serve him; they should be constantly in our thoughts; they should fill us with wonder, awe, and adoring love. “For us,” though we were sinners; “for us,” though he is God; “for us”we can never reach the depths of mysterious, blessed meaning which He hid in those two simple words. He died that we, whether we watch or sleep, while we remain among the living, watching for his coming, and while we sleep with those who are laid to sleep through Jesus, should ever live together with him. His death is cur life; by his death he took away the power of sin, which is the death of the soul. He died that we might live in that holy life which is in fellowship with him. That life begins now. “Ye have eternal life,” St. John says. Christ’s saints live with him and in him, for he is their Life. They live with him during their earthly pilgrimage; they live with him in Paradise, where the holy departed are with Christ; they shall live with him in that glory which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man.
9. Practical conclusion.
(1) They must comfort one another. The word wavers in its meaning between comfort and exhortation. The two ideas, indeed, run very near together, as the etymology of the English word “comfort” suggests. To comfort, according to its derivation, is to strengthen. Comfort, consolation, is a source of strength. The despondent, those who brood over their sufferings and fret themselves in their troubles, are timid, devoid of energy and strength. Comfort helps them to “lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,” and stimulates them to look forward to the future with hope and courage. The Thessalonian Christians needed both comfort and exhortation. They had a great trial of affliction; they suffered much persecution from the beginning. No earthly comfort is so great as the sympathy of loving Christian friends. And. those who sympathize with us stir us up by their example, by their loving words; their sympathy implies exhortation; it issues in exhortation, it makes exhortation real and effective.
(2) They must edify one another. To edify is to build up. The wise builder builds his house on the rock, which is Christ. He is the Foundation; Christians are “built up in him.” In the deepest sense he is the Builder. “On this rock I will build my Church.” “But,” St. Paul says, “we are laborers together with God.” Such grace he gives to his servants that they are privileged to help on the great work, to build upon the one Foundation. There is no higher, holier work than this, to prepare the living stones, to build them up into the one holy temple, the Church of the living God. The Thessalonians were doing it. St. Patti recognizes their loving labors, and urges them to persevere. Be it ours to follow them.
LESSONS.
1. It is not for us to know the times and seasons; be not too curious; but:
2. Prepare in quiet faith: “the Lord is at hand.”
3. Live as sons of light; pray for grace to realize the presence of God, to see the cross by faith, to watch in hope and love.
4. Each Christian, however humble, has his place in building up the Church of Christ; let each do his part.B.C.C.
1Th 5:12-22 – Closing exhortations.
I. THE MINISTERS OF THE CHURCH.
1. Their duties.
(1) They labor. The work of the Christian ministry involves much laborunseen labor in prayer and study, outward labor in preaching, in visiting the sick and aged, in feeding the Church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. They are unworthy of their high calling who do not labor.
(2) They preside over the flock, but it is “in the Lord;” by his appointment, in his strength, in accordance with his will, with a view to his glory, not their own. They must not seek to be “lords over God’s heritage,” but rather be ensamples to the flock, first in humility, first in self-denial, first in Christian love.
(3) They admonisha difficult, a painful duty, but often the duty of a minister; not to be neglected by those who watch for souls as they that must give account, but to be performed in humility and gentleness, with many prayers for guidance and for wisdom.
2. The respect due to their office. St. Paul beseeches the Thessalonians (mark his earnestness) to recognize the labors of their presbyters; perhaps there had been some neglect of them. It is good for Christians themselves to know the ministers who work among them, to take a lively interest in their work, their difficulties, their necessities: so they may share in that; holy work themselves. Such an interest will lead them to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake, for its dignity and. importance, but also for the faithfulness with which it is performed. The indolent and. careless will not win this esteem. Reverence towards those set over us and due subordination, tend to promote the peace of the Church. That peace is of the utmost moment. Our unhappy divisions give occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully, and draw Christians away from the quiet pursuit of holiness into the unhealthy atmosphere of controversy.
II. THE DUTIES OF THE BRETHREN GENERALLY.
1. Admonition and encouragement. All Christians must take their part in the great work of saving souls; all are responsible, in a greater or less degree, for the welfare of the souls that come within their influence. All true Christians must admonish when admonition is needed; all must comfort those who stand in need of comfort. All must support the weak, and all must practice patience towards all men, unbelievers as well as believers. For these duties are so many different phases of Christian love, and Christian love is the highest of all graces. The love of the brethren is the proof that we have passed from death unto life. Then the Christian who is living in that life which is hid with Christ in God must take a deep and holy interest in the souls around him. The nearer he lives to God the better he will be able to admonish, to comfort, to support; the more willing he will be to labor in the cause of Christ.
2. They must teach the unlawfulness of revenge. The heathen almost universally applauded it. To return evil for evil, they thought, was as commendable as to requite good with good. The Christian must learn of Christ, the blessed Master, to pray, “Father, forgive them.” He must crush out of his heart all revengeful feelings; he must learn to love his enemies, to pray for those who use him despitefully. It is a hard lesson sometimes. We shall learn it if we are living by faith in the presence of the cross. He died for the Thessalonians when they were enemies; they must learn of him to be kind to all men, even to the unthankful and to the evil.
3. Christian joy. It is a duty, not merely a privilege. A sullen, joyless temper implies a wart of faith, the absence of hope and love. “The kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit. He dwelleth in the Christian heart, and his presence bringeth joy. There must be joy where God is; the joy of heaven lieth in this, “He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.” And the joy of the faithful on earth is joy in the Lord, joy in his presence, in his love. Not to rejoice is want of trustfulness in him whose love should gladden the Christian heart. Barrow begins his great sermon on this text with the words, “O good apostle, how acceptable rules dost thou prescribe! O gracious God, how gracious laws dost thou inspire!” but “resevera verum gaudium.” Many rejoice at times, in seasons of excitement; but to rejoice evermore, in sickness, and pain, and disappointments, and bereavementsthis is difficult indeed; this implies a high degree of self-mastery, a living faith in God. We must learn to regard joy as our bounden duty, a duty which flows out of the great debt of love which we owe to God. Joy is the expression of our gratitude; it ought to be the free-will offering of a thankful heart. “Rejoice evermore” is the commandment of the Lord. He who commands gives also power to obey. He giveth to all men largely. He gives his Holy Spirit to all who ask in faith, and with the Spirit comes the gift of joy.
4. Perseverance in forayer. The whole of the Christian life should be consecrated to Godevery action, word, thought. This involves a constant reference of all the little details of our daily lives to the will of God. We should refer them all to him, as Hezekiah spread the letter of Sennacherib before the Lord. No emergency is so great as to keep the faithful Christian from his God, none of our little difficulties is so small as to make it needless or unseemly to consult the Lord in prayer. “Whatsoever ye do in word or in deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus.” Thus the whole life must be sanctified by habitual communion with God, while in the stated hours of prayer the believer will constantly entreat the Giver of all good with unceasing and ever more urgent importunity for more abundant grace, for larger spiritual gifts, for strength from on high to offer daily a more acceptable service. Thus prayer will be without ceasing. The heart prays when the lips are silent.
5. Thankfulness. Thanksgiving must always accompany prayer. It springs out of faithful prayer; for faithful prayer brings us into the presence of God, and in that presence we must give thanks. Thanksgiving, like prayer, should be without ceasing, in everything. We thank God for his unspeakable gift, the gift of Christ; we thank him for our access to him in prayer and praise and holy sacrament; we thank him for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life. We must learn to thank him, not only in our joys, but in our sorrows too. We must thank him for his chastisements, for they are sent in love. “Hast thou suffered any evil,” says Chrysostom; “if thou wilt, it is no evil; give thanks to God, and the evil is turned to good.” He practiced what he taught; in the midst of cruel afflictions he died with the words, “Glory be to God for all things,” on his lips. This is the will of GodGod would have the Christian’s life to be a life of joy, a life of unceasing prayer, of perpetual thanksgiving. This is his will in Christ Jesus, revealed in the words of Christ; exemplified in the life of Christ, rendered possible by the grace of Christ to those who abide in him.
6. Spiritual gifts. The Divine fire was kindled at the great day of Pentecost in the baptism of fire; the like holy flame burns in all true Christian hearts. It is of all gifts the most precious. It involves an awful responsibility.
(1) It is our part to stir up the gift of God that is in us; to watch very carefully lest, through sin or carelessness or indifference, the holy fire lose its brightness and its power. The foolish virgins were suddenly aroused to the consciousness that their lamps were going out. The Lord was come; they had no oil, they were not ready. It was too late. Arise and trim your lamps; take warning in time; quench not the Spirit. An unclean life, says Chrysostom, quenches that holy fire; so does apathy, indifference in religion. Sin is like water poured upon the flame. There is no fellowship between light and darkness; the Holy Spirit dwelleth not in the impure heart. Indifference gradually quenches the fire. The lamp will not burn without the oil; the daily renewal of the Holy Ghost is necessary for the support of the spiritual life within us. The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul; he may depart from us if we live, like Saul, in willfulness and disobedience. It is a tearful thought that we have the awful power of quenching that Spirit which is the very life of our souls. It should stimulate us to constant, anxious watchfulness.
(2) Quench not the Spirit in others; despise not prophesyings, but prove all things. There is a holy enthusiasm which comes from God; there is a fanaticism, a mere fervor of excitement, which is not of God. We must not believe every spirit, lest we be carried about with every blast of vain doctrine. We are bidden to “try the spirits whether they are of God.” There were prophesyings in the apostolic times, flowing from the direct inspiration and impulse of the Holy Spirit; there are such utterances now. There were then, and there are now, counterfeit likenesses of these spiritual gifts. There is need of care. God giveth to his chosen a power of spiritual discernment. “He that is spiritual judgeth all things;” he will hold fast that which is good.
7. All evil must be avoided. Every form of evil; little sins, as they are called, as well as great sins. Little sins are the first symptoms of the deadly disease. It may be checked at its outbreak; if neglected, it may slay the soul. The danger is great; the enemy is awful in his power and malignity. Hate all that comes from him.B.C.C.
1Th 5:23, 1Th 5:24 – The result of obedience to these commandmentssanctification.
I. IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD.
1. Peace. Peace is the blessed fruit of obedience. Be careful for nothing; live in prayer and thanksgiving, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and thoughts. But it comes from God. He is the God of peace. It is his; “My peace,” the Lord Jesus says. It is God who maketh peace, who reconciles the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.
2. Holiness. Holiness is the sum of all Christian graces. All the precepts contained in the previous verses are here taken together; they meet and are summed up in holiness. But no human effort can sanctify the heart without the grace of God. Therefore the apostle is not content with exhorting the Thessalonians; he prays that God may sanctity them. May he himself (he says emphatically), “the God of peace, sanctify you wholly.” He goes on to expand the last word.
II. IT MUST PERVADE THE WHOLE BEING.
1. The spirit. This is the highest part of our immaterial nature, the breath of life, inbreathed by Almighty God. It is the part receptive of Divine communications, which, in the regenerate, holds converse with God; which is the sphere of the operations of God the Holy Ghost. That man is spiritual in whom the spirit rules; he is natural (yuxiko&j) in whom the soul (yuxh&) has usurped the place of the spirit. The evil spirit seeks to enslave the spirit of man; he strives to enter in and dwell in the spirit which should be God’s. The peace of God is the true garrison; it guards the heart and thoughts of the faithful, leaving no ingress for the wicked one.
2. The soul. Each of the two words is sometimes used for our whole invisible nature; but, when distinguished from the spirit, the soul is the lower part of our immaterial being, which belongs in common to the whole animal creation; the seat of the appetites, desires, affections. Those men in whom the animal soul predominates are called by St. Jude “sensual, not having the spirit” (yuxikoi_ pneu~ma mh_, e!xontej). The soul is sanctified when it submits itself to the divinely enlightened spirit, when all its appetites, feelings, longings, are controlled and regulated by the sanctified spirit.
3. The body. The Christian body is a holy thing. It should be the temple of the Holy Ghost; it should be presented unto God a living sacrifice. It is sanctified when it is ruled by the spirit, when it is kept pure from the defilements of sensual sin, when its members are made instruments of righteousness unto God. The apostle prays that the whole man, spirit, soul, and body, may be preserved in the whole sphere of its existence, so as to be without blame in the great day.
4. How is this possible? God is faithful; he will do it. He calleth us. His calling is not vain, his promises are not delusive; they are true, for he is the Truth. He will do itall that he has promised, all that we pray for, more than we pray for, above all that we can ask or think; for his power worketh in us. He will do it. He will give us his Holy Spirit; he will sanctify us wholly if we yield ourselves to his purifying influences; he will preserve our entire being blameless at the coming of the Lord, if only we persevereif we abide in him. This little verse has been well called “the sum of all consolation.”
LESSONS.
1. Work, but pray. Be obedient, but always look to God, and trust only in his grace; it is he that giveth holiness.
2. Pray for entire sanctification. Body, soul, and spiritall are God’s; glorify him in all.
3. Obey his calling; he will fulfill his promises.B.C.C.
1Th 5:25-28 – Conclusion.
I. HE ASKS FOR THEIR PRAYERS. He, the great apostle, begs for the prayers of these neophytes, these babes in Christ. It shows:
1. His humility.
2. The value of prayer. A good man has said, “Prayer is possession. Faithful prayer is the sure possession of all that the redeemed will of man can desire. The man who is full of prayer is full of power. I would rather have the gift of a brother’s faithful prayers than of his plentiful substance. And I feel that when I have given to a brother my faithful prayers I have given him my best and greatest gift.”
3. The duty of praying for the clergy. They have a great charge, an awful responsibility. They might well shrink from the burden, conscious as they are of sin and weakness. But they work, if they are faithful, in the strength of God and in the strength of prayertheir own prayers and the prayers of the Church. The prayers of the Church are their due, for it is the commandment of the Lord. When they fail in energy, in self-denial, in holy example, it may be in part the fault of those who do not pray, as they are bidden, for the ministers of God.
II. THE KISS OF PEACE. St. Paul four times, St. Peter once, bid Christians to salute one another with a holy kiss. The practice was universal in ancient times; it was associated with the Holy Communion. Now it exists only in the Coptic Church of Egypt. The outward form has passed away; ancient customs may be disused when changes in habits and feeling render them no longer suitable. The sacred duty of brotherly love remains unchanged forever. “By this shall men know that ye are my disciples, when ye have love one towards another.”
III. THE EPISTLE TO BE READ IN THE CHURCH. Mark his earnestness: he adjures them by the Lord. It was his first Epistle. This solemn injunction was more needed now than afterwards. Then the Epistle was to stand on a level with the ancient Scriptures; it was to be read publicly, as Moses and the prophets were read in the synagogues. It was to be read to all. The open Bible must be given to all. All need its holy lessons; all have a right, by the gracious gift of God, to the blessings which it offers.
IV. THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. He begins his Epistle with grace; he ends it with grace. The grace of God is the beginning and the end of our salvation. “By the grace of God I am what I am;” “By grace are ye saved.” All our truest happiness here, all our hopes for blessedness hereafter, come from the grace of God.
LESSONS.
1. Try to realize the great value of prayer; desire the prayers of the saints.
2. Pray for the clergy; it is a sacred duty.
3. Love the brethren.
4. The Bible is a precious book; see that you prize it.B.C.C.
HOMILIES BY R. FINLAYSON
1Th 5:1-11 – Exhortation in view of the Lord’s coming.
I. HOW THE DAY OF THE LORD IS SUDDEN AND UNEXPECTED IN ITS COMING. “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” By the same method which is followed in 1Th 4:9, the apostle seeks to impress on the Thessalonians a certain point relating to the times and. the seasons which make up the period of the Lord’s dealing with men. This related more particularly to the day of the Lord, the day when the Lord is to descend to earth, which is to be thought of as the completing point of the times and the seasons. It is practically to each of us the day of our death. When with them he had taken care that they should accurately understand the sudden and unexpected nature of the advent. There were decisive words of the Lord on which to proceed. “But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only;” “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” There was even the same image employed by our Lord which is employed here. “But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not have left his house to be broken through.” As a thief, without notice given and under cover of the night, approaches the dwelling which its occupant thinks secure, so stealthily approaches the day of the Lord. To all alike the uncertainty exists, and will exist. All fixings of the time, such as are sometimes attempted, are wholly unwarranted. God does not mean that either the Church or the world should know the time, any more than he means that any of us should know the time of our death.
II. HOW TO THE CARNALLY SECURE THE DAY OF THE LORD IS TO COME AS A TERRIBLE SURPRISE. “When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape.” The image is carried forward, and we are to think of those who confine their interest to the earthly sphere, and do not dream of their possession as ever to be disturbed. But, having sown carnal security, they are to reap destruction, and not only in their earthly but also in their higher interest. It is a strong word which is employed, and corresponds to “wrath,” which is afterwards employed. This feeling of carnal security grows upon men. At first they chide themselves that they neglect Christ and their everlasting salvation. But, carried forward by the desire or’ earthly gratification and in confidence in their own strength, they find excuses for the course which they are following. A state of moral darkness is produced in them. They become blinded to the character of God, and the opposition which is ever widening between their life and the will of God. The result is, that qualms of conscience leave them, and they say, “I have a feeling of peace within, and there is no trouble from without.” But just when they crone to this height of carnal security, then sudden destruction comes upon them, from which there shall be no escape. Thus, it would seem, wilt it be at last. All men wilt not be ready for the descending Lord. “As were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.” So it would seem is it, anticipatively, now. Men go on in their sinful courses, until they are suddenly overtaken by death and destruction.
III. HOW TO SONS OF LIGHT AND SONS OF THE DAY THE DAY OF THE LORD SHOULD NOT BE A SURPRISE. “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief: fur ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” The Thessalonian brethren are excluded from the darkness which is implied in the state of carnal security; it was not, therefore, designed that that day should overtake them as a thief. The class to which they, as Christians, properly belonged, was that of sons of light and sons of the day. They are those to whom the Lord has been revealed, especially to whom it has been revealed that he will come, and who thus have light in them. They are those upon whom the Sun of righteousness has risen, making day aroused them. Welcoming the light, even in its reproving power, they come to be made of light and enveloped with light, so that they are sons of light (which is the Divine nature) and sons of the day (which is the Divine encompassment). When it is always light, the thief has not opportunity of approaching without being seen. So those who have abundance of light in them and around them should not be surprised by the day of the Lord. The class from which we as Christians are excluded is that of those who are of the night and of darkness. They are those who have moral night drawn around them. They are those into whose nature the light of God’s mercy and truth has not penetrated. Loving the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil, they come to have darkness as their surrounding and their nature, so that they are of the night and of darkness. It was open to the apostle, from the use of similar expressions by our Lord (“sons of this world,” “sons of the devil”), to have said sons of the night and sons of darkness. He seems to have chosen his language purposely to avoid the idea of freedom, to bring out the idea of servitude. They are not like the free sons of light and free sons of the day. They are rather those who are hemmed in by the night, who are enslaved to darkness. When there is darkness in and around a dwelling there may be said to be an invitation to the thief to approach. So those who have darkness in and around their being may be said to invite a surprise from the day of the Lord.
IV. HOW WE ARE BOUND, AS ENLIGHTENED CHRISTIANS, TO WATCH AND BE SOBER. “So then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.” There is put forward what we are not to do. Let us not sleep, as do the rest of mankind. Sleeping implies obliviousness and inactivity. The rest of mankind are in an oblivious, inactive state, especially with regard to the solemn issues of life. Let us who have light not be like them. What we are to do is to watch. We are to have the wakeful activity of the sentinel at his post. He knows not from what side or what hour the enemy may approach, so he has altogether and always to be vigilant. In like manner, let us take full account of the fact that death is coming. And, seeing we know not how or what hour it may come, let our vigilance all round never sleep. What we are to do is also to be sober. A subject should be in a fit state when ushered into the presence of his sovereign. It will be a solemn thing for us to be ushered into the presence of the Lord at death; and we should be in a fit state for the occasion. We should especially have our appetites in proper restraint. We should have the full command of our powers. We should be so employed from moment to moment that, when the last moment comes, we can fitly leave our employments and pass into the presence of our Judge. Not to be doing this, is to be conforming to unenlightened practices. “They that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.” The literal fact is stated as the basis for thought. Night is the congenial time for sleep. So those who are in the night of sin are in a drowsy, unalarmed state with regard to their spiritual concerns. They do not take into account that they have to meet death, and yet, however deep their sleep, they have to meet it and the realities to which they will be wakened up after death. Night is also the congenial time for drunkenness. How much of the drinking that is to be deplored goes on after darkness has set in! So those who are in the night of sin are in a state of spiritual intoxication. And that is the worst thing that can be said of the literal drunkard. His spiritual nature is in a bad state. In not restraining his appetites he is rebelling against God. In continuing in sin he is hardening his heart. And he is not fit for passing into the presence of his Judge. And so is it, too, with those who are drunken with the world’s engagements and cares. They become incapacitated for spiritual exercise, and for the enjoyment of the Lord’s presence. “But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare.”
I. HOW WE ARE TO GIVE PROOF THAT WE ARE SOBER BY BEING ARMED WITH FAITH, LOVE, AND HOPE. “But let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.” Having the light of day, and knowing what is coming, let us, as sober men, take all due precautions. For us to be forewarned should be to be forearmed. It is only defensive armor that is thought of here as brought into requisition. The idea seems to be, that we are to be armed against all that would unfit us for our Lord’s coming.
1. The breastplate. This is a double piece of armor. It is faith and love combined. Faith apprehends the Lord’s coming, in opposition to blind unbelief which says, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fall asleep, all things continue as they were.” Faith defends by encircling us with the Divine strength, which is as though every part of our defenseless hearts were covered with armor. But faith only rightly defends when, at the same time, love gives Christ the possession of our hearts. It is the world that tempts us to forget the Lord’s coming, to make no preparation for death. When our hearts are filled with love to the Savior, we are enabled to keep out the world. The breastplate of our defense being completed by love, brings it into agreement with what, in Eph 6:14, and also in Isa 59:17, is called “the breastplate of righteousness.”
2. The helmet. This is a single piece of armor. In Eph 6:17, and also in Isa 59:17, it is simply called “the helmet of salvation.” But what is meant is what is here called “the hope of salvation.” We have a certain experience of salvation already in the working of faith and love. Hope reaches beyond this experience forward to the salvation which is to be completed at the Lord’s coming. This hope is a defense to us, as the helmet used to be to the warrior. Wearing this provided armor, we can hold our head high and scathless above present troubles. Let us, then, as sober men, not unclasp our breastplate, not lay aside our helmet.
VI. HOW THE SALVATION HOPED FOR HAS BEEN MADE A DIVINE CERTAINTY TO US. “For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” For those who are sunk in spiritual slumber and intoxication there is an appointment unto wrath! The Divine displeasure must be manifested against the rebellious course which they have been following. But for us who are acting as sober men there is an appointment unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, i.e. at his coming. And what God has appointed will be carried out. A soldier endures in the hope of victory. But the victory is to him an uncertainty; it may not be realized, or he may not live to share in it. But the Christian soldier has a Divine appointment on which to proceed. If even now we take Christ as our Savior, and from this point wait for his coming, then God intends that we shall conquer. Let us seize the advantage of our position. While we have our faith and. love in vigorous exercise, let us know also the sustaining power of a lively hope.
VII. HOW THE OBTAINING OF SALVATION HAS BECOME ASSURED TO US. ‘”Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.”
1. Our life has its source in Christ‘s death. Christ died for our benefit, and, by implication, in our stead. He died in the way of making satisfaction for our sin. In him, as our Representative or Head, we obtain the benefits of his work. It is as though we had died, as though we had made satisfaction for sin. Thus in condescending love, in accordance with eternal principles, are we introduced into salvation.
2. The final end of Christ‘s death is that we should live together with him. Christ died with this view, that we should ultimately live along with him, and have fellowship with him; we entering into his thoughts and delighting in his love, while he enters into our thoughts and delights in our love.
3. This end is independent of our waking or sleeting at Christ‘s coming. Our waking or sleeping is accidental; the essential thing is that we shall have fellowship with Christ, and fellowship, as it then shall be, in the body. Both classes, those who wake and those who sleep, have the same reason for assuring themselves that they shall live together with him, viz. in the fact that he has died to merit it for them, as he lives to secure it for them. Those who wake shall be changed without the union between soul and body being broken; and, changed, they shall live together with him. Those who sleep have the union between the soul and body broken, without any break in the union between the soul and Christ and in fellowship with him; and, raised from their graves, they shall live together with him. Thus the ultimate state of both classes is to be the same, the apostle returning here to the conclusion reached in 1Th 4:17, where it is said of the same two classes united that they shall be for ever with the Lord.
VIII. HOW IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES THEY ARE TO ACT TOWARD EACH OTHER. “Wherefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do.” There is an unhappy change from “comfort” to “exhort” in the translation. It ought to be “comfort,” as in the parallel verse at the close of the previous paragraph. They were to comfort one another with what was blessed in the Lord’s coming. They were also to edify each other, in preparation for the Lord’s comingcommunicating knowledge to each other, praying for each other, pressing duty on each other, stimulating each other by example. This they were doing, and in that way were admirably answering the ends of their being in a Christian society. But let them go on, and not, while only a little away from the starting-point, suppose that they have reached finality. Let us, to, o, make the end of our being in a Christian society comfort and, especially, edification to all the members.R.F.
1Th 5:12-22 – Exhortations.
1. DUTY TOWARD THE PRESIDENTS. “But we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them exceeding highly in love fur their work’s sake.” The Greek bears that those who labor, preside, and admonish are all one class. From other places in the New Testament we must understand that the reference is to the class of the elders. “And when they had appointed for them elders in every Church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.” “For this cause,” Paul says to Titus, “left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and. appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge.” From 1Ti 5:17 it appears that there were elders who simply ruled, and others who both ruled and taught. The language employed in the description of the elders here does not require a restriction in the application to teaching elders. It can only be said that the greater extent of their duties warrants a special application to them. There is put forward the idea of their being workers. In any office the first thing to be looked to is the amount of real honest work that is done in it. Certainly it is not meant that any ecclesiastical office should be a sinecure. There was spiritual work to be done among the Thessalonians, and there were those who were appointed for the doing of it. These did their work even to weariness. Next to their being workers, they were presidents. In 1Ti 5:17 the elders are described as thus ruling or presiding, hi this presidency there is implied the possession of ecclesiastical power; but it is with limitations. Believers stand in an immediate personal relation to the Lord. But there is also the relation in which believers stand collectively to the Lord. In this relation Christ is not only President; but there are those who in each Christian society preside in the Lord, i.e. they preside in his Name, they represent his authority in the relation. To them belongs the power of the keys, or of admitting and excluding. To them it belongs to preside at the ordinance of the supper. To them it belongs to sit in judgment in matters connected with the efficient working of the society. As presidents, they are also monitors, not restrictively teachers. It belongs to them as characterized by piety and practical wisdom, and as foremost in every good work themselves, in a special manner, in virtue of their office, to press duty on those over whom they have been placed, to stir up the negligent, to administer rebuke to the erring. It is the duty of the members of a Christian society toward their laborious presidents and monitors to know them. It is usual to take this knowing as equivalent to knowing with appreciation, which is afterward defined as esteeming in love. It seems better not to bring forward the ideas of esteem and love, but to think only of that on which the esteem and love are founded, viz. such a marking of the presidents as leads to their being esteemed and loved. The esteem is to be founded on the work belonging to their office. They are engaged in the Lord’s work, in seeking the spiritual good of those over whom they have been placed. And as that is the most important of all kinds of work, they are not only to be esteemed, but esteemed exceeding highly for their work’s sake. While they are to be esteemed, they are also to be loved. Love is to be the element in which the esteem is to have its subsistence and nourishment. They are not to be judged harshly, but, in love, a kindly view is to be taken of them, and their defects overlooked.
II. DUTY OF REGARDING THE PEACE OF THE CHRISTIAN CIRCLE. “Be at peace among yourselves.” Our Lord exhorts the twelve in almost the same terms: “Be at peace one with another.” The exhortation means that we are to cultivate toward the members of the Christian circle such good feeling as will dispose us not only to refrain from strife, but also to be on good terms with them. And if we are to be peaceably disposed, as we are elsewhere exhorted, toward all men, much more are we to be peaceably disposed, as we are here exhorted, to those to whom we stand in nearer alliance and engagement, who are subjects with us of the same Prince of peace. The most fruitful cause of congregational or more widely ecclesiastical dispeace is fondness for power or honor. It was when the twelve had disputed one with another who was the greatest (Mar 9:34), and had turned against one who used Christ’s Name yet followed not them (Mar 9:38), that they were exhorted to be at peace one with another (Mar 9:50). John refers to a certain Diotrephes, in a Church to which he wrote, who loved to have the pre-eminence among them. There are those who are more concerned to advance themselves, or their family connection, or their party, than the common ends for which the society exists. A co-operating cause is prejudice. There are those who are more attached to opinions hastily formed, or traditionally received, or to which they are constitutionally inclined as more liberal or more conservative, than to the truth honestly inquired into. When, with this, there conspires worldly motive, leading to worldly policy, the result, on occasion or, it may be, on little occasion, is dispeace. One cure for dispeace is respect for the properly constituted authorities, or good feeling toward the presidents. This wilt often carry a society through a difficult trial. A more effective cure is abundance of Christian work. It was when the twelve were in the way (unemployed so far) that they disputed who was the greatest. When afterward they were in the midst of their work, the question would not be who was the greatest, but who could do the most work for Christ. For a Church to he actively engaged in real work for the Master is to be in the best position for its own peace. Pray, then, for the peace of Jerusalem, and for its orderliness and holy activity, as conducive to peace.
III. DUTY TOWARD THREE CLASSES WITHIN THE CHRISTIAN CIRCLE.
1. The disorderly. “And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly.” This class is described by a word which is used of soldiers who do not keep their rank. There were those in the Thessalonian Church who were out of rank, in the way of being negligent of their business, under the influence of the coming of Christ. In Christian Churches still there are those who are out of rank, in the way of being careless in attendance on ordinances, in the way of being dissipated, in the way of being chargeable with dishonorable actions. If it is a grave fault to be disorderly in a military sense, it is no less grave a fault to be disorderly in a Christian sense. Must it not be offensive to him who is pre-eminently charged with the order of the Church, the Captain of our salvation? And his command, laid not merely on the presidents but on all, is that such should be admonished. They all need to be admonished to the performance of the duty with regard to which they are at fault; and some of them need to he admonished to take the first step in the Christian life.
2. The faint-hearted. “Encourage the faint-hearted.” In our Churches there are those who are faint-hearted on account of the loss of friends, as the Thessalonians were faint-hearted on account of the supposed fate of Christian friends taken away before the coming. There are those who are depressed by the state of their temporal affairs, as the Thessalonians would have a depressing influence in the way in which maintenance and home and even life were affected by persecution. There are always those who are apt to be faint-hearted on account of their spiritual state. Have they a real interest in Christ? Are they making progress in the Christian life? Are they doing any good? Are they having an influence for good upon those over whom they are immediately placed? The command of Christ, laid on all, is that such are to be encouraged. Let them be encouraged by the thought of the kind Providence that is exercised over them. Let them be encouraged to the exercise of faith. “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
3. The weak. “Support the weak.” There would be those among the Thessalonians who felt the weakening influence of the heathenism out of which they had come. Heathen habits could not be laid aside in a day. So there are those in our Churches who are anxious to do well, but are apt to stumble from the strength of evil habit. The command of Christ, laid on all, is that such are not to be left to stand or fall by themselves; but they are to be supported by sympathy and counsel and. example until they attain to greater moral strengthas infants, or those weakened by disease, need to be supported, until they can go about freely.
IV. THE ONE DUTY TOWARD ALL WITHIN THE CHRISTIAN CIRCLE. “Be long-suffering toward all.” It seems better to confine the reference to the Christian circle, and to consider the reference as widened in the following verse. This is the condition of mind that will fit us for dealing with all. It was not unfitting that the duty should be laid upon a young Church like that of Thessalonica. Young Christians are of a sanguine disposition. In their own enthusiasm they look for others being enthusiastic. They need, in their experience of the difficulty of evil being cast out of their own hearts, of keeping up their own enthusiasm, to be taught the lesson of patience. Let them not be less earnest, but let them bear long, in the hope of seeing those who are lukewarm and faulty brought into a better state.
V. DUTY ESPECIALLY TOWARD THOSE WHO INJURE US. “See that none render unto any one evil for evil; but always follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all.” The heathenish idea is to return evil for evil. Even Aristotle regarded it not less reasonable to return evil for evil, than to return good for good; “for otherwise,” he says,” if a man must not retaliate, his condition appears to be as bad as slavery” (‘Ethics,’ bk. 5. 1Th 5:1-28). This heathenish disposition to take revenge on those who injure us needs to be conquered by us. Hence there is enjoined on us care: “Take heed that none render unto any one evil for evil.” There is danger, if we are not careful, of our giving way to revengeful feelings. The Christian idea is that we are to resist not evil: “Whosoever smiteth thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” The meaning here is that, instead of returning evil for evil, we are to do kind offices to those who injure us. This is the best way of gaining our offending brethren. It is also the best way of gaining over them that arc outside. There is no more powerful argument in favor of Christianity than its conquest of revengefulness, its disposing us to return good for evil.
VI. DUTY OF REJOICING. “Rejoice always.” The happy God designs us to be happy like himself, and not merely in heaven. We cannot, indeed, have a light heart when we think of the evil in us and around us. But while sorrowful, we can always rejoice in the thought of our Christian advantages. “He that hath the inexhaustible Spring of good for his portion, that hath his welfare entrusted in God’s most faithful hand, that hath the infinite Beauty and Excellency for the perpetual object of his contemplation, that enjoyeth the serenity of a sound mind, of a pure heart, of a quiet conscience, of a sure hope, what can he want to refresh or comfort him? If we scan all the doctrines, all the institutions, all the precepts, all the promises of Christianity, will not each appear pregnant with matter of joy, will not each yield great reason and strong obligation to this duty of rejoicing evermore?” (Barrow).
VII. DUTY OF PRAYER. “Pray without ceasing.” This cannot mean that prayer is to occupy our whole time. For prayer is only one duty, and we have to proportion our time between our various duties. But it means that we are to make prayer part of the great business of our life, and not a by-business. It means that we are to connect prayer with the principal occasions of our life. It means that in particular matters we are to pray on, until we succeed in the object of our requests. It means that we are to have stated times for prayer, especially the natural seasons of morning and evening. It means that in the intensity of our earnestness we are to overleap these stated times. “Devotion is the best food of our souls, which preserveth their life and health, which repaireth their strength and vigor: if we, therefore, long abstain from it, we shall starve or pine away; we shall be faint and feeble in all religious performances; we shall have none at all, or a very languid and meager piety” (Barrow).
VIII. DUTY OF THANKSGIVING. “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward.” To give thanks means that, sincerely, duly sensible of our benefits, we are to make cheerful acknowledgment of them to God. To give thanks in everything means that we are to thank God, not only in great things, but also in small things; not only in rare things, but also in common things. It means that we are to thank God, not only in present things, but for past mercies as well, and even for what is laid up for future enjoyment. It means that we are to thank God, not merely in things affecting ourselves, but also in things affecting others. It means that we are to thank God, not merely in prosperous things, but also in adverse things, recognizing the merciful moderating of them, the merciful design in them, the supporting grace under them, and the benefit resulting from them. It means that we are to thank God not merely in things affecting our bodies, but also in things affecting our souls. The duty of thanksgiving is here enforced by the consideration that thin is the will of God in Christ Jesus to us-ward. In Christ Jesus he is infinite kindness, always overflowing in blessing on us. How fitting, then, that we should, through Christ Jesus, “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, the fruit of our lips!” This has the distinction of being the most delightful of all duties. “For praise and thanksgiving are the most delectable business of heaven; and God grant they may be our greatest delight, our frequent employment upon earth” (Barrow).
IX. DUTY TOWARD THE SPIRIT. “Quench not the Spirit.” The Spirit is compared here, as in other places in Scripture, to fire. There is the beginning of spiritual life in every man. There is the depraved nature, but there is also the Spirit with his vital energy to be cherished or quenched. It is especially in connection with the gospel that the Spirit is given to men. In the gospel there is presented a Divine call to accept of Divine mercy, and there is, in connection with it, a Divine warning against refusing Divine mercy. “He that believeth on the Son hath eternal lice; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” The Spirit, in the Word read or preached, brings the gospel call to bear upon the conscience and heart. The feeling that we ought to accept of salvation and not throw away our existence, the desire to give Christ our confidence and not spurn his love, is the working of the Spirit. And, in providence after providence, does the Spirit more gently whisper to us, or more loudly rouse us up to the importance of the Divine call and warning. It is suggested by the context, that what those who have felt the power of the Spirit have to fear is the repression of enthusiasm. Let them give free outlet to the working of the Spirit, and not be deterred by the conventionalities even of religious society. If they feel prompted to pray, let them not restrain prayer. If they feel prompted to study God’s Word, let them sit down and pore over it. If they feel prompted to throw themselves into Christian work, let them not hold back. It was by a strange perversity of will on the part of Saul that he was deserted by the Spirit. David feared that his outbreak of sin would drive away the Holy Spirit from him. What prevents men feeling the power of the Spirit is especially an irregular life. They turn away from good, and give the reins to their passions, and another spirit than God’s takes possession of them. But there is not needed outward irregularity to quench the Spirit. The essential thing is the withdrawing of the mind from the range of the Divine revelation, the paying no heed to the Divine voice, the smothering good feeling even under the ordinary engagements of life, the neglecting to follow up good impressions by a decisive step for Christ. The result in the following out of trial is a state of mind in which there is an insensibility to the importance of the Divine call and warning. Conviction of sin or uneasiness about it ceases; interest in what is good dies out. The Spirit of God takes his departure, and an evil spirit takes full possession. There is this encouraging thought to those who have been resisting and grieving the Spirit, that while there is the slightest thought of good remaining in their hearts, it may be fanned into a flame. The Spirit, long slighted, at last cherished, will come, and with his vital energy fill their whole being.
X. DUTY WITH REGARD TO PROPHESYINGS. “Despise not prophesyings.” These were special manifestations of the Spirit. As in the Corinthian Church, and also in the Galatian Churches, so in the Church of Thessalonica, there was the presence of miracles. There was the gift of healing; there was also the gift of tongues. As striking manifestations the use they served was especially in impressing and drawing the attention of them that were outside. Prophesyings were intelligent and, probably, impassioned utterances of Divine truth under the inflatus of the Spirit. As such the use they served was especially in promoting the edification of the Church. Let none, then, run the risk of quenching the Spirit by placing a low value on his less striking but far more important manifestations.
XI. DUTY OF PROVING ALL THINGS. “Prove all things.” The language is taken from the art of the assayer. He has special skill in applying tests, with the view of discovering what is real and what is counterfeit in metals, what is good coin and what is bad coin. So the Christian assayer is to be specially skilled in testing the real nature of things. There is nothing in the language to restrict the reference to the prophesyings which have been mentioned. It is not said “all prophesyings,” or “all these things.” And if there is an antithesis, as some authorities have it, in the assertion of “but,” yet is it preserved by regarding prophesyings as included, among all things.
The wideness of the reference is confirmed by the consideration that things as proved are divided into things to be chosen and things to be rejected. In prophesyings, as inspired, there was no element to be rejected. Proving them could only mean learning to put due value upon them, partly in comparison with other Divine gifts. Ordinary teachings have not till the true ring or composition. “O holy simplicity!” exclaimed Huss, when he saw an aged devout woman throwing a fagot on to his burning pile. But our safeguard is not a holy simplicity, believing all that we have been told by good men; it is rather, in dependence on the direction of God, the exercise of an independent judgment. That is the sheet-anchor of our Protestantism. We reject the claim of the Roman Catholic that we are to accept of things because they are taught by the Church, because they have been ordained by councils, because they have even the support of the apostolic Fathers. The thing to be deplored is that much of our Protestantism is traditional, an unreasoning acceptance of belief. With regard to opinions which pass current in society, we are not to accept of them because they are popular, because they are well-sounding, because they are associated with particular names or parties; but we are to have a Divine insight into them as true or false. With regard to what is presented for the regulation of our conduct, there is evil as well as good presented for our acceptance. And evil is not presented to us as evil; it takes specious formseven Satan puts on the garb of an angel of light. We have need, therefore, to be on ore’ guard; we have need to have our senses exercised to discern good and evil. Let us inquire, regarding an action or course of action, whether it is fitted to yield not simply a present but a solid and lasting satisfaction, without regrets in the future; whether it is according to right principle and conducive to strength of character, and fitted also to be beneficial to others. “If we discerned ourselves,” says the apostle, “we should not be judged.” Let us be just with ourselves, that we may escape the consequences of a false judgment. Let us impartially apply the tests now, as those to whom they arc to be impartially and convincingly applied at the day of judgment.
XII. DUTY IN VIEW OF THE RESULT OF PROVING ALL THINGS.
1. On the one hand to hold fast the good. “Hold fast that which is good.” It is implied that we are not to be always proving. As a result of our proving, we find out that which is good. It is a duty we owe to that which is good to hold it fast, arid not to let it go. If we have found the Bible to be the Word of God, let us hold it fist. Let us take it as nutriment to our souls. Let it be the test by which we try things. “To the Law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” If we have satisfied ourselves as to the claims of Christ as our Divine teacher, let us hold him fist; let us take his teachings into our being, and let the confessing of Christ be that by which we try the spirits, not persons, but rather the spirit by which individuals, communities, institutes, systems, are animated. If we have satisfied ourselves that Christ has made full atonement for our sin, let us hold that truth fast as central, let us take all the comfort there is in it, and let it be the test of loyalty to Christ. If we have found out what a good life is as commended and exemplified by Christ, and as lint to the proof by ourselves, let us hold it fast as what has held us up in the past, as what has held up the good in all the generations, as what will hold us up until we obtain an immutable standing in heaven. And let us not, with a false toleration, think that any life can be good which wants the great theistic, and especially the great Christian, elements.
2. On the other hand to abstain from evil. “Abstain from every form of evil.” The old translation is indefensible here. The words should not have formed a verse by themselves; they should have been added on to the former words. In view of the good and evil that are separated in the proving of things, we arc on the one hand to hold fast that which is good, and on the other hand to abstain from every form of evil. If anything is yet undetermined to our mind, our duty as already laid down is to find out its true nature. If, after examination, it is of a doubtful nature, or seems to be bordering on evil, our duty certainly is to abstain from it. But the duty laid down here is different from that. It is our duty with regard to what we have found out to be one of the many forms of evil. Having found it out to be evil in reality, let us not hesitate about our course, let us abstain from it, let us refuse to taste it even as we would not take poison, let us turn away from it as from that which is alien from our being and fitted only to work our destruction.R.F.
1Th 5:23-28 – Prayer.
I. PRAYER FOR THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE THESSALONIANS. “And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” From the object of the prayer God is here named the God of peace. The peace which takes away the discord of our nature and restores its harmony is his will and gift. But he is only the God of peace to us in our sanctification. The apostle had been exhorting to various forms of holiness. Feeling, however, how feeble his part was in their sanctification, he makes his appeal to the first Cause of Sanctification. “The God of peace himself sanctify you.” In sanctification there is the idea of being set apart to the service of God. In the prayer the stress is laid on the wholeness of the sanctification. In the word translated “wholly” there is the idea of wholeness in the way of the end being reached. The materials of the temple-building and vessels were originally in a rough state. But, put into the hands of cunning workmen, they were brought up into apt and consistent and beautiful forms. And not without sprinkling of blood were they dedicated to God. So the stuff of which we are made is originally in an unpolished, defiled condition; but, in the hands of the great Artificer, through the efficacy of the blood of Christ, are we being brought up into a state in which, in our whole being, we shall be fit for being employed in the service of God. In the second part of the prayer there is brought in another aspect of the wholeness of sanctification. And the word which indicates it is brought forward in the original out of its natural position, so as to be separated from the similar word translated “wholly” only by “and.” It conveys the idea of being whole in the way of being entire in its parts. “It means what represents the whole undivided possession, what is not weakened by division, and thus subsists in perfect integrity” (Delitzsch). The integrity refers to the three parts into which our nature is here regarded as dividedspirit and soul and body. In some places Scripture language turns upon the distinction between the material and immaterial nature of man. Here the immaterial nature is divided into spirit and soul. And this is in keeping with the dividing asunder of soul and spirit in Heb 4:12, and also with the contrast between the present psychical body and the future spiritual body in 1Co 15:1-58. “Whilst the soul,” says Olshausen, who has made a special study of this subject, “denotes the lower region of the inner mancomprises, therefore, the powers to which analogous ones are found in animal life also, as understanding, appetitive faculty, memory, fancythe spirit includes those natural dispositions which constitute the true human, life; viz. reason, as the faculty of perceiving the Divine; conscience, as the faculty of distinguishing moral good and evil; free-will, as the faculty of moral choice, by which the ability to form a history is purchased.” The spirit, we may say, is that by which we have the power of knowing and serving God, and of making character, and in which, in its whole range, we are separated from the brutes. The soul is the lower part of the inner man, in which, in its judgments, and longings, and recollections, and imaginings, the spirit is designed to bear rule. The body, or outer man, which is quickened by the soul, and has the power of exciting the soul, is another sphere in which, in its appetites and powers, the spirit is designed to bear rule through the soul. The spirit is wholly sanctified in the sense intended when, through the possession of the Spirit of God, reason and conscience faithfully represent the Divine voice, and the will is faithfully responsive; when, as a whole, it is the ruling center with reference to the rest of the nature. The soul is wholly sanctified when the understanding is used as a help to the keeping of Divine precepts; when the desires and affections are divinely regulated and purified and tempered; when there is a ready memory for the Word of God, and a readiness from past associations in calling up good thoughts; when the imagination is filled with Christ and the Christian ideal and the Christian prospect; when, as a whole, this part of our nature does not assert its independence of the spirit above, and can resist the charms of the senses below. The body is wholly sanctified when its various members are used as instruments of righteousness; when, as a whole, it does not aspire to rule in the soul; when it takes its law from pure judgments, and desires, and recollections, and imaginings. Such is the wholeness of sanctification in the integrity of the nature. And what, on the positive side, is represented as integrity of nature, on the negative side is represented as being without blame. Here there is a glance forward, as there frequently is in this Epistle, to the coming of Christ. It is then that the integrity of our nature is to be fully realized, and to be placed in inviolable keeping. Beyond that point, the integrity of our nature perfectly attained, no power in the universe can ever break.
II. THE PRAYER GROUNDED IN THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD. “Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it.” There is a distinct covenanting on the part of God to bring about our sanctification. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and on their heart also will I write them: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” God, in calling, actually begins the covenant work of our sanctification, and an appeal can be made to him as the faithful God, by ourselves or others, to carry out what he has begun. Let us not be backward to remind him of his promise, or to look for it being followed by performance.
CONCLUSION.
1. Request for prayer. “Brethren, pray for us.” This request for prayer conies from the three Christian workers. They were thrown upon those for whom they labored, in being themselves also compassed with infirmity. They felt that, if the Divine blessing was to rest upon their work in the highest measure, then the Thessalonian Church must join with the other Churches in giving them the assistance of their prayers.
2. The holy kiss. “Salute all the brethren with a holy kiss.” This was the common Eastern form of salutation, associated with religion. Apparently the elders were thus to salute the members of the Thessalonian Church, one by one, in the name of Paul and Silas and Timothy. Propriety does not allow with us the use of this form of salutation between the various members of the Christian circle. But there is no reason why there should not be all the good feeling and fellowship with Christ of which the holy kiss is symbolic. At the same time, if love is to be sustained, it must be allowed all suitable forms of manifestation.
3. Direction as to the public reading of the Epistle. “I adjure you by the Lord that this Epistle be read unto all the brethren.” The direction is given in the most solemn manner. Paul writes in his own name, and adjures by the Lord. The adjuration was apparently founded on the importance of the Epistle, not merely to the elders to whom it was handed, but to the whole community. Let it be brought directly to bear upon all, that they may each for themselves have their impression of its contents. Such an adjuration in the first of Paul’s Epistles significantly points to the right of every Christian member to have direct access to the Word of God. “What Paul,” says Bengel,” commands with an adjuration, Rome prohibits with an anathema.”
4. Benediction. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” He ends his Epistle as he began, by imploring grace. It is to the ever-living Divine Head of the Church that we must look for the bestowal of the blessing, and not according to the merit of any for whom we implore it, but only according to the abundance of the merit that he has obtained for them.R.F.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY
1Th 5:2-4 – A thief in the night.
The one idea to be impressed upon us by this striking image is that of unexpectedness. The thief succeeds in making his entrance when he is least expected. So will it be on “the day of the Lord.” The idea is derived from the teaching of Christ, in which it is more fully expanded (see Mat 24:43, Mat 24:44). The “day of the Lord” which is to come thus suddenly is often referred to in the Old Testament. There it is a dreadful occasion of Divine manifestation for judgment, to be hailed with gladness when the judgment falls on the enemies of Israel and brings the chosen people deliverance, but to be regarded with terror by sinful Israelites (Amo 5:18). St. Paul regards it as the day of Christ’s second advent. But the general use of the expression in the Old Testament justifies us in applying the warning concerning it to various forms of the parousia.
I. THE DAY OF THE LOUD WILL COME UPON THE BENIGHTED AS A THIEF.
1. The day is unexpected. What did the heathen fellow-citizens of the Thessalonians know, or think, or care about the glorious advent of Christ, with its angel-summons and its trumpet-blast for which the Christians were watching so eagerly? The Jews did not expect the coming of the Son of man in the destruction of Jerusalem. The world does not think of the great judgment-day. Worldly people do not contemplate death.
2. No signs are given to the world of the dawning of this dread day. No lurid twilight betokens the tempestuous morning. It bursts suddenly upon a world slumbering in darkness. Science, philosophy, ordinary signs of the times, give no hint of it to the unspiritual. The biblical arithmetic of our modern prophets is always proving itself at fault. No bare intellectual calculation will ever discover the “day of the Lord.”
3. It is best for the world that no natural signs should herald this day.
(1) Christian people are better without the common signs which could be discerned by ordinary observation. To possess them would be to walk by sight. They are not given in order that faith may be exercised.
(2) The world at large is better without these signs. They would disarrange all the necessary pursuits of life. Some would cry abjectly for mercy without really repenting at heart. Some, as when plagues raged in cities, would fling off all restraints and plunge into a reckless course of debauchery. Some would coldly calculate the time allowed for sinning before they would need to bethink them of preparing for the end.
II. THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL NOT COME UPON THE ENLIGHTENED AS A THIEF. St. Paul makes an important distinction hereone that is not always recognized: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
1. No men are enlightened as to the date of the second advent. Even Christ did not know it. This he distinctly says (Mar 13:32).
2. Christians are enlightened as to the fact and the character of the second advent.
(1) They know that Christ will come again, which is more than the unbelieving world knows. They have Christ’s own promise to rely upon (Mat 24:30).
(2) They know that Christ will come unexpectedly. At least, they ought to know this if they read the teachings of Scripture on the subject.
3. The enlightenment of Christians will prevent the second advent from coming upon them like a thief. When we are prepared for a surprise, it is no longer a surprise. If we know a thing may happen at any time, its occurrence will not give us the shock of an unexpected event. Christ, longed for, eagerly desired, fondly expected, will come at an hour when his people know not, but not when his true disciples are unprepared to welcome him.W.F.A.
1Th 5:6-8 – Night and day.
St. Paul writes of two classes of people whose conditions correspond respectively to night and day. Many associations of gloom and evil and ignorance gather round the image of night, while their oppositesbrightness, goodness, knowledge, etc.are suggested by the idea of day. One advantage of the metaphorical language of Scripture is that it gives to us richer and more suggestive ideas than could be conveyed by bare abstract phrases. Subsidiary notions, like chromatic chords in music, give tone and richness to the main idea impressed upon us by a manifold and significant image. This is apparent with the use of the images light and darkness by St. John. St. Paul would have us think that the unspiritual and godless world is in general like a people of the night, while the Church is like a city of light. But probably the enlightenment of revelation, the daylight of spiritual knowledge, is the prominent thought in the mind of the apostle. For we find that in previous verses he has been referring to the shock of surprise to the world which will not be shared by enlightened Christians. On the fact of their greater enlightenment he now founds an exhortation to conduct worthy of it. The fuller light demands the holier life. Sons of the day’ have not the excuses of children of night.
I. THE CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT.
1. These are in darkness. The darkness is not confined to the illiterate. Nor is it confined to the inhabitants of heathen lands. People in Christian countries, who are familiar with the language of the New Testament, may be totally ignorant of its spiritual thought. Such people, though they sit in university chairs as professors of divinity, are blinded with midnight blackness. Was not Faust in the night?
2. Some of the children of the night sleep. These are the thoughtless and careless. They may be awake to secular business. But they slumber over moral and spiritual subjects. If they think of them at all it is with dreamy unconcern.
3. Others of the children of the night are awake only to evil. They spend the night in drunkenness. They hide shameful practices under the cloak of darkness.
4. The guilt of the children of the night is mitigated just in proportion as their benighting is not willful. If it arises from their unhappy circumstances, these unfortunate people cannot be condemned to the same doom as that of men who sin with their eyes open, or as that of those who willfully put out their eyes because they love darkness.
II. THE SONS OF THE DAY.
1. These are enlightened. They may not be brilliantly intellectual nor highly educated. They may be illiterate in human lore. But the “eyes of their hearts” (Eph 1:18) are opened. By faith and love and obedience they have come to know what God has revealed through his Spirit.
2. Sons of the day are expected to be wakeful. It is natural to sleep in the night. Sleep in the day betokens sinful indolence. The indifference of spiritually ignorant people is natural. That of Christians on whom has risen “the Dayspring from on high” is monstrous.
3. Sons of the day are expected to be sober. It is bad enough to be drunken in the night, but a debauch which is not shamed by the light of day proves itself to be scandalously depraved. There are excesses of passion, of self-will, and of worldly excitement which Christian people who have escaped the coarser sins fall into. These are not excusable in the children of the night, but they are much less excusable in the sons of the day. Sobriety becomes the enlightened Christian. This sobriety need not consist in Puritan rigor; much less should it partake of sourness, gloom, or prim formality. The sober Christian should remember that the typical citizen of the kingdom of heaven is a little child. Sobriety is just the opposite to unrestrained passionateness of pleasure or anger.
4. Sons of the day are provided with armor. The three gracesfaith, hope, and loveconstitute the armor of the Christian. They protect the two most vital partsbreast and head. Faith and love come together, for they interact. Faith working by love protects the heart. Hope, the hope of final deliverance from trial and temptation, is the helmet, because it protects the head by keeping the thoughts clear and calm.W.F.A.
1Th 5:9, 1Th 5:10 – The Divine appointment of Christians.
To some it may seem superfluous that a Christian apostle, writing to the members of a Christian Church, should say, “God appointed us not unto wrath.” But the import of this declaration is made apparent by what precedes. St. Paul has been contrasting the condition of the sons of light with that of the children of darkness. Among the latter are to be found all degrees of that conduct which bides under the cloak of nightfrom the carelessness that sleeps, down to the debauchery that is awake only to cause its own shame. Such things must bring wrath in “the day of the Lord” (1Th 5:2). But Christians are called to quite another life. They are not destined to wrath. Let them, therefore, not behave as the sons of the night, but in a way that is worthy of their call to salvation, with sobriety and confidence, strong in faith and love, and rejoicing in hope (1Th 5:8).
I. THE DIVINE APPOINTMENT TO SALVATION.
1. It springs from an august Source. God appoints to salvation. He has a hand in our destinies. We are not left to discover a way of escape from ruin for ourselves. God has interfered for our deliverance.
2. It is determined by a firm ordinance. God “appointed.” This word signifies prevision, arrangement, definite order. Redemption is not an irregular makeshift brought about by a hasty after-thought. It enters into the calm, eternal thoughts of God, and takes its place in the orderly disposition of the Divine government.
3. It aims at securing a large result. When God makes bare his arm and settles a solemn appointment, this must be for some adequate result. The object must be large to justify so large an action. Here it is nothing less than perfect deliverance from the ruin of sin. Salvation is not a technical phrase. It is too big a word to be defined by a theological sentence. It is deliverance all roundfrom root and fruit of evil, from wrath of justice, from penalty of law, from tyranny of Satan, from vice of heart, from judgment without, from corruption within.
4. It is to be personally accepted. We are appointed to “the obtaining of salvation;” for
(1) though ordained by God, it is not enjoyed by us until we have personal experience of it;
(2) this personal acceptance depends on our own will and act;
(3) the full consequences of the Divine ordinance of salvation are still future.
II. THE METHOD OF ACCOMPLISHING THIS DIVINE APPOINTMENT.
1. It is secured by the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus it is to be obtained “through” him, which means
(1) that the salvation itself is brought about by the action of Christ; and
(2) that it becomes ours when we are united to Christ.
Now each of these points has its own distinct position in the great work. Too often they are confused together. It is not necessary for us to comprehend all that Christ does. Our part is to see that we are united to him. He will do his part whether we understand it or not.
2. It involved the death of Christ for us. So much we know as a fact, whatever theory we may have as to the bearings of the crucifixion upon the process of redemption. And it is the great fact which is of supreme importance to us. It is unfortunate that abstract propositions concerning the theological aspects of it should confuse our vision of the simple, touching statement, “He died for us.”
III. THE END FOR WHICH THIS DIVINE APPOINTMENT IS MADE.
1. This is flint we may live in fellowship with Christ. Strictly speaking, the fellowship with Christ is given as the object of the suffering of death by Christ. But the earlier part of the passage shows us the Divine appointment of salvation as secured through Christ. Putting the two together, we see that salvation is worthless without the life in Christ, as well as that salvation is only possible to those who are in fellowship with Christ. Salvation is in itself a negative term. Bare deliverance is of little use unless some good is to be made of the liberty and immunity. While a fellow-creature is being saved from death by drowning we follow the process with intense interest; but after his deliverance we may not feel much concern with his future career. It may be that he will make but a poor use of his restored life. If we finished the story we might find the issue to be a pitiable anti-climax. God is guarding his great appointment from a similar catastrophe. They who are saved live in fellowship with Christ. Such a life is worth securing at the greatest cost.
2. This fellowship with Christ is independent of the greatest outward changes. It remains whether we wake or sleep, i.e. whether we live or die.W.F.A.
1Th 5:16-18 – Three universal exhortations.
The striking feature of these three exhortations is their universality. It is natural that we should sometimes pray and rejoice and give thanks. But certainly it does not come naturally to us to be always doing these three things. Nearly all men experience them at some time in their lives. Universality and continuance are to be the distinguishing characteristics of Christians in regard to them. It is, says St. Paul, “the will of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward” that these remarkable signs of grace should be seen in Christian people.
I. PERPETUAL REJOICING. Christians are, of course, subject to natural fluctuations of mood and feeling. They are also liable to the changes of fortune; and they are not callous to the perception of them. None of us can escape sorrow. Some good people have the greatest troubles. The only perfect Man who ever lived was “a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” How, then, can we rejoice always? St. Paul was too real and too sympathetic to mock the sorrowing with the glib words of cheer that shallow comforters administer. If he exhorted, he knew that the exhortation was practicable.
1. Christian rejoicing is a deep, calm joy. The surface may be ruffled while the depths are still; cross-currents may vary while the undercurrent runs steadily on. Surface pain may conceal sacred joys which it cannot destroy.
2. The secret of Christian joy is inwardness. These Christians do not depend on external circumstances for their happiness. The spiritual sources of rejoicing in the love and presence of God are not disturbed by earthly calamities. Often they give forth sweetest blessedness under the blows of affliction, as the waters flowed out when Moses struck the rock. If we want to rejoice always we must live always near to God. The first exhortation is closely connected with the second.
3. Christians are also helped to rejoice always by living in the future (2Co 4:17, 2Co 4:18).
II. CEASELESS PRAYING. It is needless to say that this does not mean that we are to be always on our knees. That is not possible; nor would it be right, for the work of life must be done. We are not only worshippers; we are servants.
1. Ceaseless praying is a continuous direction of the heart towards God. The essence of prayer is not the uttering of devout phrases. God does not hear us for our much speaking. Christ condemned long prayers, not because we could pray too much, but because they became superstitious as though a worth lay in their length, and also because they became formal when the spirit flagged. Prayer is essentially spiritual communion with God. This must be supported, however, and inspired by definite seasons wholly given to devotion. People often abuse the motto, Laborare est orare. It is only true of the prayerful man.
2. Ceaseless praying is attainable through the enjoyment of unbroken union with God. Our thought may not be always occupied with. God because the duties of life demand our attention, and its recreations are requisite for our health. But if we live near to God we shall have an abiding sense of God’s nearness, a quick uplifting of the heart to him in quiet moments, and many a secret talk with him even in our busiest hours.
III. UNIVERSAL THANKSGIVING. The difficulty is to make this honest. For it is an insult to God to utter words of thanksgiving while the heart is ungrateful. How can we thank God for pain, for loss, for things the good of which we cannot discover?
1. Universal thanksgiving is possible through the perception that under all circumstances blessings outnumber and outweigh troubles. We fix our thoughts on our trouble to the neglect of a thousand blessings. A fairer, wider consideration would call up more grateful thoughts.
2. Universal thanksgiving is possible by means of faith that holds troubles sent by God to be blessings in disguise. A mere consideration of the facts of life will not create it. But when we have come to believe that “the mercy of the Lord endureth for ever,” we have learnt the secret of universal thankfulness.W.F.A.
1Th 5:19 – Quenching the Spirit.
This verse is often misread. The context shows that it does not refer to the resistance of the sinner to the striving of the Holy Spirit in his heart. For the words immediately following, “despise not prophesyings,” indicate its reference to the work of the Spirit in inspiring utterances in the Church. Some prosaic, cautious people were inclined to check these enthusiastic utterances. Perhaps there were foolish would-be prophets who were making themselves and the Church ridiculous by their predictions about the second coming of Christ, a subject in which the Church at Thessalonica was then deeply interested. St. Paul does not wish his readers to accept all that is offered to them, for he says, “Prove all things.” But he fears lest, in the rejection of imposture, pretence, illusion, and misguided fanaticism, genuine teachings of the Divine Spirit should be discarded. Therefore he warns his readers against the danger of quenching the Spirit.
I. THERE IS A FIRE OF THE SPIRIT. It is fire that is not to be quenched. In Old Testament times a prophet was fitted for his mission by having a live coal from off the altar laid upon his lips (Isa 6:6). Christ, who came to baptize with the Holy Ghost, came also to baptize with fire. The Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost under the form of tongues of flame. God’s Spirit deepens feeling, kindles enthusiasm, rouses sacred passion, sets the soul aflame with love. He who has not felt the fire knows nut some of the strongest working of the Spirit, as the psalmist knew it when he said, “While I was musing the fire burned” (Psa 39:3).
II. THERE IS A DANGER LEST WE SHOULD QUENCH THE SPIRIT.
1. In our own hearts. If we check our more generous emotions, and harden ourselves with maxims of the world, and so immerse ourselves in grinding business cares that we have no thought or heart left for spiritual feelings, we shall quench the Spirit in ourselves. For us there will be no revelation. To us heaven will be black as midnight, silent as the grave. No warmth of devotion nor flash of spiritual perception will brighten up the dull and dreary chambers of our souls.
2. In others. Beware of checking young enthusiasm. It may err; but it had better err than die. Middle-aged common sense may not understand it. But this may not be the fault of young enthusiasm. It may result from the deadened perceptions of an unsympathizing mind. If we cannot follow, at least let us not check an inspiration which may be too high for our low sunken lives.
3. In Scripture. Absolutely, of course, we cannot quench the Spirit in Scripture. The Book remains, whatever we may think of it. But to ourselves we may quench the Spirit. A dry, hard critical examination of the Bible, ignoring all devotional, practical, and spiritual uses of it, will rob it of all inspiration for the reader. With some the fires are burnt out; they only grope among the ashes, and cannot find. a lingering spark. To such people the Bible is the most dreary book in the world. In order that the fire of inspiration should touch us, the fire of love and faith must be kept alive on the altar of our hearts.W.F.A.
1Th 5:21 – Private judgment.
This verse should be read in connection with the preceding passage. There we find a caution against quenching the Spirit and despising prophesyings by a narrow, cold, or prejudiced refusal to listen to the utterances of our fellow-Christians. Here we have a warning in the other direction, that we may guard against accepting every saying which professes to be the outcome of spiritual influences. We must try the spirits and accept each only as its claim is proven. But the universal character of the verse before us gives it a more general application to all teaching.
I. ST. PAUL RECOGNIZES THE RIGHT AND DUTY OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT. This fundamental principle of Protestantism is Pauline. The apostle is not writing to doctors of divinity or authorized teachers; he is addressing the whole Church (see 1Th 1:1). To the general congregation of Christians he says, “Prove all things.” The advice was in accordance with his own practice. He speaks of himself and his colleagues”by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2Co 4:2). Contrast the Koran with the New Testament. Mohammed dogmatizes; St. Paul reasons. We cannot shelter ourselves in error under the aegis of high authority. St. Paul abandoned with contempt the errors which he cultivated while he sat at the feet of Gamaliel. It is our duty as well as our right to have independent personal convictions.
II. THE REQUIREMENT OF INQUIRY IS UNIVERSAL. “All things.” We must take nothing for granted. Some of the surest convictions of one age are absolutely repudiated by another age. This statement becomes softened in practice by the ease and unconsciousness with which many things may be proved to us. We have not to carry on elaborate, original inquiries to establish every point of our belief. There are beliefs which are best proved without any such inquiry. But all must be proved. The reason is twofold.
1. Many specious delusions threaten to deceive us. There have been false prophets flattering the people with smooth words since the days of Jeremiah’s opponents. Truth and error are mixed. Forged coins closely resemble good sovereigns. Care must be taken to sift the chaff from the wheat.
2. Truth is most valuable to us when we have tested and proved it for ourselves. Then we understand it most clearly, believe it most heartily, and value it most highly. The few islands of truth for which a man has labored and fought through seas of difficulty are more precious to him than vast continents of truth which he inherits at second hand.
III. THE METHOD OF INQUIRY MUST BE EXPERIMENTAL. This is implied by the word “prove,” which means test, and is used of the assaying of precious metals. High it priori argument is a dangerous guide. The more tedious and less pretentious methods of observation and experiment, are safer. To this method Christ referred when, speaking of the various teachers who should arise, he said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” This does not mean that we are to taste the fruits, i.e. to adopt every system in order to discover its merits. We can observe its working in others. Therefore the first requisite in regard to any new teaching is patience. Give it time to reveal itself by its fruits, and do not pass a hasty judgment upon it. If you do not wait for the harvest, you may eel out wheat with tares. Next, careful inquiry is to be made; ideas and their fruits are to be tested. But two cautions should he borne in mind.
1. The experience and testimony of other people is evidence. We may not accept what any say simply on the authority of their official position. We who do not believe in the Pope of Rome would be very foolish if we adopted a little private pope of our own creation. But the authority of knowledge, experience, and ability is weight in evidence.
2. We must not assume that nothing is true but what we can prove. To do this is to dethrone the pope only to set up our own infallibility.
IV. THE END OF INQUIRY IS TO DISCOVER AND TO HOLD TO WHAT IS GOOD. It is not reasonable, nor happy, nor healthy to live in a permanent condition of unsettled conviction. It is useless to inquire at all if our inquiry is not to lead us to some decisive issue. When we have arrived at a truth, we need not repeat the process of seeking for it over and over again. Having proved certain things to be good, we may rest satisfied with the resultalways preserving an open mind for new light, for it is a great mistake to confound an open mind with an empty mind.
1. The result of inquiry should be to discover what is good. The good is more important than the beautiful, the pleasant, the convenient, the striking, and the novel.
2. When the good is discovered it should be held firmly. Then the seeker after light is to become the guardian and champion of truth.W.F.A.
1Th 5:23 – Complete sanctification.
In concluding his Epistle, and finishing his list of practical exhortations, St. Paul sums up his desires for the welfare of his readers by one comprehensive prayer for their complete sanctification.
I. CONSIDER THE NATURE OF SANCTIFICATION. The sanctification of a man makes a sanctuary of him. It consecrates him to the service and for the presence of God. It includes two things, the second of which is essential to the first.
1. Dedication. The sanctified man is dedicated to God. He yields himself up to the will of God. He is ready for any use to which God may put him. He lives to glorify God.
2. Purification. We have come to regard this as essentially the same as sanctification. It is not so, for Christ was sanctified (Joh 17:19), and he never needed to be purified. But the great hindrance to our consecration of ourselves to God or to any special Divine purpose, is sin. Therefore for us the one great preliminary is purification.
II. OBSERVE THE SCORE OF SANCTIFICATION. It is to be complete:
1. In range. It affects spirit, soul, and bodySt. Paul’s human trinity.
(1) Spirit. Our highest thoughts, aspirations, and efforts are to be sound, pure, and devoted to God.
(2) Soul. Our lower capacities of feeling and acting in our natural human life are to be equally sanctified. We cannot have a devout spirituality side by side with a carnal natural imagination. Moreover, our natural humanity, in its lower perceptions and energies, should be used for the service of God.
(3) Body. This is not only not to be degraded by vicious appetite, but to be used as an instrument for God’s service. It is unchristian to mutilate or weaken the body. This should be kept sound and healthy and vigorous for our Master’s use.
2. In intensity. The sanctification is to be thorough. Each part of our nature is to be “wholly” sanctified. We must not dedicate ourselves to God half-heartedly. He requires the whole surrender of our whole nature.
III. NOTE THE SOURCE OF SANCTIFICATION. It is in God. St. Paul turns from exhortation to prayer. Here and there little duties are directed by our own will and energy. But the grand work of complete purification and consecration must be God’s.
1. By means of his spiritual influence. He sanctifies by breathing into us his Holy Spirit. Contact with God burns out sin, and lifts the soul into an atmosphere of holiness.
2. By means of his providential care. St. Paul prays that God will keep his readers “entire”as we read in the Revised Version. He guards from too great temptation.
IV. LOOK AT THE END OF SANCTIFICATION. This is to be “blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1. Preparation for the second advent. We are required to be ready to meet Christ. The glad expectation should encourage every effort to prepare, lest we should be like the foolish virgins.
2. Blamelessness. Christ comes as Judge. How sad, after longing to see him, to meet, instead of a welcome from our Lord, only stern words of rebuke!W.F.A.
1Th 5:24 – God’s faithfulness.
Between the Divine call to salvation and the full accomplishment of salvation, the Christian needs faith to watch and wait, to work and walk through the darkness. The rock on which he must build this faith is God’s faithfulness.
I. CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD‘S FAITHFULNESS.
1. God performs what he promises. God promises in his Word. He promises most solemnly, and as it were by oath, in his covenants, e.g. with Noah, with Abraham, with Moses and Israel, and the new covenant sealed by the blood of Christ. God also promises by his actions. Natural instincts, such as the innate thirst for light, the yearning for immortality, etc., are the Creator’s promises written on the very being of his creatures. God’s faithfulness means that he will not belie these promises.
2. God is true to himself. His consistency and immutability are the grounds of his faithfulness. Because he is true to himself he will be true to us: “The mercy of the Lord endureth for ever.” If we are left to “the uncovenanted mercies” of God, these are large and sure enough to dispel all fear.
3. God justifies the confidence of his children. Faithfulness implies trustworthiness. If we commit our souls to God as to a faithful Creator, he accepts our trust, and thereby pledges his honor not to desert us.
II. GROUNDS FOR BELIEVING IN GOD‘S FAITHFULNESS.
1. Our knowledge of the nature of God. If we believe in God at all, we must believe in him as moral, good, nay, perfect. A weak and limited being may change and fail. God is too great to be faith less.
2. The testimony of those who can best speak for God. We judge of a person’s character largely on the evidence of those who have the most intimate acquaintance. Now we find prophets and saints who are nearest to God in thought and life most positive in asserting his faithfulness. Only they who dwell in the outer courts of his temple, or altogether away from his presence, venture to deny it.
3. The evidence afforded by the life of Christ. Christ was the great Revealer of the character of God; and Christ was faithful even to death.
4. The witness of history to the past faithfulness of God; e.g. the deliverance from Egypt, the return from the captivity, the advent of Christ, the presence of Christ in his Church to guide and strengthen and bless.
5. The confirmation of personal experience. Many have proved God’s faithfulness in their own lives. They can say, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his’ troubles.”
III. TEMPTATIONS TO DOUBT GOD‘S FAITHFULNESS.
1. The weary time of waiting. God does not fulfill his promises as soon as he makes them. Long intervals try our faith. So was it with the Jewish expectation of the Messiah; so is it with the Christian expectation of the second advent. The heart is sickened with hope deferred. But this doubt is as foolish as that of one who, seeing the morning to be long in coming, begins to distrust the promise of sunrise.
2. Appearances of unfaithfulness. Nothing tries love so painfully as the necessity of so acting as to provoke doubts of its own constancy. Yet the truest love will not shrink from this necessity when it arises. God seems to desert us, or he visits us in chastisement. It is his greater faithfulness that leads him so to act as to cloud our vision of his love.
3. The unexpected fulfillment of Divine promises. God does not always fulfill his promises in the way expected by us. Then we are disappointed. But the error was in our previous delusion, not in any change on God’s part. Moreover, the true Divine fulfillment, though at first less pleasing to us than our expectation of it, always proves in the long run to be far better.
IV. THE RESPONSE WHICH GOD‘S FAITHFULNESS SHOULD CALL FORTH FROM US.
1. Adoration. The faithfulness of God is one of the most worthy themes of worship.
2. Trust Faithfulness merits confidence, and it encourages it.
3. Fidelity. If God is faithful to us, he has a right to bid us be faithful.W.F.A.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
1Th 5:1-2. But of the times and the seasons, &c. “I have told you that the solemn day of universal judgment will certainly come; and have been endeavouring to lead your minds to those views of it which must be most reviving to every true believer: but concerning the particular times and seasons of this grand event, with which the oeconomy of Providence in this world is to close, and respecting some very wonderful occurrences which are to precede it, I am satisfied, my brethren, that you have no need of my writing to you largely. For you yourselves do already assuredly know, that wherever we come we make it one of our first doctrines, that the great day of the Lord, to which our eyes and hearts are so much directed, comes just like a thief in the night, and will surprise the inhabitants of the world in general by a dreadful alarm, when they are sleeping in the deepest security.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Th 5:1 . ] but concerning the times and periods, i.e. concerning the time and hour , sc. of the advent. The conjunction of these two words frequently occurs; comp. e.g. Act 1:7 ; Dan 2:21 ; Ecc 3:1 . denotes time in general; , the definite point of time (therefore usually the favourable moment for a transaction). See Tittmann, de synonym. I. p. 39 ff. Paul puts the plural , because he thinks on a plurality of acts or incidents, in which partly preparation is made for the advent (2Th 2:3 ff.), and partly it is accomplished. That, moreover, the apostle, although he has not treated of the advent in itself, but only of an entirely special objection regarding it, feels necessitated also to make the commencement of the advent a subject of explanation, is an evident intimation that this point also formed the subject of frequent discussion among the Thessalonians. Yet on account of the relation of the second Epistle to the first, the opinion that the return of Christ was immediately to be expected was not yet diffused.
] a praeteritio , as in 1Th 4:9 . The reason why the readers did not require instruction on the time and hour of the advent, is neither because instruction concerning it would not be useful to them (Oecumenius: , , Theophylact, and others), nor also because no instruction can be given concerning it (Zwingli, Hunnius, Estius, Fromond., Flatt, Pelt, Baumgarten-Crusius, Koch, and others), but because the Thessalonians were already sufficiently acquainted with it from the oral instruction of the apostle. Accordingly the apostle adds
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
1Th 4:13 to 1Th 5:11 . A comforting instruction concerning the advent. This is divided into three sections (1) 1Th 4:13-18 removes an objection or a doubt; (2) 1Th 5:1-3 reminds them of the sudden and unexpected entrance of the advent; and lastly, in consequence of this, 1Th 5:4-11 is an exhortation to be ready and prepared for the entrance of the advent.
(1) 1Th 4:13-18 . A removal of an objection. The painful uneasiness, which had seized on the Thessalonians concerning the fate of their deceased Christian friends, consisted not, as Zachariae, Olshausen, de Wette, Hofmann, Schriftbew . II. 2, 2d ed. p. 649 f., and in his H. Schr. N. T. ; Luthardt, die Lehre von den letzten Dingen , Leipz. 1861, p. 138 f., and others assume, in anxiety lest the deceased should only be raised at the general resurrection of the dead, and would thus forfeit the blessedness of communion with the Lord in the interval between the advent and this general resurrection (“the so-called reign of a thousand years,” Olshausen). There is no trace in our section of a distinction between a first and a second resurrection; and the idea of a long interval of time between the resurrection of believers and the resurrection of the rest of mankind (Rev 20 ) is, moreover, entirely strange to the Apostle Paul, as it is evident from 1Co 15:22 ff. correctly understood that the resurrection of unbelievers takes place in immediate connection with the resurrection of Christians. Rather it was feared that those already dead, as they would no more be found alive at the advent of Christ, would receive no share in the blessedness of the advent, [53] and accordingly would be placed in irreparable disadvantage to those who are then alive. See exposition of particulars.
[53] Calvin: Vitam aeternam ad eos solos pertinere imaginabantur, quos Christus ultimo adventu vivos adhuc in terris deprehenderet.
On 1Th 4:13-18 , see von Zezschwitz in the Zeitschr. f. Protestantismus und Kirche , new series, Erlangen 1863, p. 88 ff.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
1Th 5:1-11
2. But when He will come, we know not; let your walk, therefore, be at all times watchful and sober.
1But of [concerning, ] the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write [it be written]1unto you: 2for yourselves know perfectly that 3the2 day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when [When]3 they shall say [are saying] 4: Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon4 them, as [even as, ] travail upon a woman [her that is, ] with child, and they shall not [in no wise]5 escape. 4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that [the, ] day should overtake you as a thief.6 [For]7 5ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day [all ye are sons of light, and sons of day]:8 we are not of the night [of night, ], nor of darkness. 6Therefore [So then]9 let us not sleep, as do others [as do also the rest];10 but let us watch and be sober. 7For they that sleep sleep in the night [by night, ]; and they that be [are] drunken are drunken in the night [by night, ], 8But let us, who are of the day [being of day],11 be sober, putting on [having put on]12 the breastplate of faith and love, and, for an helmet, the hope 9of salvation. For [Because, ] God hath not appointed [did not appoint, ] us to wrath, but to obtain [to the obtaining of, ] salvation by 10[through, ] our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for13 us, that, whether we wake or sleep [are watching or sleeping],14 we should live together with Him. 11Wherefore comfort yourselves together [comfort one another, ], and edify one another [one the other, ], even as also ye do.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. (1Th 5:1-2.) But concerning the times and the seasons, &c.Here Paul treats of the Advent from the other side, and exhorts us to be at all times composed and ready for the day of the Lordequally remote from anxious calculation or impatient expectancy: Now He comes! and from the drowsy security which says: Not for a long time yet! How much of erroneous opinion, if any, existed in Thessalonica (but see 1Th 5:2); whether they had caused a question to be put to him, and so forthon these points we know nothing very precisely. The Second Epistle gives evidence of greater excitement in the church, not as if the First Epistle were responsible for that, but at most the misunderstanding of it, and, in particular, the want of attention to our present section. As here, the two expressions and stand together at Act 1:7, and there too the Lord says: . In like manner Act 3:19; Act 3:21 puts the by the side of the , &c. (Whereas Mat 24:36 and Mar 13:32 connect and ). According to the old lexicographers and general usage (see Wetstein), the difference is that denotes duration, spaces of time, periods; , points of time, crises, the times appropriate to a decision, the epochs of a catastrophe. The plural is especially worthy of notice, as pointing to the possibility of a repeated alternation of periods of development and crises of decision, and so to a possibly longer duration. On this subject ye have no need that it be written unto you (see on 1Th 4:9); at 1Th 4:13 the Apostle found it necessary to remedy an ; here is a recurrence merely of the need of confirmation, as at 1Th 4:9. They have no need, not because there is no instruction to be given, not because they are already watchful (Bengel), but because, of what was sufficient for them to know, they themselves had already an exact, positive certainty; to wit, not of the when, that being altogether uncertain, but of something quite different, namely, the quality of the Coming, the suddenness of its arrivalthe , instead of the . The would lead us rather to expect a fixing of the time; there is something surprising in this turn: ye know preciselythat the time cannot be known! Indeed, that lies in the nature of the case; the day is to be a surprise to the whole world. There is no determination of the timeonly of the signs of the time. This is implied in the distinction: as a thief in the night; at a time, therefore, when the secure are asleep, resting without care. If, instead of wishing to calculate dates, regard is had (and inquiry directed, 1Pe 1:11) to the consideration of the signs (Mat 16:3), this is not forbidden, but required, by the uncertainty of the crisis. The day of the Lord is a synonym of the Advent, 1Th 4:15; but the former expression makes more prominent the idea of the judgment-day, and stands opposed to the time preceding, as of prevailing night. Then too it may be of longer duration than a day of earth, so that one can perceive that the Advent brings the dawn of that day. Already the prophets speak of the day of Jehovah, in which He manifests Himself in His Divine glory; Joe 1:15; Joe 2:11; Joe 3:19 [of the Hebrew arrangement; in the English Bible, 14]; Isa 2:12; Zep 1:15 (Vulg.: Dies ir, dies illa); Eze 13:5; Mal. 3:2, 19, 23 [English Bible: Mal 4:1; Mal 4:5]. The reference is, indeed, partly to particular, preliminary judgments; but more and more to the conclusive final judgment. In the New Testament Christ is the Lord, who will appear in the day of the Lord, 1Co 1:8, and often. This day comesoxymoron: as a thief in the night; so it is said of the day in 2Pe 3:10; of the Lord Himself, Mat 24:43 and the parallel passages; Rev 3:3; Rev 16:15; is quite strongly resumed by :15 in such a manner it comes; Hofmann: such is the manner of its coming (not, as Bengel would have it: so as the following verse declares). It comes; the suddenness is not implied in the, present (Bengel); that might mean: surely and in the near future; it is better taken as a doctrinal present: such is the manner of it, without regard to the time, as 1Co 15:35. [Alford: It is its attribute, to come. Ellicott: Its fixed nature and prophetic certainty.J. L.] The figure of the thief seems to be an ignoble one; but the Lord is not so nice. The comparison is striking, and describes the coming not merely as something sudden and unexpected, but also as unwelcome, terrifying for the worldly-minded, plundering them of that to which their heart clings, stripping them of their possessions (Hofmann). In the ancient Church there was connected with this comparison the notion, that the Advent would take place in the night, and still more precisely on Easter-night, like the Passover in Egypt; hence the Vigils (Lactantius and Jerome, in Lnemann). It deserves to be noted, how closely the Apostle in his preaching at Thessalonica must have conformed to the eschatological discourses of Christ in Matthew 24 and the parallel passages; though there is no evidence for Ewalds opinion, that Paul had given the church a written document.
2. (1Th 5:3.) When they are saying: Peace and safety, amp;c. would explain the ; would be a transition from to the description of a false peace: But this will happen precisely then. It is best to regard the description as going forward by asyndeton, and as in its very form representing the swiftness of the occurrence. When they are sayingthese for whom it comes as a thief, the ungodly-minded, the people who have no everlasting hope (1 Thessalonians 4); Christians are people of no such drowsy slumberings (1Th 5:4). The human heart longs for peace; but, where it is unreconciled to God, there it lulls itself in treacher ous hopes and semblances of peace, Jer 6:14; Eze 13:10. Peace, and a safety without danger,16 scil. . In the passages just cited from the prophets is not added, but in the Sept. Deu 12:10, and frequently, this word is well translated by . At that very time they are on the point of destruction, which comes on them as a sudden thing (comp. Luk 21:34); as travail ( for , Winer, 9. 2. note 1); , as in 1Th 4:15. Very suitable is the comparison to a woman with child, and in the prophets it recurs repeatedly, Isa 13:8; Isa 21:3; Isa 26:4; Jer 6:24, and often. The point of comparison is the sudden, inevitable occurrence of the rending pain, the mortal anguish; also perhaps (Calvin, Rieger): that they bear within themselves the cause of their sorrow; but not (as De Wette would have it) the imminence of the Advent, on the ground that a pregnant woman knows, not indeed the day and hour, but yet the nearness of the period. That is not what Paul would here emphasize, but, on the contrary, worldly men are to be represented as taken altogether at unawares; they might know that it is unavoidable, a little sooner or later; but they do not even think of the matter, it falls on them suddenly; moreover, the signs of warning are for them as if they were not, till of a sudden it becomes manifest that they were pregnant with their own ruin. (The view of the Greek interpreters also does not differ from this.) The figure is applied in another direction, when used to depict the pangs of the new birth with their favorable issue, Joh 16:21; Luk 17:33.17
3. (1Th 5:4-5.) But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, &c.Ye, in opposition to those who are saying Peace; brethren, blessed society! with , not , is necessarily indicative. He does not enjoin, but asserts. It is a comforting encouragement: Ye are in such a position, and that by a Divine right, that ye do not have to fear the day as a thief; ye are not in darkness, held fast, abiding. De Wette and others correctly: It is wrong to understand by darkness merely a want of intellectual insight, or simply moral corruption in practice ; both sides cohere throughout in the case of light and darkness. Ye are not therein, this is not equivalent to [Jowett, Webster and Wilkinson], not even in Gal 5:17; though in the Greek of the New Testament the idea of finality appears to be somewhat weakened (Winer, 53. 6), it is yet everywhere present in some degree. Here it does not, as Lnemann supposes, indicate the purpose of the Divine punishment,18 but, as Hofmann expresses it, that the being in darkness would be required in order to such a surprise;De Wette: in order to have you overtaken;it would be the unintentional purpose of being in darkness; comp. , 1Th 2:16. Therefore, even if the day does come suddenly, still it brings to you no terror or loss (there is somewhat of greater emphasis in , over against the secure ones of 1Th 5:3, when, as in a series of uncials, it appears prefixed;19 yet the Vatican and Sinai manuscripts are for the common position after ). Only on such as are in darkness does the day come as a thief; it is no longer said: the day of the Lord; nor yet: as a thief in the night; because now the day (the day of the Lord, it is true) is put simply as the time of light breaking in on the darkness (Hofmann). The various reading (not confirmed by the Sinait.) goes farther. Grotius, Lachmann, De Wette, Ewald, favor it as the more difficult reading, the sense being (De Wette), that the time of light, triumphant truth and righteousness, overtakes thieves, who ply their trade in the night; Ewald: On you the day need not come, as on those who creep in the dark, as if ye yourselves were night-loving thieves, robbing God of His gifts and His glory. The variation, however, is too generally neglected by the other manuscripts, versions, and Fathers, and the change of the thought, likewise, is too abrupt, it being only at 1Th 5:5; 1Th 5:8 that we find the transition from the narrower to the wider conception of . The reading is, therefore, properly rejected also by Lnemann and Hofmann.for (nearly all the uncials give ), confirmatory of the previous negative by the opposite positive declaration: all ye are sons of light. He thus expresses his cheering confidence to a church converted with such wonderful quickness: Ye are so indeed on the assumed premises; saints, entered into a condition of salvation; though still deficient, and therefore not without need of fresh incitement (1Th 5:6 sqq.). Sons, , is a Hebraism, signifying not merely the fact of belonging to, but descent, a specific nature: who from light have their life, Luk 16:8; Joh 12:36 (comp. Mat 8:12, sons of the kingdom, there indeed degenerate). Light is spoken of in another application in the parables of the virgins, and of the servants with their lamps (Matthew 25; Luk 12:35).And sons of day; a strengthening synonym, connected with also at Joh 11:9-10; over against night and darkness (chiasmus). It is not generally asked how these synonyms differ. It will be correct to say that day is the time of prevailing light, night the hour of darkness; thus light and darkness denote the nature of the disposition, day and night the corresponding outward circumstances, the ruling power, and so either the kingdom of light (of spiritual discipline) or the dominion of darkness (of ungodliness). Accordingly, where the inner man is in the light, there also is a wakefulness suitable to the dominion of light in bright day; but where in darkness, there he seeks also the night, a dark environment. Here we have the transition from the day of the Lord (1Th 5:2) to day in general. Moreover, the day of the Lord is essentially light, before which no darkness endures (Lnemann); it puts an end, at last, to the darkness. The continuous state of day () is by the day of the Lord (as ) brought to its crowning consummation. Only the man, who is a son of day generally, can expect with comfort also the day of the Lord, which is helpful to that, in which consists the nature of the sons of day, in obtaining the victory.We are not of night, &c.; we Christians generally; the Apostle includes himself with them (, C.1 F. G., is a conformation [to the of the first clause]); the genitive now expresses, according to the Greek idiom, belonging to night (the ruling darkness) or to darkness (in our inner nature); comp. Winer, 30. 5; 1Co 6:19; Heb 10:39.
4. (1Th 5:6-8.) So then let us not sleep, &c.On his good confidence: God has wrought His work in you, he now rests the powerful exhortation: Let us also, then, not sleep (Ewald: fall asleep). There is cordiality, and encouragement for the readers, in his including himself with them in this. Of the sleep of sin he speaks also in Eph 5:14; thereby denoting the sluggish, dull, confused nature, unsusceptible of what is Divine, indifferent to salvation; as it is found in the rest (1Th 4:13), those not Christians, the children of darkness.But let us watch; , a later word, formed from , as ( from . What is meant is clearness of spirit, the freshness of the sharpened sense, vigilant waiting for the Lord, circumspection over against the enemy.And he sober, is frequently joined with watchfulness, 1Pe 5:8, and often. As intoxication in the literal sense disposes to sleep, so is it here understood in a comprehensive signification. The innate weakness and sluggishness of the flesh of itself inclines to drowsiness (Mat 26:41); therefore should we avoid what would involve us in the guilt of self-stupefaction, and of thus aggravating this tendency. Already Chrysostom remarks on the other side: Sobriety is the augmentation of watchfulness.Forextends over 1Th 5:7-8, and confirms the summons of 1Th 5:6 : truly it becomes us not, to do as the children of night. In the night they sleep and are drunken; the latter referring to the custom of nocturnal symposia. It is too far-fetched, when Koch and Hofmann would from the first understand the night only figuratively: With those who sleep, and get drunk, it is night; no; when it is night, they do so; Bengel: a die abhorrent. But, of course, what is said in the first instance literally is meant as a simile: Where night surrounds them, there they haunt, and indulge their dull, sluggish tendency; nay more, they make the case still worse, by practices which subject them more and more to the power of darkness.But let us, as belonging to the day, where light rules, walking in day toward the great day, be sober; here on the tide of the positive exhortation, this only is repeated, which it is incumbent on us to do, lest we deprive ourselves of watchfulness.Having put on; they who watch are also clothed; they who are called to the conflict are equipped with armor. The inward, courageous preparation is the main thing; but that impels to the use of the right means. As those who have put on, &c., we should shun intoxication, which disables the combatant. The Christian, called to the fight of faith (1Ti 6:12), must be ready for assaults, and watch as a soldier at his post. To put on the new man (Eph 4:24)the vesture which comes from above, and, remaining not on the outside, swallows up the old nature (1Co 15:54)is the same thing as to put on Christ (Rom 13:14). That is his adornment, the covering of his nakedness, the robe of righteousness (Isa 61:3; Isa 61:10). But, with reference to the conflict, it is his armor (Isa 59:17; Rom 13:12; 2Co 10:4; and especially, for details, Eph 6:13 sqq.). In the last passage mention is made of the breastplate of righteousness, and, along with that, of the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation. In our passage the figure has a somewhat different turn, such figures being developed freely and variously, while the fundamental thought is the same. Here the breastplate is called the breastplate of faith (on which, indeed, rests our righteousness) and love; the genitives are genitives of apposition: consisting in. And, for a helmet (this strictly in apposition), the hope of deliverance, salvation; genitive of the object, as in 1Th 1:3; Rom 5:2. Salvation is to be taken comprehensively, a complete redemption from sin and death. The equipment is here carried out only on the defensive side. Sobriety is of no avail, unless we are armed with faith, love, hope. Sobriety keeps us circumspectshows us what we have to do; but it is only with faith, &c., that we can accomplish it.
5. (1Th 5:9-10.) Because God did not appoint us to wrath.He confirms the : we have such a hope; that was the highest point of what was said before. Let us be stoutly prepared, for indeed God wills our salvation. This being Gods will, we may have hope. It is certainly, therefore, a confirmation of 1Th 5:8 (against Hofmann, who translates by that, and finds in it the substance of the hope, as in Rom 8:21; but there has not its substance, as here (), already defined). God did not appoint us, the Hebrew (Jdg 1:28, Sept.), ordained, appointed to (Joh 15:16; 1Ti 1:12; 1Pe 2:8). (Hofmann: brought into being, in order to perishan unimportant distinction.)To wrath, that is, to the endurance of it (1Th 1:10; 1Th 2:16; 1Th 4:6). God wills not our destruction, but our salvation. In His entire purpose there is nothing to harm us, and so neither will there be at the appearing of His day.But to the obtaining of salvation; , to make to remain over; in the middle: to save for ones self (1Ti 3:13); hence the substantive: gain, acquisition (2Th 2:14; Heb 10:39). In a peculiar sense, 1Pe 2:9 : people of the Divine possession [comp. Eph 1:14], Here too Theophylact would understand it thus: that He should keep us as a possession for Himself. But this does not suit the addition of .Through Jesus Christ, might be connected with , but more obviously with ; Luther: to possess [besitzen] salvation through Jesus Christ. Hence no anxiety in the expectation of the last things.Who died for us; that is the foundation of our . . as in 1Th 4:14 of our hope; He died for us, for our benefit (), or on our account (). Neither one nor the other is precisely equivalent to , in our stead. But there may be cases where the cannot otherwise be accomplished than by a doing , e. g. Phm 1:13; and it is really that stands in the discourse, Mat 20:28 (comp. 1Ti 2:6). As the object of Christs dying, the final aim of the redemptive work, Paul names a powerful consolation in death (thus closing the discussion begun at 1Th 4:13).That, whether we are watching or sleeping, we should live together with Him. That , though after a preterite, governs the subjunctive, is explained by Winer, 41. b. 1. This reacts on , so that here also, as with (Rom 14:8), the subjunctive is used (see Winer, p. 263). It is impossible that the watching and sleeping can here be taken in the previous ethical sense, for in the case of sleeping the would be forfeited. To understand it literally [Whitby, and others] would yield a poor result: whether at the Advent we are watching in the day-time or lying asleep in the night. It must therefore be equivalent to the and , 1 Thessalonians 4; in meaning, the same as Rom 14:8; is in this sense without authority; for , comp. Mat 9:24; Dan 12:2, Sept. De Wette finds in this change of senses a violation of the rule of perspicuity. But what the Apostle means has always been evident. Von Gerlach, in deed, remarks, not without reason, that the sleep of death, under which we still suffer, is itself a part of the curse of the sleep of sin. But provided only that we do not in the sense of 1Th 5:6, let us securely = (1Th 4:13). There is in this a certain joyous, triumphant pleasantry: Whether at that time we have our eyes still open, or must previously close them, we are (as the result of Christs death) to live together with Him. By Bengel would understand: Simul, ut fit adventus; but the necessary supplement would be, not: together, when He comes, but: together, when He lives, and that does not suit. Others (Lnemann) take by itself,=, all together, one with another (Rom 3:12);20 and separate from it ; but Hofmann is right in connecting , as in 1Th 4:17; together with Him, united with Him. It may still be asked, whether the statement means: We are now already living in fellowship with Him, and they likewise who are asleep are joined to Him; or: In that day, when His life shall appear, we shall appear as living with Him, whether His coming finds us watching in life, or sleeping in death. But the latter view, it is obvious, brings the thought to a more completely satisfactory termination. Again, as compared with (1Th 4:17), the expression shows a fine, truly Pauline, advance: To be with Him will be the true life out of death.
6. (1Th 5:11.) Wherefore encourage [comfort] one another; as in 1Th 4:18; only here, it would seem, the moral incitement to watchfulness is more prominent.21 Lnemann finds the idea of consolation, after 1Th 5:9-10, preponderant here also. In the Greek there is no such sundering of the two ideas.And (as the consequence of the ) edify one the other, promote one anothers establishment on the foundation laid. Grotius: Monete verbis, dificate exemplo; but Judges 20 comprehends instruction and example. One another; he does not in the first instance urge official obligation, as if everything was to be turned over on that; rather, that follows first at 1Th 5:12. , along with , is good Greek. To read 22 is unnecessary, and indeed improper (see, against it, Lnemann).Even as also ye do, comp. 1Th 4:10. Noble young church, where such things can be said! Calvin: With this addition he avoids the appearance of reproving them for negligence; and yet he has exhorted them, because human nature at all times needs the spur. Go on so! A pithy energy, a morning freshness, a joyous hopefulness, are observable throughout the entire section.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. (1Th 5:1-3.) In exact accordance with Christs teaching, the Apostle declines all close definition or calculation of the times, and points instead to the signs, which the disciples of Christ are required to consider. For those secure in their ungodliness there are no signs; on them the thief comes suddenly, the pangs seize them all at once. But they themselves are for a sign to believers who watch and observe. It is the triumph of the cause of God, that even the despisers must render it the service of their testimony. Stupidity in Divine things, security and self-confidence, increase more and more; as it was, says Christ, in the days of Noah and Lot (Luk 17:26 sqq.). They ate, they drank, they married and were given in marriage; thus Jesus does not once upbraid them with the scandalous crimes which they committed, but with that very thing in their way of life which was commendable, but which becomes hideous, when nothing higher can be told of an age; when its whole life is a worldly life, in which God is no longer taken into the account. A great increase of outward power and culture, reliance on science, industry, the conquest of the external world, lead to an arrogance that no longer admits its dependence on God. Les questions de disette ne sont que des questions de transport, they sometimes say. And because the threatened judgment so long delays, people regard it as a fable; mundum statuent ternum (Bengel). But this is just a fulfilment of the prophecy, which gives previous indication of this very disposition.Vietor: We will therefore carefully avoid saying: The Lord will come within such and such a time; He will come during our life on earth. But we will just as carefully avoid saying: He will not come during our life on earth.How great is the injury done to the Christian hope by the first of these errors, in consequence of the rebuffs to which it is inevitably exposed, was made plain to many in the year 1836. It is, moreover, quite conceivable, that the course of historical revelation has somewhat changed the form of faiths expectation, and accustomed many to think more of the day of the individuals death than of the day of general judgment. The former, as well as the latter, comes on unavoidable, indeed, but unannounced. In this there is certainly a narrowing of the horizon, when regard to the universal consummation is too much lost. It were improper at each text to distinguish: Here the destruction of Jerusalem is meant; here the day of the individuals death; &c. The prophetic view rather comprehends all judgment under the figure of one day, and yet itself shows us that the fulfilment is distributed over a series of acts. Thus at one time (Rom 2:16), the prospect of the day of judgment is (without discrimination) held out also to the heathen, who yet, according to the complete scheme in the Apocalypse, do not appear before the judgment-seat till the last resurrection; at another time, on the contrary (Joh 6:39-40; Joh 6:44; Joh 6:54), the (without the distinction of a first resurrection) is described as the day of resurrection for believers also. We say therefore, that with the Advent the last day appears; but how long and how far it shall reach, on that point there is nothing prejudged; and instead of unprofitable, if not pernicious, calculations, it is the observation of the signs that is helpful in the practical life.
2. (1Th 5:4-5.) The Scriptural ideas of light and darkness are quite different from those of the world. According to the latter, the thoughts become clear through enlightenment of the understanding, the life serene through art and culture; and very many revile the witnesses of the gospel dullards who binder the light, and the faith as a dark view of life. Now a truly evangelical sense will not shut itself in against any kind of knowledge. But (Heubner). The illumination, of which unbelief makes its boast, is darkness. The light of knowledge in Divine things is inseparably connected in reciprocal influence with the earnestness of sanctification; just as, vice versa, the corruption of the will and the blinding of the perception act reciprocally on each other.Rieger: To be in darkness is to stick fast in ignorance, security, earthly-mindedness, indifference to the Lord Jesus, enmity against the light, repugnance to having ones hidden things come to the light, and in this condition to be willing to remain (Joh 3:19 sqq.). But God is light, and begets us by the word of truth to be children of light, exciting in the hidden man a delight in the truth, which allows the evil there to be reproved by the light, and that which is wrought in God to be made manifest, thus withdrawing itself from the evil, and establishing itself on the good; and in this way is acquired a pure heart, and a single eye, to which the light is pleasant as its element, and so to a believer as a child of light, even the day, which makes all clear, becomes supportable and desirable (1Jn 1:5; Jam 1:17; Joh 1:4; Joh 8:12; Rom 13:11 sqq.; 1Co 3:13; 1Co 4:5; in the Old Testament, Isa 9:1 sqq.; Isa 60:1 sqq.).For Christians the day has already dawned inwardly, though it does not yet prevail without. As children of light, they are now already doing that which shall be their everlasting employment, in the day which will make all things manifest. But there is implied an earnest work of renewing, if a man is to rejoice, and not be alarmed, at such a manifestation (Mat 10:26).It is also too little thought of, how great is the dignity of our calling, that is expressed in the fact, that the highest splendor of earthly glory, even of that of the earthly intelligence, is described as dark night, when contrasted with the brightness that shall be revealed in us; ov silenzio e tenebre la gloria che paas (Manzoni).
3. (1Th 5:6-8.) The exhortation: Ye are so and so by a Divine right, and know that ye are so; let us, then, also act accordingly! is peculiarly powerful. Just so Rom 6:11-12; Col 3:3; Col 3:5. First: Reckon yourselves to be what the operation of God has made of you; the righteousness of faith, which He imputes to you, do ye also impute to yourselves; then: Walk also accordingly. By this resting on the work of Gods grace the Sisyphus-toil of self-righteousness is abolished, and man is cheered, while at the same time his zeal also is stimulated. Here the exhortation is directed towards watchfulness and sobriety. From the tendency of the new nature, which has come into being through the Divine operation, proceeds watchfulness; and the task proposed is, that we cherish it by vigilance over ourselves, and so strive after a symmetrical and stable character. Intoxication, on the other hand, is an aggravation of the bias of the old nature, for which we ourselves are responsible. It arises from giving ones self up to worldly glory, to the honors and possessions, the enjoyments and cares, the doctrines and tendencies of those who ask not after God. In 1Co 15:34 the denial of the resurrection is described as a debauch.23 It is a judgment, when God pours out to a people the cup of trembling.24 We should seek for holy, Divine reality, not ideal mist and foam of words. Whoever gives himself up to sleep and stupefaction, seeks for the night; that is, he screens and hides himself in the ruling power of the ungodly nature, attaching himself to companions of his own dark character. Where circumstances are suitable, and it is the hour of darkness, he gives his disposition the reins. An apostolic description of sobriety, on the other hand, we read in 1Co 7:29 sqq.
4. (1Th 5:8.) Under the figure of armor, we have here a recommendation of faith, love, and hope, these three, as in 1 Corinthians 13; faith and love, as having a peculiar intimacy of mutual connection, as in 1Th 1:3; 1Th 3:6. Theophylact refers the love to Christ and our fellow-men; Theodoret only to our neighbors, and in such a relation this might be more in accordance with Pauls usage (Gal 5:6; Gal 5:14; over against 1Jn 4:10; 1Jn 4:19 sqq.). Faith lays hold of the forgiveness of sins, and the strength of Him who is stronger than the world (1Jn 4:4); love overcomes the evil with good (Rom 12:21), and precludes the rise of selfishness, bitterness, wrath, and hatred. The one cannot be without the other. Genuine faith is not a harsh dogmatism; it dwells only in a heart touched by the love of God, so that of necessity love grows out of it. A faith that does not justify itself in the way of love is not the genuine; it is a reliance on notions, instead of a personal trust in the God of grace; and through the inflation of knowledge it lays itself open to the enemy. A love, moreover, that loves not the life that is born of God (1Jn 5:1-2), but spares the ungodly nature, is not genuine love. Only where faith and love are really and intimately one, is the Christian heart (the centre of all inward and outward life) secured within the shelter of this breastplate against all condemnation, against all thrusts of the accuser, against all devilish assaults. And that the blows shall not reach the head, that the Christian is able without fainting to carry it aloft in suffering and affliction, that he should have the power, in steadfast endurance and with clear thought, of looking the enemy boldly in the eyethis comes to pass only when he is helmeted with the hope of an eternal consummation of salvation and deliverance. Deliverance from perditionsuch is the Christians salvation. Without the hope of it, faith and love also would be maimed. For a God that gave man no eternal hope were at the same time a God, that did not make Him the object of His eternal love, and would be no such God as man could personally trust in.
5. (1Th 5:9-11.) Here again the work of God and mans doing are intimately conjoined, the former with the latter (see Note 3). By Gods appointment Christ died for us, that we might live with Him. Through Jesus Christ we may and ought to make salvation our own. He has accomplished it, and on this foundation alone can there be any mention of our obtaining it. We do not, however, realize its benefits as a matter of course, ex opere operato Jesu Christi, but only when we allow what he has done for us to work in us. To this end is mutual exhortation directed.
6. (1Th 5:11.) The Scriptural idea of edification is something different from the sickly, effeminate excitement of the feelings, that is spoken of here and there as edifying. The thing to be done is to build the temple of God, to establish it on the right foundation, to fashion and fit stone upon stone (1Co 3:16; 1Co 8:10;25 Eph 2:20 sqq.; 1Pe 2:4 sqq.; Judges 20). Comp. Zahn, Etwas ber den biblischen Begriff der Erbauung, Bremen, 1864. The question concerns the dwelling of God in humanity, and the mutual adjustment, therefore, of living stones for a habitation of the Spirit. This is, on the one side, a work of God, which becomes ever more inward; on the other side, it is mans labor, with an ever-growing fulness of earnestness, and with spiritual means throughout; both directed to the end that it may some day be said: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men! (Rev 21:3). By word and by walk should we further one another herein. But it is certain that many an occasion, when without being obtrusive we might exhort, comfort, edify our neighbors, is lost by us through shyness and sluggishness, for want of faith and love.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1Th 5:1. Zwingli: The Lord hides from us His day, that we may continually watch, and never relax through ease and the immoderate desire of pleasure; Calvin: that we may stand ever on the watch; [Burkitt: upon our watch every hour…. No hour when we can promise ourselves that He will not come.J. L.]Roos: Men frequently indulge a prying spirit in regard to truth submitted to them, and would know more than is needful for them.Heubner: An unreasonable curiosity about that, which God has concealed, always betrays a heart not yet occupied with the mans concern.Von Gerlach: Nowhere do the Apostles declare that the time is long.Diedrich: There is here no use in fancies of all sorts, but much harm is easily done.
1Th 5:2. Te know perfectly, What? That the time cannot be known.Quesnel: All knowledge respecting the day of judgment consists in believing, that we cannot know it. With this we must learn to be satisfied; it is really sufficient.Stockmeyer: That the Lord cometh, let us hold all the more firmly in those very times, when there is the least appearance of such a thing ever happening.To the careless it might be agreeable to know the hour when the thief comes, that they might sleep quietly till then, and have themselves wakened at the time. For such as love the Lord there is no need of knowing it; for He comes, indeed, unawares to them also, but not as a thief, but as a Friend and Saviour.[If the approach of this day of the Lord is fitly compared to that of a thief in the night, stealing upon us we know not when, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning (Mar 13:35), this seems to preclude the idea of a thousand years of millennial glory before its arrival.J. L.]
1Th 5:3. Calvin: We regard as fabulous what does not at once meet our eyes.Their thought is: It will not fare so ill with me; I shall be sure to look out for myself; am sharp enough.Heubner: The treacherous peace of the unbeliever is founded on an absolute denial of the Divine judgment, or on the hope of its great remoteness. In this peace is involved the shocking consideration, that God is looked upon as an Enemy to be dreaded, with whom one is never happy but when let alone by Him.Chrysostom: Seest thou how the devil has succeeded in making us our own enemies?Livingstone found negro tribes who cried: Give us sleep! when they meant peace; and the explanation of it is their dread of nocturnal assaults. But the Christians peace must be a wakeful one.Berlenburger Bibel: There is no surer snare of Satan, than when he is able to suggest mere thoughts of security. Of these is also that: God will not take matters so strictly; He is truly merciful.Roos: The world would not be helped at all by an exact definition of the seasons and times; it would not believe them, and would sleep on in its darkness.Sthelin: if, then, thou dost feel no disquiet, and dost perceive no danger, thy misery is so much the greater.Disquiet the way to true quiet. [Barnes: One of the most remarkable facts about the history of man is, that he takes no warning from his Maker.J. L.]
Starke: Here in the world the ungodly escape many a deserved punishment, since God looks on, and they who should have punished the wrong often fail to do so; but in that great judgment-day there will be no longer any forbearance.Heubner: Here man has still the power of withdrawing himself from God, to wit, from God calling, warning, arousing; but whoever thus withdraws himself from Him, will fall into His hands as a Judge and an Avenger.To flee from God, or to flee to Christ; such is the distinction between a wicked, worldly fear and the salutary fear of God.Already the precursory judgments are frequently characterized by a sudden precipitation; so the flood, Sodom, Belshazzar.Rieger: How much better and more advisable is it, to yield ones self to the salutary pangs of travail, in which a man is born again to a living hope!
[A spirit of indifference to this subject of the Lords coming, no proof of piety or Christian wisdom. The topic was full of interest for the children of God in the apostolic age; and the grounds of that interest cannot have been impaired by the lapse of eighteen centuries.J. L.]
1Th 5:4. It is a strong consolation, when one can truly be reminded of the standing of a believer, wherein by the grace of God he is set.Calvin: Nulla densior caligo quam Dei ignorantia.Stockmeyer: The Lords return breaks in on the horror of the darkness of sin, whether of a more refined or grosser form, like the clear, all-revealing day, when everything appears in the true light just as it is.Christians, who can claim the Saviour as their own, are able to say: For us, He may come when He will; we are looking for Him all the time.It is indeed a great thing to be in such a state of readiness, as is independent of all knowledge about the time and the hour.
1Th 5:5-6. Stockmeyer: Happy the church, to which it can be said: Ye are all of you children of light and children of day! Am I so likewise? How do we come to be so? no otherwise than by a judgment, when we allow ourselves to be judged by the light of God.Zwingli: We are ashamed to act badly before men, and are not ashamed to sin before God. Such is our wickedness and folly. Where faith exists in force, we shall be more ashamed before the all-seeing God, who is the Eternal light, than if a man saw us.He who seeks the darkness involuntarily betrays his inward feeling, that he is not yet hidden (Psa 139:11-12).A special characteristic of the darkness is, that sins are no longer called by their own names.Berlenburger Bibel: Wickedness must no longer be called wicked, but merely an infirmity.Starke: The man who has not Christ, the Sun of righteousness, walketh in darkness.But whoever inwardly walks in the light, for him the coming of the Lord serves to perfect his blessed condition with regard also to what is outward.Stockmeyer: Blessed thought, that the perfect day is coining, when all darkness disappears, and we shall be altogether light.[W. Jay: Three distinctions may be here made. Heathens are the children of night. The Jews were all children of the dawn. Christians are the children of the day.Leighton: Base night-ways, such as cannot endure the light, do not become you. O that comeliness which the saints should study, that decorum which they should keep in all their ways, , one action like another, and all like Christ, living in the light… in the company of angels, of God, and Jesus Christ.J. L.]
1Th 5:6. [Watchfulness and sobriety; frequently thus joined together, and commonly also introduced in immediate reference to the coming of the Lord; comp. Mat 24:42 sqq.; Luk 21:34-36; Rom 13:11-13; Php 4:5; Tit 2:11-13; 1Pe 1:13.Christian sobriety, not torpor or inactivity.See John Howes sermon on this verse.J. L.]
1Th 5:7. Eph. 1Th 5:11 : Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.Luk 21:34; 1Co 5:11; 1Co 6:10; Rom 13:13 : Drunkenness too belongs there; not merely the figurative, but also the literal.Zwingli: Wine in excess stirs up many a commotion and passion in the body; it is oil in the fire. Similar to it is the deliberate fostering of the passions generally.Heubner: Drowsiness is contagious.It drags down like a leaden weight; so likewise in what is spiritual. Criminal outbreaks are not the worst; insensibility for the things of God, forgetfulness of God, proud self-sufficiency are more wicked.
1Th 5:8. Roos: Art thou watching? Art thou sober? Is it day or night with thee? What is most required is, that we regard ourselves and all outward things with a spiritual eye, and avoid filling and loading body and soul with eating and drinking, impotent science, proud conceits, cares, &c.
The Christians position that of a soldier.Rieger: With a warrior much depends on the inward courage and the confident self-possession; but, besides that, much also on the equipment assumed, and the use made of it.Calvin: Against our powerful foe weapons are needed.The same: Semivictus est qui timide ac dubitanter pugnat.Chrysostom: Not even for one brief moment are we permitted to sleep; for at that very moment the enemy might come.Stockmeyer: We are not at liberty to take our ease, to unclasp the breastplate, and lay aside the helmet; otherwise the enemy spies out the unguarded moment,Zwingli: Munimentum pectoris adeoque vit fides est.Roos: Art thou clothed with the armor of faith, if a trial or a doubt will disconcert thee? and with the armor of love, if an offence will exasperate thee?
Art thou impatient, when thou findest not thy satisfaction in the world? or hast thou put on the helmet of the hope of salvation?
[Faith and love:An unloving faith, or a love that springs not from faith, no protection.J. L.]
1Th 5:9. Roos: God has not made us Christians, servants of His, partners of His kingdom, that we should still after all experience His wrath.Stock-meyer: The day of the Lord is one of two things, a day of wrath or a day of salvation. [Burkitt: It is the greatest piece of folly imaginable, from the appointment of the end to infer the refusal or neglect of the means.W. Jay: He has not appointed us to wrath. He might have done it. We deserved it, &c. But to obtain salvation. Four things with regard to this appointment: the earliness of itthe freeness of itits efficiencyits appropriation.J.L.]
1Th 5:10. Chrysostom: The mention of Christs death shows us whence come our weapons, faith, love, hope.[W. Jay: How well does the Apostle call the Redeemer our life! Three modes of expression: we are said to live by Himto Himwith Him.The same: Proof of Christs omnipresence and divinity;the happiness of Christians. Voltaire more than once says, in his letters to Madame du Deffand, I hate life, and yet I am afraid to die. A Christian fears neither of these. He is willing to abide; and he is ready to go. Life is his. Death is his. Whether we wake or sleep, we shall live together with Him.J. L.]
1Th 5:11. Heubner: It is a rare thing to hear aught about people reminding one another of the last day. The warning voices are regarded as importunate disturbers and enthusiasts.Theophylact: Dost thou object: I am no teacher? Teachers alone are not sufficient for the admonition of all.Sthelin: Blessed therefore are the congregations, which in Christian order devoutly observe this rule. Blessed also the teacher, who is able on this point to commend his hearers.That contempt for the teachers office is not the right thing is shown presently, 1Th 5:12.
1Th 5:9-11. [The source, the method, and the nature of the gospel salvation.J. L.]
1Th 5:1-11. This section is one of the pericopes for the so rarely occurring 27th Sunday after Trinity.Heubner: Christian deportment in view of the last day: 1Th 5:1-6, its nature; 1Th 5:7-8, grounds of obligation; 1Th 5:9-11, blessed results.Kolb: Most men are pleased with themselves. He whose eyes are opened knows that by reason of the fall we are by nature children of darkness, and only through regeneration are to become children of the light. Our high destination is, to go forth from the darkness, and press forward into light. God already looks on that as in existence, which is only in process of growth.
Footnotes:
[1]1Th 5:1.[ . Ellicott, Webster and Wilkinson: ye have no need to be written unto. Vaughan better: that anything be written to you. The impersonal form of the Greek is preserved by most of the Latin, and by several German, versions. Comp. 1Th 4:9, Critical Note 1.Sin.1 Thessalonians 1 : ; but a correction omits .J. L.]
[2]1Th 5:2.[Sin. and] most of the old authorities omit [and so Lachmann, Tischendof, Wordsworth, Ellicott. Alford brackets] the article , without change of the sense; comp. Winer, 19, 1, 2; Php 1:6; Php 1:10; Php 2:16. (Hofmann correctly against Lnemann.)
[3]1Th 5:3.The of the Recepta has in its favor only a few of the older authorities; B. D. E. Sin.2 give but the preference is due to , A. F. G., Vv., also Sin.1, as the simplest reading, which afterwards received various glosses, [ is the reading of Griesbach and the critical editors generally, except that Lachmann adds in brackets.J. L.]
[4]1Th 5:3.[. Comp. E. V., Mat 6:2; Mat 6:5-6; Mat 6:16; Mat 10:19; Mat 10:23; &c.; Sin.: .J. L.]
[5]1Th 5:3.[ . Comp. 1Th 4:15, Critical Note 8.J. L.]
[6]1Th 5:4.Lachmann has only A. B. and the Coptic for his reading, , which gives no good sense, and has a too one-sided (Alex.) support.
[7]1Th 5:5.[Sin. and] almost all the uncials [and critical editors] give .
[8]1Th 5:5.[ . The is emphatic. For sons, see E. V., 2Th 2:3, and generally.J. L.]
[9]1Th 5:6.[ . Revision: Pauls favorite, though unclassical, (no one else uses it; and he, I think, 12 times)serves for the vivid introduction of an immediate (. See Hartung, p. 422, &c., and Passow, s. v.) inference (o) from what he has been saying; very much as our Why then! is sometimes employed.J. L.]
[10]1Th 5:6. [cancelled by Lachmann, and bracketed by Riggenbach] is wanting in A. B. Sin.1; most of the authorities have it. [Comp. 1Th 4:13, Critical Note 4.]
[11]1Th 5:8.[ . Revision: , without the article, is not used to specify a class; it rather assumes, as the ground of the exhortation, what had just been asserted, 1Th 5:5.The same: Throughout this context the distinction is maintained between , day, that element of light, and of free, joyous activity, to which Christians now belong, and , [] , the perfect day, the day of the Lord, for which they are still waiting.J. L.]
[12]1Th 5:8.[;Christian sobriety being the result of this gracious endowment. Vaughan: A single act, never to be undone.The words are wanting in Sin.1, but supplied by correction.In 1Th 5:9, for , the latest editors generally give , with Sin. B. D.3 E. &c.J. L.]
[13]1Th 5:10.Instead of (for, in Javor of) B. and Sin. give (on account of, with reference to). [Sin.1 Thessalonians 2 : .J. L.]
[14]1Th 5:10.[ , at the Lords coming. The former verb occurs 23 times in the New Testament, and, excepting in this instance, the idea of watchfulness, vigilance, is always expressed in our English version. Here, where the word is used of the believers who shall be living when the Lord returns, it is assumed that they will also be watching for that event.J. L.]
[15][The order of the Greek being=The day of the Lord as a thief in the night so cometh.J. L.]
[16][Ellicott: betokens an inward repose and security; , a sureness and safety that is not interfered with or compromised by outward obstacles.J. L.]
[17][Lukes word, indeed, is ; but in neither of the above texts is there, I conceive, any reference, strictly speaking, to the new birth, but rather to the experience of the regenerateto the blessed result of Christian sorrow and self-sacrifice.J. L.]
[18][Alford: The purpose in the Divine arrangement: for with God all results are purposed. Ellicott: The purpose contemplated by God in His merciful dispensation implied in …. It may be doubted, however, whether we have not here some trace of a secondary force of (see on Eph 1:17), the eventual conclusion being in some degree mixed up with and observing the idea of finality; comp. notes on Gal 5:17.J. L.]
[19][ . So A. D. E. F. G. Vulg., &c. Lachmann, Ellicott.J. L.]
[20][So Jowett, Alford, Ellicott, with others named in Revision; which see.J. L.]
[21](German: sprechet einander zu; whereas at 1Th 4:18 the phrase is, trstel einander. See Revision.J. L.]
[22][Revision: No edition has , the construction adopted by Faber (ad unum usque, to a man), Whitby (into one body), Rckert (who understands by , Christ).J. L.]
[23][Greek: Awake as from a fit of drunkenness.J. L.]
[24][TaumelbecherLuthers word at Zec 12:2.J. L.]
[25][The word which our English Version here renders emboldened is .J. L.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 2203
WATCHFULNESS ENJOINED
1Th 5:1-8. Of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they, that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breast-plate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
ON an occasion like the present, when God is so loudly speaking to us by his providence, I am anxious that his voice, and his alone, should be heard amongst us: for as, on the one hand, it would be peculiarly difficult so to speak, as to cut off all occasion for misconception, so, on the other hand, filled as your minds are with holy fear and reverence, it will be far more grateful to you to sit, as it were, at the feet of Jesus, and to hear what the Lord God himself shall say concerning you [Note: Preached before the University of Cambridge, on occasion of the death of the Rev. Dr. Jowett, Regius Professor of Civil Law; Nov. 21, 1813.]. Methinks, in the spirit of your minds you are all, even this whole congregation, like Cornelius and his company, saying, Now are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God: yes, I would hope that each individual is now in the posture of Samuel, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. To meet these devout wishes in a suitable manner, I have chosen a portion of Scripture, which contains all that the occasion calls for, and bears the impress of Divine authority in every part. It comes home to our business and bosoms: it turns our minds from the distinguished individual whose loss we deplore, and fixes them on our own personal concerns; proclaiming to every one of us, Prepare to meet thy God.
The point to which it more immediately calls our attention, is, the coming of our Lord to judgment. The precise period when that awful event shall take place has never been revealed either to men or angels: it is a secret which the Father has reserved in his own bosom. This only we know concerning it, that it will come suddenly and unexpected to all them that dwell on the earth: and therefore it is our wisdom to be always standing prepared for it. We believe indeed that it is yet far distant from us, because there are many prophecies which yet remain to be accomplished previous to its arrival: but to us the day of death is as the day of judgment; because as death finds us, so shall we appear at the bar of judgment; and as the tree falleth, so will it lie to all eternity. We shall therefore speak of death and judgment as, in effect, the same to us; and we shall notice in succession,
I.
The uncertainty of the period when doath shall arrive
II.
The character of those who are prepared for it
III.
The duty of all in reference to it
I.
As to the uncertainty of the period when death and judgment shall arrive, the idea is so familiar to our minds, and the truth of it so self-evident, that, as the Apostle intimates, ye have no need to have it brought before you. Yet though universally acknowledged as a truth, how rarely is it felt as a ground of action in reference to the eternal world! We look into the Holy Scriptures, and there we see this truth written as with a sun-beam. We behold the whole human race surprised at the deluge in the midst of all their worldly cares and pleasures; and all, except one little family, swept away by one common destruction. A similar judgment we behold executed on the cities of the plain: and these particular judgments are held forth to us as warnings of what we ourselves have reason to expect. Our blessed Lord says to us, Be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of Man cometh: yet we cannot realize the thought, that death should ever so overtake us. Nay, we even try to put the conviction far from us, and, in every instance of sudden death that we hear of, endeavour to find some reason for the mortality of our neighbour, which does not attach to ourselves. When, as in the instance now before us, a person is snatched away suddenly, and in full health, as it were, we are constrained for a moment to reflect, that we also are liable to be called away: but it is surprising how soon the thought vanishes from our minds, and how little permanent effect remains. We are told, that our danger is in reality increased by our security; and that we are then most of all exposed to the stroke of death, when we are most dreaming of peace and safety; yet we cannot awake from our torpor, or set ourselves to prepare for death and judgment. We are not altogether unconscious, that destruction, even inevitable and irremediable destruction, must be the portion of those who are taken unprepared; and yet we defer our preparation for eternity, in the hope of finding some more convenient season. We see our neighbour surprised as by a thief in the night; and yet we hope that notice will be given to us. We even bear about in our persons some disorders or infirmities which might warn us of our approaching end; and yet we look for another and another day, till like a woman in travail, we are unexpectedly seized, and with great anguish of mind are constrained to obey the call.
Now whence is it, that notwithstanding we know perfectly the uncertainty of life, we are so little affected with the consideration of it? If there were no future state of existence, we might account for it; because men would naturally put away from them any thoughts, which might diminish their enjoyment of present good. But when this life is only a space afforded us to prepare for a better, and when an eternity of happiness or misery depends on our improvement of the present hour, it is truly amazing that we should be able to indulge so fatal a security. One would think that every one would be employing all the time that he could redeem from the necessary duties of life, in order to provide for his eternal state: one would think that he should scarcely give sleep to his eyes or slumber to his eye-lids, till he had obtained a clear evidence of his acceptance with God, and had made his calling and election sure. But this is not the case: and therefore, evident as the truth is, we need to have it brought before us, and enforced on our minds and consciences by every argument that can be adduced.
Permit me then to remind those who are living in open sins, that they know not how soon they may be called into the presence of their God, with all their sins upon them. And how will they endure the sight of their offended God? Will they, when standing at his tribunal, make as light of sin as they now do? Will they prevail on him to view it as mere youthful indiscretion, and unworthy of any serious notice? No, in truth: if any could come to us from the dead, they would not designate their crimes by such specious terms as they once used respecting them; but would tell us plainly, that they who do such things cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Think then, ye who make a mock at sin, how soon your voice may be changed, and all your present sport be turned to weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth!
Nor is it to open sinners only that we must suggest these thoughts: we must remind the moral also, and the sober, that death may quickly terminate their day of grace: yes, we must put them in remembrance of these things, though they know them, and be established in the belief of them. We mean not to undervalue sobriety and outward morality: no; we rejoice to see even an external conformity to Christian duties. But more than outward morality is wanting for our final acceptance with God. We must have a penitent and contrite spirit: we must seek refuge in Christ from all the curses of the broken law: we must be renewed in the spirit of our mind by the sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost: we must be brought to live no longer to ourselves, but unto Him who died for us, and rose again. These things are absolutely and indispensably necessary to our salvation: the form of godliness, how far soever it may carry us, will profit us nothing at the bar of judgment, if we possess not the power of it. How awful then is the thought, that, in a few days or weeks, those persons who are most respected and revered amongst us for their wisdom and learning, for their probity and honour, may be called to give up their account to God, before they have attained that vital godliness which must constitute their meetness for heaven!
But indeed the uncertainty of life speaks loudly to the best of men; it bids them to stand upon their watch-tower, and be ready at every moment to meet their last enemy: for, as mere morality will profit little without real piety, so the lamp of outward profession will be of no service, if it be destitute of that oil which God alone can bestow.
It is a matter of consolation to us, however, that some are prepared for death, however suddenly it may come.
II.
Who they are, and what their character is, we now come to shew
The Scriptures every where draw a broad line of distinction between the true servants of Christ, and those who are such only in name and profession. Thus, in the words before us, they are called Children of the light and of the day, in opposition to those who are of the night and of darkness. Doubtless this distinction primarily referred to their having been brought out of the darkness of heathen superstitions, into the marvellous light of the Gospel of Christ. But we must not suppose that it is to be limited to this. The ways of sin and ignorance are justly denominated darkness, no less than idolatry itself: and the paths of faith and holiness may be called light, whether we have been brought into them suddenly from a state of heathenism, or gradually, under a profession of Christianity itself. Now of the Thessalonians he could say, in the judgment of charity, that they all were children of the light and of the day. The state of profession was very different then from what it is at this time: people did not embrace Christianity unless they had been strongly convinced of its truth; and the moment they did embrace it, they strove to walk worthy of their high calling, and to stimulate each other to adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things. The persecutions they suffered obliged them to have constant recourse to God in prayer for his support; and to watch carefully over their own conduct, that they might not give any just occasion to their adversaries to speak reproachfully. Hence their religion was vital and practical, and very different from that which obtains among the professors of Christianity at this day. Now men are reputed Christians, though they have their affections altogether set upon the world, and their habits differing but little from those of heathens. A man may be a Christian, though he drink, and swear, and commit evils, which ought scarcely to be so much as named amongst us. A man may be a Christian, though he have no real love to Christ, no sweet communion with him, no holy glorying in his cross and passion. But ye have not so learned Christ, if so be ye have heard him, and been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. The distinction between light and darkness is the same as ever: and those only who walk according to the example of the primitive Christians, can be called the children of the light and of the day. But those, whoever they be, are prepared for death: to them, though it may come suddenly, it cannot come unlooked for: it cannot overtake them as a thief.
And such was that exalted character, whom it has pleased our God so suddenly to take from the midst of us. In whatever light we view him, he was a bright and consistent character, an ornament to his profession, an honour to his God. It is the peculiar excellence of religion, that it operates in every department of human life, and stimulates to an exemplary discharge of every duty. It is superfluous for me to mention, with what unwearied diligence, and distinguished ability, he filled the high office which had been assigned him in this university; and how uniform have been his exertions, for upwards of thirty years, for the advancement of learning, the maintenance of order, and the due regulation of all the complicated concerns of the university at large. Long, long will his loss be felt, in every department which he had been called to fill. To him every one looked, as his most judicious friend, in cases of difficulty; assured that, whilst by his comprehensive knowledge he was well qualified to advise, he was warped by no prejudices, nor biassed by any interests: he ever both advised, and did, what he verily believed to be right in the sight of God. His superiority to all worldly considerations was strongly marked throughout the whole course of his life; more indeed to his honour, than the honour of those, by whom such eminent talents and such transcendent worth have for so long a period been overlooked.
Had these excellencies arisen only from worldly principles, though they would have shed a lustre over his character, and conferred benefits on the body of which he was a member,they would have availed little as a preparation for death and judgment. But they were the fruits of true religion in his soul. He had been brought out of the darkness of a natural state, and had been greatly enriched with divine knowledge. He was indeed mighty in the Scriptures; his views of divine truth were deep, and just, and accurate; and, above all, they were influential on the whole of his life and conduct. He not only beheld Christ as the Saviour of the world, but relied on him as his only hope, and cleaved to him with full purpose of heart, and gloried in him as his Lord, his God, and his whole salvation. Nor was he satisfied with serving God in his closet: no; he confessed his Saviour openly; he was a friend and patron of religion, he encouraged it in all around him; he was not ashamed of Christ, nor of any of his faithful followers. He accounted it no degradation to shew in every way his attachment to the Gospel, and his full conviction that there is salvation in no other name under heaven than the name of Jesus Christ. He was, in the highest sense of the word, a child of light: and verily he caused his light so to shine before men, that all who beheld it were constrained to glorify God in his behalf.
To him then death came not as a thief in the night. Though it came suddenly, so suddenly that he had not the smallest apprehension of its approach, it found him not unprepared. His loins were girt, his lamp was trimmed, and he entered, a welcome guest, to the marriage-supper of his Lord.
O that we all might be found equally prepared, when the summons from on high shall be sent to us! O that we may have in our souls an evidence, that we also are children of the light and of the day! Happy indeed would it be, if the state of religion amongst us were such, that we might adopt with truth the charitable expression in our text, Ye all are children of the light and of the day. But if we cannot do this, we have at least reason to be thankful, that real piety is certainly more prevalent amongst us than it was some years ago; that prejudices against it have most astonishingly subsided; and that, where it does not yet reign, its excellence is secretly acknowledged; so that on this occasion we may doubt whether there be so much as one amongst us, who does not say in his heart, Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.
Let me then proceed,
III.
To point out the duty of all, in reference to that day
We should not sleep as do others. Those who put the evil day far from them, can live unmindful of their God, and regardless of the sentence that he shall pass upon them. They can go on dreaming of heaven and happiness in the eternal world, though they never walk in the way thither, or seek to obtain favour with their offended God. But let it not be thus with any who desire happiness beyond the grave. If ever we would behold the face of God in peace, we must improve our present hours in turning to him, and in labouring to perform his will. If the prize held out to those who wrestled, or ran, or fought, could not be obtained without the most strenuous exertions, much less can the glory of heaven be obtained, unless the acquisition of it be the great object of our lives. It is true indeed that the Son of Man must give unto us the meat that endureth to everlasting life; but still we must labour for it with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength. To expect the end without using the means, is to reverse the decrees of heaven, and to deceive ourselves to our eternal ruin. We must watch and be sober. It is an inordinate attachment to earthly things that keeps us from the pursuit of heavenly things. The cares, the pleasures, the honours of this life, engross all our attention, and leave us neither time nor inclination for higher objects. This grovelling disposition we must resist and mortify. We must set our affections on things above, and not on things on the earth; and must not only keep heaven constantly in view, but must so run as to obtain the prize. The men of this world affect darkness rather than light, as being more suited to the habits in which they delight to live. They that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken, (if not lost to all sense of shame,) are drunken in the night: but we, if indeed we are of the day, shall delight to come forth to the light, that our deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God. We should study the Holy Scriptures, not merely to acquire a critical knowledge of them, (though that is good and necessary in its place;) but to find what is the will of God, and what is that way in which he has commanded us to walk: and instead of being satisfied with doing what shall satisfy the demands of an accusing conscience, we must aspire after a perfect conformity to the Divine image, and endeavour to walk in all things even as Christ himself walked.
But our duty is described in our text under some peculiar images, to which we shall do well to advert. We are supposed to be as sentinels, watching against the incursions of our spiritual foe. For our protection, armour of heavenly temper has been provided: for a breast-plate, we are to put on faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. We might, if it were needful, mark the suitableness of these various graces to the protection of the part which they are intended to defend. But as this would lead us rather from our main subject, we content ourselves with a general view of these graces, as necessary for the final attainment of everlasting salvation. We must put on faith, without which indeed we are exposed to the assault of every enemy, and destitute of any means of defence whatever. It is in Christ only that we have the smallest hope of acceptance with God; and in him alone have we those treasures of grace and strength which are necessary for a successful prosecution of our spiritual warfare: He is made of God unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. But how must we obtain these things from him? It is by faith, and by faith only that we can receive them out of his fulness. This then is the first grace which we must cultivate; for according to our faith all other things will be unto us. To him we must look continually; renouncing every other confidence, and trusting altogether in him alone. In the fountain of his precious blood we must wash our guilty souls, or, as the Scripture expresses it, Our garments must be made white in the blood of the Lamb. To him, under every conflict, we must cry for strength; for it is his grace alone that can be sufficient for us; and through his strength communicated to us, we shall be able to do all things. Yet, notwithstanding all our exertions, we shall find that in many things we daily offend; and therefore, under every fresh contracted guilt, we must look to Him who is our Advocate with the Father, and the propitiation for our sins. Hence it is that all our peace must flow; and hence we shall find a satisfactory answer to the accusations of every enemy: Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died; yea rather, that is risen again, who also maketh intercession for us.
But together with this we must cultivate love; which indeed is the inseparable fruit of faith; for faith worketh by love. Whether we understand love as having God or man for its object, or as comprehending both, it is a good defence against our spiritual enemies. For, if we truly love our God, who shall prevail upon us to offend him? If we love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, who shall separate us from him? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No; in all these things we shall be more than conquerors through Him that loved us. And if we love our fellow-creatures as ourselves, we shall strive to benefit them to the utmost of our power; and account no sacrifice great, which may contribute to their welfare: we shall be ready to suffer all things for the elects sake, and even to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Behold then, what a defence is here against the darts of our enemies! Who shall be able to pierce our breast, when so protected? We may defy all the confederate armies of earth and hell: for I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the protection of our head there is an helmet provided, even the hope of salvation. Let a man have been begotten to a lively hope in Christ Jesus, to a hope of that inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us, and will he barter it away for the things of time and sense? or will he suffer his views of heaven to be clouded by the indulgence of any unhallowed lusts? No; he will contend with every enemy of his soul: he will crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts: he will lay aside every weight, and the sins that most easily beset him, and will run with patience the race that is set before him, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of his faith. Instead of forgetting the great day of the Lord, he will be looking for, and hasting unto, the coming of the day of Christ. Though willing to live for the good of others, he will desire rather for himself to depart, that he may be with Christ, which is far better than any enjoyment that can be found on earth. Not that he will desire so much to be unclothed, because of any present troubles, as to be clothed upon, that mortality may be swallowed up of life.
This armour then must be procured; this armour must be worn; and, clothed in it, we must watch against all our enemies.
And though others sleep, yet must not we: yea, if all around us should be drowned in sleep, yet must not we give way to slumber: if to be sober and vigilant must of necessity make us singular, we must dare to be singular, even as Elijah in the midst of Israel, or as Noah in the antediluvian world. If it be true that none but those who are children of the light and of the day are ready for death and judgment, let us come forth to the light without delay, and endeavour to walk in the light, even as God himself is in the light. His word is light: it shews us in all things how to walk and to please him: it sets before us examples also, in following whom we shall by faith and patience inherit the promises, as they now do. Let this word then be taken as a light to our feet, and a lantern to our paths: and let us follow it in all things, as those that would approve themselves to the heart-searching God. Let us not listen to any vain excuses for delay. We see, in the instance before us, how suddenly we may be called away, and how soon our day of grace may come to a close. And how terrible will it be, if that day should overtake us as a thief! Let us be wise: I beseech you all, by the tender mercies of God, to have compassion on your own souls, and to work while it is day, knowing that the night cometh wherein no man can work.
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
CONTENTS
The Apostle closeth his Epistle in this Chapter. He describes the striking Difference of the Lord’s coming, as he will appear to his church, and to the Ungodly. He again exhorts the Church to be comforted: and closeth the Epistle with his Apostolic Blessing.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
(1) But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. (2) For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. (3) For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
The Apostle in the close of the former Chapter, having so blessedly spoken to the Church, concerning the great day of God; begins this, with showing the dreadful effects, the Lord’s coming would have on the minds of the ungodly. He makes use of two very striking similitudes, to represent the horrible distress, with which the graceless, and unawakened, will be overtaken in that day. First, that of a thief, coming at the dark hour of midnight into a man’s house, when all are asleep, in apparent quiet, and safety; to surprise, and murder the unconscious inhabitants. And, secondly, that of a woman in travail, whose agonies, for the time, are supposed to be the sharpest our nature is capable of feeling; and are therefore called (dolores tergiversantes) thundering pains. And this latter is rendered still more striking in resemblance, because the pains of child-bearing, are the fruits of our first mother’s transgression, and entailed upon all her daughters, passing through the hour of nature’s extremity. Gen 3:16 . And the sinner’s day of wrath, is the fruit also, of our own transgression. Oh! who shall conceive, or imagine, the horrors of that day, to every Christless son, and daughter of Adam? Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? What paleness, and convulsion of soul, will that sentence induce; depart ye cursed! Mat 25:41 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Th 5:4
Some injustice has been done to the Christian creed of immortality as an influence in determining men’s conduct Paul preached the imminent advent of Christ and besought his disciples therefore to watch, and we ask ourselves what is the moral value to us of such an admonition. But surely if we are to have any reasons for being virtuous, this is as good as any other. It is just as respectable to believe that we ought to abstain from iniquity because Christ is at hand, and we expect to meet Him, as to abstain from it because by our abstention we shall be healthier or more prosperous. Paul had a dream an absurd dream, let us call it of an immediate millennium, and of the return of his Master surrounded with Divine splendour, judging mankind, and adjusting the balance between good and evil. It was a baseless dream, and the enlightened may call it ridiculous. It is anything but that, it is the very opposite of that Putting aside its temporary mode of expression, it is the hope and the prophecy of all noble hearts, a sign of their inability to concur in the present condition of things.
Mark Rutherford, The Deliverance, pp. 59, 60.
References. V. 4. Expositor (5th Series), vol. ix. p. 304. V. 5. L. De Beaumont Klein, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. p. 379. V. 6. C S. Home, The Soul’s Awakening, p. 143. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii. No. 64; vol. iii. No. 163, and vol. xvii. No. 1022. Expositor (6th Series), vol. iv. p. 190.
1Th 5:8
Faith and love are the coat-of-mail. They cannot be protected by anything external to themselves. Trust in God is its own defence in an age of doubt and temptation. Love to men carries with it an invincible power which is of itself sufficient to overcome harshness and cynicism. All that faith and love require is to be put on. Their vitality depends upon their exercise. If worn daily, they will protect the believing man against indifference to the claims of God and men; they will produce a sensitiveness to God and an alertness to the needs of others which safeguard the soul against the deadly wounds of apathy. To exercise a vigilant faith in God, to practise consideration, unselfish help, and self-sacrifice, these, Paul would suggest, are the one safe attitude for a Christian to assume. Occupied with these, he cannot be surprised or overthrown.
Faith is, in fact, its own security, if it is a living faith. It may and does gain support from the fellowship of those who are like-minded. That is one reason why Paul combines here as elsewhere faith and love. But this brotherhood or fellowship is in its turn an expression of vital faith in God, so that in the last resort it holds time that ‘faith is not to be saved by anything that would supersede faith, but only by its faithfulness’ (T. H. Green) to the tasks which God reveals to its inner vision. Paul freely recognises the immense help afforded to Christian faith and love by reliable historical tradition, organisation, and definite statements. But he proposes no coat-of-mail for faith. He has absolute confidence in its inherent power of maintaining itself, furnishing its own evidence, and supplying its own vital energy.
James Moffatt.
References. V. 8. Expositor (7th Series), vol. v. p. 565. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Thessalonians, p. 198. V. 8-10. Ibid. (4th Series) vol. ii. p. 257. V. 9, 10. N. H. Marshall, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiii. p. 85. V. 10. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Thessalonians, p. 210. V. 11. Ibid. p. 220. V. 12. Expositor (6th Series), vol. i. p. 207. V. 12, 13. F. C. Davies, The Record, vol. xxvii. p. 1260. V. 13. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ix. p. 196.
1Th 5:14
Every one should consider himself as entrusted, not only with his own conduct, but with that of others. and as accountable, not only for the duties which he neglects, or the crimes he commits, but for that negligence and irregularity which he may encourage or inculcate.
Dr. Johnson.
References. V. 14. W. H. Evans, Short Sermons for the Seasons, p. 124. A. L. N., Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. p. 287. V. 15. T. Sadler, Sunday Thoughts, p. 52. Expositor (6th Series), vol. x. p. 99; ibid. (7th Series), vol. vi. p. 184.
The Obligation of Joy
1Th 5:16
We have our moments of joy, but to rejoice alway is a great and at first sight an impossible demand. And yet you find the Apostle Paul, as in the first letter that has come down to us from his pen, so in the last undisputed letter from his pen, saying to the Philippians, ‘Rejoice, and again I say rejoice’. Now, why this insistence upon the obligation of joy? Is it not because the Christian Gospel has furnished us with an enduring ground for joy, so that if anyone ceases to rejoice it is an argument that he has fallen from Christ? Naturally, the question comes to us, How is it to be done? Now, to get the answer to that question we must see how St. Paul himself answered it. It is evident in the third chapter and the third verse of this Epistle to the Philippians that he had an answer, for he there says that ‘We are the circumcision, which rejoice in Christ Jesus,’ and that at once shows us that he did not think we could find a permanent ground of rejoicing in our own narrow and troubled lives. Life, then, is not to be lived in yourself, but it is to be lived in Christ. Now, to bring this out as clearly as possible, I will call your attention to the ethical aspect, the spiritual aspect, and the cosmic aspect of Christ.
I. The Ethical Aspect of Christ. What is the ethical aspect of Christ? It is that, once in the history of the world, there is the perfect character, the man as man should be; and it means, therefore, that every human being can so fix his thought upon the perfection of human life and conduct that he is able to correct the sorrowful impressions of the world by the ideal in the person of Jesus.
II. The Spiritual Aspect of Christ. This spiritual aspect of Christ means that in Him as He was and as He is, in Him as a working power in the world, you have God fulfilling His purpose among men; and, evidently, the purpose of God is that out of men He should make the sons of God.
III. The Cosmic Aspect of Christ. St. Paul caught a glimpse of it when he tells us that in Christ Jesus the whole creation was made and consists. The idea seems to be that Christ is not only significant for human life, that He is not only the Redeemer of men, but that He is significant for the universe, that He is the Redeemer of this great system of things, and that in Him it all consists because He is the firstborn of all creation, for in Him are all things created, through Him and unto Him are all things. Now, if this cosmic idea of Christ once gets possession of you, see what it means and what it brings to you, because it would signify that Christ is not only the Redeemer of your soul, but is the secret and the meaning in this unmanageable universe which often oppresses you by its magnitude and disturbs you by its unintelligibility.
R. F. Horton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lx. p. 273.
References. V. 16. T. C. Finlayson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. p. 401. T. D. Barlow, Rays from the Sun of Righteousness, p. 188. V. 16-18. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Thessalonians, p. 229.
Pray Without Ceasing
1Th 5:17
St. Basil believed that we may in real truth pray without ceasing. ‘Not in syllables, but rather in the intention of the soul and in acts of virtue, which extend to all the life, is the power of prayer…. When thou sittest down to table, pray; when thou takest food, give thanks to Him that gave it thee; when thou supportest thy weakness with wine, remember Him that gave thee that gift to make glad thy heart. When the time of taking food has passed, let not the memory of the merciful Giver pass too. When thou puttest on thy coat, thank Him that gave it thee: and when thy cloak, increase thy love to God, who provided us with garments fit for both winter and summer. Is the day over? Thank Him who gave us the sun for the service of our daily work, and gave another fire to lighten the night and serve the rest of the needs of life. Let night afford other suggestions of prayer. When thou lookest up to heaven, and seest the beauty of the stare, pray to the Lord of all things seen, and adore the all-merciful Artist of the whole, who in wisdom hath made them all. And when thou seest all living things buried in sleep, then again worship Him who even against our will breaks off by sleep the stress of our toil, and, by a short respite, restores our strength…. Thus mayest thou pray without ceasing, not in words, but by the whole conduct of thy life, so uniting thyself to God that thy existence is an unceasing prayer.’
R. Travers Smith, St. Basil the Great, p. 146.
A Christian’s Duty
1Th 5:17
Consider:
I. What Prayer is. Intercourse between God and man.
II. The Dignity of Prayer. It brings us into the very presence of God.
III. The Power of Prayer. It can rule the world.
IV. The Duty of Constancy in Prayer. For supplication must be constant as well as persevering, therefore ‘Pray without ceasing’.
1Th 5:17
Luther said: ‘I have to drive myself on every day to prayer. I count it sufficient if, when I lie down to rest, I can say the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and after that a text or two. Meditating upon these I fall asleep.’ E. Kroker, Luther’s Tischreden, p. 294, No. 584.
References. V. 17. H. E. Brierley, British Congregationalist, 26th July, 1906, p. 721. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii. No. 1039. Bishop Creighton, University and Other Sermons, p. 34. J. R. Illingworth, University and Cathedral Sermons, p. 164. T. G. Bonney. Sermons on Some of the Questions of the Day, p. 88. David Smith, Man’s Need of God, p. 187. V. 17, 18. J. Keble, Sermons for the Sundays After Trinity, p. 407. V. 17-25. Bishop Westcott, Village Sermons, p. 324.
Thankfulness
1Th 5:18
The duty of thankfulness is a duty which God Himself has laid upon us. It is a duty that has been hallowed for us by the example of our Lord Himself. ‘Having given thanks,’ we read, He distributed the loaves to the hungry multitude in the wilderness (Joh 6:11 ); and similarly, at the institution of the supper, ‘He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He brake it’ (Luk 22:19 ). It is a duty, moreover, which in our own hearts we cannot but feel to be both right and fitting, in view of the blessings with which on all sides God has surrounded us.
I. Think of the bounties of God’s providence. How numerous they are! What self-evident proofs of the lovingkindness and goodness of God! What have we that does not come to us from God? In all that concerns our natural, no less than our spiritual, lives we are dependent upon Him. And, consequently, He demands from us, as He is entitled to do, the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise. In saying this I do not, of course, for a moment forget that this thankful spirit may not always be easy. In the struggle with poverty, in the sorrows and trials of life, which fall to the lot of some, it may be hard to find place for a feeling of thankfulness. Even in the darkest lot some streak of light, the herald of the coming day, may be found. ‘I am being taught,’ said Bishop Hannington, who triumphed over no ordinary difficulties, who never lost heart when most men would have despaired, ‘never to be disappointed, but to praise.’ Let us only strive to make the best of what we have; let us only look on the bright side even of our disappointments and failures believing that they too will work together for good to them that love God; and gradually we shall find that it is possible in everything to give thanks.
II. In this attitude we are confirmed when, passing from the bounties of God’s providence, we think of the exceeding riches of His grace. When man sinned and fell God spared not His own Son, that the work of redemption might be complete. But not to dwell further upon that unspeakable gift of love itself, let us not forget how clearly and how freely the knowledge of that gift is brought within our reach. (1) We have an open Bible. (2) Or what, again, of our weekly day of rest? (3) The Sacraments of His Church.
III. We give God thanks for the promise not only of the life that now is, but also of the life that is to come. ‘Some people,’ says Mrs. Browning, ‘also sigh in thanking God.’ The thankfulness which God desires is unrestrained, willing thankfulness, in the very uttering of which we not only gather its true blessing from the past, but are strengthened and encouraged for the future.
G. Milligan, God’s Garden, p. 127.
1Th 5:18
The last piece of public service which he performed at their [the General Assembly’s] request, was examining and approving a sermon which had been lately preached by David Ferguson, minister of Dunfermline. His subscription to this sermon, like everything which proceeded from his mouth or pen about this time, is uncommonly striking. ‘John Knox, with my dead hand but glad heart, praising God that of His mercy He leaves such light to His kirk in this desolation.’
McCrie’s Life of John Knox.
1Th 5:18
We found my father standing before us, erect, his hands clenched in his black hair, his eyes full of misery and amazement, his face white as that of the dead. He frightened us. He saw this, or else his intense will had mastered his agony, for, taking his hands from his head, he said, slowly and gently, ‘Let us give thanks,’ and turned to a little sofa in the room; there lay our mother dead…. Then were seen in full action his keen, passionate nature, his sense of mental pain, and his supreme will, instant and unsparing, making himself and his terrified household give thanks in the midst of such a desolation and for it.
Dr. John Brown, Horae Subsecivae.
References. V. 18. J. C. Lees, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. p. 316. Alfred Rowland, The Exchanged Crowns, p. 56.
The Fire of the Spirit (for Whit-sunday)
1Th 5:19
I. ‘Quench not the Spirit.’ What is it that you and I generally try to quench, or, as the Greek word may be translated, to extinguish? You say at once it is fire. Is there, then, any connection between the Holy Spirit and fire? Just reflect. Today is Whit-Sunday. If you were in church this morning at the Holy Communion, you must have heard the following passage read as part of the Epistle: ‘When the day of Pentecost,’ i.e. Whit-Sunday as it is now called, ‘was fully come,’ the Apostles ‘were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it,’ i.e. the fire, ‘sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,’ or Holy Spirit, ‘and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.’ Here, then, in the Epistle of today is the Spirit; here, too, is the fire; the Spirit and the fire are most intimately connected. Remember, too, how John the Baptist said of the One mightier than himself Who should come after him, ‘He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost,’ or Holy Spirit, ‘and with fire’.
In the light of these passages it is possible, I think, to interpret my text as follows: The Holy Spirit is as fire; He descends upon human nature; He glows in human hearts; do not quench, do not extinguish the fire of the Spirit; rather fan it into such a flame that it may penetrate and illuminate all your lives.
‘Quench not the Spirit.’
It is the solemn responsibility of man that he can either fan or quench, as he will, the Spirit of God.
II. The fire of the Spirit burns in societies as well as individuals; yet there, too, the fire may be fanned or it may be quenched. Upon the pages of Christian history are inscribed as in letters of gold the high resolves which men and women, acting under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, have solemnly formed and deliberately executed for the amelioration of the world.
III. There is yet a third atmosphere in which the Holy Spirit burns as a fire, and in which He may be fanned or quenched by the operation of human lives. I speak of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
There is a movement for drawing the forces of Christendom too long sundered and too often opposed nearer together. It is the policy of Christian Reunion. It is authoritatively commended to the interest and intercession of the Church on this Sunday. It cannot but be dear to the heart of Him who prayed for His disciples that they might be one even as He and His Father in heaven were one.
Bishop Welldon, The Gospel in a Great City, p. 129.
Suppressed Vocations
1Th 5:19
One of the saddest chapters in the chequered history of the Church is that which recites the tragedy of suppressed vocations a chapter, alas! still unfinished. A suppressed vocation involves an arrest of benign purifying revival within the Church, and a humiliating postponement of God’s merciful purpose towards the world.
I. The gifts and callings of our fellow-believers are often sterilised by the frigid censorious tempers which creep into church life. Criticism has important services to fulfil, for it tests principles, sifts out sagacious from unprofitable methods, tunes to more perfect music the speech through which men are swayed; but when criticism dominates the heart, and becomes a pitiless and gagging censorship, it works untold mischief. Every church is a storehouse of unknown aptitudes and endowments. Great apostleships may slumber in some of the commonplace souls around us, ungrown helpers of human need and healers of social sores are at our side, young men and maidens encircle us, in whom the Divine Spirit has already quickened the earnest and promise of fitness for the work the new century is bringing; and if we could only make our church life brotherly, electric, intensely stimulating, these dawning gifts and potencies would come to perfection in a far higher ratio than in the past.
II. A temper of covert and unconfessed envy often leads men to disparage the gifts of others, and to put stumbling-blocks in the path of their enterprise Tempers of envy and ambition, of jealousy and strife, of insolent prerogative and self-vaunting power, not only quench the sacred light within our own souls, but obscure gifts and oppose vocations in the elect souls through whom the Spirit seeks to illuminate and sanctify the world.
III. It is to be feared that gifts and callings which come down from above are sometimes stifled by the high-handedness and misrule of those who account themselves lords over God’s heritage. The work of the Spirit may be thwarted by the pride of officialism or by the exigencies which arise in the pursuit of party schemes. Next to his personal salvation, the thing most precious to a Christian believer is the vocation he has received from God. And it should be precious to others also, for it is only by ‘that which every joint supplieth, through the effectual working in every part,’ that the best ideals of edification and prosperity are reached.
1Th 5:19
The great malady of the soul is cold.
De Tocqueville.
1Th 5:19
Who does not know this temper of the man of the world? that worst enemy of the world? His inexhaustible patience of abuses that only torment others; his apologetic word for beliefs that may perhaps not be so precisely true as one might wish, and institutions that are not altogether so useful as some might think possible; his cordiality towards progress and improvement in a general way, and his coldness or antipathy to each progressive proposal in particular; his pygmy hope that life will one day become somewhat better, punily shivering by the side of his gigantic conviction that it might well be infinitely worse.
John Morley’s Voltaire, pp. 12, 13.
References. V. 19. S. A. Tipple, The Admiring Guest, p. 151. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 250. F. Bourdillon, Plain Sermons for Family Beading (2nd Series), p. 166. Expositor (5th Series), vol. vii. p. 301; ibid. (7th Series), vol. v. p. 496. V. 21. S. K. Hocking, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. p. 90. J. B. Hastings, ibid. vol. xlviii. p. 333. J. Burnet, Penny Pulpit, No. 1623, p. 33. Archbishop Maclagan, Christian World Pulpit, vol. 1. p. 241. E. J. Hardy, ibid. vol. liv. p. 395, and vol. xlvii. p. 390. A. T. Lyttelton, College and University Sermons, p. 114. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iii. p. 415; ibid. vol. ix. p. 101; ibid. (6th Series), vol. xi. p. 146. V. 21, 22. F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. iii. p. 193. V. 22. J. Eames, Sermons to Boys and Girls, p. 185.
Complete Sanctification
1Th 5:23
It may be thought that Paul prayed here for what he was never likely to see; that his ideal of character was altogether too high to be practical. This complete consecration was surely altogether out of the range of these ordinary Thessalonians, who were busy amid the traffic and trade of that great centre of commerce. Paul did not think thus. He did not regard it as at all impossible that men who are fully occupied in ordinary work at home, or in the city, should be sanctified wholly and made blameless unto the coming of the Lord. In fact the New Testament teaching generally goes to show that unless we are being sanctified altogether, we are not being truly sanctified at all. For good Matthew Henry was quite right when he said of true holiness, ‘it is symmetry of soul’; and surely that is possible to anyone who is a new creature in Christ Jesus.
I. We will first remind ourselves that in this remarkable phraseology Paul specifically includes the whole nature of man as that which should be, and may be, sanctified. Not only here, but elsewhere in Scripture, a man is spoken of as consisting of body, soul, and spirit; and these three are one, the man himself is one in three.
II. What then is this sanctifying? To ‘sanctify’ is to set something apart for a holy purpose, so that it may be regarded as holy, and as being profaned if used for a lower purpose. If you would see what it is to be ‘sanctified,’ look to Jesus. (1) His body was sanctified; for all its powers were used in absolute accordance with the will of God. To be sanctified is to be like Him. (2) Again, the soul is to be sanctified. In other words, your mental powers, your capacities of hoping and loving, are all to be sacred. (3) Similarly with the affections. (4) It may seem strange to speak about sanctifying the spirit; for if that be the highest part of man, it would seem to follow that it is essentially holy. But it is not. We need to be cleansed from secret faults and kept back from presumptuous sins.
III. This complete sanctification is a necessity if we would be conformed to the likeness of our Lord. Any part of our nature may become a channel of temptation unless the whole be sanctified.
IV. But whence is it to come? Our text, especially in the original, where emphasis is strong on ‘God Himself,’ suggests that it is in Him, not in ourselves, that we have hope.
V. There is a special motive for desiring this hinted at in the text. It is the coming of the Lord Jesus.
A. Rowland, The Burdens of Life, p. 141.
1Th 5:23
Exactly in proportion as the Christian religion became less vital, and as the various corruptions which time and Satan brought into it were able to manifest themselves, the person and offices of Christ were less dwelt upon, and the virtues of Christians more…. Gradually as the thoughts of men were withdrawn from their Redeemer, and fixed upon themselves, the virtues began to be squared, and counted, and classified, and put into separate heaps of firsts and seconds; some things being virtuous cardinally, and other things virtuous only north-west. It is very curious to put in close juxtaposition the words of the Apostles and some of the writers of the fifteenth century touching sanctification. For instance, hear first St. Paul to the Thessalonians: ‘The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it’. And then the following part of a prayer which I translate from a MS. of the fifteenth century: ‘May He (the Holy Spirit) govern the five senses of my body; may He cause me to embrace the Seven Works of Mercy, and piously to believe and observe the Twelve Articles of the Faith and the Ten Commandments of the Law, and defend me from the Seven Mortal Sins, even to the end.’
Ruskin, Stones of Venice (vol. II. viii).
References. V. 23. T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. i. p. 227. J. Stalker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. p. 292. Expositor (5th Series), vol. i. p. 147; ibid. vol. iv. p. 121; ibid. vol. v. p. 136; ibid. vol. ix. pp. 71, 351. V. 23, 24. J. Keble, Village Sermons on the Baptismal Service, p. 282. V. 25. J. A. Alexander, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 473. J. Bowstead, Practical Sermons, vol. i. p. 1. Bishop Westcott, The Incarnation and Common Life, p. 3. V. 27. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Thessalonians, p. 237.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
Apostolic Prayers
1Th 4:11Th 51Th 5
“But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you” ( 1Th 4:9 ). We have just heard the Apostle express a wish in prayer that he might see the face of his friends in Thessalonica, that he might perfect that which was lacking in their faith. Here he says there was nothing lacking in their love. Why, this is the supreme test of faith and righteousness: “We know that we have passed from death unto life” not because we can answer many questions, or hold high and wordy disputations, but “because we love the brethren.” “If a man love not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” These people had reached the very highest line of spiritual education. Perhaps something of this progress was due to the circumstances under which they lived. There were circumstances of persecution; daily affliction was the lot of the Christian life: these are circumstances which try the quality of men, and which bring them more closely together. The light disperses men, the darkness gathers them together; in the morning we leave one another; at night we all come home again. More persecution would mean more affection. In the darkest days of the olden time “they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written,” and they who conversed with one another were reckoned jewels of God.
How did they come to this high level of education? Were they taught by the Apostle? Partly. Did this come from their natural dispositions? for we have seen them to be humane, genial, and enthusiastic. Perhaps, in some degree. But what is the deeper and larger interpretation of this mutual loyalty, this sacred fraternal affection? The answer is given in this same verse ( 1Th 4:9 ): “for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.” This is the teaching that fills the heart, that illumines the mind, that constrains the soul, that perfects the miracle of holiness. If we are not taught of God we are not taught at all, we have not got beyond the point of information and machines may almost be stuffed with intelligence. To be taught of God is to be filled with the Spirit of God, to enjoy the inspiration of God, to think God’s thoughts, and to live with God as if actually partakers of the Divine nature. Thy children shall be all taught of thee, thou holy Father of the universe; they shall know thy voice, they shall distinguish it from the voice of strangers; the voice of strangers they will not follow, but when they hear the tones of thy voice they will respond instantly, unanimously, and passionately. What have we been taught, if we have not been taught the mystery of love? Our religion is foam and our professions are vanity and our prayers are lies. Test the whole progress, as the whole purpose, of Christianity by this growth of love. How do we stand in this line? Have we large forgiveness? Are we ready to pardon? Have we a genius for overlooking infirmities? Are we inspired to detect and magnify one another’s excellences? Then we are taught of God, and we magnify the Cross, and we are worthy followers of Jesus Christ: but if this cannot be said of us, then all our profession is a bubble, glittering perhaps, but hollow certainly. He who loves man loves God. We cannot love man until we have the higher love, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself”: we cannot begin at the neighbourly end; if we do even apparently begin there we do really begin with the end that is Divine. Many men act under Divine inspiration who are not aware of the fact, who would almost resent the suggestion: but wherever you find sacrifice, love, true condescension, rich and self-sacrificing sympathy, you find God, if it be in paganism heathenism, or in the finest civilisation in the world. Wherever you find light you find the sun: wherever you find charity you find the Cross.
It is interesting to observe how, in the course of this letter, the Apostle is now profoundly theological, now passionately consecrated to high pursuits, and anon minute and detailed in practical exhortation. For example, he urges upon the Church in Thessalonica “that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you.” The Apostle was not conscious of any violence of transition from theme to theme. We are the victims of uniformity; we think it is a long way from heaven to earth so it is to some natures but heaven and earth ought to be equal terms to those who are really and externally in Christ. There ought to be no earth, no time, no space; all these details should be lost in the overwhelming and sublimating thought of eternity, then out of that thought we could come to do the day’s plain work with both hands, simply, industriously, faithfully. The idea of the Apostle in exhorting the Thessalonians to “study to be quiet” is beautiful as a picture, “Covet the honour of quietness”: where other men can see no honour but in fame, you see honour in quiet, simple, domestic obscurity. This is making the best of the smallest occasions. It is not, Study to be quiet and to obliterate yourselves; but, Covet the honour of doing so: count it a worthy ambition; do not allow the shade to be undervalued or the little corner to be dispraised as if it were unworthy of recognition: magnify obscurity, and count it fame to have a quiet resting-place with God. “And to do your own business”: do not go outside seeking to attract attention by interfering with things that you do not understand; keep to that you were born to, trained to, prepared for. If you understand your own business, you will find room enough in it for the exercise of your energies. “And to work with your own hands,” or with your own brains; for brains are hands. We are not to understand the word “hands” as if it were limited to the portion of the body thus commonly designated, but, Work with your own faculties, earn your own livelihood, make your own bread, establish and confirm your own social and personal position; do not be loafers in society, do not accept what other men are doing for you, but by genius, by invention, by suggestion, by patient industry in some way or other, render an equivalent for every mouthful of bread you enjoy. Society would thus be constituted on a large and secure basis. Christianity can handle all the affairs of life skilfully and successfully. Ignore the supernatural if you please, but in doing so you ignore the only power that can get hold of the entire occasion, and use it with sovereign and beneficent mastery.
We now have an illustration of the Apostle’s instantaneous method of transition. Mark with what amazing, almost blinding, suddenness, he turns to speak of the great subject of the Lord’s coming, and the awakening of those who sleep in Christ, and the being caught up in the air to meet the Lord around his invisible but infinite throne. I cannot read the words that follow without feeling that the Apostle Paul was under the impression that the Lord would come in the most literal way in a given period, and that period not remote. I am aware that there are arguments on the other side, but I cannot read these words and other words of kindred import without feeling that the Apostles were looking for the almost immediate appearance of Christ. Whether that advent took place in the destruction of Jerusalem, who can decide? That was a tragic and momentous era in human history, and in point of moral sublimity and political eclat it was enough to cover the whole suggestion of the Second Advent. I prefer rather to think that God has always trained the world by promises that have larger meanings in them than those that were obvious. He trained Abraham in this way; he said, I will show thee and give thee a country flowing with milk and honey, and Abraham rose and obediently followed the Lord: and when all came to all he said, I do not want anything on the earth, I seek a country out of sight. But if the Lord had promised him a country out of sight, a land celestial, the appeal would have been too great and sublime for his then mental condition: God promises us something that is measurable and visible that he may train us towards that which is infinite and unseen. Paul is the Abraham of this greater covenant. The Apostles were promised an advent, an all but immediate and visible appearance of Christ, and yet they were trained to see that Christ is always coming, that the universe exists as a highway along which he may advance so as to redeem and sanctify and educate and perfect his Church. Providence has thus been magnified and sanctified, so that events are no longer mere occurrences, they are epiphanies, they are revelations of the Lord, they are pages in an infinite book of revelation: blessed are they who have eyes to see these wonders: yea, thrice blessed are they who see the Lord in every sunrise and in every sunset, and who behold him on the whole circle of the year. We are straining ourselves after what we supposed to be sublime appearances; whereas Christ is appearing around us every moment; every event is a chariot in which he rides, every consecrated epoch of time is a throne on which he sits. Why do we not enjoy the immediate, continual, spiritual revelation of Christ?
Having indulged in this anticipation of the Lord’s coming, the Apostle returns with a fine grace, more than rhetorical, to practical exhortation and stimulus “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” ( 1Th 5:6 ). The Apostle would have us constantly awake; the Apostle made no provision for sleep, at least for sleep of a slothful kind. He lived this theory of wakefulness. There never was a man so entirely and absolutely awake as was the Apostle Paul. Nothing escaped that eager attention. It is said of great men, notably of Aristotle, that they would lie down to rest with brazen balls in their hands which would drop into metal vessels at the side of the couch, and thus moderate their sleep. If they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, shall we be slothful who profess to be in quest of a crown eternal? If men subjected themselves to this painful discipline that they might attain the highest intellectual capacity and faculty, shall we do nothing who ought to be training ourselves to the higher wisdom and the nobler communion? The sluggard gets nothing, the sluggard has no harvest: this is right. When you see the sluggard returning with bare hands, do not pity him; say, This is the Lord’s doing. If you could see the sluggard coming home with laden wains, so that his horses could hardly draw the rich harvest, you might then begin to suspect that the universe is an orphan left to itself, blind, helpless, wholly ironical in all its impulse and issue, a mischievous and pestilent lie: but so long as you see a man who has been over-slumbering, succumbing to want as to an armed man, then know that behind the little blue film or veil there is great beneficent Sovereignty overruling all things, smiting the wrong, and preparing to reward and honour, enrich and satisfy all faithfulness.
Now the Apostle continues his practical exhortations, saying many things that might be commented upon to our spiritual advantage; notably, saying ( 1Th 5:14 ) two things. “Warn them that are unruly.” We cannot do without that word “warn”: that is a great bell-word; ring the alarum, tell men of penalty, speak to men of hell, do not keep back the terror of the Lord. There be men who are gifted with this genius of warning; their voices arc terrible, their aspect confirms their dreary exhortation. “Support the weak”: literally, Put your shoulder to and shore-up the weak. Your shoulder was not made for epaulettes; your shoulder is not to be the seat of ornament, the point of decoration: if, O man, thou hast a brawny shoulder, it belongs to thy weak brother. You have seen buildings propped up: that is the precise idea of the Apostle here: shore-up the weak, let the weak man feel that he can rest upon you until he recover himself or until he have time to reclaim his position. He who has wealth holds it as a trustee, he who has strength holds it as a steward; he who counts his own gold shall have no heaven but the chink of his own metal, and that, thank God, shall be taken from him, and he shall hear no music evermore. But he who supports the weak and is patient toward all men, he who is kind, gentle, charitable, is never out of heaven; he cannot go to heaven because he is never away from it, he breathes its balmy air, he sings its exquisite music, he breathes the very spirit of the father-home.
From 1Th 5:16-22 , the Apostle speaks as it were in separate lines; that, at all events, is the mechanical form given to this exhortation by those who constructed the Authorised Version. For example “Rejoice evermore”: literally, Fare you well: cheer yourselves: drink God’s wine, have a banquet of love, let the spirit of high festivity be the spirit of Christian hearts and Christian families. Now what detailed instruction! “Pray without ceasing,” and “In everything give thanks.” These two should go together. Praying without ceasing means, be always in a prayerful spirit. The bird is not always flying, but how long does it take a bird to spread its wings? It should take us just so long to begin to pray when we see the fowler lift his piece, when we see the enemy stoop for a stone. Keep at it, be importunate, is the idea. There was a woman who stirred up the unjust judge to answer her; she left, literally, a spot in his face. If you keep on with ever so small a tapping upon one place, you will make an impression; a continual dropping wears the stone. The woman kept appealing until she made a spot in the man’s face, until where her finger smote there burned a fever flush, and he said in his heart, Curse her! What wants she eh? Hear what the unjust judge said. Sanctify this method of appeal, and as it were live on God’s promises, until, using the language of the illustration and using it with reverence, God would blush to deny his own covenant. “In everything give thanks” in affliction, in darkness, in winter, in the time of snow and ice and north wind; when there is no herd in the stall, when the fig tree doth not blossom: “in everything give thanks”: the darkness is best, the winter is but another name for rest, bereave-merit will but whet the appetite for reunion. So live in God and for God as to give thanks to him with, as it were, equal breath and emphasis, whether he give you great broad sunshine or make the whole sky a cloud.
“Quench not the Spirit.” Let inspiration have free play: speak out of your hearts what God puts into them: let the Spirit work in his own way and at his own time; sometimes the action will appear to be eccentric, sometimes it will be wholly incalculable, but do not quench the Spirit. Quenching may be done in one of two ways: first, by withdrawment of fuel, the fire dies when the fuel is not replenished; secondly, by drowning with water, pour on the stream and the fire dies. Neglect the ordinance of grace, and you quench the Spirit; invite the action of those who hate God and Christ, and they will pour cold water upon your flaming zeal. The Apostle says, “Quench not the Spirit”: you should live in the spiritual, the supernatural, the eternal, the invisible; you should live in the large, the glorious, the celestial. And if you do this then you will “Despise not prophesyings.” These two should be bracketed, namely, “Quench not the Spirit,” “Despise not prophesyings,” literally, preachings, utterances, all kinds of utterances; so that if a man shall come and speak to you in an unknown tongue do not laugh at him or scorn him, but say, What, is this new revelation? is this a new departure in accustomed providences? let us hear the man, if he speak loudly, or if his voice be low; if he shall speak uniformly and in consistency with what we already know, so be it; if he shall say something quite novel, startling, and contrary to practice, still let us hear him. That was the apostolic spirit. Paul was not an exclusive but an inclusive teacher: he was not a shepherd who drove away parts of the flock, but he looked among the wolves if haply he might find a sheep that was missing. Let us hear all voices. This has not been the rule of the Church. The Church has been foolish! The Church has loved to keep a place for martyrs, a fire for heretics, a block for those whom it hated because of supposed false doctrine. The Apostle would first have a sublime constant action of the Spirit, and then he would inquire reverently and intelligently into the quality of the preachings or prophesyings. What wondrous things have been done in the name of orthodoxy! The youngest are familiar with the story of Sir Isaac Newton, sitting in the garden, the apple falling upon him, and his discovering from that circumstance what is called the attraction of gravity, or the law of gravitation, and formulating an almost new economy of the universe from that one simple circumstance. Who could suspect anything wrong in that? Yet a man, a great man, called Leibnitz, charged Sir Isaac Newton with propounding a doctrine (I quote the words) “subversive of natural if not of revealed religion.” Poor Leibnitz! great Newton! If you have a truth, out with it. Who are they that keep natural and revealed religion? Who are these ecclesiastical constables? Who are those proud, mighty people who know everything and revel in their own omniscience? Despise not prophecy.
Now two more things “Prove all things:” test all things: having heard the prophesyings, do not necessarily believe them, but test them, sift them, probe them. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God, search into the whole case; call for proof, for illustration, for simplification, and see the reality of things; then “hold fast that which is good,” that which is proved, that which is established. “Abstain from all appearance of evil,” which is absurd and impossible; it should be, literally rendered, Abstain from every form of evil, abstain from every species or kind of evil. Many a man is apparently doing evil who is really doing good. This translation therefore cannot stand; it is not “Abstain from all appearance of evil,” because the appearance is always superficial and changeable, but, Abstain from every form, species, kind, quality, of evil abhor that which is evil.
Now the Apostle, having exhorted his Thessalonian friends, begins to pray for them ( 1Th 5:23 ). “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it…. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” Paul, great, heroic, longsuffering, magnificent Paul how he writes, how he speaks, how he exhorts, how he prays! This is the very genius of Christianity: this is the miracle of Christ.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
IX
A BODY OF RULES
1Th 5:1-28
This fifth chapter is mainly a body of rules. The first part of it needs explanation. The chapter commences thus:
“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” He has just been comforting the Thessalonians with the account of the second coming of our Lord, with the resurrection of the bodies of the righteous before the change in the living righteous, saying that the two classes are caught up together in the air to join the Lord and are ever to be with the Lord. So far he has not discussed the effect of the coming of our Lord upon the wicked. We will have the case of the wicked in the second letter.
He says here, “But concerning the times and the seasons,” and there is a distinction in the meaning of “times” and “seasons.” “Times” means stretches of time, or periods. They had doubtless written a question to him to this effect: “Tell us precisely how long it will be before Jesus comes, on what day he will come, and what hour.” He is here replying to that question, saying that it is not necessary for him to write on that, because he has already explained to them that neither the times nor the seasons has God put in any man’s power. That is what our Saviour taught. No angel in heaven and no apostle knew, and the Son of man, in the limitations of his humanity, did not know.
But while our Lord as to his human nature did not know, while no angel knew, and while no apostle knew, we are not at all surprised to find a great many who do know exactly this very thing of all others that God has hidden from any human or angelic sight. I call attention now, particularly, to this subject, as it is fascinating, and as some people are attracted so much by the curious and sensational things of religion. They prefer to preach sermons on these subjects rather than upon faith, hope, and love. They seek an answer to questions that God has not answered to any angel of heaven, or apostle on the earth, and that was hidden even from the humanity of Jesus Christ.
There seems to be a little irony in Paul’s reply. They want to know precisely. He says, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” Our Lord himself discussed that very question. He taught that if the householder knew exactly what month a burglar would come around, and on what night of the month, and at what hour of the night, it would be a very easy thing to forestall him. But God hid those things, and now just as a burglar does not write to a man that on November 9 at II P.M. he will call at his house and come in through the back window in order to steal his jewelry and whatever money is lying around, so we need not expect such information with reference to the second coming of Christ.
Christ’s second coming will be like a flash of lightning from one end of the heavens to the other. There will be no external premonition of it.
He then assures them that this fact need not disturb them, however terrible it may be to the wicked. He says, “God has not appointed you unto wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for you that whether you wake or sleep you shall live together with him. Inasmuch as you are guaranteed against the thief by the protecting care of God, it makes no difference what night the thief comes. Whether you live till Christ comes, whether he comes heralded or unheralded, it is utterly immaterial with you, because from the beginning he has chosen you for salvation and you will get the benefit of that salvation when he comes.”
Now come some rules, a few of which need comment. The others are all so obvious in their meaning that an attempt at explanation will only mystify. The first one is in 1Th 5:12-13 : “But we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work’s sake.” That shows that even this early there were those set apart by the Lord as preachers, and having the oversight of churches, and he is writing that they should approve their preachers and should be subordinated to the rule of the pastor in the things in which it is lawful for him to rule, and there are things in which God has made him the overseer. That is what the word, “bishop,” or episkopos , means.
I have heard some people say that the work of the church should be determined by the deacons. That is expressly not so.
The deacons have committed unto them the finances of the church, but the great work of the church is dependent upon the spiritual leader. It is his voice that must give the signal, it is his sermon that must give the instruction, it is his exposition of God’s word that must lay down the law, and in this high sense he is the legitimate ruler.
There is a spirit of lawlessness in the world that objects to all rule. There are some people so constituted that they won’t work “in the harness” at all. There are some horses that won’t work except in the lead, and some that are not good except as wheel-horses, and others that will not work at all with a bridle or harness; they kick and squeal and prance, and finally tear off at a tangent. There are some people of that kind in the churches.
Here are some rules that need no comment: “Be at peace among yourselves, admonish the disorderly, encourage the faint-hearted, support the weak, be long-suffering toward all. See that none render unto anyone evil for evil; but always follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus to youward.” These are rules which everybody ought to memorize, and be able to call up each one. They ought to be on the walls of every church as the standing orders of the Lord Jesus Christ concerning Christian communities.
Here are others that need some explanation: “Quench not the Spirit; despise not prophesyings; prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” Every one of these directions relates to the spiritual gifts conferred on the day of Pentecost and later in the apostolic days. I have heard preachers preach from the text, “Quench not the Spirit,” and speak on it as if it referred to the witness of the Spirit within a man, or to the indwelling Spirit in a man or to the Spirit of regeneration. But none of these can be quenched. What he says, “Quench you not,” in this special miraculous endowment that God bestowed so richly upon the apostolic churches for the purpose of attesting them. He gives rules both ways on these spiritual gifts: “Don’t quench them. They were given for a useful purpose.” He taught in the letter to the Corinthians that a man had control over them, and he could so act that they would depart from him altogether. “Despise not prophesyings,” i.e., don’t hold in contempt these utterances that come from the lips of men that have these gifts. A man would leap up in the church and say, “Brethren, the Spirit is moving me, and under the Spirit I want to make a declaration,” and he would make it. In other words, “No matter what you may think about what he will say, don’t quench the spiritual gifts, and don’t despise prophesyings, but test what he is saying.” In another letter John says, “Try the spirits to see whether they be from God.” There are some spirits that are not from God. There is an inspiration that comes not from God. There is devil inspiration.
We had in Waco, when I was a young pastor, a great stir upon the subject of spirit rapping, mediums and alleged communications from the dead. I preached on the subject about a week and put these things to the test, just as God commands that they should be tested. The question I put to one of these mediums was this: “Did Jesus Christ as God become manifest in the flesh?” The answer was; “No, that is a misapprehension.” That answer settled his case, and I said, “You are condemned, because the scripture says that whosoever denieth that Christ is come in the flesh is a liar and the truth is not in him.” That is what Paul means here. He is not referring to their conversion, nor to the Spirit that bore witness with their spirits that they were children of God, nor to regeneration) but this temporary miraculous gift that resteth with such signal power upon the apostolic church.
He says, “Prove all,” not all things, but all these prophesyings, that claim to come from the Spirit. “Hold fast to that which is good.” In other words, “If it corresponds to the revealed will of God set forth in the Bible, you may take it. If it is contrary to that, reject it.”
The next rule calls also for some explanation. In the King James Version, it reads: “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” In my younger days how many times have I heard the old brethren quote that! It was not enough for them that a thing was bad; if it appeared to be evil, one had to shun it. That is not the meaning of it at all. The rendering is bound to be one of these two: “Abstain from every form of evil,” not something that simply appears to be evil; or else it means, “Abstain from every evil show.” There are some shows we ought not to attend. I went once in my life to a theatrical representation and I was glad I had no young lady with me. When I got out I apologized to myself and told the Lord if he would forgive me I would never go to see an evil show of that kind any more. There are some shows so suggestive of indecency, in word, or posture, or dress, they advertise their vileness. What he teaches is, “Let evil come in any shape it may abstain from it.”
Another passage, just here, needs a little explanation. It is his prayer, “The God of peace himself sanctify you wholly.” That means “entire.” If we say concerning a thing composed of fourteen parts, “Let it be sanctified wholly,” that would mean in every one of its parts. And he continues, “And may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Here a question has been asked as to whether there be a threefold distinction in the nature of man. Are there three distinct parts in man body, soul, and spirit, or a tripartite nature? Or is man of a dual nature soul and body? In systematic theology, those that hold to the dual nature of man are called dichotomists, and those who hold to the threefold nature of man are called trichotomists. My view of the subject is that from the beginning God represents man as consisting of two distinct elements, the inward man, and the outward man. The outward man is the body; the inward man is the soul. When we consider the inward man from another viewpoint we call it spirit. Here it is important to note the time when sanctification is consummated “At the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” that is, when the body is raised from the dead and glorified. Then only is a man completely sanctified. His soul, or spirit, is sanctified at death, but his body is not sanctified until the resurrection, and that is when Christ comes.
The last thing I need to say about anything in this chapter is this: “I adjure you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the brethren.” He wrote this letter to the church. Every member of the church is entitled to hear it. What a lesson that is to us that the Word of God is for everybody! It is not for the preacher to take the letter and deal out as much of it as he pleases to the congregation; not for him to say, “I have here a letter from your Heavenly Father, and I will read you such parts of ‘it as I think will do you good.”
Let the man himself have his Father’s letter all of it. It was written to him. It was not written to the priest. There is no justification in withholding any part of it from a child of God.
I heard Dr. McDonald, one of the mightiest preachers and one of the sweetest spirits of the Southern Baptist Convention, who recently passed away, give an account of his conversion from Roman Catholicism. He had been reared in that faith in Ireland, and on his visit to the United States he saw for the first time in his life a gathering in an old log house, and he went in to find a Baptist meeting in progress. He was wonderfully impressed with the way they did things, and he was surprised to hear the preacher ask the people to take their Bibles and see that everything he said was so. He did not know that he had a right of that kind, and when the old preacher very solemnly said, “Brethren, this book is God’s letter to each one of you. If my mother were to write me a letter, what man would have a right to capture my mail, and come to me and tell me that he would read such passages of my mother’s letter to me as he thought was best for me?” There the thought first entered his mind that became the entering wedge which separated him from the Romanist faith, and which led to his conversion. Paul wanted this letter read to every one of the members of that church.
I will comment a little on one other expression: “Salute all the brethren with a holy kiss.” The reader will excuse a humorous allusion: When the great controversy between the Baptist and the Campbellite brethren came up, the latter claimed that they stood by what the book said, and one day down in South Texas one of their preachers said to the congregation, as the book says, “Salute each other with a holy kiss,” that they must kiss each other, and he had been troubled about it in view of the fact that some of the brothers in the church were colored. But he says, “I insist that we do just what it says.” Whereupon, another brother got up and said, “Brother moderator, we had better go slow on this; I don’t believe I could kiss a colored member of this church nor some of the white ones.” His wife spoke up and said, “That’s right, John, if you kiss a Negro you shall never kiss me again.”
And yet this scripture has a meaning. In the directions of our Lord to the apostles when he sent them out he said, “Sa-‘ lute no man by the way.” He did not mean that one of his preachers should be discourteous, nor refuse to say, “How do you do?” or, “Good-by.” But in that country the forms of salutation took up a vast amount of time they had so many “bowings and scrapings” and waving of hands. But because these apostles were on urgent business he told them to salute no man by the way. As it was an Oriental custom to salute even men with a kiss, this is put in here, not prescribing that we shall kiss, but when we salute, let it be a holy salutation. Let it be the salutation of a Christian, and not insincere and simply form.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the distinction in meaning between “times” and “seasons” in 1Th 5:1 , and what the application?
2. What fascinating theme for many preachers is suggested here, and what the Bible teaching on it?
3. What is Paul’s illustration of this thought, and what our Lord’s illustration of the same point?
4. What assuring fact does Paul here give them relative to this point?
5. State the rules of holy living in 1Th 5:12-18 .
6. What does 1Th 5:12-13 show relative to “bishops,” or pastors?
7. What are Paul’s four rules concerning miraculous spiritual gifts?
8. What is the meaning of “Quench not the Spirit”?
9. What is the meaning of “Despise not prophesying”? Illustrate.
10. What is the meaning of “Prove all things?”
11. What is the meaning of “Hold fast that which is good”?
12. In 1Th 5:22 , the common version reads, “Abstain from all appearance of evil;” does the original mean, “Abstain from everything seeming to be evil,” or “from every form of actual evil,” or “from every kind of an evil show”?
13. What does “sanctify you wholly” mean, when does sanctification begin, and when will it be consummated?
14. Is man dichotomous or trichotomous, and what is the distinction between “soul” and “spirit” in 1Th 5:23 ?
15. What great privilege maybe fairly deduced from the charge “that this epistle e read unto all the brethren,: what religious denomination violates this principle most, and what illustration cited by the author?
16. How may be interpreted the “holy kiss” so as to make the perfect binding now?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
Ver. 1. But of the times and the seasons ] When Christ shall come to judgment, this is to be reckoned inter arcana imperii. See Trapp on “ Mat 24:36 “ The times and the seasons God hath put in his own power, Act 1:7 . This is a key that he keepeth under his own girdle. Let it suffice us to know that “this is the last hour,” that “the ends of the world are come upon us, and that the Lord is at hand.” “The time is short” (saith our apostle, 1Co 7:29 ), or rolled up, as a piece of cloth, only a little left at the end. Moses brake the tables 1582 years before the birth of Christ. Nou existimo, &c., I do not think (saith holy Melancthon) that the time since the end of the Jewish polity shall be much longer than that was before the end thereof. Watch, therefore, and “be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless,” 2Pe 3:14 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1 11 .] Exhortation to watch for the day of the Lord’s coming, and to be ready for it .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1 3 .] the suddenness and unexpectedness of that day’s coming .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1 .] On . and . , see Act 1:7 , note. They had no need, for the reason stated below: that St. Paul had already by word of mouth taught them as much as could be known.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
CHAP. 1Th 4:1 to 1Th 5:24 .] SECOND PORTION OF THE EPISTLE: consisting of exhortations and instructions .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Th 5:1-11 . .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1Th 5:1 . The times and periods are not “simply the broad course of time, of which the constitutes the closing scene” (Baur); denotes a section of time more definitely than , in Greek usage. “No nation has distinguished so subtly the different forms under which time can be logically conceived. is time viewed in its extension, as a succession of moments, the external framework of action. , a word, which has, I believe, no single or precise eqivalent in any other language is that immediate present which is what we make it; time charged with opportunity” (Butcher, Harvard Lect. on Gk. Subjects , pp. 117 119). In the plural, especially in this eschatological outlook, the phrase is little more, however, than a periphrasis for “when exactly things are to happen”. Paul thought he needed to do no more than reiterate the suddenness of the Last Day. But, not long afterwards, he found that the Thessalonians did require to have the explained to them in outline (II., 2Th 2:2 f.).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1 Thessalonians Chapter 5
From the special side of the Lord’s coming which consummates His grace to those waiting for Him by their translation to His presence in the air, the apostle now turns to the more general fact of “the day”, when he deals with the world according to the concurrent testimony of the Old Testament and of the New. The gathering of the saints to Himself, asleep or alive changed into the image of His glory, is a new revelation, and is introduced here as such. Not so the appearing or day of the Lord, which had formed the burden of many prophecies, and, I think we may say, of all the prophets since time began. For it is an epoch and indeed period second to none in manifest importance, affecting every creature in heaven and earth, and displaying the immense change which God will then bring to pass in honour of His Son according to His word from the beginning.
“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need to be written to. For yourselves know thoroughly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief at night. When they are saying peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh on them as the pain on her that is with child; and they shall! in no wise escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief; for ye all are sons of light and sons of day: we are not of night nor of darkness.
So, then, let us not sleep as [do] the rest, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep by night, and they that ere drunk drink by night; but we being of day, let us be sober, putting on a breastplate of faith and love, and hope of salvation as helmet. Because God did not appoint us unto wrath, but unto obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another, and edify each other, even as also ye do” (vers. 1-11).
It will be remarked that there is no mention, no mixing up, of “the times and the seasons” with the presence of the Lord to gather His own to Himself on high. This, our hope, is wholly apart from the defined periods of which prophecy treats. Here where “the day of the Lord” is in question, they are expressly brought forward; for that day is the most momentous event embraced within its scope. It is not improbable from 2Th 2:5 that the apostle had already taught them of it orally, as he certainly did of antecedent circumstances. But it is not necessary to assume that he had taught them as much as could be known, nor even that he had ever by word of mouth gone into detail on the day of the Lord. There was really no need for this, because the Old Testament treats of no theme more largely and minutely. It was already, therefore, a matter of common and familiar knowledge among the saints. Yet the accuracy of their knowledge is here simply said of the sure and sudden and unwelcome coming of the day of the Lord. There was no need of writing anything now, for they knew perfectly that Jehovah’s day so comes as a thief at night. The apostle may not have gone into particulars; but this great and solemn truth was part of their inward conscious assurance (vers. 1, 2.) They knew perfectly, not as some strangely say that the time of it is uncertain, but that its coming is certain, and no less terrible than unlooked for.
With this is contrasted the fatal self-deceiving security of men around them, of the world. “When they are saying peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh on them, as the pain on her that is with child; and they shall in no wise escape” (ver. 3), In 2Pe 3 it is rather such scoffing unbelief as is found among philosophers, who point to the substantial stability of all things visible in the midst of superficial change and development. Here it is rather inward quiet and outward exemption from danger, through confidence in the social and political state of mankind; yet not without uneasy qualms which betray the real unrest and underlying dread of those that know not God and His Christ. As it was with men when the flood came and swept away all those who despised God’s warning by Noah; as it was when, after feebler and still briefer warning in the days of Lot, condign judgment fell on the polluted cities of the plain; so shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. Sudden destruction, indeed, impends on those who trust themselves and their own thoughts, rejecting the testimony of God. This is the judgment of the quick; and, it will be noticed, no trace accompanies it of a judgment of the dead nor yet of a burning up of the earth, however surely both are to follow in their own due season. It is the end of the age, but not of the world materially. As a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth. And they shall in no wise escape, any more than the woman with child when her hour is come and the birth-pang is on her. It is unspiritual ignorance, not to say folly, to apply this to the destruction of Jerusalem or to death, as some have done and do. It is the day of the Lord yet to fall on the world.
The apostle, however, immediately and carefully declares how different is the lot of the faithful. “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief; for ye all are sons of light and sons of day: we are not of night nor of darkness” (vers. 4, 5). He is not afraid that it would endanger the young believers in Thessalonica, or any others, to know how grace had distinguished them from the rest of mankind, his very aim here, as elsewhere, is to impress this distinction on them ineffaceably. He says, first, that they were not in darkness, that the day should surprise them as a thief; secondly, that they all were sons of light and sons of day. Not only were they unlike the world as in darkness and the objects of the Lord’s judgment, but positive sharers of divine nature and blessedness. Indeed, such is the peculiar being of God’s children generally, as he adds, “we are not of night nor of darkness.” We are of God, Who is light, and in Whom is no darkness at all.
But privilege known and enjoyed by the believer is the very hinge and incentive of responsibility; and so the apostle proceeds to exhort. “So then let us not sleep as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober” (ver. 6). If children of God, it is a deep spring of joy in Christ and of thanksgiving to our Father, but how instant and inalienable the call to walk according to the relationship! So here, if sons of light and of day, sleep – indifference to the will of the Lord – becomes us not, but watchfulness and sobriety, as those who derive their life from Him Who is the one true light, and will bring in the day, as free from excitement as from careless ease. The righteous shall then shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Then follows a brief but vivid picture of the slumbering world and of the wakeful Christian. “For those that sleep sleep by night, and those that are drunk drink by night; but we, as being of day, let us be sober, putting on a breastplate of faith and love, and as helmet hope of salvation” (vers. 7, 8). Sleep suits the night, and so does excess: men naturally do in the dark what they would not like to do in the light. It is the common and undeniable practice of men which is thus brought before the mind. To what is the Christian exhorted? It is not exactly, as in the Authorised Version after the Vulgate, etc., “Let us who are of the day,” which would require the article, but let us as being of day be sober, having put on a breastplate of faith and love, and hope of salvation as helmet.* Thus the believer is called to be in arms as well as watchful and sober. But the arms here, as but young Christians were immediately addressed, are not offensive, but defensive only: the three characteristics of their life here below, faith, love, and hope. We have seen how they are used in chap. 1 of this Epistle; here they re-appear in the last. Indeed they cannot be absent if we would speak of the motive principles of Christ, whether in truth or in practice; and hence they are more or less prominent in all the apostolic writings.
* It may be worth while here to remark that the reason for the anarthrous structure of the phraseology is not what Bishop Ellicott assigned following Winer’s Greek New Testament Grammar, namely, that as well known terms they dispense with the article. Now there may be cases where with a connected word the phrase is virtually a proper name, which sufficiently designative to do without the article unless special reasons require it. But as a general rule the facts do not bear out the conclusion and the familiar words in question fall under the ordinary principle that when they are intended to present an object before the mind the article must be used; whereas it is dropped in order to characterise or predicate simply. The usage is not arbitrary nor careless, but correct in the New Testament and all exact writings. Sometimes the article might or might not be inserted, and both be true; but the force is never precisely the same.
It must be understood that “salvation” here is used in the final or complete sense when the body will share the application of that gracious power which has already dealt with the soul. The believer has already life everlasting and redemption in the Son of God, and thus receives the end of his faith, soul-salvation; he is therefore looking for the salvation of his body (Phi 3:21 ) at Christ’s coming as Saviour, who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to His body of glory, according to the working of the power which He has even to subdue all things to Himself. “Because God did not appoint us unto wrath, but unto obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep we should live together with Him.” These are plain words which trace up to God the sovereign grace which distinguishes the saints from the world from first to last, and makes Christ and His death the turning-point of all blessing for those who look to Him, as His wrath abides on such as are not subject to His Son. As lawyers, however, are apt to find in the law more difficulties and stumbling-blocks and evasions than any other class, so do theologians in the written word, to the dishonour of God and the injury of all who confide in them. Could any minds save those perverted by systematic divinity have ever allowed so low a thought as that physical waking or sleeping was here meant? Yet Dr. Whitby did thus think; and even Calvin* says that we might not unsuitably interpret it as meaning ordinary sleep and that it is doubtful what is now intended by sleeping and waking, for it might seem as if he meant life and death, and this meaning would be more complete. Assuredly this pious and learned man here gives a very uncertain sound with the trumpet. It were better to utter no opinion at all than to leave the reader under such a confusion of thoughts. But even this is not the lowest depth, for there have not been wanting men who wish the apostle to teach that the words bear the same ethical force in ver. 10 as in 6, 7! the necessary inference from which would be that, whether we be spiritually watchful or slothful, we shall alike enjoy the portion of everlasting blessedness together with Christ. Does not this sound uncommonly like moral indifferentism?
* “Dubium tamen est quid nunc per somnium et vigilias intelligat: videri enim posset vitam et mortem designare, et hic sensus esset plenior, quanquam de quotidiano somno non inepte etiam exponere liceat.” Comm. in loco, Opera, vii. 418.)
Dean Alford, to take a recent case, seems in no small strait as to all this in his remarks on the passage (iii. 278, 279, ed. iv.): “In what sense? surely not in an ethical sense, as above: for they who sleep will be overtaken by Him as a thief, and His day will be to them darkness, not light. If not in an ethical sense, it must be in that of living or dying, and the sense as Rom 14:8 . [For we cannot adopt the trifling sense given by Whitby, al., – ‘whether He come in the night, and so find us taking our natural rest, or in the day when we are waking.’] Thus understood, however, it will be at the expense of perspicacity, seeing that and have been used ethically throughout this passage. If we wish to preserve the uniformity of the metaphor, we may [though I am not satisfied with this] interpret in this sense: that our Lord died for us, that whether we watch [are of the number of the watchful, i.e. already Christians] or sleep [are of the number of the sleeping, i.e. unconverted] we should live, etc. Thus it would = ‘who died that all men might be saved:’ who came, not to call the righteous only, but sinners to life. There is to this interpretation the great objection that it confounds with the , the who are definitely spoken of as set by God not to wrath but to . So that the sense live or die must, I think, be accepted, and the want of perspicuity with it.”
Of course Alford is right in accepting the sense of living or dying, but wrong and irreverent in imputing want of perspicuity to scripture. He saw Paul only not the Holy Ghost perfectly guiding and guarding him, in what is written. Apply the Dean’s reasoning to a kindred mode of speech in Mat 8:21 , Mat 8:22 Was there want of perspicuity in the words of the Lord Jesus? or, in 1Co 8 , does the unexpected but striking turn given to the word “edified” = “emboldened” in ver. 10 destroy perspicuity? It really gives force in every instance: it is only men’s perception which is at fault, with the still worse fault of lack of faith in God’s word. If they felt their own shortcoming but owned the perfection of scripture, it would be the right attitude, and they would learn, instead of indulging an assumption which covers ignorance in themselves, injures others, and is a great disrespect to God. The verse is really the conclusion of the answer to the Thessalonian difficulty as to the dead, and the Holy Spirit seems to have boldly used the words . and . ethically in 6 and 7, and metaphorically here, because He took for granted the mind of Christ in the saints, which could not misapprehend His different aims in the two cases. Christ died for us, that, whether alive or dead, we should live together with Him. It is living along with Him where He is and as He is, glorified on high. And as the apostle called on the saints in 1Th 4:18 to comfort or encourage one another with these words he repeats it here in ver. 11, with the added call to edify one the other; for to know the solemn judgment to fall on the world in the day of the Lord should the more build up believers consoled and rejoicing in their own proper hope at His coming.
The apostle next turns to a need rarely if ever out of season among the faithful, even where the stream of faith and love is yet fresh and strong, the due recognition of those that labour and take the lead on the part of their brethren.
“Now we beseech you, brethren, to know those that labour among you and are over you in [the] Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them exceedingly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves” (vers. 12, 13).
It is commonly assumed that the persons indicated by these expressions of spiritual toil, admonition, or presidency, were bishops or presbyters. But this is to lose the special instruction and value of what is here urged; as it is an oversight of the apostolic order as presented in the scripture to take for granted that any were appointed in the Thessalonian assembly to the office of oversight during so brief a sojourn as the first visit, among converts, all of them as yet necessarily novices in the things of God, however bright, and fervent, and promising. To the careful reader of Act 13:14 no argument is needed to prove that it was on a second visit, unless the first were of long continuance, that the apostles appointed or chose for the disciples elders in every assembly. The wisdom of this, if not the necessity for it, will be evident to any sober mind that reflects, even if we had not the positive prohibition to Timothy of any such persons from such a function. (1Ti 3:6 ) For surely, whatever Popes may do, it would be harsh in the extreme to suppose that the apostle in his own choice of bishops neglected the principle which he so gravely charges on his true son in the faith.
Undoubtedly elders, or bishops, were to be honoured, especially those that laboured in word and teaching. (1Ti 5:17 .) But the weighty lesson inculcated in the other scriptures we are considering is that, before there was such an official relationship, those who laboured among the saints, took the lead of them in the Lord, and admonished the saints, are held up by the apostle as entitled not only to recognition in their work, but to be regarded exceedingly in love on account of it. Very probably they were just the persons suited for an apostle, or an apostolic delegate like Titus, to appoint as presbyters. But meanwhile, and independently, this established a most important principle, and quite as wholesome for the saints themselves as for those who had no external title as yet: nothing more than a spiritual gift exercised in faith and love, with the simple-hearted desire of the Lord’s glory in the healthful, happy, and holy condition of their brethren.
Nor is this state of things among the Thessalonians at all an exceptional case; in other places we may see what is analogous. Thus, among the saints at Rome, where (so far as scripture teaches) no apostle had as yet sojourned, we find gifts which they are encouraged in the Epistle to exercise, teaching, exhorting, presiding or ruling, etc. Apostolic appointment they had not yet; and accordingly we hear of no such officers as bishops or deacons. But it is a mistake to infer from this that there were or could be none otherwise taking the lead; for Rom 12 explicitly exhorts such persons to exercise their gift, even if they had no outward appointment.
Similarly in the Epistles to the church in Corinth we find no trace of elders – rather the proof that they did not yet exist there. For if they did, would it not be strange to ignore them in the absence of godly discipline as we see in 1Co 5:6 , and in the presence of such disorder as there dishonoured the Lord’s Supper (1Co 11 ), not to speak of confusion in the assembly (1Co 14 ), and heterodoxy germinating in their midst (1Co 15 )? If elders were not there, one could understand these evils laid directly at the door of the assembly without reference to any individuals appointed to rule. Their absence is readily accounted for: the Corinthian assembly was still young, however vigorous. It was usual to appoint on a later visit those of the brethren in whom the Lord gave the apostles to descry fitting qualifications for the office of a bishop. Yet, meanwhile they were not destitute of those that devoted themselves, like the house of Stephanas to the service of the saints (1Co 16:15 , 1Co 16:16 ); and the apostle enjoins subjection to each and to every one joined in the work and labouring.
At Ephesus there were, as we know from Act 20 , elders or bishops; but this did not hinder the free action of those who were gifts from the Lord, whether pastors or others (Eph 4 ), who might not have the local charge of elders. The same remark applies to Philippi, where express mention is made of bishops and deacons, but as there might be, and no doubt was, the exercise of gifts in teaching or presiding before such officials appeared, so there was nothing in their presence to hinder the liberty of the Spirit in the assembly. Compare also Col 2:19 with Col 4:17 , Heb 13:7 , Heb 13:17 , Heb 13:24 . 1Pe 4:11 illustrates and confirms the same principle: a golden one for us now, when we cannot have apostolic visits, or the then orderly appointment to local charge such as they were authorised to make. But we may and ought so much the more sedulously to own all that the Lord gives for the order and edifying of the assembly, as we hear the apostles exhorting the saints in so many places to do, where elders were not, and even where and when they were.
It might be asked if there was as yet no official nomination of the chiefs at Thessalonica, how were the saints to know the right persons to own, honour, and love as such? The answer is, that the Spirit of God would give this, if not with the intelligence and surely not with the authority, of an apostle, but quite enough to guide the saints for all practical purposes. Therefore, says the apostle here, “We beseech you brethren, to know those that labour among you,” etc. Here was the warrant of the word; the Holy Spirit would do the rest, unless self-will and pride or envy hindered. Even so much service of devoted labour and lowly taking the lead and faithful admonition would make itself known in the conscience, as it would yet more readily to the heart if the saints walked with God. Yet this is so novel among Christians, that even devout scholars find very great difficulty in discovering the meaning of , whereas its force here is its constant use. If the saints can know a brother to love him, so they can know those whom God uses for their blessing and guidance, and, if right themselves before Him, will respect them the more for not slurring over what is wrong, though a pain at the moment. “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” You cannot love as here exhorted unless you know them, just as it is impossible to render brotherly love if we cannot tell who are our brethren.
To be at peace among ourselves is of great moment in order to such recognition as the recognition conduces to it. So it follows here.
But there is no countenance given to the unloving, careless thought that those who labour are to undertake the whole burden of the saints, especially that which draws on moral courage and patience. This is enjoined, not (as Chrysostom says here) on the rulers, but also on the brethren generally. “And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly, comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, be long-suffering toward all” (ver. 14). Love alone can thus work, looking at the saints as they are in God’s sight, and grieved at the havoc Satan would make in that holy garden of the Lord, for whose will and glory love is jealous. Such is to be our way with our brethren.
Next follows a cluster of short pithy exhortations almost to the end, which deal first of all with our spirit or state personally; next in our more public walk.
“See that none render to anyone evil for evil, but always pursue that which is good one toward another, and toward all. Rejoice always; pray unceasingly; in everything give thanks, for this [is] God’s will in Christ Jesus toward you. Quench not the Spirit; despise not prophecies; but prove all things; hold fast that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (ver. 15-22).
Grace is the characteristic of the gospel; and as it is the spring in God Himself as shown in Christ so would He have it in His children, not human justice, for the just against the unjust, but unselfish love doing good to the evil and suffering evil from them. Thus would He have us to be not overcome of evil but to overcome evil with good. Such is Christianity in practice above heathenism and Judaism alike. Such is it one with another and toward all, and so Peter no less than Paul: “If when ye do well and suffer, ye shall take it patiently this is acceptable – grace – with God.”
Nor should the Christian give an ill impression of his God and Father or of the portion he even now possesses in His grace, any more than of his prospects. With what joy the disciples returned even from their Master departing to heaven! And the Holy Spirit in due time came to make the joy unfailing. (Joh 4:14 ) What has there been since to dry up the spring? “Rejoice always.”
But we are still in the body and in the world, as they were. Therefore is the word “pray unceasingly;” just as we see those who returned with great joy from Olivet, all with one accord continuing steadfastly in prayer with Mary the mother of Jesus, not yet the abomination of prayer to her or to His brethren. Yet this due expression of increasing dependence on God should never be without thanksgiving, but as we are in everything, which otherwise might make us anxious, by prayer and supplication to let our requests be made known to God (Phi 4:6 ), so are we here exhorted to “give thanks in everything.” And as a constant spirit of thanksgiving is the very reverse of nature’s querulousness, because of manifold suffering and chagrin and disappointment, the apostle fortifies this call with a reason subjoined, “for this is God’s will in Christ Jesus toward you.” Otherwise it would soon in the declension of Christendom have been counted levity and presumption. How truly does the apostle say in his second Epistle, “all have not faith.”
Next we have terse but full exhortation as to our more public ways. It is not here the personal call of Eph 4 , “grieve not,” but “quench not the Spirit,” followed up by “despise not prophecies,” which serves to fix its true bearing. Both suppose the free action of the Holy Spirit in the assembly, where He must not be hindered in His general movement even by the least member of Christ, any more than despised in the highest form of dealing with souls, or “prophesying.” On the other hand the saints must not be imposed on by high or exclusive claims which are never needed by, and would be repulsive to, the truly spiritual. They were to prove all things, to hold fast the good, to abstain from every form of evil. By translated “appearance” in the Authorised Version, is really meant kind or form.
This brief but full exhortation is followed by a beautifully suited prayer. “Now the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit, and soul, and body be preserved entire without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful [is] He that calleth, who will also do [it]” (ver. 23, 24). Thus does the apostle commend his beloved children in the faith to the God of peace Himself, after so comprehensively urging their own responsibility; and this both generally and in detail. This is the reason of distinguishing the spirit, the soul, and the body, the entire man inner and outer, and even the inner divided into spirit and soul, that they might look for God to set them apart wholly, and every whit within as well as without to be preserved entire without blame at Christ’s coming.
It may be well to add that “the soul” is the seat of personality, “the spirit” is rather the expression of capacity. Hence the soul, with its affections, is the responsible “I;” as the spirit is that higher faculty capable of knowing God, but also of unutterable woe in the rejection of Him. The God of peace Himself claims and sanctifies us wholly. For this should we pray, as the apostle for the saints in Thessalonica, that they might be preserved entire blamelessly, and in every respect, at the coming of our Lord. And for our comfort he adds that, as He who calls us is faithful, so also He will accomplish His purpose. Peace with God, the peace of God, the God of peace; such is the order of the soul’s entrance into and experience of the blessing through our Lord Jesus, as the Holy Ghost is the person who effectuates this wonderful purpose of our Father whether now in measure, or absolutely and perfectly at Christ’s coming, a hope never separated in Scripture from any part of Christian life.
But there is another trait of that life to which the apostle invites the saints. “Brethren, pray for us.” What grace! We can understand easily an Abraham praying for an Abimelech, and perhaps also a more faulty Abraham interceding for a faulty prince of the world who had done a wrong which he wist not fully. But how blessed that it is the privilege of the saints to pray for the most honoured servant of the Lord, and that he seeks and values their prayers! Then follows a warm expression of loving salutation to the brethren, to all the brethren.
But there is another word of marked significance introduced with peculiar solemnity. “I adjure you by the Lord that the letter be read to all the [holy]* brethren.” We may conceive how proper and necessary this was when the apostle sent out his first Epistle. It was a communication in the form of a letter, so characteristic of Christianity in its affectionate intimacy as well as in its simplicity. Depth of grace and truth it has in its nature, whatever the form in which it may be presented orally or in writing. But being a letter, and the first of the apostle’s sending out, he will have the things he writes acknowledged as the commandments of the Lord, and read to all as concerning all in the Lord. For though he does not put forward his title of apostle, when he could only rejoice that its assertion was needless, he writes in the fullest consciousness of it (1Th 2:6 ), and here implies its fullest authority, but withal would be in immediate contact with the least member of Christ’s body, as he wishes finally that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ should be with them (ver. 28). It was not that he suspected the integrity of those that were over them in the Lord, but that he would impress on all the saints the solemnity of a fresh inspired communication. And truly, the more we reflect on the gracious interest of God in thus drawing out the heart of the apostle, guided and filled with suited truth for His children, the more will our value rise for such unerring words of divine love.
*Some have judged “holy” a gloss. For my own part, I venture to think it is as appropriate here as in Heb 3:1 , and can readily understand that its absence from “brethren” generally might induce scribes even in early days as in later to omit the term. This was the first letter addressed to the Gentile saints, as the Epistle to the Hebrews lays special emphasis on those of that nation who confessed Christ being now “holy brethren,” not such as were only Abraham’s seed according to the flesh.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Th 5:1-11
1Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
1Th 5:1 “Now as to” The subject of the Second Coming continues, but a new aspect of the event is approached: the judgment of unbelievers.
NASB”the times and the epochs”
NKJV, NRSV”the times and the seasons”
TEV”the times and occasions”
NJB”times and seasons”
Although believers are not to seek specific times (cf. Mat 24:36), they do need to recognize the trends of history (cf. Act 1:7; Mat 24:32-33). The Greek chronn, translated “times,” answers the question, “How long?” It speaks of the passing of time. The English word “chronology” is derived from this Greek root. Kairn, translated “epochs,” answers the question, “when?” It speaks of special events.
“brethren” This is often used by Paul to mark a transition to a new subject (see 1Th 4:1).
“you have no need of anything to be written to you” Paul had not been able to give them extensive and prolonged information about the Second Coming. Remember, he only stayed a short time in Thessalonica, but he must have preached on this subject several times. This phrase does not mean to imply the Thessalonian believers perfectly understood all aspects of the end-time events but that the Spirit would lead them and inform them in the necessary areas (cf. Joh 14:26; Joh 16:13; 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27) especially those truths that relate to: (1) the gospel, and (2) the Christian life.
The other possible option is that it refers to the New Covenant of Jer 31:31-34, especially 1 Thess. 5:33-34. The New Age of righteousness is characterized by believers knowing God in intimate personal ways. They will not need a teacher for God has written His word on their hearts by means of the Spirit.
1Th 5:2 “the day of the Lord” This corresponds to an OT phrase referring to God or His Messiah breaking into history to set up the new age of righteousness (cf. Joe 1:15; Joe 2:11; Joe 2:31; Amo 5:18; Isa 2:12). In the OT God’s coming could be for blessing or for judgment. For believers it will be the culmination of salvation but for unbelievers the consummation of judgment.
The eschatological emphasis of a special coming day when humans will meet Jesus (as Savior or Judge) goes by several designations in Paul’s writings:
1. “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (cf. 1Co 1:8)
2. “the day of the Lord” (cf. 1Co 5:5; 1Th 5:2; 2Th 2:2)
3. “the day of the Lord Jesus” (cf. 2Co 1:14)
4. “the day of Jesus Christ” (cf. Php 1:6)
5. “the day of Christ” (cf. Php 1:10; Php 2:16)
6. “His day (Son of Man)” (cf. Luk 17:24)
7. “the day that the Son of Man is revealed” (cf. Luk 17:30)
8. “the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (cf. 1Co 1:7)
9. “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven” (cf. 2Th 1:7)
10. “in the presence of the Lord Jesus at His coming” (cf. 1Th 2:19)
In the OT the writers saw two ages, an evil age and a coming age of righteousness, the age of the Spirit. God would intervene in history through His Messiah to set up this new age. This event was know as the “Day of the Lord.” Notice that NT writers attribute this to Christ. His first coming, the Incarnation, was foretold in many OT texts. The Jews did not expect a divine person, just a divine intervention. The two comings of the Messiah, one as suffering servant and savior, one as Judge and Lord, were not obvious to OT people. See Special Topic: The Two Ages in Gal 1:4.
“will come just like a thief in the night” This is a present tense used as a future. This “any-moment” return is a recurrent theme in the NT (cf. Mat 24:42-44; Mat 25:13; Luk 12:40; Luk 12:45; Luk 21:34-36; 2Pe 3:10; Rev 3:3; Rev 16:15). See Special Topic at 1Th 4:15.
There was a Jewish tradition that the Messiah would come at midnight on Passover like the Death Angel of the Exodus.
1Th 5:3 “While they are saying, Peace and safety'” This was the message of the false prophets of Jeremiah’s day (cf. Jer 6:14; Jer.8:11,28). Human life and society will appear normal before God’s intervention (cf. Mat 24:37-38; Luk 17:26-27). They will not be expecting the Messiah.
The NT emphasis is that there will be intense suffering before the Second Coming (cf. Mat 24:21; Mar 13:19-20).
“then destruction will come upon them suddenly” This passage strongly contrasts “them” (1Th 5:3) and “brothers” (1Th 5:4). This destruction does not refer to annihilation, but is a biblical metaphor for God’s judgment (cf. 2Th 1:9; Dan 12:2).
“Suddenly” is only found here and in Luke’s account of Jesus’ Olivet discourse (cf. Luk 21:34). It implies a sudden and unexpected event.
“labor pains” This OT metaphor of judgment (cf. Isa 13:6-8; Jer 4:31) became a NT metaphor (i.e., birth pains of the new age, cf. Mat 24:8; Mar 13:8; Rom 8:22). It speaks of the suddenness yet certainty of an event, as well as the severe pain involved.
NASB”and they will not escape”
NKJV”And they shall not escape”
NRSV”and there will be no escape”
TEV”They will not escape”
JB”and there will be no way for anybody to evade it”
This is an emphatic double negative: “Never, no, never under any circumstances.”
1Th 5:4 “But you, brethren, are not in darkness” God has revealedthrough the OT prophets, Jesus, and NT writersthe basic outline of end-time events so that those believers who are alive will not be surprised by what is occurring. This is one way that God has provided courage to His followers amid the difficulties of this life and the end-time tribulation period.
One reason for the recurrent confusion among believers about these events is that every generation of believers has tried to force these events into their history.
SPECIAL TOPIC: OLD TESTAMENT PREDICTIONS OF THE FUTURE VS. NEW TESTAMENT PREDICTIONS
1Th 5:5 “sons of light and sons of day” These are two Semitic idioms for the righteous (cf. Luk 16:8; Joh 1:4-9; Joh 3:17-21; Joh 8:12; Joh 11:9-10; Joh 12:35-36; Joh 12:46; Eph 5:8; 1Jn 1:5; 1Jn 1:7; 1Jn 2:8-10). This metaphorical dualism of light versus darkness is characteristic of the Ancient Near East. It is a recurrent theme in the Apostle John’s writings and in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
1Th 5:6 “let us not sleep” This is a different word from 1Th 4:13 ff. It is often used in the NT for moral indifference (cf. Mar 13:36; Eph 5:14). Notice the three different uses of “sleep” (katheud): (1) lack of moral alertness, (1Th 5:6); (2) physical rest, (1Th 5:7); (3) death, (1Th 5:10).
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV”as others do”
TEV”like the others”
NJB”as everyone else does”
This is literally “the remaining” or “the rest.” It is the same term used to describe unbelievers who have no hope in 1Th 4:13.
“let us be alert and sober” 1Th 5:6 has three present active subjunctives. The first is negative, “do not continue to sleep.” The next two are positive, “keep alert and sober.” These emphasize continual diligence, but with an element of contingency. Some believers are asleep and are not alert or sober. Alertness is a common theme of the NT for Christians concerning the Second Coming (cf. Mat 24:42-43; Mat 25:13; Mar 13:34; Luk 21:34). Both “alert” and “sober” are used metaphorically. “Sober” in 1Th 5:6; 1Th 5:8 is used of mental alertness or self-control (cf. 2Ti 4:5; 1Pe 1:13; 1Pe 4:7; 1Pe 5:8).
1Th 5:8 “having put on” This is an Aorist middle participle which could read “having once for all ourselves put on.” This usage is very similar to Rom 13:12; Eph 6:11-14, which reflects Isa 59:17. Paul used this military armor metaphor often, but not always using the armor to represent the same Christian attributes. Believers must personally avail themselves of the spiritual weaponry provided by Christ. Maturity’s protection is not automatic (cf. 1Th 5:7).
“faith. . .love. . .hope” This was Paul’s favorite triad of Christian virtues (cf. Rom 5:2-5; Gal 5:5-6; Col 1:4-5; 1Th 1:3; Heb 6:10-12; 1Pe 1:21-22). They form a link from initial faith to consummated faith.
“hope” This often is used to refer to the Second Coming, especially in I & 2 Thessalonians. See SPECIAL TOPIC: HOPE at Gal 5:5.
1Th 5:9 “for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” God’s love flows to us only through Christ. He is the only way (cf. Joh 14:6); the door (Joh 10:1-3); the only mediator (1Ti 2:5).
SPECIAL TOPIC: SALVATION (GREEK VERB TENSES)
1Th 5:10 “who died for us” This expresses Jesus’ substitutionary vicarious sacrifice on our behalf (cf. Isaiah 53; Mar 10:45; 2Co 5:21).
“whether we are awake or asleep” There are two interpretive options: (1) the church was concerned about those members of their fellowship who have died or (2) Jesus died for even those believers who are not alert and not sober.
“we will live together with Him” Heaven is surely a place (cf. Joh 14:2-3 a), but primarily it is being with Jesus (cf. Joh 14:3 c; 2Co 5:6; 2Co 5:8). Heaven, like salvation, is a personal relationship!
1Th 5:11 “encourage one another” This is a present active imperative. “Encourage” is from the same root as “paracltos” (cf. Joh 14:16; Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:17; 1Jn 2:1). Paul’s discussion of the Rapture (cf. 1Th 4:13-18) ends in an ethical, ministry admonition (cf. 1Co 15:58; Eph 4:13). Doctrine should encourage godly living (cf. Luk 12:48).
“build up one another” This is another present active imperative. The expectation of Christ’s return and heaven should motivate us to minister to one another, not fight over competing human eschatological systems!
SPECIAL TOPIC: EDIFY
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
of. App-104.
times, seasons. See App-195.
no = not. App-105.
unto = to.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
1-11.] Exhortation to watch for the day of the Lords coming, and to be ready for it.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Chapter 5
But of the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety: then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, [and here’s the key] are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief ( 1Th 5:1-4 ).
The day of the Lord is coming. Jesus referred to His coming as a thief in the night. But Paul is saying, “You are the children of the light, so that that day should not overtake you as a thief.” I believe that the Lord intended us to be knowledgeable of Bible prophecy, and thus knowledgeable of the signs of His coming. And certainly, there are interesting signs of His coming in the world today. Israel existing as a nation: tremendous sign of the coming again of Jesus Christ. Europe gathered together in a community of ten nations: an interesting sign of the return again of Jesus Christ. The capacity of man to destroy himself off of the planet earth: another sign for “except those days be short and no flesh would remain, but for the elect sake, they shall be shortened.”
The development of electronic funds transfers, the development of an I.D. system now putting a computer chip upon a card that can store all kinds of information, even record and keep in memory every transaction that you’ve made with the card; being used now in Europe, being tested in France, used in Europe as a possible model for a worldwide monetary system. And the talk of taking that same computer chip, because the cards are lost and stolen, and implanting it within a person’s wrist. So a mark, an identity where people buy and sell with that mark and identity. “The times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. You know He’s coming as a thief, but you are not the children of darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
You are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober ( 1Th 5:5-6 ).
Now, as Jesus talked in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew concerning His coming again, there were two things that He emphasized on into chapter twenty-five. One, watch; two, be ready. Paul here is emphasizing watch, be sober. And so, I do believe that it is the intent of the Lord that His church in all ages live in anticipation of His imminent return, and that two things they should number one, be watching and number two, they should be ready.
Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us to wrath [Praise the Lord!], but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ ( 1Th 5:6-9 ),
God’s wrath is going to come upon the earth. Jesus said, quoting from Daniel, “And there shall be a time of great tribulation, such as the world has never seen before or ever see again.” And from the book of Revelation, from chapter six through eighteen, we have details of that great judgment of God that will be coming upon the earth. And as we are moving in the book of Revelation now on Thursday evenings, we’ll be studying this as we go along. But, this great judgment that is coming in the book of Revelation is called, in the book of Revelation, the day of His wrath, “the wrath of His indignation being poured forth as the rich men and the kings of all of the earth call unto the rocks and the mountains to hide them from the face of the Lamb and from His judgment. For the day of His wrath has come and who shall be able to stand?” ( Rev 6:16 )
As far as the church is concerned, Jesus said, “In this world you’ll have tribulation”( Joh 16:33 ). But Jesus identifies Satan as the culprit behind the tribulation that the child of God experiences living on this alien world. But the Bible definitely identifies the source of the great tribulation as being God in His judgment as He comes to judge those who are dwelling upon the earth. And when the wrath of God is poured out . . . we have not been appointed unto wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord. And that is why we should be watching, and we should be sober. Jesus said that that day is going to come and catch many as a snare. And so pray that you will always be accounted worthy to escape these things that are gonna be coming to pass upon the earth, and to be standing upon . . . before the Son of Man, for as a snare it shall come upon the earth. And therefore, he warns us against drunkenness, against surfeiting, against living after the flesh, that we be caught unaware. And so the same message of watching, be sober, be diligent.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him ( 1Th 5:9-10 ).
And that is the whole thing, whether dead or alive, I’m going to be living together with Him. That’s what Jesus was talking about when He said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the light. He that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and if you live and believe in Me, you’ll never die”( Joh 11:25 ). I’m never gonna die. I’m gonna always live for Jesus and with Jesus, and whether, you know, in this body or in my new body, I’m gonna be living with Him. So, as Paul said, “Whether we wake or sleep, we are living together with Him in one form or the other, in this body or my new one. I won’t die; I will be living together with Him.”
Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify [build up] one another, even as you do ( 1Th 5:11 ).
And so the building up of one another in Christ, the encouraging of one another in the Lord.
And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you ( 1Th 5:12 );
So, those that God has chosen to have the oversight of the body of Christ, to minister to them and admonish them in the truth of God. Paul said,
And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly ( 1Th 5:13-14 ),
Now he’s gonna give us a bunch of little exhortations here.
Warn those that are unruly ( 1Th 5:14 ),
You see a person that is not living right, warn him. God called Ezekiel to warn him, and told him the importance of his ministry of warning those unrighteous people, and those righteous who had turned on their righteousness.
comfort the feebleminded ( 1Th 5:14 ),
We have a tendency many times to become annoying with the feebleminded. You know, to pass them off. But we are told here we ought to be comforting the feebleminded. God bless them, man. You know, our hearts should be going out to them and we should be patient and seek to comfort them, rather than being brisk and short.
support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man ( 1Th 5:14-15 );
Oh, isn’t that difficult? How we love to get even, but see that we don’t.
but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you ( 1Th 5:15-18 ).
Again, I would call attention to the fact it doesn’t say, “For everything give thanks.” That would be hypocritical. I cannot honestly give thanks for a lot of things, but I can give thanks in them. I can’t give thanks, really, for the problems that I face, but I can give thanks in the problems. I don’t give thanks for the trials, but I give thanks to God in the trials. If I’ve lost everything, I don’t thank God for the fact that I’ve lost everything, but I thank God in the losses, not for the losses, because I know that God is control of my life. I know that God is controlling those things that happen to me because I’ve committed my life to Him and I know that God loves me. And I know that God is working out a wise plan in my life, and He is wiser than I. And I know that God can see the long term, where all I can see is the short term. And so, in everything that happens to me, because God is controlling those happenings, because God is governing my life, I give thanks to God in everything; that He loves me, that He’s in control, that He is guiding the things of my life, and that He’s gonna work out His good eternal plan and purposes in me. “In everything give thanks.”
Quench not the Spirit ( 1Th 5:19 ).
Now, a lot of people use this scripture to tolerate all kinds of foolishness going on within the body of Christ. You know, someone screaming outlandishly and running up and down the isles screaming and all, and in their second pass, Romaine catches them and takes them outside. And you know the first thing they say to Romaine, “The Bible says, ‘Quench not the Spirit.'” Well, that’s not what Paul’s talking about. There is a spirit that is to be quenched: the human spirit.
We are told grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. How is the Holy Spirit grieved? How do we quench the Spirit? You know one of the greatest quenches of the Spirit is a lack of love? That’s how we quench the Spirit. The Spirit’s work in our hearts and in our lives can be hindered by bitter feelings, by hatred, and jealousy, and animosity, and those kind of feelings; that’s what quenches the work of the Spirit within your life. And so, it’s really talking about that work of God’s Spirit within your life, don’t quench it. The fruit of the Spirit, you see, is love, and that is what the Spirit is speaking to, is seeking to produce in you is that love. Don’t quench the Spirit, open up to love. Open up to be an instrument of love. Open up to be a channel of God’s love. Release yourself to love.
A lot of times we have a hesitancy in this because we’ve been burned in the past. We’ve been hurt. I loved them and then they rejected me, and we feel so rejected that we begin to close up and we won’t open up to love. And as we close up and tighten up we’re actually quenching the Spirit. “Quench not the Spirit.”
Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things ( 1Th 5:20-21 );
And, of course, with prophecy, that is necessary to be proved. As Paul said in 1Co 14:1-40 , “When one prophesies, let the others judge.” And so, it is tied together here, “Despise not prophesyings. And yet prove all things.”
I’ve had some people give me some off-the-wall “thus saith the Lord” prophecies. Several years ago, I had a man prophesy that I was gonna be carried out of the church in a casket within two weeks. He didn’t like the fact that I didn’t go along with his “Jesus only” doctrine. He said God was going to judge me. He had this vision and he prophesied, “Thus saith the Lord,” you know, “in two weeks they’re gonna carry you out in this black coffin.” Well, I knew that was wrong, because my wife would never get a black coffin. An interesting thing, I had that man’s funeral service within two weeks, so I just told my wife, “Evidently he saw the wrong face in the casket.”
Prove all things. Someone gives you a prophecy, just don’t accept it. Prove it. Don’t despise it, though. And I get a lot of . . . I get a lot of, “Thus saith the Lords,” and a lot of mail, and a lot of people feel that God has used them as a channel to speak to me. And I want to be open. God knows my heart; I want to be open. There are a lot of times, you know, you get sort of burned on these things. You say, “Aw, I . . . ” and you don’t even bother to read them, because there’s a certain kind of a pattern to them all. And yet, I don’t want to despise prophecy. I want to be open. I want God to be able to speak to me through ever . . . I can recognize, I accept that God can use others to speak to me, and I am open to God speaking to me. However, I want God to speak to me however He wants to speak to me.
But on the other hand, I feel that it is incumbent that I do prove all things and then,
hold fast that which is good ( 1Th 5:21 ).
I think that this is Chuck Missler’s sort of motto in every speech. He just says, “Hey, I’m gonna say a lot of wild stuff, and I don’t want you to believe anything I say. I want you to prove all things, and then hold fast that which is true. Be like the Bereans, ‘More noble than those in Thessalonica, and that they went and searched the scriptures to see if these things be of God.'” Prove all things, and then hold fast that which is good.
Here’s an important one:
Abstain from all appearance of evil ( 1Th 5:22 ).
I love this sparkling apple juice. And now Treetop has come out with Sparkling Apple Juice, but they put it in these large green bottles, you know, with the gold foil at the top and all. And I hate to buy it, because I’m afraid someone will see me checking out and say, “Oh, he’s buying wine or champagne,” or something, you know, because of the bottle that they put it in. So, sort of a dilemma. I want to abstain from all appearances of evil. But the Lord’s taking care of that. Price Club has it in the case, and they’re little twelve ounce bottles and no foil or anything, so I’ll now get my sparkling apple juice.
I do think we need to be very sensitive on the appearances of things, to shun the appearances of evil. There are those couples that often come and say, “Well, we’re living together in the same house, but we’re not sleeping together.” Well, who knows? You know, the neighbors, surely they don’t know, and it has the appearance of evil. And we are told, and I think we need to abstain from all . . . even the appearances of evil. We don’t want to stumble anybody.
And the very God of peace sanctify [set you apart] wholly [or completely]; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved ( 1Th 5:23 )
Notice, Paul recognizes the tricotomy of man: your whole spirit, your whole soul, and your whole body. The three parts of man’s being: body, soul, consciousness and spirit. Spirit, which is dead, until we receive the Lordship of Jesus Christ and we are made alive. Once dead in trespasses and sins, but now alive unto God through the Spirit. The spirit is come alive.
Now, psychology and humanism in the universities today teach the dichotomy of man. They teach that the soul and spirit of man are synonymous. It is only those who have been born again by the Spirit of God and experience the spiritual life are trichotomists, and the reason why we are trichotomist is because our spirit has come alive, and we know that the spirit of man is separate and distinct from the consciousness of man.
But the natural man cannot understand the things of the spirit, and neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. So try to argue this with a natural man and you get nowhere. He has no way of understanding, no way of comprehending. And the Lord brought me to this after several arguments with the college professor in my sociology class on the subject of the soul and the spirit being separate entities, distinct. And he was a dichotomist, a humanist, and we went round and round until one day, as I went out of the class talking to myself about that pour ignorant man, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “Look, you’re trying to teach him something he cannot know.” The natural man cannot understand the things of the spirit neither can he know them. They are spiritually discerned.
It is only when you’re alive in the spirit that you can understand the things of the spirit, the realm of the spirit. And so, those who are natural, trying to approach the word of God with a natural wisdom and understanding, become confused when you get to the realm of the spirit. But he which is spiritual understands all things, though he is not understand.
So,
and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ( 1Th 5:23 ).
That is your whole man. God, preserve me physically, my body. God, preserve my mind, my consciousness. And God, preserve my spirit, blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it ( 1Th 5:24 ).
Oh, how glorious to be called of God, because God is faithful, and having begun a good work in us, He will continue to perform it.
Brethren, pray for us ( 1Th 5:25 ).
In almost all of his epistles, Paul was asking the people to pray for him as he mentioned how he prays for them. And that’s what the body of Christ is all about: bearing one another’s burdens, and fulfilling the law of Christ, praying one for another.
Brethren, pray for us. And greet all the brethren with a holy kiss ( 1Th 5:25-26 ).
Now, there over in Greece we went to church in Athens, and the brothers all came up and they came up and kissed ya on both cheeks. The practice is still there in Greece. In Rome, the same thing, the brothers all come up, kiss you on both cheeks, and you know, it’s a neat experience. It’s something that is sort of different to our culture here, but it is a common greeting in that area.
I charge you by the Lord, that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren ( 1Th 5:27 ).
So we really sort of obeyed the commandment here in reading this epistle to all of you holy brethren.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen ( 1Th 5:28 ).
So, next week into the second Thessalonians, and we’ll take the whole book of second Thessalonians next week. Only three chapters, and they’re all short. So second Thessalonians for next week as we move through the Bible.
“And now, be ye doers of the word and not hearers only.” May God help us to put into practice those things that He has taught us in His word. Following the exhortations of Paul, may we live a holy, righteous life before God and man. Loving one another more and more as we look for that glorious day when our Lord shall come, and we shall be changed by His Spirit into His own glorious image, according to His mighty power, whereby He is able to subdue all things to Himself. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the peace of His Holy Spirit keep you in Christ. In Jesus’ name. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
1Th 5:1-2. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
The great point is that it comes will certainly come, and it will come when it is least expected. There are certain signs given, by which the righteous shall know of its appearing, but all study of dates and fixing of the time is contrary to the very spirit of the Christian dispensation. We are to abide, always looking for it, believing it may come today, believing it may not come today believing that the secret of the time is with God. Ye do err if ye say it shall be this or that season; ye equally err if ye say it shall not be then. Let it remain as it is, a secret in the heart of God, ye yourselves always girt, waiting it to come.
1Th 5:3. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Sudden and acute shall be the terror of the ungodly when the Lord Jesus in flaming fire shall be manifested.
1Th 5:4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
You are brought out of darkness into his marvelous light. Your element is light. Ye are all the children of light; ye are not in darkness that the day should overtake you as a thief. You know the signs, and, being watchful, you will observe them when the hour cometh.
1Th 5:5-6. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
It is the proper and fitting season for it. That the children of darkness should slumber is no wonder. They are the children of a sleepy time. Ye are the children of the day; if ye sleep, ye will be acting contrary to your nature.
1Th 5:7. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
People were a little more decorous in the Apostles day than they are now, for there are some who are drunk in the day now-a-days, and though we have certainly improved in some things, we seem to have gone back in this. But, at any rate, drunkenness may seem suitable to benighted persons, but it is not suitable to those who profess to have the light of Gods grace.
1Th 5:8. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
We are of the day, but it is a day of battle. Put on armor, therefore. Be as soldiers that are covered with a panoply. Especially take care of your heart put on the breastplate. Faith and love are the sacred protection for this. Take care that ye have both. Take care of your head that also is a vital part; put on the helmet. Hope will do that. A good hope in Christ Jesus will guard you from many violent attacks that will be made upon your judgment.
1Th 5:9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
See there is no ordination to condemnation. Believing in Christ, we have the evidence that we are elect according to the foreknowledge of God, through sanctification of the spirit and obedience, and sprinkling of blood.
1Th 5:10-11. Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
It is a good church of which we can say this, especially if we can say it of all the members that they edify one another. Living stones in a living temple should seek to build each other up. May we all try to have a sacred commerce in our knowledge, and other gifts as one trading with another. All may enrich and edify one another. As also ye do. Why did he tell them to do it, then, if they were doing it? Answer that they might keep on doing it. The horse that runs best may still be the better for a spur.
1Th 5:12-13. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake.
Consider them in your prayers; give them all the help you can; do not be strangers to their office, and to the burden which it brings. God has set them over you. Regard them in that light. Esteem them very highly, not as masters, as though they were lords, but as being over you. Esteem them very highly in love for their works sake.
1Th 5:13. And be at peace among yourselves.
There is an end to church prosperity when there is an end of peace.
1Th 5:14. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly,
There are some that never will be ruled; their very idea of being a Christian is that they shall do just as they like. It is a somewhat happy circumstance that there are sects where they can do so. There are formed now-a-days these little knots of people who will have no rule and church government, and who meet to edify one another. Though they speedily go to pieces, it is perhaps the better for the churches that they are quit of them.
1Th 5:14. Comfort the feeble-minded,
They want cheering. You needed it once; return the benefit you have received. Do not be out of patience with them for being so foolish. If their minds be feeble, you cannot expect much better from them.
1Th 5:14. Support the weak,
Give them something to cling to. As some climbing plants put out their tendrils and need to be helped up, so may you be a prop to these climbers.
1Th 5:14. Be patient toward all men.
Think of what patience God has with you. Be patient toward all men.
1Th 5:15. See that none render evil for evil unto any man;
Not in any case. The world advises you to pay a man in his own coin, but if he pays you bad coin, he is wrong, and if you pay him bad coin there will be two wrongs. Do not do so.
1Th 5:15-16. But ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore.
You have always something to rejoice in; make the world ring with Christian music.
1Th 5:17. Pray without ceasing.
Praise and prayer are fit companions. You will soon leave off rejoicing if you leave off praying. By ejaculations, keep up your prayers while at your books. You will not disturb your avocations by continuing still in supplication and prayer. That provender hinders no mans journey.
1Th 5:18. In every thing give thanks:
Try to do so for everything, and if you cannot do it, in everything give thanks for something else when you are in circumstances which do not excite your thankfulness just then.
1Th 5:18. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
God wills it. This moved the Crusaders to the war. Let this suffice to move you in thanksgiving.
1Th 5:19. Quench not the spirit.
Do not hinder his movements in yourself; do not try to hinder them in others. If any man hath a gift which he might use to edification, do not discourage him, but rather encourage him to get more grace. God may find him opportunities of making use of it. Quench not the Spirit.
1Th 5:20. Despise not prophesyings.
If they are vain and false, despise them if you will, but that prophecy especially which deals with the Word of God, for the Word here does not signify merely prophecies of the future it is often used of regular preaching. Despise not anyone who speaks in Gods name. He may speak with blunders of grammar forget them; if he be correct in his teaching of divine truth, if he speaks to your heart, if he warns you, if he warns under the Spirit of God, never despise him.
1Th 5:21. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
That first sentence is got to be quite a proverb, but that last, I believe, is taken away, which is another instance of the common truth that half the truth is a lie. You must give it all or none. Prove all things, is mischievous teaching, unless you hold fast that which is good. And, after all, in the very first sentence it is not so much Prove all things, as Prove all things that is, take nothing on trust. Do not believe it because you are told so. Search the Scriptures; test what you have received, but when you have tested it, do not go about to be for over proving it. Hold it fast; grip it; grapple it to you as an ox to the stall. Hold fast that which is good.
1Th 5:22. Abstain from all appearance of evil.
By which is not meant as some read it, from everything that somebody likes to say looks like evil. This would be to mar the Christian liberty. But wherever evil puts in an appearance, when it appears to be good, when it has been dressed out for the word may refer to a Roman spectacle, or grand procession. Avoid evil even when dressed out in its best, when it comes on in all its gallant show to attract you. Avoid every species and kind of evil that might almost be the translation abstain from it altogether.
1Th 5:23. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Christian man there is a trinity. His nobler nature is that which he got when he was regenerated, and it is his spirit. His soul he has got, in common with other men. His body he has in common with animals. All, however, must be fully consecrated to God. I pray God your whole spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Th 5:24. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
What a word of good cheer that is. Sanctification often seems to be a thing far off, but he will do it. He that called will perfect. The work which his wisdom began, the arm of his strength will complete.
1Th 5:25. Brethren, pray for us.
Because sometimes people think that those of high spiritual attainments do not need their prayers, Remember, if they have a higher position, they have greater dangers.
1Th 5:26. Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.
This was the token of friendship in the East. To attempt to import it to the West would be not only absurd, but wicked. I may properly read them, Greet all the brethren witch a hearty shake of the hand; keep up the outward form of fellowship, for if you dont you will soon forget the fellowship itself. The kiss was the Oriental custom; it was to be kept up. The shake of the hand is our Western custom. Let it be kept up. And I delight to see it when Christians meet, and cordially greet each other after the custom of their land.
1Th 5:27. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
The Pope would charge you that it be read to nobody; but who is he? It seems that this Epistle was intended to be read by all the Church, and so also the whole Bible. It is said it is not safe to trust it with the brethren; it is not safe to trust them without it; it is not safe to keep back Gods Word from any man. Let the whole Book be read, and I am sure the mere read the better, especially if the last verse be true of every reader.
1Th 5:28. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
1Th 5:1. , of the times) When these things shall happen, which I have mentioned. , seasons, are parts , of the times.[24]- , ye have no need) Those who watch do not require to be told when the hour will come; for they are always ready.
[24] gives the notion of indefinite time; , the time, the opportune point of time, when a thing should be done. Ammonius says well, indicates quality () of time; and , quantity ().-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Th 5:1
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written unto you.-The Greek word for times denotes space of time, that for seasons particular times. The question as to times was how long before the Lord comes. What periods will elapse before the Lord comes? As to seasons, what events will transpire meanwhile? How will the course of history shape itself? These questions naturally excited their curiosity. But they had been plainly told that they could not know.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Under the figure of a camp in which fully armed soldiers are waiting for the break of day, while those not expecting this are sleeping and drunken, the apostle shows that those waiting for the Son are children of light, and therefore called upon to live in watchfulness and sobriety.
In view of the glorious certainty of hope the apostle urged them to continue in the ‘labour of love” in serving “a living and true God.” There follow brief injunctions (verses 1Th 5:17-20) which perfectly set forth the true attitude demanded of the saints. Every one of the injunctions will bear close examination.
The apostle finally declared his desire and assurance concerning these Thessalonian Christians. His desire was that they might be sanctified wholly by “the God of peace Himself.” That entire sanctification is described as the preservation of “spirit and soul and body at the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The letter closes with words that are entirely personal. Conscious of the difficulties of his own position at Corinth, from where he had written, the apostle craves their co-operation in prayer. The last words are of most sacred benediction. Their faith and love and hope are all centered on the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him grace had been manifested for their salvation; in Him they stood in the grace which conditioned their service and their growth; and at His Coming the grace of the first epiphany would merge into the glory of the second. Thus the apostle committed the Thessalonians to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in order to establish them in faith, in love, and in hope.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
(6) Times and Seasons (5:1-11)
The written request for information concerning times and seasons (cf. 4:9, 13) appears to have been made at the suggestion of the faint-hearted who were concerned not only about their friends who had died (4:13-18; cf. 5:10) but also about their own salvation. In doubt about Pauls teaching in reference to the nearness of the advent and in fear that the day might catch them morally unprepared, they ask him, in their discouragement, for further instruction about the times and seasons. Paul, however, is convinced that they require not further instruction but encouragement (5:11). Accordingly, while reminding them that the day is to come suddenly and is to be a day of judgment on unbelievers (vv. 1-3), he is careful to assure them that the day will not take them by surprise, for they, one and all of them, are sons of light and sons of day, that is, believers (vv. 4-5a). Furthermore, recognising that they need to be exhorted to moral alertness, an exhortation which not only they but all Christians require (hence the tactful change from you to we in v. 5), he urges that since they are sons of light and sons of day, they must be morally alert and sober, arming themselves with that faith and love, and especially that hope for future salvation, without which they cannot realise their destiny (vv. 5b-8). There is, however, no cause for anxiety, he assures the faint-hearted, for God has appointed them unto salvation, the indwelling Christ enables them to acquire it, and Christ died for their sins in order that all believers, whether surviving until the Parousia, or dying before it, might at the same time have life with Christ (vv. 9-10). Hence they are to encourage and build up one another, as in fact they are doing (v. 11).
1Now as to the times and seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written you; 2for you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief at night. 3When people are saying: All is well and safe, then sudden destruction comes on them as travail on her that is with child, and they shall in no wise escape.
4But you, brothers, are not in darkness that the day should surprise you as thieves are surprised; 5for you are all sons of light and sons of day.
We Christians do not belong to night or to darkness. 6So then let us not sleep as do the unbelievers, but let us watch and be sober. 7For it is at night that sleepers sleep and at night that drunkards are drunk. 8But we, since we belong to day-let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9For God has not appointed us to wrath but to the winning of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, that whether we are watching or whether we are sleeping, we might together have life with him.
11So then encourage one another and build up one the other, as in fact you are doing.
1. . With , the second (cf. 4:13) eschatological question about which the Thessalonians had written (cf. 4:9, 13) for information is stated: Concerning the times and seasons. Perceiving, however, that they really need not instruction but encouragement, he tells them, following the precedent of 4:9 (contrast 4:13-18) but varying the language: you have no need that anything (sc. ) be written you.
The plural (cf. Dan 2:21, Dan 4:34 (Lxx); contrast the singular Dan 7:12) does not here refer to a future cycle of times and seasons, or to a past cycle now ending (cf. 1Co 10:11), but indicates in traditional language the time of the Parousia. The question put to Paul was an old one (cf. Jer 25:11, Jer 36:10, Dan 9:25 ff.) and was prevalent not only in Christian but in Jewish circles of the time (see Charles, Eschat. 168-175; Volz, Eschat 162 ff.). Notwithstanding the warning of the Lord: (Act 1:7; cf. Mar 13:32, Mat 24:36), it was impossible to quell curiosity as to the exact day and hour. Doubtless the converts particularly in mind in 5:1-11 were wondering what Pauls teaching meant, especially since they feared lest the day might find them morally unprepared. Though as Ammonius (apud Ell.) says: , yet in Jewish usage the terms are interchangeable (cf. Dan 7:12 Sap. 7:18). inserts before ; GF smooth to
2. . The reason why ( as in 4:9) it is unnecessary to write is not that he is unable to teach them anything new (Th. Mops.), but that, in view of the purpose of encouragement, it is inexpedient and superfluous (cf. Chrys.) to do any more than call attention to the facts which they already know accurately, namely (1), that the day of the Lord comes as a thief at night comes (sc. ), that is, suddenly and unexpectedly; and (2) that, as the explanation (vv. 3-5) indicates, although the day comes suddenly for both believers and unbelievers alike, it is only the latter (v. 3) and not the former (vv. 4-5a) who are taken by surprise.
On , see 2:1. (Act 24:22) occurs elsewhere in Paul only Eph 5:15 and elsewhere in Gk. Bib. about a dozen times. Findlay thinks that is quoted from the letter sent to Paul. The O. T. () () , which appears first in Amo 5:18 (see Robertson Smith, Prophets, 396, and Davidson, HDB I, 736) is retained by Paul, though is Christ, as the context here and elsewhere (e. g. Php 1:10, Php 1:2:16, 1Co 1:8, 2Co 1:14) attests. The omission of the articles (here and Php 1:6, Php 1:10, Php 1:2:16; cf. Isa 2:12, Isa 2:13:6, Isa 2:9, etc.) indicates a fixed formula (cf. , 1:1). A reads with Amo 5:18a The mention of , literal here and v. 7, prepares the way for the metaphors in the contrasts between darkness and daylight (v. 4), darkness and light (v. 5), and night time and daytime (v. 5; cf. v. 8). On , cf. 1Co 7:17 ( , Rom 5:15, Rom 5:18, etc.). As the emphasis is on not on , the present tense is general or gnomic (BMT 12), not present for future, or prophetic. For the early belief that the Lord would come at night, expecially Easter eve, see Ln. ad loc. who quotes Lactantius, Inst. 719, and Jerome on Mat 25:
Paul does not tell us (contrast 4:15) whence he derived the information assumed to be possessed by the readers. The comparison to a thief is in itself natural enough (cf. Jer 29:10 ; also Job 24:14, Joe 2:9); but the first extant comparison of the coming of the Lord to a thief appears to be the word of Jesus in Luk 12:39 = Mat 24:43: To be sure does not appear in the logion, and it is the Lord himself (by context) not the day of the Lord that is compared to a thief. But despite these differences, it is better to see in our passage an allusion to that word of the Lord than to postulate an agraphon or a citation from an unknown Jewish apocalypse (as Brckner does in his Entstehung der paulinischen Christologie, 179 ff.). Ephr. (who wrongly takes as = quia) remarks on : sicut didicistis etiam haec a nobis; quoniam et nos ex ipso evangelio Domini nostri didicimus. 2Pe 3:10 (where CKL add ) is evidently based on our passage.
3. . When people are saying: There is (sc. ) security and safety, etc. Starting from as a day of judgment, and from the idea of moral indifference suggested by (cf. v. 4 ), Paul proceeds, without connecting particle (cf. v. 5 ; 1Co 14:26, Col 3:4) to explain the bearing first on unbelievers of the sudden coming of the Lord (v. 2). Though is impersonal (cf. 1Co 10:20 and Bl 30:4) and is undefined, yet clearly unbelievers alone are in mind, as the sharply contrasted (v. 4) makes plain. By the phrase , we are reminded with Grot. of Eze 13:10, (cf. Jer 6:14 = 8:11); and of the false repose and safety of the people described in the word of the Lord (Luk 17:26 f. = Mat 24:37 f.) to which Ephr. alludes: istud est quod dixit Dominus noster: sicut fuit in diebus No et Loth, etc.
The asyndeton (AGF, et al.) is corrected by BD, et al., which insert , and by KLP, Vulg (enim), et al., which insert For , cf. 1Co 13:10, 1Co 15:27, etc; , 1Co 3:4, 2Co 12:10, etc. GF, et al., read (cf. 3:8). On , cf. 1Co 15:28, 1Co 15:54, Col 3:4. For the present general condition, see BMT 260, 312. and , united only here in Gk. Bib., are virtually synonymous (cf. Lev 26:5 f.); but Ell. would distinguish them: betokens an inward repose and security; a sureness and safety that is not interfered with or compromised by outward obstacles.
. That is, either all of a sudden (adjective for adverb; Bl 44:2) or sudden (adjective) destruction comes on them. It is probable that , like (2Co 2:15, 2Co 7:10) and (II 2:10, 1Co 1:18, 2Co 2:15, Php 1:28) is the opposite of ; and that the point is not annihilation of existence but separation from the presence of Christ; hence may be (II 1:9) as well as
On the idea, see Kennedy, Last Things, 314. In 1Co 5:5, is contrasted with the salvation () of ; in 1Ti 6:9, we have . is rare in Gk. Bib. (Luk 21:34 Sap. 17:15, 2 Mac. 14:17, 3 Mac. 3:24); WH. edit here (B), but in Luk 21:34 (so here, ADFLP, et al.). , frequent in Lxx appears in N. T. only here and 2Ti 4:2, 2Ti 4:6, apart from Lk. Acts. It is construed with dat. (here and Sap. 6:5. 8, Luk 2:9, Luk 24:4, etc.), or with and accus. (Sir. 41:22, Jer 21:2, etc.; Luk 21:34, Act 10:17, Act 11:11). On (BL, etc.) for (DEKP, et al.), see Bl 6:7. GF, read ; B puts after
. As travail comes upon (sc. ) her that is with child. The point of the comparison is not (cf. Isa 66:7), as the common Lxx phrase might suggest (so Th. Mops.); not the certainty (an interpretation which Chrys. combats); but the suddenness as indicates. The idea of inevitableness, brought out by , arises probably not from the comparison but from
For , cf. Psa 47:6, Hos 13:3, Mic 4:9, Jer 6:24, Jer 6:8:21, Jer 6:22:33, Jer 6:27:43; also Jer 13:21, Isa 13:8; and Isa 26:17 Eth. En. 62:4. The singular (B read ) is rare in Gk. Bib.; but even if the plural were read with GF, there would be here no reference to the dolores Messiae (Mar 13:8 = Mat 24:8; cf. Volz, Eschat 173 and Bousset, Relig 2 286). On (Rom 2:3, 2Co 11:33), cf. Luk 21:36; on with aor. subj. instead of fut. indic. (which DGF here read; cf. Gal 4:30), see 4:15 and cf. Rom 4:8, 1Co 8:13, Gal 5:16. It is unnecessary to supply an object with ; contrast 2 Mac. 6:26: Here only does Paul use ; elsewhere in N. T. apart from Tit 1:12, Luk 1:31, it is used in the common Lxx phrase, as here, =
Lft. remarks on v. 3: The dissimilarity which this verse presents to the ordinary style of St. Paul is striking. To be sure, , , or with aor. subj. need excite no wonder; but the use of = security, of , , and and of the impersonal might suggest that Paul (a) is citing from a Jewish apocalypse, or (b) from an agraphon, or is writing under the influence either (c) of a Jewish apocalypse or (d) a word of the Lord (as in v. 2). In the light of v. 2, (a) is improbable. In favour of (d) rather than (c) is to be urged not Mar 13:8 = Mat 24:8, or Mar 13:17 and par., but Luk 21:34-36: Take heed to yourselves that your hearts be not dulled by debauches and and the distractions of life; and take heed lest as a trap ( ; cf. Jer 5:27). For it will surely come upon all those who sit on the face of all the earth. at every season, praying that ye may be able all these things which are going to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man. This passage may have affected vv. 4-8 below; cf. Rom 13:11 ff. In favour of (b) is not the concrete and definite character of the utterance (cf. 4:16), but the indefinite If, as seems not unlikely, the sentence is a direct quotation from our Lords words, the reference implied in the word is to be sought for in the context of the saying from which St. Paul quotes (Lft.).
4. . The is adversative by context and contrasts the brethren with the (v. 3) who are now seen to be unbelievers. The latter are in the realm of night, as (v. 2) suggests, that is, of wickedness; and the day of the Lord with its inevitable destruction comes on them suddenly and finds them unprepared. The brethren on the other hand () are not in darkness ( ), that is, in the realm of wickedness, and the day of the Lord, now designated as the daylight in contrast with the dark, while it comes suddenly for them also, does not (and this is the point of the new comparison) surprise them as thieves are surprised by the coming of the dawn.
Christians are on the alert, open-eyed; they do not know when it is to come, but they are alive to any signs of its coming. Thus there is no incompatibility between the emphasis on the instantaneous character of the advent and the emphasis in II 2:3 f. on the preliminary conditions (Moff.). On , cf. Rom 13:12, 1Co 4:5, 2Co 6:14, etc.; cf. Col 1:13, Luk 22:53. The clause with is not of purpose but of conceived result (cf. 2Co 1:17 and BMT 218 f.). The daylight is a metaphor for the day, that is, (GF; cf. II 1:10); on , cf. 1Co 3:13, Rom 13:12; also Rom 2:16, Eze 36:33. is here not attain (Rom 9:30, 1Co 9:24, Php 3:12 f.), or understand (Eph 3:18), but overtake (Gen 19:19, Sir. 7:1:Joh 12:35), with a touch of surprise and detection. GF read ADGF place before Rom 13:11-14, where the time before the Parousia is designated as , and affords a striking parallel to vv. 4-7. The advent is and Christians are to put on and to conduct themselves , that is, are to avoid , . for
That the day should surprise you as thieves are surprised. As Grotius has observed, the comparison here is not the same as in v. 2, though it follows naturally from it. In v. 2, the day of the Lord comes as a thief at night, suddenly and unexpectedly; here the day of the Lord (compared to the daylight) does not surprise the believers as it does the unbelievers ( ), that is, does not catch the Christians unawares and unprepared.
, read by BA Boh, is accepted by Lachmann, WH., De W., Ewald, Koch, Lft., Moff. and Field (Otium Norv. III, 123). Most commentators, however, prefer the numerically better attested (see Souter, ad loc.). In this case, the same comparison is used as in v. 2, but here the point is not suddenness but surprise. The usual objection to , that it spoils the metaphor (see on 2:7), is too incisive, in view of the inversion of metaphors in Paul, especially in this section (cf. and in vv. 6, 10); see Lft. on 2:7 and ad loc. Weiss (17) thinks that is a mechanical conformation to (cf. 1:7). Zim (cf. Mill. and Dibelius) suggests that involves a change of sense that overlooks the reference to Luk 12:39 = Mat 24:43.
5. . The explains why the day should not surprise them; and the (cf. II 1:10) singles out the faint-hearted for special encouragement. The readers, one and all, are not in darkness but are sons of light, that is, belong to Christ; and, with a slight advance of meaning, are sons of day, that is, belong to the realm of future light and salvation, the unexpressed reason being that the indwelling Christ or Spirit guarantees their ability so to live a blameless life that they may even now, if they are vigilant and sober, be assured of the rescue from the wrath that comes (1:10), and of an entrance into Gods own kingdom and glory (2:12; v. infra, vv. 9-10).
suggests the possible influence of the word of the Lord in Luk 16:8; cf. Joh 12:36, Eph 5:8 (); the phrase does not occur in Lxx is not found elsewhere in Gk. Bib. The use of with a gen. to denote the intimate relation of a person with a thing or person appears to be Semitic in origin (see on II 2:3 and cf. Deiss. BS 161-166); the idiom is common in the Gk. Bib.
. The change from (vv. 4-5a) to (vv. 5b-10) should not be overlooked. In saying that all the brethren are sons of light and sons of day, Paul seems already to be preparing the way tactfully for an exhortation that they conduct themselves as such, especially since blamelessness of life (3:13) alone assures them of escape from judgment (cf. 2Co 5:10, Rom 14:10). Not wishing to discourage the faint-hearted but at the same time recognising that they need the warning, he includes in the exhortation not only them but himself and all other Christians, and proceeds (v. 5b) asyndetically: We Christians, all of us, do not belong to night or to darkness. He thus prepares for the exhortation to sobriety and vigilance (vv. 6-7), and for the encouraging assurance of future salvation (vv. 9-10). This done, the of v. 5 a (cf. v. 4) is resumed in v. 11. It is obvious that forms the transition to the exhortation.
, , (v. 8) is logically equivalent to etc. In view of 1Co 3:23, 2Co 10:7, Rom 14:8, etc., it is unnecessary to supply The arrangement of , , , is chiastic. Day and night are the periods; light and darkness the characteristics of the periods. GF put before to relieve the asyndeton. On , see 2:3 and II 3:8.
6. So then let us not sleep as do the rest ( as 4:13) but let us watch and be sober. The figurative use of and is suggested, as v. 7 intimates, by the fact that sleepers sleep at night and drunkards get drunk at night. covers all sorts of moral laxity; , its opposite, denotes watchfulness, moral alertness, vigilance against the assaults of unrighteousness. The point of is less certain; for since drunkenness may suggest either stupid unconsciousness or abnormal exaltation (B. Weiss, Dob.), may be an exhortation either to perfect control of the senses without which vigilance is impossible or to quietness of mind (4:11) without which the peaceable fruits of righteousness essential to future salvation are unattainable.
Since and are metaphorical, it is unlikely that here (and v. 8) is literal, as if some of the converts were intemperate; or that it is both literal and metaphorical (Find.). At the same time, as v. 7 intimates, the sons of day and the sons of light in Thessalonica as elsewhere may have been tempted to indulge in habits characteristic of those who belong not to day but to night. , found in Gk. Bib, only in Paul, is followed by the hortatory subj. (here and Gal 6:10, Rom 14:19); or by the imperative (II 2:15). KLP read and GF ; cf. Rom 14:19 (BAG). – is used by Paul only in this section and in the fragment of a hymn cited in Eph 5:14. In v. 7 it is literal; in v. 10 it is = = . which DGF read here for the simple , is rare in Paul (Rom 9:25, 1Co 7:7 f. 1Co 7:9:5, Eph 2:3, Eph 5:23), and is perhaps a reminiscence of Eph 2:3 . is infrequent in Paul (1Co 16:13, Col 4:2) and the Lxx (cf. 1 Mac. 12:27: , ). It is employed in the eschatological passages Mar 13:33 ff. Luk 12:37 ff. and Mat 24:43 ff.; but in Luk 21:36 and Mar 13:33 we have -, rare in Gk. Bib., is used metaphorically in the N. T. (v. 8, 2Ti 4:5, 1Pe 1:13, 1Pe 1:4:7; 1Pe 5:8 (, ); cf. (1Co 15:34, Joe 1:5, etc.) and (2Ti 2:26).
7. The exhortation to vigilance and sobriety is illustrated by a fact of observation familiar to the readers (cf. Rom 13:11 ff). Those who sleep (usually) sleep at night (; cf. 2:9) and those who get drunk (usually) are drunk at night. These habits, characteristic of those who are not sons of day and sons of light, are mentioned, not without reference to the temptations to which all Christians, including the readers, are exposed.
The distinction between get drunk (Eph 5:18, Luk 12:45, Pro 23:31) and (B reads ) be drunk (1Co 11:21, cf. Job 12:25, Isa 19:14, Isa 24:20, etc.) is doubted by Ell. Lft. and others. Since Paul does not say . the sleepers belong to night, etc., it is improbable that v. 7 is figurative (see Ln.). Schmiedel would exscind v. 7 as a marginal note, and v. 8a as a connecting link inserted by a later reader.
8. The emphasis on (v. 7), already implied in vv. 2, 4-6, prepares for the contrast here, being adversative by context, and for the exhortation. Sleep and drunkenness are the affairs of those who belong to the night; but let us, since we belong not to night (the realm of evil), but to day (the future glory; cf. v. 5), be sober.
It is not sufficient to watch and be sober, we must also be armed (Chrys.). Perhaps the mention of vigilance suggested the idea of a sentry armed and on duty (Lft. who compares Rom 13:11 ff.). As in 1:3, Paul describes the Christian life on the religious side as faith and on the ethical side as love, and singles out for special remark the moral quality of hope; hence to the breastplate he adds the helmet, the hope for future salvation, thus giving to conduct an eschatological sanction.
One is reminded here and even more strongly in Eph 6:14 of Isa 59:17: (cf. Job 29:14) (cf. Sap. 5:18) The figure, however, is natural to Paul (cf. Rom 13:12 and Eph 6:11 ). The purpose of the armour, tacit here but expressed in Eph 6:11, is probably: , the Satan who, as an angel of darkness, transforms himself into an (2Co 11:14). , a common word in Lxx, is used metaphorically by Paul with various objects (cf. Gal 3:27, 1Co 15:53 ff. Rom 13:14, Col 3:12, Eph 4:24). The aorist part. is of identical action (BMT 139). here and Eph 6:14 in Paul, is quite frequent in Gk. Bib. (cf. 1 Reg. 17:5, Jer 26:4, Eze 38:4, Eze 38:1 Mal 3:3). , in N. T. only here and Eph 6:17, is literal in Lxx except Isa 59:17. On the complete armour of the hastati, see Polyb. VI, 23. The gen. and are appositional.
. Salvation is both negatively freedom from wrath (cf. 1:10) and positively fellowship with Christ, as vv. 9-10 declare. Since is an eschatological conception (cf. Rom 13:11), something to be acquired (v. 9), Paul says not but (objective gen. as 1:3, Rom 5:2, Col 1:27).
The significance of this exhortation to hope lies in the conviction that without blamelessness of life (3:13) even believers cannot escape the judgment (cf. Rom 14:10, 2Co 5:10). To be sure, as Paul forthwith encourages the faint-hearted to remember (vv. 9-10), this hope is virtually certain of realisation.
Here and v. 9, he speaks generally of In Rom 8:23, he singles out the redemption of the body as the object of hope; for by that hope we have been (proleptically) saved; and in Php 3:20 f., Jesus Christ as is to transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformable to the body of his glory (note in both passages and cf. Gal 5:5). Though Paul here may have this specific hope also in mind, he contents himself with a general statement, (cf. Job 2:9 for the objective gen.: ).
9-10. With because, he confirms the propriety of the exhortation to the by encouraging the faint-hearted to be assured that that hope is bound to be fulfilled. The ground of assurance is stated, first, negatively, God did not appoint us Christians for wrath, that is, for condemnation at the day of judgment (cf. 1:10, 2:16); and then positively, but to gain salvation. Since, however, it is impossible to work out ones own salvation (Php 2:13) unless the divine power operates in the believer, Paul next recalls the means by which salvation is to be acquired, namely, through the causal activity of the indwelling Jesus Christ our Lord. Furthermore, since death and resurrection are inseparable factors in the redemptive work of Christ (cf. 4:14), he adds: who died for us, that is, for our sins, in order that we might live, have life with him, the future life in fellowship with Christ, which is the consummation of Christian hope.
The construction , only here in Paul, but frequent in Lxx, is not the equivalent of Act 13:47 = Isa 49:6 ( ; contrast Rom 4:17 = Gen 17:5), but nevertheless appears to have a partially Hebraistic tinge (Ell.; cf. Psa 65:9, Hos 4:7, Mic 1:7, Jer 25:12, etc.). (= Bl 55:1) indicates the purpose of God, but like (II 2:13) is less specific than (1:4); rare in Gk. Bib., is used absolutely in the passive sense of possession, remnant, in 2Ch 14:13, Mal 3:17, Hag 2:9, Eph 1:14, 1Pe 2:9; here, however, and II 2:14, Heb 10:39, where a genitive follows, it is active, acquisitio (Vulg, Ell., Mill. and most), gaining, winning, as indeed and (Find.) and the clause with (Dob.) intimate. B and some minuscules invert the order to read (cf. 2:16).
. This clause is to be construed not with but with the adjacent The indicates the causal activity of the risen Lord conceived of as a spiritual power resident in the hearts of believers, enabling them to bring forth the fruits of righteousness essential to salvation and guaranteeing their resurrection from the dead and eternal fellowship with himself.
The phrase is the logical but not grammatical equivalent of : see on 4:2, 14. On the divine name, see 1:3; B Eth. omit (cf. 2:19).
10. The risen Lord through whose indwelling power the believer gains salvation is also he who died for us, that is, for our sins (Gal 1:3, 1Co 15:3; cf. Rom 5:8, Rom 4:25).
B read (cf. Gal 1:3 where B has ), but most have (cf. Rom 5:8); the distinction between these prepositions is becoming enfeebled (Moult I, 105). By the phrases (Rom 5:6 ff. Rom 5:14:15, 1Co 15:3, 2Co 5:15), (Gal 1:3), and (Gal 2:20, Rom 8:32), Paul indicates his belief in the sufferings and especially the death of Christ, the righteous for the unrighteous, as an atonement (cf. Moore, EB 4229 ff.). In speaking of the death of Christ for us, Paul uses regularly the category not of forgiveness (Rom 4:7, Col 1:14, Eph 1:7; cf Col 2:13, Col 3:13, Eph 4:32) but of reconciliation (Rom 5:10 ff. 2Co 5:18 ff. Col 1:20 ff.) and especially justification. Forgiveness he calls justification. It is the same thing as atonement, or reconciliation, terms in which somewhat different aspects of the same process are emphasised (Ropes, Apostolic Age, 156). The absence of these terms in I, II, and the fact that this is the only passage in I, II in which the death of Christ for us is mentioned, suggests not that the significance of that death was not preached prominently in Thessalonica, but that the purpose of these letters did not call for a discussion of justification, law, works, etc. Nothing is here said explicitly of Christs death to sin (Rom 6:10) or of the believers dying and rising with Christ (Gal 2:19 f. Rom 6:3 ff. Col 2:12, Col 2:20, Col 2:3:1), but this conception may underlie both the passage (4:14), if we believe that Jesus died and rose, etc., and and
The purpose of the death, stated in the light of the cognate discussion (4:13-18), is: that whether we are watching (living) or whether we are sleeping (dead), we might together live with him. and are to be taken figuratively for and (Rom 14:8), as, indeed, Th. Mops. Chrys. Ephr. (sive vivi simus sive mortui), and most affirm. For survivors and dead, salvation comes simultaneously at the Parousia, as (4:14) and (4:17) prepare us to expect.
It is noteworthy that even in a casual statement about the significance of salvation, three distinctive points in Pauls conception are touched upon, forgiveness of sins through the death of Christ, moral renewal through the indwelling power of the spiritual Christ, and the final consummation of future fellowship with him. Ell. is again right in insisting that as in 4:17 so here and be separated; the forms the principal idea, while the subjoins the further notion of aggregation; Vulg, however, joins simul cum (contrast 4:17). On = to die; see 4:13; but to this particular use of no Biblical parallel can be adduced (Mill.). There seems to be no sharp difference in meaning between with the subjunctive (common in later Gk.; cf. Mill. and 1Co 14:5) and the expected (Rom 14:8). Burton (BMT 253), contrary to the opinion of many (e. g. Bl 65:4) thinks that the subjunctive can hardly be explained as attraction since the nature of the thought (in our passage) calls for a subjunctive. A few minuscules read and also with KLP . , a favourite particle in Paul (cf. II 2:15), is rare elsewhere in Gk. Bib. (1Pe 2:13 f. Jos 24:15, Isa 30:21, Sir. 41:4, etc.).-A reads ; DE ; the aorist (B, et al.) indicates the future living as a fact without reference to progress or completion, that we might have life.
11. Wherefore (3:1; cf. 4:17), since the day of the Lord, though it comes suddenly on all, believers and unbelievers, will not surprise you believers; and since the power of Christ makes possible that blamelessness of life which is necessary to salvation and so guarantees the realisation of your hope; do not be faint-hearted but encourage one another ( as was just said in 4:18) and build up one another. Then remembering the actual practice of the converts, and justifying, as it were, his writing when there was no need to write (v. 1; cf. 4:9), he adds tactfully as in 4:10 (cf. 4:1): as in fact ( ; see 3:4, 4:1) you are doing.
, and are frequent words in Paul, especially in his letters to Corinth. From the figure of the church or the individual (1Co 6:19) as a temple of the Spirit, the further metaphor of building up, constructing a character would naturally develop (see Lft. on 1Co 3:12). The parallelism with demands for a sense similar to and the accentuation , each one of you build up the other one. Lillie observes: no edition has the construction adopted by Faber Stapulensis (ad unum usque, to a man), whitby (into one body), Rckert (who understands by Christ). Blass (45:2) remarks on the phrase: quite unclassic but Semitic for Of the many parallels cited by Kypke (II, 339), the closest is Theoc. 22:65: The exact phrase, however, recurs later in the Greek Legend of Isa 2:8 (in Charless Ascen. Isaiah, 143); Testament Job, 27 (in Jamess Apocrypha Anecdota); and in Pseudo-Cyrill. Alex. X, 1055 A, = (noted by Soph. Lex 427).
(7) Spiritual Labourers (5:12-13)
There are still some (3:12) which need to be adjusted. Hence the exhortations (4:1-5:11) are now continued, as introducing a new point and (cf. 4:1) intimate. The brethren as a whole are first urged to appreciate those who labour among them, two special functions of these labourers being selected for emphasis, that of leading and that of admonishing. But not only are they to appreciate the labourers, they are to do so very highly, and that too not from fear and distrust but from love, because of their work. Then changing from infinitive to imperative, he commands them to be at peace not with them but among yourselves.
12Furthermore, we ask you, brothers, to appreciate those who labour among you both acting as your leaders in the Lord and warning you; 13:and to rate them very highly in love for the sake of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
There must be a reason for specifying two of the functions of the workers and for observing that in acting as leaders they do so in the Lord. Precisely what the reason is escapes our knowledge. It may be conjectured, however (see on 4:11), that the idlers in their want had appealed for assistance to those who laboured among them, managing the external affairs of the group including money matters and acting as spiritual advisers, and had been refused rather tactlessly with an admonition on the ground that the idle brothers though able were unwilling to support themselves, thus violating Pauls express command (4:11, II 3:10). The result was friction between the idlers and the workers and the disturbance of the peace of the church. Paul recognises that there was blame on both sides; and so, addressing the brethren as a whole, for the matter concerned the entire brotherhood, he urges first, with the idlers in mind, that the workers be appreciated, that it be remembered that they manage the affairs of the church not on their own authority but on that of the indwelling Christ, and that they be highly esteemed because of the excellence of their services. He urges next, still addressing the church as a whole, but having in mind the attitude of the workers in admonishing, that they be at peace among themselves.
The arrangement of the exhortations in 5:12-22 is not perfectly obvious. To be sure, (v. 14) is a fresh start, and vv. 16-18 and vv. 19-22 are distinct in themselves; but the division of the material in vv. 14-15 is uncertain. In the light, however, of the triplet in vv. 16-18, it is tempting to divide the six exhortations in vv. 14-15 into two groups of three each, putting a period after and beginning afresh with In this case, we may subdivide as follows: The Spiritual Labourers (vv. 12-13); The Idlers, The Faint-hearted, and The Weak (v. 14 a-c); Love (vv. 14 d-15); Joy, Prayer, and Thanksgiving (vv. 16-18); and Spiritual Gifts (vv. 19-22).
12. . As already noted, the exhortations begun in 4:1 are here renewed. The phrase recurs in II 2:1. Here as in 4:4 means respect, appreciate the worth of. In , we have not three nouns designating the official titles of the class of persons to be appreciated, but three participles describing these persons as exercising certain functions. Furthermore, the omission of the article before the last two participles indicates that only one set of persons is intended, those who labour among you. Finally, the correlative suggests that of the various activities involved in , two are purposely emphasised, leadership in practical affairs and the function of spiritual admonition.
Whether the two functions of those who labour among you were executed by the same or different persons cannot be determined; at this early period of the existence of the church of Thess. the first supposition seems much the most probable (Ell.). Though it is likely that the older or more gifted men would be conspicuous as workers, it does not follow that the class described not by title but by function is that of the official , a word found not in Paul, but in the Pastorals. Nor must we infer from the fact that later we have traces in another Macedonian church of and (Php 1:1) that such officials are in existence in Thess. at the time of writing I and II. Rather we are in the period of informal and voluntary leadership, the success of which depended upon the love of the brethren as well as upon the recognition that the leadership is Hence Paul exhorts the converts not only to esteem the workers but to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. See McGiffert, Apostolic Age, 666.
. In the light of (1:3), of Pauls habit of incessant work (2:9 f.), and of the exhortation to work (4:11), this quite untechnical designation of the persons in question as those who work among you is conspicuously appropriate. While such a designation is natural to Paul, the artisan missionary (cf. Deiss. Light, 316 f.), the choice of it here may have been prompted by the existing situation. It was the idlers ( v. 14) who were fretting the workers, as both 4:11 and the exhortation be at peace among yourselves make probable.
, grow weary, labour, with body or mind, is common in Gk. Bib. and frequent in Paul. With this word, he describes the activities of the women in Rom 16:6, Rom 16:12; the missionary toil of himself (Gal 4:11, 1Co 15:10, Php 2:16, Col 1:29) and others (1Co 16:16); and the manual labour incident thereto (1Co 4:12, Eph 4:28). The with designates the sphere of the labour, inter vos (Vulg); cf. 2 Reg. 23:7.
. Both leading you in the Lord and warning you (cf. 2:11 ). Though these participles may introduce functions different from but co-ordinate with (Dob.), yet it is more probable (so most) that they explain and specify , but without exhausting the departments of labour (cf. Lillie). Since such a phrase as (1:3) should seem to preclude any restriction whatever of the labour prompted by love, it is evident that the specifications here made are advanced not because they were likeliest to awaken jealousy and resistance (Lillie) but because they had actually awakened them.
. Act as your leaders in the Lord. Attention is first called to the fact that the workers are leaders, that is, not simply rulers or chairmen but men who look after the general welfare of the group, especially the external matters, including the administration of the funds. That is placed only after indicates not that the working (cf. Rom 16:12) and the warning are not in the Lord, but that it is necessary to remind the brethren, the idlers in particular, that the workers in taking the lead in temporal things are acting at the promptings not of personal interest but of the indwelling Christ.
, here and Rom 12:8 in Paul, is used in 1Ti 3:4, 1Ti 3:12 (cf. 3:5, 2 aor. act.) of managing the household; in Tit 3:8, Tit 3:14 of attending to good works; and in 1Ti 5:17 (perf. act.) of the ruling (cf. Hermas Vis. II, 4:3). The word occurs also in Lxx (e. g. 2 Reg. 13:17, Amo 6:10 Bel. (Lxx) 8) and papyri (Mill.). Besides the basal meaning be over, rule, act as leader, there are derived meanings such as protect, guard, care for (cf. Test. xii, Jos 2:6). In the light of 1Ti 3:5 (where is parallel to ) and of = praesidio sum curam gero (Witk., 16), Dob. inclines to insist both here and in Rom 12:8 on the derived meaning, frsorgen.-A read
. Apparently some of the brethren, presumably the idlers (see on 4:11), had refused to give heed to the spiritual counsels of the workers, with the result that relations between them were strained and the peace of the brotherhood disturbed. Hence the appropriateness of calling attention to the fact that the workers were not only leaders in things temporal but also spiritual advisers. denotes brotherly warning or admonition, as II 3:15 makes plain.
appears in N. T., apart from Act 20:31, only in Paul; it is connected with in Col 1:28, Col 1:3:16; cf. also 1Co 10:11, Eph 6:4 (with ) and Tit 3:10. These words along with are in the Lxx found chiefly in the wisdom literature (cf. Sap. 12:2 ).
13. . It is not enough that the brethren appreciate the workers; they are to esteem them ( = ) very highly (), and that too not from fear or distrust but from love ( ); for the workers, because of their work of faith (1:3), deserve not only esteem but high and loving esteem. Those who labour among you, like Paul and Timothy in 1Co 16:10, .
As the parallel with demands, is here not consider (II 3:15, 2Co 9:5) but esteem, a meaning, however, not elsewhere attested (Mill., Dob.). For this reason, some comm. find the expected notion of esteem in the adverb and support their finding by such phrases as (Herod. II, 115) or (Thucy. II, 89) But these adverbial expressions are not identical with Other comm. (from Chrys. to Wohl.), on the analogy of (Thucy. IV, 5:1, VII, 3:2) = , take = , a meaning not sufficiently attested and unlikely here because of the distance between and Schmiedel compares (Thucy. II, 18:3 21:3 65:2); and Schott notes even Job 35:2 The unusual meaning esteem is contextually preferable; cf. (v. 11) and (v. 12, 4:4). On (BDGF; AP), see 3:10. GF read (Vulg ut) before B has (cf. ). P omits as if = to rule. F has for
. Be at peace among yourselves, one with the other, for (cf. Mar 9:50). This striking command, separated grammatically (note the change from infinitive to imperative) but not logically from the preceding, suggests that the workers, in functioning both as managers of the funds and as spiritual advisers, had been opposed by some of the converts, presumably the idlers (4:11; cf. v. 14 and II 3:15), with the result that friction between them arose and the peace of the group was ruffled. The fact that Paul says not but further suggests that the workers are in part to blame for the situation, in that their admonitions to the idlers who had asked for aid had not been altogether tactful (cf. II 3:13, 15).
is read by BAKL, et al.; the tactfulness of Paul who includes both the workers and the idlers in the exhortation, to peace is lost sight of in the reading (DP; cf. GF and Vulg cum eis), followed by Chrys., Th. Mops. (in eos), and most of the Greek comm., and by Erasmus, Calvin, and most recently Dibelius. Furthermore, on the analogy of Rom 12:8 (cf. 3 Reg. 22:45), we should have expected not but (cf. Zim). Swete (op. cit. ad loc.) remarks: Ambst who reads inter vos thinks only of mutual forbearance amongst the faithful: pacificos eos esse hortatur. Hermas has both (Vis. III, 9:10) and (12:3; 9:2 parallel with ; cf. 5:1).
(8) The Idlers, the Faint-hearted, and the Weak (5:14 a-c)
From the beginning of his exhortations (4:1), Paul seems to have had in mind the needs of three classes, the meddlesome idlers (4:11-12; 5:12-13), those who were anxious both about their friends who had died (4:13-18) and about their own salvation (5:1-11), and those who were tempted to unchastity (4:3-8). To the same three classes he now refers once more (cf. Th. Mops.), specifying them respectively as the idlers ( ), who as most troublesome need to be warned; the faint-hearted ( ), who were losing the assurance of salvation and need to be encouraged; and the weak ( ), who being tempted to impurity are to be clung to and tenderly but firmly supported.
14Further we urge you, brothers, warn the idlers, encourage the faint-hearted, cling to the weak.
14. . With new point in the exhortation is introduced. The similarity of the phrase (4:10) to (v. 12) and the repetition of make probable that the persons addressed are the same as in vv. 12-13, that is, not the workers only (Chrys.; Th. Mops. who says: vertit suum sermonem ad doctores; and Born, Find.) but the brethren as a whole. The only individuals obviously excluded are the recipients of the warning, encouragement, and support. Those who labour among you, though they take the lead in practical affairs and admonish, have no monopoly of the functions of , and .
On , see v. 12. D omits Instead of the expected infinitives after (4:10), we have imperatives (1Co 4:16; cf. above ). GF, indeed, read , , and (so D), perhaps intimating (and if so, correctly; cf. Wohl.) that with the imperative , Paul turns from brotherly love (cf. 4:10-12) to love ( ; cf. , v. 15; v. 15 is of course included).
. The idlers. Since in 4:11-12, to which these words evidently refer, people of unquiet mind, meddlesome, and idle are mentioned, most commentators content themselves here with a general translation, the disorderly, unquiet, unruly, even when they admit that idleness is the main count in the disorder (Ephr.: inquietos, qui otiosi ambulant et nihil faciunt nisi inania). The certainty that the specific sense the idlers is here intended is given in II 3:6 ff. where the context demands that and be rendered as Rutherford translates and the usage in papyri allows, to be a loafer, to behave as a loafer (cf. Theodoret: ).
In the N. T., occurs only here, only in II 3:7, and only in II 3:6, 11. Chrys. notes that they are originally military words, the being that of troops in battle array, or of soldiers at their post of duty. By a natural extension of usage, they come to describe various types of irregularity such as intermittent fevers, disorderly crowds, and unrestrained pleasures; and, by a still further extension, disorderly life in general (cf. 3 Mac. 1:19; Deu 32:10, Eze 12:20, Eze 12:4 Reg. 9:20 (Sym.); Test. xii, Naph. 2:9; 1 Clem. 40:2 Diogn. 9:1). In an exhaustive note, Milligan (152-154) has called attention to several papyri concerned with contracts of apprenticeship (e. g. P. Oxy. 275, 724-5) where and are used interchangeably. In a letter to the present editor under date of February 12, 19:10, Dr. Milligan refers to a still more striking instance of = to be idle than the Oxyrhyncus passages. In BGU, 1125:8 (13 b.c.)-a contract-the words occur Evidently is to be read, with a confusion in the writers mind with (Schubart). In a paper in the volume entitled Essays in Modern Theology (in honour of Dr. Briggs), 1911, 191-206, reasons are advanced in some detail for concluding that and its cognates, as employed by Paul, are to be translated not to be idle, etc. (cf. AJT 1904, 614 ff.) but to loaf, etc. In II 3:10, the idleness is a refusal to work, a direct violation of instructions orally given ( 3:6), of Pauls own example (3:7 f.), and of the gospel utterance ( 3:14). To express this notion of neglect, Paul chooses not (cf. Exo 5:8, Exo 5:17), a word he prefers to use in the sense to have leisure for (1Co 7:5; cf. Psa 45:11); not (cf. *Sir. 30:36; also Sir. 37:11, Mat 12:36, Mat 12:20:3, Mat 12:6, 1Ti 5:13, Tit 1:12), a word which Paul does not use; but (, ), a word which distinctly implies the wilful neglect of the golden rule of labour (Dob.). In English, this notion of neglect is conveyed best not by to be idle, etc., but by to be a loafer, etc. as Rutherford saw in II 3:6, 7 but not in I 5:14.
. The faint-hearted. These men of little heart (Wiclif) were worried not only about their dead (4:13-18) but also about their own salvation (5:1-11). They are not troublesome like the idlers; hence they require not warning but encouragement (; cf. 2:11; see also 4:18, 5:11 and the discussion in II 1:3-2:17).
Theodoret (cf. Chrys.) explains both as (cf. Col 3:21) and as The first reference is probable; but in place of the second reference, namely, to persecution, an allusion to the lack of assurance of salvation (5:1-11) is more probable. In the prayer of 1 Clem. 59:4 there is an interesting parallel: , (cf. 4:18, 5:11) In the Lxx, (only here in N. T.; cf. Pro 14:29, Pro 18:14, Isa 25:5, Isa 35:4, Isa 54:6, Isa 57:15), (not in N. T.), and (not in N. T.) are regularly used, with the exception of Jon 4:8 (where physical faintness is meant; cf. Isoc. 19:39), of the depressed and the despondent in whom little spirit is left; so Isa 57:15:
. Cling to the weak. In this connection, the reference is to the weak not physically (1Co 11:30) but morally. Furthermore, since the idlers and the faint-hearted refer to classes already exhorted (4:11-12; 4:13-5:11), it is probable that the weak are not generally the weak in faith (Chrys., Ephr. and others) but specifically those who are tempted to impurity (4:3-8; so Th. Mops.: de illis qui fornicatione deturpabantur). Being persons of worth, they are not to be despised (cf. Mat 6:24 = Luk 16:13) but are to be held to and tenderly but firmly supported.
, always middle in Gk. Bib. except 4 Mac. 7:4, is construed with the gen. either of persons (Mat 6:24 = Luk 16:13, Pro 4:6, Zep 1:6, Isa 57:13) or of things (Tit 1:9, Isa 56:4, etc.). For a different connotation of , cf. 1Co 8:9, 1Co 9:22.
(9) Love (5:14 d-15)
With , Paul seems to turn from the specific needs of the three classes just named to a need of the group as a whole in reference to one another and especially to all men, namely, not simply brotherly love but also love. The exhortation, directed to all the converts, that they be slow to anger, and that they see to it that no one of their number retaliate a wrong done but that they rather seek earnestly the good toward one another and toward all, suggests, though the exhortation is general and characteristic of Paul, a specific situation, namely, that the friction between workers and idlers within, and chiefly the persecutions from without at the hands of Gentiles directly and Jews indirectly, had stirred up a spirit of impatience destined to express itself, if it had not done so already, in revenge. To prevent this violation of the moral ideal, , that is, love in which Paul had previously prayed (3:12) that the Lord would make them abound the present injunction is apparently intended.
includes all men (Gal 6:10), the Thessalonians (vv. 26-27) and their fellow-Christians (4:10) and the Gentiles and Jews ( v. 15, 3:12). It is probable, therefore, that goes not with the preceding which has to do solely with brotherly love (so most) but with the following (so Wohl.). It is perhaps not accidental that, as in vv. 16-18 (, , ), and in vv. 12-13 (, , ), so now in v. 14 a-c (, , ) and vv. 14 d-15 (, , ) we have the arrangement in triplets.
14dBe patient with all men; 15see to it that no one pays back to any one evil for evil, but do you always follow the good toward one another and toward all.
14d. . Be patient with all men, literally, long-tempered, slow to anger and retaliation, as opposed to the disposition of the who, unable to endure much, acts ill-advisedly (Pro 14:17) and stirs up strife (cf. Pro 26:20 (A): , ). Patience is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) and a characteristic of love (1Co 13:4 ).
In Paul is several times closely joined with (Gal 5:22, 2Co 6:6; cf. 1Co 13:4); it is used not only of men but of God (Rom 2:4, Rom 2:9:22; cf. Exo 34:6, Ps. 85:15, Psa 102:8, etc.). In Gk. Bib. is regularly construed with (Sir. 18:11, Jam 5:7, etc.), once with (2Pe 3:9); cf. Ign. Polyc. 6:2.
15. . The group as a whole are held responsible for any single member () whose patience is exhausted and who is ready to retaliate an injury done him by brother or outsider ( includes both as the parallel indicates). The ancient principle of retaliation (cf. Exo 21:23 f., Deu 19:21, Lev 24:19 f.) had undergone modifications in keeping with the advancing moral insight of Israel (cf. Pro 20:12, 24:44, Pro 25:21 f., Sir. 28:1-7), but it was left to the Master to put the case against it in the unqualified injunction beginning (Mat 5:44 = Luk 6:27). It was perhaps the difficulty of living up to such an imperative in the present circumstances that prompted Paul to write not simply render not evil for evil (Rom 12:17) but, evoking the responsibility of the Christian society for the individual, see you to it that no one pay back to any one evil for evil.
occurs only here in Paul (cf. Mat 18:10, Jos 9:13) who prefers (Gal 5:15, 1Co 8:9, 1Co 10:12, Col 2:8). On , cf. Rom 12:17, 1Pe 3:9, Pro 17:13. GF read (a subj. from ); D reads The opposite of in Paul is both (Rom 7:19, Rom 12:21, etc.) and (Rom 7:21, Rom 12:17, etc.). is rare in Paul (Rom 12:17, 1Co 11:15, Eph 5:31; II 2:10 ).
. But, on the contrary, always, on matter how trying the circumstances, follow, that is, strive earnestly after the good. It is difficult to avoid the conviction that , the moral ideal (here opposed to , an injury) is for Paul love, seeing that (Rom 13:10), the neighbour including both the believer and the unbeliever ( , as in 3:12). He might have said (1Co 14:1).
It is questionable whether in Pauls usage and (v. 21) can be sharply differentiated (see Ell. on Gal 6:10). Both terms represent the ethical ideal of Paul, which, as a comparison of Rom 12:6 ff. and Gal 5:22 with 1Co_13 makes plain, can be described as On , cf. Rom 7:13, Rom 12:9, Rom 13:4, Gal 6:10, etc.; Rom 7:18, Rom 7:21, Gal 6:9, 2Co 13:7, etc. For in a similar metaphorical sense, cf. Rom 9:30, Sir. 27:8; Rom 12:13, Rom 14:19, Psa 33:15 See also Epict. IV, 5:30 The which BKLP (cf. Weiss, 114) insert before is to be omitted with ADEGF, et al.; cf. 3:12, 4:10.
(10) Joy, Prayer, Thanksgiving (5:16-18)
The injunction to constant joy and prayer and to thanksgiving in every circumstance is characteristic of Paul (cf. 3:9 f.). The fact, however, that he notes, as in 4:3, that this exhortation is Gods will makes probable that the special circumstances of persecution from without and friction within are here in mind as in vv. 14-15. In adding that this will of God operates in Christ Jesus, he designates that will as distinctively Christian, the will of the indwelling Christ who is the personal and immediately accessible authority behind the injunction (cf. 4:7f.). In adding still further , he intimates that the will of God in Christ is for their advantage, and implies that the Christ in them, the source of joy (1:6, Php 4:4), prayer (Eph 6:18, Rom 8:26), and thanksgiving (cf. Rom 1:8, Rom 7:25, Col 3:17) is the power that enables them to carry out the difficult imperative.
16Always rejoice; 17continually pray; 18in everything give thanks; for this is Gods will operating in Christ Jesus for you.
16. . Paul has already revealed his own joy because of the converts (2:19 f. 3:9 f.), and has used the fact of their joy in the midst of persecution as a proof of their election (1:6). It is natural for him now, with the persecutions from without and the disturbances in the brotherhood in mind, to urge them not only to rejoice (Rom 12:15, 2Co 13:11, Php 3:1, Php 4:4, etc.), but to re joice always ( as Php 4:4; cf. 2Co 6:10). This feeling of joy, expressed or unexpressed, is a joy before God (cf. 3:9 f.), as the following references to prayer and thanksgiving make probable. The source and inspiration of this religious joy is the indwelling Christ, as presently explains (cf. Php 4:4 ; GF insert here; cf. Php 3:1).
17. . The way to constant joy in the midst of persecution is constant prayer (cf. Chrys.) unuttered or expressed. The exhortation to be steadfast in prayer (Rom 12:12, Col 4:2), to pray (Eph 6:18) is characteristic of Pauls teaching and practice (3:10, II 1:11). In this context, prayer would include especially supplication (Mat 5:14, Luk 6:28, Rom 12:14). That they can thus pray as they ought is possible because of the indwelling Christ, ( ; cf. Rom 8:26, Eph 6:18).
(v. 25, II 1:11, 3:1) is common in Gk. Bib.; it is a general word ( , Theophylact), including (3:10), (Rom 8:26, Rom 8:34), etc. On , see 1:3.
18. . Whatever happens, give thanks to God. Since in 2Co 9:8 is distinguished from we must supply here not or but , in every circumstance of life, even in the midst of persecutions and friction within the brotherhood. Even when is not expressed, it is to be understood after (cf. Rom 1:21, 1Co 10:30, 1Co 11:24, 1Co 14:17, Eph 1:16). Constant joy with constant prayer leads to the expression of thankfulness to God at every turn of life. The stimulating cause of thanksgiving is the Christ within ( ; cf. the in Rom 1:8, Rom 7:25 and especially Col 3:17).
The parallelism here between and , and the usage of or with (1:2, 2:13, II 1:3, 2:13, 1Co 1:4, Php 1:3, Eph 5:20, Phm 1:4), (Php 4:4; 2Co 6:10), (1:2), (3:6) or (Rom 1:9), (II 1:11; Eph 6:18) make it tempting to take = (so Chrys. , Flatt and Dob.). But the usage of , in the N. T. only in Paul, quite apart from 2Co 9:8, is against that interpretation (cf. 1Co 1:5, 2Co 4:8, 2Co 4:6:4, 2Co 4:7:5, 2Co 4:11, 2Co 4:16, 2Co 4:8:7, 2Co 4:9:11, 2Co 4:11:6, 2Co 4:9, Eph 5:24, Php 4:6, Php 4:12). In the Lxx, is rare and never temporal (Pro 28:5, Sir. 18:27, 37:28 Dan. (Lxx) 11:37, 4 Mac. 8:3); in Neh 13:6 , it is not which demands a or Had Paul wished to indicate a temporal reference, he would have added or (Eph 6:18; cf. Luk 21:36, Act 1:21, Tobit 4:19, Psa 33:1, Psa 33:1 Mac. 12:11 Hermas, Mand. V, 2:3), or written (II 3:16, Rom 11:10) instead of On , (cf. Col 3:15), which are frequent words in Paul, see on 1:2, 3:9; cf. Epict. I, 4:32 10:3 For the collocation of thanksgiving and prayer, apart from the epistolary outline, see 3:9, Php 4:6, Col 4:2.
. For this, namely, that you rejoice and pray always and give thanks to God whatever happens, is Gods will. As in 4:3, Paul insists that what he exhorts. is not of his own but of divine authority. But instead of stopping here, leaving the readers to infer that God was inaccessible and his will impersonal, Paul adds characteristically, using his pregnant phrase (2:14; see on 1:1), that Gods will, the authority that has the right to give the difficult injunction, operates in Christ Jesus, thus indicating that the will is distinctively Christian and that Christ in whom God operates is an accessible personal power whose right to command is recognised both by Paul and by his readers (cf. 4:7 f.). With the further addition of , which would be superfluous if . meant simply that the will of God was declared by Christ, Paul implies not only that the distinctively Christian will of God is directed to the believers but also that it is to their advantage (cf. 2Co 13:4 AD); and he succeeds in hinting that it is the Christ in the believers who guarantees their ability to execute even this most difficult exhortation.
Since joy, thanksgiving, and prayer are related ideas (cf. 3:9 f.), and since the change from and to does not compel the singling out of as the only element in the will of God requiring immediate emphasis, it is probable that refers not simply to (so Th. Mops., Chrys., Ephr., Ell., Wohl.), or to and (Grot.), but to all three imperatives. While it is possible to understand before (cf. 2Co 5:19, Eph 4:32), it is probable in the light of Rom 8:39 ( . ) that is to be understood (cf. 2:13, Php 3:14). Though the stress here is on the will of God as operating in Christ, yet such operation presupposes the presence of God in Christ. The omission of articles in indicates either a fixed formula or that one part of the divine will is meant (Ell.). Influenced by 4:3, DEFG add after ; and A insert before L omits By putting before . , A yields the less pregnant sense will of God directed to you who are in Christ Jesus (so Dob.).
(11) Spiritual Gifts (5:19-22)
From the distinctively Pauline conception of Christ or the Spirit as the permanent ethical power in the life of the believer ( ), the Apostle turns to the ancient but equally Pauline conception of the Spirit (cf. Rom 15:18, Eph 4:11 of Christ) as the source of the extraordinary phenomena in the Christian life, the spiritual gifts ( ). Though the gifts of the Spirit () are as valid to Paul as the fruits of the Spirit, he is ever at pains to insist that the validity of the former depends on their serving an ethical end, namely, love (1 Cor. 12-14).
The presence of the exhortation at this point makes probable the conjecture (see 4:11) that the idlers had demanded that the workers, in whose hands as leaders was the control of the funds, give them money. This demand was refused on the ground that Paul had enjoined orally that if a man refused to work he should not receive support (II 3:10; I 4:11). The effect on the workers of this misuse of the Spirit was an inclination to doubt the validity not of the Spirit in the ethical life but of the Spirit as manifested in Hence the first two exhortations, though addressed to all, refer especially to the attitude of the workers. In general, Paul says, the operations of the Spirit are not to be extinguished; and in particular, the manifestations of the Spirit in prophecy are not to be despised. Then, still addressing all, but having in mind especially the idlers who had misinterpreted the Spirit, he urges them to test all things, that is, (cf. 1Jn 4:1), including prophecy; and then, as a result of the test, to hold fast to the good, that is, those manifestations of the Spirit that make for edification or love, and to hold aloof from every evil sort of or ; for while the good is one, the evil is manifold.
Th. Mops. refers the five injunctions to spiritual gifts (cf. Ephr.); so Chrys. who, however, first interprets of the fruits of the Spirit. The triple arrangement of vv. 12-18 is here succeeded by a five-fold, 2 + 3. If, as is almost certain, is to be restricted to spiritual gifts in general and prophecy in particular, it follows that both and which designate the positive and negative results of the testing, are likewise so to be restricted (cf. Th. Mops.). Indeed K, et al., indicate this interpretation by reading for
19Quench not the gifts of the Spirit; 20do not make light of cases of prophesying; 21on the other hand, test all gifts of the Spirit, holding fast to the good 22and holding aloof from every evil kind.
19. . Quench not the Spirit, that is, the divine Spirit operating in believers. The reference, however, is not to the ethical fruits of the Spirit (cf. 1:5-6, 4:8, II 2:13) but, as makes certain, to the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, the charismata. Furthermore, is not to be restricted to a specific charisma (Ephr. qui loquuntur in linguis Spiritus) but is to be understood of the totality of the extraordinary operations (Calvin). To quench, to put out the fire of, the Spirit is to prohibit or repress those who are ready with psalm, teaching, revelation, tongue, interpretation, etc. (1Co 14:26). To repress the believer is or may be to repress the Spirit. This exhortation is of course not incompatible with the injunction that all things be done , , and (1Co 14:40, 1Co 14:26).
That 1 Cor. 12-14 (cf. 2Co 12:2-4, Rom 12:6-9) happens to be the locus classicus on spiritual gifts is due to the fact that Paul is there replying to a written request for information The Thessalonians had made no such specific request; but, if our conjectural reconstruction is correct, Paul refers to the matter here in order to warn both the workers and the idlers. This brief allusion, however, yields information that tallies exactly with what may be learned in extenso from the passages noted above. In Thessalonica, as in Corinth, the Christian life was accompanied by the same spiritual phenomena.
Three main groups of may be detected: (1) Healing, both of ordinary () and of extraordinary () disease. (2) Revelation, including (a) , an unintelligible utterance requiring, in order that it might be , another charisma; (b) (see below, v 20); (c) (see below, v. 21); and (d) (3) Service, embracing apostles, governments, helps (cf. Rom 12:8, Rom 12:15:25, 1Co 16:1). While Paul rejoices in all these extraordinary gifts and especially in prophecy (1Co_14), he makes plain that they all must be used for the upbuilding of the church, and that without love even prophecy is of no avail (1Co_13). On the Spirit in general, see Gunkel, Die Wirkungen des Geistes, 1888; Weinel, Die Wirkungen des Geistes und der Geister, 1899; Briggs, JBL 1900, 132 ff.; Glol, Der Heilige Geist in der Heilsverkndigung des Paulus, 1888; Wood, The Spirit of God in Biblical Literature, 1904; Arnal, La Notion de L Esprit, I, 1908 (La Doctrine Paulienne); and Volz, Der Geist Gottes, 1910. On the charismata in particular, see Schmiedel, EB 4755 ff.; McGiffert, A postolic Age, 517 ff.; and J. Weiss (in Meyer) and Robertson and Plummer (in ICC) on 1 Cor. 12-14; also Harnack, Das hohe Lied von der Liebe (in SBBA. 1911, 132 ff.). For the particular situation in Thessalonica, see Ltgert, Die Volkommenen in Phil. und die Enthusiasten in Thess. 1909, 55 ff.
Since is used of putting out fire or light (see Wetstein), the Spirit is here conceived metaphorically as fire (cf. Rom 12:12, Act 2:3, Mat 3:11 = Luk 3:16, 2Ti 1:6). In Lxx is used with (4 Reg. 22:17 = 2Ch 34:25, Jer 4:4, Jer 7:20), (Jer 21:12), (Sir. 23:16) and (Son 8:7 where also occurs). On the hellenistic (BDGF), see Bl 3:9.
20. . From the general , he passes to the particular, the charisma of prophecy (Calvin). This gift is singled out for mention, perhaps, because the idlers had exercised it wrongly and because the workers made light of it especially. The plural (cf. 1Co 13:8) is chosen either because prophecy has many forms of expression or because individual cases are in mind. to Paul is not the science of interpreting Scripture (Calvin), not the gift of foretelling the future and explaining the past, but the proclamation of the utterance of God, so that the prophet (1Co 12:28 f. 1Co 12:14:29 ff.) is the revealer of the will of God operating in the indwelling Christ or Spirit.
to Paul is apparently the greatest (1Co_14), though it is worthless unless it makes for love (a comprehensive term for the ethical, non-charismatic fruits of the Spirit). Though it may arise in an or (2Co 12:2-4, Gal 2:2), it is, unlike speaking with tongues, an intelligible utterance, making directly, without , for edification, comfort, and encouragement (1Co 14:3). There is a control by the Spirit but the is active, as it is not in What is prompted by the Spirit can be remembered and imparted, though the control of the Spirit is greater than in It may be that such passages as Rom 8:18 ff. Rom 8:1 Cor. 13, 15:50 ff. owe their origin to prophecy. is quite frequent in Paul (Gal 4:14, Rom 14:3, Rom 14:10, etc.), and in the Lxx (cf. and in meaning it is akin to and (cf. Mar 8:31 with 9:12).
21. . Test all things, that is, (1Co 12:10), including Though Paul insists, over against the doubts of the workers, that no operation of the Spirit is to be repressed, and that no case of prophecy is to be despised, yet he recognises and insists equally as well, over against the misuse of the Spirit by the idlers, that all must be subject to test. Hence , contrasting the two attitudes, is adversative. That this is Pauls meaning is confirmed by 1Co 12:10 where the charisma of is mentioned; cf. also 14:29: Let two or three prophesy , that is, and let the others exercise the gift of discerning whether a given utterance makes for good or is evil.
It is noteworthy that the utterances of the Spirit are to be tested. Calvin rightly infers that the spirit of judgment is conferred upon believers that they may discriminate so as not to be imposed upon. This power, he thinks, must be sought from the same Spirit who speaks by his prophets. In fact, as 1Co 12:10, 1Co 14:29 prove, the power to discern is itself a charisma, (cf. Grot.). It is further noteworthy that the nature of the test is not stated. In view, however, of the place given to and especially to (see Harnack, op. cit.) in 1 Cor. 12-14, it is probable that the test of the spiritual is the ethical, the value of the Spirit for the life of love. In his note on , Ephr. says: id est quod adaequatur evangelio, a pertinent statement in the light of 2:13 f. In 1Jn 4:1 where occurs, the test is objective, the belief that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh; in 2Jn 1:10 the same test recurs with the added point of ; these two being the elements in the emphasised in view of the docetic and separatist (1Jn 2:19) movement. In the Didache, is likewise referred to (e. g. 11:1-12, 12:1); especially pertinent to the probable situation in Thess. Isa 11:12: Whoever says in the Spirit: Give me silver or anything else, ye shall not hearken unto him; but if he tell you to give on behalf of others that are in want, let no man judge him. , omitted by A, et al., is probably to be read after with cBDGFP, Vulg (autem), et al.
. The brethren are not to rest content with the testing and the discovery whether a given utterance of the Spirit in a man tends to the good or is an evil kind, but are (a) to hold fast to the good and (b) to hold aloof from every evil kind. The positive injunction of itself includes the negative; but the mention of the negative strengthens the appeal and adds a new point-the good is one, but the evil many. designates the utterance of the Spirit as making for (1Co 14:3-5, 1Co 14:12, 1Co 14:26) or specifically love (1Co_13; v. supra v. 15 ( ).
is common in Gk. Bib. and has a variety of meanings. Luke uses the word differently in each of his four instances; hold fast to ( Luk 8:15), get hold of, occupy ( Luk 14:9), restrain from (Luk 4:42 ; Paul never has () ), and put in (of a ship, Act 27:40). Mill. (155-157), in illustrating the use of the word in papyri, groups the meanings under two heads (1) hold fast and (2) hold back. Examples of (1) are hold fast to (= ) with (1Co 15:2), and (1Co 11:2; cf. 2Th 2:15 ); possess, get possession of (1Co 7:30 (absolute) 2Co 6:10, Exo 32:13, Jos 1:11, etc.; cf. Sir. 46:9, Luk 14:9); grip, control, cripple (cf. Deiss. Light, 308) overpower (2 Reg. 1:9, Job 15:24, Jer 6:24, Jer 13:21, Ps. 118:53, 138:10, etc.; cf. P. Oxy. 2171 ; also 3 Mac. 5:12 () ; and Joh 5:4 (v. l.) , of demon possession as in Luk 13:16). Examples of (2) are detain (Phm 1:13, Gen 24:56, Jdg 13:15, Jdg 13:16 (A has ) 19:4); as in prison (Gen 39:20, Gen 42:19); restrain (cf. Deiss. Light, 308), restrain from hinder (Luk 4:42). The exact shade of meaning is not always easy to discover (e. g. II 2:6, Rom 1:18, Rom 7:6, Isa 40:22). Reitzenstein (Die hellenistischen Mysterienreligionen, 1910, 71 ff.) admits that , , and may be used of possession; but in the references to the Serapeum he holds with Mill. that =, =the prison (temple), and =to be detained. See further on II 2:6.
22. . Evil kind of or (cf. 1Co 12:10, 1Jn 4:1). As a result of testing it appears that there is but one kind of operation of the Spirit that can really be called such, namely, that which makes for the good; while the kinds which are attributed to the Spirit, but which prove themselves evil, are many. Hence, instead of , to balance , we have , from every evil sort hold yourselves aloof ( as 4:3).
If is general (Lft., Born, Wohl., et al.), then is likewise general; if, however, the former is specific (Ln., Ell. et al.), then the latter is likewise specific. The objection (Ln.) that the specific sense would require is not cogent, for in v. 15 is balanced by ; and furthermore Paul purposes to contrast the one good with the many evil forms. Whether is a noun (De W., Ln., Ell., Schmiedel, Born, Vincent, Find., Wohl., Mill. and most) or adjective (Erasmus, Bengel, Pelt., Lft., Dob., et al.) is uncertain; in either case the meaning is the same (Calv.). The absence of the article does not contribute to the decision (Ell.); nor the possible allusion to Job 1:1 = 1:8 ( ) or 2:3 ( ). Apart from (II 3:3, 1Co 5:13, Eph 6:16) and (Rom 12:9), in Paul is an adjective and anarthrous (II 3:2, Col 1:21, Eph 5:16, Eph 6:13), unless Gal 1:4 ( is an exception.- is rare in N. T. but common in Lxx It may mean (1) that which is seen whether physical form (Joh 5:37, Luk 3:22; frequently in Lxx of the human form or ) or look, mien (Luk 9:29, Job 41:10, Pro 7:10, etc.), or physical appearance, manifestation, quod aspicitur (e. g. 2Co 5:7, Exo 24:17, Num 9:15); or (2) sort, kind, class (Jer 15:3, Sir. 23:16, 25:2; cf. P. Tebt. 58:20 f. (); cf. Witk., 78). This meaning fits our passage admirably. Calvin, however, misled by species (Vulg), understands as appearance over against reality, abstain not simply from evil but from all appearance of evil. This interpretation puts the stress not on (which demands) but on and introduces a meaning of which is doubtful lexically.-From Hnsel (SK 1836, 170-184) to Resch (Agrapha, 2 112-128), it has been held frequently that in vv. 21-22 there is an allusion to an agraphon, (on this agraphon, see Ropes, Sprche Jesu, 141-143, or HDB V, 349). Rutherford seems to have this in mind when he translates: Rather, assay all things thereby. Stick to the true metal; have nothing to do with the base. There is, however, no mention of or in this context; and, as we have seen, is, in the light of vv. 19-20, naturally to be understood of the testing of
V. PRAYER (5:23-24)
Recognising that the exhortations (4:1-5:22) especially to ethical consecration (4:3-8) and peace (5:12-13; cf. 4:10-12) would be of no avail without the divine assistance; and recognising further the necessity of the consecration not only of soul but of body (4:3-8),-a consecration which would be impossible unless the Spirit of God as immanent in the individual were inseparably bound to the human personality, body and soul; he prays first in general that God may consecrate them through and through, and then specifically that he may keep their spirit, the divine element, and the soul and body, the human element, intact as an undivided whole so that they may be blameless when the Lord comes. That the prayer will be answered is certain, for God the faithful not only calls but also consecrates and keeps them blameless to the end.
23Now may the God of peace himself consecrate you through and through, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept intact so as to be blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24Faithful is he who calls you; who also will do this very thing.
23. . Following the exhortation (4:1-5:22), a new epistolary section is introduced, the prayer. In this connection, is slightly adversative as if Paul had said: I have exhorted you to ethical consecration and to the things that make for peace, but God himself is the only power that can make the exhortation effective.
. An apt designation in the light of vv. 12-13. This peace, however, is not to be restricted to harmony within the brotherhood; but is to be understood of the spiritual prosperity (1:1) of which God is the author (Estius) and without which concord in the community is impossible. A similar appeal to the underlying religious sanction is seen in 1Co 14:33 where, after a reference to disorder among the prophets, God is called a God not of confusion () but of peace (, instead of the expected or ).
. Consecrate you throughout, through and through (Luther). The note of consecration already struck in 3:13 and 4:3-8 is heard again. As in those passages so here consecration includes not only religion, devotion to God, but conduct, ethical soundness. Furthermore, since Paul has in mind the consecration not only of the soul but of the body (4:3-8), it is probable that is to be taken not qualitatively so that you may be perfect (Ambst, Lft., Dob., et al.) but quantitatively wholly, per omnia (Vulg), that is, (Theophylact; cf. Grot., De W., Ln., Ell., Schmiedel, Born, Wohl., Mill. et al.).
On , see 3:11. The phrase (not in Lxx) is mainly Pauline (Rom 15:33, Rom 15:16:20, 1Co 14:33, 2Co 13:11, Php 4:9, Heb 13:20; cf. II 3:16).- is rare in Paul (active here and Eph 5:26, passive in Rom 15:16, 1Co 1:2, 1Co 6:11, 1Co 7:14), but common in Lxx (Exo 31:13 , Lev 11:44, Lev 21:8, Eze 37:28). Though the consecrating power of Christ or the Spirit possesses the believers at baptism so that they become a , yet the consecration is not fully perfected (cf. 3:13). For the optative , GF have the future indic. occurs only here in Gk. Bib.; Field notes it in Lev 6:23, Psa 50:21 (Aq.); cf. Aristotle, de plantis, 817 f. ; also Hermas, Mand. IX, 6, Vis. III, 6:4, 10:9, 13:4.
. And-to specify more exactly (Ell.), may your spirit and soul and body be kept in their entirety, as an undivided whole. So important for the readers is the prayer for the consecration not only of soul but of body that Paul repeats it, explaining the with ; the with , , ; and the with In doing so, he makes clear that God not only consecrates the believers but keeps them (from the baptism to the coming of Christ, Ephr.) so that they are blameless when the Lord comes.
like which it resumes is in the predicate position and is to be interpreted not qualitatively so as to be ethically perfect but qualitatively in their entirety, intact, integer (Vulg), the point being that no part of the Christian personality should be lacking in consecration. Though closely connected with , like the unemphatic is to be construed with all three substantives.- differs etymologically from but is in meaning virtually synonymous with it. The former word occurs elsewhere in the Gk. Bib. Jam 1:4; Zec 11:16 (of physical soundness; cf. Act 3:16, Isa 1:4 v. l.); Eze 15:5 (of wood not yet cut for fuel); Deu 27:6, Jos 9:2, Jos 9:1 Mac. 4:47 (of the unhewn stones for the altar); Deu 16:9 (A) Lev 23:15 (of the seven Sabbaths); Sap. 15:3 (of ); 4 Mac. 15:7 (of ); cf. Hermas, Mand. V, 2:3 ; also A in 1Ch 24:7 = 25:9 where B has
. Judging from the Pauline conception of the Christian as the man into whom there has entered a supernatural divine power, Christ or the Spirit (Gal 4:6, Rom 8:11, 1Co 6:19, 2Co 1:22), and from the fact that Paul is addressing Christians, it is probable but not certain that your spirit (cf. 1Co 14:14) designates that portion of the divine Spirit which as dwelling permanently in the individual as constitutes (1Co 2:11). The believer and the unbeliever are so far alike that their individuality consists of an inner (, , , ) and an outer part (); but the believer differs from the unbeliever in that he has received from God the divine Spirit which controls and redeems his former individuality, so that at the Parousia he is raised from the dead and enters upon a life with Christ in a spiritual body. Without the indwelling , man at his best () is mere man, unregenerate, (1Co 3:3, 1Co 15:44 ff.), incapable of resurrection and life with Christ. Hence the emphasis on at this point; the divine in man and the human individuality must be kept intact, an undivided whole, if the believer is to be blameless at the Parousia.
This view, shared substantially by Dob., appears in an anonymous catena quoted by Swete (Th. Mops. II, 39): , , , , , , , Th. Mops. (who seems to take with and with and ) Chrys. and Theodoret interpret as the direct equivalent of in v. 19.-The contrast between my, our spirit with the divine Spirit (1 Cor. 5:14, Rom 8:16) does not of necessity compel the conclusion that the human spirit in a psychological sense (= , etc.) is here meant, for in 1Co 14:14 where my spirit is contrasted with my , it is evident that my spirit is that portion of the divine Spirit which is resident in the individual. Occasionally Paul uses as a designation of the Christian personality (Gal 6:18, Php 4:23, Phm 1:25) instead of (v. 28, II 3:18) or the popular (Rom 2:9, Rom 2:11:13, Rom 2:13:1, Rom 2:16:4, 2Co 1:23, Php 2:30; also 1Th 2:8, 2Co 12:15); and this is probably the case in 1Co 16:18, 2Co 2:13, 2Co 7:13 (cf. Mat 11:29 and 2Co 7:5); (Col 3:23, Eph 6:6) is equivalent to as Rom 6:17 makes probable. is rare in Paul compared with , or even ; it is less frequent than Ten of the thirteen instances have been mentioned already; in 1Co 15:45=Gen 2:7, Paul contrasts sharply and under the influence of his conception of the as ; in Php 1:27 ( , ), where, as here, appears alongside of , is the divine Spirit as such or as individualised in the believer.-Didymus (de spiritu sancto, 55, quoted by Swete (op. cit.), 39) thinks that it would be incredible and blasphemous for the Apostle to pray that the Holy Spirit integer servetur, qui nec imminutionem potest recipere nec profectum; and hence refers your spirit to the human spirit. Whether his objection is cogent depends on the interpretation of 1Co 5:5 and 2Co 7:1 (if here as in Col 2:5=; cf. 2Co 7:5). Pelagius (noted by Dob.) remarks: gratia spiritus, quae quamuis in se semper integra sit, non tamen in nobis integra nisi ab integris habetur (Souter). If with Didymus Paul here speaks de humano spiritu, then is a distinctively psychological term appropriate to believers and unbelievers alike, and the collocation with which is unusual (Php 1:27, 1Co 15:45) is to be understood either (1) as rhetorical (De W., Jowett, and many), or at least as a popular statement, not an expression of the Apostles own psychology (Charles, Eschat. 410); or (2) as the distinct enunciation of the three component parts of the nature of man (Ell.; so most after Origen, Jerome, Apollinaris of Laodicea). Lft. ad loc. says: The spirit which is the ruling faculty in man and through which he holds communication with the unseen world-the soul, which is the seat of all his impulses and affections, the centre of his personality-the body, which links him to the material world and is the instrument of all his outward deeds-these all the Apostle would have presented perfect and intact in the day of the Lords coming.
In the O. T. man is regularly divided into an inner (spirit or soul) and an outer (body) part,-a view which prevails in the simple psychology of late Judaism (Bousset, Relig2 459) and in the N. T. Concurrent with this view is another (to Charles the more primitive), namely, that ruach is the breath of life which quickens man, body and soul, and returns at death to God (Charles, Eschat 44),-a view which occasionally appears in apocalyptic literature (ibid. 194-232). Charles (ibid. 409 ff.) understands in Paul of the higher nature of man which is created anew by God in order to make possible communion with him; it of course survives death; is a mere function of the body and perishes with it. Dob. doubts this and refers to 2Co 1:23, 2Co 12:15.
Neither Plato nor Aristotle has a trichotomy (Dob. 230 ff.); they divide man into and and subdivide into three parts or powers. When comes alongside of it is a function of the latter, the instrument by which the soul thinks and forms conceptions and it has no reality at all prior to the exercise of thought (Arist. de anima, III, 4 (429), in Hammond, Aristotles Psychology, 1902, 113). In Philo, the is not a part of human nature but a force that acts upon it and within it. The dichotomy of human nature remains (Hatch, Essays, 128). In Christianity, trichotomy does not seem certain until the second century; outside of Christianity, it is not clear before the Neoplatonists with their , , (Dob.).-On the question at issue, see Wendt, Die Begriffe Fleisch und Geist, 1879; Dickson, St. Pauls Use of the Terms Flesh and Spirit, 1883; Hatch, Essays, 94-130 (for psychological terms in Lxx and Philo); Davidson, Old Testament Theology, 1904, 182 ff.; Charles, Eschat; Bousset, Relig2 459 ff.; and Lft., Ell., and Dob. on our passage.
. May your spirit and soul and body as an undivided whole be kept blamelessly (that is, so as to be blameless) at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (3:13). Since resumes , the logical subject of the passive optative is God. The verb of itself intimates that the process of keeping intact the divine and human element in man has been going on since the baptism (Ephr.) when first the Spirit entered into the believer. The adverb lays stress not so much on the manner of Gods activity as on the result; hence the adverb may be interpreted as an adjective (so Lillie, Pelt: cf. Bl 76:1 and see above on 2:10 and on 3:13 where Bl read ).
Grot., Piscator, Lft., Dob., et al. take as brachyology for ; cf. Bl 41:1 and 1Co 11:18. (1Co 7:37, 2Co 11:9, Eph 4:3) is common in Gk. Bib.; cf. Sap. 10:5 of :
24. The prayer of v. 23 will certainly be answered, for God is faithful. This happens not from my prayers, he says, but from the purpose with which he called you (Chrys.). This faithfulness of God has already been manifested when in keeping with his eternal choice (1:4) he called them (2:12) through the preaching of the gospel (II 2:14). But if the caller is faithful, he may also () be relied upon to perform the very thing involved in the call, namely, that for which Paul prayed,
In stating this assurance of faith (cf. 4:9-10) in the fewest words, Paul succeeds in putting in the forefront the main point, the faithfulness of God as caller and doer. It is to be observed that he does not even say that (the participle is timeless as in 2:12) is God, though that is self-evident without recourse to v. 23, or to the Pauline turn (1Co 1:9, 1Co 1:10:13, 2Co 1:18; cf. 2Th 3:3); nor does he say for what (2:12, 4:7) or through what (II 2:14) they are called; nor does he state the precise object of (cf. 2Co 8:10 f. Psa 36:5, Psa 51:11, etc.). It is better, however, to supply the object from v. 23 (Ell., Lft. and most) than to interpret generally: will perform as surely as he calls, and everything promised or implied in the call (Lillie, who notes Pelagius quod promisit and umenius ). Indeed some minuscules actually add from 2Co 1:7 () (see Poole ad loc.). On the faithfulness of God, Grot. notes Isa 49:17 () , (cf. Deu 7:9, Deu 32:4, etc.).
VI. FINAL REQUESTS (5:25-27)
With an affectionate address (), Paul makes three more requests (note the triple exhortations in vv. 12-22 except vv 19-20) before closing the letter with the customary invocation of the grace of Christ. First, he bids the brethren in their prayers (v. 17) for themselves and others to remember also himself and his associates (v. 25). Next he bids them to greet for him all the brethren, with a tactful inclusion of the idlers (v. 26). Finally, with an abrupt change to the first person, he adjures them to see to it that the letter be read to all the brethren, presumably a covert admonition of the idlers who had apparently threatened to pay no heed to the epistolary injunctions of Paul.
25Brothers, pray for us as well (as for yourselves and others). 26Greet for us the brothers, all of them, with a holy kiss. 27I adjure you by the Lord that the present letter be read to the brothers, all of them.
25. When the brethren pray without ceasing (v. 17), they are to bear in mind not only themselves and others but Paul and his fellow-missionaries as well (),-a human touch showing how heavily Paul leaned upon the sympathy of his converts (cf. II 3:1, Col 4:2 f.).
On requests for prayer (but without ), cf. Rom 15:30, Eph 6:19, Php 1:19 and Heb 13:18. For (II 3:1, Col 4:3; Gen 20:7, Psa 71:15, Psa 71:2 Mal 1:6), GFP read (Col 1:9, Col 1:1 Reg. 1:27); on these prepositions, see Moult I, 105. is read by BD*, a few minuscules, Syr. (hl. pal.), Arm., Gothic, Orig., Chrys., Th. Mops.; but is omitted by ADcEGFI KLP, Vulg, Pesh, Boh, Eth., Ambst (Souter). Both Zim and Dob. think that the comes from Col 4:3. Assuming to be original, we must translate not you also pray for us as we have just prayed for you but you pray for us as well as for yourselves and others, the reference being not to v. 23 but to v. 17 (Weiss, III). Failure to see this reference accounts for the omission of (B. Weiss, ad loc.). I reads
26. The second request takes the form of a salutation characteristic of contemporary epistolary literature. Because being absent he could not greet them with the kiss, he greets them through others, as when we say: Kiss him for me (Chrys.). The fact that instead of the expected (Rom 16:16, 1Co 16:20, 2Co 13:12; 1Pe 5:14) Paul writes indicates not that he is turning from the brethren addressed in v. 25 to the workers who take the lead and admonish, but that he is tactfully including in the number of those to be greeted for him not only the workers, the faint-hearted, and the weak, but also the idlers (cf. Php 4:21 without exception). The kiss is holy because it is the expression not of romantic but of Christian love ( 1Pe 5:14).
On the salutation in epistolary literature, see the references given in the note on 1:1. Greetings ( or or both) are found in all Pauls letters except Gal. and Eph. In Rom 16:16, 2Co 13:12, is parallel to , in 1Co 16:20 to Over against De W., Ln., Ell., Find., Born and others who find the leaders addressed, Hofmann, Wohl., Mill., Dob., Moff. rightly see the brethren as a whole.
, apart from the passages noted above, occurs in the Gk. Bib. only Luk 7:45, Luk 7:22:48; Pro 27:6, Son 1:2 (). In the ancient world one kissed the hand, breast, knee, or foot of a superior, and the cheek of a friend. Herodotus (I, 134) mentions kissing the lips as a custom of the Persians. Possibly from them it came to the Jews (Toy, ICC on Pro 24:26-the only distinct reference to kissing the lips, since Gen 41:40 (see Skinner, ICC ad loc.) is doubtful). That the holy kiss is kissing the lips, or that the kiss was given promiscuously cannot be inferred from our verse (Cheyne in EB 4254, who notes Neil, Kissing: Its Curious Bible Mentions, 1885, 27 ff., 78 ff.). The Jewish and Christian attitude is probably expressed in that of Bunyan (Grace Abounding, 316): Some indeed have urged the holy kiss, but then I have asked why they made baulks? Why did they salute the most handsome and let the ill-favoured go? Thus how laudable soever such things have been in the eyes of others, they have been unseemly in my sight. Cheyne states that Conybeare (Exp 1894, 461) points out two passages in Philos quaestiones in Ex. preserved in Armenian, which seem to imply that the kiss of peace or of concord was a formal institution of the synagogue,-an opinion which Schultze (article Friedenskuss in Pro_3 VI, 274 f.) thinks possible.-This kiss is mentioned in Justin (Apol. I, 65), It came before the eucharistic prayer and after the other prayers (Tert. de orat. 18; the references in ad uxorem, II, 4 (iam vero alicui fratrum ad osculum convenire) and in de virg. vel. 14 (inter amplexus et oscula assidua) are uncertain, but seem to point to the extension of the custom). It is probable (so Cheyne and Schultze) that the was not originally promiscuous, and that the ordinances of the Apostolical Constitutions (II, 57:12, VIII, 11:41) arose in view of the abuse. For the history of the custom in Christian worship, see, in addition to Cheyne and Schultze, the article Kiss in the Dictionary of Christian Antiquities and the note of Robertson and Plummer in ICC on 1Co 16:20.
27. Had Paul written (cf. Col 4:16), it would have been natural to suppose that he intended simply to emphasise the importance of the present letter (; Vulg haec; cf. II 3:14, Rom 16:22, Col 4:16) not only to the weak who by it might be supported, and to the faint-hearted who by it might be encouraged, but also to the idlers who might by it be induced to heed the admonition (cf. Ephr.). The sudden change, however, from the second to the first person (but without ; cf. 2:18, 3:5), and the introduction of the solemn adjuration directed to the group as a whole () suggest the existence of a serious situation, namely, either that the leaders had intimated to Paul that they would not read his reply to all the brethren (cf. Th. Mops., Calv., B., Weiss) or, and more probably in the light of II 3:14, that they had informed Paul that the more recalcitrant of the idlers had asserted that they would pay no heed to the epistolary injunctions of Paul. Hence the solemn adjuration by the Lord Jesus that the brethren as a group see to it (cf. v. 15) that all the brethren, including the idlers, hear this letter read.
On the theory of Harnack, shared also by Lake (The Earlier Epistles of St. Paul, 1911, 89) that here, like in v. 26, implies the existence of a Jewish Christian church in Thessalonica between which and the Gentile Christian church addressed in I there was a line of cleavage, v. supra, p. 53 f. From this verse, called forth by a particular need, it can neither be affirmed nor denied that Paul had written letters to communities visited (cf. Gal 1:21) or that the reading of his letters, if written, in the church had become a fixed custom.-Though both in classics and in papyri (Mill.) may mean not only read aloud but also read, it is yet probable that the former sense, usual in classics, is always intended by Paul (2Co 1:13, 2Co 1:3:2, 2Co 1:15, Col 4:16, Eph 3:4; cf. 1 Mac. 14:19 ). Whether all the artisans in Thess. could read, we do not know. The aor. infin. (object of ; cf. BMT 391) indicates the being read as an act without reference to its progress, repetition, or result.- (BADE, et al.) is found elsewhere in Gk. Bib. only Neh 13:25 (A); the simple (Neh 13:25 (B) Mar 5:7, Act 19:13) is read by GFP, et al. (cf. 4 Reg. 11:4; also Mat 26:63, Gen 24:3, Jdg 17:2 (A) 3 Reg. 22:16). These verbs are construed either with two accus. as here (Mar 5:7, Act 19:13, Gen 24:3) or with accus. and with gen. (Mat 26:63, 2Ch 36:13; Hermas Sim. IX, 10:5; see Deiss. BS 28 ff.). On the infin. instead of (Gen 24:3, Mat 26:63 and the Hermas passage), cf. Joseph. Ant. VIII, 104: -P. omits ; (cAKLP, et al.) is an insertion influenced by (Dob.), and though retained by Weiss (91) is probably to be omitted with *BDEGF, et al. is common in Paul (Rom 16:15, 2Co 1:1, 2Co 13:12, etc.), but is unexpected and redundant. Moff. notes Apoc. Bar. 86:1: When therefore ye receive this my epistle, read it in your congregations with care.
VII. BENEDICTION (5:28)
28. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be (sc. or ; see 1:1) with you. The place of the epistolary farewell (; ; cf. Act 15:29) is in Pauls letters taken by the invocation of grace (Col 4:18) or the grace of (our) Lord Jesus (Christ).
(Col 4:18) is the shortest concluding benediction in Paul; with our verse cf. II 3:18 which inserts and Rom 16:20. The (cf. 3:13), retained by AEKLP, et al., is probably to be omitted with BDGF, et al.-Like the inscription (see on 1:1), the subscription A (B), to which GF prefix and to which AKL add , is late and forms no part of the original letter; see Sod Schriften des N. T. I,
296 ff.
Lxx The Old Testament in Greek (ed. H. B. Swete, 1887-94).
Volz, Paul Volz, Jdische Eschatologie von Daniel bis Akiba (1903).
Ell Ellicott.
(e a p r). Cod. Sinaiticus, saec. iv, now at St. Petersburg. Edited by Tischendorf, its discoverer, in 1862. Photographic reproduction by H. and K. Lake, Oxford, 1911. Contains I and II complete.
Th. Theodore of Mopsuestia, in epistolas Pauli commentarii (ed. H. B. Swete, 1880-82).
Chrys Chrysostom.
HDB Hastings Dictionary of the Bible (1898-1904).
BMT E. D. Burton, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in N. T. Greek (18983).
Ln Lnemann.
Ephr Ephraem Syrus.
Bl F. Blass, Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch (1896, 19022).
Grot Hugo de Groot (Grotius).
A A (e a p r). Cod. Alexandrinus, saec. v, now in the British Museum. Edited by Woide in 1786. Facsimile by E. M. Thompson, 1879. Contains I and II complete.
G G (p). Cod. Boernerianus, saec. ix, now in the Royal Library at Dresden. It is closely related to F, according to some the archetype of F (Souter). Edited by Matthaei, 1791. Im Lichtdruck nachgebildet, Leipzig (Hiersemann), 1909. Contains I and II complete.
F F (p). Cod. Augiensis, saec. ix, Graeco-Latin, now in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. An exact transcript by Scrivener, 1859. Contains I and II complete.
B B (e a p r). Cod. Vaticanus, saec. iv, now in the Vatican Library. Photographic reproduction by Cozza-Luzi, Rome, 1889, and by the Milan firm of Hoepli, 1904. Contains I and II complete.
D D (p). Cod. Claromontanus, saec. vi, Graeco-Latin, now in the National library at Paris. Edited by Tischendorf in 1852. Contains I and II complete.
K K (a p). Cod. Mosquensis, saec. ix, now at Moscow. Collated by Matthaei, 1782. Contains I and II complete.
L L (a p). Cod. Angelicus, saec. ix, now in the Angelican Library at Rome. Collated among others by Tischendorf (1843) and Tregelles (1845). Contains I and II complete.
P P (a p r). Cod. Porphyrianus, saec. ix, now at St. Petersburg. Edited by Tischendorf (1865). Contains I and II except I 3:5 – 4:17.
Vulg Vulgate.
Kennedy, H. A. A. Kennedy, St. Pauls Conceptions of the Last Things (1904).
WH The New Testament in the Original Greek (1881; I, Text, II, Introduction and Appendix).
E E Cod. Sangermanensis, saec. ix, now at St. Petersburg. A copy of D.
Bousset, W. Bousset, Die Religion des Judentums im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter (19062).
Lft Lightfoot.
Moff James Moffatt.
Boh Coptic version in the Bohairic dialect.
De W De Wette.
Weiss B. Weiss in TU. XIV, 3 (1896).
Zim F. Zimmer, Der Text der Thessalonicherbriefe (1893).
Mill George Milligan.
Deiss. A. Deissmann, Bibelstudien (1895).
Dob Ernst von Dobschtz,
Find G. G. Findlay.
Moult James Hope Moulton, A Grammar of N. T. Greek, I (1906).
EB The Encyclopdia Biblica (London, 1899-1903; ed. J. S. Black and T. K. Cheyne).
Lillie John Lillie, Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians, Translated from the Greek, with Notes (1856).
Soph. E. A. Sophocles, Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods (revised by J. H. Thayer, 1887, 1900).
Deiss. A. Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East (1910) = Licht vom Osten (19093).
Witk St. Witkowski, Epistul Privat Grc (1906).
Wohl Wohlenberg.
Ambst Ambrosiaster.
Born Bornemann.
AJT The American Journal of Theology (Chicago).
JBL The Journal of Biblical Literature (New York).
Meyer Kritisch-exegetischer Komm. ber das N. T.
ICC International Critical Commentary.
SBBA Sitzungsberichte der kniglich. Preuss. Akad. der Wissenschaften zu Berlin.
Vincent M. R. Vincent, Word Studies in the N. T., vol. IV, 1900.
Calv Calvin.
SK Studien und Kritiken.
Charles, R. H. Charles, Eschatology, Hebrew, Jewish, and Christian (1899).
Hatch, E. Hatch, Essays in Biblical Greek (1889).
I I (p). Cod. Saec. v. Ms. 4 in the Freer Collection at Detroit, Michigan. This manuscript is a badly decayed fragment, now containing many short portions of the epistles of Paul. It is written on parchment in small uncials and probably belongs to the fifth century. Originally contained Acts and practically all of the epistles but not Revelation. While no continuous portion of the text remains, many brief passages from Eph. Phil. Col. Thess. and Heb. can be recovered (H. A. Sanders, Biblical World, vol. XXI, 1908, 142; cf. also Gregory, Das Freer-Logion, 1908, 24). The fragments of Thess., a collation of which Prof. Sanders kindly sent me, contain I 1:1-2, 9-10 2:7-8, 14-16 3:2-4, 11-13 4:8-9, 16-18 5:9-11, 23-26 II 1:1-3, 10-11 2:5-8, 15-17 3:8-10.
Pesh Syriac Vulgate.
Exp The Expositor (London; ed. W. R. Nicoll).
PRE Real-Encyclopdie fr protest. Theologie u. Kirche (3d ed. Hauck, 1896-1909).
Sod Hermann Freiherr von Soden.
Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament
Ready for the Day of the Lord
1Th 5:1-11
To the Apostle the day of the Lord was near. He expected it in his lifetime, and if we remember that the Lords words with reference to it were in part fulfilled when Jerusalem fell, it is clear that his expectation was not altogether vain.
The suddenness of the Advent was the theme of Jesus reiterated assurances. See Mat 24:38; Mat 24:43; Luk 17:29-30. The world spends its days in careless indifference (sleep), or in sensual enjoyment (drunkenness); but believers are bidden to be soldier-like in their attire and watchfulness. Ponder that wonderful word in 1Th 5:10. Together implies that Christians now living are closely united with those who have died. The state we call death, but which the Apostle calls sleep-because our Lords resurrection has robbed it of its terror-is as full of vitality as the life which we live day by day in this world. We live together, animated by the same purposes-they on that side and we on this. Whether here or there, life is in Him. The closer we live to Him, the nearer we are to them.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
The Day of the Lord (1Th 5:1-11)
After unfolding the truth concerning the rapture, the apostle turned his attention to the day of the Lord. Following the rapture of the saints, the world will experience the darkest period it has ever known. In many places in the Old Testament this period is referred to as the day of the Lord or the time of trouble. It is called the great tribulation in both the Old and New Testaments. Paul referred to that day in 1Th 5:1-2:
Of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
Here we see that the subject of the day of the Lord is included in the expression the times and the seasons. Prophetic times and seasons never have to do with the Lords coming for His church. They always have to do with events preceding and culminating in the Lords coming to set up His kingdom here on the earth. Any attempt to figure out the time when the Lord will return for His own leads to confusion.
The expression **the times and the seasons occurs twice elsewhere in the Scriptures: once in the book of Daniel and once in the book of Acts. In Dan 2:19-22 we are told:
Then was the secret [concerning Nebuchadnezzars dream] revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
Clearly here the times and the seasons had to do with events on the earth. God changes times and seasons when He postpones judgment because a nation has repented and turned to God. For example Jonah was commanded to go to Nineveh and announce that judgment would fall in forty days, but Nineveh repented and God put off her destruction for two centuries. Then judgment fell because of her further rejection of the Word of the Lord. God dealt in the same way with Israel and Judah on various occasions-He postponed judgment when they repented.
In Act 1:6 the disciples asked the risen Savior, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? They were speaking of the time predicted in the Old Testament. Jesus replied:
It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (1:7-8).
Nothing could be plainer than the Lords words. Our business is not to know when the day of the Lord will begin. Our business is to preach the gospel. We are to go from people to people and from nation to nation until the entire world has heard the good news.
So we have the Old Testament predictions, Christs words regarding the day of the Lord, and Pauls reminder that it will come as a thief in the night (1Th 5:2).
Paul did not need to write to the Thessalonians about the day of the Lord because it has to do with the times and the seasons and therefore cannot begin while the church is still in the world. Let me emphasize that in 1Th 5:2 Paul was not referring, as some have supposed, to the descent of the Lord in the air to call His church away. He was referring to the coming of the Lord in visible glory to set up His kingdom. The day of the Lord has to do with events that will take place after the rapture of the church and prior to the revelation of the Lord in judgment. Some Old Testament Scriptures make this clear. In Amo 5:18-20, for example, we read:
Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Some people in Israel were looking forward to the day of the Lord, for they thought that then their troubles would be over. But for them the prophet predicted woe. He said that the day of the Lord would mean fleeing from one danger only to encounter a greater one. As we would say, they would be jumping from the frying pan into the fire. The day of the Lord will be a time of judgment. God will deal with apostate Israel as well as the Gentiles because of their folly and sin. In that sense the day of the Lord is not to be desired by those who are still living in their sins. It will bring judgment and sore distress for the people still living on the earth.
Zep 1:14-15 gives us a somber picture of the conditions that will prevail in the day of the Lord:
The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness.
In Joe 2:1-3 we read:
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
Joels words remind us of the words of our Lord Jesus in Mat 24:21-22:
Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elects sake those days shall be shortened.
In view of the terrible events that have taken place so recently, we should not have any difficulty believing these prophecies. Ever since the discovery and use of the atomic bomb it has been easy to see that another world war might entail the destruction of all flesh. When the Lord referred to the elect, He had in mind the remnant in Israel and those of the nations who will be waiting for the Lord during the great tribulation.
Turning again to the Old Testament, we read in Jer 30:7: Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacobs [Israels] trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. God will have on the earth a remnant from Israel who will turn to the Lord and He will use them as witnesses to the Gentile world. As a result, many people will be prepared to welcome the Lord when He descends to take His kingdom.
Mal 4:1-2 tells us that the ungodly Gentile world and apostate Judaism will all be destroyed in the day of the Lord, but those who turn to the Lord will be saved from destruction:
Behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
The day of the Lord is the time when-the day of grace having ended-God will visit the world in judgment. Prior to that day of wrath, the first great event that will startle the world will be the disappearance of millions of people who have known and loved the Lord Jesus Christ. One moment they will be on the earth: some will be sleeping; some will be suffering in hospitals; some will be enduring pain, grief, and distress; some will be gathered together for worship. But the next moment in the twinkling of an eye these redeemed ones will be changed and they will disappear (1Co 15:52). The world will waken to find them gone.
I read of a gentleman who once a month went to a certain city where great steel mills were constantly pounding, pounding, pounding. He wondered how the citizens of that city could sleep, but they were so used to the noise that it did not bother them. He could get no sleep when he spent the night in that town. Then in the middle of one night, something happened to the electricity and in a moment the mills stopped. Suddenly the whole town woke up. They were so used to the noise that it put them to sleep.
The world has heard the gospel down through the centuries and still sleeps on. But some day the church will be gone and the gospel, as now preached, will be silenced. Then the world will wake up to find that it is entering the day of the Lord. When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape (1Th 5:3).
In 1Th 5:4 the apostle Paul turned his attention to comforting believers. The coming of the Lord will not be as a thief in the night for those who are waiting expectantly for His return. Those of us who arc saved are children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness (5:5). We used to be children of darkness, but God has brought us out of darkness into light.
While the world sleeps, we should be alert, awake, ever seeking to serve the Lord Jesus. We should be making His truth known to other people and we should be trying to get them ready to welcome Him when He returns. Oh, that Christians everywhere might be awakened out of their lethargy and out of their carelessness and frivolity! Oh, that they might realize the seriousness of the times in which we live! It is a solemn thing to be a Christian in a world like ours, for we will soon have to give an account of our works to the great Judge.
Those of us who are children of light should put on the breastplate of faith and love (5:8). Faith and love will protect our hearts. As the world is drifting on to its time of great trouble, we will be garrisoned by our confidence in God.
In addition to the breastplate, Paul told us to put on for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath (5:8-9). In other words, we will not be here to share in that day of wrath. We will be delivered out of this world, for we have been appointed to obtain salvation. Here Paul had in mind our final salvation.
The world is drifting on to the day when the wrath of God will be poured out from Heaven, and Satan will be cast down to earth. The devil will then set his wrath in opposition to the wrath of God. The hour of judgment will strike, but we will be saved from it by our Lord Jesus Christ. We will be taken away in accordance with the promise to the church of Philadelphia: Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth (Rev 3:10).
As Christians we do not dwell permanently on the earth; our citizenship is in Heaven from whence we look for the Savior who is coming to snatch us away from the wrath to come. Some of us who are living now may still be alive when the Lord comes to catch up His saints. But whether we live until He returns or die before He comes, we know that we will all be caught up to live together with him (1Th 5:10).
The apostle concluded his message about the day of the Lord by saying, Wherefore comfort yourselves together (5:11). There is no comfort in this message for those who are not yet saved. The day of judgment looms for those who have not come to Christ. Now is the day of salvation (2Co 6:2) and while the gospel is preached, God wants all to believe and live, but if men persistently reject His Son, only judgment awaits them. It is their own fault if they are left behind on the day of the rapture because God has made a way of escape, and they have failed to use it.
For those of us who are saved and who are expecting and waiting for the Lords return, it is comforting to know that we will have no part in the woes of this world during the great tribulation. We will be with the Lord in the Fathers house. When He descends to the earth to set up His kingdom, we will come with Him and reign with Him. He will appoint His redeemed ones to places of authority over this lower universe. In 1Co 6:2-3 Paul asked, Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels?
So we should be looking expectantly not for the day of Jehovah, but for the coming of the Lord Jesus to take us to be with Him and to be like Him forever. Heb 9:27-28 reassures us that as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Were watching for Jesus who entered within
The Holiest of all when He put away sin:
A place in the glory Hes gone to prepare,
Where we shall be with Him; but will you be there?
Exhortations (1Th 5:12-22)
This section of the chapter consists largely of exhortations based on truth revealed already.
The admonition in verses 12-13 deals with the attitude of members of the body of Christ toward those whom God has set in their midst as spiritual guides. It is God who calls men to be His servants and entrusts them with gifts such as teaching, preaching, and administration. It is He who gives these servants to His people in order to build them up and lead them on in Christ. True pastors are spiritual shepherds who are responsible for caring for the sheep and lambs of Christs flock. Such leaders are to be reverenced as they seek to fulfill their ministries. We are not admonished simply to approve their personalities; we are told to recognize that God has entrusted to them the ministries of teaching, preaching, and exhorting the saints.
The thought added to the end of verse 13 is an exhortation that we as Christians always need to remember: Be at peace among yourselves. It is so easy to allow little things to set us against one another and thus bring in a spirit of strife among Gods people. Whenever we realize that our hearts are contentious, we should go immediately to the Lord in humiliation and self-judgment and seek the grace not to say or do anything willfully that is likely to cause quarreling among Gods children.
There are twelve distinct exhortations in 1Th 5:14-22. They are so plain and clear that one does not need to use many words in an attempt to explain them; they are self-explanatory.
1. Warn them that are unruly (5:14). Some of the people found in local churches or assemblies of saints are naturally rebellious. They always want to ran things to suit themselves. They have splendid dispositions as long as they can have everything their own way, but if anyone crosses them, the old nature soon shows itself. Such people are to be warned because they are hindrances to blessing.
2. Comfort the feebleminded [faint-hearted]. Not everyone is courageous and quick to act. We must be considerate of those who are lacking in confidence and boldness.
3. Support the weak. Instead of censuring the weak, we should assist them and put up with their infirmities. We are inclined to condemn those who are not as strong in faith as we imagine ourselves to be. But a condemning attitude is not the spirit of Christ.
4. Be patient toward all men. Even in Christian circles, many things that try our patience might arouse ill-temper, but we are called to be considerate on all occasions.
5. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men (5:15). The Christian is not to retaliate. Savonarola said, A Christians life consists in doing good and suffering evil. The Lord taught us what our attitude should be when we encounter evil: Unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also (Luk 6:29). The apostle Paul said elsewhere, Recompense to no man evil for evil (Rom 12:17). We are to return good for evil.
6. Rejoice evermore (1Th 5:16). He who knows Christ can rejoice even in the midst of sorrow. Ezra said, The joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh 8:10). If His joy disappears, we can be sure that something is wrong; something needs to be put right. George Muller, that great nineteenth-century apostle of faith, said, I never allow myself to begin the day without facing before God anything that has left me unhappy or distressed, because I want to be before Him always in the spirit of joyfulness. We may blame others for our lack of joy, but the truth of the matter is that if our joy has gone, we have no one to blame but ourselves. It shows that we are out of fellowship with God. Our blessed Lord set the example; in spite of the fact that He was rejected by men, His spirit was always one of joyfulness and gladness as He communed with His Father.
7. Pray without ceasing (1Th 5:17). We cannot always be uttering words of prayer, but we can be in the attitude of prayer continuously; that is, we can always be in the spirit of dependence on God. As hymnist James Montgomery wrote, Prayer is the souls sincere desire, / Uttered or unexpressed. We are to go through life with our hearts looking up to God no matter how much we may be occupied with other matters.
8. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (5:18). Thankfulness and holiness go together. It was when men began to be unthankful that they turned away from God and went into idolatry. We can give thanks in every thing because we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28). Giving thanks should do away with complaining. We have all seen people at the dinner table give thanks for the food God has provided, then begin to complain about it before their eyes are hardly open. To vast numbers of poverty-stricken people, that same food would seem most delicious and even sumptuous.
To give thanks in every thing is to recognize that all our circumstances come from God. You may ask, Is it not Satan who brings evil things into my life? The answer is yes, it was Satan who was permitted to afflict Job. But Job looked beyond Satan to the One who had allowed the enemy that liberty. Job said, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? (Job 1:21; Job 2:10). If we remember that it is the Lord who permits the unpleasant things for our good, then we should be enabled to thank Him for them all. I should seek to learn the lessons He has for me in them.
9. Quench not the Spirit (1Th 5:19). The unsaved may resist the Spirit, but it is only believers who quench the Spirit. We may also grieve that divine personality who dwells within our hearts. To quench the Spirit is to fail to respond to His guidance.
10. Despise not prophesyings (5:20). We are to be ready to recognize the messages of God when His servants speak. In 1Co 14:3 we read, He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. A person who prophesies is not necessarily a foreteller. He may be a forthteller, one who tells forth the mind of God; and of course his message will always be based on the Word of God.
11. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good (1Th 5:21). We are to evaluate the different teachings we hear by comparing them to the Word of God, which is the only accurate test. We are to accept that which agrees with the Scriptures and reject everything else.
12. Abstain from all appearance of evil (5:22). We Christians are prone to forget this exhortation because of the independence of our spirits. If you for example have a habit that some think is evil, you may say that they have no right to judge you since you are not harming anyone. But you need to consider the weaker person. All of us should remember that others are watching us and taking note of how we behave. We ought to abstain from all that looks like evil, or if we translate Pauls words literally, from every form of evil.
Sanctification (1Th 5:23-24)
Verse 23 has troubled many people. Some have taken for granted that sanctification means the absolute eradication of all inbred sin. But there is not one passage of Scripture that treats sanctification from that standpoint. To sanctify means to set apart, to separate from that which is evil. A Christian is to be separated from worldly things, from all that is unholy (see 1Th 4:3).
Sanctification is presented in three different ways in Scripture. First, sanctification is presented as a work that begins before we ever come to a definite knowledge of salvation. We read in 1Pe 1:2 that we are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. In 2Th 2:13 we read, But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Election was Gods purpose in the past and this is carried out in the present by sanctification of the Spirit. The Spirit of God working within us showed us our need of a Savior and led us to trust in Christ. Then the Spirit came to dwell within us and He continues the work of sanctification all through our Christian lives. Every believer is sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Second, sanctification is presented as positional. It is absolutely complete from the moment we believe. We are then set apart for God by virtue of the precious blood of Christ. Positional sanctification is perfect: By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified (Heb 10:14). Nothing can ever be taken from this sanctification; nothing can be added to it. Christ Himself is our sanctification and we are complete in Him.
Third, sanctification is presented in its practical aspect. As we read and study the Word of God, wonderful truths are opened up to us; we learn from that Word what is in accordance with His will and as we obey the Word, we are practically sanctified. Jesus prayed, Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth (Joh 17:17). This sanctification by the Word will not be complete until we reach the end of our pilgrimage. We are sanctified in Christ Jesus the moment we believe in Him, but as we feed on the Word and apply it to our lives, we are being sanctified by the truth.
When people tell me that they are already sanctified completely, I ask them, Have you ever read through your Bible? Some of them say, No, I am afraid I cannot say that I have read it through all the way, but I have read a good deal of it. Then I reply, Since sanctification is by the Word, how can you be sanctified completely if you have never read through your Bible?
Our sanctification will be complete at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then we will be wholly sanctified. We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is (1Jn 3:2). The believers entire spirit (the highest part of man), soul (his emotional nature), and body (then glorified) will be sanctified completely on that day and he will be altogether conformed to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you know Him now as your personal Savior? Do you yearn for the day when you will be absolutely free from grief, pain, and sins? Do you long to become like Him? God has called you for that purpose and He guarantees that He will bring you to that desired end in Christ Jesus. This is the precious promise of 1Th 5:24: Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Php 1:6 confirms the promise: He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. His faithfulness is infinite.
Conclusion (1Th 5:25-28)
Paul asked for prayer for himself and his companions as servants of Christ, missionaries of the cross, teachers of the Word of God. Those who stand in places of public testimony need the prayers of Gods people. Because such teachers are so likely to fail in some way, they need prayer so that they will be able to maintain a consistent testimony for the glory of Christ as they seek to minister the Word of God.
Paul continued, Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss (1Th 5:26). In his day the kiss was the customary greeting, so the emphasis here is not on the word kiss but on the word holy. If our custom is to greet one another with a handshake, it should be a holy handshake. We all have seen unholy handshakes. For instance two men are talking unkindly about a third man when suddenly the third man appears; one of the two grasps the third mans hand and says, Oh, dear brother, I am so glad to see you! Or two women are criticizing a third woman who unexpectedly appears; one of the two runs up to her and gives her a hearty kiss. That is a Judas kiss. If your attitude toward others is holy, you will never be embarrassed by the sudden appearance of a third person. The apostle was stressing the importance of reality in our greetings.
Before concluding his letter, Paul gave one more instruction to the Thessalonians: I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren (5:27). Notice the expression holy brethren. The apostle dared to use that term because in Christ all believers are holy before God.
The Epistle closes with the usual Pauline benediction: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (5:28).
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
1Th 5:1-8
I. The Apostle having disclosed much in the foregoing verses about the Lord’s second coming, and the respective shares in its glory which are to fall to those of His people who are then asleep, and those of them who are then alive, and remain, and having shown that the one class will not be more highly favoured than the other, proceeds now to declare to his readers that, having such assured knowledge, they have enough. It is not for them in a spirit of mere curiosity to pry into the times and seasons when these things shall be. Christ has willed it that, certain of His eventual arrival, we should remain in uncertainty as to its destined moment.
II. The path of God’s people is as the shining light. It cannot, then, be that that day should overtake them as a thief; the day of the Lord, loved and longed for, can never actually come upon them as something unwelcome-disliked, dreaded. The very statement of their character and privilege is thus, on the part of the Apostle, an earnest appeal addressed to them. To those who are watchful, sober, armed, the Saviour’s own promise will at length be fulfilled, when He comes in His glory: “I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”
J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 189.
References: 1Th 5:2.-R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 1st series, p. 159; H. P. Liddon, Advent Sermons, vol. i., p. 368. 1Th 5:4.-F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 1; H. W. Beecher, Ibid., vol. xxvi., p. 27; R. H. Newton, Ibid., vol. xxviii., p. 378. 1Th 5:5.-A. Macleod, Talking to the Children, p. 93. 1Th 5:6.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii., No. 64; vol. iii., No. 163; vol. xvii., No. 1022; Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 65; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 137. 1Th 5:7, 1Th 5:8.-T. H. Pattison, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 380.
1Th 5:8
The Work and Armour of the Children of the Day.
I. First, this central injunction, into which all the moral teaching drawn from the second coming of Christ is gathered-“Let us be sober.” Now, I do not suppose we are altogether to omit any reference to the literal meaning of this word. The context seems to show that by its reference to night as the season for drunken orgies. But, passing from that, let us turn to the higher subject with which the Apostle is here evidently mainly concerned. What is the meaning of the exhortation “Be sober”? Well, first let me tell you what I think is not the meaning of it. It does not mean an unemotional absence of fervour in your Christian character. Paul, the very man that is exhorting here to sobriety, was the very type of an enthusiast all his life. So Festus thought him mad, and even in the Church at Corinth there were some to whom, in his fervour, he seemed to be “beside himself.” The exhortation means, as I take it, mainly this: the prime Christian duty of self-restraint in the use and the love of all earthly treasures and pleasures.
II. There is, secondly, a motive which backs up and buttresses this exhortation. “Let us, who are of the day”-or, as the Revised Version has it a little more emphatically and correctly, “Let us, since we are of the day, be sober.” “Ye are the children of the day.” There is one direction especially in which the Apostle thinks that that consideration ought to tell, and that is the direction of its self-restraint. Noblesse oblige! The aristocracy are bound to do nothing low or dishonourable. The children of the light are not to stain their hands with anything foul. Chambering and wantonness, slumber and drunkenness, the indulgence in the appetites of the flesh,-all that may be fitting for the night, it is clean incongruous with the day.
III. Last of all, my text points out for us a method by which this great precept may be fulfilled:-“Putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation.” And in like manner the cultivation of faith, charity, and hope is the best means for securing the exercise of sober self-control.
A. Maclaren, A Year’s Ministry, 1st series, p. 29.
The Duty of Seriousness.
To attain to a true Christian gladness, we must learn to be serious, to be sober.
I. The two great elements indispensable to the existence of a really grand character are elasticity and steadfastness: elasticity, without which a man gets crushed by every slight failure; and steadfastness, without which he will be turned aside from his purpose by unworthy motives, and be tempted to forget the end of his efforts in the contemplation of the means by which they could be attained. For keeping alive this elasticity, a man must know how to be wisely gay; for keeping up this steadfastness, he must know how to be sober.
II. And so Christian sobriety must be based upon a reasonable estimate of the importance of life and the seriousness of all things here below. The trifler, who has no higher ambition than to amuse himself, mistakes the meaning of all things on earth. But as a man lays hold on the fact that God loves him and all men, and that, with all his weakness and inconstancy, he is yet not left unsupported by the Spirit’s grace,-though he may be serious he will not be sad. Christian sobriety and Christian gaiety have their sources lying closely side by side in the devout and earnest soul; and, like the Danube and the Rhine, which start out from different sides of the same glacier, and then diverge as far as the east is from the west, so these two, however much they seem to be at variance when they take a separate course, yet have their true founts in a living faith in God, and are then most fresh, and real, and inexhaustible, when they spring from a source of trusting love, in a heart that rests upon the Rock of Ages, and which, while it has its hold upon the earth, is yet aspiring upwards.
A. Jessopp, Norwich School Sermons, p. 236.
Reference: 1Th 5:8.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxix., p. 148.
1Th 5:9-10
God’s Appointment concerning Man.
I. Note, first, the persons in whose favour God’s appointment is made. They are believers in Jesus. Salvation is limited to faith in Christianity; and therefore the appointment of God that is unto salvation, must be subject to the same limitation.
II. The appointment. There is a twofold aspect-a negative and a positive view. He has not appointed us to wrath, but He has appointed us to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ. (1) Has He appointed any to wrath? The contrast is not between us and others. The object of the passage is to give unspeakable comfort and assurance to the child of God, that he is not appointed to wrath, but to salvation. Those who live in sin, those who refuse to accept God’s mercy, will, no doubt, suffer eternal punishment. That is a scriptural truth. But to say that God appointed men and women, who are now living in unbelief and sin, before they appeared upon this earth, to eternal punishment, by virtue of His arbitrary will and purpose, is as different as one thing can be from another, and is altogether inconsistent with our ideas of the righteousness, integrity, and holiness of God. (2) There is one exception. Was not Jesus appointed to wrath? On Him was laid the iniquity of us all. He became responsible for it. He volunteered to take our sins upon Himself. He suffered to teach us that sin and the curse are inseparable, that where sin is there is, and must be, a curse. Our substitute is Christ; He was sacrificed, and died on the cross for us; He bore the brunt of God’s wrath, and it is only through Him that we can see the Father.
C. Molyneux, Penny Pulpit, new series, No. 134.
1Th 5:9-15
I. This passage, 1Th 5:9-15, has its interest and value as showing us that the earliest and the latest of the Pauline Epistles are all at one in regard to the central doctrines of salvation through Christ. In this passage, we have, wrapped up in few words, indeed, but none the less really contained in them, his one uniform declaration of salvation through Christ, and His atoning death.
II. “Wherefore,”-seeing that such a future, such an inheritance of bliss is in store-“comfort yourselves together” by lovingly meditating upon it, by reminding one another of it, by helping one another in preparing for it, and so “edify one another.” The clause is added “even as also ye do.” Lest the exhortation might appear to his friends to have some slight tinge of reproof in it, the Apostle closes it with words of praise, and this praise, this grateful, hearty recognition of their Christian conduct, is a further appeal to them yet more to abound in this good work.
III. And now, in accordance with his usual practice, the Apostle draws his epistle to a close with a series of general, but not miscellaneous directions-exhortations as to details of conduct, suggested probably by the knowledge he had of certain defects in the Thessalonian community-“ever follow that which is good.” The aim set before the Christian is that which is good; good in the full compass of the word-the spiritual and also the temporal good of others-everything that in reality can be beneficial to them. Our following must be not only eager, it must be regular, persistent, ceaseless. The discharge of this duty is the Christian’s highest privilege.
J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 201.
References: 1Th 5:10.-J. Angus, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv., p. 289; Homilist, vol. iv., p. 117. 1Th 5:12.-T. L. Cuyler, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 49. 1Th 5:13.-E. M. Goulburn, Thoughts on Personal Religion, p. 142. 1Th 5:14.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ix., p. 222.
1Th 5:16
The Duty of Gladness.
I. It is of the very nature of a duty that it is in our power to perform it; and so with this one, the very fact of its being laid upon us proves that we may, if we will, obey it. And therefore this at once disposes of those who would be inclined to say that gladness does not depend on ourselves, that it is the privilege of the few only to be gay, and of those few only under peculiar circumstances; and that it is as vain to tell people to be merry and joyful as to tell them to be tall or short, or strong or handsome. There is always a disposition to make every thing in our Christian life dependent on circumstances, and to make excuses for this or that sin or shortcoming, by blaming circumstances and not ourselves. Once begin with the perilous doctrine that men are what they are made, and that we cannot help our lapses because of the taint and defects in our nature, and we open the door to excuses for every kind of enormity.
II. Just as we get nearer to our true selves, the fresher and purer, and wiser and truer our souls become, the more food shall we find for joy; and because, as the pure soul finds life glad, and so gladness reacts upon the soul and tends to make it pure, so this is the reason why the Apostle tells us to rejoice; for joy tends to cleanse the heart and banish thought of sin and misery, and wars against the useless recollection of sorrows that are gone, and of errors that cannot now be retrieved, and of troubles that may be temptations to murmur, but which by all the murmurs in the world can never be as though they were not. Sin slays gladness, and sin alone; and this is the awful part of the curse on sin, that it robs us of our inheritance of delight, and is a bar to our hearty joy. But to those who are trying to realise that they are Christ’s redeemed ones, and who live in the habitual remembrance that God is their Father, joy need not be and ought not to be hard.
A. Jessopp, Norwich School Sermons, p. 226.
Reference: 1Th 5:16.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1900.
1Th 5:16-18
I. “Rejoice evermore.” The Thessalonian converts were living in the sphere of sorrow. The Apostle exhorts them to be “girded with gladness.” This rejoicing, being in the Lord, is opposed to the spurious joy which is the possession of sinners. The rejoicing before God is the deep, calm delight of the soul in communion with the Saviour. It springs out of the three Christian graces which this epistle so strongly emphasises-faith, hope, and love.
II. “Pray without ceasing.” Prayerfulness is the atmosphere in which all things appear bright and joyous. The Apostle takes it for granted that none of his readers will call in question the duty of prayer. What he enjoins is constancy in prayer. The only conceivable way in which, on our part, this communion may be maintained, is the lifting up of the heart in conscious dependence and petition. The Church militant must ever be the Church suppliant. Prayer is the very beating of the pulse of the Christian’s inner life. Without it life would cease to be.
III. “In everything give thanks.” The clause seems to suggest not merely that the heart is at all times, and for all things to be grateful, but that the gratitude is to overflow into every action of the life-thanks giving and thanks living. Here is a sense in which we are evermore to pay back, as it were, in active service, what we receive from God. That debt ever due, never cancelled, we have ceaselessly to pay, and in paying it to find our highest joy.
J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 216.
Reference: 1Th 5:16-18.-A. Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, p. 242.
1Th 5:17
I. The nature of prayer. Prayer is not a rite, not a ceremony, not a cold, outward observance, but an actual intercourse between two parties-one who prays and One who hears. It is a communion between man and God, as real and actual as what passes between two men, when they speak face to face with each other. If the inward desire is absent, then prayer is absent; and though a man shall have breathed all his life long the words of prayer, he will never have prayed if he has never asked. We cannot ask unless we desire, and we cannot desire, unless we feel our want. Thus, therefore, the word expresses much more than this. See how great is the dignity of prayer. When the soul prays it is as if the distance between itself and the throne of God were annihilated. This is the idea conveyed in the expression of St. Paul. “Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace.” To pray is to come to the throne of grace, its exercise bringing us into the very presence of God, as really and truly as if in the body we stepped upon the gleaming pavement of heaven, and stood at God’s footstool, and gazed upon the majesty of His appearance. To the dignity of prayer, add likewise the thought of its power. There are mysteries in it as regards the free knowledge and the free sovereignty of God, which we cannot pierce nor try to pierce; but it is most certain from the word that believing prayer has, humanly speaking, in virtue of His own promise, the power to change and modify the Divine intentions.
II. Consider the universality of the duty. “Pray without ceasing.” When the true nature of prayer is rightly comprehended, this, too, will follow from the mere instincts of the soul’s desire. The words express (1) constancy and perseverance. The single petition does not make prayer. Supplication must be constant, as well as persevering. Not more truly is the body dependent for its life, and health, and food, upon a constant providence, than the soul is on the constant gift of grace. To think that the child of God will ever in this world be so free from enemies without and from fightings within as not to need fresh supplies of strength and peace, is but the device of the arch-enemy who lies in wait to lead us into ruin. Never, never can prayer cease on this side the grave; never, till the earthly strife is past, and the earthly temptation ended, and the earthly tempest has sunk to rest over the deep waters that roll between us and our Canaan above. Then, indeed, prayer will cease, but it will cease only to swell praise into a more divine energy and lift its voice amid the rapturous hallelujahs of the redeemed.
E. Garbett, The Soul’s Life, p. 271.
Religious exercises are, to many, very dull and uninteresting. Prayer is to many a tiresome thing. They will bow their heads or kneel and endure the uncongenial form, but they feel no interest in it, and they are secretly glad when it is over. To them religion appears to cloud the face, darken the sky, and make life gloomy. But if Christians are gloomy, it is not in obedience to Divine orders. “Rejoice evermore,” says the inspiring Spirit, and, perhaps as a means towards the constant joy, he adds: “Pray without ceasing.”
I. Does this mean that we are, night and day, to keep praying, never ceasing, as some of the ascetics of the Middle Ages claimed to do? No. Paul the Apostle laboured “night and day.” Does that mean that he never slept at night? No, it is the expression, in common speech, of the idea that he was bent on his work all the time, just as you may sometimes say truly of a thing that you are thinking about it, or working at it, night and day. It means that you give to it all the time available. Now in the same sense are we to pray without ceasing.
II. Note, in the next place, that desire is a condition of real prayer. When our desire is according to the Divine will, and endorsed, so to speak, by the Saviour, it is granted. It goes in His name. So we have to study the Scriptures to know what is God’s will, and look for the help of the Spirit to make us prayerful, hopeful, patient, persevering under that gracious influence. “This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us.”
J. Hall, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 15.
References: 1Th 5:17.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii., No. 1039; S. A. Tipple, Sunday Mornings at Norwood, p. 109; Plain Sermons, vol. v., p. 131; J. Kelly, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 374; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. v., p. 270. 1Th 5:18.-H. Jones, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvi., p. 341;, E. L. Hull, Sermons, 1st series, p. 14. 1Th 5:19.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ix., p. 285; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. viii., p. 273; E. Garbett, The Soul’s Life, p. 180; Bishop Temple, Rugby Sermons, vol. i., p. 46; C. G. Finney, Gospel Themes, p. 245.
1Th 5:19-22
I. The Holy Spirit is here spoken of not strictly in respect of His Person, but in respect of His energising power in and on the heart. His workings, the Apostle would say, may be so counteracted as to become ineffectual. They may be quenched as the flame that is kindled for a time, but being neglected, sooner or later expires. Rain, dew, wind, fire, those mysterious agencies of nature, are in Scripture the fitting and effective emblems of the Holy Spirit’s power in the hearts and lives of men. Those who are already believers are, in regard to their advancing sanctification, to cherish His manifestations. By relapse into sinful indulgences, the follower of Jesus quenches the spirit of grace within his heart.
II. “Despise not prophesyings.” The Spirit is the Divine power, prophesyings are the human instrumentality. If men would be kept from quenching the one, they must be kept from thinking meanly of the other. The Spirit is the Divine light: if they would retain it, they must be careful to preserve prophesyings, the lamp in which it is placed.
III. The next clause links itself on to that which precedes it. So far from Undervaluing or spurning prophecies, believers are urged to test them. As there are counterfeits of the truth in circulation, it is wise on the part of all who would buy the truth to test it, to submit it to careful examination, so that they may not be deceived, but may become possessors of that priceless treasure, gold tried in the fire, that finest gold which alone can make truly rich.
IV. The holding fast of the good exists only where there is an abhorring of that which is evil. Hence follows the closing exhortation: “Abstain from every form of evil.” While the first reference is to evil elements, which might appear in the prophesyings, it purposely expands so as to embrace every kind of evil into contact with which the follower of Christ may be brought. In regard to all moral evil, he is enjoined to keep himself unspotted from the world.
J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 226.
Reference: 1Th 5:20.-Good Words, vol. iii., p. 698.
1Th 5:21
Something Worth Holding.
Our religion is-
I. Faith as opposed to infidelity.
II. Holiness as opposed to sin. By holiness I mean all possible human virtues and graces, purity of heart, truthfulness, temperance, uprightness, downrightness, love, generosity, magnanimity-all things good, true, and beautiful. To be holy is to be equal to the angels. To be holy is to be in the image of God. Note two things here. (1) The religion of Christ demands holiness. In this demand for holiness I see the wonderful possibilities of the soul of man. (2) Our religion not only demands holiness, but it gives us a sure promise of attaining to it. It is said that the Church of Christ shall be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
III. Our religion is love, practical goodness, self-denial, as opposed to selfishness. Selfishness is hateful everywhere. Self-denial-the incarnation of it in our Divine Master, this is our religion, and a man without any self-denial cannot be a Christian. It is faith; it is holiness; it is self-denial.
IV. Our religion is hope and joy as opposed to despair. In the past, ignorance; in the future, knowledge. In the past, sin; in the future, holiness. In the past, sorrow; in the future, joy. In the past, weakness and pain; in the future, eternal youth and health. In the past, the delirium of a fevered life; in the future, the saint’s everlasting rest. In the past, the earth; in the future, heaven. This is our religion; is it not worth holding?
T. Jones, Penny Pulpit, new series, Nos. 804, 805.
References: 1Th 5:21.-J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 360; S. Martin, Westminster Sermons, vol. xvii.; T. Jones, Ibid., vol. vii., p. 321; F. Wagstaff, Ibid., vol. xiii., p. 353; R. S. Candlish, Scripture Characters, p. 377; Church of England Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 313; vol. v., p. 19; vol. xx., p. 209; Homilist, 3rd series, vol. iv., p. 337.
1Th 5:22
Evil Superficially Attractive.
I. This is so important a precept (1) because men’s faculties are so frail. We cannot penetrate below the surface; therefore let that which is superficial express that which is below, and be an outward sign of an inward reality. If you are seeking good, do not let appearances be against you, but let the good which is your object shine out and show. But its importance arises (2) from the influence which men have over each other. If we conceal our good, we are supposed, even by any who give us credit for it, to be ashamed of it. Our witness in its favour is curtailed and weakened if not destroyed; and (3) the corruption of our moral nature is such, and such our latent affinity for evil by reason of it that appearances, if allowed to be in favour of evil, are specially seductive to some, and generally dangerous to all.
II. The love of applause is a powerful motive in this aspect. Men love the praise of men more than the praise of God, and when the former becomes their idol, they gradually stifle their regrets, and purchase outward, perishable favour at the cost of inward peace. There can be few motives less worthy of a reasonable being exercising a choice of prudence than the mere passing breeze of approbation from the thoughtless. Yet how powerful a sway does this motive exercise to the larger number, leading them to tolerate in themselves, and therefore in society around them, or even to affect, the appearance of evil.
III. Lastly, the appearance of evil mostly draws on the reality. The love of applause forfeits real independence; even as the love of false independence forfeits obedience, forfeits holiness, and estranges us from Christ, its Model and its Author. We are members of Him, but barren boughs, whose end is to be burned, unless we walk in the spirit put within us.
H. Hayman, Rugby Sermons, p. 134.
1Th 5:23
St. Paul implies in the text that all three branches of our complicated nature are to undergo sanctification-that this leavening process is to go through the entire mass, until the whole is leavened. As the entire man is to be sanctified, so the entire man is to be educated, to be taken early, before the character has crystallised, and to be developed in all his faculties, corporeal, mental, and spiritual.
I. It is not on the mind, in the ordinary sense of the term, that the eternal destiny of man is suspended. The wayfaring man, though a fool, may be a jewel in his Redeemer’s crown. On the other hand, “not many wise men after the flesh” were among the first converts to the Gospel. Does it not follow necessarily that to cultivate the mind, while you neglect the development of the spirit and the heart, is one of the most melancholy absurdities that a world which is full of absurdities can present? How can any sane person, being a believer in Revelation, profess to educate at all, without educating for heaven in the first instance, and holding that object foremost before his mind. The cultivation of the mind ranks next in importance. And its importance is immense. But even the cultivation of the mind is chiefly valuable, as it enables us to apprehend God more clearly, and so qualifies us for communion with Him through His dear Son.
II. The education of the soul or affections is also part of the province of education.
III. The body also demands its share in the education of the whole man. For the body, though it is a garment laid aside at death, yet it is to be resumed again on the morn of the Resurrection, and worn throughout eternity-the same as to its substance, only changed in form, and adapted to a glorified state of existence. There must be machinery, if effects are to be produced; for God works by means. But grace, the Holy Spirit, the Power from on High, except He put life and vigour into the means, they are all, even the highest of them, dead letters.
E. M. Goulburn, Sermons at Holywell, p. 456.
1Th 5:23
Spirit, Soul, and Body.
When this threefold division of our nature is mentioned, the term Body expresses those appetites which we have in common with the brutes; the term Soul denotes our moral and intellectual faculties, directed only towards objects of this world, and not exalted by the hope of immortality; and the term Spirit takes these same faculties when directed towards God and heavenly things, and from the purity, the greatness, and the perfect goodness of Him who is their object transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Let us see, then, what is that blamelessness, or that degree of perfection, in which we should desire all these parts of our nature to be found when we stand before Christ’s judgment seat.
I. First, the body. Bodily pleasures are the first which we ever enjoy, and our earliest lessons in virtue are learnt in struggling not to give way to them. What is wanted is not to lower or weaken the body, but to raise and strengthen the soul and spirit, that the body may be ready and able to do their work, which it cannot do unless it be itself sound and vigorous.
II. The soul is that part which is most commonly strengthened by the growth and cultivation of the powers of the understanding, and by the various objects which attract the mind as we come forth into actual life. And the general tendency of civilised society is to call forth our minds into action rather than our bodies; so that as we advance in life the soul naturally takes the lead. This is the life, assuredly, of a reasonable creature; of one, looking only to this visible world, noble and admirable. And here, without the Gospel, our progress must stop.
III. But the Gospel which has brought life and immortality to light, has also pointed out to us that part of our nature by which we can be fitted for it-that is, our spirit, our spiritual hopes, and our feelings of love and charity. The true object of man’s life is to perfect our spirits, our desires after perfect happiness, our love to God and to men as the children of God; to perfect in us that part of our being, which alone is remote from selfishness.
T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. i., p. 227.
References: 1Th 5:23.-Bishop Barry, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 88; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. vi., p. 94; G. Bonney, Church of England Pulpit, vol. xiii., p. 169; F. W. Robertson, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 43; E. L. Hull, Sermons, 1st series, p. 225.
1Th 5:23-28
I. There is much of instruction and comfort in this Apostolic prayer. The blessing prayed for is that the Thessalonian converts may be sanctified wholly, that their spirit and soul and body may be preserved. The Apostle adopts the trichotomy which in some form or other may be said to belong to almost all systems of philosophy-“body, soul, spirit” It is the combination of these three which makes up our nature; it is the due relations between these three which constitute our sole possible happiness; it is the right training of these three that is the object of that lifelong education which should begin in our earliest years, and end only with the grave. In the case of Christ’s people, the Apostle’s prayer is that body, soul, and spirit be preserved entire, without blame, being sanctified wholly-each in its complete measure and perfect proportions. Delivered from the dominion of sin and Satan, they are in God’s keeping unto holiness. The whole man is to become wholly man and God.
II. St. Paul next turns aside, very characteristically, to ask the pleadings of his Thessalonian friends with the God of peace on behalf of himself and his fellow-labourers. He who was giving thanks always for them all, making mention of them in his prayers, in the yearning love of his heart now asks them to make mention of himself in their prayers. Such is Christian fellowship. The Apostolic teacher turns from instruction and exhortation and warning to supplication for help-not man’s help, indeed, but God’s-yet God’s help brought near to him through the intercessory prayer of God’s own people.
III. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” In all the variations with which it appears in the Pauline epistles, this benediction never has the word “grace” a-wanting. Thus, his first epistle begins and closes with that word, which, above all others, reveals the summed sweetness of the whole Gospel. Those who have the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ with them on earth, cannot fail to have glory with Him hereafter in heaven.
J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 238.
1Th 5:24
I. The faith of man and the faithfulness of God. The highest object of man’s existence is undoubtedly to hold communion with his God. For this his nature was originally framed, and in this alone will his nature ever find contentment or repose. The remedy for his present condition must be a restoration of the communion of man with God. And this is the most general character of the Christian religion-the simplest definition of its nature and object. Man is separated from God as a criminal: the communion is restored, by free pardon on God’s part, of the acceptance of that pardon upon man’s. And thus it is that Christianity restores the race of man, by restoring the communion with God.
II. The instance of God’s inflexible fidelity, which the Apostle notes in the text, is gloriously characteristic of the spiritual system to which we belong. The kingdom of God was to Paul an inward and spiritual kingdom, even at the time that he looked forward to the presence of the Lord, and the glory of His power, when He shall come to be “glorified in His saints.” It was not relief from temporal ends that the Apostle promised, no security from adversity, that was to manifest the omnipotence of God exerted on behalf of His people. No: the mercy of God might send them to the stake or the lions; it was still His mercy, if it “but kept them unspotted from the world.” The faithfulness of God is represented by the Apostle as extending to the whole man, to body, soul, and spirit, which are all said to be preserved blameless. The entire of our feeble humanity is sheltered under this canopy of Divine protection.
III. It is also said of this faithfulness, that it is the faithfulness of Him that calleth you. This is not the least wondrous circumstance in the unalterable faithfulness of God, that it is a fidelity to His own gracious engagement. He calls, and He is faithful to His own merciful calling; He summons the heart to Himself, and He adheres to His own voluntary summons; He, without destroying human freedom or human responsibility, of His free grace, commences, continues, and ends, the whole Christian work. Yea, so faithful is this His profound compassion, that He represents Himself as bound to the impulses of His own unconstrained mercy. There is no bond but His own love, yet that bond is stronger than iron; and He, whom the universe cannot compel, commands Himself.
W. Archer Butler, Sermons Doctrinal and Practical, 1st series, p. 207.
References: 1Th 5:24.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 346; Church of England Pulpit, vol. xvii., p. 49. 1Th 5:25.-J. Aldis, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 289; Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 189.
1Th 5:27
The Witness to Christ of the Oldest Christian Writing.
If the books of the New Testament were arranged according to the dates of their composition, this epistle would stand first. It was written somewhere about twenty years after the Crucifixion, and long before any of the existing Gospels. It is, therefore, of peculiar interest, as being the most venerable extant Christian document, and as being a witness to Christian truth quite independent of the Gospel narratives.
I. Let us hear its witness to the Divine Christ. There is nothing in any part of Scripture more emphatic and more lofty in its unfaltering proclamation of the truth of Christ’s Divinity than this altogether undoctrinal epistle. It takes it for granted that so deeply was that truth embedded in the consciousness of the converts that an allusion to it was all that was needed for their understanding and faith.
II. Let us ask what this witness has to say about the dying Christ. (1) As to the fact. The Jews killed the Lord Jesus. The historical fact, is here set forth distinctly. And then, beyond the fact, there is as distinctly, though in the same incidental fashion, set forth the meaning of the fact. “God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us.”
III. Notice what the witness has to say about the risen and ascended Christ. The risen Christ is in the heavens. And Paul assumes that these people, just brought out of heathenism, have received that truth into their hearts, in the love of it, and know it so thoroughly that we can take for granted their entire acquiescence in and acceptance of it. Remember, we have nothing to do with the four gospels here; remember, not a line of them had yet been written-we are dealing here with an entirely independent witness-and then tell us what importance is to be attached to this evidence of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Twenty years after His death, here is this man speaking about that Resurrection as being not only something that he had to proclaim, and believed, but as being the recognised and notorious fact which all the Churches accepted, and which underlay all their faith.
IV. Let us hear what this witness has to say about the returning Christ. These are the points of his testimony: (1) a personal coming, (2) a re-union of all believers in Him, in order to eternal felicity and mutual gladness, (3) the destruction that shall fall by His coming on those that turn away from Him. I remember once walking in the long galleries of the Vatican, on the one side of which there are Christian inscriptions from the catacombs, and on the other heathen inscriptions from the tombs. One side is all dreary and hopeless, one long sigh echoing along the line of white marbles, “Vale, vale, in aeternum vale!” on the other side, “In Christo, in Pace, in Spe.” That is the witness that we have to lay to our hearts. And so death becomes a passage, and we let go the dear hands, believing that we shall clasp them again.
A. Maclaren, The God of the Amen, p. 41.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
V. THE DAY OF THE LORD AND EXHORTATIONS
CHAPTER 5
1. The day of the Lord 1Th 5:1-11)
2. Exhortations 1Th 5:12-22)
3. Conclusions 1Th 5:23-28)
1Th 5:1-11
But concerning the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. The apostle next mentions the day of the Lord. This is the day when the Lord is revealed from heaven, the day of His visible manifestation. It is the day when judgment will be executed upon the world. While the coming of the Lord for His saints, as made known in the previous chapter, is unrevealed in the Old Testament, the day of the Lord of which the apostle now writes, is fully revealed by the prophets. (See Isa 2:12-22; Joe 2:1-32; Joe 3:1-21; Zep 1:14-18; Zec 14:1-9, etc.)
Our Lord spoke often of that day as the day when the Son of Man cometh, that is His own visible glorious manifestation. What precedes this day is also made known in the Old Testament prophetic Word; and our Lord gives us likewise the same information. And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; mens hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory (Luk 21:25-27). See Mat 24:21-31. judgment is in store for the world when that day comes, as judgments and tribulation are the forerunners which usher in that day. The world does not believe in such a day, but dreams of peace and safety, in a continuance of prosperity, of expansion, universal peace and a constant improvement of earthly conditions.
There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation (2Pe 3:3-4). But while the world saith, Peace and safety, their hearts are failing them for fear and they tremble in anticipation of the future. Much of all this we see clearly in our times, so ominous and so solemn. There is a false hope, a false optimism; we hear of what this world war will accomplish, how peace and safety will come to the whole world; yet underneath it all there are hearts failing for fear. And when that day has come, when He has been revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ will reign over the earth with His saints for a thousand years (Rev 20:1-15). That will be the day of the Lord, as the present age is mans day.
Before that day comes with its preceding judgments and the great tribulation, the coming of the Lord, for His saints, the fulfilment of chapter 4:16-18 must take place. Of this we shall find much more in the second Epistle. When the Lord comes for His saints, the world and those who were Christians only in name, will face that coming day. It is the beginning of it. After Gods true children, the praying people of God, have been removed, the age will take its final plunge into apostasy and iniquity; judgment upon judgment from above will then be poured out, as we learn from the book of Revelation.
Because these judgments, the forerunners of the day of His visible manifestation, the times and seasons connected with these events, do not concern those who are the Lords, the apostle states that there was no need to write them about it. The Lord had told His disciples before He ascended into heaven that it was not for them to know the times and the seasons. It shows that we are not to be occupied with the times and seasons, when the times of the Gentiles end, etc., but to wait and watch for Him, who will surely come suddenly for His own as a thief in the night.
Had it been possible in the apostles day to predict the centuries of delay that have, in fact, elapsed, disciples might indeed still have waited for their Lord, but watched they could not, and no thief in the night could have troubled their slumbers. But for the heart, expectancy was needed; and they were to watch because they knew not. Thus for these watchers the times could not speak, and in fact when they do it will be for another people than the present Christian Church, and when this is already removed to be with the Lord in the manner which we have just had before us.
For mere formal and worldly Christendom, the coming of the thief will then in a sense have taken place. Shut out in the outside darkness, when others have entered the chambers of light, no place of repentance will be left for the despisers of Gods present grace. In a world which, having rejected the true King, will be left for that awful time to experience fully what Satans rule is, they will fall under the power of his deception. Not having received the love of the truth that they might be saved, they will believe a lie; and comforting themselves with the cry of peace and safety, sudden destruction will come upon them as upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape! (Numerical Bible)
The words they and you make it still more clear that the day of the Lord is for the world. He does not say When you shall say, Peace and safety but when they shall say. The apostle excludes the believer completely from that day when sudden destruction falls, for he says, Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day overtake you as a thief And why? Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For that they sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. This is the character of true Christians, no longer in darkness, but children of light and of the day, and therefore belonging to that coming day to be with the Lord when He comes to judge, it cannot overtake them as a thief.
Being the children of the day we must watch and be sober; it is that which distinguishes true Christians from the mass of professing church-members and the world. The world and those who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof, do not watch, nor are they sober; and being sober, walking in separation from the world, its lusts and pleasures, the believer, having on the breastplate of faith and love, can advance against the enemy. He has also for an helmet, to protect him, this promised glorious salvation. Thus we can look always up, without fear, in the midst of danger when the judgment clouds are gathering over this present evil age. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed knowledge and twice blessed assurance! that we might be delivered from the wrath to come and share with Him eternal glory. He died for us. Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep (as to the body) we should live together with Him.
1Th 5:12-22
Exhortations follow. He wishes that those who labored among them should be acknowledged by them and very highly esteemed in love for their works sake. If the apostle and his co-laborers looked upon them as their crown of rejoicing, their glory and joy (1Th 2:19-20), they should very highly esteem them as the instruments of the Spirit of God for their edification. Be in peace among yourselves. All self-will is put aside when the heart looks forward to that coming day, when laborers and the fruits of their labors are in His presence. Then peace among His own will not be disturbed. The disorderly are to be admonished; the faint-hearted comforted; the weak sustained, and patience to be manifested towards all. Then we have joy, prayer and thanksgiving as the characteristics of those who wait for His Son from heaven and look for that blessed hope. Rejoice evermore–our joy is in Him. The joy of the Lord is our strength. And what joy will indeed be ours when we remember that we shall see Him as He is!
Pray without ceasing. Prayer is constantly needed, including the forgotten prayer, Even so, Come, Lord Jesus. If this petition is never wanting, His coming for us will never lack reality. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. As we pray and ever take afresh from His own fulness grace upon grace, and remember all the abundant provision made for us in Him, and that the glorious future which awaits His own may burst at any moment upon us, then shall we give thanks in everything. Quench not the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not to be hindered in His action in the midst of His people. What sad consequences when He is quenched and how great the responsibility! Do not despise prophesyings–the forthtelling of the truth of God, speaking out of the fulness of the Spirit. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil, or, as it is better rendered, Keep aloof from every form of wickedness.
1Th 5:23-28
The conclusion of the Epistle begins with a prayer. Now the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is faithful that calls you, who will also do it. God is for all who have believed in Christ the God of peace. Peace was made in the blood of the cross; believers are both reconciled and sanctified through the peace that God has made for us in the work of His Son. We stand therefore in a blessed relationship with the God of peace, have communion with Him, and from this flows practical devotedness of life and walk to God. Believers are sanctified by the three persons of the Godhead; by God the Father, by the blood of Jesus Christ, the offering of His body, and by the Holy Spirit.
We are in Christ completely set apart for God, bought with a price and no longer our own. We possess a new nature and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This demands of us that we be wholly set apart to God in every faculty, whether of mind or body. This is our practical sanctification, which springs from our increasing knowledge of God. This practical sanctification is wrought in the believer by the power of the Holy Spirit, who attaches the heart to God, revealing God more and more, as well as unfolding the glory of Christ. This devotedness to God in spirit, soul and body, depends upon the believers apprehension of his relationship to the God of peace and his communion with Him. And this is progressive. Entire sanctification will be the blessed and eternal portion of all who are Christs, when He comes, and we shall be like Him, conformed to the image of His Son. The perfection comes with the coming of the Lord; in the power of this blessed hope shall we be preserved blameless even down here in this evil age. He is faithful who calls you, who will also perform it. Blessed assurance! He has called us to this life of blessed separation with Himself. He is faithful and will accomplish it. May we trust Him daily and stay close to Him.
Observe again here, how the coming of Christ is introduced, and the expectation of this coming, as an integral part of Christian life. Blameless, it says, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The life which had developed itself in obedience and holiness meets the Lord at His coming. Death is not in question. The life which we have found is to be such when He appears. The man, in every part of his being, moved by this life, is found there blameless when He comes. This life, and the man living this life, are found, with their Head and Source, in the glory. Then will the weakness disappear which is connected with his present condition. That which is mortal shall be swallowed up of life: that is all. We are Christs: He is our life. We wait for Him, that we may be with Him, and that He may perfect all things in the glory (Synopsis of the Bible).
The apostle closes this First Epistle by requesting the brethren to pray for him and his co-laborers. With all the deep knowledge of the truth and the great revelations from the Lord, he felt his dependence and knew the blessing which comes from the prayers of fellow saints. He asks for the expression of affection among themselves and adjures them to have this letter read to all the holy brethren. And the final word The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
the times: Mat 24:3, Mat 24:36, Mar 13:30-32, Act 1:7
ye: 1Th 4:9, 2Co 9:1, Jud 1:3
Reciprocal: Jos 8:14 – he wist not Job 24:1 – seeing Ecc 3:17 – for Ecc 8:7 – he knoweth Isa 15:1 – in the Isa 30:13 – cometh Dan 11:27 – yet Mat 25:6 – at Luk 17:27 – General Luk 18:8 – when Rom 13:11 – knowing
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE FIRST AND second verses of chapter 5 stand in very direct contrast to 1Th 4:13, 1Th 4:15. As to the coming of the Lord Jesus for His saints-that which is commonly spoken of as the rapture-they had been ignorant, and consequently they were in needless difficulty and sorrow, and the Apostle wrote to them by the word of the Lord to enlighten them. But as to the times and the seasons they were not at all ignorant and there was no need for Paul to write to them on that subject.
We must not fail to notice the distinction which is thus made between these two parts of prophetic truth. It is possible to be quite ignorant as to the rapture while being well informed as to the times and the seasons. Plainly then they are two different things, quite distinct from each other. Were the rapture an essential part of the times and seasons, then to be wholly ignorant of it would mean partial ignorance as to them. The Thessalonians however were quite ignorant as to it, while being so well instructed as to them that the apostle could say you know perfectly and have no need that I write unto you.
The times and seasons have to do with the earth and not heaven, as Gen 1:14 shows us. The term is used in Thessalonians to indicate not the various divisions of earths history as regulated by the heavenly bodies but those larger divisions, each characterized by its own special features as regulated by Gods moral government of the earth. In the past fresh seasons have been introduced by such events as the flood, the redemption of Israel from Egypt and the giving of the law, the overthrow of Davids line of kings and the passing of dominion into Gentile hands. Another season yet to come is to be introduced by the Lord Jesus assuming His great power that He may reign. That will be the day of the Lord.
The rapture of the saints is however disconnected from these earthly seasons. It is not just an item on the programme of earthly happenings. It will be the Lord calling up His saints to heaven for the enjoyment of their heavenly portion. The church-composed of all the called-out saints of the present dispensation-is heavenly in its calling and destiny. It does not belong to the earth, which is the reason why its translation from earth to heaven is not included in the programme of earthly events. There is no hint consequently of the rapture in Old Testament Scripture. A right understanding of this matter furnishes us with a key that unlocks much dispensational truth, which otherwise must remain closed to our minds.
The day when the Lord shall have His rights and dominate the whole situation is certainly coming. Its arrival will be unexpected, sudden, inevitable, and unerring in its effects. It will come, as all Gods dealings have come, m the most appropriate time and manner possible, and it will mean destruction for the ungodly. Just when men are saying Peace and Safety then the judgment will fall. Conditions amongst the nations are such that peace is an urgent necessity. Modern teachings, both scientific and religious, are such that men feel increasingly secure from supernatural happenings. In the minds of the people God has been reduced to a nonentity by the popular doctrine of evolution; so they fear nothing from that quarter. To their minds the only danger that threatens is from man. Man, wonderful man, has sought out many inventions, but unfortunately his marvellous discoveries in chemistry coupled with researches in other directions are capable of being turned to the most diabolical uses. Now if only peace can be maintained amongst men safety is assured.
When men congratulate themselves on having achieved this desirable end then God will assert Himself and the day of the Lord arrive. The world will be overtaken by it like those who are asleep in the dark; but not thus is it going to be with believers. Today the world is asleep in the dark, today the believer is a child of light, and in the light.
The contrast between the believer and the world, as given to us in verses 1Th 5:4-8, is very striking, and we do well to ponder it. The world is in darkness. The world is asleep. The world is even drunken, intoxicated with influences that are from beneath. This was never more apparent than it is today when multiplied means of inter-communication spread new ideas and influences with great rapidity. Think of the potency with which the one word evolution has drugged the minds of men! No opiate for the body ever yet discovered can compare with it!
The believer is not in darkness nor is he of the darkness. He is a child of light and of the day. He has been begotten, so to speak, of the light which reached him m the Gospel, and he partakes of the character of that which gave him birth. Hence, though he is in the world, which is in darkness, he is not in darkness himself; rather light divine surrounds his going. He is a child of the coming day and hence he knows where he is going and what is coming.
Upon this is based the exhortation to shake off anything like sleep that we may watch and be sober. As a means to this sober watching we are to be characterized by faith, love and hope. These virtues, if in active exercise, will be to us like breastplate and helmet, protecting both heart and head in this day of conflict. Though children of light we are surrounded by the darkness of the world and ugly blows may fall upon us, struck from out the darkness.
The hope which is ours is the hope of salvation. The Christian is never spoken of in Scripture as hoping for forgiveness of sins, but he is as hoping for salvation, for salvation is a word of large meaning, embracing the final deliverance which shall reach us at the coming of the Lord. For that we hope; that is, we await it with expectation. It is certain to arrive in its due season for there is no element of uncertainty in hopes which are founded on God and His word.
The Christ-rejecting world is appointed to wrath when the vials of His judgment will be out-poured on earth. Details as to this solemn time we find in the book of Revelation. We however have been appointed to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Gods appointments are always kept to time. They never fail. Wrath for the world and salvation for the saints are alike sure.
That salvation is going to reach us by our Lord Jesus Christ acting as described in 1Th 4:16, 1Th 4:17. His people shall be taken by Him out of the place where the judgment is going to fall, just as of old God removed Enoch before death reached him or the flood came. In more places than one the Old Testament bears witness to the way in which God shelters his people from judgment. He may do it by safely housing them and carrying them through it, as once he did with Noah, and as He will do with a godly remnant of His people Israel when soon His judgments are abroad in the earth. He may do it by removing them from the very scene of Judgment, so that they never see it, as with Enoch in the past and the church m the future. But He always does it.
When we thus obtain salvation, it will reach us righteously for the One who will bring it to us has died for us, as we are reminded in verse 10. The object He had before Him in dying for us was that we might live together with Him. How full of comfort and edification is this wonderful truth.
From 1Th 4:13, to 1Th 5:11 is one long paragraph, and the close of it brings us back to where it started. Jesus died for us that He might have us with Him. He will put the finishing touches to His design when He raptures the saints into His presence whether they are awake on earth or sleeping in their graves.
Let us all ponder the words that we should live together with Him, so that their sweetness may deeply penetrate our souls. He died that we might live. But not only is life before us, but life together with Christ. We noticed the word together at the end of chapter 4. It was delightful to discover that in the resurrection day we should be united with all the saints-and reunited with those we knew on earth-in order to meet the Lord. It is more delightful still to know that as one united company we shall for eternity enjoy life together with Him. All that life means, its pursuits and joys, we are to share with Him. We shall have His life so that we may be capacitated to share His life in that day. Even today we may share His thoughts, His joys, though not in the wonderful fulness of this glad tomorrow.
With verse 1Th 5:12 the closing exhortations begin. There were evidently no officially appointed elders at Thessalonica. Hence the apostles desire that they should know-in sense of recognizing-those in their midst who were qualified as such and doing the work of elders. They were not only to know them but to listen to their admonitions and esteem them in love. The carnal mind, which is by nature insubordinate, would take advantage of the absence of any official appointment to flout their spiritual authority; but thus it was not to be.
How clearly this shows that the thing of all importance is moral qualification and authority as given of God, and not official sanction and appointment, even when such can be ministered through an apostle. The latter without the former is but an empty husk. What is it when even the official appointment has nothing apostolic about it? And Scripture is quite silent as to apostolic powers and authority being transmitted from generation to generation.
If the Lord raises up godly men with shepherd instincts to care for the spiritual welfare of His people we should thankfully recognize and profit by them, even though apostolic power to appoint them be lacking. This, we believe, is just our position today. Let us beware of spurning such spiritual guides. It is not difficult after all to discern between those who are but tiresome meddlers with other peoples affairs and those who care lovingly for our spiritual welfare in the fear of God.
In verses 1Th 5:14-22 we have a series of important exhortations couched in very brief terms. It is very evident that the church of God is not intended to be a community wherein everyone may go as they please. It is rather a place where spiritual order under divine authority is maintained. This is as we should expect, remembering that it is Gods house. Warning, comfort and support are to be administered as occasion arises. Patience is to be exercised. Good is to be pursued. Joy, prayer and thanksgiving are to be the happy occupations of the saints, and that abidingly.
Nothing is to quench the believers joy for it is occasioned by that which is eternal. Prayer is to be unceasing for the need is continuous, and access to the throne of grace is never closed on Gods side. Prayer, and that attitude of soul of which prayer is the expression, is to be habitual. As for thanksgiving it should be rendered to God in everything, inasmuch as we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Moreover it is Gods will that we should be a thankful people, so that He may inhabit our praises, according to the spirit of Psa 22:3. These things are all intensely individual.
Verses 1Th 5:19-22 refer more to matters which concerned the assembly of Gods saints, where the Spirit of God operated and made known the mind of God. There, in those early days, He was accustomed sometimes to speak and act in supernatural ways,-see Act 13:2; 1Co 12:7-11; 1Ti 4:1. He also, in a more general way, made His voice heard in the ministry of the prophets, as contemplated in 1Co 14:1-40. The Thessalonians were not to attempt to regulate the action of the Spirit in the assembly or they would quench His action. It is not for us to control the Spirit, but for Him to control us. Prophesyings were to be given their due place of importance and yet, seeing that such a thing as prophecy of a spurious sort was not unknown, everything they heard was to be proved; i.e., tested, for though they had not as yet the written New Testament, they had the Old Testament and the verbal instructions of the apostle. Having tested what they heard they were to hold fast all that was good and abstain from or hold aloof from evil in all its forms.
Reading the exhortations do we not feel that a very lofty standard is set before us? It is so indeed, and that it may be reached we need to be set apart for God; and God Himself, the God of peace, must be the Author of our sanctification. The Apostles desire was that God might work to this end; the whole man, spirit, soul and body being brought under His power. Thus they would be sanctified wholly.
In as far as we are really set apart for God, in spirit, in soul and in body we shall be preserved blameless. At the coming of the Lord Jesus we shall be removed altogether from the scene of defilement and we shall no longer have the flesh within us. But how cheering is verse 1Th 5:24 ! In spite of all the breakdowns and defections upon our side God has called us to this blameless condition in glory and He will not fail to achieve His purpose with us. He will do it!
To this end what is needed but that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ should be with us? With a benediction to this effect the epistle closes.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
The Lord’s Coming
1Th 5:1-11
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
The question up for discussion is one of utmost importance. If it is true that the Lord’s Coming is near, and that at any moment we may hear His shout, and the sound of the trumpet; it is certainly also true that the Lord would not leave us ignorant of the fact of that soon Coming, The Holy Spirit has borne witness, that that day should not overtake us as a thief, for the reason that we are not of the night, neither of the darkness.
To some it may not be given to know the times and the seasons, but to us it is given.
In the Book of Hebrews we read of how we should not neglect the assembling of ourselves together, and so much the more as we see the day approaching.
We remember a preacher who, at a funeral, read this Scripture: “The Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them,” etc. He closed the Bible and his first words were, “We have all got to die.”
We greatly prefer the words of an old lady in Georgia, who said to us, from what seemed to be her deathbed, “I may die, but I am not expecting to.” We said, “Grandma, what are you expecting?” She replied, “Well, honey, I am expecting the Lord to come in the air, and take me home to be for ever with the Lord.”
“O joy! O delight! should we go without dying,
No sickness, no sadness, no dread and no crying;
Caught up through the clouds with our Lord, into glory,
When Jesus receives His own.”
The Lord left us His promise, “If I go * * I will come again, and receive you unto Myself.” We believe that His promise is sure.
We know that scoffers have arisen, saying, “Where is the promise of His Coming?” however, we still believe that, “This same Jesus * * shall so come in like manner,” as those gathered at the Mount of Olives saw Him go.
We know that some delay His Coming, saying that the Lord will not come in our day and time, and perhaps not for millenniums of years; but we feel like saying to such, “In such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.”
If these things were not so, He would have told us.
This much is true, “We shall not all sleep.” There will be a generation of saints still living, and thank God, also looking, when the Lord comes. The question which is now before us, is this-Are there any saints now living who may be here when Christ comes? Are there sane and Scriptural grounds on which we may base the hope that the Lord will come any day, and particularly in our own day?
We follow with seven of many Scriptural reasons, why we have the right to expect the immediate Return of the long-looked for day. We grant that during this age there have been many who have lived and died looking for the Lord to come, and that yet He tarried; still we believe that now we have an accumulation of evidence, that Christ soon must come, and our expectations will not be much longer delayed.
I. THE PRESENT-DAY APOSTASY (2Th 2:3)
The words, “A falling away first” may be read, “An apostasy.” An apostasy must first come. We remember how the Lord said, “When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?”
Here is a most striking sign of the Lord’s soon Coming. Of course, there have been many apostates who have arisen; and every age has had its apostates.
There is, however, something new and unheard of in the line of apostasy at this hour.
In the past, apostates have been, for the most part, outside the fold of the faithful; or else they have had to hide their face in the midst of the orthodox. Now, however, great denominations are swayed by the leadership of men who openly and blatantly deny every vital of the faith.
That which stands forth as different from former apostasies, is the fact that the leaven of false doctrines has now leavened the whole loaf. The denials of Christ and His Word, are going out, from what one of the modernists of today himself called, “Every respectable pulpit.”
Even young people who attend public schools are in danger of being led away from the eternal verities of the Word of God, into the vagaries of evolution and of science falsely so called.
We may as well face the issue-the prophesied apostasy has come, and with that apostasy there has come the certainty that the Lord’s Coming is at hand.
The Christ who is being set aside as mere man, begotten of natural generation, and son of Joseph; the Christ who is being acclaimed as no more than Joseph’s son, and not Son of God; the Christ whose Cross is being maligned as in no sense a substitutionary sacrifice for sin, will soon be coming in the clouds of Heaven. He will come to vindicate the faith of those who have trusted Him; He will come to vindicate the integrity of His own Living Word; and He will come to demonstrate that His promises are yea and amen, wholly trustworthy.
“Christ is coming! Christ is coming!
Let no harp remain unstrung,
Let the mighty advent chorus
Onward roll from tongue to tongue;
Christ is coming!
Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come!”
II. THE MIDNIGHT CRY (Mat 25:6)
At first this sign of the Lord’s imminent Coming may not seem so striking. However, we consider it one of the great and sure marks that the hour is at hand.
When Daniel was given his wonderful prophecies of the end times, and the last days, the angel said unto him: “Shut up the words, and seal the Book even to the time of the end.” The very fact therefore that the words of Daniel are now being opened, and that holy men are everywhere proclaiming messages through the revealing of the Spirit that have hitherto remained unopened, is most significant.
A few decades ago there was one here, and one there who was proclaiming the Lord’s Coming; today that Coming is being heralded in many places. There is in a recent book, something like this, “There is a wave of premillennial preaching sweeping over the land that is spreading much like a prairie fire, and no one knows where the end may be.”
This midnight cry, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh,” is in line with that promise and prophecy which says, “Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief” (1Th 5:4).
What think you, meaneth this turning of the faces upward toward the skies? Are the faithful, praying, Spirit-filled and Spirit-taught saints, who are as the sands in number, looking in vain for the Lord’s soon Coming?
Today saints are exhorting one another and talking to one another about Christ’s Return; they are doing this more and more as they see the day approaching.
“Christ is coming! let creation
Bid her groans and travail cease:
Let the glorious proclamation
Hope restore and faith increase;
Christ is coming!
Come, Thou blessed Prince of Peace!”
III. THE RENAISSANCE OF ISRAEL (Mat 24:32-33)
When General Allenby marched into the city of Jerusalem, the World War was practically over. We have no doubt in our own mind that it was toward this consummation that God was moving during the whole of the terrific strife. This entrance of General Allenby marked a new day for Jewry. It gave to the Ancient People a new liberty. It restored unto them a large step toward their old time suzerainty and power. From that day, until this, Zionism has had new life.
The Jewish people are once more possessing their land. Much money is being spent in the re-habilitation of Palestine, The early and the latter rain, with the old-time fruitility of the land, is fast returning to Palestine, the home of the Jews.
Recent scientific investigations have discovered that the Dead Sea has, for centuries, been receiving untold quantities of wealth by the incoming floods of the Jordan, These riches have been kept stored away in its bosom, and now we are informed that the wealth hidden in the Dead Sea, contains a valuation greater than the combined wealth of the British Empire, or, of the United States.
In addition to the above, the Jewish people are turning their faces once more toward the Messiah. We understand on reliable information that a new Sanhedrin is to be formed within a year in Jerusalem and that Christ is to be tried once more by an august body, in order to establish either the truth or the error of His claims.
With these and many other Jewish signs before our eyes, no one can doubt that the fig tree, which is the type of the Jewish nation, is beginning to put forth its leaves. Therefore, we know, that Christ is near, even at the door.
“Long Thy exiles have been pining,
Far from rest, and home, and Thee:
But, in Heavenly vesture shining,
Soon they shall Thy glory see;
Christ is coming!
Haste the joyous jubilee.”
IV. THE REVIVAL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (Dan 2:40-45)
God gave unto Nebuchadnezzar the revelation of what should come to pass hereafter. The king saw a great image. The toes of the image were part of iron and part of clay. He saw until a little stone cut out of the mountain without hands, fell upon the feet of the image and destroyed the whole image.
The toes of this image which Nebuchadnezzar saw, are a prophecy of the Roman Empire which will be re-established upon the earth in the day of the Lord’s Return to the Mount of Olives.
Other visions which Daniel saw, corroborate this interpretation; for Daniel saw a beast with ten horns, and these ten horns are said to be ten kingdoms, and ten kings that shall arise.
Prophetic students the world over are watching with keenest interest the efforts of Mussolini to re-establish the Roman Empire. These things are too striking and soul-stirring to be neglected by the young people of our country.
The iron represents royalty; the clay represents democracy. The cry in the political world has of recent years been for a democracy-a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. However, the rule of democracy which is prophesied, was not to be supreme, for the iron was mixed with the clay. Mussolini is throwing aside the rule of the people, and proclaiming himself as the autocrat of a new Roman Empire.
We cannot go into the details of this remarkable foreshadowing of Christ’s Return. We do say that it is worthy of the study of us all. Before our very eyes history is fast filling up the mold of the prophecy which was “made sure” by God.
“Christ is coming! let creation
From her groans and travail cease;
Let the glorious proclamation
Hope restore and faith increase.
Christ is coming! Christ is coming!
Come, Thou blessed Prince of Peace!”
V. THE MENACE OF RUSSIA (Eze 39:1)
Bible students the world over have not failed to watch events in red Russia. The new life of the Russian Bear is most significant. The revived Roman Empire, with its antichrist as ruler, will not have peace all the way. The king of the North will come down against the antichrist with great hordes of people.
These two great powers will face each other, and the battle of that day will drench the fields with blood.
In Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy, he speaks of the last days as an hour when “perilous times shall come.” In Luke we read that “men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Christ said, as recorded in Matthew, that there should be wars, and famines, and pestilences.
The Jews will be the butt of the whole conflict, and Jerusalem shall reel to and fro as a drunken man. To Israel it will be the time of “great tribulation,” or, of “Jacob’s trouble.”
The drift toward imperial Rome on the one hand, and toward the rule of the reds on the other, startles the student of prophecy. Before our very eyes we see Scriptures being fulfilled; Scriptures which, beyond a doubt, mark the Coming of Christ as at hand.
For our part we are
“Watching quietly every day.
Whene’er the sun shines brightly,
We rise and say,
It may be the shining of His face;
And we look across the sea to His high place;
And we know the Lord is coming soon, apace.”
-Adapted.
VI. THE HARVEST OF THE EARTH IS RIPE (Rev 14:15)
When the harvest fields are ripe with grain, we know that the time for reaping has come.
Is the harvest of the earth ripe? During this age God has left man to work out his own path. The world has been lying in the lap of the wicked one, and consequently everything has been done to beautify the present world order, that men may lose sight of the Coming of the Lord.
We are living in the climax of man’s genius and power. In the days of Noah there were mighty men of renown. The world of that time leaped to a zenith of God-denying luxury, that brought the flood in judgment. “As it was * * so shall it be.”
Today the world has ripened in every place where man’s prowess can operate. Within the memory of us all, most of the wonderful inventions that make our day so marked, have arisen.
Daniel prophesied by inspiration, “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” This prophecy is evidently now being fulfilled. Ants never hurried hither and thither, with more energy than men are rushing everywhere. Trains, equipped with every modern convenience, palatial steamers; autos, deluxe, and swift-moving airships of all types, are running to and fro.
Knowledge also has increased. The radio, with its marvelous development, has brought the whole world into one’s private sitting room. Great presses run off the news, and daily papers are constantly apprizing millions of all great world events. Surely the Lord is coming. Surely He is coming soon.
Lo! He comes with clouds descending,
Once for favored sinners slain;
Thousand, thousand saints attending,
Swell the triumph of His train;
Hallelujah!
Jesus comes, and comes to reign!
VII. THE PRESENT PLEA FOR PEACE (1Th 5:1-3)
We all remember how the whole world was crying, “Peace, peace,” when the war of 1914 suddenly broke forth, bursting the peace “bubble.”
However, during the very war that carried its millions to untimely graves, the world was told that we were fighting to establish enduring peace.
Since the Armistice was signed, the great nations have sought in every way to establish peace, apart, of course, from the Coming of the Prince of Peace.
The past years have seen tremendous efforts along this line. The city of London felt the impact of an august body of statesmen from the five great world powers, endeavoring to make peace secure by disarmament, and by the curtailment of the building of ships of war.
The student of prophetic Scriptures instead of being reassured, by these world efforts, that peace has come; knows full well that the effort for peace is no more than God’s prophecy of coming war.
If we had our way, from the prophetic viewpoint, we would advise the nations to fortify themselves mightily, to keep their munition, to watch their way, and to make strong their loins. We know, upon the authority of God’s Word, that these human efforts for peace proclaim that the Lord’s Coming is nigh.
There are so many things that might be said. We could speak of the social unrest as a sign of the times. We could tell of the rich men who have arisen, living in luxury, and comforting their hearts in a day of slaughter. We could speak of the evident preparations of the rule and the reign of the antichrist. In fact, we might be able to suggest many other signs that the Lord’s Coming is near. The times of the Gentiles seem to be running out. The missionary activities, which are encompassing the world with the message of salvation, join to say that Christ must come.
As we close this study we urge every young man and young woman to prepare themselves, that they may be clothed and ready to meet the Bridegroom in the air.
AN ILLUSTRATION
For our illustration we are giving you, today, a little poem which we recently penned and put to music.
Is your lamp all trimmed and burning?
Do you long for Christ’s Returning?
Are you waiting, robed and ready, when He comes?
Would you gladly go to meet Him?
With a song of joy to greet Him?
Are you ready for the Bridegroom, when He comes?
Soon He’ll come, this news I’m telling;
Soon He comes, what joy is swelling;
Yes, I’m ready for the Bridegroom, when He comes:
Now my lamps are burning bright;
Now I’m robed in spotless white,
Yes, I’m ready for the Bridegroom, when He comes.
Hark, the midnight hour is sounding,
And the midnight cry resounding.
For behold the Bridegroom comes, His grace to show;
See, the five wise virgins ready,
See their lamps are burning steady,
To the marriage of the Bridegroom now they go.
Hear the foolish now bewailing,
Lend us oil, our lamps are failing,
And, behold, the Bridegroom standeth at the door;
Then while they, their oil were buying,
And their empty lamps supplying,
They were left behind, without the fast closed door.
Therefore be ye also ready,
Have your lamps all burning steady,
For, behold, the Bridegroom soon will surely come;
Why should you be left in sorrow,
Seeking some one’s oil to borrow?
Why not be prepared and watching when He comes?
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
1Th 5:1. Times and seasons refer to the events described in the closing verses of the preceding chapter, namely, the second coming of Christ and the resurrection. No need that I write. Paul could not write the date of these events for no one but God knows that (Mat 24:36). Neither was there any need to write as a warning, if they are living as they should, for in that case they would be prepared to meet Him when the day arrived. (See verse 4.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Th 5:1. But of the times end seasons. When our Lord spoke to His disciples of the coming of the Son of man, they naturally felt a desire to know when it should take place; and Paul, not without reason, supposes that a similar desire may be stirring in the minds of those to whom he has announced the same event. Paul therefore passes to this subject, and with instinctive courtesy and skill turns their minds from useless inquiries to profound moral truths. Times and seasons became a common expression, giving a greater completeness than either word alone would give; but probably the distinctive meaning of each word was lost sight of. If they are to be distinguished, times refers to the periods into which history is divided, seasons to the eras at which seasonably occur those great events which give a new momentum to the history.
Ye have no need that it be written to you. People are more likely to receive information when their informant presumes they know it already. Pauls reason for this presumption probably was that he himself had previously told them that the time of the Lords coming was unrevealed (comp. 2Th 2:5).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
As if our apostle had said, “Although I have told you that there will be a general resurrection and future judgment, when Christ will certainly come in the clouds, and every eye shall see him, yet I suppose you do not expect that I should write to you of the particular time of his coming; for you have been told, that his coming will be like the coming of a thief, without warning and without noise, when persons are most secure, least suspecting, and wholly unprovided for it: yea, as the pains of a woman in travail, which are unavoidable; the thief may perhaps not come, but the pains of child-birth must come, and also be painful when they come.”
Learn hence, 1. That the wisdom of God has thought fit to conceal and keep secret the determinate time of Christ’s coming to judgment, and yet there is an itching curiosity in man’s nature to search and pry into that profound secret, though the knowlege of it is not only impossible, but would prove unprofitable and hurtful to mankind, making the world secure and careless; wheras, not knowing the hour when our Lord cometh, should oblige us to be upon our watch every hour.
Note then, that our Lord will certainly come at one hour or other, but at what hour he will come cannot certainly be known, yet there is no hour when we can promise ourselves that he will not come.
Note, lastly, that the pain and sorrow, the trouble and horror which the day of the Lord will bring upon such as are unready and unprepared for it, no tongue can utter, no heart can conceive; the greatest of earthly and bodily torments and sorrows, such as the pangs of a woman in travail, being but weak shadows and slender representations of it, the day of the Lord cometh as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
1Th 5:1. The apostle having described the coming of Christ to raise the dead, judge the world, and carry the righteous with him to heaven, does not quit the awful subject, but proceeds in this chapter to foretel the terror which his appearance will occasion to the unrighteous, and the punishment which he will then inflict on them: a circumstance this which merits the readers attention, because it proves that, in describing Christs second coming, the apostle had some further end in view besides that of comforting the Thessalonians under the death of their relations. But of the times As if he had said, I have been warning you that the solemn day of universal judgment will certainly come, and have been endeavouring to lead your minds to those views of it which must be consolatory to every true believer; but concerning the precise period of time when this grand event, which will close the economy of providence, shall take place; or of the seasons Which God hath appointed for the accomplishment of his promises and predictions, preparatory thereto; you have no need that I write unto you No occasion to know these things particularly, since the general knowledge thereof is sufficient to render you watchful, and to excite you to make preparation for them. It is probable that, when he was with them, he had repeated to them Christs injunction to watch, because at such an hour as men think not, the Son of man cometh, Mat 24:44. By making this observation, the apostle represses that vain curiosity which is natural to mankind, who, not content with the knowledge of things useful, indulge an immoderate desire of searching into things which, because the discovery of them would be hurtful, God hath determined to conceal.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written unto you. [When Christian hopes are thus vividly pictured forth, our human nature naturally asks, “When?” (Luk 21:7). The Thessalonians had been fully taught by Paul that the time of the Lord’s coming was unrevealed (Mat 24:36; Act 1:7), and that therefore Paul could not enlighten them on this point. The term “times” indicates long eras, and “seasons” the briefer epochs into which they are divided.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
1 Thessalonians Chapter 5
The Lords coming again into this world assumes therefore a very different character from that of a vague object of hope to a believer as a period of glory. In chapter 5 the apostle speaks of it, but in order to distinguish between the position of Christians and that of the careless and unbelieving inhabitants of the earth. The Christian, alive and taught of the Lord, ever expects the Master. There are times and seasons; it is not needful to speak to him concerning them. But (and he knows it) the day of the Lord will come and like a thief in the night, but not for him: he is of the day; he has part in the glory which will appear in order to execute judgment on the unbelieving world. Believers are the children of light; and this light which is the judgment of unbelievers, is the expression of the glory of God-a glory which cannot endure evil, and which, when it shall appear, will banish it from the earth. The Christian is of the day that will judge and destroy the wicked and wickedness itself from off the face of the earth. Christ is the Sun of righteousness, and the faithful will shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
The world will say, Peace and safety, and in all security will believe in the continuance of its prosperity and the success of its designs, and the day will come suddenly upon them. (Compare 2Pe 3:3.) The Lord Himself has often declared it. (Mat 14:36-36, Luk 12:40, Luk 17:26, Luk 21:35)
It is a very solemn thing to see that the professing church (Rev 3:3) which says that it lives and is in the truth, which has not Thyatiras character of corruption, is yet to be treated as the world-at least, unless it repents.
We may perhaps wonder to find the Lord saying of a time like this, that mens hearts will be failing them for fear, and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth. (Luk 21:26) But we see the two principles-both security and fear-already existing. Progress, success, the long continuance of a new development of human nature-this is the language of those who mock at the Lords coming; and yet beneath it all, what fears for the future are at the same time possessing and weighing down the heart! I use the word principles, because I do not believe that the moment of which the Lord speaks is yet come. But the shadow of coming events falls upon the heart. Blessed are they that belong to another world!
The apostle applies this difference of position- namely, that we belong to the day, and that it cannot therefore come upon us as a thief-to the character and walk of the Christian. Being a child of the light he is to walk as such. He lives in the clay, though all is night and darkness around him. One does not sleep in the day. They that sleep sleep in the night: they that are drunken are drunken in the night; these are the works of darkness. A Christian, the child of the day, must watch and be sober, clothing himself with all that constitutes the perfection of that mode of being which belongs to his position-namely, with faith and love and hope-principles which impart courage and give him confidence for pressing onwards. He has the breastplate of faith and love; he goes straight forward therefore against the enemy. He has the hope of this glorious salvation, which will bring him entire deliverance, as his helmet; so that he can lift up his head without fear in the midst of danger. We see that the apostle here brings to mind the three great principles of 1Co 13:1-13 to characterise the courage and steadfastness of the Christian, as at the beginning he shewed that they were the mainspring of daily walk.
Faith and love naturally connect us with God, revealed as He is in Jesus as the principle of communion; so that we walk with confidence in Him: His presence gives us strength. By faith He is the glorious object before our eyes. By love He dwells in us, and we realise what He is. Hope fixes our eyes especially on Christ, who is coming to bring us into the enjoyment of glory with Himself.
Consequently the apostle speaks thus: For God hath not appointed us to wrath (love is understood by faith, that which God wills-His mind respecting us) but to obtain salvation. It is this which we hope for; and he speaks of salvation as the final deliverance by our Lord Jesus Christ and he naturally adds, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep (have died before His coming or be then alive), we should live together with Him. Death does not deprive us of this deliverance and glory; for Jesus died. Death became the means of obtaining them for us; and if we die, we shall equally live with Him. He died for us, in our stead, in order that, happen what may, we should live with Him. Everything that hindered it is put out of our way and has lost its power; and, more than lost its power, has become a guarantee of our unhindered enjoyment of the full life of Christ in glory; so that we may comfort ourselves -and more than that, we may build ourselves up- with these glorious truths, through which God meets all our wants and all our necessities. This (1Th 5:10) is the end of the special revelation with regard to those who sleep before the coming of the Lord Jesus, beginning with 1Th 4:13.
I would here call the readers attention to the way in which the apostle speaks of the Lords coming in the different chapters of this epistle. It will be noticed that the Spirit does not present the church here as a body. Life is the subject-that of each Christian therefore individually: a very important point assuredly.
In chapter 1 the expectation of the Lord is presented in a general way as characterising the Christian. They are converted to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven. Here it is the object itself that is presented, the Person of the Lord. Gods own Son shall come, and shall satisfy all the hearts desire. This is neither His kingdom, nor the judgment, nor even rest; it is the Son of God; and this Son of God is Jesus, risen from among the dead, and who has delivered us from the wrath to come; for wrath is coming. Each believer therefore expects for himself the Son of God-expects Him from heaven.
In chapter 2 it is association with the saints, joy in the saints at the coming of Christ.
In chapter 3 responsibility is more the subject- responsibility in liberty and in joy; but still a position before God in connection with the Christians walk and life here below. The Lords appearing is the measure and test time of holiness. The testimony rendered by God to this life, by giving it its natural place, takes place when Christ is manifested with all His saints. It is not here His coming for us, but His coming with us. This distinction between the two events always exists. For Christians even and for the church, that which refers to responsibility is always found in connection with the appearing of the Lord; our joy, with His coming to take us to Himself.
Thus far then, we have the general expectation of the Lord in Person, His Son from heaven; love satisfied at His coming as regards others; holiness in its full value and full development. In chapter 4 it is not the connection of life with its full development in our being actually with Christ, but victory over death (which is no barrier to this); and, at the same time, the strengthening and establishment of hope in our common departure hence, similarly to that of Jesus, to be for ever with Him.
The exhortations that conclude the epistle are brief; the mighty action of the life of God in these dear disciples made them comparatively little needed. Exhortation is always good. There was nothing among them to blame. Happy condition! They were perhaps not sufficiently instructed for a large development of doctrine (the apostle hoped to see them for that purpose); but there was enough of life, a personal relationship with God sufficiently true and real, to build them up on that ground. To him that hath shall more be given. The apostle could rejoice with them and confirm their hope and add to it some details as a revelation from God. The assembly in all ages is profited by it.
In the Epistle to the Philippians we see life in the Spirit rising above all circumstances, as the fruit of long experience of the goodness and faithfulness of God; and thus shewing its remarkable power when the help of the saints had failed, and the apostle was in distress, his life in danger, after four years imprisonment, by a merciless tyrant. It is then that he decides his case by the interests of the assembly. It is then that he can proclaim, that we ought always to rejoice in the Lord, and that Christ is all things to him, to live is Christ, death a gain to him. It is then that he can do all things through Him who strengthens him. This he has learnt. In Thessalonians we have the freshness of the fountain near to its source; the energy of the first spring of life in the believers soul, presenting all the beauty and purity and vigour of its first verdure under the influence of the sun that had risen upon them and made the sap of life rise, the first manifestations of which had not been deteriorated by contact with the world or by an enfeebled view of invisible things.
The apostle desired that the disciples should acknowledge those who laboured among them and guided them in grace and admonished them, and esteem them greatly for their works sake. The operation of God always attracts a soul that is moved by the Holy Ghost, and commands its attention and its respect: on this foundation the apostle builds his exhortation. It is not office which is in question here (if such existed), but the work which attracted and attached the heart. They ought to be known: spirituality acknowledged this operation of God. Love, devotedness, the answer to the need of souls, patience in dealing with them on the part of God -all this commended itself to the believers heart: and it blessed God for the care He bestowed upon His children. God acted in the labourer and in the hearts of the faithful. Blessed be God, it is an ever existing principle, and one that never grows weaker!
The same Spirit produced peace among themselves. This grace was of great value. If love appreciated the work of God in the labourer, it would esteem the bother as in the presence of God: self-will would not act.
Now this renunciation of self-will, and this practical sense of the operation and presence of God, gives power to warn the unruly, to comfort the fearful, to help the weak, and to be patient towards all. The apostle exhorts them to it. Communion with God is the power and His word the guide in so doing. In no case were they to render evil for evil, but to follow that which was good among themselves and towards all. All this conduct depends on communion with God, on His presence with us, which makes us superior to evil. He is this in love; and we can be so by walking with Him.
Such were the apostles exhortations to guide their walk with others. As regards their personal state, joy, prayer, thanksgiving in all things, these should be their characteristics. With respect to the public actings of the Spirit in their midst, the apostles exhortations to these simple and happy Christians were equally brief. They were not to hinder the action of the Spirit in their midst (for this is the meaning of quenching the Spirit); nor to despise that which He might say to them, even by the mouth of the most simple, if He were pleased to use it. Being spiritual they could judge all things. They were therefore not to receive everything that presented itself, even in the name of the Spirit, but to prove all things. They were to hold fast that which was good; those who by faith have received the truth of the word do not waver. One is not ever learning the truth of that which one has learnt from God. As to evil, they were to abstain from it in all its forms. Such were the apostles brief exhortations to these Christians who indeed rejoiced his heart. And in truth it is a fine picture of Christian walk, which we find here so livingly portrayed in the apostles communications.
He concludes his epistle by commending them to the God of peace, that they might be preserved blameless until the coming of the Lord Jesus.
After an epistle like this his heart turned readily to the God of peace; for we enjoy peace in the presence of God-not only peace of conscience but peace of heart.
In the previous part we found the activity of love in the heart; that is to say, God present and acting in us, who are viewed as partaking, at the same time, of the divine nature, which is the spring of that holiness which will be manifested in all its perfection before God at the coming of Jesus with all His saints. Here it is the God of peace, to whom the apostle looks for the accomplishment of this work. There it was the activity of a divine principle in us-a principle connected with the presence of God and our communion with Him. Here it is the perfect rest of heart in which holiness develops itself. The absence of peace in the heart arises from the activity of the passions and the will, increased by the sense of powerlessness to satisfy or even to gratify them.
But in God all is peace. He can be active in love; He can glorify Himself by creating what He will; He can act in judgment to cast out the evil that is before His eyes. But He rests ever in Himself, and both in good and in evil He knows the end from the beginning and is undisturbed. When He fills the heart, He imparts this rest to us: we cannot rest in ourselves; we cannot find rest of heart in the actings of our passions, either without an object or upon an object, nor in the rending and destructive energy of our own will. We find our rest in God-not the rest that implies weariness, but rest of heart in the possession of all that we desire, and of that which even forms our desires and fully satisfies them, in the possession of an object in which conscience has nothing to reproach us and has but to be silent, in the certainty that it is the Supreme Good which the heart is enjoying, the supreme and only authority to whose will it responds-and that will is love towards us. God bestows rest, peace. He is never called the God of joy. He gives us joy truly, and we ought to rejoice; but joy implies something surprising, unexpected, exceptional, at least in contrast with, and in consequence of, evil. The peace that we possess, that which satisfies us, has no element of this kind, nothing which is in contrast, nothing which disturbs. It is more deep, more perfect, than joy. It is more the satisfaction of a nature in that which perfectly answers to it, and in which it develops itself, without any contrast being necessary to enhance the satisfaction of a heart that has not all which it desires, or of which it is capable.
God, as we have said, rests thus in Himself-is this rest for Himself. He gives us, and is for us, this entire peace. The conscience being perfect through the work of Christ who has made peace and reconciled us to God, the new nature-and consequently the heart-finds its perfect satisfaction in God, and the will is silent; moreover, it has nothing further to desire. It is not only that God meets the desires that we have: He is the source of new desires to the new man by the revelation of Himself in love. [10] He is both the source of the nature and its infinite object; and that, in love. It is His part to be so. It is more than creation; it is reconciliation, which is more than creation, because there is in it more development of love, that is to say, of God: and it is thus that we know God. It is that which He is essentially in Christ.
In the angels He glorifies Himself in creation: they excel us in strength. In Christians He glorifies Himself in reconciliation, to make them the first fruits of His new creation, when He shall have reconciled all things in heaven and on earth by Christ. Therefore it is written Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children sons of God They have His nature and His character.
It is in these relationships with God-or rather it is God in these relationships with us in peace, in His communion, who develops sanctification, our inward conformity of affection and intelligence (and consequently of outward conduct) with Him and His will. The God of peace himself sanctify you wholly. May there be nothing in us that does not yield to this benignant influence of peace which we enjoy in communion with God! May no power or force in us own anything but Himself! In all things may He be our all, so that He only may rule in our hearts! He has brought us perfectly into this place of blessedness in Christ and by His work. There is nothing between us and God but the exercise
f His love, the enjoyment of our happiness, and the worship of our hearts. We are the proof before Him, the testimony, the fruit, of the accomplishment of all that He holds most precious, of that which has perfectly glorified Him, of that in which He delights, and of the glory of the One who has accomplished it, namely, of Christ, and of His work. We are the fruit of the redemption that Christ has accomplished, and the objects of the satisfaction which God must feel in the exercise of His love.
God in grace is the God of peace for us; for here divine righteousness finds its satisfaction, and love its perfect exercise.
The apostle now prays that, in this character, God may work in us to make everything respond to Himself thus revealed. Here only is this development of humanity given-body, soul, and spirit. The object is assuredly not metaphysical, but to express man in all the parts of his being; the vessel by which he expresses that which he is, the natural affections of his soul, the elevated workings of his mind, through which he is above the animals and in intelligent relationship with God. May God be found in each, as the mover, spring, and guide!
In general the words soul and spirit are used without making any distinction between them, for the soul of man was formed very differently from that of animals in that God breathed into his nostrils the breath (spirit) of life, and it was thus that man became a living soul. Therefore it suffices to say soul as to man, and the other is supposed. Or, in saying spirit, in this sense the elevated character of his soul is expressed. The animal has also its natural affections, has a living soul, attaches itself, knows the persons who do it good, devotes itself to its master, loves him, will even give its life for him; but it has not that which can be in relationship with God (alas! which can set itself at enmity against Him), which can occupy itself with things outside its own nature as the master of others.
The Spirit then wills that man, reconciled with God, should be consecrated, in every part of his being to the God who has brought him into relationship with Himself by the revelation of His love, and by the work of His grace, and that nothing in the man should admit an object beneath the divine nature of which he is partaker; so that he should thus be preserved blameless unto the coming of Christ.
Let us observe here, that it is in no wise beneath the new nature in us to perform our duties faithfully in all the various relationships in which God has placed us; but quite the contrary. That which is required is to bring God into them, His authority, and the intelligence which that imparts. Therefore it is said to husbands to live with their wives according to knowledge, or intelligence; that is to say, not only with human and natural affections (which, as things are, do not by themselves even maintain their place), but as before God and conscious of His will. It may be that God may call us, in connection with the extraordinary work of His grace, to consecrate ourselves entirely to it; but otherwise the will of God is accomplished in the relationships in which He has placed us, and divi ne intelligence and obedience to God are developed in them. Finally God has called us to this life of holiness with Himself; He is faithful, and He will accomplish it. May He enable us to cleave to Him, that we may realise it! Observe again here, how the coming of Christ is introduced, and the expectation of this coming, as an integral part of Christian life. Blameless, it says, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The life which had developed itself in obedience and holiness meets the Lord at His coming. Death is not in question. The life which we have found is to be such when He appears. The man, in every part of his being, moved by this life, is found there blameless when Jesus comes. Death was overcome (not yet destroyed): a new life is ours. This life, and the man living of this life, are found, with their Head and Source, in the glory. Then will the weakness disappear which is connected with his present condition. That which is mortal shall be swallowed up of life: that is all. We are Christs: He is our life. We wait for Him, that we may be with Him, and that He may perfect all things in the glory.
Let us also here examine a little into that which this passage teaches us with regard to sanctification. It is connected indeed with a nature, but it is linked with an object; and it depends for its realisation on the operation of another, namely, of God Himself; and it is founded on a perfect work of reconciliation with God already accomplished. Inasmuch as it is founded on an accomplished reconciliation, into which we enter by the reception of a new nature, the scriptures consider Christians as already perfectly sanctified in Christ. It is practically carried out by the operation of the Holy Ghost, who, in imparting this nature, separates us-as thus born again-entirely from the world. It is important to maintain this truth, and to stand very clearly and distinctly on this ground: otherwise practical sanctification soon becomes detached from a new nature received, and is but the amelioration of the natural man and then it is quite legal, a return-after reconciliation-into doubt and uncertainty, because, though justified, the man is not accounted meet for heaven-this depends on progress so that justification does not give peace with God. Scripture says, Giving thanks to the Father, who hath made us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. Progress there is, but it is not in scripture connected with meetness. The thief was meet for Paradise and went there. Such views are an enfeebling, not to say destructive, of the work of redemption, that is, of its appreciation in our hearts by faith.
We are then sanctified (it is thus the scripture most frequently speaks) by God the Father, by the blood and the offering of Christ, and by the Spirit-that is to say, we are set apart for God personally and for ever. In this point of view justification is presented in the word as consequent upon sanctification, a thing into which we enter through it. Taken up as sinners in the world, we are set apart by the Holy Ghost to enjoy all the efficacy of the work of Christ according to the counsels of the Father: set apart by the communication of a new life, no doubt, but placed by this setting apart in the enjoyment of all that Christ has gained for us. I say again, It is very important to hold fast this truth both for the glory of God and for our own peace: but the Spirit of God in this epistle does not speak of it in this point of view, but of the practical realisation of the development of this life of separation from the world and from evil. He speaks of this divine development in the inner man, which makes sanctification a real and intelligent condition of soul, a state of practical communion with God, according to that nature and to the revelation of God with which it is connected.
In this respect we find indeed a principle of life which works in us-that which is called a subjective state: but it is impossible to separate this operation in us from an object (man would be God if it were so), nor consequently from a continual work of God in us that holds us in communion with that object, which is God Himself. Accordingly it is through the truth by the word, whether at first in the communication of life, or in detail all along our path. Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.
Man, we know, has degraded himself. He has enslaved himself to the lusts of the animal part of his being. But how? By departing from God. God does not sanctify man apart from the knowledge of Himself, leaving man still at a distance from Him; but, while giving him a new nature which is capable of it, by giving to this nature (which cannot even exist without it) an object-Himself, He does not make man independent, as he wished to be: the new man is the dependent man; it is his perfection-Jesus Christ exemplified this in His life. The new man is a man dependent in his affections, who desires to be so, who delights in, and cannot be happy without being so, and whose dependence is on love, while still obedient as a dependent being ought to be.
Thus they who are sanctified possess a nature that is holy in its desires and its tastes. It is the divine nature in them, the life of Christ. But they do not cease to be men. They have God revealed in Christ for their object. Sanctification is developed in communion with God, and in affections which go back to Christ, and which wait for Him. But the new nature cannot reveal an object to itself; and still less, could it have its object by setting God aside at its will. It is dependent on God for the revelation of Himself. His love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost whom He has given us; and the same Spirit takes of the things of Christ and communicates them to us. Thus we grow in the knowledge of God, being strengthened mightily by His Spirit in the inner man, that we may comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, and be filled unto the fullness of God. Thus, we all with open face beholding the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord. For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified through the truth.
We see by these passages, which might be multiplied, that we are dependent on an object, and that we are dependent on the strength of another. Love acts in order to work in us according to this need.
Our setting apart for God, which is complete (for it is by means of a nature that is purely of Himself, and in absolute responsibility to Him, for we are no longer our own, but are bought with a price, and sanctified by the blood of Christ according to the will of God who will have us for His own), places us in a relationship, the development of which (by an increasing knowledge of God, who is the object of our new nature) is practical sanctification, wrought in us by the power of the Holy Ghost, the witness in us of the love of God. He attaches the heart to God, ever revealing Him more and more, and at the same time unfolding the glory of Christ and all the divine qualities that were displayed in Him in human nature, thus forming ours as born of God.
Therefore it is, as we have seen in this epistle, that love, working in us, is the means of sanctification. (Chap. 3:12,13) It is the activity of the new nature, of the divine nature in us; and that connected with the presence of God; for he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God. And in this chapter 5 the saints are commended to God Himself, that He may work it in them; while we are always set in view of the glorious objects of our faith in order to accomplish it.
We may here more particularly call the readers attention to these objects. They are, God Himself, and the coming of Christ: on the one hand, communion with God; on the other, waiting for Christ. It is most evident that communion with God is the practical position of the highest sanctification. He who knows that we shall see Jesus as He now is, and be like Him, purifies himself even as He is pure. By our communion with the God of peace we are wholly sanctified. If God is practically our all, we are altogether holy. (We are not speaking of any change in the flesh, which can neither be subjected to God nor please Him.) The thought of Christ and His coming preserves us practically, and in detail, and intelligently, blameless. It is God Himself who thus preserves us, and who works in us to occupy our hearts and cause us continually to grow.
But this point deserves yet a few more words. The freshness of Christian life in the Thessalonians made it, as it were, more objective; so that these objects are prominent, and very distinctly recognised by the heart. We have already said that they are God the Father, and the Lord Jesus. With reference to the communion of love with the saints as his crown and glory, he speaks only of the Lord Jesus. This has a special character of reward, although a reward in which love reigns. Jesus Himself had the joy that was set before Him as sustainment in His sufferings, a joy which thus was personal to Himself. The apostle also, as regarded his work and labour, waited with Christ for its fruit. Besides this case of the apostle (chap. 2), we find God Himself and Jesus as the object before us, and the joy of communion with God-and this, in the relationship of Father-and with Christ, whose glory and position we share through grace.
Thus it is only in the two epistles to the Thessalonians that we find the expression to the church which is in God the Father. [11] The sphere of their communion is thus shewn, founded on the relationship in which they found themselves with God Himself in the character of Father. (1Th 1:3, and here 1Th 5:23.) It is important to remark, that the more vigorous and living Christianity is, the more objective it is. It is but saying that God and the Lord Jesus have a greater place in our thoughts; and that we rest more really upon them. This Epistle to the Thessalonians is the part of scripture which instructs on this point; and it is a means of judging many a fallacy in the heart, and of giving a great simplicity to our Christianity.
The apostle closes his epistle by asking for the prayers of the brethren, saluting them with the confidence of affection, and conjuring them to have his epistle read to all the holy brethren. His heart forgot none of them. He would be in relationship with all according to this spiritual affection and personal bond. Apostle towards all of them, he would have them recognize those who laboured among them, but he maintained withal his own relationship. His was a heart which embraced all the revealed counsels of God on the one hand, and did not lose sight of the least of His saints on the other.
It remains to take notice of one interesting circumstance as to the manner in which the apostle instructs them. He takes, in the first chapter, the truths which were precious to their heart, but were still somewhat vaguely seized by their intelligence, and as to which they were indeed fallen into mistakes, and employs them (in the clearness in which he possessed them himself) in his practical instructions, and applies them to known and experienced relationships, that their souls might be well established on positive truth, and clear as to its use, before he touched on their error and the mistakes they had made. They waited for His Son from heaven. This they already possessed clearly in their hearts; but they would be in the presence of God when Jesus comes with all His saints. This was clearing up a very important point without directly touching the error. Their heart got straight as to the truth in its practical application to what the heart possessed. They understood what it was to be before God the Father. It was much more intimate and real than a manifestation of terrestrial and finite glory. Further they would be before God when Jesus came with all His saints: a simple truth which demonstrated itself to the heart by the simple fact that Jesus could not have some only of His assembly. The heart seized this truth without an effort; yet in doing so it was established, as was the understanding also, in what made the whole truth clear, and that in way of the relationship of the Thessalonians to Christ and those that were His. The joy even of the apostle in meeting them all (those who had died consequently, as well as the living) at the coming of Jesus, placed the soul on an entirely different ground from that of being found here, and blessed by the arrival of Jesus when they were here below.
Thus enlightened, confirmed, established, in the real bearing of the truth which they possessed already by a development of it which connected itself with their best affections and with their most intimate spiritual knowledge, founded on their communion with God they were ready with certain fixed basis of truth to enter on and set aside without difficulty an error which was not in accord with what they now knew how to appreciate at its just value, as forming park of their moral possessions. Special revelation made all clear as to details. This manner of proceeding is very Instructive.
Footnotes for 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5
10: Hence there is the opposite to weariness in the heavenly enjoyment of God; because He who is the infinite object of enjoyment is the infinite source and strength of capacity to enjoy, though we enjoy as recipient creatures.
11: Perhaps too in connection with their recent deliverance from idols to the one true God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament
1Th 5:1-2. Of the times and seasons, ye have no need that I write to you. Paul as a prophet might have said much concerning the dispensations of providence which should attend the church, but it is best to wait till the Lord shall open the sealed book. The seasons, or opportunities to correct the wicked, and reveal righteousness to the saints, are divided here, and given in the plural number, for heaven will meet the multifarious states and wants of the church with a superabundance of grace and mercy.
1Th 5:4-5. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness ye are all the children of light. Happy Zion: (by light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. The church is awake to behold the whole scheme of providence developing the goodness of God to his people. He sits calm in the heavens, and makes the persecution of the church, and Stephens martyrdom, to fill the Roman world with the gospel. He brings blood on the jews to avenge the innocent blood of his saints; he brings the Roman lions to his bar, even in this world, for the havoc they had made of his flock.
1Th 5:8. Let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith, in a faithful God, who will show strength with his arm. We need not wish ill to our enemies, for their sins will find them out, and will superinduce on themselves a plenitude of evils. Let our confidence be associated with love, which is put here for all the other graces. Let us also exercise goodwill towards all men, and rejoice in the Lord, for the victory is already ours.
1Th 5:9. God hath not appointed us to wrath, for that awaits the impenitent, but to obtain salvation, the great and final salvation, which is now nearer than when we first believed. This salvation is obtained for us by our Lord Jesus Christ, to redeem us from all iniquity, that whether we sleep or wake we may be the Lords.
1Th 5:12. We beseech you, brethren, to know them that labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, for they watch for your souls as those that must give an account. Heb 13:17. This exhortation is chiefly founded on three considerations.
(1) Ministers labour in the word and doctrine, and turn the wilds and wastes of the world into a beautiful garden; and the workman is worthy of his meat.
(2) They are over you: , they stand before you in the Lord, as the ancient priests stood before the altar, praying for the people. They also walk before the flock, like the shepherd, to lead and guide them into green pastures. They keep up a good understanding and pure affection among the people: without them, thorns and briars would again spring up. Their work is not that of lordly domination, but of pastoral care.
(3) They admonish you in the Lord. They visit your families, and quench the kindling strife; they reclaim you from error, and bring you back to the paths of piety and peace. Can money buy such pastors, or jewels avail for their loss?
1Th 5:13. Esteem them very highly in love for their works sake. While a good man is providing for his household, he should sometimes cast a glance on his minister, and make an estimate on the state and wants of his family. From the combined efforts of the people, he also should have food and raiment. If he be a studious man, perhaps he suffers for want of books, which he can neither borrow nor buy. His acquisitions will amply repay his auditory with effusions of wisdom and knowledge, and his productions will delight a future age.
1Th 5:15. See that none render evil for evil. This admonition is repeated from Rom 12:17; and is often inculcated in the scriptures. Pro 17:13. Mat 5:39. To return evil for evil is the work of Satan, and doubly exasperates the first offender: it is indeed a total breach of the laws of charity and goodwill towards our neighbour.
1Th 5:16. Rejoice evermore. Though storms of persecution have overtaken you, they shall work together for good, in the encrease and advancement of the saints.
1Th 5:17-18. Pray without ceasing, for the throne of grace is always accessible, and our wants and necessities never cease. The Lord will lend an attentive ear to the prayers of saints, and the unceasing worship of the church. Then prayer shall rise to praise; for the answers of prayer constrain us to give thanks to God, the giver of every good. This also is your Fathers good pleasure, who being always blessed and happy in himself, would have all his children to be happy too.
1Th 5:19. Quench not the Spirit, who was given with symbols of flame to the apostles and brethren, with gifts and powers from above; and as this flame still burns in the exercise of those gifts, he must not be quenched. As the cloud of fire guided the ancient Hebrews, so the Holy Spirit guides the infant church. He bade Philip go to the desert, and join himself to the chariot of the noble Eunuch. Act 8:26. It was the Spirit also who suffered not Paul and his friends to go into Bithynia, the Lord having more pressing occasions in other places. Let us obey his motions in our hearts for piety and devotion, and let us improve all occasions of edifying our neighbour.
1Th 5:20. Despise not prophesyings, in young men, in their first efforts of prayer and exhortation.
1Th 5:21. Prove all things. Perhaps much good may attend a word of weakness, while the splendid orator has but little fruit.
1Th 5:23. The very God of peace sanctify you wholly. By habitual exercises of piety you will enter into a state of entire sanctification, such as inconstant christians do not enjoy. You will be enabled to give your whole selves to the Lord, and to love him with all the powers of your soul. Then in all your acts of prayer and praise, the Spirit of glory and of grace will rest upon you, and the whole deity will make his abode with you.
I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless. A similar expression occurs in Heb 4:12, where the word of truth, like the sacrificial knife which cuts up the victims, divides asunder the soul and spirit. When Moses commands us to love the Lord with all our heart and mind and strength, he apparently preserves the same ideas. We have also a similar distinction in the Platonic philosophy: , the body, , the soul, and , the spirit. Of the soul, as some understand it here, a poet says, on surveying the corpse of a saint,
Extinct is the animal flame, And passion is vanished away.
Gregory Nyssen interprets the word spirit of the rational faculties, and the soul of the sensitive ones, or the passions and appetites of our nature. Theophylact, by spirit, understands the work of the Spirit, or the hidden man of the heart; and by soul and body, the whole man. Those who espouse the former opinion, take the term body in a large sense, as including the affections. The word soul, in Gen 23:8, is rendered will by the Chaldaic. The terms, soul and spirit, are often used as synonimous, as in Isa 26:9.
The apostle closes this epistle with prayers and supplications for the same blessings on the Thessalonian saints as in his other epistles. His soul was paternal, overflowing with love to a ruined world, and benedictions on the churches. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
REFLECTIONS.
On a review of this chapter, and indeed of the whole epistle, we find it full of wisdom, rich in thought, and glorious in expression. The apostle pours upon every subject a flood of celestial light, and comforts believers in the Lord. Above all, he brightens their hopes with the assurance of a full redress of all their wrongs at the coming of the Saviour, in the day which is the joy of his saints, and the terror of all his foes. The sentiments flow from the fulness of his soul, and the abundant effusions of the Holy Spirit. We should read and study them so as to get them transcribed on our hearts, that we may habitually practise them in all the walks of life. They are so many sure way-marks, that we err not in this waste howling wilderness, but direct our course with a steadfast heart, following in the ancient way.
Love to ministers is introduced with entreaty: I beseech you, brethren. No church can possibly be happy, and prosper, which does not discover a proper degree of honour and affection to its ministers, provided they be the true ministers of Christ in temper and conduct, and endeavour to merit that affection and esteem.
Grace must be kept in constant exercise. Rejoice evermore, yea in tribulation also, as it works for good. Pray without ceasing: no man that is not eminent for prayer can be eminent for piety. In every thing give thanks. Who then said that the christian religion was gloomy, and fit only for persons of dejected mind? What is so divine, what is so noble, and what so like the devotion of heaven as all these exercises of piety well-timed, and associated in the habits of life. They only know their worth whose hearts delight in the duties to which they are called. St. Paul after saying so many good things, resolves the completion of religion into universal holiness. He prays, as in Eph 3:14, for the entire sanctification of the saints, their being made ready and prepared to meet the Lord at his coming. This implies the entire reign of grace in the heart and life, after being cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. It also implies that God is the sole agent and efficient cause of our sanctification. Our work is to pray for it, and to plead the promises. God is not only faithful to perform his word in our calling, but he will preserve the sincere soul blameless to the coming of Christ; its involuntary defects shall have a constant atonement, accompanied with peace and joy. Oh happy state of glorious liberty: who would not long for perfection? Who would not press forward to obtain it, and expect it instantaneously, by the effectual working of his power. Let us not remain in the skirts of that glory, but pray the Lord that we may fully enter in. Amen.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Th 5:1-11. Pauls Warning to the Christians to be Prepared for the Parousia.
1Th 5:2. as a thief in the night: cf. the words of Jesus (Mat 24:43). Throughout this paragraph the suddenness of the Parousia is emphasized.
1Th 5:5. sons of light: a Hebraism, meaning those who have been enlightened.
1Th 5:8. breastplate: cf. with this passage the fuller description of the Christians armour in Eph 6:13-20.
1Th 5:10. wake or sleep: i.e. whether we are alive or dead when the Parousia takes place.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
In contrast to the new revelation Paul gives at the end of ch. 4, he now tells them in ch. 5 that “of the times and seasons” there was no need to write, for this was a matter of which they were well aware. They knew perfectly that the day of the Lord would come as a thief in the night. No doubt Paul had touched on this subject when with them; but even if he had not done so, yet the Old Testament abounds in its information as to “the day of the Lord.” This “Day” will come upon the whole world unexpectedly and unwelcome. Not so the coming of the Lord Jesus for His saints, for this will be both expected and gladly welcomed. But the world will know nothing of this except the sudden bewildering fact that hosts of believers have disappeared from earth. It would seem, however, that this startling event will engross them. Following the rapture of the saints to glory “the times and seasons” will resume their course and the seventieth week of Dan 9:27 will begin. Before the first 3 %2 years are finished anarchy will erupt, and a state of world-wide convulsion, with resulting awful apprehensions of men. But the beast of Rev 13:1-10 will, by help of Satanic power, restore a semblance of unity and order that will be so successful that he will become the object of admiring worship. “All the world wondered after the beast” (Rev 13:3). It is then that men will say “Peace and safety,” thinking that they have found the supreme leader who is able to maintain the peace for which the world has vainly struggled over the centuries. But this is the apex of the world’s idolatry and will actually begin the worst trouble the world has ever seen: “then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” There will be no avoiding this awesome reaping of the whirlwind; man’s pride, having been built up to such a height, will come down with tremendous force.
It is most important for us to observe, in verse 3, that though the world will not escape the “sudden destruction” that is to come, yet even the Great Tribulation will not be merely punishment of the ungodly.
The analogy”travail upon a woman with child” is surely intended to teach us that out of all this anguish God will set fit to bring fruit for His own glory. Multitudes during the tribulation will turn in faith to the Living God, having not previously known the gospel. In this God will be glorified as well as in His holy triumph over evil. Indeed as to Israel, the tribulation will be the travail pains of “a nation … horn at once” (Isa 66:8).
But verse 4 speaks of the brethren, the children of God, in complete contrast to verses 2 and 3. The day of the Lord cannot overtake them as a thief, for they will already have been caught up at the coming of the Lord. In no sense is the believer himself in darkness; he is in the light, though, as in Egypt’s plague all around there is “darkness which may be felt.” And not only are we “in the light,” but our very nature is that of “children of light, and children of the day.” New birth has made an infinite difference, so that a great gulf separates us from those who are “of the night” and “of darkness.” It would seem that the expression “children of light” has reference to the truth already having taken possession of the heart, though all around may be darkness, while “children of day” connects us with the future day of glory, when we shall be manifested and blessed in our proper sphere. We are not part of the present condition of things at all. The night and the darkness are alien to our nature; we look for the day, for it is our proper element.
Verse 7 is suited exhortation based upon the fact of this great difference existing. Because we are so blessed, therefore we ought not to sleep, as do others, but to watch, and be soberly on guard. Those who are of the night are asleep, unaware of the dangers lurking in the darkness, indifferent to matters of deep importance. Or they may be drunken, intoxicated with pleasure, excitement, vanity to such an extent that they are hopelessly unable to discern or meet the dangers of the night. Watching then is in contrast to sleeping, sobriety contrasted to drunkenness. May we have opened eyes, hearts exercised with godly discretion, able to avoid evil and to cleave to good. For while we are of the day, we do pass through the night of this world, and the breastplate of faith and love is an essential protection against the cold unbelief and hatred that pervades the darkness. And the helmet, the hope of salvation, is how needful too in a world intoxicated with its futile efforts to improve a condition that becomes rapidly worse. We know the answer is the coming of the Lord, and this helmet, the protection of the mind, must not be neglected. Our minds should be set on things above. Of course, this is a hope “both sure and steadfast” (Heb 6:19), the anticipation of salvation from the very presence of sin, from the circumstances of this present evil world, at the coming of the Lord. It is the future aspect of salvation and does not in any way affect the fact of present, settled salvation being the possession of the believer now.
And of course the future is settled. God’s appointment for the believer is totally opposite that of the unbeliever. As to men generally, Heb 9:27 declares, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Such an appointment means no hope whatever, but eternal doom – it is an appointment to wrath. But that of the believer is just as positively and unchangeably an appointment to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Though saved by grace through faith now, yet we look for salvation in its fullest, purest manifestation at the coming of the Lord.
Thank God this is an appointment we shall not miss, for it is based upon the perfection of the work of the Lord Jesus, “Who died for us.” It is He who has borne the wrath of God on our account, and this exempts us fully from the wrath we deserved. Consequently at the coming of the Lord “whether we wake,” that is, are still alive on earth, “or sleep,” that is, have died in Christ, yet there is no doubt in either case that we shall live together with Him. This would of course refer back to ch. 4:16, 17, and verse 11 would have a direct connection with ch. 4:18. How precious indeed is the basis we have for encouraging ourselves together and building up one another. We are surely provided with every necessary incentive. But the apostle adds, “even as also ye do.” It was their practice, yet the admonition was needful. Is it not true that those who are the most diligent are the most ready to acknowledge the need of admonition?
More specific exhortation now begins in verse 12. While nothing is said of anyone in any official position, the saints are urged to recognize those who labored in the Lord and who took the lead in the assembly. Devotion to the work of the Lord and moral qualifications for leading the saints were things not to be ignored. Elders are not mentioned in the epistle, possibly because, all the saints having been only recently converted, none had yet gained the experience and Christian maturity suited to this. But there was preserving guards for the young assembly, and faithful laborers were to be esteemed very highly in love, not simply as personal attachment but “for their work’s sake.” And among all saints, they were to be at peace. This is simply being true to proper spiritual character rather than submission to officially appointed leaders.
Verse 14 shows that though generally fresh and fervent in faith, yet among the Thessalonians there were those disorderly, who required stern admonition lest this should progress to more serious proportions, but rather that this attitude should be changed. Sad to say this evidently did not correct the condition, for in the second epistle (ch. 3) he has much more to say of those who walked disorderly and requires yet more severe measures with them – that is, “withdraw yourselves” from them – not as an enemy, but withholding fellowship that might be taken in any way as implying approval. Love is always to dictate these disciplinary measures, but is not to be weak and lax when such need is present. The warning must be given first, however, before the more stern “withdrawal.”
But a different attitude is to be shown to “the feebleminded” or “fainthearted,” as the New Translation reads. Such require encouragement, which we must be always prepared to give with cheerful willingness. “The weak” have need of support. For this I am certainly my brother’s keeper, and if God has given strength to one, it is to be willingly shared with others. We may be sure our sharing in this will not decrease our own strength, but the opposite. And after all this, patience is still to be shown to all. If we should ask, “Are there not times when patience should end?” the answer is simply, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord” (Jam 5:7). This we must deeply take to heart.
Verse 15. The Thessalonians did suffer evil from the world around, but as their Master, they were not to return it. This we need as a constant reminder, for the flesh too quickly resents unfair treatment. But to return evil for evil only makes me the same as my persecutor and untrue to my Christian character. We may find it even more of a test if treated badly by a child of God, but of course the same applies. He must answer for his conduct, no doubt, but I must answer for mine. To have the heart set on good is the real preservative here. If it is so, I shall be loathe to do evil, no matter what the provocation.
But more. Though in tribulation, there could yet be a positive rejoicing, not intermittently but evermore, consistently, which is really only normal when the Lord Jesus Himself is the Object of our joy. And prayer too is to be as constant. At all times the heart may be lifted up to God, so real a habit that every occasion of need, of difficulty, or of distress will find us voluntarily and immediately crying to Him from the heart. This too is to he attended with thanksgiving “in everything.” We cannot of course give thanks for what is sinful, but in the midst of whatever evil or good this thankful spirit is to be ours. The importance of this is pressed upon us in the fact of its being “the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” If we are honest in saying we desire the will of God, then here it is, and no excuse can be accepted for lack of giving of thanks.
The connection between this verse and the following should be well noted. The habit of giving thanks is important if we are to keep from quenching the Spirit. The Spirit of God should certainly be unhindered when He desires to speak through us, yet it is possible that through timidity, or through pride, or through indifference, we may be seriously guilty of quenching His working, as water quenches fire. On the other hand, we may be just as guilty of quenching the Spirit in another, by impatience, or resentment, or by belittling what the Spirit of God may be seeking to bring to our attention by another member of the body of Christ. May we judge unsparingly such selfish, sinful ways and the thoughts that lead to them. The spirit of fresh energy and devotion of a young assembly such as this could be dampened greatly by such things. In Eph 5:30 we are told, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” The context here involves our moral character and conduct which, if wrong, hinders the Spirit of God. But in our present chapter, quenching the Spirit is hindering His speaking through us or through others.
There is, of course, a very close connection between verses 19 and 20. To “quench not the Spirit” involves a genuine consideration of others and of that which the Spirit of God may be seeking to say through one or through another. It may be that prophesyings would be the most likely type of ministry to be despised, for this is not teaching to appeal to man’s intellect, but whether in the assembly or otherwise, it is that ministry that would speak to the heart and conscience – for edification, exhortation, or encouragement (1Co 14:3) – and may be searching. Let us never think lightly of this, for it is a continual need for the intellectual, just as for all others. In fact this is the very character of the book we are considering.
But on the other hand we are not to accept anything that is said without subjecting it to the test of the Word of God. We are to “prove all things.” However, young in the faith, this was the personal responsibility of every saint. Nothing was to be taken for granted or taken merely on the word of another; Scripture was their one real authority. And what is good we are to hold fast, allowing nothing to slip of the precious truth of God. This too was essential if they were to “avoid every form of evil” U.N. Darby). For evil will assume most attractive and deceiving forms just as readily as more gross forms, and only the heart holding fast what is good will be protected.
How precious in verse 23 to see the name “the God of peace,” especially when the turmoil of persecution so oppressed the saints. But He was using this too for their sanctification, their being gradually weaned from the world in all its forms. Paul desires nothing less than complete sanctification, however, which could not be until the coming of the Lord. Yet experience here is intended to lead us more and more in that direction. But the whole man must be included. We are to allow “not a hoof” to be left behind, for it is only right that we should be completely devoted to the pleasure of the Lord. The “spirit” is first mentioned, being the highest entity in man, that which “knoweth the things of a man” (1Co 2:11), and is therefore connected with the mind, intelligence, conscience, reasoning power. The soul’s function is rather that of feelings, desires, passions – good or bad. The body is the marvelous physical instrument in which the spirit and soul manifest themselves. Every part is to be for God as, alas, in our natural sinful state we have been utterly for self. But this preservation of spirit and soul and body in blameless character will also be perfectly fulfilled only at the coming of the Lord. Even death, though it separates spirit and soul from the body, cannot frustrate this blessed purpose of God in preserving the whole man blameless. But the end in view is to give precious character to our present lives, confiding in the faithfulness of Him who will do as He has said. He has called us, and certainly not in vain.
Is it not deeply precious too that the apostle requests the prayers of these newly converted saints? They needed no long experience to pray effectually. Nor did Paul make such a request of the Corinthians, whose history was longer, for there was spiritual exercise in Thessalonica such as was lacking in Corinth. And the affections of the saints for one another are encouraged in proper expressions too, their greeting one another with an holy kiss. In western nations, of course, this is little accepted, yet let us encourage every true expression of holy affection in the Lord between saints.
The importance of the epistle is last of all insisted upon, with a solemn charge that it be read to “all the holy brethren.” Surely it is no less vital for us today, nor is the benediction less precious, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” For it is this grace that is power for a walk with Him in sanctification from this evil world, until we see Him face to face.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse 1
Of the times and the seasons, relating to the final coming of Christ.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
5:1 But {1} of the times and the {a} seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
(1) The day that God has appointed for this judgment we do not know. But this is sure, that it will come upon men when they are not expecting it.
(a) See Act 1:7 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
C. Personal watchfulness 5:1-11
In view of the imminency of Christ’s return Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to be ready to meet the Lord at any time.
"The former [paragraph, i.e., 1Th 4:13-18] offered instruction concerning the dead in Christ; this [paragraph] gives a word of needed exhortation to the living." [Note: Hiebert, p. 207.]
Other contrasts between these passages are the Rapture and the day of the Lord, and resurrection and judgment.
This pericope deals with the time of Christ’s return and the consequent need for watchfulness.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Paul had previously taught this church about the day of the Lord (1Th 5:2). Jesus had also taught His disciples about it (cf. Mat 24:44; Mark 13; Luke 21). They had taught about the chronological periods ("times," Gr. chronos, an extended period) and the major features of those periods ("epochs," Gr. chairos, a definite period) that lay ahead in the future. These words may describe the end times from these two perspectives (cf. Act 1:7; Act 3:19-21). [Note: G. G. Findlay, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians, p. 107; Morris, The First . . ., pp. 149-50.] But probably they mean virtually the same thing (cf. Dan 2:21; Dan 7:12; Act 1:7). [Note: Wanamaker, p. 178.]
". . . the phrase may have been a conventional doublet, like our own ’times and seasons,’ with no particular emphasis on a difference between the two nouns." [Note: Bruce, p. 108.]
"The day of the Lord" usually refers in Scripture to a time in history characterized by God’s working in the world in direct, dramatic ways. [Note: See ibid., p. 109.] It contrasts with the day of man in which affairs appear to be proceeding without divine intervention. The eschatological day of the Lord prophesied in the Old Testament begins with the Tribulation and continues through the Millennium (cf. Isa 13:9-11; Joe 2:28-32; Zep 1:14-18; Zep 3:14-15; et al.). It contains both judgment (in the Tribulation) and blessing (in the Millennium). People living on the earth when it begins (i.e., unbelievers, since Christians will be with the Lord in heaven immediately following the Rapture) will not expect it.
"The meaning [of "like a thief"] would be not that the Day will come as unheralded as a thief, but that it will surprise people . . ." [Note: Morris, The First . . ., p. 155.]
"By using ’day of the Lord’ terminology to describe the great tribulation, Christ included the tribulation within the day of the Lord (cf. Mat 24:21 with Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1; Joe 2:2). This time of trial at the outset of the earthly day of the Lord will thus not be brief, but comparable to a woman’s labor before giving birth to a child (Isa 13:8; Isa 26:17-19; Isa 66:7 ff.; Jer 30:7-8; Mic 4:9-10; Mat 24:8; 1Th 5:3)." [Note: Thomas, p. 281. Cf. J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come, p. 230; and Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom, pp. 186-91.]
The phrase "the day of the Lord" also refers to the Second Coming of Christ (cf. Joe 3:9-16; Zec 14:1-5; Rev 16:12-16; Rev 19:11-21); it includes that event between the Tribulation and the Millennium. Thus Scripture uses the term in a broad sense (the Tribulation and the Millennium) and a narrow sense (the return of Christ).
"Just as the word ’day’ in Gen 1:5 has both a broad sense (a 24-hour day-’And the evening and the morning were the first day’) and a narrow sense (the light part of a 24-hour day in contrast with the darkness part-’And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night’)-so the expression ’the Day of the Lord’ has both a broad and a narrow sense in relationship to the future." [Note: Showers, Maranatha . . ., p. 35.]
Some posttribulationists say the day of the Lord here refers only to the second coming of Christ. [Note: Ladd, pp. 92-94.] However in the context this day will be a time when God will pour out His wrath on unbelievers (1Th 5:3-9). While this could refer to the judgments that will take place at Christ’s second coming, it seems more likely to refer to the judgments of the Tribulation (cf. Mat 24:5-28; Rev 6:16-17). [Note: Reese, pp. 172-73.] Gundry contended that the day of the Lord begins after the Tribulation but before Armageddon. [Note: Gundry, p. 95.] However this means that none of the judgments before Armageddon are judgments of the day of the Lord, a conclusion that few interpreters, posttribulational as well as pretribulational, have accepted. [Note: See Paul D. Feinberg, "Dispensational Theology and the Rapture," in Issues in Dispensationalism, pp. 225-45, for a critique of Gundry’s view, the views of posttribulationists Douglas J. Moo and William E. Bell, and the view of midtribulationist Gleason F. Archer.]
"The only way to hold that this meeting with Christ in the air is an imminent prospect is to see it as simultaneous with the beginning of the divine judgment against earth. Only if the rapture coincides with the beginning of the day of the Lord can both be imminent and the salvation of those in Christ coincide with the coming of wrath to the rest (1Th 5:9) . . .
"Were either the rapture or the day of the Lord to precede the other, one or the other would cease to be an imminent prospect to which the ’thief in the night’ and related expressions (1Th 1:10; 1Th 4:15; 1Th 4:17) are inappropriate. That both are any-moment possibilities is why Paul can talk about these two in successive paragraphs. This is how the Lord’s personal coming as well as the ’day’s’ coming can be compared to a thief ([Mat 24:36-43; Luk 12:35-40;] 2Pe 3:4; 2Pe 3:10; Rev 3:3; Rev 3:11; Rev 16:15)." [Note: Thomas, p. 281. Cf. Walvoord, The Thessalonian . . ., p. 54.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 12
THE DAY OF THE LORD
1Th 5:1-11 (R.V.)
THE last verses of the fourth chapter perfect that which is lacking, on one side, in the faith of the Thessalonians. The Apostle addresses himself to the ignorance of his readers: he instructs them more fully on the circumstances of Christs second coming; and he bids them comfort one another with the sure hope that they and their departed friends shall meet, never to part, in the kingdom of the Saviour. In the passage before us he perfects what is lacking to their faith on another side. He addresses himself, not to their ignorance, but to their knowledge; and he instructs them how to improve, instead of abusing, both what they knew and what they were ignorant of, in regard to the last Advent. It had led, in some, to curious inquiries; in others, to a moral restlessness which could not bind itself patiently to duty; yet its true fruit, the Apostle tells them, ought to be hope, watchfulness, and sobriety.
“The day of the Lord” is a famous expression in the Old Testament; it runs through all prophecy, and is one of its most characteristic ideas. It means a day which belongs in a peculiar sense to God: a day which He has chosen for the perfect manifestation of Himself, for the thorough working out of His work among men. It is impossible to combine in one picture all the traits which prophets of different ages, from Amos downward, embody in their representations of this great day. It is heralded, as a rule, by terrific phenomena in nature: the sun is turned into darkness and the moon into blood, and the stars withdraw their light; we read of earthquake and tempest, of blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The great day ushers in the deliverance of Gods people from all their enemies; and it is accompanied by a terrible sifting process, which separates the sinners and hypocrites among the holy people from those who are truly the Lords. Wherever it appears, the day of the Lord has the character of finality. It is a supreme manifestation of judgment, in which the wicked perish forever; it is a supreme manifestation of grace, in which a new and unchangeable life of blessedness is opened to the righteous. Sometimes it seemed near to the prophet, and sometimes far off; but near or far, it bounded his horizon; he saw nothing beyond. It was the end of one era, and the beginning of another which should have no end.
This great conception is carried over by the Apostle from the Old Testament to the New. The day of the Lord is identified with the Return of Christ. All the contents of that old conception are carried over along with it. Christs return bounds the Apostles horizon; it is the final revelation of the mercy and judgment of God. There is sudden destruction in it for some, a darkness in which there is no light at all; and for others, eternal salvation, a light in which there is no darkness at all. It is the end of the present order of things, and the beginning of a new and eternal order. All this the Thessalonians knew; they had been carefully taught it by the Apostle. He did not need to write such elementary truths, nor did he need to say anything about the times and seasons which the Father had kept in His own power. They knew perfectly all that had been revealed on this matter, viz., that the day of the Lord comes exactly as a thief in the night. Suddenly, unexpectedly, giving a shock of alarm and terror to those whom it finds unprepared, -in such wise it breaks upon the world. The telling image, so frequent with the Apostles, was derived from the Master Himself; we can imagine the solemnity with which Christ said, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” The New Testament tells us everywhere that men will be taken at unawares by the final revelation of Christ as Judge and Saviour; and in so doing, it enforces with all possible earnestness the duty of watching. False security is so easy, so natural, -looking to the general attitude, even of Christian men, to this truth, one is tempted to say, so inevitable, -that it may well seem. vain to urge the duty of watchfulness more. As it was in the days of Noah, as it was in the days of Lot, as it was-when Jerusalem fell, as it is at this moment, so shall it be at the day of the Lord. Men will say, Peace and safety, though every sign of the times says, Judgment. They will eat and drink, plant and build, marry and be given in marriage, with their whole heart concentrated and absorbed in these transient interests, till in a moment suddenly, like the lightning which flashes from east to west, the sign of the Son of Man is seen in heaven. Instead of peace and safety, sudden destruction surprises them; all that they have lived for passes away; they awake, as from deep sleep, to discover that their soul has no part with God. It is too late then to think of preparing for the end: the end has come; and it is with solemn emphasis the Apostle adds, “They shall in no wise escape.”
A doom so awful, a life so evil, cannot be the destiny or the duty of any Christian man. “Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” Darkness, in that saying of the Apostle, has a double weight of meaning. The Christian is not in ignorance of what is impending, and forewarned is forearmed. Neither is he any longer in moral darkness, plunged in vice, living a life the first necessity of which is to keep out of Gods sight. Once the Thessalonians had been in such darkness; their souls had had their part in a world sunk in sin, on which the day spring from on high had not risen; but now that time was past. God had shined into their hearts; He who is Himself light had poured the radiance of His own love and truth into them till ignorance, vice, and wickedness had passed away, and they had become light in the Lord. How intimate is the relation between the Christian and God, how complete the regeneration, expressed in the words, “Ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness”! There are shady things in the world, and shady persons, but they are not in Christianity, or among Christians. The true Christian takes his nature, all that characterises and distinguishes him, from light. There is no darkness in him, nothing to hide, no guilty secret, no corner of his being into which the light of God has not penetrated, nothing that makes him dread exposure. His whole nature is full of light, transparently luminous, so that it is impossible to surprise him or take him at a disadvantage. This, at least, is his ideal character; to this he is called, and this he makes his aim. There are those, the Apostle implies, who take their character from night and darkness, -men with souls that hide from God, that love secrecy, that have much to remember they dare not speak of, that turn with instinctive aversion from the light which the gospel brings, and the sincerity and openness which it claims; men, in short, who have come to love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. The day of the Lord will certainly be a surprise to them; it will smite them with sudden terror, as the midnight thief, breaking unseen through door or window, terrifies the defenceless householder; it will overwhelm them with despair, because it will come as a great and searching light, -a day on which God will bring every hidden thing to view, and judge the secrets of mens hearts by Christ Jesus. For those who have lived in darkness the surprise will be inevitable; but what surprise can there be for the children of the light? They are partakers of the Divine nature; there is nothing in their souls which they would not have God know; the light that shines from the great white throne will discover nothing in them to which its searching brightness is unwelcome; Christs coming is so far from. disconcerting them that it is really the crowning of their hopes.
The Apostle demands of his disciples conduct answering to this ideal. Walk worthy, he says, of your privileges and of your calling. “Let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober.” “Sleep” is certainly a strange word to describe the life of the worldly man. He probably thinks himself very wide awake, and as far as a certain circle of interests is concerned, probably is so. The children of this world, Jesus tells us, are wonderfully wise for their generation. They are more shrewd and more enterprising than the children of light. But what a stupor falls upon them, what a lethargy, what a deep unconscious slumber, when the interests in view are spiritual. The claims of God, the future of the soul, the coming of Christ, our manifestation at His judgment seat, they are not awake to any concern in these. They live on as if these were not realities at all; if they pass through their minds on occasion, as they look at the Bible or listen to a sermon, it is as dreams pass through the mind of one asleep; they go out and shake themselves, and all is over; earth has recovered its solidity, and the airy unrealities have passed away. Philosophers have amused themselves with the difficulty of finding a scientific criterion between the experiences of the sleeping and the waking state, i.e., a means of distinguishing between the kind of reality which belongs to each; it is at least one element of sanity to be able to make the distinction. If we may enlarge the ideas of sleep and waking, as they are enlarged by the Apostle in this passage, it is a distinction which many fail to make. When they have the ideas which make up the staple of revelation presented to them, they feel as if they were in dreamland; there is no substance to them in a page of St. Paul; they cannot grasp the realities that underlie his words, any more than they can grasp the forms which swept before their minds in last nights sleep. But when they go out to their work in the world, to deal in commodities, to handle money, then they are in the sphere of real things, and wide awake enough. Yet the sound mind will reverse their decisions. It is the visible things that are unreal and that ultimately pass away; the spiritual things-God, Christ, the human soul, faith, love, hope-that abide. Let us not face our life in that sleepy mood to which the spiritual is but a dream; on the contrary, as we are of the day, let us be wide awake and sober. The world is full of illusions, of shadows which impose themselves as substances upon the heedless, of gilded trifles which the man whose eyes are heavy with sleep accepts as gold; but the Christian ought not to be thus deceived. Look to the coming of the Lord, Paul says, and do not sleep through your days, like the heathen, making your life one long delusion; taking the transitory for the eternal, and regarding the eternal as a dream; that is the way to be surprised with sudden destruction at the last; watch and be sober; and you will not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
It may not be out of place to insist on the fact that “sober” in this passage means sober as opposed to drunk. No one would wish to be overtaken drunk by any great occasion; yet the day of the Lord is associated in at least three passages of Scripture with a warning against this gross sin. “Take heed to yourselves,” the Master says, “lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare.” “The night is far spent,” says the Apostle, “the day is at hand Let us walk honestly as in the day; not in revelling and drunkenness.” And in this passage: “Let us, since we are of the day, be sober; they that be drunken are drunken in the night.” The conscience of men is awakening to the sin of excess, but it has much to do before it comes to the New Testament standard. Does it not help us to see it in its true light when it is thus confronted with the day of the Lord? What horror could be more awful than to be overtaken in this state? What death is more terrible to contemplate than one which is not so very rare-death in drink?
Wakefulness and sobriety do not exhaust the demands made upon the Christian. He is also to be on his guard. “Put on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.” While waiting for the Lords coming, the Christian waits in a hostile world. He is exposed to assault from spiritual enemies who aim at nothing less than his life, and he needs to be protected against them. In the very beginning of this letter we came upon the three Christian graces; the Thessalonians were commended for their work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. There they were represented as active powers in the Christian life, each manifesting its presence by some appropriate work, or some notable fruit of character; here they constitute a defensive armour by which the Christian is shielded against any mortal assault. We cannot press the figure further than this. If we keep our faith in Jesus Christ, if we love one another, if our hearts are set with confident hope on that salvation which is to be brought to us at Christs appearing, we need fear no evil; no foe can touch our life. It is remarkable, I think, that both here and in the famous passage in Ephesians, as well as in the original of both in Isa 59:17, salvation, or, to be more precise, the hope of salvation, is made the helmet. The Apostle is very free in his comparisons; faith is now a shield, and now a breastplate; the breastplate in one passage is faith and love, and in another righteousness; but the helmet is always the same. Without hope, he would say to us, no man can hold up his head in the battle; and the Christian hope is always Christs second coming. If He is not to come again, the very word hope may be blotted out of the New Testament. This assured grasp on the coming salvation-a salvation ready to be revealed in the last times-is what gives the spirit of victory to the Christian even in the darkest hour.
The mention of salvation brings the Apostle back to his principal subject. It is as if he wrote, “for a helmet the hope of salvation; salvation, I say; for God did not appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The day of the Lord is indeed a day of wrath, -a day when men will cry to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath is come. The Apostle cannot remember it for any purpose without getting a glimpse of those terrors; but it is not for these he recalls it at this time. God did not appoint Christians to the wrath of that day, but to its salvation, -a salvation the hope of which is to cover their heads in the day of battle.
The next verse-the tenth-has the peculiar interest of containing the only hint to be found in this early Epistle of Pauls teaching as to the mode of salvation. We obtain it through Jesus Christ, who died for us. It is not who died instead of us, nor even on our behalf (), but, according to the true reading, who died a death in which we are concerned. It is the most vague expression that could have been used to signify that Christs death had something to do with our salvation. Of course it does not follow that Paul had said no more to the Thessalonians than he indicates here; judging from the account he gives in 1st Corinthians of his preaching immediately after he left Thessalonica, one would suppose he had been much more explicit; certainly no church ever existed that was not based on the Atonement and the Resurrection. In point of fact, however, what is here made prominent is not the mode of salvation, but one special result of salvation as accomplished by Christs death, a result contemplated by Christ, and pertinent to the purpose of this letter; He died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should together live with Him. The same conception precisely is found in Rom 14:9 : “To this end Christ died, and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” This was His aim in redeeming us by passing through all modes of human existence, seen and unseen. It made Him Lord of all. He filled all things. He claims all modes of existence as His own. Nothing separates from Him. Whether we sleep or wake, whether we live or die, we shall alike live with Him. The strong consolation, to impart which was the Apostles original motive in approaching this subject, has thus come uppermost again; in the circumstances of the church, it is this which lies nearest to his heart.
He ends, therefore, with the old exhortation: “Comfort one another, and build each other up, as also ye do.” The knowledge of the truth is one thing; the Christian use of it is another: if we cannot help one another very much with the first, there is more in our power with regard to the last. We are not ignorant of Christs second coming; of its awful and consoling circumstances; of its final judgment and final mercy; of its final separations and final unions. Why have these things been revealed to us? What influence are they meant to have in our lives? They ought to be consoling and strengthening. They ought to banish hopeless sorrow. They ought to generate and sustain an earnest, sober, watchful spirit; strong patience; a complete independence of this world. It is left to us as Christian men to assist each other in the appropriation and application of these great truths. Let us fix our minds upon them. Our salvation is nearer than when we believed. Christ is coming. There will be a gathering together of all His people unto Him. The living and the dead shall be forever with the Lord. Of the times and the seasons we can say no more than could be said at the beginning; the Father has kept them in His own power; it remains with us to watch and be sober; to arm ourselves with faith, love, and hope; to set our mind on the things that are above, where our true country is, whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.