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?" (Luke 21:7). The Thessalonians had been fully taught by Paul that the time of the Lord's coming was unre... [ Continue Reading ]
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. [Here is an echo from the lips of Jesus (Matthew 24:36-51; Luke 12:39-40). See also 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3. The coming of the thief implies our loss, if he catches his asleep and unprepared. How fearful o... [ Continue Reading ]
When they [the thoughtless and careless] _are saying, Peace and safety_ [i. e., there is no ground for apprehension], _then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape_.... [ Continue Reading ]
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake [surprise]_ you as a thief_ :... [ Continue Reading ]
for ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness;... [ Continue Reading ]
so then let us not sleep, as do the rest [the pagans]_, but let us watch and be sober_.... [ Continue Reading ]
For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that are drunken are drunken in the night.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. [The idea that the thief comes in the night as set forth in verse 2 suggests the thought that those that live in the night must find it hard to guard against him. But... [ Continue Reading ]
For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,... [ Continue Reading ]
who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep [live or die before his coming]_, we should live together with him_. [This verse is suggested by the word "salvation" which precedes it. The hope of salvation may well defend us in the hour of temptation, and it should be strong enough to do so, for Go... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do. [As Paul closed his main teaching about his Lord's coming with an injunction that the Thessalonians comfort each other with it (1 Thessalonians 4:18), so he closes this afterpiece to it with a similar injunction that because... [ Continue Reading ]
But we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;... [ Continue Reading ]
and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work's sake. [Paul here admonishes the church as to how it shall treat its elders. He bids the church recognize their leadership, respect them, and hold them in affection because of the blessed and divine work which they were discharging, the wor... [ Continue Reading ]
And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be longsuffering toward all. [The word "disorderly" describes the soldier who does not remain in the ranks; it is the following out of the military figure introduced at verse 8. The whole is an admoni... [ Continue Reading ]
See that none render unto any one evil for evil [Christians are repeatedly bidden to return good for evil (Matthew 5:38-48; Romans 12:19-21; 1 Peter 2:18-25). "See that" puts the Thessalonians on notice that the practice of retaliation or revenge was apt to creep in unawares, and so it was, for pers... [ Continue Reading ]
Rejoice always [A short time previous to Paul's letter the Thessalonian Christians had all been pagans, and as such, under similar conditions of distress and persecutions, would have been apt to seek escape from their troubles by suicide; but now they are bidden to make their sufferings for Christ a... [ Continue Reading ]
pray without ceasing [This not only means to observe habitual seasons of prayer, and to cultivate a disposition to pray, but to be ever in a prayerful spirit, to have constantly a subconsciousness of the presence of God. Compare 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 4... [ Continue Reading ]
in everything give thanks [not for peace and prosperity only, but also for affliction and persecution (Acts 5:41), and as did Paul and Silas at Philippi-- Acts 16:25]: _for this_ [the discharge of the three duties just named] _is the will_ [desire] _of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Quench not the Spirit [as fire may be smothered out by overwhelming it with noncombustible matter, so the Spirit of God in the breast of a man may be quenched by overloading the life with worldly cares];... [ Continue Reading ]
despise not prophesyings [Prophesyings were instructions given through inspired men, and included moral and spiritual precepts as well as predictions as to the future. Such instructors stood next in rank to the apostles (1 Corinthians 12:28). Compare also Ephesians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; 1 Cori... [ Continue Reading ]
prove all things; hold fast that which is good [Sift the bad from the good (1 John 4:1-13), and cherish the good. To this corresponds the "unwritten saying" attributed to Jesus, "Show yourselves approved money-changers;" i. e., distinguish between the true coin and the counterfeit. Surely such advic... [ Continue Reading ]
abstain from every form of evil. [These words close the sentence; the full thought is this: despise no prophecy, but prove it; if it is good, hold fast to it, but abstain from every form of evil teaching or practice.]... [ Continue Reading ]
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. [May God, who makes peace between himself and mankind, himself prepare you for his judgment-day, making your entire being, in all its thr... [ Continue Reading ]
Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it. [If God were not thus faithful to sanctify and preserve blameless, it would be useless for him to call us; for it is certain that left to ourselves we can not keep ourselves from sin and evil-doing. This faithfulness is elsewhere noted (1 Corinth... [ Continue Reading ]
Brethren, pray for us. [It was Paul's habit to ask for the prayers of those to whom he wrote (Romans 15:30; 2 Corinthians 1:11; Ephesians 6:19; Colossians 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:1). Compare Hebrews 13:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
Salute all the brethren with a holy kiss. [In the East, a kiss was and still is a common salutation among kindred and near friends. Paul did not, by this command, create a church ordinance or ceremony; nor did he even create a new custom. He merely injected a spiritual virtue into an old-established... [ Continue Reading ]
I adjure you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the brethren. [The importance of the Epistle is shown by the solemnity of the adjuration. The command in this, the first of the Epistles, is fittingly echoed in the last written of the New Testament books. See Revelation 1:3. They suggest t... [ Continue Reading ]
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. [This is the benediction with which Paul closes most of his Epistles. It is a prayer that they may have all the blessings which the loving favor of God can bestow.]... [ Continue Reading ]