EXHORTATION TO PURITY AND BROTHERLY LOVE. THE SECOND ADVENT
1. 'You are already walking in the right path. I want you to advance
in it more and more.'
3, 4. Translate, 'For this is a thing willed by God, even your
sanctification, that ye shall abstain from fornication (cp. Acts
15:20), that each o... [ Continue Reading ]
LUST OF CONCUPISCENCE] RV 'passion of lust.'... [ Continue Reading ]
GO BEYOND AND DEFRAUD] RV 'overreach (mg.), and wrong' (i.e. by his
sin). _Any_] should certainly be 'this.'... [ Continue Reading ]
Better, 'For God called us not for uncleanness, but to be in a state
of purity.'
WHO HATH ALSO GIVEN] better, 'who is ever giving' (present tense).
This passage (1 Thessalonians 4:3) contains in brief a statement of
the Christian doctrine of purity. Impurity is, (1) (from the point of
view of the... [ Continue Reading ]
BROTHERLY LOVE] better, 'love of the brethren'; i.e. the special love
to be shown towards all the members of the Church.... [ Continue Reading ]
IN ALL MACEDONIA] These words imply that there were other Churches
there besides those of which we read in the Acts. They also show that
these Churches were not isolated. The idea of a Catholic Church is
growing.... [ Continue Reading ]
STUDY] better, 'strive earnestly.' Religious excitement, especially in
view of the expected coming of Christ, was a danger to the
Thessalonian Church (2 Thessalonians 3:12). It caused neglect of 'the
duty of everyday.'... [ Continue Reading ]
Work would give them, (1) respect in the eyes of their heathen
neighbours (THEM THAT ARE WITHOUT); (2) independence (Ephesians 4:28).
HONESTLY] or, as we should now say, 'honourably.'
1 THESSALONIANS 4:13 TO 1 THESSALONIANS 5:11. The Second Advent. The
dead in Christ will rise before the living, an... [ Continue Reading ]
ARE ASLEEP] better, 'are lying asleep.' The Thessalonians were anxious
as to the part which those who had died in the Faith would take in the
Second Advent, which was believed to be near at hand. OTHERS] better,
'all the rest,' i.e. the heathen who, even if they believed in some
sort of an existence... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH SLEEP IN JESUS] better, 'that are fallen asleep through Jesus,'
i.e. in communion with Him.... [ Continue Reading ]
PREVENT] better, 'be before,' i.e. the dead, about whom you are
anxious, will be at no disadvantage at the Advent, so far as its
blessedness is concerned.... [ Continue Reading ]
Cp. Matthew 24:30; Matthew 24:31. At the Resurrection of the Just the
dead will rise before the living: see 1 Corinthians 15:51 regarding
the spiritual body.... [ Continue Reading ]