1 Thessalonians 5:1

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 Thessalonians 5:1. 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, Matthew 24:44; Matthew 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 Acts 1:6; Acts 1:7, it has already been shown that the χρονους η καιρους, 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.