INTRODUCTION TO 1 THESSALONIANS 3 In this chapter the apostle expresses his great love to the Thessalonians, by sending Timothy to then, to establish and comfort them; and declares his satisfaction with the things he brought of them, and concludes the chapter with fervent prayers for them: such was... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE WHEN WE COULD NO LONGER FORBEAR,.... Or "bear", as the word properly signifies; or "bear that", as the Ethiopic version reads; that is, "that desire", as the Arabic version renders it; that ardent and longing desire of seeing them again, expressed in the latter part of the preceding chapte... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SENT TIMOTHEUS OUR BROTHER,.... In a spiritual relation, having the same heavenly Father, and belonging to the same Jerusalem, which is free, and the mother of us all; of the same household and in the same relation to Christ, the firstborn among many brethren; or their brother in the ministry, w... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT NO MAN SHOULD BE MOVED BY THESE AFFLICTIONS,.... Which the apostle endured for the sake of preaching the Gospel among them, and which he feared might be a means of troubling their minds, of shaking their faith, and moving them from the hope of the Gospel; for though none of these things moved h... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR, VERILY, WHEN WE WERE WITH YOU,.... In presence, in person, as they then were in heart and affection; when they were first among them, and preached the Gospel to them: WE TOLD YOU BEFORE; before it came to pass; THAT WE SHOULD SUFFER TRIBULATION: which they might say by virtue of Christ's pred... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS CAUSE, WHEN I COULD NO LONGER FORBEAR,.... Or "bear" the above vehement desire of seeing them, or of hearing from them. Here the apostle speaks in the singular number, and seems to intimate, as if what was said before of the like kind is to be understood singly of him; for these words are a... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT NOW WHEN TIMOTHEUS CAME FROM YOU UNTO US,.... At Corinth, as appears from Acts 18:5 which shows that this epistle was not written from Athens, as the subscription to it asserts, but from Corinth; for as soon as ever Timothy came from Thessalonica, to the apostle at Corinth, and made the report t... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE, BRETHREN, WE WERE COMFORTED OVER, YOU,.... Or "in you", as the Vulgate Latin version; or "from you", as the Arabic; or "by you", as the Syriac; or "for you", as the Ethiopic; that is, on account of them, either by what they had heard was in them, or had heard from them. This gave abundant... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR NOW WE LIVE,.... Before they were dead men, lifeless, disconsolate, dispirited, carrying about with them the dying of the Lord Jesus, and death working in them, and they, as it were, under the sentence of that, being killed all the day long for Christ's sake; but now, upon this news, in the mids... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHAT THANKS CAN WE RENDER TO GOD AGAIN OR YOU,.... They had given thanks to God for them before, for their faith, love, and patience; see 1 Thessalonians 1:2 and now having received a further account of them, they looked upon themselves bound to give fresh thanks to God for them, for the increas... [ Continue Reading ]
NIGHT AND DAY PRAYING EXCEEDINGLY,.... This good news, not only comforted their hearts, and revived their spirits, and filled them with joy and thankfulness, but also sent them to the throne of grace to pray without ceasing, continually, night and day, and as often as they went thither, and that wit... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW GOD HIMSELF, AND OUR FATHER,.... The Oriental versions leave out the copulative "and", and read, "God himself, our Father" the first person in the Trinity, who is God himself, truly and properly so; and who is a God that hears prayer; and who is omnipotent, and able to do more than the saints ca... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD MAKE YOU TO INCREASE,.... That is, the Lord the Spirit; so that the object of prayer, addressed by the apostle, is Father, Son, and Spirit, as in Revelation 1:4. The Alexandrian copy reads "God". The Spirit is God, equally with the Father and the Son, and so a fit object of prayer with... [ Continue Reading ]
TO THE END HE MAY STABLISH YOUR HEARTS,.... Which are very unstable and inconstant in their frames, and in the exercise of grace, and have need to be established in the love of God, against the fears of men, the frowns of the world, the temptations of Satan, and in, and with the doctrines of grace;... [ Continue Reading ]