@1Th 4:1-18. EXHORTATIONS TO CHASTITY; BROTHERLY LOVE; QUIET INDUSTRY; ABSTINENCE FROM UNDUE SORROW FOR DEPARTED FRIENDS, FOR AT CHRIST'S COMING ALL HIS SAINTS SHALL BE GLORIFIED.
1. Furthermore--Greek, "As to what remains." Generally used
towards the close of his Epistles (@Eph 6:10 Php 4:8).
then--with a view to the love and holiness (@1Th 3:12,13)
which we have just prayed for in your behalf, we now give you
exhortation.
beseech--"ask" as if it were a personal favor.
by, &c.--rather as Greek, "IN the Lord Jesus"; in communion
with the Lord Jesus, as Christian ministers dealing with Christian
people [EDMUNDS].
as ye . . . received--when we were with you (@1Th 2:13).
how--Greek, the "how," that is, the manner.
walk and . . . please God--that is, "and so please God," namely,
by your walk; in contrast to the Jews who "please not God" (@1Th 2:15).
The oldest manuscripts add a clause here, "even as also ye do walk"
(compare @1Th 4:10 5:11). These words, which he was able to say of
them with truth, conciliate a favorable hearing for the precepts which
follow. Also the expression, "abound more and more," implies that
there had gone before a recognition of their already in some measure
walking so.
2. by the Lord Jesus--by His authority and direction, not by our own. He uses the strong term, "commandments," in writing to this Church not long founded, knowing that they would take it in a right spirit, and feeling it desirable that they should understand he spake with divine authority. He seldom uses the term in writing subsequently, when his authority was established, to other churches. @1Co 7:10 11:17 and @1Ti 1:5 (@1Th 4:18, where the subject accounts for the strong expression) are the exceptions. "The Lord" marks His paramount authority, requiring implicit obedience.
3. For--enforcing the assertion that his "commandments" were "by
(the authority of) the Lord Jesus"
(@1Th 4:2). Since "this is the will
of God," let it be your will also.
fornication--not regarded as a sin at all among the heathen, and so
needing the more to be denounced (@Ac 15:20).
4. know--by moral self-control.
how to possess his vessel--rather as Greek, "how to acquire (get for himself) his own vessel," that is, that each should have
his own wife so as to avoid fornication (@1Th 4:3 1Co 7:2). The
emphatical position of "his own" in the Greek, and the use of
"vessel" for wife, in @1Pe 3:7, and in common Jewish phraseology,
and the correct translation "acquire," all justify this rendering.
in sanctification--(@Ro 6:19 1Co 6:15,18). Thus, "his own"
stands in opposition to dishonoring his brother by lusting after his wife (@1Th 4:6).
honour--(@Heb 13:4) contrasted with "dishonor their own bodies"
(@Ro 1:24).
5. in the lust--Greek, "passion"; which implies that such a one
is unconsciously the passive slave of lust.
which know not God--and so know no better. Ignorance of true religion
is the parent of unchastity (@Eph 4:18,19). A people's morals are
like the objects of their worship (@De 7:26 Ps 115:8 Ro 1:23,24).
6. go beyond--transgress the bounds of rectitude in respect to his
"brother."
defraud--"overreach" [ALFORD]; "take advantage of"
[EDMUNDS].
in any matter--rather as Greek, "in the matter"; a decorous
expression for the matter now in question; the conjugal honor of his
neighbor as a husband, @1Th 4:4;
@1Th 4:7 also confirms this view; the word "brother" enhances the
enormity of the crime. It is your brother whom you wrong (compare
@Pr 6:27-33).
the Lord--the coming Judge (@2Th 1:7,8).
avenger--the Righter.
of all such--Greek, "concerning all these things;" in all
such cases of wrongs against a neighbor's conjugal honor.
testified--Greek, "constantly testified
[ALFORD].
7. unto uncleanness--Greek, "for the purpose of."
unto--rather as Greek, "in"; marking that "holiness" is the
element in which our calling has place; in a sphere of holiness.
Saint is another name for Christian.
8. despiseth, &c.--Greek, "setteth at naught" such engagements
imposed on him in his calling, @1Th 4:7; in relation to his "brother,"
@1Th 4:6. He who doth so, "sets at naught not man
(as for instance his brother), but God"
(@Ps 51:4) is used of despising or
rejecting God's minister, it may mean here, "He who despiseth" or
"rejecteth" these our ministerial precepts.
who hath also given unto us--So some oldest manuscripts read, but
most oldest manuscripts read, "Who (without 'also') giveth (present)
unto you" (not "us").
his Spirit--Greek, "His own Spirit, the Holy (One)"; thus
emphatically marking "holiness" (@1Th 4:7) as the end for which the
Holy (One) is being given. "Unto you," in the Greek, implies that
the Spirit is being given unto, into (put "into" your hearts),
and among you (compare @1Th 2:9 Eph 4:30). "Giveth" implies that
sanctification is not merely a work once for all accomplished in the
past, but a present progressive work. So the Church of England
Catechism, "sanctifieth (present) all the elect people of God." "His
own" implies that as He gives you that which is essentially identical
with Himself, He expects you should become like Himself
(@1Pe 1:16 2Pe 1:4).
9. brotherly love, &c.--referring here to acts of brotherly kindness
in relieving distressed brethren. Some oldest manuscripts support
English Version reading, "YE have"; others, and those the
weightiest, read, "WE have."
We need not write, as ye yourselves are taught, and that by God: namely, in the heart by the Holy Spirit
(@Joh 6:45 Heb 8:11 1Jo 2:20,27).
to love--Greek, "with a view to," or "to the end of your loving
one another." Divine teachings have their confluence in love
[BENGEL].
10. And indeed--Greek, "For even."
11. study to be quiet--Greek, "make it your ambition to be
quiet, and to do your own business." In direct contrast to the
world's ambition, which is, "to make a great stir," and "to be
busybodies" (@2Th 3:11,12).
work with your own hands--The Thessalonian converts were, it thus
seems, chiefly of the working classes. Their expectation of the
immediate coming of Christ led some enthusiasts among them to neglect
their daily work and be dependent on the bounty of others. See end of
@1Th 4:12. The expectation was right in so far as that the Church
should be always looking for Him; but they were wrong in making it a
ground for neglecting their daily work. The evil, as it subsequently
became worse, is more strongly reproved in @2Th 3:6-12.
12. honestly--in the Old English sense, "becomingly," as
becomes your Christian profession; not bringing discredit on it in the
eyes of the outer world, as if Christianity led to sloth and poverty
(@Ro 13:13 1Pe 2:12).
them . . . without--outside the Christian Church (@Mr 4:11).
have lack of nothing--not have to beg from others for the supply of
your wants (compare @Eph 4:28). So far from needing to beg from
others, we ought to work and get the means of supplying the need of
others. Freedom from pecuniary embarrassment is to be desired by the
Christian on account of the liberty which it bestows.
13. The leading topic of Paul's preaching at Thessalonica having
been the coming kingdom (@Ac 17:7), some perverted it into a
cause for fear in respect to friends lately deceased, as if these would
be excluded from the glory which those found alive alone should share.
This error Paul here corrects (compare @1Th 5:10).
I would not--All the oldest manuscripts and versions have "we would not." My fellow labourers (Silas and Timothy) and myself desire
that ye should not be ignorant.
them which are asleep--The oldest manuscripts read present tense, "them which are sleeping"; the same as "the dead in Christ"
(@1Th 4:16), to whose bodies (@Da 12:2, not their souls; @Ec 12:7 2Co 5:8) death is a calm and holy sleep, from which the
resurrection shall waken them to glory. The word "cemetery" means
a sleeping-place. Observe, the glory and chief hope of the Church are
not to be realized at death, but at the Lord's coming; one is not to
anticipate the other, but all are to be glorified together at Christ's
coming (@Col 3:4 Heb 11:40). Death affects the mere individual; but
the coming of Jesus the whole Church; at death our souls are invisibly
and individually with the Lord; at Christ's coming the whole Church,
with all its members, in body and soul, shall be visibly and
collectively with Him. As this is offered as a consolation to mourning
relatives, the mutual recognition of the saints at Christ's coming
is hereby implied.
that ye sorrow not, even as others--Greek, "the rest"; all the rest
of the world besides Christians. Not all natural mourning for dead
friends is forbidden: for the Lord Jesus and Paul sinlessly gave way to
it (@Joh 11:31,33,35 Php 2:27); but sorrow as though there were "no
hope," which indeed the heathen had not (@Eph 2:12): the Christian
hope here meant is that of the resurrection. @Ps 16:9,11 17:15 73:24 Pr 14:32, show that the Old Testament Church,
though not having the hope so bright (@Isa 38:18,19), yet
had this hope. Contrast CATULLUS
[Carmina 5.4], "When once our
brief day has set, we must sleep one everlasting night." The sepulchral
inscriptions of heathen Thessalonica express the hopeless view taken as
to those once dead: as AESCHYLUS writes, "Of one once dead there is no
resurrection." Whatever glimpses some heathen philosophers, had of the
existence of the soul after death, they had none whatever of the body
(@Ac 17:18,20,32).
14. For if--confirmation of his statement, @1Th 4:13, that the removal of ignorance as to the sleeping believers would remove undue grief respecting them. See @1Th 4:13, "hope." Hence it appears our hope rests on our faith ("if we believe"). "As surely as we all believe that Christ died and rose again (the very doctrine specified as taught at Thessalonica, @Ac 17:3), so also will God bring those laid to sleep by Jesus with Him (Jesus)." (So the order and balance of the members of the Greek sentence require us to translate). Believers are laid in sleep by Jesus, and so will be brought back from sleep with Jesus in His train when He comes. The disembodied souls are not here spoken of; the reference is to the sleeping bodies. The facts of Christ's experience are repeated in the believer's. He died and then rose: so believers shall die and then rise with Him. But in His case death is the term used, @1Co 15:3,6, &c.; in theirs, sleep; because His death has taken for them the sting from death. The same Hand that shall raise them is that which laid them to sleep. "Laid to sleep by Jesus," answers to "dead in Christ" (@1Th 4:16).
15. by the word of the Lord--Greek, "in," that is, in virtue of a direct revelation from the Lord to me. So @1Ki 20:35. This is
the "mystery," a truth once hidden, now revealed, which Paul shows
(@1Co 15:51,52).
prevent--that is, "anticipate." So far were the early Christians from
regarding their departed brethren as anticipating them in entering
glory, that they needed to be assured that those who remain to the
coming of the Lord "will not anticipate them that are asleep." The "we"
means whichever of us are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord. The Spirit designed that believers in each successive age should
live in continued expectation of the Lord's coming, not knowing but that
they should be among those found alive at His coming (@Mt 24:42).
It is a sad fall from this blessed hope, that death is looked for by
most men, rather than the coming of our Lord. Each successive
generation in its time and place represents the generation which shall
actually survive till His coming
(@Mt 25:13 Ro 13:11 1Co 15:51 Jas 5:9 1Pe 4:5,6). The Spirit
subsequently revealed by Paul that which is not inconsistent with the
expectation here taught of the Lord's coming at any time; namely, that
His coming would not be until there should be a "falling away first"
(@2Th 2:2,3); but as symptoms of this soon appeared, none could say
but that still this precursory event might be realized, and so the Lord
come in his day. Each successive revelation fills in the details of the
general outline first given. So Paul subsequently, while still looking
mainly for the Lord's coming to clothe him with his body from heaven,
looks for going to be with Christ in the meanwhile
(@2Co 5:1-10 Php 1:6,23 3:20,21 4:5).
EDMUNDS well says, The "we" is an
affectionate identifying of ourselves with our fellows of all ages, as
members of the same body, under the same Head, Christ Jesus. So
@Ho 12:4, "God spake with us in Beth-el," that is, with Israel.
"We did rejoice," that is, Israel at the Red Sea (@Ps 66:6).
Though neither Hosea, nor David, was alive at the times referred to, yet
each identifies himself with those that were present.
16. himself--in all the Majesty of His presence in person, not by
deputy.
descend--even as He ascended (@Ac 1:11).
with--Greek, "in," implying one concomitant circumstance attending
His appearing.
shout--Greek, "signal shout," "war shout." Jesus is represented
as a victorious King, giving the word of command to the hosts of heaven
in His train for the last onslaught, at His final triumph over sin,
death, and Satan (@Re 19:11-21).
the voice of . . . archangel--distinct from the
"signal shout." Michael is perhaps meant (@Jude 1:9 Re 12:7),
to whom especially is committed the guardianship of the people of God
(@Da 10:13).
trump of God--the trumpet blast which usually accompanies God's
manifestation in glory (@Ex 19:16 Ps 47:5); here the last of the
three accompaniments of His appearing: as the trumpet was used to
convene God's people to their solemn convocations (@Nu 10:2,10 31:6),
so here to summon God's elect together, preparatory to their
glorification with Christ (@Ps 50:1-5 Mt 24:31 1Co 15:52).
shall rise first--previously to the living being "caught up." The
"first" here has no reference to the first resurrection, as
contrasted with that of "the rest of the dead." That reference occurs
elsewhere (@Mt 13:41,42,50 Joh 5:29 1Co 15:23,24 Re 20:5,6); it
simply stands in opposition to "then," @1Th 4:17.
FIRST, "the
dead in Christ" shall rise,
THEN the living shall be caught up. The Lord's
people alone are spoken of here.
17. we which are alive . . . shall be caught up--after having been
"changed in a moment" (@1Co 15:51,52). Again he says, "we,"
recommending thus the expression to Christians of all ages, each
generation bequeathing to the succeeding one a continually increasing
obligation to look for the coming of the Lord. [EDMUNDS].
together with them--all together: the raised dead, and changed
living, forming one joint body.
in the clouds--Greek, "in clouds." The same honor is conferred
on them as on their Lord. As He was taken in a cloud at His ascension
(@Ac 1:9), so at His return with clouds (@Re 1:7), they shall be
caught up in clouds. The clouds are His and their triumphal chariot
(@Ps 104:3 Da 7:13). ELLICOTT
explains the Greek, "robed round
by upbearing clouds" [Aids to Faith].
in the air--rather, "into the air"; caught up into the region
just above the earth, where the meeting (compare @Mt 25:1,6)
shall take place between them ascending, and their Lord descending
towards the earth. Not that the air is to be the place of their
lasting abode with Him.
and so shall we ever be with the Lord--no more parting, and no more
going out (@Re 3:12). His point being established, that the dead in
Christ shall be on terms of equal advantage with those found alive at
Christ's coming, he leaves undefined here the other events foretold
elsewhere (as not being necessary to his discussion), Christ's reign on
earth with His saints (@1Co 6:2,3), the final judgment and
glorification of His saints in the new heaven and earth.
18. comfort one another--in your mourning for the dead (@1Th 4:13).