1 Thessalonians 5

1 Thessalonians 5:1

The apostle strenuously exhorts the Thessalonians to a diligent preparation for that important day of Christ’s appearance, of which he had been discoursing above. 1 Thes. V. 1—11.

1 THESSALONIANS V. 1.

vii. I HAVE told you that the solemn day of universal judgment will certainly come, and have been endeavouring to lead your minds to those views of it which must be most reviving to every true believer: but concerning the particular times and seasons of this grand event, with which the economy of Providence in this world is to close, and some very wonderful occurrences which are to precede it, I am satisfied, my brethren, that you have no need of my writing to you accurately and largely. For ye yourselves do already assuredly know, as wher- 2 For yourselves know perfectly, that

ought not to sleep, but to watch and be sober.

ever we come, we make it one of our first doctrines, that the great day of the Lord, to which our eyes and hearts are so much directed, comes just like a thief in the night, and will surprise the inhabitants of the world in general by a dreadful alarm, when they are sleeping in the deepest security. For when they shall be most ready to say, All things about us are in perfect peace and safety, and no evil of any kind threatens us, then sudden destruction shall come upon them, and seize them as inevitably and painfully as travail comes upon a woman with child, whose days are accomplished, and they shall not be able by any means to escape it. But I am persuaded that you, my brethren, are not sleeping in darkness; but that, as you have the light of the gospel shining around you, it is your desire to act so agreeably to its dictates and to maintain such a sense of the great and important prospect it opens upon you, as to have no reason to apprehend, but that the day of which I speak, or the day of death, which shall consign you to its unalterable doom, should come upon you as a thief, or surprise you in an unprepared state. For ye are all by profession, the children of the light, and the children of the day, as ye call yourselves Christians, and I trust are so, not in name only, but in truth. Since we are not of the night, nor of darkness, if we really answer our profession, by which we are so indispensably obliged, to endeavour to resemble the Divine Being in holiness, and to maintain a temper and conduct which should not fear examination and discovery: Since this therefore is the case, let us answer the engagement, and not sleep as the rest of mankind [do;] but let us watch and be sober, that we may not be obnoxious to any unreasonable and unwelcome surprise. For they who sleep, generally choose to sleep in the night, and they who are drunken, if they have not quite outgrown

• Cometh like a thief.] Mr. Blackwall justly observes the remarkable emphasis of this passage. A thief comes upon people when they are bound in sleep, and they awake in amazement and confusion, being found unarmed and in an helpless posture: and the angels come upon a woman, when perhaps she is eating, drinking, or laughing, and thinks of nothing less than that hour. And here it is said, not that the day of the Lord will come thus, but that it is actually coming, which increases the awfulness of the representation. Blackwall’s Sac. Class. Vol. I. p. 209.

Christians are not appointed to wrath, ut te

all common sense of decency, are drunken in the night; whereas the day is the season of wakefulness, sobriety, and labour. Let us not therefore, by our negligent and dissolute behaviour, seem, as it were, to turn the day into night. But let us Christians, who, as I said before, are the children of the day, be sober, and keep on our guard against our spiritual enemies, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, which will defend us against their mortal attacks; and [for] an helmet, the lively hope of that eternal salvation which God hath promised, and which, if rightly understood, may be abundantly sufficient to bear us through all the dangers which may lie in our way to it.

And, blessed be God, there is room for arming ourselves with such an hope, for God hath not, as he justly might have done, destined us to bear for ever the final consequence of his wrath, to which our disobedience to him had rendered us obnoxious; but he hath been pleased to appoint us to the obtaining of that great salvation set before us in the gospel by our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath procured it for all true believers, and will assuredly at length bestow it upon them. Be therefore continually mindful of that compassionate Redeemer, who not only subjected himself to the many burdens and inconveniences of mortal life for our sakes, but even died in all the ignominy and agony of the cross for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him;ᵇ that while we live, or when we die, the life and happiness of our immortal souls should be secure, in an union to him which death itself shall never be able to dissolve. Therefore comfort yourselves and one another with the thoughts of this great salvation, and edify each to those continued

ᵇ Whether we wake or sleep, &c.] Some interpret this still more literally than I have done, as if he had said, “Whether Christ comes in the night, when we are sleeping on our beds, or in the day, when we are awake, and busy in the pursuit of our common affairs.” But as sleeping had just before been put for death, it seems more natural to interpret this clause, as speakin of the state of believers, whether

alive or dead. And then I think it must contain a direct proof of the life of the soul, while the body is sleeping in the grave. God forbid, that any should understand these words, as intimating that Christ’s death is intended to secure our salvation, whether we take any watchful care of it or not. Yet, alas, the generality of Christians live as if that were the genuine and only interpretation!

Reflections on our obligations to watchfulness.

one another, even as improvements in the life of holiness, which may correspond to so glorious a hope. This is most apparently your duty, and, as I know many good and valuable things of you, I am also persuaded that you do indeed make conscience of it.

IMPROVEMENT.

SINCE we continually see so many around us suddenly surprised into the eternal world, and fixed in that state in which judgment will find them, let us be very careful, that the day of the Lord may not overtake us as a thief, but that we maintain a continual watch. How many are at this hour speaking peace and safety to themselves, over whose heads instantaneous destruction is hovering, such a destruction that they shall never be able to escape, never able to recover from it!

Let us endeavour to awaken ourselves and each other. Are we not indeed all children of the day? Let us rouse ourselves, and use the light, that by it we may dispatch our labours, and, favoured by it, be guarded against the most sudden attacks of our spiritual enemies. Let us be sober and vigilant, lest our adversary the devil break in upon us by a surprise, which the unexpected weapons by which he attacks us may render yet more dangerous.

Our own armour is described and provided, if we seek it from the magazine of God. Let faith and love ever defend our breast. Let the hope of salvation cover our head. Let us adore the Divine clemency and mercy, that we are not appointed unto wrath, but enjoy the views of such a salvation, to be obtained by Jesus Christ. As he hath done his part to procure it for us, having died for this important purpose, let us exert ourselves to the utmost in our proper sphere for securing it, that we may lay hold on eternal life. Then may we be happily indifferent to life or death: while we continue in the body; when that is sleeping in the grave, and our souls remain in the invisible world; and when our sleeping dust shall be roused, and both soul and body live in unremitting vigour and energy, beyond the need of that repose which is now so necessary; still in each of these different states we shall live with him; and he will make the progression of the soul from one state of being to another, its progression to stages of increasing holiness and joy. In the persuasion of this, let us comfort, exhort, and edify each other, and we shall feel the energy of the exhortations we give, and the sweetness of the consolations we administer.

VOL. 5.

They should reverence their minister.

1 Thessalonians 5:12

The apostle concludes his epistle with a variety of exhortations and advices. 1 Thes. V. 12.

1 THESSALONIANS V. 12.

I HAVE exhorted you to endeavour to comfort and edify one another, but I would not by this be understood as intimating, either that the proper work of your ministers is to be taken out of their hands, or that any slight is to be put upon them in the execution of it. On the contrary, we beseech you, brethren, to know, to reverence, and respect those that labour among you in that important office, and preside over you in the name of the Lord; whose business it is publicly to instruct you, and personally to admonish you, as occasion shall require. It is in love to his church, that Christ hath appointed such officers, and you will find the benefit of their assistance in the whole of your Christian course. I would therefore advise and charge you to esteem them exceedingly in love, on the account of their work, in which they are the representatives of him who is the great Shepherd of the sheep. [And] for their sakes as well as your own, let me farther press you to be at peace with one another, and to guard against the first risings of any thing which might alienate your affections; as it is impossible for you to conceive how much mischief might spring up in the society, from causes of this kind, which may seem in their beginnings too inconsiderable to be regarded. And we also exhort you, brethren, that you would all in a

• Preside over you, &c.] Πνευματικε may signify those who preside over your assemblies and moderate in them. There were certainly many persons endowed with miraculous gifts in this church, and there might have been danger of great irregularities, such as prevailed in the church at Corinth, (chap. v. 19—21,) if some had not been appointed to preside over the rest during the time of public exercises. Such officers there also were in the Jewish syna-

gogues, as is well known. Compare 1Tim. v. 17. See Bar. Misc. Vol. I. p. 81—84, and the note on Heb. xiii. 17. But it is evident that ministers, by virtue of their general office, may be said to preside over Christian assemblies, even though there were no such peculiar need of their interposition, to moderate or direct the exercise of their gifts who were officiating in public.

peace, and behave suitably to their brethren.

proper manner concur with your pious ministers, overseers, and elders, in all proper acts of Christian discipline; and likewise that ye endeavour by private addresses, as Providence gives you an opportunity, to promote the interests of true religion in the hearts of each other. And in this view, admonish them that are disorderly,ᵇ and unruly, neglecting and proudly refusing to keep the rank which God hath assigned them; comfort the feeble minded, whose courage and resolution is ready to fail them, under the many difficulties with which in present circumstances you are surrounded; succour the weak and infirm, whether in body or mind, and be long suffering toward all, not ready to drive the justest censure to an excess, till every softer and more gentle method has been tried. And whatever injury any of you may have received, whether from professed friends, or from avowed enemies, see that no one render to any evil for evil, but always pursue that which is good; endeavouring to the utmost to promote the happiness of all about you. Maintain this temper both towards each other, that is, towards all your fellow Christians, and towards all men, not excepting your enemies and persecutors; sure by this means either to mollify their hearts, or at least to approve your own conduct in the sight of God, and to make whatever evil you suffer the occasion of obtaining from him blessings which will infinitely counterbalance it. And, in expectation of this, be always rejoicing,ᶜ in the midst of your trials and afflictions, knowing that your complete redemption is approaching, and that in the mean time you have always the presence of your God and your Saviour, from which you may derive unutterable satisfaction and delight, sufficient to support you under all your sufferings. And, in order to maintain and improve this holy joy, pray incessantly.ᵈ

ᵇ Are disorderly.] So ἀνέξει is properly rendered. It is well known to be a military term, expressing the character of soldiers who keep not their ranks, and will not know their colours

ᶜ Be always rejoicing.] The words ἀνέξει may express the form of a

salutation, as if he had said, may you always be prosperous and happy; but, as they are put among so many other short exhortations, I think this version much preferable.

ᵈ Pray incessantly.] That is, at all proper reasons. So the burnt offering presented

They should not quench the Holy Spirit

Be constant in your stated devotions at their returning seasons, and endeavour to keep your minds habitually prepared for those pious ejaculations, which have so happy a tendency to promote the Christian temper, or for any sudden call you may have to address yourselves more solemnly to the Divine Majesty. And, whatever your circumstances may be, remember not only your dependence on God, but your obligation to him, and in every thing give thanks; since it is certain you can never be encompassed with such afflictions as not to have much greater cause of thankfulness than complaint. And this cheerful, grateful spirit you should be concerned to maintain, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus, with regard to you Christians, as by giving you his Son, and with him all the invaluable blessings of his covenant, he has laid a foundation for perpetual thankfulness, that may justly support the demand.

Moreover, that this temper may be preserved in your minds, take heed that ye quench not the sacred flame of the Holy Spirit in any of his influences, as you know it is his great office to excite and maintain every pious and devout affection in the soul. Especially be careful, that ye do not damp it, by indulging in any degree to a sensual or malevolent disposition, which must so naturally provoke him to withdraw both his gifts and his graces. And, as a regular attendance on Divine ordinances will greatly tend to cherish his influences, and a neglect of public worship proportionably obstruct them, despise not the holy exercises of prophesyings, in which the ministers of Christ interpret scripture by a singular inspiration, or speak to men

every morning and evening, is called perpetual. Lev vi 20. Compare Luke xxiv. 5, with Acts ii. 46, 47. See also John xviii 20.

Quench not the Spirit.] This has generally been expounded as referring to the gifts of the Spirit, the exercise of which in themselves or others should not be hindered. Compare 1 Tim. iv. 14, 1 Cor. xiv 39. The phrase here used, according to some, particularly Lord Barrington, (Miscel. Sacr. Vol. I. p. 140.) has a reference to the descent of the Spirit as if flames of fire, as he supposes there may also be in the word ἀναξατυχία, 2 Tim. i. 6. See the note there.

I Despise not prophesyings.] This caution, as explained in the paraphrase, may perhaps intimate, that the neglect of a duty to regard to prophesyings, which some were too ready to despise, might be a means of blasting even those more splendid gifts which they might be tempted to prefer to them.

I Despise not prophesyings.] This caution, as explained in the paraphrase, may perhaps intimate, that the neglect of a duty to regard to prophesyings, which some were too ready to despise, might be a means of blasting even those more splendid gifts which they might be tempted to prefer to them.

They shou prove all things, and abstain from all evil.

by way of exhortation or comfort; but listen to them with reverence, and own the authority of God as speaking in his appointed messengers. Yet be upon your guard that ye are not imposed upon in an affair of so much importance, and take not every forward assertion for an oracle from God; but try all things with attention, examine the validity of the pretensions which are made to extraordinary inspiration, and when you have discussed them with impartiality and diligence, then resolutely hold ast that which is good, and be not prevailed upon to deny or reject it on any considerations.

Remember also, that, in order to preserve your innocence, it will be necessary to guard against circumstances of strong temptation, and things concerning the lawfulness of which you may have just suspicion, though you cannot absolutely pronounce them to be criminal. I exhort you therefore, as you value your safety, to abstain from all that has so much as the appearance of evil, and from whatever may be likely to prove the occasion of sin.

And while I thus urge you to proper diligence and caution on your part, I join to my counsels, my most ardent and affectionate prayers for you. May the God of peace himself, that God who hath now reconciled us, and is become the source of all prosperity and happiness, sanctify you entirely, in all the parts of your nature; and [I pray God that] your whole constitution, or frame, your rational spirit, your animal soul, and your body⁸ animated by it, may be so kept blameless by Divine grace now, as to be presented with the greatest honour and acceptance at the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ,

ution, &c.] I wish I w to render αλοκληρω allowed by το ανηυμα, at, as in our version, to jective to the first. It me of nature allotted ident, that the apos- g words, refers to a learned Vitringa has n, (*Vitr. Obs. lib. iii. among the rabbies as ers, that the person of

a man was constituted of three distin stances, the rational spirit, the anim and the visible body. He seems to su from Heb. iv. 12, the two former separated; and some have though he intimates, 1 Cor. xiv. 14, 15, tl may know what the other does not. is not a place to state or examine t tion at large; it certainly derives weight from this text. My curious r may consult, besides the comme Hallet on Script. Vol. I. p. 39, &c.

e prays or t em, and desires their prayer

whensoever it shall be. This I desire, and cheerfully hope it, for faithful [is] he who hath called you to the Christian faith, who also will do this; since [it] is what he has graciously promised to all true believers, whom he hath committed to the care of Christ, as their Shepherd, who will give them eternal life, and will raise them up in the last day.

This is the glorious gospel we preach, and, that we may be successful in preaching it, I entreat you, brethren, to pray for us; for we greatly need, and greatly value the prayers of our fellow Christians. And when ye assemble together, in token of your mutual affection, and agreeably to the custom which hath long prevailed, salute all the brethren present with an holy kiss; and let the sisters in like manner salute each other, taking care to conduct this action with the strictest modesty and propriety. As I write these things, not merely for the perusal of this or that particular friend into whose hands they may first fall, but for general use, and, as the importance of them is very great, I adjure you, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, committed to me, that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren of your church, at some time when you are all gathered together for Divine worship. And, that you may be sure it is genuine, I add with my own hand my general benediction. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] always with you, to support that principle of true Christianity which he hath implanted in your souls, till the purposes of his love be completed in your everlasting salvation. Amen.

IMPROVEMENT.

erse WHAT a variety of excellent instructions does this short section contain! yea, how much is expressed in some of its shortest sentences! But how hard is it for our degenerate hearts to learn 16 these lessons which so few words are sufficient to express! This 17 habitual joy in God, this constant disposition to prayer, this 18 thankful temper, that upon every call may overflow in thanks- 22 giving, this abstinence from every appearance of evil. " Blessed Lord! we need a better spirit than our own to teach us these 23 thin s. May the grace be with us, and may none of us quench

Reflections on the concluding section.

the Spirit, nor despise those ordinances which by his heavenly communications he so often owns !" Let us endeavour, by the daily importunity of prayer, to engage more of his efficacious and purifying influences, to sanctify the whole frame of our nature, our spirits, our souls, and our bodies ; that we may so understand and choose, so love and delight in Divine things, and maintain so regular and constant a command over our appetites of flesh and blood, and all the irregular propensities of animal nature, that we may be continually fit for the appearance of Christ, and the more like what we hope we shall be, when presented before the presence of his glory.

To promote this, let us watch over one another in the Lord. Let Christian societies preserve a regular discipline, with a due mixture of zeal and tenderness. Let the friendship of private persons be rendered mutually subservient to religious improvement, and let a due regard be ever paid to those who labour among them, and preside over them in the Lord. They will not require a blind submission to their dictates, if they rightly understand the gospel they are to teach. They will allow, they will encourage, they will urge their hearers to prove all things, which even the apostles themselves, with all their plenitude of inspiration, did not think it beneath them to do. But they who thus candidly inquire, and are determined to hold fast what is truly good, knowing how excellent an office the ministry is, knowing how much the edification of the church depends upon it, will esteem those that bear it very highly in love, for their works sake, and in whatever instances they may be constrained, by what they judge to be the evidence of truth, to differ from their brethren, or even from their teachers, will be solicitous to maintain harmony and love in the societies to which they belong, as it becomes them to do who are the disciples of that wisdom from above, which hath taught them inseparably to connect their regards to purity and peace.

The END of the FAMILY EXPOSITOR on the FIRST EPISTLE to the THESSALONIANS.

TH

MILY EXPOSIT

OR,

A PARAPHRASE

ON

A DEPISTLE OF PAUL

TO THE

THESSALONIANS

WITH

NOTES, AND A PRACTICAL OF EACH SECTION.

INTRODUCTION

TO THE RASE AND NOTES

ON LE OF PAUL THE APO

TO THE SALONIANS.

IT has been already observed, that the first epistle to the Thessalonians was written from Corinth, about the year of our Lord 52; and as Timothy and Silas appear, from the inscription of this second epistle, to have been still with the apostle, it has generally been concluded, that he wrote it while he continued in the same city, and not long after the former. (See Vol. III. § 41, note 1.)

The general design of it is to confirm the Thessalonians in their Christian profession, and to comfort them under the sufferings to which they were exposed. Besides which the apostle sets himself to rectify some mistaken apprehensions they seem to have entertained about the coming of Christ; and to direct them in the exercise of Christian discipline towards some irregular members of the society.

This epistle (which, like the former, bears St. Paul’s name, with those of Timothy and Silas, in the inscription) begins with a devout acknowledgment to God, for the eminent attainments which the Thessalonians had made in religion, and particularly for the zeal and fidelity with which they adhered to the Christian cause in the midst of persecution. To support and animate them under their trials, the apostle reminds them of the distinguished honour that would be conferred on a

A general introduction

the saints at the coming of Christ, and the vengeance that would at the same time overtake all the enemies of the gospel, assuring them of his constant prayers for their farther improvement in the Christian character, in order to their attaining the felicity that was promised; chap. i. throughout. But, lest by mistaking the meaning of what he had said or wrote to them at any time upon that subject, or by any other means they should be deceived into an opinion that the judgment day was near at hand, he informs them, that before this awful period there would be a grand apostasy in the church, and an antichristian power, which he calls the man of sin, would arise, and greatly obstruct the progress of the gospel, arrogantly assuming to itself the Divine authority, and by pretended miracles leading multitudes into the grossest and most fatal delusions. Some beginnings of this spirit he observes were already discoverable, and as soon as those restraints which then lay upon it were removed, it would break out in all its force, and continue to spread its malignant influence, till it should be finally destroyed by the coming of Christ; chap. ii. 1—12. These views lead him to express his thankfulness to God, that the Thessalonians had escaped this corruption which began so early to prevail in the church, and had given such proofs of their entering into the true spirit and genius of Christianity, by the happy effect their belief had produced upon their lives and characters. But, lest they should think themselves secure, he exhorts them to steadfastness and constancy in their profession of the truth, and adds his earnest supplication for their increasing comfort and establishment. At the same time he desires their prayers that his labours might be attended with the same success amongst others as they had been amongst them; and that he might be delivered from the opposition that was made to him by unreasonable men, expressing withal his cheerful confidence in their continued regards to the instructions he had given them, ver. 13. Chap. iii. 1—5.

to the second epistle to the Thessalonians.

The apostle, having borne so honourable a testimony to the character of the Thessalonians in general, proceeds to give them directions for their conduct towards some irregular members of the society, and charges them to withdraw themselves from those that behaved disorderly, and, neglecting the proper business of their calling, busied themselves impertinently in the concerns of others. He exhorts such to attend to their own affairs, and carefully to provide for their own subsistence, that they might not be a burden to others. And, to add greater weight to his admonitions, he reminds them of the example he had set them while at Thessalonica, in maintaining himself by the labour of his own hands, though, considering his character as an apostle, he had certainly a right to have been supported at their expense. If any one notwithstanding should refuse to comply with this exhortation, or with those he had given them in his former epistle, he directs his Christian friends to exclude him from their familiarity and friendship, that he might be made sensible of his fault; yet he advises them to treat him not as an enemy, but to admonish him as a brother. The apostle having thus sufficiently instructed the Thessalonians in their duty on this important article, concludes with his usual salutation, written with his own hand, ver. 6, to the end.

The attentive reader will easily perceive that this, though the shortest of all St. Paul’s epistles to the churches, is not inferior to any of them, in the sublimity of the sentiments, and in that excellent spirit by which all the writings of the apostle are distinguished. Besides those marks of its genuineness and Divine authority, which it bears in common with the rest of these epistles, it has one peculiar to itself, from the exact representation it contains of the papal power, under the characters of the man of sin, and the mystery of iniquity. For, considering how directly opposite the principles here described were to the genius of Christianity, it must have appeared, at the time when this epistle was written, highly improbable to all human apprehension, that they should ever have prevailed in the Christian

A general introduction, &c.

church; and consequently a prediction like this, which answers so exactly in every particular to the event, must be allowed to carry its own evidence along with it, and to prove that the author of it wrote under a Divine influence. For a farther illustration of this argument, see Dr. Benson’s Dissertation on the Man of Sin.

PARAPHRASE AND NOTES

ON THE

SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE

THESSALONIANS.