Finally—[This does not imply that the letter was drawing to a close, but it marks a transition in the subject matter. Hindered from speaking to them by word of mouth, he writes this Epistle to supply that which was lacking.]
then, brethren,—[As he had prayed for their growth in holiness, now he exhorts them to the same end; for the only way to reach that condition is through obedience to the revealed will of God.]
we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus,—Paul beseeches them as a matter concerning himself and his interest in them; he exhorts, as it concerns them and their own duty and relation to Christ because they are Christians, that such an appeal is addressed to them.
that, as ye received of us how ye ought to walk—Received signifies the reception as a matter of instruction. But beside teaching the facts of the gospel they taught its practice—what men should do and what should be the work and effect of their faith (1:3)—as well as what they should believe.
and to please God,—The duty of pleasing God had been emphasized in Paul’s instructions, and he had set all other duties in this light. He spoke of himself “not as pleasing men, but God who proveth our hearts.” (2:4.) Similarly of the Jews, he says, they “please not God, and are contrary to all men.” (2:15.) [Our conduct is always in everything pleasing or displeasing to him, and the earnest Christian finds in this the highest delight in the service of God.]
even as ye do walk,—This he adds lest they should be grieved by an apparent assumption on his part that they had failed to heed his former instructions.
that ye abound more and more.—The close relations of the believer to Christ is the grand motive for striving after true progress. The grace of God supplies the power; the love of Christ brings the obligation. By all that he is to us we are urged to be worthy of him by an even richer and fuller Christian life. [There is no finality to progressive holiness while the believer remains on earth. Life is marked either by growth or decay. Hence, Christians are to be “rootedand grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:17), to be “sound in faith, in love, in patience" (Titus 2:2); for as they “walk in love” toward one another and toward all men, they walk so as to please God (Ephesians 5:2). To please God is the highest ambition of the true Christian; the consciousness of pleasing him is the highest Christian joy. But walking implies progress. Standing still is dangerous. They must go on from strength to strength, forgetting the things that are behind and pressing on to those that are before.]
For ye know what charge we gave you through the Lord Jesus.—He impresses upon them that the commandments he had given were from the Lord Jesus. Although Paul was inspired, he would not take such responsibilities on his shoulders as many uninspired men do every day. Paul would give no direction save what Jesus gave him.
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification,—All who have entered into Christ, and have thus obligated themselves to serve him are sanctified in him.
that ye abstain from fornication;—No man can be sanctified or consecrated to God who does not restrain all lusts, and direct them in a lawful channel. [The foul and heathenish vice of fornication was prevalent among the heathen and little condemned by public opinion. It was especially the great sin of Corinth, from which Paul wrote, the patron goddess of which city was Venus. The purity of the Thessalonian Christians was imperiled from the condition of society aroundthem, and in many cases from former unchaste habits. The temptations to licentiousness assailing the first generation of Christians were fearfully strong, and Paul in all his Epistles gives urgent warnings upon this subject. The sense of purity had to be created in men gathered out of the midst of heathen corruption.]
that each one of you know how to possess himself—Everyone should know how to govern his lusts within the limits of sanctification and honor and maintain purity and self-restraint.
of his own vessel—There can be no doubt that he employs the term to mean body. For everyone has his own body as his house in which he dwells. He would, therefore, have us keep our body pure from all uncleanness. The victim of sensual passion ceases to be master of his own person—he is possessed; and those who formerly lived in heathen uncleanness had now as Christians to possess themselves of their bodies to win the vessel of their spiritual life and make it truly their own, and a fit receptacle, for the redeemed and sanctified self. (Luke 21:19.)
in sanctification and honor,—Honorably, for the one who prostitutes his body to uncleanness covers it with infamy and disgrace. [In marriage people are to so live that they may be mutually conscious that with them marriage is an honorable estate, with nothing in it that makes them ashamed, and that it promotes their sanctification.]
not in the passion of lust,—Not giving way to the lusts or to the will or tendency of unrestrained licentiousness. [Passion signifies an overpowering feeling, one to which one so yields himself that he is borne along by evil as if he were its passive instrument; he has lost the dignity of self-control and is the slave of his own appetites.]
even as the Gentiles who know not God;—The Gentiles gave way to the gratification of every lust and evil desire. [For impurity, often in the most abandoned and revolting forms, was a prevailing feature of pagan life at the time Paul wrote. Of their condition, Paul says: “Wherefore God gavethem up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves: for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.” (Romans 1:24-27.) Man first denies his Creator, then, degrades himself.]
that no man transgress, and wrong his brother in the matter:—This has reference to the sin of adultery. Each one should restrain his lust within the bounds sanctified and made honorable by God. None should go beyond what is right and violate the marital rights of his brethren.
because the Lord is an avenger in all these things,—Paul says: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.” (Galatians 6:7-8.) “For which things’ sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience.” (Colossians 3:6.) The law of God, wrought into the constitution of the human body, takes care that we do not escape without paying the penalty. If not at the moment, it is in the future, and with interest in premature old age; in the torpor which succeeds the excesses of man’s prime; in the sudden breakdown under any strain put on either physical or moral courage. They are avenged in the soul. Sensual indulgence extinguishes the capacity for feeling; the profligate would love but cannot; all that is inspiring, elevating, redeeming in the passions is lost to him; all that remains is the dull sense of that incalculable loss. This deadening is one of the most terrible consequences of immorality. They who do such things do not escape theavenging holiness of God. Even death, the refuge to which despair so often drives, holds out no hope to them. Men and women of the present age need to have impressed on them that God is an avenger of sexual wrongs both in this world and the next.
as also we forewarned you and testified.—[On this subject it appears that Paul at Thessalonica had spoken very plainly and solemnly from the first.]
For God called us not for uncleanness,—God has not called to practice any lewd and lascivious habits which the Gentiles who know not God practice. The law of God alone can hold back from degrading sins.
but in sanctification.—God constituted marriage: "Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled.” (Hebrews 13:4.) He ordained that every man should have his wife and cleave unto her alone. [The call of God was from the first a sanctifying call for the Thessalonians, and was attended with holy influences and forbade all uncleanness. Certainly he never intended them to live impure lives when he called them into his own kingdom and glory. (2:12.)]
Therefore he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God,—God’s test of love is willingness to obey him out of respect and reverence for his will. “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” (1 John 5:3.) It matters not what a man's emotions, sympathies, and attractions may be, if he is not willing to deny himself and reject his own wisdom and obey the will of God, he rejects God. According to this rule, so strongly emphasized by God, if a man do the things commanded by God as the dictate of his own wisdom and not as obedience to the will of God, that doing is not accepted as service to God. The principle and test of love becomes simple under the law of God. Whenever one will forego earthly ends to obey, he loves God better than he loves these ends.
who giveth his Holy Spirit unto you.—God had given to his chosen apostles his Holy Spirit that they might know the mind of God. They delivered this mind or will of God to men; and when they reject or set aside the teaching of the apostles for the wisdom of man they do not reject man, but God. All the efforts to exalt human wisdom and experience to a rule of action for man is to reject the wisdom of God; and those who reject God, God will reject and condemn them with an everlasting destruction.
But concerning love of the brethren ye have no need that one write unto you:—They already practiced brotherly love. (3:6.) These words distinguished a remarkable characteristic of the early church. They describe how the first Christians regarded themselves as the members of one family. They felt like the members of one household, like the nearest kindred in one home, and in the spirit of home life they shared their possessions. This was only possible so long as the family spirit pervaded the church. Circumstances altered the habits of the church as it grew in numbers and spread over a wide area. But all through Paul’s Epistles the same family affection of Christians is apparent. Love of the brethren one for the other is a leading feature of Christianity.
for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another;—They showed their love by deeds of kindness and helpfulness to each other. The whole gospel taught them to love one another. As Christ loved the brethren, so in following him they did the same. [When the gospel went abroad in the world, two characteristics of its adherents—their personal purity and love for each other—attracted general attention. Amidst the gross sensuality of heathenism, the Christian stood untainted by indulgence of the flesh, and the utter heartlessness of heathen society, which made no provision for the poor, sick, or the infirm and the aged. The Christians were conspicuous for their brotherly kindness to each other. Personal purity and brotherly love were the new and regenerating virtues which Christ had called into existence in the midst of a dying world. The principle of brotherly love is the very essence of Christianity. Every believer is taught of God to love the brother who shares his faith; such is the guarantee of our own salvation. Hence, it is said: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death.” (1 John 3:14.) The brotherly love of the apostolic church was not only visible to the world, it commended it to the world; it brought a new thing into being, a new thing for which the world was pining. The poor in the cities of Asia and Europe saw with wonder and joy and hope men and women united to one another in a spiritual union which gave scope to all their gifts for society and satisfied all their desires for it. The churches were companies of people where love to God and man was the prevailing sentiment, where outward pressure often increased the inward bonds, and where mutual confidence diffused inward joy. Men were drawn to them by the desire to share the life of love.]
for indeed ye do it toward all the brethren that are in all Macedonia.—Thessalonica was the natural center of the Macedonian churches, including Philippi and Berea, with other congregations which had sprung up around these principal cities. The Thessalonian Christians were using their position and influence for the good of their brethren around them, and thus giving the proof that they were deeply interested in the Lord’s work. Silas and Timothy had recently returned from Macedonia (3:6; Acts 18:5), and had doubtless informed Paul of their zeal in behalf of the brethren around them.
But we exhort you, brethren, that ye abound more and more;—[That for which Paul had prayed (3:12) is now the subject of an earnest exhortation. What had formerly applied to the whole of a God-pleasing course is now applied tobrotherly love. He exhorts them to seek opportunities to express, their love in brethren beyond Macedonia. Embrace in intellectual and practical interest a wider extent of the brotherhood in Christ. The present obstacle to love is selfishness or exorbitant fondness for one’s own interests, for which we have all reason to humble ourselves before God, and give love the unlimited sway of our being, so that we shall ungrudgingly delight in our brethren in Christ, seek their advancement in Christian excellence, and help them in all ways we can.]
and that ye study to be quiet,—Not meddlesome, or busy- bodies in other people’s matters. [For the word “study” the margin has “be ambitious to be quiet.” Paul here combines words of contradictory meaning in order to give point and force to the exhortation. The love of personal distinction was an active influence and potent for mischief in Greek city life; possibly the Thessalonians were touched with it, and betrayed symptoms of the restless and emulous spirit that afterwards gave Paul so much trouble in Corinth. He makes it an object in prayer: “I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men; . . . that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2.) Eager and active as his own nature was, Paul much admired this kind of a life and deemed it ordinarily the course filled for the cultivation and development of Christian character. Though he may escape the excitements of social and political life, the Christian is exposed to the more subtle dangers of religious excitement, always a. chief hindrance to love of the brethren; for as fever prevents the due discharge of the functions of the body, so does excitement the healthy activities of the spirit.]
and to do your own business,—He instructs them to attend to their own affairs, and not to interfere with the affairs of others. This would prevent the impertinent prying into the affairs of others, to which many are prone, and produce that careful attention to their calling in life, which produces thrift,order, and competence. The Lord requires no one to give up an honorable calling, and countenances idleness in no one. [The Christian should be punctual, prompt, and energetic. “It is as when a man, sojourning in another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, to each one his work, commanded also the porter to watch.” (Mark 13:34.)]
and to work with your hands,—“Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” (Genesis 2:15.) “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:17-19.) Labor was not the curse, mortality or death was the curse. Labor was the antidote to the curse, as it would employ him in the ways not hurtful.
even as we charged you;—While he was with them he commanded them to labor with their hands, and this command had often been given to them. It is a duty that should be taught to all Christians.
that ye may walk becomingly—Christians should so excel in the common decencies and duties of life as to afford the unbeliever no occasion to upbraid or suspect them. Paul was ever solicitous about such matters. He says: “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.” (Colossians 4:5.) “Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16.) And of the domestic virtues it is said: “In like manner, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, even if any obey not the word, they may without the word be gained by the behavior of their wives; beholding your chaste behavior coupled with fear.” (1 Peter 3:1-2.) And to the husbands he says: “Ye husbands, in like manner, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; to the end that your prayers be not hindered." (3:7.)
toward them that are without,—Those who are not Christians, whether Jews or Gentiles are without. [While they know nothing of the spiritual blessings of the gospel (1 Corinthians 2:14), they do appreciate the difference, order, and confusion between idleness and diligence, between begging and independence. The good effects of the gospel were to be shown in every relation with all men in daily life, lest the way of truth should be spoken against. “And many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of.” (2 Peter 2:2.)]
and may have need of nothing.—Two purposes would be filled by their industry: (1) allay the suspicions of those without; and (2) to be well supplied themselves. Paul limits the labor to that which is good: “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.” (Ephesians 4:28.) Diligent labor in that which is good that one may supply his own needs and those of his family, be able to pay his debts, act honestly toward others, and have to give to those who need is the law of God. To work the things that are good is to work at those callings which bring good to the world. Christians are forbidden to work at callings that bring evil.
But we would not have you ignorant, brethren,—[This impressive phrase Paul employs as in Romans 11:25 and elsewhere to call attention to a new topic concerning which he was especially anxious for his readers to have a clear understanding.]
concerning them that fall asleep;—Some of the members had died, and this aroused a painful fear lest such had losttheir share in the Lord’s approaching advent. So vivid was the expectation of the Lord’s return that it seemed to those newborn children of God that those dying would miss the great hope that had been so precious to them of seeing Christ return to raise the dead. But the glorious revelation here as to the triumphant future of both the dead and living saints dispelled their gloom and comforted their hearts as it has the faithful Christians since. Death is sleep to Christians. The Lord Jesus Christ made it the standing name for death among believers. (Luke 8:52; John 11:11; Acts 8:1.) The expression indicates the restful effect on the child of God and also its temporary nature. We sleep but a brief period and then rise to renewed activity. The expression indicates the restful effects of death to the child of God and its temporary nature. It will last no longer than Christ delays his coming. How the word sleep must have consoled the Thessalonian mourners!
that ye sorrow not,—[Not the natural sorrow over the departure of loved ones, but the sorrow of distress about their future. They who look for no resurrection sorrow for the dead, but Christians are not to do so. To bewail the condition of the faithful Christian is wholly out of place, though to utter our own grief and bewail our own loss is natural and fitting. Grief for the loss of friends is common to all, and is not inconsistent with acceptance of the will of God, neither does it deny the hope of the Christian. Jesus himself wept in sympathy at the grave of Lazarus. (John 11:33-35.) Paul was apprehensive of the sorrow into which he would have been plunged had the sickness of Epaphroditus resulted in death. (Philippians 2:27.) The brethren at Thessalonica grieved not merely for their loss, but they grieved also for the loss sustained, as the survivors supposed, by those of their number who had died. It was to save them from grief on this account that the apostle wrote, showing them that their fears were groundless.]
even as the rest,—The heathens, on the death of their relatives and friends, made a great show of excessive grief by cutting their flesh and by loud crying and lamentations.
who have no hope.—A broad characteristic of all who are not in Christ; they have no hope concerning the future life. Of the unbelieving Gentiles, Paul said they are: “Strangersfrom the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12.)
For if we believe—The foundation truth of the gospel was, and is, that all Christians believe that Jesus died and rose again.
that Jesus—[The personal name is appropriate here, as it reminded them that the Deliverer for whom they looked, and who had himself undergone death, which they dreaded, was himself man, and that his manhood was unimpaired by his death. It was Jesus who died and the same Jesus who rose again. (Acts 1:11; Acts 2:32; Acts 2:36; Acts 9:5; 1 Timothy 2:5; 2 Timothy 2:8.) Death had not been final in his case, neither would it be in theirs.]
died—The first cardinal point of the gospel of God concerning his Son is that he died—“who was delivered up for our trespasses” (Romans 4:25); “and gave himself up” (Ephesians 5:25); “suffered” (1 Peter 3:18). This fact is always stated in direct terms. The term as used in the Scriptures refers to two things: (1) The separation of the soul from the body and the cessation of the functions of the body and its return to "dust.” (Genesis 3:19.) In this sense Adam’s body at the age of nine hundred thirty years died. (Genesis 5:5.) In this sense death awaits every human being. (Hebrews 9:27.) (2) The separation of man from God. “For the mind of the flesh is death.” (Romans 8:6.) Adam died in this sense the day he disobeyed God. (Genesis 2:17.) The descendants of Adam are born in the same state of separation from God. In this sense death describes the condition of all unregenerated men. (John 5:24-25; Romans 5:12-21; Ephesians 2:15; Ephesians 4:18; 1 John 3:14.) Death is the opposite of life. It is definitely stated that God created man, called him into existence (Genesis 1:27); but the Scriptures nowhere state that he will ever cease to exist. The term "life” when used of man, as distinguished from the body—"the earthly house of our tabernacle” (2 Corinthians 5:1)—may be defined as conscious existence in communion with God. But when death is used of man, and not merely of the body, it is properly defined as conscious existence in separation from God. All out of Christ are dead, all in Christ have life. Butall, whether living or dead, equally exist and are equally conscious of existence. (Luke 16:19-31.) If death were no existence, the declaration that Jesus died would convey a thought contradictory to the plain teaching of the Scriptures and would obviously be untrue. Therefore, in whichever sense it is used, it is in the Scripture viewed as the penal consequence of sin, and sinners alone are subject to death; it was as the bearer of sin that the Lord Jesus submitted to death on the cross. (Romans 5:12; 1 Peter 2:24.) And while the physical death of the Lord Jesus was of the essence of his sacrifice, it was not the whole. It is said: “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, . . . My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:45-46.) The darkness symbolized and his cry expressed the fact that he was left alone in the universe; he was forsaken. Hence, it is that the word of consolation, "sleep,” was not used of him in his death. Here, however, since not expiation of sin, but the resurrection of the saints is in view, attention is concentrated on the simple historical fact of the physical death of the Lord Jesus. (John 19:30.)
and rose again,—That it was not possible that his Son should be held by death is the second cardinal point in the gospel of God concerning his Son. (Acts 2:24; Romans 1:4; 1 Corinthians 15:4.) “When he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3.) [This is the only place in which Paul speaks of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus as his own act. Ordinarily, he speaks of it as the act of God. (1:10.) ]
even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him.—Jesus was the first fruits from the dead, and the first fruits were the promise of the coming harvest when all in Christ should come forth from the grave. [The same gospel that carried the assurance of the death and resurrection of the Lord carried also the assurance of the resurrection of all who believe on him.]
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,—Paul now gives the authority for this statement and shows how the dead in Christ shall share in the glorious coming of the Lord. By “the word of the Lord,” he evidently means a revelation from the Lord direct to him. In what way prophets and apostles became conscious of supernatural inspiration is not revealed; but elsewhere also Paul speaks of the consciousness of thus being moved. (Acts 18:9; 1 Corinthians 7:10; Galatians 1:12; Ephesians 3:3-12.) [The things to which reference is made are such as the eye has not seen, or the ear heard, or had entered into the heart of man; they are out of range of the natural man. The words of Paul assert that “we say unto you by the word of the Lord,” and thus revealed them to him who spoke them, and certainly in the same words the Lord taught him to use. Evidently the Lord guided him to use these words, not because they were unfamiliar, but perhaps for the very purpose of preventing him from using words that were not familiar.]
that we that are alive,—At the coming of the Lord Jesus, believers will be divided into two classes, even as they were then at Thessalonica, the living and the dead. But the time of that coming has not been revealed; it is among the secret things concerning which Jehovah has kept his own counsel. (Deuteronomy 29:29.) As a consequence in speaking of the coming of the Lord, Paul sometimes associates himself with those looking forward to resurrection (2 Corinthians 4:14); sometimes to those looking forward to change (1 Corinthians 15:51-52.) It is clear, therefore, that no conclusion can be drawn from Paul’s language as to his personal expectations. He certainly shared in what should be the attitude of every generation of Christians—the desire for, and the expectation of, the coming of the Lord Jesus. Throughout his life, as his Epistles clearly show, he maintained the same attitude toward the great alternatives. His example and his words alike teach us to be prepared to meet death with unflinching courage, but, above all things, to look for the coming of the Lord.
that are left unto the coming of the Lord,—These words are intended to show what is meant by the living. They were not necessarily the then living, though there was a reasonable hope that the Lord might come again during the lifetime of those who would read this Epistle, but those who will be upon the earth when the Lord comes.
shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.—This discloses that believers at the time of the Lord’s second coming shall have no precedence of those that sleep. The dead in Christ shall rise before any change of the living saints shall take place. If there is to be any priority at all, it will be in favor of the sleeping saints; these will be raised before anything is done for the living; they are to have the foremost place in the glorious events of the Lord’s coming. Though dead, they are “dead in Christ”—departed "to be at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23.)
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven,—The Lord is now in heaven at God’s right hand. (Acts 7:55; Hebrews 1:3.) Thence he shall come forth. No apparition will it be, but an actual and visible descent. The same person who ascended is he who will descend. Angels will accompany the Lord’s coming. (2 Thessalonians 1:7; Matthew 25:30-31.) They will have their part to perform in the tremendous events of the day.
with a shout,—[This word is peculiar and distinctive. It occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is used of an officer to his troops, or by a sea captain to his crew. It confines itself to a particular class; it is addressed to a distinct company; hence, is neither universal nor indiscriminate. It is a signal shout to Christ’s own people and to no others. It will single out those who are asleep in Jesus Christ and pass all others by: it will be heard and understood and obeyed by the saints and by no others. For Paul is there dealing with Christians alone; the wicked do not enter the circle the apostle addresses. The like significant fact appears in 1 Corinthians 15:35-58. Christians only are subjects of that great call. The wicked dead will certainly be raised and the living nations bejudged. (John 5:28-29; Matthew 25:31-46.) But here God’s people alone are in view. The shout singles out Christ’s own dead and quickens them into life. It is an articulate sound, for it is the utterance of the Lord’s own voice. (Matthew 24:31; John 5:25-29.) But in the passage before us God’s people alone are in view. The almighty shout singles out Christ’s own from among the dead and quickens them into life. It is not an inarticulate sound that is meant, as a peal of thunder or the loud report of some powerful explosive, as is by some imagined; it is an articulate sound, for it is the utterance of the Lord’s own voice. Jesus said: “Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28-29.) At the tomb of Lazarus “he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” (John 11:43.) The Lord Jesus Christ will utter his voice, will call from above to his sleeping people, and they shall hear and obey the call and come forth in incorruptible and glorious bodies. At his command they shall rise. Round this planet shall that mighty shout ring, penetrating every grave, piercing even the ocean’s depth, and it will stir into life and call out into the eternal fellowship of the Lord the whole vast host of the righteous dead.]
with the voice of the archangel,—[The word seems to denote, not chief angel, but chief or ruler of the angels. They will have their part to perform in the tremendous events of that day. The voice of the archangel may be employed to summon the heavenly hosts and marshal the innumerable company of the redeemed, for “they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:31.) An army associated with royalty gives an impression of power and grandeur. How exalted is this divine personage whose coming is attended by such a retinue—the marshaled legions of the skies!]
and with the trump of God:—It is God’s trumpet because employed in his heavenly service. Paul calls it “the lasttrump,” and adds, “For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52.) [It is “the last” because it sounds its awful peal in connection with the end. The trumpet, like the voice of the archangel, is but the instrument of God to accomplish his glorious purposes. Through both these the descending Lord accomplishes his sovereign will in the resurrection of his sleeping dead and the change of the living saints.]
and the dead in Christ shall rise first;—Those in Christ who are dead shall rise and ascend before those who are alive at his coming. [So little danger is there that those who die before the Lord comes will suffer loss; they will be the first to share in the glad triumph of their Redeemer. Immediately thereafter living believers will be fashioned anew in their bodies, and so made fit to dwell with Christ in glory. “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52.) “For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21.) Just what is in this physical transformation is not revealed; but of some things touching it we may be sure. It will be the identical body and spirit of those then living that will be changed. It will be so complete and perfect that while the identity will be preserved it will be forever freed from all that is earthly, mortal; it will be a “body of glory,” like the glorious body of the Son of God. Incorruption and immortality will be the vesture of the saved and glorified.]
then we that are alive, that are left,—[The phrase of verse 15 is here repeated, thus distinguishing as in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 between those living and those dead in Christ at the time of his advent, marking the different positions in whichthese two divisions of the saints will be found. Just what is involved in the physical transformation is not disclosed and speculation is worse than useless.]
shall together with them be caught up in the clouds,—“Together with” implies full association. Sundered as the saints will be at the Lord’s return, some in their graves, others alive, and all scattered over the whole earth, they then shall be reunited nevermore to part.
to meet the Lord in the air:—Not heaven, not in some sphere infinitely remote from this world, but in the upper regions of the lower atmosphere. As they ascend to meet him their bodies “shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52), thus their bodies shall be changed from natural into spiritual bodies, which, being fashioned after the likeness of his glorious body, shall be able to endure the brightness of his presence, which those in the flesh could not. (Revelation 1:17.)
and so shall we ever be with the Lord.—On the night before his crucifixion, Jesus said to his disciples: “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:2-3.) And he prayed on the night of his betrayal: “Father, I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24.)
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.—Because the dead shall be raised, and those who remain alive shall be caught up in the twinkling of an eye, and because this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. When our brethren in Christ sleep, we must “comfort one another with these words.” These promises of the future resurrection to those in Christ should be grounds of comfort to Christians when their brethren in Christ die. It is a sleep, a rest in Christ Jesus, whence they willcome forth with new life and vigor and increasing joys. [What congregation is there in which there is not need of this consolation? One needs the comfort today and another tomorrow; in proportion as we bear each other’s burdens, we all need it continually. The unseen world is perpetually opening to receive those whom we love; but though they pass out of sight and out of reach, it is not forever. They are still united to Christ; and when he comes in his glory he will bring them with him. Is it not strange to balance the greatest sorrow of life against words? Words, we often feel, are vain and worthless; they make no difference in the pressure of grief. Of our own words that is true; but those we have been considering are not our own words, but the words of the Lord. His words are living and powerful. Heaven and earth may pass away, but they cannot pass. Let us comfort one another with these precious words.]
Bibliographical Information Lipscomb, David. "Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4". "Lipscomb's Commentary on Selected New Testament Books". https://studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dlc/1-thessalonians-4.html.
Verse 1
1 Thessalonians 4:1
Finally—[This does not imply that the letter was drawing to a close, but it marks a transition in the subject matter. Hindered from speaking to them by word of mouth, he writes this Epistle to supply that which was lacking.]
then, brethren,—[As he had prayed for their growth in holiness, now he exhorts them to the same end; for the only way to reach that condition is through obedience to the revealed will of God.]
we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus,—Paul beseeches them as a matter concerning himself and his interest in them; he exhorts, as it concerns them and their own duty and relation to Christ because they are Christians, that such an appeal is addressed to them.
that, as ye received of us how ye ought to walk—Received signifies the reception as a matter of instruction. But beside teaching the facts of the gospel they taught its practice—what men should do and what should be the work and effect of their faith (1:3)—as well as what they should believe.
and to please God,—The duty of pleasing God had been emphasized in Paul’s instructions, and he had set all other duties in this light. He spoke of himself “not as pleasing men, but God who proveth our hearts.” (2:4.) Similarly of the Jews, he says, they “please not God, and are contrary to all men.” (2:15.) [Our conduct is always in everything pleasing or displeasing to him, and the earnest Christian finds in this the highest delight in the service of God.]
even as ye do walk,—This he adds lest they should be grieved by an apparent assumption on his part that they had failed to heed his former instructions.
that ye abound more and more.—The close relations of the believer to Christ is the grand motive for striving after true progress. The grace of God supplies the power; the love of Christ brings the obligation. By all that he is to us we are urged to be worthy of him by an even richer and fuller Christian life. [There is no finality to progressive holiness while the believer remains on earth. Life is marked either by growth or decay. Hence, Christians are to be “rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:17), to be “sound in faith, in love, in patience" (Titus 2:2); for as they “walk in love” toward one another and toward all men, they walk so as to please God (Ephesians 5:2). To please God is the highest ambition of the true Christian; the consciousness of pleasing him is the highest Christian joy. But walking implies progress. Standing still is dangerous. They must go on from strength to strength, forgetting the things that are behind and pressing on to those that are before.]
Verse 2
1 Thessalonians 4:2
For ye know what charge we gave you through the Lord Jesus.—He impresses upon them that the commandments he had given were from the Lord Jesus. Although Paul was inspired, he would not take such responsibilities on his shoulders as many uninspired men do every day. Paul would give no direction save what Jesus gave him.
Verse 3
1 Thessalonians 4:3
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification,—All who have entered into Christ, and have thus obligated themselves to serve him are sanctified in him.
that ye abstain from fornication;—No man can be sanctified or consecrated to God who does not restrain all lusts, and direct them in a lawful channel. [The foul and heathenish vice of fornication was prevalent among the heathen and little condemned by public opinion. It was especially the great sin of Corinth, from which Paul wrote, the patron goddess of which city was Venus. The purity of the Thessalonian Christians was imperiled from the condition of society around them, and in many cases from former unchaste habits. The temptations to licentiousness assailing the first generation of Christians were fearfully strong, and Paul in all his Epistles gives urgent warnings upon this subject. The sense of purity had to be created in men gathered out of the midst of heathen corruption.]
Verse 4
1 Thessalonians 4:4
that each one of you know how to possess himself—Everyone should know how to govern his lusts within the limits of sanctification and honor and maintain purity and self-restraint.
of his own vessel—There can be no doubt that he employs the term to mean body. For everyone has his own body as his house in which he dwells. He would, therefore, have us keep our body pure from all uncleanness. The victim of sensual passion ceases to be master of his own person—he is possessed; and those who formerly lived in heathen uncleanness had now as Christians to possess themselves of their bodies to win the vessel of their spiritual life and make it truly their own, and a fit receptacle, for the redeemed and sanctified self. (Luke 21:19.)
in sanctification and honor,—Honorably, for the one who prostitutes his body to uncleanness covers it with infamy and disgrace. [In marriage people are to so live that they may be mutually conscious that with them marriage is an honorable estate, with nothing in it that makes them ashamed, and that it promotes their sanctification.]
Verse 5
1 Thessalonians 4:5
not in the passion of lust,—Not giving way to the lusts or to the will or tendency of unrestrained licentiousness. [Passion signifies an overpowering feeling, one to which one so yields himself that he is borne along by evil as if he were its passive instrument; he has lost the dignity of self-control and is the slave of his own appetites.]
even as the Gentiles who know not God;—The Gentiles gave way to the gratification of every lust and evil desire. [For impurity, often in the most abandoned and revolting forms, was a prevailing feature of pagan life at the time Paul wrote. Of their condition, Paul says: “Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves: for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.” (Romans 1:24-27.) Man first denies his Creator, then, degrades himself.]
Verse 6
1 Thessalonians 4:6
that no man transgress, and wrong his brother in the matter:—This has reference to the sin of adultery. Each one should restrain his lust within the bounds sanctified and made honorable by God. None should go beyond what is right and violate the marital rights of his brethren.
because the Lord is an avenger in all these things,—Paul says: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.” (Galatians 6:7-8.) “For which things’ sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience.” (Colossians 3:6.) The law of God, wrought into the constitution of the human body, takes care that we do not escape without paying the penalty. If not at the moment, it is in the future, and with interest in premature old age; in the torpor which succeeds the excesses of man’s prime; in the sudden breakdown under any strain put on either physical or moral courage. They are avenged in the soul. Sensual indulgence extinguishes the capacity for feeling; the profligate would love but cannot; all that is inspiring, elevating, redeeming in the passions is lost to him; all that remains is the dull sense of that incalculable loss. This deadening is one of the most terrible consequences of immorality. They who do such things do not escape the avenging holiness of God. Even death, the refuge to which despair so often drives, holds out no hope to them. Men and women of the present age need to have impressed on them that God is an avenger of sexual wrongs both in this world and the next.
as also we forewarned you and testified.—[On this subject it appears that Paul at Thessalonica had spoken very plainly and solemnly from the first.]
Verse 7
1 Thessalonians 4:7
For God called us not for uncleanness,—God has not called to practice any lewd and lascivious habits which the Gentiles who know not God practice. The law of God alone can hold back from degrading sins.
but in sanctification.—God constituted marriage: "Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled.” (Hebrews 13:4.) He ordained that every man should have his wife and cleave unto her alone. [The call of God was from the first a sanctifying call for the Thessalonians, and was attended with holy influences and forbade all uncleanness. Certainly he never intended them to live impure lives when he called them into his own kingdom and glory. (2:12.)]
Verse 8
1 Thessalonians 4:8
Therefore he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God,—God’s test of love is willingness to obey him out of respect and reverence for his will. “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” (1 John 5:3.) It matters not what a man's emotions, sympathies, and attractions may be, if he is not willing to deny himself and reject his own wisdom and obey the will of God, he rejects God. According to this rule, so strongly emphasized by God, if a man do the things commanded by God as the dictate of his own wisdom and not as obedience to the will of God, that doing is not accepted as service to God. The principle and test of love becomes simple under the law of God. Whenever one will forego earthly ends to obey, he loves God better than he loves these ends.
who giveth his Holy Spirit unto you.—God had given to his chosen apostles his Holy Spirit that they might know the mind of God. They delivered this mind or will of God to men; and when they reject or set aside the teaching of the apostles for the wisdom of man they do not reject man, but God. All the efforts to exalt human wisdom and experience to a rule of action for man is to reject the wisdom of God; and those who reject God, God will reject and condemn them with an everlasting destruction.
Verse 9
1 Thessalonians 4:9
But concerning love of the brethren ye have no need that one write unto you:—They already practiced brotherly love. (3:6.) These words distinguished a remarkable characteristic of the early church. They describe how the first Christians regarded themselves as the members of one family. They felt like the members of one household, like the nearest kindred in one home, and in the spirit of home life they shared their possessions. This was only possible so long as the family spirit pervaded the church. Circumstances altered the habits of the church as it grew in numbers and spread over a wide area. But all through Paul’s Epistles the same family affection of Christians is apparent. Love of the brethren one for the other is a leading feature of Christianity.
for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another;—They showed their love by deeds of kindness and helpfulness to each other. The whole gospel taught them to love one another. As Christ loved the brethren, so in following him they did the same. [When the gospel went abroad in the world, two characteristics of its adherents—their personal purity and love for each other—attracted general attention. Amidst the gross sensuality of heathenism, the Christian stood untainted by indulgence of the flesh, and the utter heartlessness of heathen society, which made no provision for the poor, sick, or the infirm and the aged. The Christians were conspicuous for their brotherly kindness to each other. Personal purity and brotherly love were the new and regenerating virtues which Christ had called into existence in the midst of a dying world. The principle of brotherly love is the very essence of Christianity. Every believer is taught of God to love the brother who shares his faith; such is the guarantee of our own salvation. Hence, it is said: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death.” (1 John 3:14.) The brotherly love of the apostolic church was not only visible to the world, it commended it to the world; it brought a new thing into being, a new thing for which the world was pining. The poor in the cities of Asia and Europe saw with wonder and joy and hope men and women united to one another in a spiritual union which gave scope to all their gifts for society and satisfied all their desires for it. The churches were companies of people where love to God and man was the prevailing sentiment, where outward pressure often increased the inward bonds, and where mutual confidence diffused inward joy. Men were drawn to them by the desire to share the life of love.]
Verse 10
1 Thessalonians 4:10
for indeed ye do it toward all the brethren that are in all Macedonia.—Thessalonica was the natural center of the Macedonian churches, including Philippi and Berea, with other congregations which had sprung up around these principal cities. The Thessalonian Christians were using their position and influence for the good of their brethren around them, and thus giving the proof that they were deeply interested in the Lord’s work. Silas and Timothy had recently returned from Macedonia (3:6; Acts 18:5), and had doubtless informed Paul of their zeal in behalf of the brethren around them.
But we exhort you, brethren, that ye abound more and more;—[That for which Paul had prayed (3:12) is now the subject of an earnest exhortation. What had formerly applied to the whole of a God-pleasing course is now applied to brotherly love. He exhorts them to seek opportunities to express, their love in brethren beyond Macedonia. Embrace in intellectual and practical interest a wider extent of the brotherhood in Christ. The present obstacle to love is selfishness or exorbitant fondness for one’s own interests, for which we have all reason to humble ourselves before God, and give love the unlimited sway of our being, so that we shall ungrudgingly delight in our brethren in Christ, seek their advancement in Christian excellence, and help them in all ways we can.]
Verse 11
1 Thessalonians 4:11
and that ye study to be quiet,—Not meddlesome, or busy- bodies in other people’s matters. [For the word “study” the margin has “be ambitious to be quiet.” Paul here combines words of contradictory meaning in order to give point and force to the exhortation. The love of personal distinction was an active influence and potent for mischief in Greek city life; possibly the Thessalonians were touched with it, and betrayed symptoms of the restless and emulous spirit that afterwards gave Paul so much trouble in Corinth. He makes it an object in prayer: “I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men; . . . that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2.) Eager and active as his own nature was, Paul much admired this kind of a life and deemed it ordinarily the course filled for the cultivation and development of Christian character. Though he may escape the excitements of social and political life, the Christian is exposed to the more subtle dangers of religious excitement, always a. chief hindrance to love of the brethren; for as fever prevents the due discharge of the functions of the body, so does excitement the healthy activities of the spirit.]
and to do your own business,—He instructs them to attend to their own affairs, and not to interfere with the affairs of others. This would prevent the impertinent prying into the affairs of others, to which many are prone, and produce that careful attention to their calling in life, which produces thrift, order, and competence. The Lord requires no one to give up an honorable calling, and countenances idleness in no one. [The Christian should be punctual, prompt, and energetic. “It is as when a man, sojourning in another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, to each one his work, commanded also the porter to watch.” (Mark 13:34.)]
and to work with your hands,—“Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” (Genesis 2:15.) “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:17-19.) Labor was not the curse, mortality or death was the curse. Labor was the antidote to the curse, as it would employ him in the ways not hurtful.
even as we charged you;—While he was with them he commanded them to labor with their hands, and this command had often been given to them. It is a duty that should be taught to all Christians.
Verse 12
1 Thessalonians 4:12
that ye may walk becomingly—Christians should so excel in the common decencies and duties of life as to afford the unbeliever no occasion to upbraid or suspect them. Paul was ever solicitous about such matters. He says: “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.” (Colossians 4:5.) “Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16.) And of the domestic virtues it is said: “In like manner, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, even if any obey not the word, they may without the word be gained by the behavior of their wives; beholding your chaste behavior coupled with fear.” (1 Peter 3:1-2.) And to the husbands he says: “Ye husbands, in like manner, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; to the end that your prayers be not hindered." (3:7.)
toward them that are without,—Those who are not Christians, whether Jews or Gentiles are without. [While they know nothing of the spiritual blessings of the gospel (1 Corinthians 2:14), they do appreciate the difference, order, and confusion between idleness and diligence, between begging and independence. The good effects of the gospel were to be shown in every relation with all men in daily life, lest the way of truth should be spoken against. “And many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of.” (2 Peter 2:2.)]
and may have need of nothing.—Two purposes would be filled by their industry: (1) allay the suspicions of those without; and (2) to be well supplied themselves. Paul limits the labor to that which is good: “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.” (Ephesians 4:28.) Diligent labor in that which is good that one may supply his own needs and those of his family, be able to pay his debts, act honestly toward others, and have to give to those who need is the law of God. To work the things that are good is to work at those callings which bring good to the world. Christians are forbidden to work at callings that bring evil.
Verse 13
1 Thessalonians 4:13
But we would not have you ignorant, brethren,—[This impressive phrase Paul employs as in Romans 11:25 and elsewhere to call attention to a new topic concerning which he was especially anxious for his readers to have a clear understanding.]
concerning them that fall asleep;—Some of the members had died, and this aroused a painful fear lest such had lost their share in the Lord’s approaching advent. So vivid was the expectation of the Lord’s return that it seemed to those newborn children of God that those dying would miss the great hope that had been so precious to them of seeing Christ return to raise the dead. But the glorious revelation here as to the triumphant future of both the dead and living saints dispelled their gloom and comforted their hearts as it has the faithful Christians since. Death is sleep to Christians. The Lord Jesus Christ made it the standing name for death among believers. (Luke 8:52; John 11:11; Acts 8:1.) The expression indicates the restful effect on the child of God and also its temporary nature. We sleep but a brief period and then rise to renewed activity. The expression indicates the restful effects of death to the child of God and its temporary nature. It will last no longer than Christ delays his coming. How the word sleep must have consoled the Thessalonian mourners!
that ye sorrow not,—[Not the natural sorrow over the departure of loved ones, but the sorrow of distress about their future. They who look for no resurrection sorrow for the dead, but Christians are not to do so. To bewail the condition of the faithful Christian is wholly out of place, though to utter our own grief and bewail our own loss is natural and fitting. Grief for the loss of friends is common to all, and is not inconsistent with acceptance of the will of God, neither does it deny the hope of the Christian. Jesus himself wept in sympathy at the grave of Lazarus. (John 11:33-35.) Paul was apprehensive of the sorrow into which he would have been plunged had the sickness of Epaphroditus resulted in death. (Philippians 2:27.) The brethren at Thessalonica grieved not merely for their loss, but they grieved also for the loss sustained, as the survivors supposed, by those of their number who had died. It was to save them from grief on this account that the apostle wrote, showing them that their fears were groundless.]
even as the rest,—The heathens, on the death of their relatives and friends, made a great show of excessive grief by cutting their flesh and by loud crying and lamentations.
who have no hope.—A broad characteristic of all who are not in Christ; they have no hope concerning the future life. Of the unbelieving Gentiles, Paul said they are: “Strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12.)
Verse 14
1 Thessalonians 4:14
For if we believe—The foundation truth of the gospel was, and is, that all Christians believe that Jesus died and rose again.
that Jesus—[The personal name is appropriate here, as it reminded them that the Deliverer for whom they looked, and who had himself undergone death, which they dreaded, was himself man, and that his manhood was unimpaired by his death. It was Jesus who died and the same Jesus who rose again. (Acts 1:11; Acts 2:32; Acts 2:36; Acts 9:5; 1 Timothy 2:5; 2 Timothy 2:8.) Death had not been final in his case, neither would it be in theirs.]
died—The first cardinal point of the gospel of God concerning his Son is that he died—“who was delivered up for our trespasses” (Romans 4:25); “and gave himself up” (Ephesians 5:25); “suffered” (1 Peter 3:18). This fact is always stated in direct terms. The term as used in the Scriptures refers to two things: (1) The separation of the soul from the body and the cessation of the functions of the body and its return to "dust.” (Genesis 3:19.) In this sense Adam’s body at the age of nine hundred thirty years died. (Genesis 5:5.) In this sense death awaits every human being. (Hebrews 9:27.) (2) The separation of man from God. “For the mind of the flesh is death.” (Romans 8:6.) Adam died in this sense the day he disobeyed God. (Genesis 2:17.) The descendants of Adam are born in the same state of separation from God. In this sense death describes the condition of all unregenerated men. (John 5:24-25; Romans 5:12-21; Ephesians 2:15; Ephesians 4:18; 1 John 3:14.) Death is the opposite of life. It is definitely stated that God created man, called him into existence (Genesis 1:27); but the Scriptures nowhere state that he will ever cease to exist. The term "life” when used of man, as distinguished from the body—"the earthly house of our tabernacle” (2 Corinthians 5:1)—may be defined as conscious existence in communion with God. But when death is used of man, and not merely of the body, it is properly defined as conscious existence in separation from God. All out of Christ are dead, all in Christ have life. But all, whether living or dead, equally exist and are equally conscious of existence. (Luke 16:19-31.) If death were no existence, the declaration that Jesus died would convey a thought contradictory to the plain teaching of the Scriptures and would obviously be untrue. Therefore, in whichever sense it is used, it is in the Scripture viewed as the penal consequence of sin, and sinners alone are subject to death; it was as the bearer of sin that the Lord Jesus submitted to death on the cross. (Romans 5:12; 1 Peter 2:24.) And while the physical death of the Lord Jesus was of the essence of his sacrifice, it was not the whole. It is said: “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, . . . My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:45-46.) The darkness symbolized and his cry expressed the fact that he was left alone in the universe; he was forsaken. Hence, it is that the word of consolation, "sleep,” was not used of him in his death. Here, however, since not expiation of sin, but the resurrection of the saints is in view, attention is concentrated on the simple historical fact of the physical death of the Lord Jesus. (John 19:30.)
and rose again,—That it was not possible that his Son should be held by death is the second cardinal point in the gospel of God concerning his Son. (Acts 2:24; Romans 1:4; 1 Corinthians 15:4.) “When he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3.) [This is the only place in which Paul speaks of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus as his own act. Ordinarily, he speaks of it as the act of God. (1:10.) ]
even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him.—Jesus was the first fruits from the dead, and the first fruits were the promise of the coming harvest when all in Christ should come forth from the grave. [The same gospel that carried the assurance of the death and resurrection of the Lord carried also the assurance of the resurrection of all who believe on him.]
Verse 15
1 Thessalonians 4:15
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,—Paul now gives the authority for this statement and shows how the dead in Christ shall share in the glorious coming of the Lord. By “the word of the Lord,” he evidently means a revelation from the Lord direct to him. In what way prophets and apostles became conscious of supernatural inspiration is not revealed; but elsewhere also Paul speaks of the consciousness of thus being moved. (Acts 18:9; 1 Corinthians 7:10; Galatians 1:12; Ephesians 3:3-12.) [The things to which reference is made are such as the eye has not seen, or the ear heard, or had entered into the heart of man; they are out of range of the natural man. The words of Paul assert that “we say unto you by the word of the Lord,” and thus revealed them to him who spoke them, and certainly in the same words the Lord taught him to use. Evidently the Lord guided him to use these words, not because they were unfamiliar, but perhaps for the very purpose of preventing him from using words that were not familiar.]
that we that are alive,—At the coming of the Lord Jesus, believers will be divided into two classes, even as they were then at Thessalonica, the living and the dead. But the time of that coming has not been revealed; it is among the secret things concerning which Jehovah has kept his own counsel. (Deuteronomy 29:29.) As a consequence in speaking of the coming of the Lord, Paul sometimes associates himself with those looking forward to resurrection (2 Corinthians 4:14); sometimes to those looking forward to change (1 Corinthians 15:51-52.) It is clear, therefore, that no conclusion can be drawn from Paul’s language as to his personal expectations. He certainly shared in what should be the attitude of every generation of Christians—the desire for, and the expectation of, the coming of the Lord Jesus. Throughout his life, as his Epistles clearly show, he maintained the same attitude toward the great alternatives. His example and his words alike teach us to be prepared to meet death with unflinching courage, but, above all things, to look for the coming of the Lord.
that are left unto the coming of the Lord,—These words are intended to show what is meant by the living. They were not necessarily the then living, though there was a reasonable hope that the Lord might come again during the lifetime of those who would read this Epistle, but those who will be upon the earth when the Lord comes.
shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.—This discloses that believers at the time of the Lord’s second coming shall have no precedence of those that sleep. The dead in Christ shall rise before any change of the living saints shall take place. If there is to be any priority at all, it will be in favor of the sleeping saints; these will be raised before anything is done for the living; they are to have the foremost place in the glorious events of the Lord’s coming. Though dead, they are “dead in Christ”—departed "to be at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23.)
Verse 16
1 Thessalonians 4:16
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven,—The Lord is now in heaven at God’s right hand. (Acts 7:55; Hebrews 1:3.) Thence he shall come forth. No apparition will it be, but an actual and visible descent. The same person who ascended is he who will descend. Angels will accompany the Lord’s coming. (2 Thessalonians 1:7; Matthew 25:30-31.) They will have their part to perform in the tremendous events of the day.
with a shout,—[This word is peculiar and distinctive. It occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is used of an officer to his troops, or by a sea captain to his crew. It confines itself to a particular class; it is addressed to a distinct company; hence, is neither universal nor indiscriminate. It is a signal shout to Christ’s own people and to no others. It will single out those who are asleep in Jesus Christ and pass all others by: it will be heard and understood and obeyed by the saints and by no others. For Paul is there dealing with Christians alone; the wicked do not enter the circle the apostle addresses. The like significant fact appears in 1 Corinthians 15:35-58. Christians only are subjects of that great call. The wicked dead will certainly be raised and the living nations be judged. (John 5:28-29; Matthew 25:31-46.) But here God’s people alone are in view. The shout singles out Christ’s own dead and quickens them into life. It is an articulate sound, for it is the utterance of the Lord’s own voice. (Matthew 24:31; John 5:25-29.) But in the passage before us God’s people alone are in view. The almighty shout singles out Christ’s own from among the dead and quickens them into life. It is not an inarticulate sound that is meant, as a peal of thunder or the loud report of some powerful explosive, as is by some imagined; it is an articulate sound, for it is the utterance of the Lord’s own voice. Jesus said: “Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28-29.) At the tomb of Lazarus “he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” (John 11:43.) The Lord Jesus Christ will utter his voice, will call from above to his sleeping people, and they shall hear and obey the call and come forth in incorruptible and glorious bodies. At his command they shall rise. Round this planet shall that mighty shout ring, penetrating every grave, piercing even the ocean’s depth, and it will stir into life and call out into the eternal fellowship of the Lord the whole vast host of the righteous dead.]
with the voice of the archangel,—[The word seems to denote, not chief angel, but chief or ruler of the angels. They will have their part to perform in the tremendous events of that day. The voice of the archangel may be employed to summon the heavenly hosts and marshal the innumerable company of the redeemed, for “they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:31.) An army associated with royalty gives an impression of power and grandeur. How exalted is this divine personage whose coming is attended by such a retinue—the marshaled legions of the skies!]
and with the trump of God:—It is God’s trumpet because employed in his heavenly service. Paul calls it “the last trump,” and adds, “For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52.) [It is “the last” because it sounds its awful peal in connection with the end. The trumpet, like the voice of the archangel, is but the instrument of God to accomplish his glorious purposes. Through both these the descending Lord accomplishes his sovereign will in the resurrection of his sleeping dead and the change of the living saints.]
and the dead in Christ shall rise first;—Those in Christ who are dead shall rise and ascend before those who are alive at his coming. [So little danger is there that those who die before the Lord comes will suffer loss; they will be the first to share in the glad triumph of their Redeemer. Immediately thereafter living believers will be fashioned anew in their bodies, and so made fit to dwell with Christ in glory. “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52.) “For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21.) Just what is in this physical transformation is not revealed; but of some things touching it we may be sure. It will be the identical body and spirit of those then living that will be changed. It will be so complete and perfect that while the identity will be preserved it will be forever freed from all that is earthly, mortal; it will be a “body of glory,” like the glorious body of the Son of God. Incorruption and immortality will be the vesture of the saved and glorified.]
Verse 17
1 Thessalonians 4:17
then we that are alive, that are left,—[The phrase of verse 15 is here repeated, thus distinguishing as in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 between those living and those dead in Christ at the time of his advent, marking the different positions in which these two divisions of the saints will be found. Just what is involved in the physical transformation is not disclosed and speculation is worse than useless.]
shall together with them be caught up in the clouds,—“Together with” implies full association. Sundered as the saints will be at the Lord’s return, some in their graves, others alive, and all scattered over the whole earth, they then shall be reunited nevermore to part.
to meet the Lord in the air:—Not heaven, not in some sphere infinitely remote from this world, but in the upper regions of the lower atmosphere. As they ascend to meet him their bodies “shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52), thus their bodies shall be changed from natural into spiritual bodies, which, being fashioned after the likeness of his glorious body, shall be able to endure the brightness of his presence, which those in the flesh could not. (Revelation 1:17.)
and so shall we ever be with the Lord.—On the night before his crucifixion, Jesus said to his disciples: “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:2-3.) And he prayed on the night of his betrayal: “Father, I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24.)
Verse 18
1 Thessalonians 4:18
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.—Because the dead shall be raised, and those who remain alive shall be caught up in the twinkling of an eye, and because this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. When our brethren in Christ sleep, we must “comfort one another with these words.” These promises of the future resurrection to those in Christ should be grounds of comfort to Christians when their brethren in Christ die. It is a sleep, a rest in Christ Jesus, whence they will come forth with new life and vigor and increasing joys. [What congregation is there in which there is not need of this consolation? One needs the comfort today and another tomorrow; in proportion as we bear each other’s burdens, we all need it continually. The unseen world is perpetually opening to receive those whom we love; but though they pass out of sight and out of reach, it is not forever. They are still united to Christ; and when he comes in his glory he will bring them with him. Is it not strange to balance the greatest sorrow of life against words? Words, we often feel, are vain and worthless; they make no difference in the pressure of grief. Of our own words that is true; but those we have been considering are not our own words, but the words of the Lord. His words are living and powerful. Heaven and earth may pass away, but they cannot pass. Let us comfort one another with these precious words.]