The document provides commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5 from several scholars and commentators. The commentaries discuss: 1) Paul telling the Thessalonians they do not need to know the exact times and seasons of Christ's second coming, as it will be sudden and unexpected like a thief in the night. 2) The attitude the church should have regarding the second coming - one of constant watchfulness, sobriety, vigilance and courage as they await Christ's return. 3) The second coming will bring unspeakable felicity to believers but dismay and misery to unbelievers.

1. 1 THESSALONIANS 5 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
The Day of the Lord
1 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we
do not need to write to you,
1.BARNES, “But of the times and the seasons - See the notes, Act_1:7. The reference
here is to the coming of the Lord Jesus, and to the various events connected with his advent; see
the close of 1 Thes. 4.
Ye have no need that I write unto you - That is, they had received all the information on
the particular point to which he refers, which it was necessary they should have. He seems to
refer particularly to the suddenness of his coming. It is evident from this, as well as from other
parts of this Epistle, that this had been, from some cause, a prominent topic which he had dwelt
on when he was with them; see the notes on 1Th_1:10.
2. CLARKE, “But of the times and the seasons - It is natural to suppose, after what he
had said in the conclusion of the preceding chapter concerning the coming of Christ, the raising
of the dead, and rendering those immortal who should then be found alive, without obliging
them to pass through the empire of death, that the Thessalonians would feel an innocent
curiosity to know, as the disciples did concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, when those
things should take place, and what should be the signs of those times, and of the coming of the
Son of man. And it is remarkable that the apostle answers, here, to these anticipated questions
as our Lord did, in the above case, to the direct question of his disciples; and he seems to refer in
these words, Of the times and the seasons ye have no need that I write unto you, for yourselves
know that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night, to what our Lord said, Mat_24:44;
Mat_25:13; and the apostle takes it for granted that they were acquainted with our Lord’s
prediction on the subject: For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night. It is very likely therefore, that the apostle, like our Lord, couples these two
grand events-the destruction of Jerusalem and the final judgment. And it appears most probable
that it is of the former event chiefly that he speaks here, as it was certainly of the latter that he
treated in the conclusion of the preceding chapter. In the notes on Act_1:6, Act_1:7, it has
already been shown that the χρονους η καιρους, times or seasons, (the very same terms which are
used here), refer to the destruction of the Jewish commonwealth; and we may fairly presume
that they have the same meaning in this place.

2. 3. GILL, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren,.... Of the coming of Christ, his
"appointed time" and "his day", as the Ethiopic version renders it; of the resurrection of the
dead in Christ first, and of the rapture of all the saints in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,
things treated of in the preceding chapter: and which might excite a curiosity to know the times
and seasons of them; as in what year they would come to pass; in what season of the year,
whether winter or summer; in what month, and on what day of the month; and whether in the
night season, or in the daytime; and in what hour, whether at midnight, cockcrowing, morning,
or noonday: to repress which the apostle observes,
ye have no need that I write unto you; to write to them concerning the things themselves
was necessary and useful, to stir up and encourage their faith, hope, and expectation of them; to
allay their grief for departed friends, and to comfort one another under the various trials and
exercises of life; but to write to them about the time of these things would be trifling and
unnecessary, would be an idle speculation, and an indulging a vain curiosity; and, besides, was
impracticable: for of that day and hour knows no man; the times and seasons the Father hath
put in his own power; for these things are equally true of Christ's second coming, as of the
kingdom of Christ coming with power and glory, and of the destruction of Jerusalem,
Mat_24:36. The Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions read, "ye have no need that we write unto
you"; the reason follows;
4. HENRY, “In these words observe,
I. The apostle tells the Thessalonians it was needless or useless to enquire about the particular
time of Christ's coming: Of the times and seasons you need not that I write unto you, 1Th_5:1.
The thing is certain that Christ will come, and there is a certain time appointed for his coming;
but there was no need that the apostle should write about this, and therefore he had no
revelation given him; nor should they or we enquire into this secret, which the Father has
reserved in his own power. Of that day and hour knoweth no man. Christ himself did not
reveal this while upon earth; it was not in his commission as the great prophet of the church:
nor did he reveal this to his apostles; there was no need of this. There are times and seasons for
us to do our work in: these it is our duty and interest to know and observe; but the time and
season when we must give up our account we know not, nor is it needful that we should know
them. Note, There are many things which our vain curiosity desires to know which there is no
necessity at all of our knowing, nor would our knowledge of them do us good.
5, JAMISON, “1Th_5:1-28. The suddenness of Christ’s coming a motive for watchfulness;
Various precepts: Prayer for their being found blameless, body, soul, and spirit, at Christ’s
coming: Conclusion.
times — the general and indefinite term for chronological periods.
seasons — the opportune times (Dan_7:12; Act_1:7). Time denotes quantity; season, quality.
Seasons are parts of times.
ye have no need — those who watch do not need to be told when the hour will come, for
they are always ready [Bengel].
cometh — present: expressing its speedy and awful certainty.

3. 6. CALVIN, “1But as to times. He now, in the third place, calls them back from a curious and
unprofitable inquiry as to times, but in the mean time admonishes them to be constantly in a state of
preparation for receiving Christ. (589) He speaks, however, by way of anticipation, saying, that they have
no need that he should write as to those things which the curious desire to know. For it is an evidence of
excessive incredulity not to believe what the Lord foretells, unless he marks out the day by certain
circumstances, and as it were points it out with the finger. As, therefore, those waver between doubtful
opinions who require that moments of time should be marked out for them, as if they would draw a
conjecture (590) from some plausible demonstration, he accordingly says that discussions of this nature
are not necessary for the pious. There is also another reason — that believers do not desire to know
more than they are permitted to learn in God’ school. Now Christ designed that the day of his coming
should be hid from us, that, being in suspense, we might be as it were upon watch.
(589) “Quand il viendra en iugement;” — “ he will come to judgment.”
(590) “De ce qu’ en doyuent croire;” — “ what they must believe.”
7. BI, 1-11 “But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
Perhaps because the apostle had told them, or because the sudden coming of Christ was a
universal belief. So in modern times a preacher might say, “There is no need for me to speak to
you of the uncertainty of life.” (Prof. Jowett.)
The attitude of the Church towards the Second Advent of Christ
As when we ascend a winding river some well-known landmark appears to alter its position
seeming now distant, now near, so at different points on the circuitous stream of life the coming
of Christ reveals itself as a near or remote event. “It is plain,” says Archer Butler, “that that
period which is distant in one scheme of things may be near in another, where events are on a
vaster scale, and move in a mightier orbit. That which is a whole life to the ephemera, is but a
day to a man; that which in the brief succession of human history is counted as remote, is but a
single page in the volume of the heavenly records. The coming of Christ may be distant as
measured on the scale of human life, but may be near when the interval of the two advents is
compared, not merely with the four thousand years which were but its preparation, but with the
line of infinite ages which it is itself preparing.” The uncertainty of the time of the Second
Advent and its stupendous issues define the attitude of the Church.
I. It is an attitude of expectancy.
1. The time of the Second Coming is uncertain (1Th_5:1)—a gentle hint that all questions on
that subject were unnecessary, as there was nothing more to be revealed. The curiosity and
daring of man tempt him to pry into secrets with which he has nothing to do, and to
dogmatize on subjects of which he knows the least. Many have been fanatical enough to fix
the day of the Lord’s coming (Mar_13:32). This uncertainty is a perpetual stimulant to the

4. people of God to exercise the ennobling virtues of hope, watchfulness, fidelity, humility,
inquiry, and reverence.
2. The Second Coming will be sudden (1Th_5:2-3). The thief not only gives no notice of his
approach, but takes every possible care to conceal his designs: the discovery of the mischief
takes place when it is too late. The prudent will take every precaution to avoid surprise, and
to baffle the marauder.
3. The Second Coming will be terrible to the wicked. “They shall not escape” (1Th_5:3).
Wicked men are never more secure than when destruction is nearest. The swearer may be
seized with the oath on his tongue: the drunkard while the cup is trembling on his lips. The
destruction of the wicked and all they prized most in life will be sudden, painful, inevitable.
Now there is place for mercy, but not then (Rom_2:8-9).
II. It is an attitude of vigilance.
1. This vigilance is enforced on the ground of a moral transformation (1Th_5:4-5). Believers
are translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. They are “children
of the day,” when the sun shines the brightest when privileges are more abundant, when
opportunities multiply and responsibility is therefore increased.
2. This vigilance must be constant (1Th_5:6-7). Let us not, like the drunkard steeped in
sottish slumber, be immersed in the sleep of sin and unconcern, neglecting duty, and never
thinking of judgment; but let us watch, and, to do so effectually, be sober. We are day people,
not night people; therefore our work ought to be day work; our conduct such as will bear the
eye of day, the veil of night. A strict sobriety is essential to a sleepless vigilance.
III. It is attitude of militant courage (1Th_5:8). The Christian has to fight the enemy, as well as
to watch against him. He is a soldier on sentry. The Christian life is not one of luxurious ease.
The graces of faith, love, and hope constitute the most complete armour of the soul. The
breastplate and helmet protect the two most vital parts—the head and the heart. Let us keep the
head from error, and the heart from sin, and we are safe. The best guards against both are—
faith, hope, and charity; these are the virtues that inspire the most enterprising bravery.
IV. It is an attitude of confidence as to the future blessedness of the Church.
1. This blessedness is divinely provided.
2. This blessedness consists in a constant fellowship with Christ. “That whether we wake or
sleep, we should live together with Him” (1Th_5:10). The happiest moments on earth are
those spent in the company of the good; so will it be in heaven.
3. The confidence of inheriting this blessedness encourages edification (1Th_5:11).
Lessons:
1. The great event of the future will be the Second Coming of Christ.
2. That event should be looked for in a spirit of sobriety and vigilance.
3. That event will bring unspeakable felicity to the good, and dismay and misery to the
wicked. (G. Barlow.)
Times and seasons
are often found together, but always in the plural in the New Testament (Act_1:7), and not
unfrequently in the LXX, and the Apocrypha (Wis_7:18; Wis_8:8), both instructive passages,
and Dan_2:21): and in the singular (Ecc_3:1; Dan_7:12). Grotius conceives the difference

5. between them to consist merely in the greater length of the former. But this is insufficient, and
fails to reach the heart of the matter. Chronos is time simply as such; the succession of moments
(Mat_25:19; Rev_10:6; Heb_4:7). Keiros is time as it brings forth its several births; thus “time
of harvest” (Mat_13:30); “time of figs” (Mar_11:13); “due time” (Rom_5:6); and, above all,
compare, as constituting a miniature essay on the word (Ecc_3:1-8). Time, it will thus appear,
embraces all possible seasons, and being the larger, more inclusive word, may be often used
where season would have been equally suitable, though not the converse; thus “full time”
(Luk_1:57), “fulness of time” (Gal_4:4), where we should rather have expected “season,” which
phrase does actually occur in Eph_1:10. So we may confidently say that the “times of restitution”
(Act_3:21) are identical with the “seasons of refreshing” (Act_3:19). Here, then, and in Act_1:6-
7, “times” are spaces of time, and these contemplated under the aspect of their duration, over
which the Church’s history should extend; but the “seasons” are the joints and articulations in
this time, the critical epoch-making periods foreordained of God (Act_17:26); when all that has
been slowly and without observation ripening through long ages is mature and comes to birth in
grand decisive events, which constitute at once the close of one period and the commencement
of another. Such, e.g., was the passing away with a great noise of the old Jewish dispensation;
such again the recognition of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire; such the
conversion of the Germanic tribes settled within the limits of the Empire; such the great revival
which went along with the first institution of the mendicant orders; such, by better right, the
Reformation; such, above all others, the Second Coming of the Lord in glory (Dan_7:22). (Abp.
Trench.)
The uncertainty of the time of the Second Advent
Of this true advent season of eternity, though much is known, much too is hidden. There are
secrets the Divine Bridegroom whispers not; that the “Spirit and the Bride” may still “say,
Come.” Between the Church and the Church’s Head there still subsists, even in this intimate
union, a mysterious separation; and on the period of that separation a holy reserve. It has
already lasted for ages, and we cannot dare to predict at what epoch it is to close. The veil that
hangs before the celestial sanctuary is still undrawn; and it is vain for us to “marvel” as of old the
expectants of Zacharias, that the High Priest of our profession “tarrieth so long in the temple.”
He has willed it that, certain of His eventual arrival, we should remain in uncertainty as to its
destined moment. This mingling of ignorance and knowledge on the part of Christ’s people is
best suited to keep alive in their breasts the hope whose breathed utterance is “Even so, come,
Lord Jesus.” The Thessalonians knew that the time could not be known, hence there was no
need for Paul to write about it. (J. Hutchison, D. D.)
The Second Advent and its issues
I. The apostle tells the Thessalonians it was useless to inquire about the particular time of
Christ’s coming (1Th_5:1). The event is certain—Christ will come, and there is a certain time
divinely appointed for Christ’s coming; but there was no need that St. Paul should write about
that specially, and he had no revelation from heaven concerning it. Nor should we inquire into
this secret “which the Father hath reserved in His own power.” Christ Himself did not reveal
“that day and hour” while on earth; for it was not included in His commission as the great
Prophet of the Church; nor is it in that of His apostles. A vain curiosity desireth to know many
things which there is no need soever of our knowing, and which if we knew them thoroughly
would do us no good, but perhaps harm.

6. II. The apostle tells them the coming of Christ would be a great surprise to most men (1Th_5:2).
And this is what they knew perfectly, or might know, because the Lord Himself had so said
(Mat_24:44). As the thief usually cometh in the dead time of the night, when he is least
expected, such a surprise will the day of the Lord be—so sudden and surprising His appearance.
And the knowledge of this fact will prove more useful than to know the exact time, because this
will lead us to watch, that we may be ready whenever He cometh.
III. The apostle tells them how terrible will be the coming of Christ to the ungodly (1Th_5:3). It
will be to their destruction. It will overtake and fall upon them in the midst of their carnal
security and jollity; when they dream of felicity, and please themselves with vain amusements of
their fancies or their senses, and think not of it. And it will be unavoidable destruction, too.
“They shall not escape:” there will be no means possible for them to avoid the terror or the
punishment of that day; no shelter from the storm, nor shadow from the burning heat that shall
consume the wicked.
IV. The apostle tells them how comfortable the coming of Christ will be to the godly (1Th_5:4-
5). And here he sketches their character and privilege. They are “children of light.” They were
“sometime darkness, but were made light in the Lord.” They were “the children of the day,” for
“the Sun of Righteousness had risen upon them with healing in His beams.” They were not
under the dark shadows of the law, but under the bright sunshine of the gospel, which brings life
and immortality to light. But this, great as it is, is not all: the day of Christ will not overtake
them as a thief, but will be “a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.” They “look for
Him, and His appearance to them will be their full salvation.” (R. Fergusson.)
The profanity of attempting to determine the time
Mark what Paul saith, “Ye have no need that I write unto you of times and seasons”; and that our
Saviour saith, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons.” What may we think then of
them that write books and almanacks, and say, “Such a year, and at such a time, Christ shall
come”; and with these speeches frighten and mock the world? Paul was the apostle of Christ, an
elect vessel of the Holy Ghost: he said, I have no need to write of it; you cannot know it. What
need is there now that such books and pamphlets should be written? Why should the world be
troubled with such vanities? Spare me your patience, and give me leave a little to deal with these
wizards. Tell me, thou that dost measure and behold the compass of heaven, and markest the
conjunctions, and oppositions, and aspects of the stars; and by that wisdom canst foretell the
things that shall be done hereafter: where learnest thou this skill? how comest thou by this deep
knowledge? Paul was taken up into the third heaven, and heard words which cannot be spoken,
which are not lawful for man to utter: yet he knew not this secret, nor might not know it. What
art thou then? art thou greater than the apostle of Christ? hast thou been taken up into some
place higher than the third heaven? has thou heard such words, as are not lawful to utter? If this
be so, why dost thou utter them? Wilt thou take that upon thee, which the holy apostle dareth
not? Art thou of God’s privy council? The angels and archangels know not hereof: and shall we
think that thou knowest it? art thou wiser than an angel? Consider thyself: thou art a miserable
man; thy breath fadeth as the smoke; thou art nothing but dust and ashes: thou canst not attain
to the knowledge hereof. (Bp. Jewell.)
Under sealed orders
A Government vessel was about to leave the dock, to sail away for some port. No one knew her
destination, whether it was to be near by or far away. Those who had loved ones on board felt

7. sad and anxious; were they to be within reach of cheering words, of letters full of love and
encouragement, or were they to be sent afar to some foreign port from which no word could
come in weary weeks and months? They could ask the question many and many a time, but
there was no echo to the words, no answer to be had. The ship was to sail under sealed orders;
orders from the Navy Department that were sealed by Government zeal, which could not be
opened until the ship was far out at sea, and away from all possible communication with land.
The Captain of our salvation sends us away on sealed instructions. Whither? You do not need to
know. You might not like your destination; you might object to the buffeting waves, the billows
of trouble might threaten to wreck your soul; the harbour might be hard to reach and the rocks
of danger might lie between you and it. Do you caret Does it matter to you if the passage is a
stormy one when you know that safety is at the end? that there is a harbour that leads to the
Eternal City? and (most comforting thought) when the Father is at the helm, and that He neither
slumbers nor sleeps? Let go your moorings, spread the canvas, and in storm or sunshine, by day
or by night, go forth with “sealed orders.”
8. CHARLES SIMEON, “WATCHFULNESS ENJOINED
1Th_5:1-8. Of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace
and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they
shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye
are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore
let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they, that sleep sleep in the night; and
they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day, be sober, putting on the
breast-plate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
ON an occasion like the present, when God is so loudly speaking to us by his providence, I am anxious
that his voice, and his alone, should be heard amongst us: for as, on the one hand, it would be peculiarly
difficult so to speak, as to cut off all occasion for misconception, so, on the other hand, filled as your
minds are with holy fear and reverence, it will be far more grateful to you to sit, as it were, at the feet of
Jesus, and to hear what the Lord God himself shall say concerning you [Note: Preached before the
University of Cambridge, on occasion of the death of the Rev. Dr. Jowett, Regius Professor of Civil Law;
Nov. 21, 1813.]. Methinks, in the spirit of your minds you are all, even this whole congregation, like
Cornelius and his company, saying, “Now are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are
commanded thee of God:” yes, I would hope that each individual is now in the posture of Samuel, “Speak,
Lord, for thy servant heareth.” To meet these devout wishes in a suitable manner, I have chosen a portion
of Scripture, which contains all that the occasion calls for, and bears the impress of Divine authority in
every part. It comes home to our business and bosoms: it turns our minds from the distinguished
individual whose loss we deplore, and fixes them on our own personal concerns; proclaiming to every one
of us, “Prepare to meet thy God.”
The point to which it more immediately calls our attention, is, the coming of our Lord to judgment. The
precise period when that awful event shall take place has never been revealed either to men or angels: it
is “a secret which the Father has reserved in his own bosom.” This only we know concerning it, that it will

8. come suddenly and unexpected to all them that dwell on the earth: and therefore it is our wisdom to be
always standing prepared for it. We believe indeed that it is yet far distant from us, because there are
many prophecies which yet remain to be accomplished previous to its arrival: but to us the day of death is
as the day of judgment; because as death finds us, so shall we appear at the bar of judgment; and “as the
tree falleth, so will it lie” to all eternity. We shall therefore speak of death and judgment as, in effect, the
same to us; and we shall notice in succession,
I. The uncertainty of the period when doath shall arrive—
II. The character of those who are prepared for it—
III. The duty of all in reference to it—
I. As to the uncertainty of the period when death and judgment shall arrive, the idea is so familiar to
our minds, and the truth of it so self-evident, that, as the Apostle intimates, ye have no need to have it
brought before you. Yet though universally acknowledged as a truth, how rarely is it felt as a ground of
action in reference to the eternal world! We look into the Holy Scriptures, and there we see this truth
written as with a sun-beam. We behold the whole human race surprised at the deluge in the midst of all
their worldly cares and pleasures; and all, except one little family, swept away by one common
destruction. A similar judgment we behold executed on the cities of the plain: and these particular
judgments are held forth to us as warnings of what we ourselves have reason to expect. Our blessed
Lord says to us, “Be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of Man cometh:” yet we cannot
realize the thought, that death should ever so overtake us. Nay, we even try to put the conviction far from
us, and, in every instance of sudden death that we hear of, endeavour to find some reason for the
mortality of our neighbour, which does not attach to ourselves. When, as in the instance now before us, a
person is snatched away suddenly, and in full health, as it were, we are constrained for a moment to
reflect, that we also are liable to be called away: but it is surprising how soon the thought vanishes from
our minds, and how little permanent effect remains. We are told, that our danger is in reality increased by
our security; and that we are then most of all exposed to the stroke of death, when we are most dreaming
of “peace and safety;” yet we cannot awake from our torpor, or set ourselves to prepare for death and
judgment. We are not altogether unconscious, that destruction, even inevitable and irremediable
destruction, must be the portion of those who are taken unprepared; and yet we defer our preparation for
eternity, in the hope of finding some more convenient season. We see our neighbour surprised as by “a
thief in the night;” and yet we hope that notice will be given to us. We even bear about in our persons
some disorders or infirmities which might warn us of our approaching end; and yet we look for another
and another day, till like a woman in travail, we are unexpectedly seized, and with great anguish of mind
are constrained to obey the call.
Now whence is it, that notwithstanding “we know perfectly” the uncertainty of life, we are so little affected
with the consideration of it? If there were no future state of existence, we might account for it; because
men would naturally put away from them any thoughts, which might diminish their enjoyment of present
good. But when this life is only a space afforded us to prepare for a better, and when an eternity of
happiness or misery depends on our improvement of the present hour, it is truly amazing that we should
be able to indulge so fatal a security. One would think that every one would be employing all the time that
he could redeem from the necessary duties of life, in order to provide for his eternal state: one would think
that he should scarcely give sleep to his eyes or slumber to his eye-lids, till he had obtained a clear
evidence of his acceptance with God, and had “made his calling and election sure.” But this is not the
case: and therefore, evident as the truth is, we need to have it brought before us, and enforced on our
minds and consciences by every argument that can be adduced.

9. Permit me then to remind those who are living in open sins, that they know not how soon they may be
called into the presence of their God, with all their sins upon them. And how will they endure the sight of
their offended God? Will they, when standing at his tribunal, make as light of sin as they now do? Will
they prevail on him to view it as mere youthful indiscretion, and unworthy of any serious notice? No, in
truth: if any could come to us from the dead, they would not designate their crimes by such specious
terms as they once used respecting them; but would tell us plainly, that “they who do such things cannot
inherit the kingdom of God.” Think then, ye who make a mock at sin, how soon your voice may be
changed, and all your present sport be turned to “weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth!”
Nor is it to open sinners only that we must suggest these thoughts: we must remind the moral also, and
the sober, that death may quickly terminate their day of grace: yes, we must “put them in remembrance of
these things, though they know them, and be established” in the belief of them. We mean not to
undervalue sobriety and outward morality: no; we rejoice to see even an external conformity to Christian
duties. But more than outward morality is wanting for our final acceptance with God. We must have a
penitent and contrite spirit: we must seek refuge in Christ from all the curses of the broken law: we must
be renewed in the spirit of our mind by the sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost: we must be brought
to live no longer to ourselves, but unto Him who died for us, and rose again. These things are absolutely
and indispensably necessary to our salvation: the form of godliness, how far soever it may carry us, will
profit us nothing at the bar of judgment, if we possess not the power of it. How awful then is the thought,
that, in a few days or weeks, those persons who are most respected and revered amongst us for their
wisdom and learning, for their probity and honour, may be called to give up their account to God, before
they have attained that vital godliness which must constitute their meetness for heaven!
But indeed the uncertainty of life speaks loudly to the best of men; it bids them to “stand upon their watch-
tower,” and be ready at every moment to meet their last enemy: for, as mere morality will profit little
without real piety, so the lamp of outward profession will be of no service, if it be destitute of that oil which
God alone can bestow.
It is a matter of consolation to us, however, that some are prepared for death, however suddenly it may
come.
II. Who they are, and what their character is, we now come to shew—
The Scriptures every where draw a broad line of distinction between the true servants of Christ, and those
who are such only in name and profession. Thus, in the words before us, they are called “Children of the
light and of the day,” in opposition to those who are “of the night and of darkness.” Doubtless this
distinction primarily referred to their having been brought out of the darkness of heathen superstitions,
into the marvellous light of the Gospel of Christ. But we must not suppose that it is to be limited to this.
The ways of sin and ignorance are justly denominated darkness, no less than idolatry itself: and the paths
of faith and holiness may be called “light,” whether we have been brought into them suddenly from a state
of heathenism, or gradually, under a profession of Christianity itself. Now of the Thessalonians he could
say, in the judgment of charity, that “they all were children of the light and of the day.” The state of
profession was very different then from what it is at this time: people did not embrace Christianity unless
they had been strongly convinced of its truth; and the moment they did embrace it, they strove to “walk
worthy of their high calling,” and to stimulate each other to “adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all
things.” The persecutions they suffered obliged them to have constant recourse to God in prayer for his
support; and to watch carefully over their own conduct, that they might not give any just “occasion to their
adversaries to speak reproachfully.” Hence their religion was vital and practical, and very different from

10. that which obtains among the professors of Christianity at this day. Now men are reputed Christians,
though they have their affections altogether set upon the world, and their habits differing but little from
those of heathens. A man may be a Christian, though he drink, and swear, and commit evils, which ought
scarcely to be so much as named amongst us. A man may be a Christian, though he have no real love to
Christ, no sweet communion with him, no holy glorying in his cross and passion. But “ye have not so
learned Christ, if so be ye have heard him, and been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus.” The
distinction between light and darkness is the same as ever: and those only who walk according to the
example of the primitive Christians, can be called “the children of the light and of the day.” But those,
whoever they be, are prepared for death: to them, though it may come suddenly, it cannot come unlooked
for: it “cannot overtake them as a thief.”
And such was that exalted character, whom it has pleased our God so suddenly to take from the midst of
us. In whatever light we view him, he was a bright and consistent character, an ornament to his
profession, an honour to his God. It is the peculiar excellence of religion, that it operates in every
department of human life, and stimulates to an exemplary discharge of every duty. It is superfluous for me
to mention, with what unwearied diligence, and distinguished ability, he filled the high office which had
been assigned him in this university; and how uniform have been his exertions, for upwards of thirty
years, for the advancement of learning, the maintenance of order, and the due regulation of all the
complicated concerns of the university at large. Long, long will his loss be felt, in every department which
he had been called to fill. To him every one looked, as his most judicious friend, in cases of difficulty;
assured that, whilst by his comprehensive knowledge he was well qualified to advise, he was warped by
no prejudices, nor biassed by any interests: he ever both advised, and did, what he verily believed to be
right in the sight of God. His superiority to all worldly considerations was strongly marked throughout the
whole course of his life; more indeed to his honour, than the honour of those, by whom such eminent
talents and such transcendent worth have for so long a period been overlooked.
Had these excellencies arisen only from worldly principles, though they would have shed a lustre over his
character, and conferred benefits on the body of which he was a member,—they would have availed little
as a preparation for death and judgment. But they were the fruits of true religion in his soul. He had been
brought out of the darkness of a natural state, and had been greatly enriched with divine knowledge. He
was indeed “mighty in the Scriptures;” his views of divine truth were deep, and just, and accurate; and,
above all, they were influential on the whole of his life and conduct. He not only beheld Christ as the
Saviour of the world, but relied on him as his only hope, and cleaved to him with full purpose of heart, and
gloried in him as his Lord, his God, and his whole salvation. Nor was he satisfied with serving God in his
closet: no; he confessed his Saviour openly; he was a friend and patron of religion, he encouraged it in all
around him; he was not ashamed of Christ, nor of any of his faithful followers. He accounted it no
degradation to shew in every way his attachment to the Gospel, and his full conviction that there is
salvation in no other name under heaven than the name of Jesus Christ. He was, in the highest sense of
the word, “a child of light:” and verily he caused “his light so to shine before men,” that all who beheld it
were constrained to glorify God in his behalf.
To him then death came not as a thief in the night. Though it came suddenly, so suddenly that he had not
the smallest apprehension of its approach, it found him not unprepared. His loins were girt, his lamp was
trimmed, and he entered, a welcome guest, to the marriage-supper of his Lord.
O that we all might be found equally prepared, when the summons from on high shall be sent to us! O
that we may have in our souls an evidence, that we also are “children of the light and of the day!” Happy
indeed would it be, if the state of religion amongst us were such, that we might adopt with truth the
charitable expression in our text, “Ye all are children of the light and of the day.” But if we cannot do this,

11. we have at least reason to be thankful, that real piety is certainly more prevalent amongst us than it was
some years ago; that prejudices against it have most astonishingly subsided; and that, where it does not
yet reign, its excellence is secretly acknowledged; so that on this occasion we may doubt whether there
be so much as one amongst us, who does not say in his heart, “Let me die the death of the righteous,
and let my last end be like his.”
Let me then proceed,
III. To point out the duty of all, in reference to that day—
We should “not sleep as do others.” Those who put the evil day far from them, can live unmindful of their
God, and regardless of the sentence that he shall pass upon them. They can go on dreaming of heaven
and happiness in the eternal world, though they never walk in the way thither, or seek to obtain favour
with their offended God. But let it not be thus with any who desire happiness beyond the grave. If ever we
would behold the face of God in peace, we must improve our present hours in turning to him, and in
labouring to perform his will. If the prize held out to those who wrestled, or ran, or fought, could not be
obtained without the most strenuous exertions, much less can the glory of heaven be obtained, unless the
acquisition of it be the great object of our lives. It is true indeed that “the Son of Man must give unto us
the meat that endureth to everlasting life;” but still we must “labour for it” with all our heart, and mind, and
soul, and strength. To expect the end without using the means, is to reverse the decrees of heaven, and
to deceive ourselves to our eternal ruin. We must “watch and be sober.” It is an inordinate attachment to
earthly things that keeps us from the pursuit of heavenly things. The cares, the pleasures, the honours of
this life, engross all our attention, and leave us neither time nor inclination for higher objects. This
grovelling disposition we must resist and mortify. We must set our affections on things above, and not on
things on the earth; and must not only keep heaven constantly in view, but must so run as to obtain the
prize. The men of this world affect darkness rather than light, as being more suited to the habits in which
they delight to live. “They that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken, (if not lost to all sense
of shame,) are drunken in the night:” but we, if indeed we are of the day, shall delight to “come forth to the
light, that our deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God.” We should study the Holy
Scriptures, not merely to acquire a critical knowledge of them, (though that is good and necessary in its
place;) but to find what is the will of God, and what is that way in which he has commanded us to walk:
and instead of being satisfied with doing what shall satisfy the demands of an accusing conscience, we
must aspire after a perfect conformity to the Divine image, and endeavour to “walk in all things even as
Christ himself walked.”
But our duty is described in our text under some peculiar images, to which we shall do well to advert. We
are supposed to be as sentinels, watching against the incursions of our spiritual foe. For our protection,
armour of heavenly temper has been provided: “for a breast-plate, we are to put on faith and love; and for
an helmet, the hope of salvation.” We might, if it were needful, mark the suitableness of these various
graces to the protection of the part which they are intended to defend. But as this would lead us rather
from our main subject, we content ourselves with a general view of these graces, as necessary for the
final attainment of everlasting salvation. We must put on faith, without which indeed we are exposed to
the assault of every enemy, and destitute of any means of defence whatever. It is in Christ only that we
have the smallest hope of acceptance with God; and in him alone have we those treasures of grace and
strength which are necessary for a successful prosecution of our spiritual warfare: “He is made of God
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” But how must we obtain these
things from him? It is by faith, and by faith only that we can “receive them out of his fulness.” This then is
the first grace which we must cultivate; for according to our faith all other things will be unto us. To him we
must look continually; renouncing every other confidence, and trusting altogether in him alone. In the

12. fountain of his precious blood we must wash our guilty souls, or, as the Scripture expresses it, “Our
garments must be made white in the blood of the Lamb.” To him, under every conflict, we must cry for
strength; for it is his grace alone that can be sufficient for us; and “through his strength communicated to
us, we shall be able to do all things.” Yet, notwithstanding all our exertions, we shall find that in many
things we daily offend; and therefore, under every fresh contracted guilt, we must look to Him who is “our
Advocate with the Father, and the propitiation for our sins.” Hence it is that all our peace must flow; and
hence we shall find a satisfactory answer to the accusations of every enemy: “Who is he that
condemneth? It is Christ that died; yea rather, that is risen again, who also maketh intercession for us.”
But together with this we must cultivate love; which indeed is the inseparable fruit of faith; for “faith
worketh by love.” Whether we understand “love” as having God or man for its object, or as
comprehending both, it is a good defence against our spiritual enemies. For, if we truly love our God, who
shall prevail upon us to offend him? If we “love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity,” “who shall separate us
from him? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No; in
all these things we shall be more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” And if we love our fellow-
creatures as ourselves, we shall strive to benefit them to the utmost of our power; and account no
sacrifice great, which may contribute to their welfare: we shall be ready to “suffer all things for the elect’s
sake,” and even to “lay down our lives for the brethren.”
Behold then, what a defence is here against the darts of our enemies! Who shall be able to pierce our
breast, when so protected? We may defy all the confederate armies of earth and hell: “for I am
persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of
God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
For the protection of our head there is an helmet provided, even “the hope of salvation.” Let a man have
been “begotten to a lively hope in Christ Jesus, to a hope of that inheritance which is incorruptible and
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us,” and will he barter it away for the things of
time and sense? or will he suffer his views of heaven to be clouded by the indulgence of any unhallowed
lusts? No; he will contend with every enemy of his soul: he will “crucify the flesh with its affections and
lusts:” he will “lay aside every weight, and the sins that most easily beset him, and will run with patience
the race that is set before him, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of his faith.” Instead of
forgetting the great day of the Lord, he will be “looking for, and hasting unto, the coming of the day of
Christ.” Though willing to live for the good of others, he will “desire rather for himself to depart, that he
may be with Christ, which is far better” than any enjoyment that can be found on earth. “Not that he will
desire so much to be unclothed,” because of any present troubles, as to “be clothed upon, that mortality
may be swallowed up of life.”
This armour then must be procured; this armour must be worn; and, clothed in it, we must watch against
all our enemies.
And though others sleep, yet must not we: yea, if all around us should be drowned in sleep, yet must not
we give way to slumber: if to be sober and vigilant must of necessity make us singular, we must dare to
be singular, even as Elijah in the midst of Israel, or as Noah in the antediluvian world. If it be true that
none but those who are children of the light and of the day are ready for death and judgment, let us come
forth to the light without delay, and endeavour to walk in the light, even as God himself is in the light. His
word is light: it shews us in all things how to walk and to please him: it sets before us examples also, in
following whom we shall by faith and patience inherit the promises, as they now do. Let this word then be
taken as a light to our feet, and a lantern to our paths: and let us follow it in all things, as those that would

13. approve themselves to the heart-searching God. Let us not listen to any vain excuses for delay. We see,
in the instance before us, how suddenly we may be called away, and how soon our day of grace may
come to a close. And how terrible will it be, if that day should overtake us as a thief! Let us be wise: I
beseech you all, by the tender mercies of God, to have compassion on your own souls, and to “work
while it is day, knowing that the night cometh wherein no man can work.”
8, EBC, “THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE last verses of the fourth chapter perfect that which is lacking, on one side, in the faith of the
Thessalonians. The Apostle addresses himself to the ignorance of his readers: he instructs them
more fully on the circumstances of Christ’s second coming; and he bids them comfort one
another with the sure hope that they and their departed friends shall meet, never to part, in the
kingdom of the Saviour. In the passage before us he perfects what is lacking to their faith on
another side. He addresses himself, not to their ignorance, but to their knowledge; and he
instructs them how to improve, instead of abusing, both what they knew and what they were
ignorant of, in regard to the last Advent. It had led, in some, to curious inquiries; in others, to a
moral restlessness which could not bind itself patiently to duty; yet its true fruit, the Apostle
tells them, ought to be hope, watchfulness, and sobriety.
"The day of the Lord" is a famous expression in the Old Testament; it runs through all prophecy,
and is one of its most characteristic ideas. It means a day which belongs in a peculiar sense to
God: a day which He has chosen for the perfect manifestation of Himself, for the thorough
working out of His work among men. It is impossible to combine in one picture all the traits
which prophets of different ages, from Amos downward, embody in their representations of this
great day. It is heralded, as a rule, by terrific phenomena in nature: the sun is turned into
darkness and the moon into blood, and the stars withdraw their light; we read of earthquake and
tempest, of blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The great day ushers in the deliverance of God’s
people from all their enemies; and it is accompanied by a terrible sifting process, which
separates the sinners and hypocrites among the holy people from those who are truly the Lord’s.
Wherever it appears, the day of the Lord has the character of finality. It is a supreme
manifestation of judgment, in which the wicked perish forever; it is a supreme manifestation of
grace, in which a new and unchangeable life of blessedness is opened to the righteous.
Sometimes it seemed near to the prophet, and sometimes far off; but near or far, it bounded his
horizon; he saw nothing beyond. It was the end of one era, and the beginning of another which
should have no end.
This great conception is carried over by the Apostle from the Old Testament to the New. The day
of the Lord is identified with the Return of Christ. All the contents of that old conception are
carried over along with it. Christ’s return bounds the Apostle’s horizon; it is the final revelation
of the mercy and judgment of God. There is sudden destruction in it for some, a darkness in
which there is no light at all; and for others, eternal salvation, a light in which there is no
darkness at all. It is the end of the present order of things, and the beginning of a new and
eternal order. All this the Thessalonians knew; they had been carefully taught it by the Apostle.
He did not need to write such elementary truths, nor did he need to say anything about the
times and seasons which the Father had kept in His own power. They knew perfectly all that had
been revealed on this matter, viz., that the day of the Lord comes exactly as a thief in the night.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, giving a shock of alarm and terror to those whom it finds unprepared, -
in such wise it breaks upon the world. The telling image, so frequent with the Apostles, was
derived from the Master Himself; we can imagine the solemnity with which Christ said, "Behold,
I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and
they see his shame." The New Testament tells us everywhere that men will be taken at unawares

14. by the final revelation of Christ as Judge and Saviour; and in so doing, it enforces with all
possible earnestness the duty of watching. False security is so easy, so natural, -looking to the
general attitude, even of Christian men, to this truth, one is tempted to say, so inevitable, -that it
may well seem. vain to urge the duty of watchfulness more. As it was in the days of Noah, as it
was in the days of Lot, as it was-when Jerusalem fell, as it is at this moment, so shall it be at the
day of the Lord. Men will say, Peace and safety, though every sign of the times says, Judgment.
They will eat and drink, plant and build, marry and be given in marriage, with their whole heart
concentrated and absorbed in these transient interests, till in a moment suddenly, like the
lightning which flashes from east to west, the sign of the Son of Man is seen in heaven. Instead
of peace and safety, sudden destruction surprises them; all that they have lived for passes away;
they awake, as from deep sleep, to discover that their soul has no part with God. It is too late
then to think of preparing for the end: the end has come; and it is with solemn emphasis the
Apostle adds, "They shall in no wise escape."
A doom so awful, a life so evil, cannot be the destiny or the duty of any Christian man. "Ye,
brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." Darkness, in that
saying of the Apostle, has a double weight of meaning. The Christian is not in ignorance of what
is impending, and forewarned is forearmed. Neither is he any longer in moral darkness, plunged
in vice, living a life the first necessity of which is to keep out of God’s sight. Once the
Thessalonians had been in such darkness; their souls had had their part in a world sunk in sin,
on which the day spring from on high had not risen; but now that time was past. God had shined
into their hearts; He who is Himself light had poured the radiance of His own love and truth into
them till ignorance, vice, and wickedness had passed away, and they had become light in the
Lord. How intimate is the relation between the Christian and God, how complete the
regeneration, expressed in the words, "Ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day; we are not of
the night, nor of darkness"! There are shady things in the world, and shady persons, but they are
not in Christianity, or among Christians. The true Christian takes his nature, all that
characterises and distinguishes him, from light. There is no darkness in him, nothing to hide, no
guilty secret, no corner of his being into which the light of God has not penetrated, nothing that
makes him dread exposure. His whole nature is full of light, transparently luminous, so that it is
impossible to surprise him or take him at a disadvantage. This, at least, is his ideal character; to
this he is called, and this he makes his aim. There are those, the Apostle implies, who take their
character from night and darkness, -men with souls that hide from God, that love secrecy, that
have much to remember they dare not speak of, that turn with instinctive aversion from the light
which the gospel brings, and the sincerity and openness which it claims; men, in short, who have
come to love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. The day of the Lord will
certainly be a surprise to them; it will smite them with sudden terror, as the midnight thief,
breaking unseen through door or window, terrifies the defenceless householder; it will
overwhelm them with despair, because it will come as a great and searching light, -a day on
which God will bring every hidden thing to view, and judge the secrets of men’s hearts by Christ
Jesus. For those who have lived in darkness the surprise will be inevitable; but what surprise can
there be for the children of the light? They are partakers of the Divine nature; there is nothing in
their souls which they would not have God know; the light that shines from the great white
throne will discover nothing in them to which its searching brightness is unwelcome; Christ’s
coming is so far from. disconcerting them that it is really the crowning of their hopes.
The Apostle demands of his disciples conduct answering to this ideal. Walk worthy, he says, of
your privileges and of your calling. "Let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be
sober." "Sleep" is certainly a strange word to describe the life of the worldly man. He probably
thinks himself very wide awake, and as far as a certain circle of interests is concerned, probably
is so. The children of this world, Jesus tells us, are wonderfully wise for their generation. They
are more shrewd and more enterprising than the children of light. But what a stupor falls upon

15. them, what a lethargy, what a deep unconscious slumber, when the interests in view are
spiritual. The claims of God, the future of the soul, the coming of Christ, our manifestation at
His judgment seat, they are not awake to any concern in these. They live on as if these were not
realities at all; if they pass through their minds on occasion, as they look at the Bible or listen to
a sermon, it is as dreams pass through the mind of one asleep; they go out and shake
themselves, and all is over; earth has recovered its solidity, and the airy unrealities have passed
away. Philosophers have amused themselves with the difficulty of finding a scientific criterion
between the experiences of the sleeping and the waking state, i.e., a means of distinguishing
between the kind of reality which belongs to each; it is at least one element of sanity to be able to
make the distinction. If we may enlarge the ideas of sleep and waking, as they are enlarged by
the Apostle in this passage, it is a distinction which many fail to make. When they have the ideas
which make up the staple of revelation presented to them, they feel as if they were in dreamland;
there is no substance to them in a page of St. Paul; they cannot grasp the realities that underlie
his words, any more than they can grasp the forms which swept before their minds in last night’s
sleep. But when they go out to their work in the world, to deal in commodities, to handle money,
then they are in the sphere of real things, and wide awake enough. Yet the sound mind will
reverse their decisions. It is the visible things that are unreal and that ultimately pass away; the
spiritual things-God, Christ, the human soul, faith, love, hope-that abide. Let us not face our life
in that sleepy mood to which the spiritual is but a dream; on the contrary, as we are of the day,
let us be wide awake and sober. The world is full of illusions, of shadows which impose
themselves as substances upon the heedless, of gilded trifles which the man whose eyes are
heavy with sleep accepts as gold; but the Christian ought not to be thus deceived. Look to the
coming of the Lord, Paul says, and do not sleep through your days, like the heathen, making
your life one long delusion; taking the transitory for the eternal, and regarding the eternal as a
dream; that is the way to be surprised with sudden destruction at the last; watch and be sober;
and you will not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
It may not be out of place to insist on the fact that "sober" in this passage means sober as
opposed to drunk. No one would wish to be overtaken drunk by any great occasion; yet the day
of the Lord is associated in at least three passages of Scripture with a warning against this gross
sin. "Take heed to yourselves," the Master says, "lest haply your hearts be overcharged with
surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a
snare." "The night is far spent," says the Apostle, "the day is at hand Let us walk honestly as in
the day; not in revelling and drunkenness." And in this passage: "Let us, since we are of the day,
be sober; they that be drunken are drunken in the night." The conscience of men is awakening to
the sin of excess, but it has much to do before it comes to the New Testament standard. Does it
not help us to see it in its true light when it is thus confronted with the day of the Lord? What
horror could be more awful than to be overtaken in this state? What death is more terrible to
contemplate than one which is not so very rare-death in drink?
Wakefulness and sobriety do not exhaust the demands made upon the Christian. He is also to be
on his guard. "Put on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation."
While waiting for the Lord’s coming, the Christian waits in a hostile world. He is exposed to
assault from spiritual enemies who aim at nothing less than his life, and he needs to be
protected against them. In the very beginning of this letter we came upon the three Christian
graces; the Thessalonians were commended for their work of faith, labour of love, and patience
of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. There they were represented as active powers in the Christian
life, each manifesting its presence by some appropriate work, or some notable fruit of character;
here they constitute a defensive armour by which the Christian is shielded against any mortal
assault. We cannot press the figure further than this. If we keep our faith in Jesus Christ, if we
love one another, if our hearts are set with confident hope on that salvation which is to be
brought to us at Christ’s appearing, we need fear no evil; no foe can touch our life. It is

16. remarkable, I think, that both here and in the famous passage in Ephesians, as well as in the
original of both in Isa_59:17, salvation, or, to be more precise, the hope of salvation, is made the
helmet. The Apostle is very free in his comparisons; faith is now a shield, and now a breastplate;
the breastplate in one passage is faith and love, and in another righteousness; but the helmet is
always the same. Without hope, he would say to us, no man can hold up his head in the battle;
and the Christian hope is always Christ’s second coming. If He is not to come again, the very
word hope may be blotted out of the New Testament. This assured grasp on the coming
salvation-a salvation ready to be revealed in the last times-is what gives the spirit of victory to
the Christian even in the darkest hour.
The mention of salvation brings the Apostle back to his principal subject. It is as if he wrote, "for
a helmet the hope of salvation; salvation, I say; for God did not appoint us to wrath, but to the
obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." The day of the Lord is indeed a day of
wrath, -a day when men will cry to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from
the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day
of their wrath is come. The Apostle cannot remember it for any purpose without getting a
glimpse of those terrors; but it is not for these he recalls it at this time. God did not appoint
Christians to the wrath of that day, but to its salvation, -a salvation the hope of which is to cover
their heads in the day of battle.
The next verse-the tenth-has the peculiar interest of containing the only hint to be found in this
early Epistle of Paul’s teaching as to the mode of salvation. We obtain it through Jesus Christ,
who died for us. It is not who died instead of us, nor even on our behalf (υπερ), but, according to
the true reading, who died a death in which we are concerned. It is the most vague expression
that could have been used to signify that Christ’s death had something to do with our salvation.
Of course it does not follow that Paul had said no more to the Thessalonians than he indicates
here; judging from the account he gives in 1st Corinthians of his preaching immediately after he
left Thessalonica, one would suppose he had been much more explicit; certainly no church ever
existed that was not based on the Atonement and the Resurrection. In point of fact, however,
what is here made prominent is not the mode of salvation, but one special result of salvation as
accomplished by Christ’s death, a result contemplated by Christ, and pertinent to the purpose of
this letter; He died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should together live with Him. The
same conception precisely is found in Rom_14:9 : "To this end Christ died, and lived again, that
He might be Lord of both the dead and the living." This was His aim in redeeming us by passing
through all modes of human existence, seen and unseen. It made Him Lord of all. He filled all
things. He claims all modes of existence as His own. Nothing separates from Him. Whether we
sleep or wake, whether we live or die, we shall alike live with Him. The strong consolation, to
impart which was the Apostle’s original motive in approaching this subject, has thus come
uppermost again; in the circumstances of the church, it is this which lies nearest to his heart.
He ends, therefore, with the old exhortation: "Comfort one another, and build each other up, as
also ye do." The knowledge of the truth is one thing; the Christian use of it is another: if we
cannot help one another very much with the first, there is more in our power with regard to the
last. We are not ignorant of Christ’s second coming; of its awful and consoling circumstances; of
its final judgment and final mercy; of its final separations and final unions. Why have these
things been revealed to us? What influence are they meant to have in our lives? They ought to be
consoling and strengthening. They ought to banish hopeless sorrow. They ought to generate and
sustain an earnest, sober, watchful spirit; strong patience; a complete independence of this
world. It is left to us as Christian men to assist each other in the appropriation and application
of these great truths. Let us fix our minds upon them. Our salvation is nearer than when we
believed. Christ is coming. There will be a gathering together of all His people unto Him. The
living and the dead shall be forever with the Lord. Of the times and the seasons we can say no

17. more than could be said at the beginning; the Father has kept them in His own power; it
remains with us to watch and be sober; to arm ourselves with faith, love, and hope; to set our
mind on the things that are above, where our true country is, whence also we look for the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
9. MEYER, “READY FOR “THE DAY OF THE LORD”
1Th_5:1-11
To the Apostle “the day of the Lord” was near. He expected it in his lifetime, and if we remember
that the Lord’s words with reference to it were in part fulfilled when Jerusalem fell, it is clear
that his expectation was not altogether vain.
The suddenness of the Advent was the theme of Jesus’ reiterated assurances. See Mat_24:38;
Mat_24:43; Luk_17:29-30. The world spends its days in careless indifference (sleep), or in
sensual enjoyment (drunkenness); but believers are bidden to be soldier-like in their attire and
watchfulness. Ponder that wonderful word in 1Th_5:10. Together implies that Christians now
living are closely united with those who have died. The state we call death, but which the Apostle
calls sleep-because our Lord’s resurrection has robbed it of its terror-is as full of vitality as the
life which we live day by day in this world. We live together, animated by the same purposes-
they on that side and we on this. Whether here or there, life is “in Him.” The closer we live to
Him, the nearer we are to them.
2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will
come like a thief in the night.
1.BARNES, “For yourselves know perfectly - That is, they had been fully taught this.
There could be no doubt in their minds respecting it.
The day of the Lord so cometh - Of the Lord Jesus - for so the word “Lord” in the New
Testament commonly means; see the notes, Act_1:24. The “day of the Lord” means that day in
which he will be manifested, or in which he will be the prominent object in view of the
assembled universe.
As a thief in the night - Suddenly and unexpectedly, as a robber breaks into a dwelling. A
thief comes without giving any warning, or any indications of his approach. He not only gives
none, but he is careful that none shall be given. It is a point with him that, if possible, the man
whose house he is about to rob shall have no means of ascertaining his approach until he comes
suddenly upon him; compare Mat_24:37-43 notes; Luk_12:39-40 notes. In this way the Lord
Jesus will return to judgment; and this proves that all the attempts to determine the day, the
year, or the century when he will come, must be fallacious. He intends that his coming to this
world shall be sudden and unexpected, “like that of a thief in the night;” that there shall be no

18. such indications of his approach that it shall not be sudden and unexpected; and that no
warning of it shall be given so that people may know the time of his appearing. If this be not the
point of the comparison in expressions like this, what is it? Is there anything else in which his
coming will resemble that of a thief? And if this be the true point of comparison, how can it be
true that people can ascertain when that is to occur? Assuredly, if they can, his coming will not
be like that of a thief; comp. notes on Act_1:7.
2. GILL, “For yourselves know perfectly,.... With great exactness and accuracy, with great
clearness and perspicuity, as a certain truth, which was made plain and evident to them, and
about which there could be no question; and which perfect knowledge they had, either from the
words of Christ, Mat_24:42, or from the ministration of the apostle and his fellow labourers,
when among them:
that the day of the Lord; of the Lord Jesus, when he will show himself to be King of kings,
and Lord of lords, and the Judge of the whole earth; and which is sometimes styled the day of
the Son of man, and the day of God, for Christ will appear then most gloriously, both in his
divine and human nature; the day of redemption, that is, of the body from the grave, and from
corruption and mortality; and the last day in which will be the resurrection of the dead, and the
day of judgment, in which Christ will come to judge the quick and dead: and which
so cometh as a thief in the night; at an unawares, and the Lord himself in that day will so
come, Rev_3:3 respect is had not to the character of the thief, nor to the end of his coming; but
to the manner of it, in the dark, indiscernibly, suddenly, and when not thought of and looked
for; and such will be the coming of Christ, it will be sudden, and unknown before hand, and
when least thought of and expected: and since the Thessalonians knew this full well, it was
needless for the apostle to write about the time and season of it; which they were sensible of,
could no more be known and fixed, than the coming of a thief into anyone of their houses.
3. HENRY, “He tells them that the coming of Christ would be sudden, and a great surprise to
most men, 1Th_5:2. And this is what they knew perfectly, or might know, because our Lord
himself had so said: In such an hour as you think not, the Son of man cometh, Mat_24:44. So
Mar_13:35, Mar_13:36, Watch you therefore, for you know not when the master of the house
cometh; lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And no doubt the apostle had told them, as
of the coming of Christ, so also of his coming suddenly, which is the meaning of his coming as a
thief in the night, Rev_16:15. As the thief usually cometh in the dead time of the night, when he
is least expected, such a surprise will the day of the Lord be; so sudden and surprising will be his
appearance. The knowledge of this will be more useful than to know the exact time, because this
should awaken us to stand upon our watch, that we may be ready whenever he cometh.
4, JAMISON, “as a thief in the night — The apostles in this image follow the parable of their
Lord, expressing how the Lord’s coming shall take men by surprise (Mat_24:43; 2Pe_3:10).
“The night is wherever there is quiet unconcern” [Bengel]. “At midnight” (perhaps figurative: to
some parts of the earth it will be literal night), Mat_25:6. The thief not only gives no notice of
his approach but takes all precaution to prevent the household knowing of it. So the Lord

19. (Rev_16:15). Signs will precede the coming, to confirm the patient hope of the watchful believer;
but the coming itself shall be sudden at last (Mat_24:32-36; Luk_21:25-32, Luk_21:35).
5. CALVIN, “2Ye know perfectly. He places exact knowledge in contrast with an anxious desire of
investigation. But what is it that he says the Thessalonians know accurately? (591) It is, that the day of
Christ will come suddenly and unexpectedly, so as to take unbelievers by surprise, as a thief does those
that are asleep. This, however, is opposed to evident tokens, which might portend afar off his coming to
the world. Hence it were foolish to wish to determine the time precisely from presages or prodigies.
(591) “Plenement et certainement;” — “ and certainly.”
3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,”
destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains
on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
1.BARNES, “For when they shall say, Peace and safety - That is, when the wicked shall
say this, for the apostle here refers only to those on whom “sudden destruction” will come;
compare Mat_24:36-42 notes; 2Pe_3:3-4 notes. It is clear from this:
(1) That when the Lord Jesus shall come the world will not all be converted. There will be
some to be “destroyed.” How large this proportion will be, it is impossible now to ascertain. This
supposition, however, is not inconsistent with the belief that there will be a general prevalence
of the gospel before that period.
(2) The impenitent and wicked world will be sunk in carnal security when he comes. They will
regard themselves as safe. They will see no danger. They will give no heed to warning. They will
be unprepared for his advent. So it has always been. it seems to be a universal truth in regard to
all the visitations of God to wicked people for punishment, that he comes upon them at a time
when they are not expecting him, and that they have no faith in the predictions of his advent. So
it was in the time of the flood; in the destruction of Sodom Gomorrah, and Jerusalem; in the
overthrow of Babylon: so it is when the sinner dies, and so it will be when the Lord Jesus shall
return to judge the world. One of the most remarkable facts about the history of man is, that he
takes no warning from his Maker; he never changes his plans, or feels any emotion, because his
Creator “thunders damnation along his path,” and threatens to destroy him in hell.
Sudden destruction - Destruction that was unforeseen (αᅶφνίδιος aiphnidios) or
unexpected. The word here rendered “sudden,” occurs nowhere else in the New Testament,
except in Luk_21:34, “Lest that day come upon you unawares.” The word rendered “destruction”

20. - ᆊλεθρος olethros - occurs in the New Testament only here and in 1Co_5:5; 2Th_1:9; 1Ti_6:9, in
all of which places it is correctly translated destruction. The word destruction is familiar to us. It
means, properly, demolition; pulling down; the annihilation of the form of anything, or that
form of parts which constitutes it what it is; as the destruction of grass by eating; of a forest by
cutting down the trees; of life by murder; of the soul by consigning it to misery. It does not
necessarily mean annihilation - for a house or city is not annihilated which is pulled down or
burnt; a forest is not annihilated which is cut down; and a man is not annihilated whose
character and happiness are destroyed. In regard to the destruction here referred to, we may
remark:
(1) It will be after the return of the Lord Jesus to judgment; and hence it is not true that the
wicked experience all the punishment which they ever will in the present life;
(2) That it seems fairly implied that the destruction which they will then suffer will not be
annihilation, but will be connected with conscious existence; and,
(3) That they will then be cut off from life and hope and salvation.
How can the solemn affirmation that they will be “destroyed suddenly,” be consistent with the
belief that all people will be saved? Is it the same thing to be destroyed and to be saved? Does
the Lord Jesus, when he speaks of the salvation of his people, say that he comes to destroy
them?
As travail upon a woman with child - This expression is sometimes used to denote great
consternation, as in Psa_48:6; Jer_6:24; Mic_4:9-10; great pain, as Isa_53:11; Jer_4:31;
Joh_16:21; or the suddenness with which anything occurs; Jer_13:21. It seems here to be used
to denote two things; first, that the coming of the Lord to a wicked world will be sudden; and,
secondly, that it will be an event of the most distressing and overwhelming nature.
And they shall not escape - That is, the destruction, or punishment. They calculated on
impunity, but now the time will have come when none of these refuges will avail them, and no
rocks will cover them from the “wrath to come.”
2. CLARKE, “For when they shall say, Peace and safety - This points out, very
particularly, the state of the Jewish people when the Romans came against them; and so fully
persuaded were they that God would not deliver the city and temple to their enemies, that they
refused every overture that was made to them.
Sudden destruction - In the storming of their city and the burning of their temple, and the
massacre of several hundreds of thousands of themselves; the rest being sold for slaves, and the
whole of them dispersed over the face of the earth.
As travail upon a woman - This figure is perfectly consistent with what the apostle had
said before, viz.: that the times and seasons were not known: though the thing itself was
expected, our Lord having predicted it in the most positive manner. So, a woman with child
knows that, if she be spared, she will have a bearing time; but the week, the day, the hour, she
cannot tell. In a great majority of cases the time is accelerated or retarded much before or
beyond the time that the woman expected; so, with respect to the Jews, neither the day, week,
month, nor year was known. All that was specifically known was this: their destruction was
coming, and it should be sudden, and they should not escape.

21. 3. GILL, “For when they shall say,.... Or men shall say, that is, wicked and ungodly men,
persons in a state of unregeneracy:
peace and safety; when they shall sing a requiem, to themselves, promise themselves much
ease and peace for years to come, and imagine their persons and property to be very secure from
enemies and oppressors, and shall flatter themselves with much and long temporal happiness:
then sudden destruction cometh upon them; as on the men of the old world in the times
of Noah, and on the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Lot; for as these, will be
the days of the Son of man, as at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, so at the last day; see
Luk_17:26 and as was the destruction of literal Babylon, so of Babylon in a mystical sense, or
antichrist and his followers: and which will be
as travail upon a woman with child; whose anguish and pains are very sharp, the cause of
which is within herself, and which come suddenly upon her, and are unavoidable; and so the
metaphor expresses the sharpness and severity of the destruction of the wicked, thus the
calamities on the Jewish nation are expressed by a word which signifies the sorrows, pangs, and
birth throes of a woman in travail, Mat_24:8, and likewise that the cause of it is from
themselves, their own sins and transgressions; and also the suddenness of it, which will come
upon them in the midst of all their mirth, jollity, and security; and moreover, the inevitableness
of it, it will certainly come at the full and appointed time, though that is not known:
and they shall not escape; the righteous judgment of God, the wrath of the Lamb, or falling
into his hands; to escape is impossible, rocks, hills, and mountains will not cover and hide them;
before the judgment seat of Christ they must stand, and into everlasting punishment must they
go.
4. HENRY, “He tells them how terrible Christ's coming would be to the ungodly, 1Th_5:3. It
will be to their destruction in that day of the Lord. The righteous God will bring ruin upon his
and his people's enemies; and this their destruction, as it will be total and final, so, 1. It will be
sudden. It will overtake them, and fall upon them, in the midst of their carnal security and
jollity, when they say in their hearts, Peace and safety, when they dream of felicity and please
themselves with vain amusements of their fancies or their senses, and think not of it, - as travail
cometh upon a woman with child, at the set time indeed, but not perhaps just then expected,
nor greatly feared. 2. It will be unavoidable destruction too: They shall not escape; they shall in
no wise escape. There will be no means possible for them to avoid the terror nor the punishment
of that day. There will be no place where the workers of iniquity shall be able to hide
themselves, no shelter from the storm, nor shadow from the burning heat that shall consume the
wicked.
5, JAMISON, “they — the men of the world. 1Th_5:5, 1Th_5:6; 1Th_4:13, “others,” all the
rest of the world save Christians.
Peace — (Jdg_18:7, Jdg_18:9, Jdg_18:27, Jdg_18:28; Jer_6:14; Eze_13:10).
then — at the very moment when they least expect it. Compare the case of Belshazzar,
Dan_5:1-5, Dan_5:6, Dan_5:9, Dan_5:26-28; Herod, Act_12:21-23.
sudden — “unawares” (Luk_21:34).
as travail — “As the labor pang” comes in an instant on the woman when otherwise engaged
(Psa_48:6; Isa_13:8).

22. shall not escape — Greek, “shall not at all escape.” Another awful feature of their ruin: there
shall be then no possibility of shunning it however they desire it (Amo_9:2, Amo_9:3; Rev_6:15,
Rev_6:16).
6. CALVIN, “3For when they shall say. Here we have an explanation of the similitude, the day of the
Lord will be like a thief in the night. Why so? because it will come suddenly to unbelievers, when not
looked for, so that it will take them by surprise, as though they were asleep. But whence comes that
sleep? Assuredly from deep contempt of God. The prophets frequently reprove the wicked on account of
this supine negligence, and assuredly they await in a spirit of carelessness not merely that last judgment,
but also such as are of daily occurrence. Though the Lord threatens destruction, (592) they do not hesitate
to promise themselves peace and every kind of prosperity. And the reason why they fall into this
destructive indolence (593) is, because they do not see those things immediately accomplished, which the
Lord declares will take place, for they reckon that to be fabulous that does not immediately present itself
before their eyes. For this reason the Lord, in order that he may avenge this carelessness, which is full of
obstinacy, comes all on a sudden, and contrary to the expectation of all, precipitates the wicked from the
summit of felicity. He sometimes furnishes tokens of this nature of a sudden advent, but that will be the
principal one, when Christ will come down to judge the world, as he himself testifies, (Mat_24:37)
comparing that time to the age of Noe, inasmuch as all will give way to excess, as if in the profoundest
repose.
As the pains of child-bearing. Here we have a most apt similitude, inasmuch as there is no evil that seizes
more suddenly, and that presses more keenly and more violently on the very first attack; besides this, a
woman that is with child carries in her womb occasion of grief without feeling it, until she is seized amidst
feasting and laughter, or in the midst of sleep.
(592) “Leur denonce ruine et confusion;” — “ them with ruin and confusion.”
(593) “Ceste paresse tant dangereuse et mortelle;” — “ indolence so dangerous and deadly.”
4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so
that this day should surprise you like a thief.
1.BARNES, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake
you as a thief - The allusion here is to the manner in which a thief or robber accomplishes his

23. purpose. He comes in the night, when people are asleep. So, says the apostle, the Lord will come
to the wicked. They are like those who are asleep when the thief comes upon them. But it is not
so with Christians. They are, in relation to the coming of the day of the Lord, as people are who
are awake when the robber comes. They could see his approach, and could prepare for it, so that
it would not take them by surprise.
2. CLARKE, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness - Probably St. Paul refers to a
notion that was very prevalent among the Jews, viz.: that God would judge the Gentiles in the
night time, when utterly secure and careless; but he would judge the Jews in the day time, when
employed in reading and performing the words of the law. The words in Midrash Tehillim, on
Psa_9:8, are the following: When the holy blessed God shall judge the Gentiles, it shall be in the
night season, in which they shall be asleep in their transgressions; but when he shall judge the
Israelites, it shall be in the day time, when they are occupied in the study of the law. This maxim
the apostle appears to have in view in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th verses. (1Th_5:4-8)
3. GILL, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness,.... In a state of unregeneracy, which is a
state of darkness, blindness, and ignorance, and which is the condition of all men by nature;
they are born in darkness, and are brought up in it, and willingly, walk in it; they are covered
with it, as the earth was covered with darkness in its first creation; and dwell in it, as the
Egyptians did for some days, in thick darkness, darkness which might be felt; their
understandings are darkened with respect to the true knowledge of God, the nature of sin, the
way of salvation by Christ, the work of the spirit of God upon the soul, and the necessity of it, the
Scriptures of truth, and the mysteries of the Gospel; and which is the case of God's elect
themselves, while unregenerate: but now these persons were called out of darkness, turned from
it, and delivered from the power of it; and therefore knew that the day of the Lord comes as
above described, by the metaphors of a thief in the night, and a woman with child, and needed
not to be informed about that matter: or
that that day should overtake you as a thief; or seize and lay hold upon you as a thief who
comes in the dark, and lays hold upon a person suddenly; but these saints were not in the dark,
but in the light, and so could see when the day of the Lord came; and would not be surprised
with it, as a man is seized with terror and fright, when laid hold on by a thief; since they would
be, or at least should be on their watch, and be looking out for, and hasting to the coming of the
day of God.
4. HENRY, “He tells them how comfortable this day will be to the righteous, 1Th_5:4,
1Th_5:5. Here observe, 1. Their character and privilege. They are not in darkness; they are the
children of the light, etc. This was the happy condition of the Thessalonians as it is of all true
Christians. They were not in a state of sin and ignorance as the heathen world. They were some
time darkness, but were made light in the Lord. They were favoured with the divine revelation
of things that are unseen and eternal, particularly concerning the coming of Christ, and the
consequences thereof. They were the children of the day, for the day-star had risen upon them;
yea, the Sun of righteousness had arisen on them with healing under his wings. They were no
longer under the darkness of heathenism, nor under the shadows of the law, but under the
gospel, which brings life and immortality to light. 2Ti_1:10. 2. Their great advantage on this

24. account: that that day should not overtake them as a thief, 1Th_5:4. It was at least their own
fault if they were surprised by that day. They had fair warning, and sufficient helps to provide
against that day, and might hope to stand with comfort and confidence before the Son of man.
This would be a time of refreshing to them from the presence of the Lord, who to those that look
for him will appear without sin unto their salvation, and will come to them as a friend in the
day, not as a thief in the night.
5, JAMISON, “not in darkness — not in darkness of understanding (that is, spiritual
ignorance) or of the moral nature (that is, a state of sin), Eph_4:18.
that — Greek, “in order that”; with God results are all purposed.
that day — Greek, “THE day”; the day of the Lord (Heb_10:25, “the day”), in contrast to
“darkness.”
overtake — unexpectedly (compare Joh_12:35).
as a thief — The two oldest manuscripts read, “as (the daylight overtakes) thieves”
(Job_24:17). Old manuscripts and Vulgate read as English Version.
6. CALVIN, “4But ye, brethren. He now admonishes them as to what is the duty of believers, that they
look forward in hope to that day, though it be remote. And this is what is intended in the metaphor
of day and light. The coming of Christ will take by surprise those that are carelessly giving way to
indulgence, because, being enveloped in darkness, they see nothing, for no darkness is more dense than
ignorance of God. We, on the other hand, on whom Christ has shone by the faith of his gospel, differ
much from them, for that saying of Isaiah is truly accomplished in us, that
while darkness covers the earth, the Lord arises upon us, and his glory is seen in us. (Isa_60:2)
He admonishes us, therefore, that it were an unseemly thing that we should be caught by Christ asleep,
as it were, or seeing nothing, while the full blaze of light is shining forth upon us. He calls them children of
light, in accordance with the Hebrew idiom, as meaning — furnished with light; as also children of the day,
meaning — those who enjoy the light of day. (594) And this he again confirms, when he says that we
are not of the night nor of darkness, because the Lord has rescued us from it. For it is as though he had
said, that we have not been enlightened by the Lord with a view to our walking in darkness.
(594) “ is ‘’ with them. It is not only ‘’ round about them, (so it is wherever the gospel is afforded to men,)
but God hath made it ‘’ within. ” —Howe’ Works, (Lond. 1822,) vol. 6, p. 294. — Ed.

25. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the
day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
1.BARNES, “Ye are all the children of light - All who are Christians. The phrase”
children of light” is a Hebraism, meaning that they were the enlightened children of God.
And the children of the day - Who live as if light always shone round about them. The
meaning is, that in reference to the coming of the Lord they are as people would be in reference
to the coming of a thief, if there were no night and no necessity of slumber. They would always
be wakeful and active, and it would be impossible to come upon them by surprise. Christians are
always to be wakeful and vigilant; they are so to expect the coming of the Redeemer, that he will
not find them off their guard, and will not come upon them by surprise.
2. CLARKE, “Ye are all the children of light - Ye are children of God, and enjoy both his
light and life. Ye are Christians - ye belong to him who has brought life and immortality to light
by his Gospel. This dispensation, under which ye are, has illustrated all the preceding
dispensations; in its light all is become luminous; and ye, who walked formerly in heathen
ignorance, or in the darkness of Jewish prejudices, are now light in the Lord, because ye have
believed in him who is the light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory and splendor of his people
Israel.
We are not of the night, nor of darkness - Our actions are such as we are not afraid to
expose to the fullest and clearest light. Sinners hate the light; they are enemies to knowledge;
they love darkness; they will not receive instructions; and their deeds are such as cannot bear
the light.
3. GILL, “Ye are all children of light,.... Or enlightened persons, whose understandings
were enlightened by the spirit of God, to see their lost state by nature, the exceeding sinfulness
of sin, the insufficiency of their righteousness to justify them before God, the fulness,
suitableness, and excellency of Christ's righteousness, the way of salvation by Christ, and that it
is all of grace from first to last; to understand in some measure the Scriptures of truth, and the
mysteries of the Gospel; to have knowledge of some things that are yet to be done on earth, as
the bringing in of the fulness of the Gentiles, the conversion of the Jews, the destruction of
antichrist, the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the change of living saints,
and the rapture of both up into the air to meet Christ, the burning of the world, and the new
heavens and new earth, where Christ and his saints will dwell; as also to have some glimpse of
the heavenly glory, of the unseen joys, and invisible realities of the other world: and this the
apostle says of them all, in a judgment of charity, as being under a profession of the grace of
God, and in a church state, and nothing appearing against them why such a character did not
belong to them:
and the children of the day; of the Gospel day, in distinction from the night of Jewish
darkness; and of the day of grace which was come upon their souls, in opposition to the night of

26. ignorance and infidelity, which was past; and of the everlasting day of glory, being heirs of, and
having a right unto, and a meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light:
we are not of the night, nor of darkness; that is not the children of darkness, as the Syriac
and Arabic versions read; and the former changes the person, and reads, "ye are not the children
of the night", &c. of the night of the legal dispensation, or of Gentile ignorance; or of a state of
natural darkness, in unregeneracy and was no need to write unto them concerning the time and
season of Christ's coming, and lays a foundation for the following exhortations.
4. JAMISON, “The oldest manuscripts read, “FOR ye are all,” etc. Ye have no reason for fear, or
for being taken by surprise, by the coming of the day of the Lord: “For ye are all sons (so the
Greek) of light and sons of day”; a Hebrew idiom, implying that as sons resemble their fathers,
so you are in character light (intellectually and morally illuminated in a spiritual point of view),
Luk_16:8; Joh_12:36.
are not of — that is, belong not to night nor darkness. The change of person from “ye” to
“we” implies this: Ye are sons of light because ye are Christians; and we, Christians, are not of
night nor darkness.
6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but
let us be awake and sober.
1.BARNES, “Therefore let us no sleep, as do others - As the wicked world does;
compare notes, Mat_25:5.
But let us watch - That is, for the coming of the Lord. Let us regard it as an event which is
certainly to occur, and which may occur at any moment; notes, Mat_25:13.
And be sober - The word here used (νήφω nepho) is rendered sober in 1Th_5:6, 1Th_5:8;
1Pe_1:13; 1Pe_5:8; and watch in 2Ti_4:5, and 1Pe_4:7. It does not elsewhere occur in the New
Testament. It properly means, to be temperate or abstinent, especially in respect to wine.
Joseph. Jewish Wars, 5. 5, 7; Xenophon, Cyr. 7. 5, 20; and then it is used in a more general
sense, as meaning to be sober-minded, watchful, circumspect. In this passage there is an
allusion to the fact that persons not only sleep in the night, but that they are frequently drunken
in the night also. The idea is, that the Lord Jesus, when he comes, will find the wicked sunk not
only in carnal security, but in sinful indulgences, and that those who are Christians ought not
only to be awake and to watch as in the day-time, but to be temperate. They ought to be like
persons engaged in the sober, honest, and appropriate employments of the day, and not like
those who waste their days in sleep, and their nights in revelry.

27. A man who expects soon to see the Son of God coming to judgment, ought to be a sober man.
No one would wish to be summoned from a scene of dissipation to his bar. And who would wish
to be called there from the ball-room; from the theater; from the scene of brilliant worldly
amusemet? The most frivolous votary of the world; the most accomplished and flattered and
joyous patron of the ball-room; the most richly-dressed and admired daughter of vanity, would
tremble at the thought of being summoned from those brilliant halls, where pleasure is now
found, to the judgment bar. They would wish to have at least a little time that they might
prepare for so solemn a scene. But if so, as this event may at any moment occur, why should
they not be habitually sober-minded? Why should they not aim to be always in that state of
mind which they know would be appropriate to meet him? Especially should Christians live with
such vigilance and soberness as to be always prepared to meet the Son of God. What Christian
can think it appropriate for him to go up to meet his Saviour from the theater, the ballroom, or
the brilliant worldly party? A Christian ought always so to live that the coming of the Son of God
in the clouds of heaven would not excite the least alarm.
2. CLARKE, “Let us not sleep, as do others - Let us who are of the day - who believe the
Gospel and belong to Christ, not give way to a careless, unconcerned state of mind, like to the
Gentiles and sinners in general, who are stupefied and blinded by sin, so that they neither think
nor feel; but live in time as if it were eternity; or rather, live as if there were no eternity, no
future state of existence, rewards, or punishments.
Let us watch - Be always on the alert; and be sober, making a moderate use of all things.
3. GILL, “Therefore let us not sleep as do others.... As the rest of the Gentiles, as
unconverted persons, who are in a state of darkness, and are children of the night; let us not act
that part they do, or be like them; which professors of religion too much are, when they indulge
themselves in carnal lusts and pleasures, and are careless and thoughtless about the coming of
the day of the Lord; and get into a stupid, drowsy, and slumbering frame of spirit; when grace
lies dormant as if it was not, and they grow backward to, and slothful in the discharge of duty,
and content themselves with the bare externals of religion; and become lukewarm and
indifferent with respect to the truths and ordinance of the Gospel, the cause of God, the interest
of religion, and glory of Christ; and are unconcerned about sins of omission or commission: and
are willing to continue in such a position, being displeased at every admonition and exhortation
given them to awake; but this is very unbecoming children of the light, and of the day:
but let us watch; over ourselves, our hearts, thoughts, affections, words and actions; and over
others, our fellow Christians, that they give not into bad principles and evil practices; and
against sin, and all appearance of it; against the temptations of Satan, the snares of the world,
and the errors of wicked men, who lie in wait to deceive; and in the word and ordinances, and
particularly in prayer, both unto it, in it, and after it; and for the second coming of Christ, with
faith, affection, and patience; and the rather, because of the uncertainty of the time of it;
and be sober; not only in body, abstaining from excessive eating and drinking, using this
world, and the good things of it, so as not to abuse them, or ourselves with them; but also in
mind, that the heart be overcharged with the cares of this world; for men may be inebriated with
the world, as well as with wine; and the one is as prejudicial to the soul as the other is to the
body; for an immoderate care for, and pursuit after the world, chokes the word, makes it

28. unfruitful, and runs persons into divers snares and temptations, and hurtful lusts. The Arabic
version renders it, "let us repent"; and the Ethiopic version, "let us understand"; as intending
the sobriety of the mind, repentance being an after thought of the mind, a serious reflection on
past actions with sorrow and concern; and thinking soberly, and not more highly than a man
ought to think of himself, his gifts, his attainments and abilities, in opposition to pride, vanity,
and self-conceit, is very becoming; and shows a true and well informed understanding and
judgment, and that a man is really sober and himself.
4. HENRY, “On what had been said, the apostle grounds seasonable exhortations to several
needful duties.
I. To watchfulness and sobriety, 1Th_5:6. These duties are distinct, yet they mutually befriend
one another. For, while we are compassed about with so many temptations to intemperance and
excess, we shall not keep sober, unless we be upon our guard, and, unless we keep sober, we
shall not long watch. 1. Then let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch; we must not be
secure and careless, nor indulge spiritual sloth and idleness. We must not be off our watch, but
continually upon our guard against sin, and temptation to it. The generality of men are too
careless of their duty and regardless of their spiritual enemies. They say, Peace and safety, when
they are in the greatest danger, doze away their precious moments on which eternity depends,
indulging idle dreams, and have no more thoughts nor cares about another world than men that
are asleep have about this. Either they do not consider the things of another world at all, because
they are asleep; or they do not consider them aright, because they dream. But let us watch, and
act like men that are awake, and that stand upon their guard.
5, JAMISON, “others — Greek, “the rest” of the world: the unconverted (1Th_4:13). “Sleep”
here is worldly apathy to spiritual things (Rom_13:11; Eph_5:14); in 1Th_5:7, ordinary sleep; in
1Th_5:10, death.
watch — for Christ’s coming; literally, “be wakeful.” The same Greek occurs in 1Co_15:34;
2Ti_2:26.
be sober — refraining from carnal indulgence, mental or sensual (1Pe_5:8).
6. CALVIN, “6Therefore let us not sleep. He adds other metaphors closely allied to the preceding one.
For as he lately shewed that it were by no means seemly that they should be blind in the midst of light, so
he now admonishes that it were dishonorable and disgraceful to sleep or be drunk in the middle of the
day. Now, as he gives the name of day to the doctrine of the gospel, by which the Christ, the Sun of
righteousness (Mal_4:2) is manifested to us, so when he speaks of sleep and drunkenness, he does not
mean natural sleep, or drunkenness from wine, but stupor of mind, when, forgetting God and ourselves,
we regardlessly indulge our vices. Let us not sleep, says he; that is, let us not, sunk in indolence, become
senseless in the world. As others, that is, unbelievers, (595) from whom ignorance of God, like a dark
night, takes away understanding and reason. But let us watch, that is, let us look to the Lord with an
attentive mind. And be sober, that is, casting away the cares of the world, which weigh us down by their
pressure, and throwing off base lusts, mount to heaven with freedom and alacrity. For this is spiritual
sobriety, when we use this world so sparingly and temperately that we are not entangled with its
allurements.

29. (595) “ refuse, as the word λοιποὶ emphatically signifies, or the reprobate and worst of men.... The
word καθεύδωµεν, signifies a deeper or a more intense sleep. It is the word that is used in the Septuagint
to signify the sleep of death.” (Dan_12:2)—Howe’ Works, (Lond. 1822,) vol. 6, p. 290. — Ed
7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who
get drunk, get drunk at night.
1.BARNES, “For they that sleep, sleep in the night - Night is the time for sleep. The day
is the time for action, and in the light of day people should be employed. Night and sleep are
made for each other, and so are the day and active employment. The meaning here is, that it is
in accordance with the character of those who are of the night, that is, sinners, to be sunk in
stupidity and carnal security, as if they were asleep; but for the children of the day, that is, for
Christians, it is no more appropriate to be inactive than it is for people to sleep in the daytime.
“It is not to be wondered at that wicked people are negligent and are given to vice, for they are
ignorant of the will of God. Negligence in doing right, and corrupt morals, usually accompany
ignorance.” Rosenmuller.
And they that be drunken, are drunken in the night - The night is devoted by them to
revelry and dissipation. It is in accordance with the usual custom in all lands and times, that the
night is the usual season for riot and revelry. The leisure, the darkness, the security from
observation, and the freedom from the usual toils and cares of life, have caused those hours
usually to be selected for indulgence in intemperate eating and drinking. This was probably
more particularly the case among the ancients than with us, and much as drunkenness
abounded, it was much more rare to see a man intoxicated in the day-time than it is now. To be
drunk then in the day-time was regarded as the greatest disgrace. See Polyb. Exc. Leg. 8, and
Apul. viii., as quoted by Wetstein; compare Act_2:15 note; Isa_5:11 note. The object of the
apostle here is, to exhort Christians to be sober and temperate, and the meaning is, that it is as
disgraceful for them to indulge in habits of revelry, as for a man to be drunk in the day-time. The
propriety of this exhortation, addressed to Christians, is based on the fact that intoxication was
hardly regarded as a crime, and, surrounded as they were with those who freely indulged in
drinking to excess, they were then, as they are now, exposed to the danger of disgracing their
religion. The actions of Christians ought always to be such that they may be performed in open
day and in the view of all the world. Other people seek the cover of the night to perform their
deeds; the Christian should do nothing which may not be done under the full blaze of day.
2. CLARKE, “For they that sleep - Sleepers and drunkards seek the night season; so the
careless and the profligate persons indulge their evil propensities, and avoid all means of
instruction; they prefer their ignorance to the word of God’s grace, and to the light of life. There
seems to be here an allusion to the opinion mentioned under 1Th_5:4 (note), to which the

30. reader is requested to refer. It may be remarked, also, that it was accounted doubly scandalous,
even among the heathen, to be drunk in the day time. They who were drunken were drunken in
the night.
3. GILL, “For they that sleep, sleep in the night,.... The night is the usual season for sleep,
and sleep is only for such who are in darkness, and are children of the night; and not proper to
be indulged by such who are children of the day, and of the light:
and they that be drunken, are drunken in the night; drunkenness is a work of darkness,
and therefore men given to excessive drinking love darkness rather than light, and choose the
night for their purpose. To be drunk at noon is so shameful and scandalous, that men who love
the sin, and indulge themselves in it, take the night season for it; and equally shameful it is, that
enlightened persons should be inebriated, either with the cares of this life, or with an over
weening opinion of themselves.
4. HENRY, “Let us also be sober, or temperate and moderate. Let us keep our natural desires
and appetites after the things of this world within due bounds. Sobriety is usually opposed to
excess in meats and drinks, and here particularly it is opposed to drunkenness; but it also
extends to all other temporal things. Thus our Saviour warned his disciples to take heed lest
their hearts should be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and
so that day come on them unawares, Luk_21:34. Our moderation then, as to all temporal
things, should be known to all men, because the Lord is at hand. Besides this, watchfulness and
sobriety are most suitable to the Christian's character and privilege, as being children of the
day; because those that sleep sleep in the night, and those that are drunken are drunken in the
night, 1Th_5:7. It is a most reproachful thing for men to sleep away the day-time, which is for
work and not for sleep, to be drunken in the day, when so many eyes are upon them, to behold
their shame. It was not so strange if those who had not the benefit of divine revelation suffered
themselves to be lulled asleep by the devil in carnal security, and if they laid the reins upon the
neck of their appetites, and indulged themselves in all manner of riot and excess; for it was
night-time with them. They were not sensible of their danger, therefore they slept; they were not
sensible of their duty, therefore they were drunk: but it ill becomes Christians to do thus. What!
shall Christians, who have the light of the blessed gospel shining in their faces, be careless about
their souls, and unmindful of another world? Those who have so many eyes upon them should
conduct themselves with peculiar propriety.
5, JAMISON, “This verse is to be taken in the literal sense. Night is the time when sleepers
sleep, and drinking men are drunk. To sleep by day would imply great indolence; to be drunken
by day, great shamelessness. Now, in a spiritual sense, “we Christians profess to be day people,
not night people; therefore our work ought to be day work, not night work; our conduct such as
will bear the eye of day, and such has no need of the veil of night” [Edmunds], (1Th_5:8).

31. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober,
putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the
hope of salvation as a helmet.
1.BARNES, “But let us, who are of the day, be sober - Temperate, as people usually are
in the daytime.
Putting on the breast-plate of faith and love - This is a favorite comparison of the
apostle Paul; see it explained at length in the notes on Eph_6:14.
And for an helmet, the hope of salvation - See the notes at Eph_6:17.
2. CLARKE, “Putting on the breastplate - We are not only called to Work, but we are
called also to fight; and that we may not be surprised, we must watch; and that we may be in a
condition to defend ourselves, we must be sober; and that we may be enabled to conquer, we
must be armed: and what the breastplate and helmet are to a soldier’s heart and head, such are
faith, love, and hope to us. Faith enables us to endure, as seeing him who is invisible; love
excites us to diligence and activity, and makes us bear our troubles and difficulties pleasantly;
hope helps us to anticipate the great end, the glory that shall be revealed, and which we know we
shall in due time obtain, if we faint not. For an explanation of the different parts of the Grecian
armor, as illustrating that of the Christian, see the notes on Ephesians 6 (note), where the
subject is largely explained.
3. GILL, “But let us, who are of the day, be sober,.... As in body, so in mind; let us cast off
the works of darkness, and have no fellowship with them; since the day of grace has passed upon
us, the darkness is gone, and the true light shines, let us walk as children of the light, living
soberly, righteously, and godly:
putting on the breastplate of faith and love; this is the coat of mail, 1Sa_17:5 which was
made of iron or brass; and the Ethiopic version here calls it, "the iron coat." The allusion seems
to be to the high priest's breastplate of judgment, in which were put the Thummim and Urim,
which signify perfections and lights; faith may answer to the former, and love to the latter: these
two graces go together, faith works by love, and love always accompanies faith; as there can be
no true faith where there is no love, so there is no true love where faith is wanting: "faith" is a
considerable part of the Christian soldier's breastplate, and answers the end of a breastplate, it
being that grace which preserves the vitals of religion, and keeps all warm and comfortable
within; and secures the peace and joy of the saints, as it has to do with Christ and his
righteousness; wherefore this breastplate is called "the breastplate of righteousness", Eph_6:14,

32. it fortifies the soul, and preserves it from Satan's temptations, from his fiery darts entering, and
doing the mischief they would; it defends the heart against the errors of the wicked, for a man
that believes has a witness in himself to the truths of the Gospel, and therefore cannot be easily
moved from them; and strengthens a man against the carnal reasonings of the mind, for faith in
the promises of God surmounts all the difficulties that reason objects to the fulfilling of them;
and secures from the fears of death, the terrors of the law, and dread of the wrath of God: and
love is the other part of the breast plate; love to God and Christ is a means of keeping the
believer sound both in faith and practice; for a soul that truly loves God and Christ cannot give
in to principles that depreciate the grace of God, and derogate from the glory and dignity of the
person and office of Christ, or the work of the Spirit; and such love the ordinances and
commands of Christ, and hate every false way of worship, or invention of men; and love to the
saints is the bond of perfectness, knits them together, preserves unity and peace, and fortifies
against the common enemy:
and for an helmet, the hope of salvation; the helmet is that part of armour which covers
the head, and was made of brass, 1Sa_17:5 and used to be anointed with oil, that it might shine
the brighter, last the longer, and more easily repel blows; to which this grace of the Spirit, hope
of salvation by Christ, is fitly compared: for by "salvation" is meant salvation by Christ, spiritual
salvation, and that as complete in heaven; and hope is a grace wrought in the soul by the spirit of
God, which has for its foundation Christ and his righteousness, and for its object the heavenly
glory; it covers the head in the day of battle, and preserves from being overcome by sin and
Satan, when one that is destitute of it says there is no hope, and we will walk every man after the
imagination of his own evil heart; it erects the head in time of difficulty, amidst tribulation and
afflictions; it defends it from fears of divine wrath which is revealed from heaven, and
sometimes in appearance seems to hang over it; and it preserves from Satan's temptations, and
being carried away with the error of the wicked, from the hope of the Gospel: and thus a
Christian clothed and armed with these graces, faith, hope, and love, should be so far from
indulging himself in sin and sloth, that he ought always to be sober and watchful, and prepared
to meet the enemy in the gate; and be ready, always waiting for his Lord's coming.
4. HENRY, “To be well armed as well as watchful: to put on the whole armour of God. This is
necessary in order to such sobriety as becomes us and will be a preparation for the day of the
Lord, because our spiritual enemies are many, and mighty, and malicious. They draw many to
their interest, and keep them in it, by making them careless, secure, and presumptuous, by
making them drunk - drunk with pride, drunk with passion, drunk and giddy with self-conceit,
drunk with the gratifications of sense: so that we have need to arm ourselves against their
attempts, by putting on the spiritual breast-plate to keep the heart, and the spiritual helmet to
secure the head; and this spiritual armour consists of three great graces of Christians, faith, love,
and hope, 1Th_5:8. 1. We must live by faith, and this will keep us watchful and sober. If we
believe that the eye of God (who is a spirit) is always upon us, that we have spiritual enemies to
grapple with, that there is a world of spirits to prepare for, we shall see reason to watch and be
sober. Faith will be our best defence against the assaults of our enemies. 2. We must get a heart
inflamed with love; and this also will be our defence. True and fervent love to God, and the
things of God, will keep us watchful and sober, and hinder our apostasy in times of trouble and
temptation. 3. We must make salvation our hope, and should have a lively hope of it. This good
hope, through grace, of eternal life, will be as a helmet to defend the head, and hinder our being
intoxicated with the pleasures of sin, which are but for a season. If we have hope of salvation, let
us take heed of doing any thing that shall shake our hopes, or render us unworthy of or unfit for
the great salvation we hope for. Having mentioned salvation and the hope of it, the apostle
shows what grounds and reasons Christians have to hope for this salvation, as to which observe,

33. He says nothing of their meriting it. No, the doctrine of our merits is altogether unscriptural and
antiscriptural; there is no foundation of any good hope upon that account. But our hopes are to
be grounded,
5, JAMISON, “Faith, hope, and love, are the three pre-eminent graces (1Th_1:3; 1Co_13:13).
We must not only be awake and sober, but also armed; not only watchful, but also guarded. The
armor here is only defensive; in Eph_6:13-17, also offensive. Here, therefore, the reference is to
the Christian means of being guarded against being surprised by the day of the Lord as a thief in
the night. The helmet and breastplate defend the two vital parts, the head and the heart
respectively. “With head and heart right, the whole man is right” [Edmunds]. The head needs to
be kept from error, the heart from sin. For “the breastplate of righteousness,” Eph_6:14, we
have here “the breastplate of faith and love”; for the righteousness which is imputed to man for
justification, is “faith working by love” (Rom_4:3, Rom_4:22-24; Gal_5:6). “Faith,” as the
motive within, and “love,” exhibited in outward acts, constitute the perfection of righteousness.
In Eph_6:17 the helmet is “salvation”; here, “the hope of salvation.” In one aspect “salvation” is
a present possession (Joh_3:36; Joh_5:24; 1Jo_5:13); in another, it is a matter of “hope”
(Rom_8:24, Rom_8:25). Our Head primarily wore the “breastplate of righteousness” and
“helmet of salvation,” that we might, by union with Him, receive both.
6. CALVIN, “8Having put on the breastplate. He adds this, that he may the more effectually shake us
out of our stupidity, for he calls us as it were to arms, that he may shew that it is not a time to sleep. It is
true that he does not make use of the term war; but when he arms us with a breastplate and a helmet, he
admonishes us that we must maintain a warfare. Whoever, therefore, is afraid of being surprised by the
enemy, must keep awake, that he may be constantly on watch. As, therefore, he has exhorted to
vigilance, on the ground that the doctrine of the gospel is like the light of day, so he now stirs us up by
another argument — that we must wage war with our enemy. From this it follows, that idleness is too
hazardous a thing. For we see that soldiers, though in other situations they may be intemperate, do
nevertheless, when the enemy is near, from fear of destruction, refrain from gluttony (596) and all bodily
delights, and are diligently on watch so as to be upon their guard. As, therefore, Satan is on the alert
against us, and tries a thousand schemes, we ought at least to be not less diligent and watchful. (597)
It is, however, in vain, that some seek a more refined exposition of the names of the kinds of armor, for
Paul speaks here in a different way from what he does in Eph_6:14 for there he
makes righteousness the breastplate. This, therefore, will suffice for understanding his meaning, that he
designs to teach, that the life of Christians is like a perpetual warfare, inasmuch as Satan does not cease
to trouble and molest them. He would have us, therefore, be diligently prepared and on the alert for
resistance: farther, he admonishes us that we have need of arms, because unless we be well armed we
cannot withstand so powerful (598) an enemy. He does not, however, enumerate all the parts of armor,
( πανοπλίαν,) but simply makes mention of two, the breastplate and the helmet. In the mean time, he
omits nothing of what belongs to spiritual armor, for the man that is provided with faith, love, and hope,
will be found in no department unarmed.
(596) “Et yurognerie;” — “ drunkenness.”

34. (597) “Pour le moins ne deuons— pas estre aussi vigilans que les gendarmes ?” — “ we not at least be
as vigilant as soldiers are?”
(598) “Si puissant et si fort;” — “ powerful and so strong.”
7. CHARLES SIMEON, “THE DUTIES OF MODERATION AND WATCHFULNESS
1Th_5:8. Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breast-plate of faith and love; and for an
helmet, the hope of salvation.
THE exact season of the day of judgment is wisely hid from our eyes. If it were revealed to us, there is no
reason to think that we should make a right improvement of that knowledge. The uncertainty of its arrival
is far better calculated to excite our diligence in religious duties, because, while we are told that it will
come as surely, as irresistibly, and as unexpectedly too, as a thief in the night, or as travail upon a
woman with child, we see the necessity of continual watchfulness and preparation for it. The world at
large indeed will rest in supineness and security, in spite of every warning that is given them: but they
who profess to fear God should manifest a different spirit, and, as persons apprised of their danger,
should ever stand upon their guard. To this effect the Apostle exhorts us in the text; in discoursing on
which we shall consider,
I. The description given of believers—
The careless world are in a state of intellectual and moral darkness—
[The light of divine truth has not shined into their hearts, nor have the clouds of nature’s darkness been
dispelled. “They call evil good, and good evil; and put darkness for light, and light for darkness
[Note: Isa_5:20.].” Their lives too abound with deeds of darkness; “nor will they come to the light, lest their
deeds should be reproved.”]
As contrasted with them, believers “are of the day”—
[They have been “brought out of darkness into the marvellous light” of the Gospel, and are enabled to
“discern between good and evil.” Their dispositions also are changed, so that they desire to “walk in the
light, even as God is in the light;” and they “come to the light, that their deeds may be made manifest, that
they are wrought in God.” They see indeed much in themselves for which they have reason to be
ashamed: but they would gladly attain to such purity of heart, that their inmost thoughts and principles, no
less than their actions, should bear the minutest inspection of all their fellow-creatures.]
But that they are prone to relapse into their former state, is strongly intimated in,
II. The exhortation addressed to them—
The children of darkness are represented in the preceding context as addicted to sloth and intemperance
[Note: ver. 7.]; in opposition to which vices, believers are exhorted to “be sober,” that is, to exercise,
1. Moderation—
[They who know not the vanity of earthly things may reasonably be expected to run to excess in their
attachment to them, and their anxiety about them. But it ill becomes those who have been enlightened by

35. the Spirit of God, to set their hearts upon such empty, unsatisfying, transient enjoyments. God would
have them to “be without carefulness,” like “the birds of the air, that neither sow nor gather into barns.” He
expects them to “set their affections rather on things above,” and to put forth the energy of their minds in
the pursuit of objects worthy the attention of an immortal spirit. And though they may both rejoice and
weep on account of present occurrences, yet they should “rejoice as though they rejoiced not, and weep
as though they wept not, because the fashion of this world passeth away [Note: 1Co_7:29-31.].”]
2. Vigilance—
[Others yield to sloth, because they see no occasion for activity: but believers know what numerous and
mighty enemies they have to contend with: they see too, how short and uncertain their time is for
accomplishing the work which God has given them to do: and of what infinite importance it is that,
whenever called to appear before God, they should be able to give a good account of their stewardship:
surely then they can find no time to loiter. They should rather exert themselves with all diligence; and,
“whatsoever their hand findeth to do, they should do it with all their might.”]
This exhortation is at once illustrated and enforced by,
III. The particular direction with which it is accompanied—
Believers, whatever they may have attained, are yet in a state of warfare—
[Their enemies, though often vanquished, are still ready to return to the charge: nor will they fail to take
advantage of any unwatchfulness on our part: they know the places where we are most open to assault;
nor have we any security against them but by guarding every pass, and standing continually on our
watch-tower. Without such precautions the strongest would be overcome, and the most victorious be
reduced to a miserable captivity.]
There is, however, armour, whereby they may become invincible—
[Faith, hope, and love, are the principal graces of the Christian; and, while he keeps them in exercise,
they are as armour to his soul. Faith sees the things that are invisible, as though they were present to the
bodily eyes: love fixes our hearts upon them: and hope both appropriates them to ourselves, and enables
us to anticipate the enjoyment of them. Having these for our helmet and our breast-plate, our head and
heart are secured. In vain does Satan suggest, that there is nothing beyond this present world, or nothing
better than what he offers us, or that, if there be, we at least have no part in it. These fiery darts are
instantly repelled; and we determine to continue our conflicts with him, till he is bruised under our feet.]
This armour therefore every believer must put on—
[In vain shall we hope to maintain our moderation and watchfulness, if we be not clothed with this divine
panoply. Every day must we put it on afresh; or rather we must rest on our arms day and night. Nor must
we use it only in the hour of conflict: we must, like good soldiers, habituate ourselves, to the use of it,
even when we are not sensible of immediate danger, in order that, when called to defend ourselves, we
may be expert and successful in the contest. We must be careful too that we never separate these pieces
of armour; for, whether our head or heart were unprotected, our vigilant enemy would assuredly seize his
opportunity to inflict a deadly wound. It is on the union of our graces that our safety depends. Whether we
lay aside our faith, our love, or our hope, we are equally in danger. Let us then put them on daily, and
preserve them in continual exercise, that we may fight a good fight, and be “more than conquerors

36. through him that loved us.”]
This subject being altogether addressed to those who “are of the day,” we need only add a few words to
those who “are of the night”—
[The warning given them in the context is well worthy of their deep attention. It is said, that “the day of the
Lord shall overtake them as a thief in the night.” They He down in security, concluding that, because the
ruffian has not hitherto disturbed their midnight slumbers, he never will: but at last he comes upon them to
their terror, and spoils them to their confusion. Thus will the day of judgment, or, which is the same to
them, the day of death, come upon the ungodly; and they will lose their souls, which it, should have been
their daily labour to secure. Even believers need to be exhorted to sobriety, and must be vanquished, if
they follow not the directions given them: what then must the unbeliever do, if he continue in his
supineness? What hope can there be for him? Let all arise from their slumbers, and arm themselves for
the battle. “It is high time for all of us to awake out of sleep: let us therefore put off the works of darkness,
and put on the armour of light:” and let us war a good warfare, till “death itself is swallowed up in victory.”]
9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to
receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1.BARNES, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath - This is designed as an
encouragement to effort to secure our salvation. The wish of God is to save us, and therefore we
should watch and be sober; we should take to ourselves the whole of the Christian armor, and
strive for victory. If he had appointed us to wrath, effort would have been in vain, for we could
do nothing but yield to our inevitable destiny. The hope of a final triumph should animate us in
our efforts, and cheer us in our struggles with our foes. How much does the hope of victory
animate the soldier in battle! When morally certain of success, how his arm is nerved! When
everything conspires to favor him, and when he seems to feel that God fights for him, and
intends to give him the victory, how his heart exults, and how strong is he in battle! Hence, it
was a great point among the ancients, when about entering into battle, to secure evidence that
the gods favored them, and meant to give them the victory.
For this purpose they offered sacrifices, and consulted the flight of birds and the entrails of
animals; and for this armies were accompanied by soothsayers and priests, that they might
interpret any signs which might occur that would be favorable, or to propitiate the favor of the
gods by sacrifice. See Homer, passim; Arrian’s Expedition of Alexander, and the classic writers
generally. The apostle alludes to something of this kind here. He would excite us to maintain the
Christian warfare manfully, by the assurance that God intends that we shall be triumphant. This
we are to learn by no conjectures of soothsayers; by no observation of the flight of birds; by no
sacrifice which we can make to propitiate his favor, but by the unerring assurance of his holy
word. If we are Christians, we know that he intends our salvation, and that victory will be ours;
if we are willing to become Christians, we know that the Almighty arm will be stretched out to
aid us, and that the “gates of hell” cannot prevent it.

37. 2. CLARKE, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath - So then it appears that some
were appointed to wrath, εις οργην, to punishment; on this subject there can be no dispute. But
who are they? When did this appointment take place? And for what cause? These are supposed
to be “very difficult questions, and such as cannot receive a satisfactory answer; and the whole
must be referred to the sovereignty of God.” If we look carefully at the apostle’s words, we shall
find all these difficulties vanish. It is very obvious that, in the preceding verses, the apostle refers
simply to the destruction of the Jewish polity, and to the terrible judgments which were about to
fall on the Jews as a nation; therefore, they are the people who were appointed to wrath; and
they were thus appointed, not from eternity, nor from any indefinite or remote time, but from
that time in which they utterly rejected the offers of salvation made to them by Jesus Christ and
his apostles; the privileges of their election were still continued to them, even after they had
crucified the Lord of glory; for, when he gave commandment to his disciples to go into all the
world, and preach the Gospel to every creature, he bade them begin at Jerusalem. They did so,
and continued to offer salvation to them, till at last, being everywhere persecuted, and the whole
nation appearing with one consent to reject the Gospel, the kingdom of God was wholly taken
away from them, and the apostles turned to the Gentiles. Then God appointed them to wrath;
and the cause of that appointment was their final and determined rejection of Christ and his
Gospel. But even this appointment to wrath does not signify eternal damnation; nothing of the
kind is intended in the word. Though we are sure that those who die in their sins can never see
God, yet it is possible that many of those wretched Jews, during their calamities, and especially
during the siege of their city, did turn unto the Lord who smote them, and found that salvation
which he never denies to the sincere penitent.
When the Jews were rejected, and appointed to wrath, then the Gentiles were elected, and
appointed to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, whose Gospel they gladly received, and
continue to prize; while the remnant of the Jews continue, in all places of their dispersion, the
same irreconcilable and blasphemous opponents of the Gospel of Christ. On these accounts the
election of the Gentiles and the reprobation of the Jews still continue.
3. GILL, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath,.... To destruction and ruin, the effect
of wrath; though there are some that are vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction, of old ordained
to condemnation, and who are reserved for the day of evil; but there are others who are equally
children of wrath, as deserving of the wrath of God in themselves as others, who are not
appointed to it; which is an instance of wonderful and distinguishing grace to them:
but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ; salvation is alone by Christ, he alone
has wrought it out; it is in him, and in no other; he was appointed to this work, was called and
sent, and came to do it, and has done it; and God's elect, who were chosen in him, are appointed
in the counsel and purpose of God, to obtain, possess, and enjoy this salvation; and which, as
this appointment may be known, as it was by these Thessalonians; the Gospel having come to
them, not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as it is an
encouragement to faith and hope, so it excites to sobriety and watchfulness, and the discharge of
every duty. The doctrine of predestination does not lead to despair, but encourages the hope of
salvation; and it is no licentious doctrine, for election to salvation by Christ is through
sanctification of the Spirit, and unto holiness; and good works are the fruits of it, and are what
God has foreordained his people should walk in.

38. 4. HENRY, “Upon God's appointment: because God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to
obtain salvation, 1Th_5:9. If we would trace our salvation to the first cause, that is God's
appointment. Those who live and die in darkness and ignorance, who sleep and are drunken as
in the night, are, it is but too plain, appointed to wrath; but as for those who are of the day, if
they watch and be sober, it is evident that they are appointed to obtain salvation. And the
sureness and firmness of the divine appointment are the great support and encouragement of
our hope. Were we to obtain salvation by our own merit or power, we could have but little or no
hope of it; but seeing we are to obtain it by virtue of God's appointment, which we are sure
cannot be shaken (for his purpose, according to election, shall stand), on this we build
unshaken hope, especially when we consider, (2.) Christ's merit and grace, and that salvation is
by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. Our salvation therefore is owing to, and our hopes of
it are grounded on, Christ's atonement as well as God's appointment: and, as we should think on
God's gracious design and purpose, so also on Christ's death and sufferings, for this end, that
whether we wake or sleep (whether we live or die, for death is but a sleep to believers, as the
apostles had before intimated) we should live together with Christ live in union and in glory
with him for ever. And, as it is the salvation that Christians hope for to be for ever with the
Lord, so one foundation of their hope is their union with him. And if they are united with Christ,
and live in him, and live to him, here, the sleep of death will be no prejudice to the spiritual life,
much less to the life of glory hereafter. On the contrary, Christ died for us, that, living and dying,
we might be his; that we might live to him while we are here, and live with him when we go
hence.
5, JAMISON, “For — assigning the ground of our “hopes” (1Th_5:8).
appointed us — Translate, “set” (Act_13:47), in His everlasting purpose of love (1Th_3:3;
2Ti_1:9). Contrast Rom_9:22; Jud_1:4.
to — that is, unto wrath.
to obtain — Greek, “to the acquisition of salvation”; said, according to Bengel, Of One saved
out of a general wreck, when all things else have been lost: so of the elect saved out of the
multitude of the lost (2Th_2:13, 2Th_2:14). The fact of God’s “appointment” of His grace
“through Jesus Christ” (Eph_1:5), takes away the notion of our being able to “acquire” salvation
of ourselves. Christ “acquired (so the Greek for ‘purchased’) the Church (and its salvation) with
His own blood” (Act_20:28); each member is said to be appointed by God to the “acquiring of
salvation.” In the primary sense, God does the work; in the secondary sense, man does it.
6. CALVIN, “9For God hath not appointed us. As he has spoken of the hope of salvation, he follows
out that department, and says that God has appointed us to this — that we may obtain salvation through
Christ. The passage, however, might be explained in a simple way in this manner — that we must put on
the helmet of salvation, because God wills not that we should perish, but rather that we should be saved.
And this, indeed, Paul means, but, in my opinion, he has in view something farther. For as the day of
Christ is for the most part regarded with alarm, (599) having it in view to close with the mention of it, he
says that we are appointed to salvation
The Greek term περιποίησις means enjoyment, (as they speak,) as well as acquisition. Paul,

39. undoubtedly, does not mean that God has called us, that we may procure salvation for ourselves, but that
we may obtain it, as it has been acquired for us by Christ. Paul, however, encourages believers to fight
strenuously, setting before them the certainty of victory; for the man who fights timidly and hesitatingly is
half-conquered. In these words, therefore, he had it in view to take away the dread which arises from
distrust. There cannot, however, be a better assurance of salvation gathered, than from the
decree (600) of God. The term wrath, in this passage, as in other instances, is taken to mean the judgment
or vengeance of God against the reprobate.
(599) “D’ que volontiers nous auons en horreur et craignons le iour du Seigneur;” — “ as we naturally
regard with horror, and view with dread the day of the Lord.”
(600) “Du decret et ordonnance de Dieu;” — “ the decree and appointment of God.”
7. SBVC, “God’s Appointment concerning Man.
I. Note, first, the persons in whose favour God’s appointment is made. They are believers in
Jesus. Salvation is limited to faith in Christianity; and therefore the appointment of God that is
unto salvation, must be subject to the same limitation.
II. The appointment. There is a twofold aspect—a negative and a positive view. He has not
appointed us to wrath, but He has appointed us to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ. (1) Has
He appointed any to wrath? The contrast is not between us and others. The object of the passage
is to give unspeakable comfort and assurance to the child of God, that he is not appointed to
wrath, but to salvation. Those who live in sin, those who refuse to accept God’s mercy, will, no
doubt, suffer eternal punishment. That is a scriptural truth. But to say that God appointed men
and women, who are now living in unbelief and sin, before they appeared upon this earth, to
eternal punishment, by virtue of His arbitrary will and purpose, is as different as one thing can
be from another, and is altogether inconsistent with our ideas of the righteousness, integrity,
and holiness of God. (2) There is one exception. Was not Jesus appointed to wrath? On Him was
laid the iniquity of us all. He became responsible for it. He volunteered to take our sins upon
Himself. He suffered to teach us that sin and the curse are inseparable, that where sin is there is,
and must be, a curse. Our substitute is Christ; He was sacrificed, and died on the cross for us; He
bore the brunt of God’s wrath, and it is only through Him that we can see the Father.
C. Molyneux, Penny Pulpit, new series, No. 134.
1 Thessalonians 5:9-15
I. This passage, 1Th_5:9-15, has its interest and value as showing us that the earliest and the
latest of the Pauline Epistles are all at one in regard to the central doctrines of salvation through
Christ. In this passage, we have, wrapped up in few words, indeed, but none the less really
contained in them, his one uniform declaration of salvation through Christ, and His atoning
death.
II. "Wherefore,"—seeing that such a future, such an inheritance of bliss is in store—"comfort
yourselves together" by lovingly meditating upon it, by reminding one another of it, by helping
one another in preparing for it, and so "edify one another." The clause is added "even as also ye

40. do." Lest the exhortation might appear to his friends to have some slight tinge of reproof in it,
the Apostle closes it with words of praise, and this praise, this grateful, hearty recognition of
their Christian conduct, is a further appeal to them yet more to abound in this good work.
III. And now, in accordance with his usual practice, the Apostle draws his epistle to a close with
a series of general, but not miscellaneous directions—exhortations as to details of conduct,
suggested probably by the knowledge he had of certain defects in the Thessalonian community—
"ever follow that which is good." The aim set before the Christian is that which is good; good in
the full compass of the word—the spiritual and also the temporal good of others—everything
that in reality can be beneficial to them. Our following must be not only eager, it must be
regular, persistent, ceaseless. The discharge of this duty is the Christian’s highest privilege.
J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 201.
10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or
asleep, we may live together with him.
1.BARNES, “Who died for us - That is, to redeem us. He designed by his death that we
should ultimately live with him; and this effect of his death could be secured only as it was an
atoning sacrifice.
Whether we wake or sleep - Whether we are found among the living or the dead when he
comes. The object here is to show that the one class would have no advantage over the other.
This was designed to calm their minds in their trials, and to correct an error which seems to
have prevailed in the belief that those who were found alive when he should return would have
some priority over those who were dead; see the notes on 1Th_4:13-18.
Should live together with him - See the notes at Joh_14:3. The word rendered “together”
(ᅋµα hama) is not to be regarded as connected with the phrase “with him” - as meaning that he
and they would be “together,” but it refers to those who “wake and those who sleep” - those who
are alive and those who are dead - meaning that they would be “together” or would be with the
Lord “at the same time;” there would be no priority or precedence. Rosenmuller.
2. CLARKE, “Who died for us - His death was an atoning sacrifice for the Gentiles as well
as for the Jews.
Whether we wake or sleep - Whether we live or die, whether we are in this state or in the
other world, we shall live together with him-shall enjoy his life, and the consolations of his
Spirit, while here; and shall be glorified together with him in the eternal world. The words show

41. that every where and in all circumstances genuine believers, who walk after God, have life and
communion with him, and are continually happy, and constantly safe.
The apostle, however, may refer to the doctrine he has delivered, 1Th_4:15, concerning the
dead in Christ rising first; and the last generation of men not dying, but undergoing such a
change as shall render them immortal. On that great day, all the followers of God, both those
who had long slept in the dust of the earth, and all those who shall be found living, shall be
acknowledged by Christ as his own, and live together for ever with him.
3. GILL, “Who died for us,.... The elect of God, who are not appointed to wrath, but to
salvation by Christ, on which account he died for them; not merely as a martyr to confirm his
doctrine, or only by way of example, but as a surety, in the room and stead of his people; as a
sacrifice for their sins, to make atonement for them, and save them from them; so that his death
lays a solid foundation for hope of salvation by him:
that whether we wake or sleep: which phrases are to be understood, not in the same sense
in which they are used in the context; as if the sense was, whether a man indulges himself in sin,
and gives way to sleep and sloth, and carnal security, or whether he is awake and on his watch
and guard, he shall through the death of Christ have eternal life secured to him; not but that
there is a truth in this, that eternal life and salvation by Christ, as it does not depend on our
watchfulness, so it shall not be hindered by the sleepy, drowsy frame of spirit, the children of
God sometimes fall into: but rather natural sleep and waking are intended; and the meaning is,
that those for whom Christ died are always safe, sleeping or waking, whatever they are about
and employed in, and in whatsoever situation and condition they are in this world; though it
may be best of all to interpret the words, of life and death; and they may have a particular regard
to the state of the saints at Christ's second coming, when some will be awake, or alive, and
others will be asleep in Christ, or dead; and it matters not which they are, whether living or
dead; see Rom_14:7 for the end of Christ's dying for them, and which will be answered in one as
well as in another, is, that
we should live together with him: Christ died for his people, who were dead in trespasses
and sins, that they might live spiritually a life of sanctification from him, and a life of
justification on him, and by him; and that they might live a life of communion with him; and
that they might live eternally with him, in soul and body, in heaven, and reign with him there,
and partake of his glory; and this all the saints will, whether they be found dead or alive at his
coming; for the dead will immediately arise, those that sleep in the dust will awake at once, and
they that are alive will be changed, and both will be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air, and be for ever with him: now the consideration of the death of Christ, and this end of it,
which will certainly be answered, serves greatly to encourage hope of salvation by him, and faith
in him, and an earnest expectation of his second coming.
4. HENRY, “Christ's merit and grace, and that salvation is by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us. Our salvation therefore is owing to, and our hopes of it are grounded on, Christ's
atonement as well as God's appointment: and, as we should think on God's gracious design and
purpose, so also on Christ's death and sufferings, for this end, that whether we wake or sleep
(whether we live or die, for death is but a sleep to believers, as the apostles had before
intimated) we should live together with Christ live in union and in glory with him for ever. And,
as it is the salvation that Christians hope for to be for ever with the Lord, so one foundation of

42. their hope is their union with him. And if they are united with Christ, and live in him, and live to
him, here, the sleep of death will be no prejudice to the spiritual life, much less to the life of
glory hereafter. On the contrary, Christ died for us, that, living and dying, we might be his; that
we might live to him while we are here, and live with him when we go hence.
5, JAMISON, “died for us — Greek, “in our behalf.”
whether we wake or sleep — whether we be found at Christ’s coming awake, that is, alive,
or asleep, that is, in our graves.
together — all of us together; the living not preceding the dead in their glorification “with
Him” at His coming (1Th_4:13).
6. CALVIN, “10Who died. From the design of Christ’ death he confirms what he has said, for if he died
with this view — that he might make us partakers of his life, there is no reason why we should be in doubt
as to our salvation. It is doubtful, however, what he means now by sleeping and waking, for it might seem
as if he meant life anddeath, and this meaning would be more complete. At the same time, we might not
unsuitably interpret it as meaning ordinary sleep. The sum is this — that Christ died with this view, that he
might bestow upon us his life, which is perpetual and has no end. It is not to be wondered, however, that
he affirms that we now live with Christ, inasmuch as we have, by entering through faith into the kingdom
of Christ, passed from death into life. (Joh_5:24) Christ himself, into whose body we are ingrafted,
quickens us by his power, and the Spirit that dwelleth in us is life, because of justification (601)
(601) “Comme il est dit en l’ aux Rom_8:0. b. 10;” — “ is stated in the Epistle to the Romans Rom_8:10.”
7. MACLAREN, “WAKING AND SLEEPING
In these words the Apostle concludes a section of this, his earliest letter, in which he has been
dealing with the aspect of death in reference to the Christian. There are two very significant
usages of language in the context which serve to elucidate the meaning of the words of our text,
and to which I refer for a moment by way of introduction.
The one is that throughout this portion of his letter the Apostle emphatically reserves the word
‘died’ for Jesus Christ, and applies to Christ’s followers only the word ‘sleep.’ Christ’s death
makes the deaths of those who trust Him a quiet slumber. The other is that the antithesis of
waking and sleep is employed in two different directions in this section, being first used to
express, by the one term, simply physical life, and by the other, physical death; and secondly, to
designate respectively the moral attitude of Christian watchfulness and that of worldly apathy to
things unseen and drowsy engrossment with the present.
So in the words immediately preceding my text, we read, ‘let us not sleep, as do others, but let us
watch and be sober.’ The use of the antithesis in our text is chiefly the former, but there cannot
be discharged from one of the expressions, ‘wake,’ the ideas which have just been associated
with it, especially as the word which is translated ‘wake’ is the same as that just translated in the
sixth verse, ‘let us watch.’ So that here there is meant by it, not merely the condition of life but
that of Christian life—sober-minded vigilance and wide-awakeness to the realities of being. With

43. this explanation of the meanings of the words before us, we may now proceed to consider them a
little more minutely.
I. Note the death which is the foundation of life.
Recalling what I have said as to the precision and carefulness with which the Apostle varies his
expressions in this context; speaking of Christ’s death only by that grim name, and of the death
of His servants as being merely a slumber, we have for the first thought suggested in reference to
Christ’s death, that it exhausted all the bitterness of death. Physically, the sufferings of our Lord
were not greater, they were even less, than that of many a man. His voluntary acceptance of
them was peculiar to Himself. But His death stands alone in this, that on His head was
concentrated the whole awfulness of the thing. So far as the mere external facts go, there is
nothing special about it. But I know not how the shrinking of Jesus Christ from the Cross can be
explained without impugning His character, unless we see in His death something far more
terrible than is the common lot of men. To me Gethsemane is altogether mysterious, and that
scene beneath the olives shatters to pieces the perfectness of His character, unless we recognise
that there it was the burden of the world’s sin, beneath which, though His will never faltered,
His human power tottered. Except we understand that, it seems to me that many who derived
from Jesus Christ all their courage, bore their martyrdom better than He did; and that the
servant has many a time been greater than his Lord. But if we take the Scripture point of view,
and say, ‘The Lord has made to meet upon Him the iniquity of us all,’ then we can understand
the agony beneath the olives, and the cry from the Cross, ‘Why hast Thou forsaken Me?’
Further, I would notice that this death is by the Apostle set forth as being the main factor in
man’s redemption. This is the first of Paul’s letters, dating long before the others with which we
are familiar. Whatever may have been the spiritual development of St. Paul in certain directions
after his conversion—and I do not for a moment deny that there was such—it is very important
to notice that the fundamentals of his Christology and doctrine of salvation were the same from
the beginning to the end, and that in this, his first utterance, he lays down, as emphatically and
clearly as ever afterwards he did, the great truth that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died on
the Cross, thereby secured man’s redemption. Here he isolates the death from the rest of the
history of Christ, and concentrates the whole light of his thought upon the Cross, and says,
There! that is the power by which men have been redeemed. I beseech you to ask yourselves
whether these representations of Christian truth adhere to the perspective of Scripture, which
do not in like manner set forth in the foreground of the whole the atoning death of Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Then note, further, that this death, the fountain of life, is a death for us. Now I know, of course,
that the language here does not necessarily involve the idea of one dying instead of, but only of
one dying on behalf of, another. But then I come to this question, In what conceivable sense,
except the sense of bearing the world’s sins, and, therefore, mine, is the death of Jesus Christ of
advantage to me? Take the Scripture narratives. He died by the condemnation of the Jewish
courts as a blasphemer; by the condemnation of the supercilious Roman court—cowardly in the
midst of its superciliousness—as a possible rebel, though the sentencer did not believe in the
reality of the charges. I want to know what good that is to me? He died, say some people, as the
victim of a clearer insight and a more loving heart than the men around Him could understand.
What advantage is that to me?
Oh, brethren! there is no meaning in the words ‘He died for us’ unless we understand that the
benefit of His death lies in the fact that it was the sacrifice and satisfaction for the sins of the
whole world; and that, therefore, He died for us.
But then remember, too, that in this expression is set forth, not only the objective fact of Christ’s
death for us, but much in reference to the subjective emotions and purposes of Him who died.

44. Paul was writing to these Thessalonians, of whom none, I suppose, except possibly a few Jews
who might be amongst them, had ever seen Jesus Christ in the flesh, or known anything about
Him. And yet he says to them, ‘Away across the ocean there, Jesus Christ died for you men, not
one of whom had ever appealed to His heart through His eyes.’
The principle involved is capable of the widest possible expansion. When Christ went to the
Cross there was in His heart, in His purposes, in His desires, a separate place for every soul of
man whom He embraced, not with the dim vision of some philanthropist, who looks upon the
masses of unborn generations as possibly beneficially affected by some of his far-reaching plans,
but with the individualising and separating knowledge of a divine eye, and the love of a divine
heart. Jesus Christ bore the sins of the world because He bore in His sympathies and His
purposes the sins of each single soul. Yours and mine and all our fellows’ were there. Guilt and
fear and loneliness, and all the other evils that beset men because they have departed from the
living God, are floated away
‘By the water and the blood From Thy wounded side which flowed’;
and as the context teaches us, it is because He died for us that He is our Lord, and because He
died for every man that He is every man’s Master and King.
II. Note, secondly, the transformation of our lives and deaths affected thereby.
You may remember that, in my introductory remarks, I pointed out the double application of
that antithesis of waking or sleeping in the context as referring in one case to the fact of physical
life or death, and in the other to the fact of moral engrossment with the slumbering influences of
the present, or of Christian vigilance. I carry some allusion to both of these ideas in the remarks
that I have to make.
Through Jesus Christ life may be quickened into watchfulness. It is not enough to take waking as
meaning living, for you may turn the metaphor round and say about a great many men that
living means dreamy sleeping. Paul speaks in the preceding verses of ‘others’ than Christians as
being asleep, and their lives as one long debauch and slumber in the night. Whilst, in contrast
with physical death, physical life may be called ‘waking’; the condition of thousands of men, in
regard to all the higher faculties, activities, and realities of being, is that of somnambulists—they
are walking indeed, but they are walking in their sleep. Just as a man fast asleep knows nothing
of the realities round him; just as he is swallowed up in his own dreams, so many walk in a vain
show. Their highest faculties are dormant; the only real things do not touch them, and their eyes
are closed to these. They live in a region of illusions which will pass away at cock-crowing, and
leave them desolate. For some of us here living is only a distempered sleep, troubled by dreams
which, whether they be pleasant or bitter, equally lack roots in the permanent realities to which
we shall wake some day. But if we hold by Jesus Christ, who died for us, and let His love
constrain us, His Cross quicken us, and the might of His great sacrifice touch us, and the blood
of sprinkling be applied to our eyeballs as an eye-salve, that we may see, we shall wake from our
opiate sleep—though it may be as deep as if the sky rained soporifics upon us—and be conscious
of the things that are, and have our dormant faculties roused, and be quickened into intense
vigilance against our enemies, and brace ourselves for our tasks, and be ever looking forward to
that joyful hope, to that coming which shall bring the fulness of waking and of life. So, you
professing Christians, do you take the lessons of this text? A sleeping Christian is on the high
road to cease to be a Christian at all. If there be one thing more comprehensively imperative
upon us than another, it is this, that, belonging, as we do by our very profession, to the day, and
being the children of the light, we shall neither sleep nor be drunken, but be sober, watching as
they who expect their Lord. You walk amidst realities that will hide themselves unless you gaze
for them; therefore, watch. You walk amidst enemies that will steal subtly upon you, like some
gliding serpent through the grass, or some painted savage in the forest; therefore, watch. You

45. expect a Lord to come from heaven with a relieving army that is to raise the siege and free the
hard-beset garrison from its fears and its toilsome work; therefore, watch. ‘They that sleep, sleep
in the night.’ They who are Christ’s should be like the living creatures in the Revelation, all eyes
round about, and every eye gazing on things unseen and looking for the Master when He comes.
On the other hand, the death of Christ will soften our deaths into slumber. The Apostle will not
call what the senses call death, by that dread name, which was warranted when applied to the
facts of Christ’s death. The physical fact remaining the same, all that is included under the
complex whole called death which makes its terrors, goes, for a man who keeps fast hold of
Christ who died and lives. For what makes the sting of death? Two or three things. It is like some
poisonous insect’s sting, it is a complex weapon. One side of it is the fear of retribution. Another
side of it is the shrinking from loneliness. Another side of it is the dread of the dim darkness of
an unknown future. And all these are taken clean away. Is it guilt, dread of retribution? ‘Thou
shalt answer, Lord, for me.’ Is it loneliness? In the valley of darkness ‘I will be with thee. My rod
and My staff will comfort thee.’ Is it a shrinking from the dim unknown and all the familiar
habitudes and occupations of the warm corner where we have lived? ‘Jesus Christ has brought
immortality to light by the Gospel.’ We do not , according to the sad words of one of the victims
of modern advanced thought, pass by the common road into the great darkness, but by the
Christ-made living Way into the everlasting light. And so it is a misnomer to apply the same
term to the physical fact plus the accompaniment of dread and shrinking and fear of retribution
and solitude and darkness, and to the physical fact invested with the direct and bright opposites
of all these.
Sleep is rest; sleep is consciousness; sleep is the prophecy of waking. We know not what the
condition of those who sleep in Jesus may be, but we know that the child on its mother’s breast,
and conscious somehow, in its slumber, of the warm place where its head rests, is full of repose.
And they that sleep in Jesus will be so . Then, whether we wake or sleep does not seem to matter
so very much.
III. The united life of all who live with Christ.
Christ’s gift to men is the gift of life in all senses of that word, from the lowest to the highest.
That life, as our text tells us, is altogether unaffected by death. We cannot see round the sharp
angle where the valley turns, but we know that the path runs straight on through the gorge up to
the throat of the pass—and so on to the ‘shining table-lands whereof our God Himself is Sun and
Moon.’ There are some rivers that run through stagnant lakes, keeping the tinge of their waters,
and holding together the body of their stream undiverted from its course, and issuing
undiminished and untarnished from the lower end of the lake. And so the stream of our lives
may run through the Dead Sea, and come out below none the worse for the black waters through
which it has forced its way. The life that Christ gives is unaffected by death. Our creed is a risen
Saviour, and the corollary of that creed is, that death touches the circumference, but never gets
near the man. It is hard to believe, in the face of the foolish senses; it is hard to believe, in the
face of aching sorrow. It is hard to-day to believe, in the face of passionate and ingenious denial,
but it is true all the same. Death is sleep, and sleep is life.
And so, further, my text tells us that this life is life with Christ. We know not details, we need not
know them. Here we have the presence of Jesus Christ, if we love Him, as really as when He
walked the earth. Ay! more really, for Jesus Christ is nearer to us who, having not seen Him,
love Him, and somewhat know His divinity and His sacrifice, than He was to the men who
companied with Him all the time that He went in and out amongst them, whilst they were
ignorant of who dwelt with them, and entertained the Lord of angels and men unawares. He is
with us, and it is the power and the privilege and the joy of our lives to realise His presence. That
Lord who, whilst He was on earth, was the Son of Man which is in heaven, now that He is in
heaven in His corporeal humanity is the Son of God who dwells with us. And as He dwells with

46. us, if we love Him and trust Him, so, but in fashion incapable of being revealed to us, now does
He dwell with those of whose condition this is the only and all-sufficing positive knowledge
which we have, that they are ‘absent from the body; present with the Lord.’
Further, that united life is a social life. The whole force of my text is often missed by English
readers, who run into one idea the two words ‘together with.’ But if you would put a comma after
‘together,’ you would understand better what Paul meant. He refers to two forms of union.
Whether we wake or sleep we shall live all aggregated together, and all aggregated ‘together’
because each is ‘with Him.’ That is to say, union with Jesus Christ makes all who partake of that
union, whether they belong to the one side of the river or the other, into a mighty whole. They
are together because they are with the Lord.
Suppose a great city, and a stream flowing through its centre. The palace and all pertaining to
the court are on one side of the water; there is an outlying suburb on the other, of meaner
houses, inhabited by poor and humble people. But yet it is one city. ‘Ye are come unto the
heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.’ We
are knit together by one life, one love, one thought; and the more we fix our hearts on the things
which those above live among and by, the more truly are we knit to them. As a quaint old
English writer says, ‘They are gone but into another pew in the same church.’
We are one in Him, and so there will be a perfecting of union in reunion; and the inference so
craved for by our hearts seems to be warranted to our understandings, that that society above,
which is the perfection of society, shall not be lacking in the elements of mutual recognition and
companionship, without which we cannot conceive of society at all. ‘And so we shall ever be with
the Lord.’
Dear friends, I beseech you to trust your sinful souls to that dear Lord who bore you in His heart
and mind when He bore His cross to Calvary and completed the work of your redemption. If you
will accept Him as your sacrifice and Saviour, when He cried ‘It is finished,’ united to Him your
lives will be quickened into intense activity and joyful vigilance and expectation, and death will
be smoothed into a quiet falling asleep. ‘The shadow feared of man,’ that strikes threateningly
across every path, will change as we approach it, if our hearts are anchored on Him who died for
us, into the Angel of Light to whom God has given charge concerning us to bear up our feet upon
His hands, and land us in the presence of the Lord and in the perfect society of those who love
Him. And so shall we live together, and all together, with Him.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each
other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1.BARNES, “Wherefore comfort yourselves - notes, 1Th_4:18.
And edify one another - Strive to build up each other, or to establish each other in the faith
by these truths; notes, Rom_14:19.

47. Even as also ye do - Continue to do it. Let nothing intervene to disturb the harmony and
consolation which you have been accustomed to derive from these high and holy doctrines.
2. CLARKE, “Comfort - one another - Rest assured that, in all times and circumstances,
it shall be well with the righteous; let every man lay this to heart; and with this consideration
comfort and edify each other in all trials and difficulties.
3. GILL, “Wherefore comfort yourselves together,.... Either with the doctrine of the
resurrection of the dead, the second coming of Christ, and the thoughts of being for ever with
him, and one another, and so may be a repetition of the advice in 1Th_4:18 or with this
consideration, that they were not in a state of darkness, ignorance, and infidelity, but were
children of the light, and of the day, being called out of darkness into marvellous light, and
should enjoy the light of life; and with the doctrine of predestination, they being appointed not
to that wrath they were deserving of, but to be possessed of salvation by Jesus Christ, of which
they could never fail, since the purpose of God according to election always stands sure, not
upon the foot of works, but upon his own sovereign and unchangeable grace; or with the
doctrine of Christ's sufferings and death, in their room and stead, whereby the law was fulfilled,
justice satisfied, their sins atoned for, pardon procured, an everlasting righteousness brought in,
and their salvation fully accomplished, things the apostle had spoken of in the context: the
words will bear to be rendered, "exhort one another"; that is, not to sleep, as do others, or
indulge themselves in sin and sloth; but to be sober, and upon their watch and guard, and in a
posture of defence against the enemy; to put on the whole armour of God, and particularly the
plate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation:
and edify one another; by praying together, conversing with each other about the doctrines
of the Gospel, and the dealings of God with their souls; abstaining from all corrupt
communication, which has a tendency to hurt each other's principles or practices, or to stir up
wrath and contention; attending only to those things which are for the use of edifying, whereby
their souls might be more and more built upon Christ, and their most holy faith; and be a rising
edifice, and grow up unto an holy temple in the Lord, and for an habitation of God through the
Spirit:
even as also ye do; which is said in their commendation, and not through flattery, but to
encourage them to go on in this way; and from whence it may be observed, that mutual
consolation, exhortation, and edification, are things the saints should be stirred up to frequently,
even though they are regarded by them, and much more then should these be pressed upon
them who are careless and negligent of them.
4. HENRY, “In these words the apostle exhorts the Thessalonians to several duties.
I. Towards those who were nearly related one to another. Such should comfort themselves, or
exhort one another, and edify one another, 1Th_5:11. 1. They must comfort or exhort themselves
and one another; for the original word may be rendered both these ways. And we may observe,
As those are most able and likely to comfort others who can comfort themselves, so the way to

48. have comfort ourselves, or to administer comfort to others, is by compliance with the
exhortation of the word. Note, We should not only be careful about our own comfort and
welfare, but to promote the comfort and welfare of others also. He was a Cain that said, Am I my
brother's keeper? We must bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 2. They
must edify one another, by following after those things whereby one may edify another,
Rom_14:19. As Christians are lively stones built up together a spiritual house, they should
endeavour to promote the good of the whole church by promoting the work of grace in one
another. And it is the duty of every one of us to study that which is for the edification of those
with whom we converse, to please all men for their real profit. We should communicate our
knowledge and experiences one to another. We should join in prayer and praise one with
another. We should set a good example one before another. And it is the duty of those especially
who live in the same vicinity and family thus to comfort and edify one another; and this is the
best neighbourhood, the best means to answer the end of society. Such as are nearly related
together and have affection for one another, as they have the greatest opportunity, so they are
under the greatest obligation, to do this kindness one to another. This the Thessalonians did
(which also you do), and this is what they are exhorted to continue and increase in doing. Note,
Those who do that which is good have need of further exhortations to excite them to do good, to
do more good, as well as continue in doing what they do.
5, JAMISON, “comfort yourselves — Greek, “one another.” Here he reverts to the same
consolatory strain as in 1Th_4:18.
edify one another — rather as Greek, “edify (ye) the one the other”; “edify,” literally, “build
up,” namely, in faith, hope, and love, by discoursing together on such edifying topics as the
Lord’s coming, and the glory of the saints (Mal_3:16).
6. CALVIN, “11Exhort. It is the same word that we had in the close of the preceding chapter, and
which we rendered comfort, because the context required it, and the same would not suit ill with this
passage also. For what he has treated of previously furnishes matter of both — of consolation as well as
of exhortation. He bids them, therefore, communicate to one another what has been given them by the
Lord. He adds, that they may edify one another — that is, may confirm each other in that doctrine. Lest,
however, it might seem as if he reproved them for carelessness, he says at the same time that they of
their own accord did what he enjoins. But, as we are slow to what is good, those that are the most
favourably inclined of all, have always, nevertheless, need to be stimulated.
7. MACLAREN, “EDIFICATION
I do not intend to preach about that clause only, but I take it as containing, in the simplest form,
one of the Apostle’s favourite metaphors which runs through all his letters, and the significance
of which, I think, is very little grasped by ordinary readers.
‘Edify one another.’ All metaphorical words tend to lose their light and colour, and the figure to
get faint, in popular understanding. We all know that ‘edifice’ means a building; we do not all
realise that ‘edify’ means to build up . And it is a great misfortune that our Authorised Version,

49. in accordance with the somewhat doubtful principle on which its translators proceeded, varies
the rendering of the one Greek word so as to hide the frequent recurrence of it in the apostolic
teaching. The metaphor that underlies it is the notion of building up a structure. The Christian
idea of the structure to be built up is that it is a temple. I wish in this sermon to try to bring out
some of the manifold lessons and truths that lie in this great figure, as applied to the Christian
life.
Now, glancing over the various uses of the phrase in the New Testament, I find that the figure of
‘building,’ as the great duty of the Christian life, is set forth under three aspects; self-edification,
united edification, and divine edification. And I purpose to look at these in order.
I. First, self-edification.
According to the ideal of the Christian life that runs through the New Testament, each Christian
man is a dwelling-place of God’s, and his work is to build himself up into a temple worthy of the
divine indwelling. Now, I suppose that the metaphor is such a natural and simple one that we do
not need to look for any Scriptural basis of it. But if we did, I should be disposed to find it in the
solemn antithesis with which the Sermon on the Mount is closed, where there are the two
houses pictured, the one built upon the rock and standing firm, and the other built upon the
sand. But that is perhaps unnecessary.
We are all builders; building up—what? Character, ourselves. But what sort of a thing is it that
we are building? Some of us pigsties, in which gross, swinish lusts wallow in filth; some of us
shops; some of us laboratories, studies, museums; some of us amorphous structures that cannot
be described. But the Christian man is to be building himself up into a temple of God. The aim
which should ever burn clear before us, and preside over even our smallest actions, is that which
lies in this misused old word, ‘edify’ yourselves.
The first thing about a structure is the foundation. And Paul was narrow enough to believe that
the one foundation upon which a human spirit could be built up into a hallowed character is
Jesus Christ. He is the basis of all our certitude. He is the anchor for all our hopes. To Him
should be referred all our actions; for Him and by Him our lives should be lived. On Him should
rest, solid and inexpugnable, standing four-square to all the winds that blow, the fabric of our
characters. Jesus Christ is the pattern, the motive which impels, and the power which enables,
me to rear myself into a habitation of God through the Spirit. Whilst I gladly acknowledge that
very lovely structures may be reared upon another foundation than Him, I would beseech you all
to lay this on your hearts and consciences, that for the loftiest, serenest beauty of character there
is but one basis upon which it can be rested. ‘Other foundation can no man lay than that which
is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’
Then there is another aspect of this same metaphor, not in Paul’s writings but in another part of
the New Testament, where we read: ‘Ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy
faith.’ So that, in a subordinate sense, a man’s faith is the basis upon which he can build such a
structure of character; or, to put it into other words—in regard to the man himself, the first
requisite to the rearing of such a fabric as God will dwell in is that he, by his own personal act of
faith, should have allied himself to Jesus Christ, who is the foundation; and should be in a
position to draw from Him all the power, and to feel raying out from Him all the impulses, and
lovingly to discern in Him all the characteristics, which make Him a pattern for all men in their
building.
The first course of stone that we lay is Faith; and that course is, as it were, mortised into the
foundation, the living Rock. He that builds on Christ cannot build but by faith. The two
representations are complementary to one another, the one, which represents Jesus Christ as
the foundation, stating the ultimate fact, and the other, which represents faith as the foundation,
stating the condition on which we come into vital contact with Christ Himself.

50. Then, further, in this great thought of the Christian life being substantially a building up of
oneself on Jesus is implied the need for continuous labour. You cannot build up a house in half
an hour. You cannot do it, as the old fable told us that Orpheus did, by music, or by wishing.
There must be dogged, hard, continuous, life-long effort if there is to be this building up. No
man becomes a saint per saltum . No man makes a character at a flash. The stones are actions;
the mortar is that mystical, awful thing, habit; and deeds cemented together by custom rise into
that stately dwelling-place in which God abides. So, there is to be a life-long work in character,
gradually rearing it into His likeness.
The metaphor also carries with it the idea of orderly progression. There are a number of other
New Testament emblems which set forth this notion of the true Christian ideal as being
continual growth. For instance, ‘first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear,’
represents it as resembling vegetable growth, while elsewhere it is likened to the growth of the
human body. Both of these are beautiful images, in that they suggest that such progressive
advancement is the natural consequence of life; and is in one aspect effortless and instinctive.
But then you have to supplement that emblem with others, and there comes in sharp contrast to
it the metaphor which represents the Christian progress as being warfare. There the element of
resistance is emphasised, and the thought is brought out that progress is to be made in spite of
strong antagonisms, partly to be found in external circumstances, and partly to be found in our
own treacherous selves. The growth of the corn or of the body does not cover the whole facts of
the case, but there must be warfare in order to growth.
There is also the other metaphor by which this Christian progress, which is indispensable to the
Christian life, and is to be carried on, whatever may oppose it, is regarded as a race. There the
idea of the great, attractive, but far-off future reward comes into view, as well as the strained
muscles and the screwed-up energy with which the runner presses towards the mark. But we
have not only to fling the result forward into the future, and to think of the Christian life as all
tending towards an end, which end is not realised here; but we have to think of it, in accordance
with this metaphor of my text, as being continuously progressive, so as that, though unfinished,
the building is there; and much is done, though all is not accomplished, and the courses rise
slowly, surely, partially realising the divine Architect’s ideal, long before the headstone is
brought out with shoutings and tumult of acclaim. A continuous progress and approximation
towards the perfect ideal of the temple completed, consecrated, and inhabited by God, lies in
this metaphor.
Is that you , Christian man and woman? Is the notion of progress a part of your working belief?
Are you growing, fighting, running, building up yourselves more and more in your holy faith?
Alas! I cannot but believe that the very notion of progress has died out from a great many
professing Christians.
There is one more idea in this metaphor of self-edification, viz., that our characters should be
being modelled by us on a definite plan, and into a harmonious whole. I wonder how many of us
in this chapel this morning have ever spent a quiet hour in trying to set clearly before ourselves
what we want to make of ourselves, and how we mean to go about it. Most of us live by
haphazard very largely, even in regard to outward things, and still more entirely in regard to our
characters. Most of us have not consciously before us, as you put a pattern-line before a child
learning to write, any ideal of ourselves to which we are really seeking to approximate. Have
you? And could you put it into words? And are you making any kind of intelligent and habitual
effort to get at it? I am afraid a great many of us, if we were honest, would have to say, No! If a
man goes to work as his own architect, and has a very hazy idea of what it is that he means to
build, he will not build anything worth the trouble. If your way of building up yourselves is, as
Aaron said his way of making the calf was, putting all into the fire, and letting chance settle what
comes out, nothing will come out better than a calf. Brother! if you are going to build, have a

51. plan, and let the plan be the likeness of Jesus Christ. And then, with continuous work, and the
exercise of continuous faith, which knits you to the foundation, ‘build up yourselves for an
habitation of God.’
II. We have to consider united edification.
There are two streams of representation about this matter in the Pauline Epistles, the one with
which I have already been dealing, which does not so often appear, and the other which is the
habitual form of the representation, according to which the Christian community, as a whole, is
a temple, and building up is a work to be done reciprocally and in common. We have that
representation with special frequency and detail in the Epistle to the Ephesians, where perhaps
we may not be fanciful in supposing that the great prominence given to it, and to the idea of the
Church as the temple of God, may have been in some degree due to the existence, in that city, of
one of the seven wonders of the world, the Temple of Diana of the Ephesians.
But, be that as it may, what I want to point out is that united building is inseparable from the
individual building up of which I have been speaking.
Now, it is often very hard for good, conscientious people to determine how much of their efforts
ought to be given to the perfecting of their own characters in any department, and how much
ought to be given to trying to benefit and help other people. I wish you to notice that one of the
most powerful ways of building up myself is to do my very best to build up others. Some, like
men in my position, for instance, and others whose office requires them to spend a great deal of
time and energy in the service of their fellows, are tempted to devote themselves too much to
building up character in other people, and to neglect their own. It is a temptation that we need
to fight against, and which can only be overcome by much solitary meditation. Some of us, on
the other hand, may be tempted, for the sake of our own perfecting, intellectual cultivation, or
improvement in other ways, to minimise the extent to which we are responsible for helping and
blessing other people. But let us remember that the two things cannot be separated; and that
there is nothing that will make a man more like Christ, which is the end of all our building, than
casting himself into the service of his fellows with self-oblivion.
Peter said, ‘Master! let us make here three tabernacles.’ Ay! But there was a demoniac boy down
below, and the disciples could not cast out the demon. The Apostle did not know what he said
when he preferred building up himself, by communion with God and His glorified servants, to
hurrying down into the valley, where there were devils to fight and broken hearts to heal. Build
up yourselves, by all means; if you do you will have to build up your brethren. ‘The edifying of
the body of Christ’ is a plain duty which no Christian man can neglect without leaving a
tremendous gap in the structure which he ought to rear.
The building resulting from united edification is represented in Scripture, not as the
agglomeration of a number of little shrines, the individuals, but as one great temple. That
temple grows in two respects, both of which carry with them imperative duties to us Christian
people. It grows by the addition of new stones. And so every Christian is bound to seek to gather
into the fold those that are wandering far away, and to lay some stone upon that sure
foundation. It grows, also, by the closer approximation of all the members one to another, and
the individual increase of each in Christlike characteristics. And we are bound to help one
another therein, and to labour earnestly for the advancement of our brethren, and for the unity
of God’s Church. Apart from such efforts our individual edifying of ourselves will become
isolated, the results one-sided, and we ourselves shall lose much of what is essential to the
rearing in ourselves of a holy character. ‘What God hath joined together let not man put
asunder.’ Neither seek to build up yourselves apart from the community, nor seek to build up
the community apart from yourselves.

52. III. Lastly, the Apostle, in his writings, sets forth another aspect of this general
thought, viz., divine edification.
When he spoke to the elders of the church of Ephesus he said that Christ was able ‘to build them
up.’ When he wrote to the Corinthians he said, ‘Ye are God’s building.’ To the Ephesians he
wrote, ‘Ye are built for an habitation of God through the Spirit .’ And so high above all our
individual and all our united effort he carries up our thoughts to the divine Master-builder, by
whose work alone a Paul, when he lays the foundation, and an Apollos, when he builds
thereupon, are of any use at all.
Thus, dear brethren, we have to base all our efforts on this deeper truth, that it is God who
builds us into a temple meet for Himself, and then comes to dwell in the temple that He has
built.
So let us keep our hearts and minds expectant of, and open for, that Spirit’s influences. Let us be
sure that we are using all the power that God does give us. His work does not supersede mine.
My work is to avail myself of His. The two thoughts are not contradictory. They correspond to,
and fill out, each other, though warring schools of one-eyed theologians and teachers have set
them in antagonism. ‘Work out . . . for it is God that worketh in .’ That is the true reconciliation.
‘Ye are God’s building; build up yourselves in your most holy faith.’
If God is the builder, then boundless, indomitable hope should be ours. No man can look at his
own character, after all his efforts to mend it, without being smitten by a sense of despair, if he
has only his own resources to fall back upon. Our experience is like that of the monkish builders,
according to many an old legend, who found every morning that yesterday’s work had been
pulled down in the darkness by demon hands. There is no man whose character is anything
more than a torso, an incomplete attempt to build up the structure that was in his mind—like
the ruins of half-finished palaces and temples which travellers came across sometimes in lands
now desolate, reared by a forgotten race who were swept away by some unknown calamity, and
have left the stones half-lifted to their courses, half-hewed in their quarries, and the building
gaunt and incomplete. But men will never have to say about any of God’s architecture, He ‘began
to build and was not able to finish.’ As the old prophecy has it, ‘His hands have laid the
foundation of the house, His hands shall also finish it.’ Therefore, we are entitled to cherish
endless hope and quiet confidence that we, even we, shall be reared up into an habitation of God
through the Spirit.
What are you building? ‘Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone.’ Let every man take heed
what and how and that he buildeth thereon.
Final Instructions
12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to
acknowledge those who work hard among you, who
care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.

53. 1.BARNES, “And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among
you - Who they were is not mentioned. It is evident, however, that the church was not left
without appointed persons to minister to it when its founders should be away. We know that
there were presbyters ordained over the church at Ephesus, and over the churches in Crete
(Act_20:17; Titus i. 5), and that there were bishops and deacons at Philippi Phi_1:1, and there is
every reason to believe that similar officers would be appointed in every newly organized
church, The word “know” seems to mean that they were not to make themselves strangers to
them - to be cold and distant toward them - to be ignorant of their needs, or to be indifferent to
them. While a people are not obtrusively to intermeddle with the business of a minister,
anymore than they are with that of any other man, yet there are things in regard to him with
which they should be acquainted. They should seek to be personally acquainted with him, and
make him their confidant and counselor in their spiritual troubles. They should seek his
friendship, and endeavor to maintain all proper contact with him. They should not regard him
as a distant man, or as a stranger among them. They should so far understand his circumstances
as to know what is requisite to make him comfortable, and should be on such terms that they
may readily and cheerfully furnish what he needs. And they are to “know” or regard him as their
spiritual teacher and ruler; not to be strangers to the place where he preaches the word of life,
and not to listen to his admonitions and reproofs as those of a stranger, but as those of a pastor
and friend.
Which labour among you - There is no reason to suppose, as many have done, that the
apostle here refers to different classes of ministers. He rather refers to different parts of the
work which the same ministers perform. The first is, that they “labor” - that is, evidently, in
preaching the gospel. For the use of the word, see Joh_4:38, where it occurs twice; 1Co_15:10;
1Co_16:16. The word is one which properly expresses wearisome toil, and implies that the office
of preaching is one that demands constant industry.
And are over you in the Lord - That is, by the appointment of the Lord, or under his
direction. They are not absolute sovereigns, but are themselves subject to one who is over them -
the Lord Jesus. On the word here rendered “are over you” (προιʷσταµένους proistamenous) see the
notes on Rom_12:8, where it is translated “ruleth.”
And admonish you - The word here used (νουθετέω noutheteo) is rendered “admonish,”
and “admonished,” in Rom_15:14; Col_3:16; 1Th_5:12; 2Th_3:15; and warn, and warning,
1Co_4:14; Col_1:28; 1Th_5:14. It does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It means, to
put in mind; and then to warn, entreat, exhort. It is a part of the duty of a minister to put his
people in mind of the truth; to warn them of danger; to exhort them to perform their duty; to
admonish them if they go astray.
2. CLARKE, “Know them - Act kindly towards them; acknowledge them as the messengers
of Christ; and treat them with tenderness and respect. This is a frequent meaning of the word γιν
ωσκω. See on Joh_1:10 (note).
Them which labor among you - The words τους κοπιωντας have appeared to some as
expressing those who had labored among them; but as it is the participle of the present tense,
there is no need to consider it in this light. Both it and the word προιʷσταµενους, the

54. superintendents, refer to persons then actually employed in the work of God. These were all
admonishers, teachers, and instructers of the people, devoting their time and talents to this
important work.
3. GILL, “And we beseech you, brethren,.... Not in a natural or civil, but spiritual relation;
and what follows relating to the ministers of the word, the apostle addresses this church on their
behalf, not in an imperious and authoritative manner, but by way of entreaty, with great
humility and strong affection:
know them that labour among you; who were not non-residents, but were upon the spot
with them; and where indeed should pastors be, but with their flocks? and husbandmen and
vinedressers, but in their fields and vineyards? and stewards, but in the families where they are
placed? and parents, but with their children? nor were they loiterers in the vineyard, or slothful
servants, and idle shepherds, but labourers; who laboured in the word and doctrine; gave up
themselves to meditation, reading, and prayer; laboured hard in private, to find out the meaning
of the word of God; and studied to show themselves workmen, that need not be ashamed; and
preached the word in season and out of season; faithfully dispensed all ordinances, and
diligently performed the duties of their office; and were willing to spend and be spent, for the
glory of Christ, and the good of souls, and earnestly contended for the faith of the Gospel; and all
this they did, as among them, so for them, for their spiritual good and welfare: some render the
words, "in you"; they laboured in teaching, instructing, and admonishing them; they laboured to
enlighten their understandings, to inform their judgments, to raise their affections, and to bring
their wills to a resignation to the will of God; to refresh their memories with Gospel truths; to
strengthen their faith, encourage their hope, and draw out their love to God and Christ, and the
brethren: and what the apostle directs them to, as their duty towards these persons, is to "know"
them; that is, not to learn their names, and know their persons, who they were; for they could
not but know them in this sense, since they dwelt and laboured among them, and were
continually employed in instructing them; but that they would make themselves known to them,
and converse freely and familiarly with them, that so they might know the state of their souls,
and be better able to speak a word in season to them; and that they would take notice of them,
show respect to them, and an affection for them; acknowledge them as their pastors, and
account of them as stewards of the mysteries of God, and own them as ministers of Christ; and
reckon them as blessings to them, and acknowledge the same with thankfulness; and obey them,
and submit unto them in the ministry of the word and ordinances, and to their counsel and
advice, so far as is agreeable to the word of God: the Arabic version renders it, "that ye may
know the dignity of them that labour among you"; and so conduct and behave towards them
accordingly:
and are over you in the Lord; are set in the highest place in the church, and bear the highest
office there; have the presidency and government in it, and go before the saints, and guide and
direct them in matters both of doctrine and practice, being ensamples to the flock; the Syriac
version renders it, "and stand before you"; ministering unto you in holy things, being servants to
you for Jesus' sake: and this "in the Lord"; or by the Lord; for they did not take this honour to
themselves, nor were they appointed by men, but they were made able ministers of the word by
God; received their gifts qualifying them for this work from Christ, and were placed as overseers
of the church by the Holy Ghost: and it was only in things pertaining to the Lord that they were
over them; not in things civil, which distinguishes them from civil magistrates; nor in things
secular and worldly, they had nothing to do in their families, to preside there, or with their
worldly concerns, only in the church of Christ, and in things pertaining to their spiritual welfare;

55. and though they were over them, yet under Christ, and in subjection to him, as their Lord and
King; governing not in an arbitrary and tyrannical way, lording it over God's heritage, usurping
a dominion over the faith of men, coining new doctrines, and making new laws; but according to
the word of God, and laws of Christ, in the fear of the Lord, and with a view to the glory of God,
and in love to souls: hence the Arabic version renders it, in the love of the Lord; the phrase, "in
the Lord", is omitted in the Syriac version:
and admonish you; or instruct you, put into your minds good and wholesome things, and put
you in mind of the doctrines of the Gospel, of the duties of religion, of former experiences; and
give warning of sin and danger, and reprove and rebuke with faithfulness; and as the case
requires, either in public or private, and with sharpness or tenderness.
4. HENRY, “He shows them their duty towards their ministers, 1Th_5:12, 1Th_5:13. Though
the apostle himself was driven from them, yet they had others who laboured among them, and
to whom they owed these duties. The apostle here exhorts them to observe,
1. How the ministers of the gospel are described by the work of their office; and they should
rather mind the work and duty they are called to than affect venerable and honourable names
that they may be called by. Their work is very weighty, and very honourable and useful. (1.)
Ministers must labour among their people, labour with diligence, and unto weariness (so the
word in the original imports); they must labour in the word and doctrine, 1Ti_5:17. They are
called labourers, and should not be loiterers. They must labour with their people, to instruct,
comfort, and edify them. And, (2.) Ministers are to rule their people also, so the word is
rendered, 1Ti_5:17. They must rule, not with rigour, but with love. They must not exercise
dominion as temporal lords; but rule as spiritual guides, by setting a good example to the flock.
They are over the people in the Lord, to distinguish them from civil magistrates, and to denote
also that they are but ministers under Christ, appointed by him, and must rule the people by
Christ's laws, and not by laws of their own. This may also intimate the end of their office and all
their labour; namely, the service and honour of the Lord. (3.) They must also admonish the
people, and that not only publicly, but privately, as there may be occasion. They must instruct
them to do well, and should reprove when they do ill. It is their duty not only to give good
counsel, but also to give admonition, to give warning to the flock of the dangers they are liable
to, and reprove for negligence or what else may be amiss.
2. What the duty of the people is towards their ministers. There is a mutual duty between
ministers and people. If ministers should labour among the people, then, (1.) The people must
know them. As the shepherd should know his flock, so the sheep must know their shepherd.
They must know his person, hear his voice, acknowledge him for their pastor, and pay due
regard to his teaching, ruling, and admonitions. (2.) They must esteem their ministers highly in
love; they should greatly value the office of the ministry, honour and love the persons of their
ministers, and show their esteem and affection in all proper ways, and this for their work's sake,
because their business is to promote the honour of Christ and the welfare of men's souls. Note,
Faithful ministers ought to be so far from being lightly esteemed because of their work that they
should be highly esteemed on account of it. The work of the ministry is so far from being a
disgrace to those who upon other accounts deserve esteem, that it puts an honour upon those
who are faithful and diligent, to which otherwise they could lay no claim, and will procure them
that esteem and love among good people which otherwise they could not expect.

56. 5, JAMISON, “beseech — “Exhort” is the expression in 1Th_5:14; here, “we beseech you,”
as if it were a personal favor (Paul making the cause of the Thessalonian presbyters, as it were,
his own).
know — to have a regard and respect for. Recognize their office, and treat them accordingly
(compare 1Co_16:18) with reverence and with liberality in supplying their needs (1Ti_5:17). The
Thessalonian Church having been newly planted, the ministers were necessarily novices
(1Ti_3:6), which may have been in part the cause of the people’s treating them with less respect.
Paul’s practice seems to have been to ordain elders in every Church soon after its establishment
(Act_14:23).
them which labour ... are over ... admonish you — not three classes of ministers, but
one, as there is but one article common to the three in the Greek. “Labor” expresses their
laborious life; “are over you,” their pre-eminence as presidents or superintendents (“bishops,”
that is, overseers, Phi_1:1, “them that have rule over you,” literally, leaders, Heb_13:17;
“pastors,” literally, shepherds, Eph_4:11); “admonish you,” one of their leading functions; the
Greek is “put in mind,” implying not arbitrary authority, but gentle, though faithful, admonition
(2Ti_2:14, 2Ti_2:24, 2Ti_2:25; 1Pe_5:3).
in the Lord — Their presidency over you is in divine things; not in worldly affairs, but in
things appertaining to the Lord.
6. CALVIN, “12And we beseech you. Here we have an admonition that is very necessary. For as the
kingdom of God is lightly esteemed, or at least is not esteemed suitably to its dignity, there follows also
from this, contempt of pious teachers. Now, the most of them, offended with this ingratitude, not so much
because they see themselves despised, as because they infer from this, that honor is not rendered to
their Lord, are rendered thereby more indifferent, and God also, on just grounds, inflicts vengeance upon
the world, inasmuch as he deprives it of good ministers, (602) to whom it is ungrateful. Hence, it is not so
much for the advantage of ministers as of the whole Church, that those who faithfully preside over it
should be held in esteem. And it is for this reason that Paul is so careful to recommend them.
To acknowledge means here to have regard or respect; but Paul intimates that the reason why less honor
is shewn to teachers themselves than is befitting, is because their labor is not ordinarily taken into
consideration.
We must observe, however, with what titles of distinction he honors pastors. In the first place, he says
that they labor. From this it follows, that all idle bellies are excluded from the number of pastors. Farther,
he expresses the kind of labor when he adds, those that admonish, or instruct, you. It is to no purpose,
therefore, that any, that do not discharge the office of an instructor, glory in the name of pastors. The
Pope, it is true, readily admits such persons into his catalogue, but the Spirit of God expunges them
from his. As, however, they are held in contempt in the world, as has been said, he honors them at the
same time, with the distinction of presidency.
Paul would have such as devote themselves to teaching, and preside with no other end in view than that
of serving the Church, be held in no ordinary esteem. For he says literally — let them be more than
abundantly honored, and not without good ground, for we must observe the reason that he adds
immediately afterwards — on account of their work. Now, this work is the edification of the Church, the
everlasting salvation of souls, the restoration of the world, and, in fine, the kingdom of God and Christ.
The excellence and dignity of this work are inestimable: hence those whom God makes ministers in
connection with so great a matter, ought to be held by us in great esteem. We may, however, infer from

57. Paul’ words, that judgment is committed to the Church, that it may distinguish true pastors. (603) For to no
purpose were these marks pointed out, if he did not mean that they should be taken notice of by
believers. And while he commands that honor be given to those that labor, and to those that by
teaching (604) govern properly and faithfully, he assuredly does not bestow any honor upon those that are
idle and wicked, nor does he mark them out as deserving of it.
Preside in the Lord. This seems to be added to denote spiritual government. For although kings and
magistrates also preside by the appointment of God, yet as the Lord would have the government of the
Church to be specially recognized as his, those that govern the Church in the name and by the
commandment of Christ, are for this reason spoken of particularly as presiding in the Lord. We may,
however, infer from this, how very remote those are from the rank of pastors and prelates who exercise a
tyranny altogether opposed to Christ. Unquestionably, in order that any one may be ranked among lawful
pastors, it is necessary that he should shew that he presides in the Lord, and has nothing apart from him.
And what else is this, but that by pure doctrine he puts Christ in his own seat, that he may be the only
Lord and Master?
(602) “Fideles ministres de la parolle;” — “ ministers of the word.”
(603) “Et les ministres fideles;” — “ faithful ministers.”
(604) “Et admonestant;” — “ admonishing.”
7.EBC., “RULERS AND RULED
AT the present moment, one great cause of division among Christian churches is the existence of
different forms of Church government. Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians are
separated from each other much more decidedly by difference of organisation than by difference
of creed. By some of them, if not by all, a certain form of Church order is identified with the
existence of the Church itself. Thus the English-speaking bishops of the world, who met some
time ago in conference at Lambeth, adopted as a basis, on which they could treat for union with
other Churches, the acceptance of Holy Scripture, of the Sacraments of Baptism. and the Lord’s
Supper, of the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds, and of the Historic Episcopate. In other words,
diocesan bishops are as essential to the constitution of the Church as the preaching of the Word
of God and the administration of the Sacraments. That is an opinion which one may say, without
offence, has neither history nor reason on its side. Part of the interest of this Epistle to the
Thessalonians lies in the glimpses it gives of the early state of the Church, when such questions
would simply have been unintelligible. The little community at Thessalonica was not quite
without a constitution-no society could exist on that footing-but its constitution, as we see from
this passage, was of the most elementary kind; and it certainly contained nothing like a modern
bishop.
"We beseech you," says the Apostle, "to know them that labour among you." "To labour" is the
ordinary expression of Paul for such Christian work as he himself did. Perhaps it refers mainly
to the work of catechising, to the giving of that regular and connected instruction in Christian
truth which followed conversion and baptism. It covers everything that could be of service to the
Church or any of its members. It would include even works of charity. There is a passage very
like this in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, (1Co_16:15 f.) where the two things are closely
connected: "Now I beseech you, brethren (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the

58. firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have set themselves to minister unto the saints), that ye also
be in subjection unto such, and to everyone that helpeth in the work and laboureth." In both
passages there is a certain indefiniteness. Those who labour are not necessarily official persons,
elders, or, as they are often called in the New Testament, bishops, and deacons; they may have
given themselves to the work without any election or ordination at all. We know that this is often
the case still. The best workers in a church are not always or necessarily found among those who
have official functions to perform. Especially is it so in churches which provide no recognition
for women, yet depend for their efficiency as religious agencies even more on women than on
men. What would become of our Sunday Schools, of our Home Missions, of our charities, of our
visitation of the sick, the aged, and the poor, but for the labour of Christian women? Now what
the Apostle tells us here is, that it is labour which, in the first instance, is entitled to respect.
"Know them that labour among you," means "Know them for what they are"; recognise with all
due reverence their self-denial, their faithfulness, the services they render to you, their claim
upon your regard. The Christian labourer does not labour for praise or flattery; but those who
take the burden of the church upon them in any way, as pastors or teachers or visitors, as choir
or collectors, as managers of the church property, or however else, are entitled to our
acknowledgment, and ought not to be left without it. There is no doubt a great deal of unknown,
unheeded, unrequited labour in every church. That is inevitable, and probably good; but it
should make us the more anxious to acknowledge what we see, and to esteem, the workers very
highly in love because of it. How unseemly it is, and how unworthy of the Christian name, when
those who do not work busy themselves with criticising those who do, -inventing objections,
deriding honest effort, anticipating failure, pouring cold water upon zeal. That is bad for all, but
bad especially for those who practise it. The ungenerous soul, which grudges recognition to
others, and though it never labours itself has always wisdom to spare for those who do, is in a
hopeless state; there is no growth for it in anything noble and good. Let us open our eyes on
those who labour among us, men or women, and recognise them as they deserve.
There are two special forms of labour to which the Apostle gives prominence: he mentions as
among those that labour "them that are over you in the Lord, and admonish you." The first of
the words here employed, the one translated "them that are over" you, is the only hint the
Epistle contains of Church government. Wherever there is a society there must be order. There
must be those through whom the society acts, those who represent it officially by words or
deeds. At Thessalonica there was not a single president, a minister in our sense, possessing to a
certain extent an exclusive responsibility; the presidency was in the hands of a plurality of men,
what Presbyterians would call a Kirk Session. This body, as far as we can make out from the few
surviving indications of their duties, would direct, but not conduct, the public worship, and
would manage the financial affairs, and especially the charity, of the church. They would as a
rule be elderly men; and were called by the official name, borrowed from the Jews, of elders.
They did not, in the earliest times, preach or teach; they were too old to learn that new
profession; but what may be called the administration was in their hands; they were the
governing committee of the new Christian community. The limits of their authority are
indicated by the words "in the Lord." They are over the members of the church in their
characters and relations as church members; but they have nothing to do with other
departments of life, so far as these relations are unaffected by them.
Side by side with those who preside over the church, Paul mentions those "who admonish you."
Admonish is a somewhat severe word; it means to speak to one about his conduct, reminding
him of what he seems to have forgotten, and of what is rightly expected from him. It gives us a
glimpse of discipline in the early Church, that is, of the care which was taken that those who had
named the Christian name should lead a truly Christian life. There is nothing expressly said in
this passage about doctrines. Purity of doctrine is certainly essential to the health of the Church,
but rightness of life comes before it. There is nothing expressly said about teaching the truth;

59. that work belonged to apostles, prophets, and evangelists, who were ministers of the Church at
large, and not fixed to a single congregation; the only exercise of Christian speech proper to the
congregation is its use in admonition, i.e., for practical moral purposes. The moral ideal of the
gospel must be clearly before the mind of the Church, and all who deviate from it must be
admonished of their danger. "It is difficult for us in modern times," says Dr. Hatch, "with the
widely different views which we have come to hold as to the relation of Church government to
social life, to understand how large a part discipline filled in the communities of primitive times.
These communities were what they were mainly by the strictness of their discipline In the midst
of ‘a crooked and perverse nation’ they could only hold their own by the extreme of
circumspection. Moral purity was not so much a virtue at which they were bound to aim as the
very condition of their existence. If the salt of the earth should lose its savour, wherewith should
it be salted? If the lights of the world were dimmed, who should rekindle their flame? And of this
moral purity the officers of each community were the custodians. ‘They watched for souls as
those that must give account."’ This vivid picture should provoke us to reflection. Our minds are
not set sufficiently on the practical duty of keeping up the Christian standard. The moral
originality of the gospel drops too easily out of sight. Is it not the case that we are much more
expert at vindicating the approach of the Church to the standard of the non-Christian world,
than at maintaining the necessary distinction between the two? We are certain to bring a good
deal of the world into the Church without knowing it; we are certain to have instincts, habits,
dispositions, associates perhaps, and likings, which are hostile to the Christian type of character;
and it is this which makes admonition indispensable. Far worse than any aberration in thought
is an irregularity in conduct which threatens the Christian ideal. When you are warned of such a
thing in your conduct by your minister or elder, or by any Christian, do not resent the warning.
Take it seriously and kindly; thank God that He has not allowed you to go on unadmonished;
and esteem very highly in love the brother or sister who has been so true to you. Nothing is more
unchristian than fault finding; nothing is more truly Christian than frank and affectionate
admonishing of those who are going astray. This may be especially commended to the young. In
youth we are apt to be proud and wilful; we are confident that we can keep ourselves safe in
what the old and timid consider dangerous situations; we do not fear temptation, nor think that
this or that little fall is more than an indiscretion; and, in any case, we have a determined dislike
to being interfered with. All this is very natural; but we should remember that, as Christians, we
are pledged to a course of life which is not in all ways natural; to a spirit and conduct which are
incompatible with pride; to a seriousness of purpose, to a loftiness and purity of aim, which may
all be lost through wilfulness; and we should love and honour those who put their experience at
our service, and warn us when, in lightness of heart, we are on the way to make shipwreck of our
life. They do not admonish us because they like it, but because they love us and would save us
from harm; and love is the only recompense for such a service.
How little there is of an official spirit in what the Apostle has been saying, we see clearly from
what follows. In one way it is specially the duty of the elders or pastors in the Church to exercise
rule and discipline; but it is not so exclusively their duty as to exempt the members of the
Church at large from responsibility. The Apostle addresses the whole congregation when he goes
on, "Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly,
encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be long suffering toward all." Let us look more
closely at these simple exhortations.
"Admonish," he says, "the disorderly." Who are they? The word is a military one, and means
properly those who leave their place in the ranks. In the Epistle to the Colossians (Col_2:5) Paul
rejoices over what he calls the solid front presented by their faith in Christ. The solid front is
broken, and great advantage given to the enemy, when there are disorderly persons in a church,
-men or women who fall short of the Christian standard, or who violate, by irregularities of any
kind, the law of Christ. Such are to be admonished by their brethren. Any Christian who sees the

60. disorder has a right to admonish them; nay, it is laid upon his conscience as a sacred duty
tenderly and earnestly to do so. We are too much afraid of giving offence, and too little afraid of
allowing sin to run its course. Which is better-to speak to the brother who has been disorderly,
whether by neglecting work, neglecting worship, or openly falling into sin: which is better, to
speak to such a one as a brother, privately, earnestly, lovingly; or to say nothing at all to him, but
talk about what we find to censure in him to everybody else, dealing freely behind his back with
things we dare not speak of to his face? Surely admonition is better than gossip; if it is more
difficult, it is more Christlike too. It may be that our own conduct shuts our mouth, or at least
exposes us to a rude retort; but unaffected humility can overcome even that.
But it is not always admonition that is needed. Sometimes the very opposite is in place; and so
Paul writes, "Encourage the fainthearted." Put heart into them. The word rendered
"fainthearted" is only used in this single passage; yet everyone knows what it means. It includes
those for whose benefit the Apostle wrote in chapter 4 the description of Christ’s second coming,
-those whose hearts sunk within them as they thought they might never see their departed
friends again. It includes those who shrink from persecution, from the smiles or the frowns of
the unchristian, and who fear they may deny the Lord. It includes those who have fallen before
temptation, and are sitting despondent and fearful, not able to lift up so much as their eyes to
heaven and pray the publican’s prayer. All such timid souls need to be heartened; and those who
have learned of Jesus, who would not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax, will
know how to speak a word in season to them. The whole life of the Lord is an encouragement to
the fainthearted; He who welcomed the penitent, who comforted the mourners, who restored
Peter after his triple denial, is able to lift up the most timid and to make them stand. Nor is there
any work more Christlike than this. The fainthearted get no quarter from the world; bad men
delight to trample on the timid; but Christ bids them hope in Him, and strengthen themselves
for battle and for victory.
Akin to this exhortation is the one which follows, "Support the weak." That does not mean,
Provide for those who are unable to work; but, lay hold of those who are weak in the faith, and
keep them up. There are people in every congregation whose connection with Christ and the
gospel is very slight; and if some one does not take hold of them, they will drift away altogether.
Sometimes such weakness is due to ignorance: the people in question know little about the
gospel; it fills no space in their minds; it does not awe their weakness, or fascinate their trust.
Sometimes, again, it is due to an unsteadiness of mind or character; they are easily led away by
new ideas or by new companions. Sometimes, without any tendency to lapsing, there is a
weakness due to a false reverence for the past, and for the traditions and opinions of men, by
which the mind and conscience are enslaved. What is to be done with such weak Christians?
They are to be supported. Some one is to lay hands upon them, and uphold them till their
weakness is outgrown. If they are ignorant, they must be taught. If they are easily carried away
by new ideas, they must be shown the incalculable weight of evidence which from every side
establishes the unchangeable truth of the gospel. If they are prejudiced and bigoted, or full of
irrational scruples, and blind reverence for dead customs, they must be constrained to look the
imaginary terrors of liberty in the face, till the truth makes them free. Let us lay this exhortation
to heart. Men and women slip away and are lost to the Church and to Christ, because they were
weak, and no one supported them. Your word or your influence, spoken or used at the right
time, might have saved them. What is the use of strength if not to lay hold of the weak?
It is an apt climax when the Apostle adds, "Be long suffering toward all." He who tries to keep
these commandments-"Admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the
weak"-will have need of patience. If we are absolutely indifferent to each other, it does not
matter; we can do without it. But if we seek to be of use to each other, our moral infirmities are
very trying. We summon up all our love and all our courage, and venture to hint to a brother that
something in his conduct has been amiss; and he flies into a passion, and tells us to mind our

61. own business. Or we undertake some trying task of teaching, and after years of pains and
patience some guileless question is asked which shows that our labour has been in vain; or we
sacrifice our own leisure and recreation to lay hold on some weak one, and discover that the first
approach of temptation has been too strong for him after all. How slow, we are tempted to cry,
men are to respond to efforts made for their good! Yet we are men who so cry, -men who have
wearied God by their own slowness, and who must constantly appeal to His forbearance. Surely
it is not too much for us to be long suffering toward all.
This little section closes with a warning against revenge, the vice directly opposed to
forbearance. "See that none render unto any one evil for evil; but alway follow after that which is
good, one toward another, and toward all." Who are addressed in this verse? No doubt, I should
say, all the members of the Church; they have a common interest in seeing that it is not
disgraced by revenge. If forgiveness is the original and characteristic virtue of Christianity, it is
because revenge is the most natural and instinctive of vices. It is a kind of wild justice, as Bacon
says, and men will hardly be persuaded that it is not just. It is the vice which can most easily
pass itself off as a virtue; but in the Church it is to have no opportunity of doing so. Christian
men are to have their eyes about them; and where a wrong has been done, they are to guard
against the possibility of revenge by acting as mediators between the severed brethren. Is it not
written in the words of Jesus, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of
God"? We are not only to refrain from vengeance ourselves, but we are to see to it, as Christian
men, that it has no place among us. And here, again, we sometimes have a thankless task, and
need to be long suffering. Angry men are unreasonable; and he who seeks the blessing of the
peacemaker sometimes earns only the ill name of a busybody in other men’s matters.
Nevertheless, wisdom is justified of all her children; and no man who wars against revenge, out
of a heart loyal to Christ, can ever be made to look foolish. If that which is good is our constant
aim, one toward another, and toward all, we shall gain the confidence even of angry men, and
have the joy of seeing evil passions banished from the Church. For revenge is the last stronghold
of the natural man; it is the last fort which he holds against the spirit of the gospel; and when it
is stormed, Christ reigns indeed.
8. BI, “Faithful ministers worthy of respect
I.
The particulars upon which this claim for the ministers of Christ is founded.
1. The influence of the ministerial office. They are “over you in the Lord” by a Divine
appointment, by your own choice; not as task masters, nor by mere human patronage. Their
influence is full of care, exertion, watchfulness, responsibility.
2. The employment of the ministerial office. They “admonish you.” Ministers are builders,
watchmen, teachers, soldiers. Their labours are—preparatory in studies, executive in duties,
solitary in trials.
II. State the nature and press the duty of that respect which Christian Churches owe to their
ministers.
1. The due proportion of that respect: esteem them in love.
2. The motive which should influence: “for their work’s sake.” A high valuation of the
ministerial office.

62. 3. The evidences which prove it is genuine. Attention to the comfortable support of a
minister. A regular, devout, conscientious attendance on his ministry. A tender regard for his
character.
4. The mode by which the text enforces the duty.” I beseech you, brethren.” (E. Payson.)
Ministers and people
I. Christian ministers as here described. Not by titles indicative of earthly honour or human
power, not by any natural excellencies of temper or mind, nor by any acquired advantages of
knowledge and skill, nor by any peculiar measure of spiritual gifts; but by their work and office.
1. “Them which labour among you.” The original signifies to “labour with unremitting
diligence, even to much weariness.” This involves—
(1) Due preparation for public services—the preparation of the man as well as of the
sermon, etc.
(2) The work—preaching, administering, visitation, etc.
2. They that “are over you.”
(1) Not by usurpation of the office or human commission (Mar_10:42-44).
(2) But by Christ, the Head of the Church—
(a) As examples.
(b) Guides.
(c) Governors and administrators of Christ’s law.
3. Those who “admonish you.” This is needed by the ignorant, the negligent, the
inconsistent.
II. The duties of Christian Churches towards their ministers.
1. To know them.
(1) As Christian friends.
(2) Their character.
(3) Their religious principles.
(4) What belongs to their office and work, and their fitness for it.
2. To “esteem them very highly in love.” The world may treat them with aversion; hence the
Church should treat them with affection and regard. And the text warrants the very highest.
III. The reason for these duties.
1. The plain command of God.
2. The work’s sake. (A. Wickens.)
Pastoral claims
Your pastor claims from you—

63. I. Proper respect for the office he sustains. It is a most sacred office, and because some men
have disgraced it, and others made it the engine of priestcraft, or for other reasons, the minister
is not to be stripped of official superiority and reduced to the rank of a mere speaking brother.
Regard your pastor, then, not with feelings of superstitious dread, or slavish veneration, or
frivolous familiarity. Hold such in reputation as your friend, but also as an ambassador of God.
II. Due regard for his authority. Office without authority is a solecism. “Let the elders rule.”
“Obey them that have the rule over you.” This is not independent, but derived from and resting
on Christ. It is not legislatorial, but judicial and executive. “Thus saith the Lord.” Should the
minister advance anything unscriptural, they must try the minister by the Bible, not the Bible by
the minister. Not that this confers the indiscriminate right of criticism, as if the end of hearing
were to find fault. In performance of his duty it belongs to your pastor—
1. To preside at the meetings of the Church. His opinion is to be treated with deference, even
when it should not secure assent.
2. To be responsible to Christ for the peace and good order of the Church, which should
secure for him freedom from obnoxious meddling.
III. Regular, punctual, and serious attendance upon his ministry.
1. Regular. There are persons upon whose attendance it is as impossible to depend as upon
the blowing of the wind. How disheartening this is! What are the causes?
(1) Distance, which reconciles them to one service on the Sabbath and none all the week
besides.
(2) The weather.
(3) Home duties.
(4) Sabbath visiting.
(5) A roving spirit of unhallowed curiosity.
2. Punctual. Late attendance is a great annoyance to orderly worshippers, disrespectful to
the minister, and an insult to God.
3. Serious. Come from the closet to the sanctuary. The fire of devotion should be kindled at
home. Remember where you are, whose Presence is with you, and what is your business in
the house of God.
IV. Sincere and fervent affection. This love should be—
1. Apparent; for however strong, if confined to the heart, it will be of little value. A minister
should no more be in doubt of the attachment of his people than of his wife and children.
2. Candid: for charity covers a multitude of faults. Not that you are to be indifferent to
character. This candour is not asked for the manifestly inconsistent. The minister, like
Caesar’s wife, must be above suspicion. The charity asked for is not for an unholy, but for an
imperfect man, for those infirmities which attach to the best, the candour which thinks no
evil, etc. It is surprising what insignificant circumstances will sometimes, quite
unintentionally, give offence to some hearers.
3. Practical. It should lead you to avoid anything that would give him even uneasiness. His
work is difficult at its easiest. Therefore you should be—
(1) Holy and consistent.
(2) Peaceful among yourselves. He cannot be happy with an inharmonious people.

64. (3) Generous contributors to his support.
4. Minute and delicate in its attentions.
5. Constant.
V. Respectful attention to his counsels, either public or private.
VI. Cooperation in his schemes of usefulness for—
1. The Church, whose interests should be his and your first concern. Sunday schools, sick
visiting, etc.
2. The town. The Church should not be behindhand in great public movements.
3. The world at large—missions, etc.
VII. Your prayers. The apostles needed this much more than uninspired men. Pray for your
pastor at home, etc. (J. A. James.)
Pastors and people
I. The pastor’s work. The Thessalonian elders—
1. “Laboured among” the people committed to their charge. And the labour of a faithful
Christian minister may be regarded as comprehending—
(1) The physical labour of preaching the gospel in public, and of visiting the people in
private.
(2) The intellectual labour of study.
(3) The moral labour of keeping his own soul in order for the right discharge of his
vocation.
2. They were “over” the people “in the Lord.” The original denotes superintendence, and
from the view given throughout the New Testament of the functions of Christian office
bearers, that it comprehends both pastoral vigilance and ecclesiastical rule.
3. They “admonished,” i.e., did not confine their instructions to general and abstract
statements of Divine troth, but brought that truth closely to bear on particular circumstances
and character.
II. The duties of people to minister.
1. They were to “know” them, i.e., own or acknowledge them “in the Lord,” i.e., in deference
to the authority and according to the wise and salutary regulations of their Master. This
acknowledgment, of course, was to be practical as well as verbal. The Thessalonians were to
render it, not only by speaking of these office bearers of their Church as their spiritual guides
and overseers, but by attending to their ministry, asking their advice, submitting to their
discipline, and providing for their maintenance.
2. They were to “esteem” them “Very highly in love for their work’s sake”; that is, regard
them with mingled emotions of respect and affection, because of the nature of their office
and because of their fidelity in fulfilling it. This twofold mode of treating ministers was
calculated to promote the religious improvement of the people and to encourage, pastors.
3. “And be at peace among yourselves.” Social peace among true Christmas is highly
important, both for their own mutual improvement and personal comfort, and for the
recommendation of religion to the world; and it is to be maintained by the cultivation both

65. of unanimity of sentiment and of kindliness of feeling (Col_3:12-16; 1Co_1:10-13; 1Co_3:3-
7). (A. S. Patterson, D. D.)
Appreciation of a clergyman’s work
The incumbent of Osborne had occasion to visit an aged parishioner. Upon his arrival at the
house, as he entered the door where the invalid was, he found sitting by the bedside, a lady in
deep mourning reading the Word of God. He was about to retire, when the lady remarked, “Pray
remain. I should not wish the invalid to lose the comfort which a clergyman might afford.” The
lady retired, and the clergyman found lying on the bed a book with texts of Scripture adapted to
the sick; and he found that out of that book portions of Scripture had been read by the lady in
black. That lady was the Queen of England. (W. Baxendale.)
13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of
their work. Live in peace with each other.
1.BARNES, “And to esteem them very highly in love - To cherish for them an
affectionate regard. The office of a minister of religion demands respect. They who are faithful in
that office have a claim on the kind regards of their fellow-men. The very nature of the office
requires them to do good to others, and there is no benefactor who should be treated with more
affectionate regard than he who endeavors to save us from ruin; to impart to us the consolations
of the gospel in affliction; and to bring us and our families to heaven.
For their work’s sake - Not primarily as a personal matter, or on their own account, but on
account of the work in which they are engaged. It is a work whose only tendency, when rightly
performed, is to do good. It injures no man, but contributes to the happiness of all. It promotes
intelligence, industry, order, neatness, economy, temperance, chastity, charity, and kindness in
this world, and leads to eternal blessedness in the world to come. A man who sincerely devotes
himself to such a work has a claim on the kind regards of his fellow-men.
And be at peace among yourselves - See the Mar_9:50 note; Rom_12:18; Rom_14:19
notes.
2. CLARKE, “Esteem them very highly in love - Christian ministers, who preach the
whole truth, and labor in the word and doctrine, are entitled to more than respect; the apostle
commands them to be esteemed ᆓπερεκπερισσου, abundantly, and superabundantly; and this is
to be done in love; and as men delight to serve those whom they love, it necessarily follows that
they should provide for them, and see that they want neither the necessaries nor conveniences of

66. life; I do not say comforts, though these also should be furnished; but of these the genuine
messengers of Christ are frequently destitute. However, they should have food, raiment, and
lodging for themselves and their household. This they ought to have for their work’s sake; those
who do not work should not eat. As ministers of Christ, such as labor not are unworthy either of
respect or support.
3. GILL, “And to esteem them very highly,.... Or, as the Ethiopic version renders it,
"honour them abundantly"; for such are worthy of double honour, and to be had in reputation;
they should be honourably thought of, and be high in the affections of the saints, who should
esteem them better than themselves, or others in the community; and should be spoke well of,
and their characters vindicated from the reproach and obloquy of others; and should be spoke
respectfully to, and be honourably done by; should be provided for with an honourable
maintenance, which is part of the double honour due to them in 1Ti_5:17 and this should be
in love; not in fear, nor in hypocrisy and dissimulation; not in word and in tongue only, but
from the heart and real affection: the Syriac version renders it, "that they be esteemed by you
with more abundant love"; with an increasing love, or with greater love than is shown to the
brethren in common, or to private members: and that for their works' sake; for the sake of the
work of the ministry, which is a good work as well as honourable; is beneficial to the souls of
men, and is for the glory of God, being diligently and faithfully performed by them; on which
account they are to be valued, and not for an empty title without labour.
And be at peace among yourselves. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "with them"; and so
the Syriac version, connecting the former clause with this, "for their works' sake have peace with
them"; that is, with the ministers of the word; do not disagree with them upon every trivial
occasion, or make them offenders for a word; keep up a good understanding, and cultivate love
and friendship with them; "embrace them with brotherly love", as the Ethiopic version renders
the words, understanding them also as relating to ministers; a difference with them is of bad
consequence, and must render their ministry greatly useless and unprofitable to those who
differ with them, as well as render them very uncomfortable and unfit for it. The Arabic version
renders it, "in yourselves"; as referring to internal peace in their own souls, which they should be
concerned for; and which only is attained to, enjoyed, and preserved, by looking to the blood,
righteousness, and sacrifice of Christ: or else it may regard peace among themselves, and with
one another as brethren, and as members of the same church; which as it is for their credit and
reputation without doors, and for their comfort, delight, and pleasure within, in their church
state and fellowship, so it tends to make the ministers of the Gospel more easy and comfortable
in their work: thus the words, considered in this sense, have still a relation to them.
4. HENRY, “He gives divers other exhortations touching the duty Christians owe to one
another. 1. To be at peace among themselves, 1Th_5:13. Some understand this exhortation
(according to the reading in some copies) as referring to the people's duty to their ministers, to
live peaceably with them, and not raise nor promote dissensions at any time between minister
and people, which will certainly prove a hindrance to the success of a minister's work and the
edification of the people. This is certain, that ministers and people should avoid every thing that
tends to alienate their affections one from another. And the people should be at peace among
themselves, doing all they can to hinder any differences from rising or continuing among them,

67. and using all proper means to preserve peace and harmony. 2. To warn the unruly, 1Th_5:14.
There will be in all societies some who walk disorderly, who go out of their rank and station; and
it is not only the duty of ministers, but of private Christians also, to warn and admonish them.
Such should be reproved for their sin, warned of their danger, and told plainly of the injury they
do their own souls, and the hurt they may do to others. Such should be put in mind of what they
should do, and be reproved for doing otherwise. 3. To comfort the feebleminded, 1Th_5:14. By
these are intended the timorous and faint-hearted, or such as are dejected and of a sorrowful
spirit. Some are cowardly, afraid of difficulties, and disheartened at the thoughts of hazards, and
losses, and afflictions; now such should be encouraged; we should not despise them, but comfort
them; and who knows what good a kind and comfortable word may do them? 4. To support the
weak, 1Th_5:14. Some are not well able to perform their work, nor bear up under their burdens;
we should therefore support them, help their infirmities, and lift at one end of the burden, and
so help to bear it. It is the grace of God, indeed, that must strengthen and support such; but we
should tell them of that grace, and endeavour to minister of that grace to them.
5, JAMISON, “very highly — Greek, “exceeding abundantly.”
for their work’s sake — The high nature of their work alone, the furtherance of your
salvation and of the kingdom of Christ, should be a sufficient motive to claim your reverential
love. At the same time, the word “work,” teaches ministers that, while claiming the reverence
due to their office, it is not a sinecure, but a “work”; compare “labor” (even to weariness: so the
Greek), 1Th_5:12.
be at peace among yourselves — The “and” is not in the original. Let there not only be
peace between ministers and their flocks, but also no party rivalries among yourselves, one
contending in behalf of some one favorite minister, another in behalf of another (Mar_9:50;
1Co_1:12; 1Co_4:6).
6. CALVIN, “13With love. Others render it by love; for Paul says in love, which, according to the
Hebrew idiom, is equivalent to by or with. I prefer, however, to explain it thus — as meaning that he
exhorts them not merely to respect them, (605) but also love them. For as the doctrine of the gospel is
lovely, so it is befitting that the ministers of it should be loved. It were, however, rather stiff to speak
of having in esteem by love, while the connecting together of love with honor suits well.
Be at peace. While this passage has various readings, even among the Greeks, I approve rather of the
rendering which has been given by the old translator, and is followed by Erasmus — Pacem habete cum
eis, vel colite — (Have or cultivate peace with them.) (606) For Paul, in my opinion, had in view to oppose
the artifices of Satan, who ceases not to use every endeavor to stir up either quarrels, or disagreements,
or enmities, between people and pastor. Hence we see daily how pastors are hated by their Churches for
some trivial reason, or for no reason whatever, because this desire for the cultivation of peace, which
Paul recommends so strongly, is not exercised as it ought.
(605) “De porter honneur aux fideles ministres;” — “ do honor to faithful ministers.”
(606) Wiclif (1380) renders as follows: “ ye pees with hem.”

68. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those
who are idle and disruptive, encourage the
disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
1.BARNES, “Now we exhort you, brethren - Margin, “beseech.” This earnest entreaty is
evidently addressed to the whole church, and not to the ministers of the gospel only. The duties
here enjoined are such as pertain to all Christians in their appropriate spheres, and should not
be left to be performed by ministers only.
Warn them - The same word which in 1Th_5:12 is rendered “admonish.” It is the duty of
every church member, as well as of the ministers of the gospel, affectionately to admonish those
whom they know to be living contrary to the requirements of the gospel. One reason why there is
so little piety in the church, and why so many professors of religion go astray, is, that the great
mass of church members feel no responsibility on this subject. They suppose that it is the duty
only of the officers of the church to admonish an erring brother, and hence many become
careless and cold and worldly, and no one utters a kind word to them to recall them to a holy
walk with God.
That are unruly - Margin, “disorderly.” The word here used (ᅎτακτος ataktos), is one which
properly means “not keeping the ranks,” as of soldiers; and then irregular, confused, neglectful
of duty, disorderly. The reference here is to the members of the church who were irregular in
their Christian walk. It is not difficult, in an army, when soldiers get out of the line, or leave their
places in the ranks, or are thrown into confusion, to see that little can be accomplished in such a
state of irregularity and confusion. As little difficult is it, when the members of a church are out
of their places, to see that little can be accomplished in such a state. Many a church is like an
army where half the soldiers are out of the line; where there is entire insubordination in the
ranks, and where not half of them could be depended on for efficient service in a campaign.
Indeed, an army would accomplish little if as large a proportion of it were irregular, idle, remiss,
or pursuing their own aims to the neglect of the public interest, as there are members of the
church who can never be depended on in accomplishing the great purpose for which it was
organized.
Comfort the feeble-minded - The dispirited; the disheartened; the downcast. To do this is
also the duty of each church member. There are almost always those who are in this condition,
and it is not easy to appreciate the value of a kind word to one in that state. Christians are
assailed by temptation; in making efforts to do good they are opposed and become disheartened;
in their contests with their spiritual foes they are almost overcome; they walk through shades of
spiritual night, and find no comfort. In such circumstances, how consoling is the voice of a
friend! How comforting is it to feel that they are not alone! How supporting to be addressed by
one who has had the same conflicts, and has triumphed! Every Christian - especially every one
who has been long in the service of his Master - has a fund of experience which is the property of
the church, and which may be of incalculable value to those who are struggling now amidst
many embarrassments along the Christian way. He who has that experience should help a weak
and sinking brother; he should make his own experience of the efficacy of religion in his trials

69. and conflicts, the means of sustaining others in their struggles. There is no one who would not
reach out his hand to save a child borne down rapid stream; yet how often do experienced and
strong men in the Christian faith pass by those who are struggling in the “deep waters, where the
proud waves have come over their souls!”
Support the weak - See the notes at Rom_15:1.
Be patient toward all men - See the Greek word here used, explained in the notes on
1Co_13:4; compare Eph_4:2; Gal_5:22; Col_3:12.
2. CLARKE, “Warn them that are unruly - The whole phraseology of this verse is
military; I shall consider the import of each term. Ατακτους· Those who are out of their ranks,
and are neither in a disposition nor situation to perform the work and duty of a soldier; those
who will not do the work prescribed, and who will meddle with what is not commanded. There
are many such in every Church that is of considerable magnitude.
Comfort the feeble-minded - Τους ολιγοψυχους· Those of little souls; the faint-hearted;
those who, on the eve of a battle, are dispirited, because of the number of the enemy, and their
own feeble and unprovided state. Let them know that the battle is not theirs, but the Lord’s; and
that those who trust in him shall conquer.
Support the weak - Αντεχεσθε των ασθενων· Shore up, prop them that are weak; strengthen
those wings and companies that are likely to be most exposed, that they be not overpowered and
broken in the day of battle.
Be patient toward all - Μακροθυµειτε προς παντας· The disorderly, the feeble-minded, and
the weak, will exercise your patience, and try your temper. If the troops be irregular, and cannot
in every respect be reduced to proper order and discipline, let not the officers lose their temper
nor courage; let them do the best they can; God will be with them, and a victory will give
confidence to their troops. We have often seen that the Christian life is compared to a warfare,
and that the directions given to soldiers are, mutatis mutandis; allowing for the different
systems, suitable to Christians. This subject has been largely treated on, Ephesians 6. The
ministers of Christ, being considered as officers, should acquaint themselves with the officers’
duty. He who has the direction and management of a Church of God will need all the skill and
prudence he can acquire.
3. GILL, “Now we exhort you, brethren,.... This is said either to the ministers of the word
that laboured among them, presided over them, and admonished them; and the rather, because
some of these things here directed to are pressed upon the members of the church in 1Th_5:11
and which otherwise must make a repetition here; or to the members in conjunction with their
pastors:
warn them that are unruly; or disorderly, idle persons, working not at all, busying
themselves with other men's matters, and living upon the church's stock, reprove them for their
sloth, exhort them to work with their own hands, to do their own business, and with quietness
eat their own bread; or such who keep not their places in the church, but are like soldiers that go
out of their rank, desert their companies, and fly from their colours, or stand aside, rebuke
these, and exhort them to fill up their places, to abide by the church, and the ordinances of

70. Christ; or such who are contentious and quarrelsome, turbulent, headstrong, and unruly, that
cause and foment animosities and divisions, check them, admonish them, lay them under
censure, for such a custom and practice is not to be allowed of in the churches of Christ.
Comfort the feebleminded: such as are not able to bear the loss of near and dear relations;
are ready to stagger under the cross, and at the reproaches and persecutions of the world; and
are almost overset with the temptations of Satan; and are borne down and discouraged with the
corruptions of their hearts, speak a comfortable word to them, encourage them with the
doctrines of grace, and the promises of the Gospel.
Support the weak; who are weak in faith and knowledge, strengthen them, hold them up; or
as the Syriac version renders it, "take the burden of the weak" and carry it, bear their infirmities,
as directed in Rom_15:1,
be patient towards all men; towards the unruly, the feebleminded, and the weak as well as
to believers; give place to wrath, and leave vengeance to him to whom it belongs; exercise
longsuffering and forbearance with fellow creatures and fellow Christians.
4. HENRY, “To be patient towards all men, 1Th_5:14. We must bear and forbear. We must be
long-suffering, and suppress our anger, if it begin to rise upon the apprehension of affronts or
injuries; at least we must not fail to moderate our anger: and this duty must be exercised
towards all men, good and bad, high and low. We must not be high in our expectations and
demands, nor harsh in our resentments, nor hard in our impositions, but endeavour to make the
best we can of every thing, and think the best we can of every body.
5, JAMISON, “brethren — This exhortation to “warm (Greek, ‘admonish,’ as in 1Th_5:12)
the unruly (those ‘disorderly’ persons, 2Th_3:6, 2Th_3:11, who would not work, and yet
expected to be maintained, literally, said of soldiers who will not remain in their ranks, compare
1Th_4:11; also those insubordinate as to Church discipline, in relation to those ‘over’ the
Church, 1Th_5:12), comfort the feeble-minded (the faint-hearted, who are ready to sink
‘without hope’ in afflictions, 1Th_4:13, and temptations),” applies to all clergy and laity alike,
though primarily the duty of the clergy (who are meant in 1Th_5:12).”
support — literally, “lay fast hold on so as to support.”
the weak — spiritually. Paul practiced what he preached (1Co_9:22).
be patient toward all men — There is no believer who needs not the exercise of patience
“toward” him; there is none to whom a believer ought not to show it; many show it more to
strangers than to their own families, more to the great than to the humble; but we ought to show
it “toward all men” [Bengel]. Compare “the long-suffering of our Lord” (2Co_10:1; 2Pe_3:15).
6. CALVIN, “14Admonish the unruly. It is a common doctrine — that the welfare of our brethren should
be the object of our concern. This is done by teaching, admonishing, correcting, and arousing; but, as the
dispositions of men are various, it is not without good reason that the Apostle commands that believers
accommodate themselves to this variety. He commands, therefore, that the unruly (607) be admonished,
that is, those who live dissolutely. The term admonition, also, is employed to mean sharp reproof, such as
may bring them back into the right way, for they are deserving of greater severity, and they cannot be
brought to repentance by any other remedy.

71. Towards the faint-hearted another system of conduct must be pursued, for they have need of consolation.
The weak must also be assisted. By faint-hearted, however, he means those that are of a broken and
afflicted spirit. He accordingly favors them, and the weak, in such a way as to desire that
the unruly should be restrained with some degree of sternness. On the other hand, he commands that
the unruly should be admonished sharply, in order that the weak may be treated with kindness and
humanity, and that the faint-hearted may receive consolation. It is therefore to no purpose that those that
are obstinate and intractable demand that they be soothingly caressed, inasmuch as remedies must be
adapted to diseases.
He recommends, however, patience towards all, for severity must be tempered with some degree of
lenity, even in dealing with the unruly. This patience, however, is, properly speaking, contrasted with a
feeling of irksomeness, (608) for nothing are we more prone to than to feel wearied out when we set
ourselves to cure the diseases of our brethren. The man who has once and again comforted a person
who is faint-hearted, if he is called to do the same thing a third time, will feel I know not what vexation,
nay, even indignation, that will not permit him to persevere in discharging his duty. Thus, if by
admonishing or reproving, we do not immediately do the good that is to be desired, we lose all hope of
future success. Paul had in view to bridle impatience of this nature, by recommending to us moderation
towards all.
(607) “ whole phraseology of this verse is military ... ᾿Ατάκτους — those who are out of their ranks, and
are neither in a disposition nor situation to perform the work and duty of a soldier: those who will not do
the work prescribed, and who will meddle with what is not commanded.” —Dr. A. Clarke. —Ed
(608) “A l’ qu’ conç aiseement en tels affaires;” — “ the irksomeness which one readily feels in such
matters.”
7. BI, “Now we exhort you, brethren, war them that are unruly—The verse contains four
distinct, but coordinate and mutually connected exhortations.
I. “Warn them that are unruly.” In pursuing peace, fidelity was not to be sacrificed; and one of
the methods in which Christian peace might be promoted was the faithful and tender rebuke of
those whose quarrelsome temper or wayward conduct disturbed fraternal harmony. The
“unruly” were such as, either from lax principles with respect to ecclesiastical government, or
from pride, ambition, or recklessness, refused submission to legitimate authority; and such their
fellow Christians were to “warn.” In warning this class of persons, much, of course, depends on
the manner in which the work is done. But when it is performed by one true Christian to another
with intelligence and tenderness, there is good reason to believe that it will prove successful; nor
can it be supposed that the spirit of the Psalmist’s words (Psa_141:5) is altogether alien from the
followers of Christ.
II. “Comfort the feeble minded,” such as, from a natural want of energy and firmness, or from
deficiency in Christian faith and confidence, were disquieted amidst the calamities of life. The
worldling might despise them for their cowardice; the religious censor might blame them for
their culpable distrust. But Christianity took them under her protection, and here commands
their firmer hearted brethren to soothe and cheer them amidst the struggles of the faith and the
adversities of time.
III. “support the weak.” Here, as in Rom_14:1-2 and 1Co_8:7-12, the word “weak” denotes a
special deficiency in knowledge or faith, and liability to fall. Such weakness might arise from the

72. prejudices produced by a Jewish or Pagan education, from the recency of conversion, or from
causes more obviously culpable. But to whatever source the weakness might be traceable, one
“whom Christ had received” was not to be despised by his older or stronger brethren. The word
rendered “support” denotes the act of taking another by the hand or arm.
IV. “Be patient toward all men.” By this command the apostle calls on the Thessalonian
Christians to guard against being led, whether by the intellectual obtuseness and moral
imperfection of members of the Church, or by the calumnious reproaches and persecuting rage
of the enemies of the truth, to resort to bitter and upbraiding words, or to cease from efforts to
do the individual good. “Love suffereth long and is kind” (1Co_13:4). (A. S. Patterson, D. D.)
Precepts
I. Warn the unruly: those who, like disorderly soldiers, break the ranks, and become idle,
dissolute and worthless. This was a besetting sin in the primitive Churches. Many entertaining
false views about the nearness of Christ’s Advent became indifferent to work, and sank into
apathy or even worse. The proverb says, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop”; and when a man
is not occupied he is apt to become an instrument of evil and a disturber of the Church. It is
difficult to pin some people down to do a bit of fair honest work. They are full of schemes for
other people, and are forever finding fault that other people do not carry them out. These are the
restless gipsies, the pests of every Christian community, the mischief makers and busybodies in
other people’s matters. Warn such. Admonish gently at first, putting them in mind of their duty.
It is the fault of many to limit admonitions to gross and grievous sins, but in these cases warning
often comes too late. If admonition is not effectual, then proceed to sharper reproof. If that is
unavailing, separate yourselves from their society.
II. Comfort the feeble minded. More correctly—encourage the faint hearted. The reference is not
to the intellectually weak, but to such as faint in the day of adversity or the prospect of it
(1Th_2:14), or who are disheartened in consequence of the loss of friends (1Th_4:13). It may
also include those who are perplexed with doubt as to their spiritual condition, and who through
fear are subject to bondage. There are some people so weighed down with a sense of modesty as
to incapacitate them from using their abilities. Others, again, are so oppressed with the
inveteracy of sin that they despair of gaining the victory and give up all endeavours. These need
encouraging with the promises of God, and with the lessons and examples furnished by
experience. Heart courage is what the faint hearted require.
III. Support the weak. A man may be weak in judgment or in practice. There may be lack of
information or lack of capacity to understand. Such was the condition of many who, not
apprehending the abrogation of the Mosaic law, and thinking they were still bound to observe
ordinances, were weak in faith. Some linger for years in the misty borderland between doubt
and certainty, ever learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth. Defective faith
implies defective practice. Support such with the moral influence of sympathy, prayer, counsel,
example.
IV. Be patient towards all men, even the most wayward and persecuting. Consider the patience
of God and imitate it. Lack of present success is no excuse. The triumphs of genius in art,
science, and literature are triumphs of patience. (G. Barlow.)
The feeble minded
Littleness is implied. The word occurs here only in the New Testament (see Isa_35:4 LXX), and
is almost unknown in classical Greek. The student of Aristotle will look upon it as implying the

73. contradictory of the “great souled,” with his high estimate of himself, “just contempt” for others,
and freedom from excessive elation or depression. The whole passage here might well lead us to
suppose that, as the Thessalonian Christians had a tender and almost feminine susceptibility
about those they had loved and lost, so they would be likely also to have some of the rest of the
characteristics which accompany that beautiful weakness. We may perhaps refer to “the chief
women not a few” (Act_17:4). The morbid conscientious ness, the form of self-torment known to
spiritual writers as scrupulousness, would be well expressed by the word “little-minded.” (Bp.
Alexander.)
Precept and practice
St. Paul gives an admirable precept to the Thessalonians, but precept must blossom into
practice, and practice will prove the best commentary on precept.
I. The precept illustrated by practice. All the persons in God’s great family are not of the same
height and strength; though some are old men and fathers, and others are young and strong, yet
many are little children, nay, babes in Christ: some can go alone, or with a little help, if you hold
them but by their leading strings; but others must be carried in arms, and will require much love
and patience to overcome their childish forwardness. Christ winks at their weaknesses, who hath
most reason to be moved with them. Though His disciples were raw, and dull, and slow to
understand and believe, yet He bears with them; nay, though when He was watching for them,
and in His bloody sweat, and they lay sleeping and snoring, and could not watch with Him one
hour, He doth not fall fiercely upon them, and afterward excuseth them for their lack of service.
Their spirit was willing, but their flesh was weak. It is no wonder that their pace was slow, when,
like the snail, they have such a house—such a hindrance—on their backs. Who can think of this
infinite grace of the blessed Redeemer in making such an apology for them when He had such
cause to be full of fury against them, and not be incited to imitate so admirable a pattern? God’s
treatment of Jonah was very similar to Christ’s treatment of His disciples. Jonah runs from His
business: God sends him to Nineveh; he will go to Tarshish. Here was plain rebellion against his
Sovereign, which was repeated. But lo! He cannot permit Jonah to perish; He will rather whip
him to his work than let him wander to his ruin. But how gentle is the rod! God cannot forget the
love of a father though Jonah forget the duty of a child, and will rather work a miracle and make
a devourer his saviour than Jonah shall miscarry. Oh, the tenderness of God toward His weak
and erring children! Now Christians are to be “imitators of God.” If He, so glorious, holy, and
infinite, beareth with His creatures thus, what cause have they to bear patiently with their
fellows! “We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak.”
II. This practice is grounded upon principle. It was love on the part of Christ and on the part of
God that led these Divine Persons to act so graciously as They did; and the same love must ever
prompt Christians to imitate Them—love to Jesus Himself and love to them for whom He died,
but who need practical sympathy and help. There must be no bitterness, no envyings, no heart
burnings among the brethren, but they must love each other as each loves himself, and suffer
together in all suffering. Oh, how sweet is the music when saints join saints in concert! but how
harsh is the sound of jarring strings! A mutual yielding and forbearance is no small help to our
own peace and safety. There is a story of two goats which may excellently illustrate this matter.
They both met on a narrow bridge, under which a very deep and fierce stream did glide; there
was no going blindly back, neither could they press forward for the narrowness of the bridge.
Now, had they fought for their passage, they had both been certain to perish; this, therefore,
they did—they agreed that one should lie down and the other go over him, and thus both their
lives were preserved. While Christians are doing the reverse of this, they are like some small
chickens, a prey to kites and other ravenous creatures. “In quietness shall be their strength.” (G.

74. Swinnock, M. A.)
Warnings
Warnings are given in love (1Co_4:14). Warnings are given in mercy. Warnings are given in duty
(Eze_3:20).
I. The warning of example. Fallen angels (Jud_1:6). Ungodly men (Jud_1:7). Untrue professors
(Jud_1:17-19).
II. The warnings of instruction. God has given us warning in His Holy Word that life is
uncertain (Jas_4:13-14); that it is an evil thing to offend God (Rom_2:8-9); that it is a foolish
thing to forsake Christ (Heb_2:8); that it must be foolish to run such risk (Act_4:12); that it
must therefore be foolish to turn away from this only hope.
III. The warnings of experience. The experiences of sin are bitter (Rom_7:24). The enjoyments
of salvation are sweet (2Th_2:16-17). If warnings are to do us good they must be heard
(2Ti_4:3-4), believed (Gen_19:14), obeyed (Mat_21:28-31). This is our lesson— Pro_29:1. (J.
Richardson, M. A.)
Support the weak, be patient towards all men—Manton says: “Though we cannot love
their weaknesses, yet we must love the weak, and bear with their infirmities, not breaking the
bruised reed. Infants must not be turned out of the family because they cry, and are unquiet and
troublesome; though they be peevish and froward, yet we must bear it with gentleness and
patience, as we do the frowardness of the sick; if they revile we must not revile again, but must
seek gently to restore them, notwithstanding all their censures.” This patience is far too rare. We
do not make allowances enough for our fellows, but sweepingly condemn those whom we ought
to cheer with our sympathy. If we are out of temper ourselves, we plead the weather, or a
headache, or our natural temperament, or aggravating circumstances; we are never at a loss for
an excuse for ourselves, why should not the same ingenuity be used by our charity in inventing
apologies and extenuations for others? It is a pity to carry on the trade of apology making
entirely for home consumption; let us supply others. True, they are very provoking, but if we
suffered half as much as some of our irritable friends have to endure we should be even more
aggravating. Think in many cases of their ignorance, their unfortunate bringing up, their
poverty, their depression of spirit, and their home surroundings, and pity will come to the help
of patience. We are tender to a man who has a gouty toe, cannot we extend the feeling to those
who have an irritable soul? Our Lord will be angry with us if we are harsh to His little ones
whom He loves; nor will He be pleased if we are unkind to His poor afflicted children with
whom He would have us be doubly tender. We ourselves need from Him ten times more
consideration than we show to our brethren. For His sake we ought to be vastly more forbearing
than we are. Think how patient He has been to us, and let our hard heartedness be confessed as
no light sin. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The contrast between heathenism and Christianity in the treatment of the weak
Heathen philosophy, even Plato’s, was systematically hard on the weakly. It anticipated modern
theories and practice in such matters as the struggle for existence, survival of the fittest, and
happy dispatch. In the exercise of the art of medicine Plato held that it might serve to cure the
occasional distempers of men whose constitutions are good; but as to those who have bad
constitutions, let them die; and the sooner the better: such men are unfit for war, for magistracy,

75. for domestic affairs, for severe study; and the best thing for such is to have done with life at
once. In contrast with this Bacon vindicated the art of healing by appealing to the exampleor
Christ, and reminded men that the great Physician of the soul did not disdain to be the
Physician of the body. Hawthorne asserts that most men have a natural indifference, if not
hostility, towards those whom disease, or weakness, or calamity of any kind causes to falter and
faint amid the rude jostle of our selfish existence. The education of Christianity, he owned, the
sympathy of a like experience, and the example of women, may soften and possibly subvert this
ugly characteristic; but it is originally there, and has its analogy in the practice of our brute
brethren, who hunt the sick or disabled member of the herd from among them as an enemy.
Faithful to which code of action, says Balzac, the world at large is lavish of hard words and harsh
conduct to the wretched who dare spoil the gaiety of its fetes and to cast a gloom over its
pleasures: whoever is a sufferer in mind or body, or is destitute of money or power is a pariah.
The weakly or deformed child of a Spartan was thrown, by order, into the cavern called
apothetae, in the belief that its life could be no advantage either to itself or to the state. The
worst of charity is, complains Emerson, that the lives you are asked to preserve are not worth
preserving. (F. Jacox, B. A.)
The difficulty of the strong to sympathize with the weak
A disposition to despise weakness, observed Mr. Fonblanque, seems to be a law of nature which
humanity prevails against with effort, by urging the sympathies and stimulating them by the
imagination. Poor Boswell again and again makes piteous record of Johnson’s unimaginative
contempt for the sufferings of frailer constitutions; and he philosophizes on the fact that in full
health men can scarcely believe that their ailing neighbours suffer much, “so faint is the image of
pain upon our imagination.” “At your age, sir, I had no headache,” snapped the doctor at Sir
William Scott once when the future Lord Stowell ventured to complain of one. When Fanny
Burney fell ill at court, she wrote, “Illness here, till of late, has been so unknown that it is
commonly supposed that it must be wilful, and therefore meets little notice till accompanied by
danger. This is by no means from hardness, but from prejudice and want of personal
experience.” John Stuart Mill reckoned it as one of the disadvantages of Bentham that from his
childhood he had never had a day’s illness; his unbroken health helped to incapacitate him for
sympathy with his fellows, and weakened his power of insight into other minds. (F. Jacox, B. A.)
Helping the weak
A poor bee had fallen into the pond, and was struggling as well as her failing strength would
allow. We seized a pole, and placed the end of it just under her. She took firm hold, and we lifted
the pole and the bee. A little while was spent in drying herself and pluming her wings, and then
our worker made a straight line for the hive, and doubtless was soon at her daily task rewarding
us with honey. May not many a human worker be found in a sinking condition? A little sensible
help might save him. Who will give it? He who does so shall receive the blessing of him that is
ready to perish. Poor hearts are often in deep despondency, sinking for lack of a sympathetic
word. Do not withhold it. Rescue the perishing. Be on the watch for despairing minds; if no
other good comes of it, you will, at least, be more grateful for your own cheerful ness. But good
will come of it in unexpected instances, and it will be heaven’s music in your ears to hear sighs
turned into songs. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Support the weak

76. In the town of Leeds I was waiting one wet wintry night outside the railway station, when a
ragged, dirty boy, selling papers, came up to me and said: “Buy an evening paper, sir. Please do.
Only seven left, and they’s all my profit.” The boy’s eagerness to sell arrested my attention, and
on looking down I saw a bright, intelligent face with a look of honesty in it. So I questioned him,
and found his parents were, he supposed, “drinking at a public house in Briggate.” “Had he no
cap to wear that rainy night?” “Yes,” but he had lent it to his sister, who was waiting for him in
an old doorway across the road till he “sold out.” The cap wasn’t on her head because she had
“no boots and stockings, so I told her to put her feet inside my cap to keep ‘em warm and
prevent her ketchin’ cold.” Surely this was “a self-sacrificing chivalry worthy of the knights of
old, for a boy who thus cared for his sister exhibited the true spirit of bravery.” (Told in Dr.
Bernardo’s “Night and Day. ”)
Patience
is a Divine attribute, and is repeatedly mentioned as a fruit of God’s Spirit in the soul. In the text
this grace as made a universal duty. It is not to be a tribute paid to the virtuous, but to all. And
the man who enjoined it exercised it.
I. The nature and sources of Christian patience.
1. In respect to personal trial patience is exercised in its lower form. Patience in labour,
fatigue, pain, etc., is not easy, but it is the easiest kind of patience. When, however, we are
called to have patience with others, we enter a higher and more difficult sphere of duty. Men
may endure their own trials from pride, hope, native firmness, duty, etc.; but when we are
required to be patient towards bad dispositions, evil conduct, etc., this is a nobler
achievement and proceeds from nobler motives.
1. Patience does not imply approval of men’s conduct or character, nor indifference to them.
On the contrary, we must see things as they are before God; and if we refrain from attacking
it must not be, construed into approbation.
2. This patience implies such benevolence and pity as shall make us tolerant, and which can
only spring from that regenerated love that God works in the soul.
II. The conditions of its exercise and its objects. It must be exercised towards all men. To be
patient with those we love is natural; but we must not stop there; nor with our own set: nor with
the good even when they stumble; nor with those who hold our opinions; but also with—
1. The dull and foolish, who are very trying, especially if you are nervous and they are not; if
you are mercurial and they are phlegmatic. They are in your way, and make your tasks
troublesome. Nevertheless, you must be patient with them.
2. The conceited; a very hard work indeed, to submit to haughty looks and arrogant conduct.
3. The selfish and cunning, patience with whom places you at a disadvantage.
4. The rude.
5. The passionate, etc. Wherever you find a man that has the brand of God’s creation upon
him, and immortality for his destiny, there you find the object of this command. Do you find
this hard, impossible? Then consider—
III. Its motives.
1. It is only by having patience with men that you can retain any hold upon them. The man
who is outside your pity is outside your diocese. You cannot do anything for a man you

77. dislike, and one of the worst things that can befall a benevolent nature is to be incapacitated
to do good.
2. Only in this way can we imitate Christ. “I say unto you, love your enemies,” etc.
3. It is by this very patience on God’s part that we ourselves are saved. (H. W. Beecher.)
Patience and charity needed
“Lord, I can’t make these sticks perfectly straight; I have lost all my strength. Send me to
another field.” But what is the answer of the Holy Spirit? “You were not sent to that field to take
every crook out of those sticks; you can’t perfect human nature; that is My work.” Now there is
something in every man—ministers included—that is a little gnarly. It is peculiar to the
individual—a streak of the old Adam inwrought in his individuality. In one it is stubbornness, in
another it is suspiciousness, in another reserve, in another a disposition to be critical, or fault
finding, or censorious. By whatever name it may be known, it is, in fact, a little twist of
depravity, and no human influence, no preacher, can untwist it and straighten it out. It is a
peculiar twist of self, inborn, inbred, inwrought. So when I discover what a man’s peculiar twist
is, I say, “The Lord only can take that out of him, and I won’t touch it if I can help it.” I tried my
hand at this once on a good Scotch brother, and I will never try it again. He was a most
uncompromising subject, and I am quite convinced that if I had had a little more charity for his
peculiarities he would have been a very useful man. (Dr. Spinning.)
15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong,
but always strive to do what is good for each other and
for everyone else.
1.BARNES, “See that none render evil for evil - See the notes on Mat_5:39, Mat_5:44.
The meaning here is, that we are not to take vengeance; compare notes on Rom_12:17,
Rom_12:19. This law is positive, and is universally binding. The moment we feel ourselves
acting from a desire to “return evil for evil,” that moment we are acting wrong. It may be right to
defend our lives and the lives of our friends; to seek the protection of the law for our persons,
reputation, or property, against those who would wrong us; to repel the assaults of calumniators
and slanderers, but in no case should the motive be to do them wrong for the evil which they
have done us.

78. But ever follow that which is good - Which is benevolent, kind, just, generous; see the
notes, Rom_12:20-21.
Both among yourselves, and to all men - The phrase “to all men,” seems to have been
added to avoid the possibility of misconstruction. Some might possibly suppose that this was a
good rule to be observed toward those of their own number, but that a greater latitude in
avenging injuries might be allowable toward their enemies out of the church. The apostle,
therefore, says that the rule is universal. It relates to the pagan, to infidels, sceptics, and
persecutors, as well as to the members of the church. To every man we are to do good as we are
able - no matter what they do to us. This is the rule which God himself observes toward the evil
and unthankful (notes, Mat_5:45), and is one of the original and beautiful laws of our holy
religion.
2. CLARKE, “See that none render evil for evil - Every temper contrary to love is
contrary to Christianity. A peevish, fretful, vindictive man may be a child of Satan; he certainly is
not a child of God.
Follow that which is good - That by which ye may profit your brethren and your neighbors
of every description, whether Jews or Gentiles.
3. GILL, “See that none render evil for evil unto any man,.... Not an ill word for an ill
word, railing for railing, nor an ill action for an ill action; no, not to any man whatever, not to an
enemy, a persecutor, a profane person, as well as not to a brother, a believer in Christ; and this
the saints should not only be careful of, and guard against in themselves, but should watch over
one another, and see to it, that no such practice is found in each other.
But ever follow that which is good; honestly, morally, pleasantly, and profitably good; even
every good work, which is according to the will of God, is done in faith, from love, and to the
glory of God; and particularly acts of beneficence and liberality to the poor; and which are not to
be once, or now and then done, but to be followed and pursued after, and that always;
both among yourselves, and to all men; not only to the household of faith, though to them
especially, and in the first place, but to all other men, as opportunity offers, even to our enemies,
and them that persecute us, and despitefully use us; do good to their bodies, and to their souls,
as much as in you lies, by feeding and clothing the one, and by praying for, advising, and
instructing the other.
4. HENRY, “Not to render evil for evil to any man, 1Th_5:15. This we must look to, and be
very careful about, that is, we must by all means forbear to avenge ourselves. If others do us an
injury, this will not justify us in returning it, in doing the same, or the like, or any other injury to
them. It becomes us to forgive, as those that are, and that hope to be, forgiven of God. 7. Ever to
follow that which is good, 1Th_5:15. In general, we must study to do what is our duty, and
pleasing to God, in all circumstances, whether men do us good turns or ill turns; whatever men
do to us, we must do good to others. We must always endeavour to be beneficent and
instrumental to promote the welfare of others, both among ourselves (in the first place to those
that are of the household o faith), and then, as we have opportunity, unto all men, Gal_6:10.

79. 5, JAMISON, “(Rom_12:17; 1Pe_3:9.)
unto any man - whether unto a Christian, or a heathen, however great the provocation.
follow — as a matter of earnest pursuit.
6. CALVIN, “15See that no one render evil for evil. As it is difficult to observe this precept, in
consequence of the strong bent of our nature to revenge, he on this account bids us take care to be on
our guard. For the word see denotes anxious care. Now, although he simply forbids us to strive with each
other in the way of inflicting injuries, there can, nevertheless, be no doubt that he meant to condemn, at
the same time, every disposition to do injury. For if it is unlawful to render evil for evil, every disposition to
injure is culpable. This doctrine is peculiar to Christians — not to retaliate injuries, but to endure them
patiently. And lest the Thessalonians should think that revenge was prohibited only towards their
brethren, he expressly declares that they are to do evil to no one. For particular excuses are wont to be
brought forward in some cases. “ why should it be unlawful for me to avenge myself on one that is so
worthless, so wicked, and so cruel?” But as vengeance is forbidden us in every case, without exception,
however wicked the man that has injured us may be, we must refrain from inflicting injury.
But always follow benignity. By this last clause he teaches that we must not merely refrain from inflicting
vengeance, when any one has injured us, but must cultivate beneficence towards all. For although he
means that it should in the first instance be exercised among believers mutually, he afterwards extends it
to all, however undeserving of it, that we may make it our aim to overcome evil with good, as he himself
teaches elsewhere. (Rom_12:21) The first step, therefore, in the exercise of patience, is, not to revenge
injuries; the second is, to bestow favors even upon enemies.
7. BI, “Negative and positive precepts
I.
See that none render evil for evil unto any man. Retaliation betrays a weak and cruel disposition.
Pagan morality went so far as to forbid the unprovoked injuring of others; and it is not without
noble examples of the exercise of a spirit of forgiveness. The Jews prostituted to purposes of
private revenge the laws which were intended to administer equitable retributions. It is
Christianity alone that teaches man to bear personal injuries without retaliation. “Hath any
wronged thee,” says Quarles,” be bravely revenged; slight it, and the work is begun; forgive it,
and it is finished. He is below himself that is not above an injury.” Public wrongs the public law
will avenge; and the final recompense for all wrong must be left to the Infallible Judge
(Rom_12:19-20).
II. But ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men. The noblest
retaliation is that of good for evil. In the worst character there is some element of goodness. Our
beneficence should be as large as an enemy’s malice (Mat_5:44-45). That which is good is not
always that which is pleasing. Goodness should be sought for its own sake. It is the great aim
and business of life. Goodness is essentially diffusive; it delights in multiplying itself in others. It
is undeterred by provocation; it conquers the opposition. Lessons:
1. The perceptive morality of Christianity is a signal evidence of its transcendent glory.

80. 2. Practice is more potent than precept.
3. The Christian spirit is the root of genuine goodness. (G. Barlow.)
It is not strictly true to say that Christianity alone at first forbade to return evil for evil. Plato
knew that it was not the true definition of justice to do harm to one’s enemies. The Stoics, who
taught the extirpation of the passions, were far enough from admitting of revenge to be the only
one that should be allowed to remain. It is a higher as well as a truer claim to make for the
gospel, that it kindled that spirit of kindness and goodwill in the breast of man (which could not
be wholly extinguished even towards an enemy), until it became a practical principle; and that it
preached as a rule of life for all, what had previously been the supreme virtue, or the mere
theory of philosophers. (Prof. Jowett.)
Following the good
Ever follow that which is good among yourselves and to all—
1. In political effort men can unite, and so they ought in religious; for religion means the link
which binds men for good work. Is it more important to put one’s political friends in
Parliament than to win one’s neighbours for heaven?
2. Remember the unwearied diligence of political partizans. All, one cannot help regretting
that Christians are less earnest.
3. In politics men will give up their dearly loved crotchets to promote the welfare of the
general party. Why not, then, sink our individualism in following that which is good? We are
to ever do so—
I. In building up our own character.
1. It is easier to do good than to be good. We are so apt to be discouraged by many failures.
We have wished to grow in goodness like a tree, but we have more to contend with than a
tree. We promise well in bud and leaf, and then the fruit does not ripen, and we get
discouraged. Some of us have done worse. We have put forth the bud of innocence, but the
blossom of virtue has been nipped by the frost of misfortune, or the blast of temptation, and
we have given up. To all such let this exhortation come with power. Still set your face
towards the good. Try again. Will you throw away your coat because it is soiled? Would you
have your child despair of writing because he has upset the ink?
2. In following the good let us aim high. To copy from another may help us a little; but we
shall make the surest progress if we follow only Christ. We teach children writing by setting
the best copy before them. If we fall today, let us arise today and follow Him.
II. In the Church. Every Church should be a missionary society, and when a new member is
received something should be found for him to do. It is true you cannot find a perfect Church;
but this should not dishearten you. Go into an organ factory—what a horrible din! Yes; but what
is the result? The Church is an organ factory. All our pipes have to be made and tuned. But if we
are in earnest we shall not care for the discord; the instrument will one day play harmonious
music. In battle, if a general see a brigade hardly pressed he orders out another to support it. So,
if the Church’s battalion in the slums is weak, the battalion in the suburbs should hasten to its
help. Let us by our example make the Church vigorous and good. If the prayer meeting is good,
the Lord’s supper, etc., follow them. Be as regular and earnest in Church duty as though you
were paid for it.

81. III. In the world. Lift up your voices against war. Working men uphold arbitration against
strikes. Do not blame statesmen for making war, when master and man fight and ruin one
another.
IV. In your own neighbourhood. There is much that you can do there. Conclusion:
1. Persevere in following the good.
2. Let your motive be the love of Christ.
3. If you keep following the good, your works will follow you. (W. Birch.)
Perseverance in following the good
When Columbus was sailing over the Atlantic, believing there was another continent in the west,
his men were dispirited and almost in mutiny, he said, “Unless we have some sign of land within
the next three days, we will turn back.” Fortunately, they had some signs of land, and the ships
steered on until they came to the American coast. Now, what you are doing is good, and you
should tolerate no “if” about it. You have been preaching, and teaching, and doing good for a
long time, and perhaps you are ready to say, “Unless I have some signs of good fruit from my
labour, I will give up.” Do not. If that which you are following be really for the benefit of
mankind, be not weary in well-doing. The test of success is not in numbers. Remember that
Jesus had no disciples with Him in His trial; at His crucifixion He had only one, and He ended
His beautiful ministry by the cross. Therefore, do not despair. Keep on with your work and keep
at it. Persevere. Follow that which is good continuously unto the end. (W. Birch.)
Good for evil
Bacon said, “He that studieth revenge keepeth his own wounds green.” Philip the Good, of
Burgundy, had it in his power to punish one who had behaved ill to him; but he said, “It is a fine
thing to have revenge in one’s power, but it is a finer thing not to use it.” Another king of France
said of his foes, “I will weigh down the lead of their wickedness with the gold of my kindness.” A
minister remarked, “Some persons would have had no particular interest in my prayers, but for
the injuries they did me.” (H. R. Burton.)
16 Rejoice always,

82. 1.CLARKE, “Rejoice evermore - Be always happy; the religion of Christ was intended to
remove misery. He that has God for his portion may constantly exult. Four MSS. of good note
add εν τሩ Κυριሩ, in the Lord: Rejoice in the Lord evermore.
2. GILL, “Rejoice evermore. Not in a carnal, but in a spiritual way, with joy in the Holy
Ghost; and which arises from a view of pardon by the blood of Christ, of justification by his
righteousness, and atonement by his sacrifice; not in themselves, as the wicked man rejoices in
his wickedness, and the hypocrite and formalist in his profession of religion, and the reputation
he gains by it; and the Pharisee and legalist in his morality, civility, negative holiness, and
obedience to the rituals of the law; for such rejoice in their boastings, and all such rejoicing is
evil; but in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the greatness, fitness, fulness, and glory of his person, in his
blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, in what he is in himself, and is made unto his people, and in
what he has done, and is still doing for them, and particularly in the salvation he has wrought
out; and not in the things of this life, and the attainments of it, either of body, or of mind, or of
estate, as in strength, wisdom, or riches; but in things spiritual, that our names are written in
heaven, and we are redeemed by the blood of Christ, and called by his grace, and shall be
glorified together with him; and not only in prosperity, but in adversity, since all things work
together for good, and afflictions serve for the exercise of grace; and especially, since to suffer
reproach and persecution for the sake of Christ, and his Gospel, is a great honour, and the Spirit
of God, and of glory, rests on such, and great will be their reward in heaven: and there is always
reason, and ever a firm ground and foundation for rejoicing with believers, let their
circumstances or their frames be what they will; since God, their covenant God, is unchangeable,
and his love to them is from everlasting to everlasting invariably the same; the covenant of
grace, which is ordered in all things, and sure, is firm and immovable; and Jesus, the Mediator
of it, is the same today, yesterday, and for ever.
3. HENRY, “Here we have divers short exhortations, that will not burden our memories, but
will be of great use to direct the motions of our hearts and lives; for the duties are of great
importance, and we may observe how they are connected together, and have a dependence upon
one another. 1. Rejoice evermore, 1Th_5:16. This must be understood of spiritual joy; for we
must rejoice in our creature-comforts as if we rejoiced not, and must not expect to live many
years, and rejoice in them all; but, if we do rejoice in God, we may do that evermore. In him our
joy will be full; and it is our fault if we have not a continual feast. If we are sorrowful upon any
worldly account, yet still we may always rejoice, 2Co_6:10. Note, A religious life is a pleasant
life, it is a life of constant joy.
4, JAMISON, “In order to “rejoice evermore,” we must “pray without ceasing” (1Th_5:17). He
who is wont to thank God for all things as happening for the best, will have continuous joy
[Theophylact]. Eph_6:18; Phi_4:4, Phi_4:6, “Rejoice in the Lord ... by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving”; Rom_14:17, “in the Holy Ghost”; Rom_12:12, “in hope”; Act_5:41, “in being
counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ’s name”; Jam_1:2, in falling “into divers
temptations.”

83. 5. CALVIN, “16Rejoice always. I refer this to moderation of spirit, when the mind keeps itself in
calmness under adversity, and does not give indulgence to grief. I accordingly connect together these
three things — to rejoice always, to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks to God in all things. For
when he recommends constant praying, he points out the way of rejoicing perpetually, for by this means
we ask from God alleviation in connection with all our distresses. In like manner, in Phi_4:4, having said,
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all. Be not anxious as
to anything. The Lord is at hand.
He afterwards points out the means of this—
but in every prayer let your requests be made known to God, with giving of thanks.
In that passage, as we see, he presents as a source of joy a calm and composed mind, that is not unduly
disturbed by injuries or adversities. But lest we should be borne down by grief, sorrow, anxiety, and fear,
he bids us repose in the providence of God. And as doubts frequently obtrude themselves as to whether
God cares for us, he also prescribes the remedy — that by prayer we disburden our anxieties, as it were,
into his bosom, as David commands us to do in Psa_37:5 and Psa_55:22; and Peter also, after his
example. (1Pe_5:7.) As, however, we are unduly precipitate in our desires, he imposes a check upon
them — that, while we desire what we are in need of, we at the same time do not cease to give thanks.
He observes, here, almost the same order, though in fewer words. For, in the first place, he would have
us hold God’ benefits in such esteem, that the recognition of them and meditation upon them shall
overcome all sorrow. And, unquestionably, if we consider what Christ has conferred upon us, there will be
no bitterness of grief so intense as may not be alleviated, and give way to spiritual joy. For if this joy does
not reign in us, the kingdom of God is at the same time banished from us, or we from it. (609) And very
ungrateful is that man to God, who does not set so high a value on the righteousness of Christ and the
hope of eternal life, as to rejoice in the midst of sorrow. As, however, our minds are easily dispirited, until
they give way to impatience, we must observe the remedy that he subjoins immediately afterwards. For
on being cast down and laid low we are raised up again by prayers, because we lay upon God what
burdened us. As, however, there are every day, nay, every moment, many things that may disturb our
peace, and mar our joy, he for this reason bids us pray without ceasing. Now, as to this constancy in
prayer, we have spoken of elsewhere. (610) Thanksgiving, as I have said, is added as a limitation. For
many pray in such a manner, as at the same time to murmur against God, and fret themselves if he does
not immediately gratify their wishes. But, on the contrary, it is befitting that our desires should be
restrained in such a manner that, contented with what is given us, we always mingle thanksgiving with our
desires. We may lawfully, it is true, ask, nay, sigh and lament, but it must be in such a way that the will of
God is more acceptable to us than our own.
(609) “N’ point en nous, ou pour mieux dire, nous en sommes hors;” — “ not in us, or as we may rather
say, we are away from it.”
(610) Our author probably refers here to what he has said on this subject when commenting
on Eph_6:18. — Ed.
6. BI, “A trinity of privileges

84. I.
Study these advices separately.
1. “Rejoice evermore.” Rejoice because of—
(1) Your conversion.
(2) Your privileges as children of God.
(3) Your apprehension of Christ and His love.
(4) Your hope of glory. These are always available, and if we sometimes rejoice in them,
why not evermore?
2. “Pray without ceasing.”
(1) This implies a praying habit, and relates to our thoughts, affections, and feelings.
Oral praying is occasional, and is merely the outburst.
(2) The reasons we should pray at all always exist, and therefore we should “pray
without ceasing.” Prayer betokens—
(a) danger, and our dangers surround us every moment.
(b) A sense of personal weakness and destitution, which are permanent.
(c) Is essential to dependence on God, which ought to be without intermission. All
the reasons why we should pray at all urge us to pray unceasingly.
3. “In everything give thanks.”
(1) In everything; for however great the trial, it is invariably accompanied by many
mercies. No case is so bad but that it might be much worse.
(2) The “in” also means “for.” “All things work together for good,” etc. God’s children
cannot receive from God anything but mercies. Both for and in everything we should give
thanks. Not afterwards merely, but in the midst. This is the real triumph of faith, and
this is the will of God concerning us in Christ Jesus.
II. View these advices in their connection with each other.
1. How does a state of constant joy in the Holy Ghost lead to prayer? One would think it
might lead to praise rather than prayer. Now, prayer is something more than a selfish
craving, it is communion with God. But such is impossible without joy. When we rejoice in
God, we are at once impelled to tell Him all our wants, lovingly and confidently; and thus the
highest exercise of prayer results more from a sense of God’s goodness than of our
necessities. Supplies of blessing, then, provoke thanksgiving.
2. Why is not this our experience? We rejoice, etc., but not always. Our defectiveness is
owing either—
(1) To our shallowness or lack of thorough earnestness.
(2) To our insincerity, or the mingling of selfish and worldly motives with our piety.
(3) To our unbelief or want of hearty confidence in God’s love and faithfulness. Or
(4) To our sloth, which refuses to make the requisite effort for our growth in grace. Let
these hindrances be removed. (T. G. Horton.)
A triple commandment

85. The apostle commendeth unto us three virtues, of greater price than the three presents the Magi
brought unto Christ: the first is, “Rejoice evermore”; the second is, “Pray without ceasing”; the
third, “In everything give thanks.” All three are of one last, and are the things which one saith all
men do, yet scarce one doeth them as he should; therefore the apostle, to show us how we
should do them, doth put “continually” unto them, as though continuance were the perfection of
all virtues.
I. The command to rejoice. It is not an indifferent thing to rejoice, but we are commanded to
rejoice, to show that we break a commandment if we rejoice not. Oh, what a comfort is this—
when the Comforter Himself commands us to rejoice! God was wont to say, “Repent,” and not
“rejoice,” because some men rejoice too much; but here God commandeth to rejoice, as though
some men did not rejoice enough; therefore you must understand to whom He speaketh. In the
Psalms it is said, “Let the saints be glad”; not, Let the wicked be glad: and in Isaiah God saith,
“Comfort ye My people”; not, Comfort Mine enemies. He who would have us holy as He is holy,
would have us joyful as He is joyful; He who would have us do His will on earth as angels do it in
heaven, would have us rejoice on earth as angels rejoice in heaven; He who hath ordained us to
the kingdom of saints, would have us rejoice that we have such a kingdom to receive; therefore
Christ saith to His disciples, “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
II. The command to pray. As Elisha would not prophesy until the musician came, and while the
musician played he prophesied, so when the heart rejoiceth in God, then it is fittest to call upon
God.
1. It is such a pleasant thing that Paul joineth, “pray without ceasing” with “rejoice
evermore,” to show that no man hath such joy as he who is often talking with God by prayer;
as if he should say, If thou have the skill to pray continually, it will make thee rejoice
continually; for in God’s company is nothing but joy and gladness of heart.
2. It is such a sweet thing, above other things that we do for God, that in Revelation the
prayers of the saints are called “incense,” because, when they ascend to heaven, God
smelleth a sweet savour in them. Moreover, what a profitable thing unceasing prayer is! It
doeth more good than alms; for with mine alms I help but three or four needy individuals,
but with my prayers I aid thousands.
3. It is a powerful and victorious thing. As all Samson’s strength lay in his hair, so all our
strength lieth in ceaseless prayer. Many have learned more by praying than they could by
reading, and done that by prayer they could not do by Counsel; therefore one saith that he
who can pray continually can do all things and always, because, like Jacob, he can overcome
God, who helpeth him; and he who can overcome God can overcome Satan too, who trieth
his uttermost to hinder all things.
III. The command to praise. What will we give to God if we will not afford Him thanks? What
will we do for God if we will not praise Him? It is the least we can give and do, and it is all we
can give and do. Shall the birds sing unto God, which is all they can do, and not they for whom
God created birds? What a fool is he which will fight, and travel, and watch for himself, and will
not speak for himself in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, making melody in his heart
unto God! God requires the sacrifice of praise from us as He did from the Jews. Therefore let us
not say, God will not hear us. God Himself says, “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me; and to
him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.” (H. Smith.)
Rejoice evermore
Some men are joyful by disposition. We like the jovial, merry men, the Mark Tapleys of the
world, who are jolly even under adverse circumstances. Yet such joy in an irreligious man has

86. something sad about it. It is like building a warm and comfortable house upon the winter’s ice.
There are also men who have learned cheerfulness because they know the wisdom and health of
it. We admire this, too—the bravery of being joyful in this world. There is something almost
tragic in the joyous shout of the crew that goes sailing to the polar sea. Of course they need all
their hope and cheer. Soon the sunny air will chill, the cheerless ice will fleck the blue sea, the
snow will hiss in the brine, and the black curtain of the Arctic night will fall over the scene. Wave
your caps, boys, as your gallant ship slips out of the pier. Be merry if you can. But I do not
understand how it is possible to be joyous if you look not beyond the grave into which all things
that give you joy must so soon be swept. The joy, the merry laughter of sinful men—is it not
reckless? It is like a lot of boys exhilarated by the motion of a maelstrom and shouting with
delight as they are sucked into the fatal vortex. How different the Christian’s joy. With God on
his side, with his books balanced, with his peace sealed, with confidence in the eternal future,
with the mighty conviction that all things work together for good to them that love God—why,
such a man may indulge all of the exuberance of his soul. (R. S. Barrett.)
Rejoice evermore
I. The position of the text.
1. It is set in the midst of many precepts. Note them. All these things are to be done as
occasion requires, but rejoicing is to be done evermore; and rejoice in each duty because you
rejoice evermore.
2. It comes just after a flavouring of trouble and bitterness (1Th_5:15). The children of God
are apt to have evil rendered to them; but still they are bidden to rejoice. “Blessed are ye,
when men shall revile you.” Despondency is excluded, and yet among the curiosities of the
Churches, I have known many deeply spiritual people who have been afraid to rejoice,
regarding it as a sacred duty to be gloomy. But where is the command to be miserable? Then,
is it not a sin not to rejoice, since it is so plainly commanded?
II. The quality of this rejoicing.
1. It is not a carnal rejoicing. If it were it would be impossible to keep it up evermore. There
is a joy of harvest, but where shall we find it in winter? There is a joy of wealth, but where is
it when riches are flown? So with health, friends, etc. If your joys spring from earthly
fountains, those fountains may be dried up. You are forbidden to rejoice too much in these
things, for they are as honey, of which a man may eat till he is sickened. But the joy which
God commands is one in which it is impossible to go too far.
2. It is not presumptuous. Some ought not to rejoice: “Rejoice not, O Israel … for thou hast
departed from thy God.” It would be well for the joy of many to be turned to sorrow. They
have never fled to Christ for refuge. Many have a joy that has accumulated through many
years of false profession. If your joy will not bear looking at have done with it.
3. It is not fanatical. Some people of a restless turn never feel good until they are half out of
their minds. I do not condemn their delirium, but want to know what goes with it. If our
rejoicing does not come out of a clear understanding of the things of God, and has no truth
at the bottom of it, what can it profit us? Those who rejoice without knowing why are driven
to despair without knowing why, and are likely to be found in a lunatic asylum ere long.
Christ’s religion is sanctified common sense.
4. It is not even that Divine exhilaration which Christians feel on special occasions. There
are moments when Peter is no fool for saying, “Let us build three tabernacles.” But you are
not commanded always to be in that rapturous state, because you cannot be; the strain

87. would be too great. When we cannot mount as on wings, we may run without weariness, and
walk without faintness. The ordinary joy of Christians is not the joy of jubilee, but of every
year; not of harvest but of all the months.
5. But it is the joy which is part of ourselves which God works in us by His Spirit, the
cheerfulness of the new born disposition, a delight in God and Christ, a sweet agreement
with Providence, a peace passing understanding.
III. Its object.
1. We can always rejoice in God. “God my exceeding joy.”
(1) God the Father, His electing love, unchanging grace, illimitable power, and
transcending glory in being His child.
(2) God the Son, Immanuel, His sympathizing humanity, His divinity and atonement.
(3) God the Holy Ghost, dwelling in you, quickening, comforting, illuminating.
2. Every doctrine, promise, precept of the gospel will make us glad.
3. The graces of the Spirit: faith, hope, love, patience.
4. Holy exercises: prayer, singing, communion, Christian labour.
5. Bible study.
IV. Reasons for rejoicing.
1. It wards off temptation. The armour of light is our effectual preservative. What can
worldly mirth give to the man who is happy in God.
2. It encourages one’s fellow Christians. It is a half holiday to look at the face of a rejoicing
Christian. His words are ever cheering and strengthening.
3. It attracts sinners. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Rejoice evermore
I. In your present state.
1. You are pardoned sinners.
2. Have the testimony of a good conscience.
3. Have one who is able to bear your burdens.
4. Are related to God as children; to Christ as brethren.
5. Have free access to God and constant communion with Him.
6. Have a plentiful supply of grace.
II. In your future prospects.
1. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
2. Every day brings us nearer our inheritance.
Conclusion:
1. A sad Christian cheats himself all his journey.
2. We displease God if we are not joyful in His service.

88. 3. By sadness we act like the spies who took an evil report of the good land. (W. M.
Hawkins.)
Rejoice evermore
1. This is a rule to which one would think all men should be forward to conform. Who would
not embrace a duty the observance whereof is pleasure itself? May it not be a plausible
objection against it that it is superfluous since all men aim at nothing else but joy. Alas!
When we consult experience we find the precept very ill obeyed. Who is not, at times, full of
doleful complaints? It is quite true that men are very eager in the pursuit of joy, and beat
every bush of nature for ii; but they find only transitory flashes of pleasure, which depend on
contingent and mutable causes, residing in a frail temper, and consist in slight touches on
the organs of sense, their short enjoyment being tempered with regret; so that men’s usual
delights are such that we should not if we could, and could not if we would, constantly
entertain them: such “rejoicing evermore” being unreasonable and impossible.
2. It is a calumny on religion to say that it bars delight; on the contrary, it alone is the never
failing source of true, steady joy, and not only doth allow us, but obliges as to be joyful. Such
is the goodness of God that He makes our delight to be our duty, our sorrow to be our sin,
adapting His holy will to our principle instinct; that He would have us resemble Him, as in
all perfections, so in a constant state of happiness; that as He hath provided heaven
hereafter, He would have us enjoy paradise here. For what is the gospel but “good tidings,”
etc.! and in what doth the kingdom consist but “righteousness, peace, and joy”? What is
there belonging to a Christian whence grief can naturally spring? From God, “our exceeding
joy”; from heaven, the region of bliss; from Divine truth, which rejoiceth the heart?” To
exercise piety, and to rejoice are the same thing. We should evermore rejoice—
I. In the exercise of faith.
1. In God’s truth, there being no article of faith which doth not involve some great
advantage, so that we cannot but “receive the word with joy.”
(1) The rich bounty of God in creation.
(2) God’s vigilant care in providence.
(3) The great redemptive events and transactions of our Lord’s earthly and heavenly life.
2. In the application of those verities wherein God opens His arms to embrace us. His
invitations and soul remedies. Is it not, indeed, comfortable to believe that we have a
physician at hand to cure our distempers, powerful succour to relieve, our infirmities, an
abundant supply of grace?
3. In the real accomplishment of the “exceeding great and precious promises.” How can the
firm persuasion of heaven’s glory be void of pleasure? or confidence in God’s fatherly care,
on which we can cast our burdens, and from which we receive full supplies?
II. In the practice of Christian hope. “The hope of the righteous shall be gladness,” “rejoice in
hope.” All hope, in proportion to the worth of its object and the solidity of its ground, is
comfortable—much more when reposed in and on God. If it please men much to be heirs to a
great inheritance, or to expect promotion or wealth, although death, and other accidents may
interfere, how much more shall that “lively hope of our inheritance, incorruptible,” etc., which
can never be defeated, breed a most cheerful disposition.
III. In performing the duty of charity. Love is the sweetest of all passions, and when conducted
in a rational way towards a worthy object, it cannot bat fill the heart with delight.

89. 1. Such an object is God. He infinitely, beyond all else, deserves our affections, and may
most easily be attained; for whereas men are crossed in their affections, and their love is
embittered, concerning God it is quite otherwise.
(1) He is most ready to impart Himself, and loved us before we could love Him.
(2) He encourages our love by sweetest influences and kindest expressions. Wherefore
“they that love Thy name shall be joyful in Thee.”
2. Who can enumerate or express the pleasures which wait on every kind and each act of
charity towards men.
(1) In giving.
(2) In forgiving.
(3) In sympathy and help.
In these we gratify our best inclinations, oblige and endear ourselves to our brethren, most
resemble the Divine goodness, and attract the Divine favour. (I. Barrow, D. D.)
Rejoice evermore
I. What is it to rejoice? There is—
1. A joy in outward things.
(1) Natural.
(2) Sinful (Ecc_11:9).
(3) Lawful (Ecc_2:24; Ecc_3:12-13; Ecc_3:22).
2. A spiritual joy in God (Php_3:1; Php_4:4).
II. What is it to rejoice always in the Lord? To make Him the object of all our joy.
1. For what He is in Himself (Mat_19:17).
2. For what He is to us.
(1) Our preserver (Psa_46:1-2).
(2) Our Saviour (Hab_3:18; Psa_27:1).
(3) Our God (Heb_8:10).
III. Why ought we to rejoice evermore?
1. God commands it (Psa_32:11; Php_4:4).
2. Christ prays for it (Joh_17:13).
3. The Holy Ghost works it (Joh_14:26; Joh_17:7). 4 It is necessary and useful.
(1) To lessen our esteem of the world and of sinful pleasures (Psa_4:7; Psa_84:10).
(2) To enlarge our hearts and make them more capacious of heavenly things.
(3) To facilitate our duties, and make us active in God’s service (Deu_28:47; Neh_8:10).
(4) To support us under our troubles (1Pe_1:7-8).
IV. How we may always rejoice?

90. 1. Live above the world (2Co_4:18).
2. Live above the natural temper of your bodies.
3. Avoid such things as are wont to grieve and trouble you.
(1) Sin (Psa_51:8; Mat_26:75; 2Co_1:12).
(2) Needless questions—
(a) about God’s decrees.
(b) The exact time of your conversion.
(c) Judging yourselves according to your outward condition (Ecc_9:1).
4. Whatsoever happens still put your trust in God (Isa_49:13-14; Isa_50:10; Isa_55:7;
Heb_13:6).
5. Act your faith constantly in Christ (Joh_14:1; Rom_8:33-34).
6. Often meditate on the happiness of those who truly fear God.
(1) In this world (Rom_8:28).
(2) In the world to come (1Co_2:9).
7. Check thyself whensoever thou findest thy spirits begin to sink (Psa_42:5; Psa_42:11).
(Bp. Beveridge.)
Rejoice evermore
Real Christians are rare; joyful ones more so.
I. The duty and privilege.
1. It must be carefully distinguished from levity or sinful mirth. “I said of laughter, it is
mad,” etc. Gravity, mixed with cheerfulness, becomes the man and the Christian.
2. We are not to drown our sorrow in gratification of the senses (Pro_14:13), and thus obtain
a temporary satisfaction.
3. This joy is not intended to render us insensible to affliction. There is a happy medium
between impenitent indifference and overmuch sorrow.
II. The disposition to be cultivated in order to a high state of religious enjoyment.
1. We must guard against whatever might incapacitate us for holy satisfaction: sin especially.
The wine of heavenly consolation is poured into none but clean vessels.
2. Divine interpositions in our favour should be carefully noticed. If God keeps a book of
remembrance of us, so should we of Him. As He treasures up our tears, we should treasure
up His mercies.
3. We must watch and pray against a spirit of murmuring and unbelief.
4. We must guard against unreasonable doubts and fears as to our spiritual state, or our
tears will drown our triumphs, and our lamentations silence our songs (Psa_46:1-2).
5. The assistance of the Holy Spirit must be implored, who is the efficient cause of joy.
III. The reasons which should render our joy permanent. Some duties are to be performed at
particular times—this always. Godly sorrow, instead of being an impediment, is a preparative to

91. joy. There are times which more especially call for joy—our conversion, the day of our
espousals—the time of spiritual revival, etc. Yet there is no time in which it would be unsuitable.
1. Because its sources are unchangeable. The love, purpose, and promises of God are without
variableness; the blood of Christ never loses its virtue; the efficacy of the Spirit is evermore
the same.
2. Its benefits afford a powerful inducement for its continual preservation. “The joy of the
Lord is our strength.” It invigorates every grace, gives a fresh impulse to every duty, lightens
our troubles, sweetens our mercies, and gives glory to God.
3. It will be the work of heaven, and should, therefore, be our employment on the way to it.
(B. Beddome, M. A.)
Rejoice evermore
I. A Christian privilege. The Christian may rejoice evermore because—
1. Nothing that befalls him can hurt him.
2. Everything must benefit him in proportion as it aims to injure him.
II. A Christian precept. The act of rejoicing has a power—
1. Remedial.
2. Acquiring.
3. Conquering.
III. A Christian promise.
1. As to the Christian’s future.
2. That the cause for joy should be inexhaustible.
3. That the duration of joy should be endless. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Rejoice evermore
I. What is this rejoicing. There is a carnal rejoicing (Luk_12:19), and a spiritual rejoicing in God
(Php_4:4).
1. God Himself, as God, is a lovely nature, and the object of our delight (Psa_119:68;
Psa_145:2; Psa_145:10; Psa_130:3).
2. We are to rejoice in God as revealed in Christ (Luk_1:46-47).
3. We rejoice in God in the fruits of our redemption (Rom_5:11; Psa_32:11).
4. We rejoice in God when we delight to do His will and are fitted for His use and service
(Psa_119:14; 2Co_1:12).
5. We rejoice in God when we rejoice in the blessings of His providence, as they come from
Him and lead to Him (Joe_2:23; Psa_5:11; Deu_28:47-48).
II. How this must be perpetual.
1. In all estates and conditions.

92. (1) Affliction is not inconsistent with it (2Co_6:10; 1Pe_1:6; 2Co_7:4; Act_16:25).
Whatever falleth out there are always these grounds for joy.
(a) God’s all sufficiency (Hab_3:18).
(b) The unshaken hope of heaven (Mat_5:12).
(2) Affliction much promotes it (2Co_12:10; Rom_5:3-5; Heb_12:11).
2. From first to last, because it is of use to us at all times.
(1) Christianity is begun with joy in the world, so in the soul (Luk_2:10-11; Act_8:8;
Act_16:34; Luk_19:2; Act_2:41).
(2) Our progress in the duties and hopes of the gospel is carried on with joy (Php_3:3).
Rejoice evermore—
(a) So as to pray without ceasing (Job_27:10).
(b) So as to give thanks in everything (Job_1:21).
(3) The end comes with joy.
(a) The joy of God is the comfort of our declining years.
(b) At death we enter into the joy of our Lord.
III. The reasons which enforce this duty.
1. God hath done so much to raise it.
(1) The Father gives Himself to us, and His favour as our felicity and portion (Psa_4:6-
7).
(2) The Son is our Saviour. Consider what He has done to make our peace (Col_1:20); to
vanquish our enemies (Col_2:14-15); to be the ransom of our souls (1Ti_2:6) and the
treasury of all comfort (Joh_1:16; Heb_6:18). Abraham rejoiced to see His day at a
distance, shall not we now it has come (Rom_14:17).
(3) The Holy Ghost as sanctifier lays the foundation for comfort, pouring in the oil of
grace, then the oil of gladness—whence “joy in the Holy Ghost.”
2. All the graces tend to this.
(1) Faith (1Pe_1:8; Rom_15:13).
(2) Hope (Rom_12:12; Rom_5:21.
(3) Love (Psa_16:5-6).
3. All the ordinances and duties of religion are for the increase of joy.
(1) Reading (1Jn_1:4).
(2) Hearing (2Co_1:24).
(3) Prayer (Joh_16:24).
(4) Meditation (Psa_143:5).
IV. Arguments in favour of this duty.
1. Its necessity.
(1) That you may own God as your God; delighting in God is a duty of the first
commandment (Psa_37:4).

93. (2) That you may be thankful for the blessings God bestows in Christ.
(3) That yon may follow the conduct of the Comforter (Joh_16:22).
2. Its utility.
(1) With respect to the temper and frame of our own hearts (Neh_8:10). It quickeneth us
to a life of holiness (Psa_40:8).
(2) With respect to God’s acceptance. Rejoicing is—
(a) More honourable to God (Mic_6:8).
(b) Most pleasing to Him, since He so often calls for it.
V. How to perform this duty.
1. Be prepared for it.
(1) Our state must be altered, for we are the children of wrath, and under the curse.
(2) Our hearts must be altered.
(3) Our life.
2. Act it continually.
3. Take heed you do not forfeit or damp it by sin (Psa_51:8; Eph_4:30).
4. When lost renew your repentance and faith (1Jn_2:1). (T. Manton, D. D.)
Rejoice evermore
How can man, constituted as He is, rejoice evermore? And if it be the duty of the believer
sometimes to think with sorrow of his sins, how can it be his duty to be always glad? Let two
considerations serve for a reply.
1. The penitence required of the believer is not the unmitigated anguish of remorse, but a
feeling, painful, as from its very nature it must be, but soothed and sweetened by the
exercise of Christian faith and hope—a dark cloud, but gilded by the glorious sunshine.
2. “Evermore” does not necessarily mean, without the slightest intermission, which is
physically impossible, but without abandoning the practice—habitually and onwards to the
end. Even the calamities of life, and the sense of his own unworthiness, must not make the
believer permanently cease to be happy. In order to the habitual experience of joy on the
part of the child of God, his mind must come into contact with what is fitted to make it glad;
and it is obvious from the nature of the case, and from a multitude of texts (Isa_50:10;
Luk_2:10-11; Act_8:39; Rom_5:2; Rom_5:11; Rom_15:13; 2Co_1:12; 1Th_3:9, etc.), that
spiritual happiness may be derived from the following sources:—
(1) The believing and realizing apprehension of the gospel—the “glad tidings of great
joy”;
(2) The recognition, by faith and its fruits, of a personal interest in Christ;
(3) Filial confidence in God;
(4) The anticipation of the heavenly glory;

94. (5) The promotion of religion in the world. (A. S. Patterson, D. D.)
Rejoicing according to individual capacity
Bless the Lord, I can sing, my heavenly Father likes to hear me sing. I can’t sing as sweetly as
some; but my Father likes to hear the crow as well as the nightingale, for He made them both.
(Billy Bray.)
Christian rejoicing
Rejoice with a rejoicing universe. Rejoice with the morning stars, and let your adoring spirit
march to the music of the hymning spheres. Rejoice with the jocund spring, in its gush of hope
and its dancing glory, with its swinging insect clouds and its suffusion of multitudinous song;
and rejoice with golden autumn, as he rustles his grateful sheaves, and clasps his purple hands,
as he breathes his story of fruition, his anthem of promises fulfilled; as he breathes it softly in
the morning stillness of ripened fields, or flings it in AEolian sweeps from lavish orchards and
from branches tossing bounty into mellow winds. Rejoice with infancy, as it guesses its
wondering way into more and more existence, and laughs and carols as the field of pleasant life
enlarges on it, and new secrets of delight flow in through fresh and open senses. Rejoice with the
second birth of your heaven-born soul, as the revelation of a second birth pour in upon it, and
the glories of a new world amaze it. Rejoice with the joyful believer when he sings, “O Lord, I will
praise Thee,” etc. Rejoice with Him whose incredulous ecstasy has alighted on the great gospel
secret; whose eye is beaming as none can beam save that which for the first time beholds the
Lamb; whose awestruck coun tenance and uplifted hands are exclaiming, “This is my Beloved,
and this is my Friend.” Rejoice with saints and angels as they rejoice in a sight like this. Rejoice
with Immanuel whose soul now sees of its travail. Rejoice with the ever blessed Three, and with
a heaven whose work is joy. (J. Hamilton, D. D.)
The duty and the means of cheerfulness
If it be a part of Christian charity to alleviate the miseries of mankind, then the cultivation of a
cheerful spirit is a Christian duty. Why should you lighten the sorrows of the poor by your alms,
and make your own house miserable by your habitual gloom? And if you have learnt any thing of
human nature, you will know that among the pleasantest things that can find their way into a
house where there is anxiety and want, are the music of a happy voice and the sunshine of a
happy face. The best person to visit the aged and the poor—other things, of course, being equal—
is the one whose step is the lightest, whose heart is the merriest, and who comes into a dull and
solitary home like a fresh mountain breeze, or like a burst of sunlight on a cloudy day. No one
can make a greater mistake than to suppose that he is too cheerful to be a good visitor of the sick
and wretched. Cheerfulness is one of the most precious gifts for those who desire to lessen the
sorrows of the world. It can do what wealth cannot do. Money may diminish external miseries; a
merry heart will drive the interior grief away. It is possible to cherish and encourage this spirit of
joyousness, even when it is not the result of natural temperament. Consider what it is that
depresses you. If it is the consciousness of sin, often confessed, never heartily forsaken, appeal
to Him who can pacify as well as pardon; master for a single week the temptation to which you
habitually yield, and you will find yourself in a new world, breathing clearer air, and with a
cloudless heaven above you. If it is incessant thought about your own personal affairs, escape
from the contracted limits of your personal life by care for the wants of others. Determine, too,

95. to think more of what is fair and generous and noble in human nature than of what is
contemptible and selfish. Those who distrust the world and think meanly of it can never be
happy. There is sin enough, no doubt; but there is more of goodness than some of us suppose. It
makes my heart “merry” to think of the patience and courage with which many whom I know are
bearing heavy troubles; the generosity with which some of the poor relieve the distresses of
those more wretched than themselves; the firmness which some are showing in the presence of
great temptations; the energetic devotion of others to the highest welfare of all whom their
influence can reach. Christ has not come into the world for nothing. If sometimes it is necessary
to dwell upon the moral evil which clings even to good men, and upon the terrible depravity of
the outcasts from Christian society, I find in Him a refuge from the sore trouble which the vision
of sin brings with it. He is ready to pardon the guiltiest, and to bring home to Himself those who
have gone furthest astray. Why should those who have seen God’s face be sad? “In His presence”
both on earth and in heaven “there is fulness of joy.” (R. W. Dale, D. D.)
Cheerfulness in God’s service
This want of laughing, this fear of being joyful is a melancholy method of praise. It is ungrateful
to God. I would rather dance like David than sit still like some Christians. I remember being in a
church once in America. They certainly had a warm church, and that was pleasant; but in one
sense it was a fine ice house, for no one seemed to feel any joy. When we came out I was asked
what I thought of the service. I said that if some negro had come in and howled out a
“hallelujah,” it would have been a joy; but nobody had shown anything but conceit—it was all
intellectualism. (G. Dawson, M. A.)
Happiness in all circumstances
When Richard Williams, of the Patagonian Mission, with his few companions were stranded on
the beach by a high tide, and at the beginning of those terrible privations which terminated his
life, he wrote in his diary: “I bless and praise God that this day has been, I think, the happiest of
my life. The fire of Divine love has been burning on the mean altar of my breast, and the
torchlight of faith has been in full trim, so that I have only had to wave it to the right or left in
order to discern spiritual things in heavenly places.” Later, when severe illness was added to
circumstantial distress, he could say: “Not a moment sits wearily upon me. Sweet is the presence
of Jesus; and oh, I am happy in His love.” Again, though held fast by fatal disease, he wrote: “Ah,
I am happy day and night, hour by hour. Asleep or awake, I am happy beyond the poor compass
of language to tell. My joys are with Him whose delights have always been with the sons of men;
and my heart and spirit are in heaven with the blessed.” (J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.)
Christian joy
If you have one joy now, and will become a Christian, you will have ten thousand joys then. The
grace of God will not deplete you; it will not rob you of a single satisfaction. There is not one
thing in all the round of enjoyments that will be denied you. God gives especial lease to the
Christian for all sunlight, for all friendship, for all innocent beverages, for all exhilarations. I will
tell you the difference. You go into a factory, and you see only three or four wheels turning, and
you say to the manufacturer: “How is this? you have such a large factory, and yet three-fourths
of the wheels are quiet.” He says the water is low. A few weeks afterwards, you go in and find all
the spindles flying, and all the bands working—fifty, or a hundred, or five hundred. “Why,” you

96. say: “there is a great change here.” “Oh, yes,” says the manufacturer, “the water has risen. We
have more power now than before.” I come into this man’s soul, who has not surrendered
himself to God, and I find there are faculties employed; but only a part of his nature is working.
The water is low. After a while I come into that man’s nature, and I find that all his capacities, all
his energies are in full play. I say there is a great difference. The floods of Divine grace have
poured their strength upon that soul, and whereas only a few faculties were employed then, now
all the energies and capacities of the soul are in full work. In other words, he who becomes
Christian is a thousand times more of a man than he was before he became a Christian. (H. W.
Beecher.)
The pleasantness of religion
Religion is often regarded as a morose and melancholy duty, a duty abridging delight rather
than a delight irradiating duty. And much of the character both of the precept and conduct of the
Christian Church has been well calculated to betray the world into this erroneous supposition.
Extremes meet. And the extreme Puritan view of religion combines with the extreme Papal view
in identifying religion with austerity. These opposite yet kindred asceticisms has done much to
misinterpret to the world the true nature of religion. For surely it is obvious that God has not
created His world to be a gloomy conventicle or intended the chambers of human life to be
cheerless as a monastery. He has made the earth surpassingly beautiful and pleasant, rich in
fragrance, song, and joy. And is it to be supposed that birds and trees and fields may laugh and
sing, but that man, the top and crown of creation, is doomed to pass through life a sad and
mirthless pilgrim? Does not the page of inspiration proclaim that (Pro_3:17). Angel voices all
around us echo again the first Easter question, Christian, why weepest thou? Rejoice, they say,
“in the Lord always!” And again their message is, “Rejoice.” No doubt the happiest religion has
its yokes and crosses, its travails and its tears. Repentance and contrition are not things pleasant
in themselves. The ascent up the hill of self-sacrifice is thorny, laborious, steep. But, like the
brave mountaineer, the Christian enjoys the exhilaration of climbing, no less than he enjoys the
serenity and largeness of the prospect from the summit. True pleasure is never the child of
indolence. The intellectual giant, e.g., who now sports with gladsomeness among the deep
questions of the mind, found the first steps of his training wearisome and painful. It is only after
years of mental effort that he has attained the elevation of pure and full intellectual delight.
Similarly the pleasures of religion are not sweetest at the commencement. Ideals of pleasure also
differ. The clearer and nobler the soul becomes, the deeper will be its delights in the
pleasantness of religion. And what nourishment for the mind is comparable to the studies of
religion? What contemplation so matchless as the contemplation of God? What ideals so
beautiful as those of Christ? What aspiration so glorious as to copy Him? What manliness so
robust, yet so refined, as the manliness of the Son of God?…The joys of meditation upon God,
the delights of adoring the Author of the mysteries and the majesty of existence, the happiness
of touching the hem of Christ’s garment, and leaning on His breast, and shedding the tears of
devotion at His feet, make the latest years of the religious life a continuous jubilee. (J. W.
Diggle, M. A.)
8. EBC, “THE STANDING ORDERS OF THE GOSPEL
THE three precepts of these three verses may be called the standing orders of the Christian
Church. However various the circumstances in which Christians may find themselves, the duties
here prescribed are always binding upon them. We are to rejoice alway, to pray without ceasing,
and in everything to give thanks. We may live in peaceful or in troubled times; we may be

97. encompassed with friends or beset by foes; we may see the path we have chosen for ourselves
open easily before us, or find our inclination thwarted at every step; but we must always have
the music of the gospel in our hearts in its own proper key. Let us look at these rules in order.
"Rejoice alway." There are circumstances in which it is natural for us to rejoice; whether we are
Christians or not, joy fills the heart till it overflows. Youth, health, hope, love, these richest and
best possessions, give almost every man and woman at least a term of unmixed gladness; some
months, or years perhaps, of pure light heartedness, when they feel like singing all the time. But
that natural joy can hardly be kept up. It would not be good for us if it could; for it really means
that we are for the time absorbed in ourselves, and having found our own satisfaction decline to
look beyond. It is quite another situation to which the Apostle addresses himself. He knows that
the persons who receive his letter have had to suffer cruelly for their faith in Christ; he knows
that some of them have quite lately stood beside the graves of their dead. Must not a man be
very sure of himself, very confident of the truth on which he stands, when he ventures to say to
people so situated, "Rejoice alway"?
But these people, we must remember, were Christians; they had received the gospel from the
Apostle; and, in the gospel, the supreme assurance of the love of God. We need to remind
ourselves occasionally that the gospel is good news, glad tidings of great joy. Wherever it comes,
it is a joyful sound; it puts a gladness into the heart which no change of circumstances can abate
or take away. There is a great deal in the Old Testament which may fairly be described as doubt
of God’s love. Even the saints sometimes wondered whether God was good to Israel; they
became impatient, unbelieving, bitter, foolish; the outpourings of their hearts in some of the
psalms show how far they were from being able to rejoice evermore. But there is nothing the
least like this in the New Testament. The New Testament is the work of Christian men, of men
who had stood quite close to the supreme manifestation of God’s love in Jesus Christ. Some of
them had been in Christ’s company for years. They knew that every word He spoke and every
deed He wrought declared His love; they knew that it was revealed, above all, by the death which
He died; they knew that it was made almighty, immortal, and ever present, by His resurrection
from the dead. The sublime revelation of Divine love dominated everything else in their
experience. It was impossible for them, for a single moment, to forget it or to escape from it. It
drew and fixed their hearts as irresistibly as a mountain peak draws and holds the eyes of the
traveller. They never lost sight of the love of God in Christ Jesus, that sight so new, so
stupendous, so irresistible, so joyful. And because they did not, they were able to rejoice
evermore; and the New Testament, which reflects the life of the first believers, does not contain
a querulous word from beginning to end. It is the book of infinite joy.
We see, then, that this command, unreasonable as it appears, is not impracticable. If we are
truly Christians, if we have seen and received the love of God, if we see and receive it
continually, it will enable us, like those who wrote the New Testament, to rejoice evermore.
There are places on our coast where a spring of fresh water gushes up through the sand among
the salt waves of the sea; and just such a fountain of joy is the love of God in the Christian soul,
even when the waters close over it. "As sorrowful," says the Apostle, "yet alway rejoicing."
Most churches and Christians need to lay this exhortation to heart. It contains a plain direction
for our common worship. The house of God is the place where we come to make united and
adoring confession of His name. If we think only of ourselves, as we enter, we may be
despondent and low spirited enough; but surely we ought to think, in the first instance, of Him,
Let God be great in the assembly of His people; let Him be lifted up as He is revealed to us in
Jesus Christ, and joy will fill our hearts. If the services of the Church are dull, it is because He
has been left outside; because the glad tidings of redemption, holiness, and life everlasting are
still waiting for admission to our hearts. Do not let us belie the gospel by dreary, joyless worship:
it is not so that it is endeared to ourselves or commended to others.

98. The Apostle’s exhortation contains a hint also for Christian temper. Not only our united
worship, but the habitual disposition of each of us, is to be joyful. It would not be easy to
measure the loss the cause of Christ has sustained through the neglect of this rule. A conception
of Christianity has been set before men, and especially before the young, which could not fail to
repel; the typical Christian has been presented, austere and pure perhaps, or lifted high above
the world, but rigid, cold, and self-contained. That is not the Christian as the New Testament
conceives him. He is cheerful, sunny, joyous; and there is nothing so charming as joy. There is
nothing so contagious, because there is nothing in which all men are so willing to partake; and
hence there is nothing so powerful in evangelistic work. The joy of the Lord is the strength of the
preacher of the gospel. There is an interesting passage in 1Co_9:1-27, where Paul enlarges on a
certain relation between the evangelist and the evangel. The gospel, he tells us, is God’s free gift
to the world; and he who would become a fellow worker with the gospel must enter into the
spirit of it, and make his preaching also a free gift. So here, one may say, the gospel is conceived
as glad tidings; and whoever would open his lips for Christ must enter into the spirit of his
message, and stand up to speak clothed in joy. Our looks and tones must not belie our words.
Languor, dulness, dreariness, a melancholy visage, are a libel upon the gospel. If the knowledge
of the love of God does not make us glad, what does it do for us? If it does not make a difference
to our spirits and our temper, do we really know it? Christ compares its influence to that of new
wine; it is nothing if not exhilarating; if it does not make our faces shine, it is because we have
not tasted it. I do not overlook, any more than St. Paul did, the causes for sorrow; but the causes
for sorrow are transient; they are like the dark clouds which overshadow the sky for a time and
then pass away; while the cause of joy-the redeeming love of God in Christ Jesus-is permanent;
it is like the unchanging blue behind the clouds, ever present, ever radiant, overarching and
encompassing all our passing woes. Let us remember it, and see it through the darkest clouds,
and it will not be impossible for us to rejoice evermore.
It may seem strange that one difficult thing should be made easy when it is combined with
another; but this is what is suggested by the second exhortation of the Apostle, "Pray without
ceasing." It is not easy to rejoice alway, but our one hope of doing so is to pray constantly. How
are we to understand so singular a precept?
Prayer, we know, when we take it in the widest sense, is the primary mark of the Christian.
"Behold, he prayeth," the Lord said of Saul, when He wished to convince Ananias that there was
no mistake about his conversion. He who does not pray at all-and is it too much to suppose that
some come to churches who never do?-is no Christian. Prayer is the converse of the soul with
God; it is that exercise in which we hold up our hearts to Him, that they may be filled with His
fulness, and changed into His likeness. The more we pray, and the more we are in contact with
Him, the greater is our assurance of His love, the firmer our confidence that He is with us to
help and save. If we once think of it, we shall see that our very life as Christians depends on our
being in perpetual contact and perpetual fellowship with God. If He does not breathe into us the
breath of life, we have no life. If He does not hour by hour send our help from above, we face our
spiritual foes without resources.
It is with such thoughts present to the mind that some would interpret the command, "Pray
without ceasing." "Cherish a spirit of prayer," they would render it, "and make devotion the true
business of life. Cultivate the sense of dependence on God; let it be part of the very structure of
your thoughts that without Him you can do nothing, but through His strength all things." But
this is, in truth, to put the effect where the cause should be. This spirit of devotion is itself the
fruit of ceaseless prayers; this strong consciousness of dependence on God becomes an ever
present and abiding thing only when in all our necessities we betake ourselves to Him.
Occasions, we must rather say, if we would follow the Apostle’s thought, are never wanting, and
will never be wanting, which call for the help of God; therefore, pray without ceasing. It is
useless to say that the thing cannot be done before the experiment has been made. There are few

99. works that cannot be accompanied with prayer; there are few indeed that cannot be preceded by
prayer; there is none at all that would not profit by prayer. Take the very first work to which you
must set your mind and your hand, and you know it will be better done if, as you turn to it, you
look up to God and ask His help to do it well and faithfully, as a Christian ought to do it for the
Master above. It is not in any vague, indefinite fashion, but by taking prayer with us wherever
we go, by consciously, deliberately, and persistently lifting our hearts to God as each emergency
in life, great or small, makes its new demand upon us, that the apostolic exhortation is to be
obeyed. If prayer is thus combined with all our works, we shall find that it wastes no time,
though it fills all. Certainly it is not an easy practice to begin, that of praying without ceasing. It
is so natural for us not to pray, that we perpetually forget, and undertake this or that without
God. But surely we get reminders enough that this omission of prayer is a mistake. Failure, loss
of temper, absence of joy, weariness, and discouragement are its fruits; while prayer brings us
without fail the joy and strength of God. The Apostle himself knew that to pray without ceasing
requires an extraordinary effort: and in the only passages in which he urges it, he combines with
it the duties of watchfulness and persistence. (Col_4:2 Rom_12:12) We must be on our guard
that the occasion for prayer does not escape us, and we must take care not to be wearied with
this incessant reference of everything to God.
The third of the standing orders of the Church is, from one point of view, a combination of the
first and second; for thanksgiving is a kind of joyful prayer. As a duty, it is recognised by
everyone within limits; the difficulty of it is only seen when it is claimed, as here, without limits:
"In everything give thanks." That this is no accidental extravagance is shown by its recurrence in
other places. To mention only one: in Php_4:6 the Apostle writes, "In everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Is it really possible to
do this thing?
There are times, we all know, at which thanksgiving is natural and easy. When our life has taken
the course which we ourselves had purposed, and the result seems to justify our foresight; when
those whom we love are prosperous and happy; when we have escaped a great danger, or
recovered from a severe illness, we feel, or say we feel, so thankful. Even in such circumstances
we are possibly not so thankful as we ought to be. Perhaps, if we were, our lives would be a great
deal happier. But at all events we frankly admit that we have cause for thanksgiving; God has
been good to us, even in our own estimate of goodness; and we ought to cherish and express our
grateful love toward Him. Let us not forget to do so. It has been said that an unblessed sorrow is
the saddest thing in life; but perhaps as sad a thing is an unblessed joy. And every joy is
unblessed for which we do not give God thanks. "Unhallowed pleasures" is a strong expression,
which seems proper only to describe gross wickedness; yet it is the very name which describes
any pleasure in our life of which we do not recognise God as the Giver, and for which we do not
offer Him our humble and hearty thanks. We would not be so apt to protest against the idea of
giving thanks in everything if it had ever been our habit to give thanks in anything. Think of
what you call, with thorough conviction, your blessings and your mercies, -your bodily health,
your soundness of mind, your calling in this world, the faith which you repose in others and
which others repose in you; think of the love of your husband or wife, of all those sweet and
tender ties that bind our lives into one; think of the success with which you have wrought out
your own purposes, and laboured at your own ideal; and with all this multitude of mercies
before your face, ask whether even for these you have given God thanks. Have they been
hallowed and made means of grace to you by your grateful acknowledgment that He is the Giver
of them. all? If not, it is plain that you have lost much joy, and have to begin the duty of
thanksgiving in the easiest and lowest place.
But the Apostle rises high above this when he says, "In everything give thanks." He knew, as I
have remarked already, that the Thessalonians had been visited by suffering and death: is there
a place for thanksgiving there? Yes, he says; for the Christian does not look on sorrow with the

100. eyes of another man. When sickness comes to him or to his home; when there is loss to be
borne, or disappointment, or bereavement; when his plans are frustrated, his hopes deferred,
and the whole conduct of his life simply taken out of his hands, he is still called to give thanks to
God. For he knows that God is love. He knows that God has a purpose of His own in his life, -a
purpose which at the moment he may not discern, but which he is bound to believe wiser and
larger than any he could purpose for himself. Everyone who has eyes to see must have seen, in
the lives of Christian men and women, fruits of sorrow and of suffering which were
conspicuously their best possessions, the things for which the whole Church was under
obligation to give thanks to God on their behalf. It is not easy at the moment to see what
underlies sorrow; it is not possible to grasp by anticipation the beautiful fruits which it yields in
the long run to those who accept it without murmuring: but every Christian knows that all
things work together for good to them that love God; and in the strength of that knowledge he is
able to keep a thankful heart, however mysterious and trying the providence of God may be.
That sorrow, even the deepest and most hopeless, has been blessed, no one can deny. It has
taught many a deeper thoughtfulness, a truer estimate of the world and its interests, a more
simple trust in God. It has opened the eyes of many to the sufferings of others, and changed
boisterous rudeness into tender and delicate sympathy. It has given many weak ones the
opportunity of demonstrating the nearness and the strength of Christ, as out of weakness they
have been made strong. Often the sufferer in a home is the most thankful member of it. Often
the bedside is the sunniest spot in the house, though the bedridden one knows that he or she will
never be free again. It is not impossible for a Christian in everything to give thanks.
But it is only a Christian who can do it, as the last words of the Apostle intimate: "This is the will
of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward." These words may refer to all that has preceded: "Rejoice
alway; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks"; or they may refer to the last clause only.
Whichever be the case, the Apostle tells us that the ideal in question has only been revealed in
Christ, and hence is only within reach of those who know Christ. Till Christ came, no man ever
dreamt of rejoicing alway, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in everything. There were
noble ideals in the world, high, severe, and pure; but nothing so lofty, buoyant, and exhilarating
as this. Men did not know God well enough to know what His will for them was; they thought He
demanded integrity, probably, and beyond that, silent and passive submission at the most; no
one had conceived that God’s will for man was that his life should be made up of joy, prayer, and
thanksgiving. But he who has seen Jesus Christ, and has discovered the meaning of His life,
knows that this is the true ideal. For Jesus came into our world, and lived among us, that we
might know God; He manifested the name of God that we might put our trust in it; and that
name is Love; it is Father. If we know the Father, it is possible for us, in the spirit of children, to
aim at this lofty Christian ideal; if we do not, it will seem to us utterly unreal. The will of God in
Christ Jesus means the will of the Father; it is only for children that His will exists. Do not put
aside the apostolic exhortation as paradox or extravagance; to Christian hearts, to the children
of God, he speaks words of truth and soberness when he says, "Rejoice alway; pray without
ceasing; in everything give thanks." Has not Christ Jesus given us peace with God, and made us
friends instead of enemies? Is not that a fountain of joy too deep for sorrow to touch? Has He
not assured us that He is with us all the days, even to the end of the world? Is not that a ground
upon which we can look up in prayer all the day long? Has He not told us that all things work
together for good to them that love God? Of course we cannot trace His operation always; but
when we remember the seal with which Christ sealed that great truth; when we remember that
in order to fulfil the purpose of God in each of us He laid down His life on our behalf, can we
hesitate to trust His word? And if we do not hesitate, but welcome it gladly as our hope in the
darkest hour, shall we not try even in everything to give thanks?

101. 9. MACLAREN, “CONTINUAL PRAYER AND ITS EFFECTS
The peculiarity and the stringency of these three precepts is the unbroken continuity which they
require. To rejoice, to pray, to give thanks, are easy when circumstances favour, as a taper burns
steadily in a windless night; but to do these things always is as difficult as for the taper’s flame to
keep upright when all the winds are eddying round it. ‘Evermore’—’without ceasing’—’in
everything’—these qualifying words give the injunctions of this text their grip and urgency. The
Apostle meets the objections which he anticipates would spring to the lips of the Thessalonians,
to the effect that he was requiring impossibilities, by adding that, hard and impracticable as they
might think such a constant attitude of mind and heart, ‘This is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you.’ So, then, a Christian life may be lived continuously on the high level; and more
than that, it is our duty to try to live ours thus.
We need not fight with other Christian people about whether absolute obedience to these
precepts is possible. It will be soon enough for us to discuss whether a completely unbroken
uniformity of Christian experience is attainable in this life, when we have come a good deal
nearer to the attainable than we have yet reached. Let us mend our breaches of continuity a good
deal more, and then we may begin to discuss the question whether an absolute absence of any
cessation of the continuity is consistent with the conditions of Christian life here.
Now it seems to me that these three exhortations hold together in a very striking way, and that
Paul knew what he was about when he put in the middle, like the strong central pole that holds
up a tent, that exhortation, ‘Pray without ceasing.’ For it is the primary precept, and on its being
obeyed the possibility of the fulfilment of the other two depends. If we pray without ceasing, we
shall rejoice evermore and in everything give thanks. So, then, the duty of continual prayer, and
the promise, as well as the precept, that its results are to be continual joy and continual
thanksgiving, are suggested by these words.
I. The duty of continual prayer.
Roman Catholics, with their fatal habit of turning the spiritual into material, think that they
obey that commandment when they set a priest or a nun on the steps of the altar to repeat Ave
Marias day and night. That is a way of praying without ceasing which we can all see to be
mechanical and unworthy. But have we ever realised what this commandment necessarily
reveals to us, as to what real prayer is? For if we are told to do a thing uninterruptedly, it must
be something that can run unbroken through all the varieties of our legitimate duties and
necessary occupations and absorptions with the things seen and temporal. Is that your notion of
prayer? Or do you fancy that it simply means dropping down on your knees, and asking God to
give you some things that you very much want? Petition is an element in prayer, and that it shall
be crystallised into words is necessary sometimes; but there are prayers that never get
themselves uttered, and I suppose that the deepest and truest communion with God is voiceless
and wordless. ‘Things which it was not possible for a man to utter,’ was Paul’s description of
what he saw and felt, when he was most completely absorbed in, and saturated with, the divine
glory. The more we understand what prayer is, the less we shall feel that it depends upon
utterance. For the essence of it is to have heart and mind filled with the consciousness of God’s
presence, and to have the habit of referring everything to Him, in the moment when we are
doing it, or when it meets us. That, as I take it, is prayer. The old mystics had a phrase, quaint,
and in some sense unfortunate, but very striking, when they spoke about ‘the practice of the
presence of God.’ God is here always, you will say; yes, He is, and to open the shutters, and to let
the light always in, into every corner of my heart, and every detail of my life—that is what Paul
means by ‘Praying without ceasing.’ Petitions? Yes; but something higher than petitions—the
consciousness of being in touch with the Father, feeling that He is all round us. It was said about
one mystical thinker that he was a ‘God-intoxicated man.’ It is an ugly word, but it expresses a
very deep thing; but let us rather say a God-filled man. He who is such ‘prays always.’

102. But how may we maintain that state of continual devotion, even amidst the various and
necessary occupations of our daily lives? As I said, we need not trouble ourselves about the
possibility of complete attainment of that ideal. We know that we can each of us pray a great
deal more than we do, and if there are regions in our lives into which we feel that God will not
come, habits that we have dropped into which we feel to be a film between us and Him, the
sooner we get rid of them the better. But into all our daily duties, dear friends, however
absorbing, however secular, however small, however irritating they may be, however
monotonous, into all our daily duties it is possible to bring Him.
‘A servant with this clause Makes drudgery divine, Who sweeps a room, as by Thy laws,
Makes that and the calling fine.’
But if that is our aim, our conscious aim, our honest aim, we shall recognise that a help to it is
words of prayer. I do not believe in silent adoration, if there is nothing but silent; and I do not
believe in a man going through life with the conscious presence of God with him, unless, often,
in the midst of the stress of daily life, he shoots little arrows of two-worded prayers up into the
heavens, ‘Lord! be with me.’ ‘Lord! help me.’ ‘Lord! stand by me now’; and the like. ‘They cried
unto God in the battle,’ when some people would have thought they would have been better
occupied in trying to keep their heads with their swords. It was not a time for very elaborate
supplications when the foemen’s arrows were whizzing round them, but ‘they cried unto the
Lord, and He was entreated of them.’ ‘Pray without ceasing.’
Further, if we honestly try to obey this precept we shall more and more find out, the more
earnestly we do so, that set seasons of prayer are indispensable to realising it. I said that I do not
believe in silent adoration unless it sometimes finds its tongue, nor do I believe in a diffused
worship that does not flow from seasons of prayer. There must be, away up amongst the hills, a
dam cast across the valley that the water may be gathered behind it, if the great city is to be
supplied with the pure fluid. What would become of Manchester if it were not for the reservoirs
at Woodhead away among the hills? Your pipes would be empty. And that is what will become of
you Christian professors in regard to your habitual consciousness of God’s presence, if you do
not take care to have your hours of devotion sacred, never to be interfered with, be they long or
short, as may have to be determined by family circumstances, domestic duties, daily avocations,
and a thousand other causes. But, unless we pray at set seasons, there is little likelihood of our
praying without ceasing.
II. The duty of continual rejoicing.
If we begin with the central duty of continual prayer, then these other two which, as it were, flow
from it on either side, will be possible to us; and of these two the Apostle sets first, ‘Rejoice
evermore.’ This precept was given to the Thessalonians, in Paul’s first letter, when things were
comparatively bright with him, and he was young and buoyant; and in one of his later letters,
when he was a prisoner, and things were anything but rosy coloured, he struck the same note
again, and in spite of his ‘bonds in Christ’ bade the Philippians ‘Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say, Rejoice.’ Indeed, that whole prison-letter might be called the Epistle of Joy, so
suffused with sunshine of Christian gladness is it. Now, no doubt, joy is largely a matter of
temperament. Some of us are constitutionally more buoyant and cheerful than others. And it is
also very largely a matter of circumstances.
I admit all that, and yet I come back to Paul’s command: ‘Rejoice evermore.’ For if we are
Christian people, and have cultivated what I have called ‘the practice of the presence of God’ in
our lives, then that will change the look of things, and events that otherwise would be ‘at enmity
with joy’ will cease to have a hostile influence over it. There are two sources from which a man’s
gladness may come, the one his circumstances of a pleasant and gladdening character; the other
his communion with God. It is like some river that is composed of two affluents, one of which

103. rises away up in the mountains, and is fed by the eternal snows; the other springs on the plain
somewhere, and is but the drainage of the surface-water, and when hot weather comes, and
drought is over all the land, the one affluent is dry, and only a chaos of ghastly white stones
litters the bed where the flashing water used to be. What then? Is the stream gone because one
of its affluents is dried up, and has perished or been lost in the sands? The gushing fountains
away up among the peaks near the stars are bubbling up all the same, and the heat that dried the
surface stream has only loosened the treasures of the snows, and poured them more abundantly
into the other’s bed. So ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’; and if earth grows dark, lift your eyes to the
sky, that is light. To one walking in the woods at nightfall ‘all the paths are dim,’ but the strip of
heaven above the trees is the brighter for the green gloom around. The organist’s one hand may
be keeping up one sustained note, while the other is wandering over the keys; and one part of a
man’s nature may be steadfastly rejoicing in the Lord, whilst the other is feeling the weight of
sorrows that come from earth. The paradox of the Christian life may be realised as a blessed
experience of every one of us: a surface troubled, a central calm; an ocean tossed with storm,
and yet the crest of every wave flashing in the sunshine. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I
say, Rejoice.’
III. Lastly, the duty of continual thankfulness.
That, too, is possible only on condition of continual communion with God. As I said in reference
to joy, so I say in reference to thankfulness; the look of things in this world depends very largely
on the colour of the spectacles through which you behold them.
‘There’s nothing either good or bad But thinking makes it so.’
And if a man in communion with God looks at the events of his life as he might put on a pair of
coloured glasses to look at a landscape, it will be tinted with a glory and a glow as he looks. The
obligation to gratitude, often neglected by us, is singularly, earnestly, and frequently enjoined in
the New Testament. I am afraid that the average Christian man does not recognise its
importance as an element in his Christian experience. As directed to the past it means that we
do not forget, but that, as we look back, we see the meaning of these old days, and their possible
blessings, and the loving purposes which sent them, a great deal more clearly than we did whilst
we were passing through them. The mountains that, when you are close to them, are barren rock
and cold snow, glow in the distance with royal purples. And so if we, from our standing point in
God, will look back on our lives, losses will disclose themselves as gains, sorrows as harbingers
of joy, conflict as a means of peace, the crooked things will be straight, and the rough places
plain; and we may for every thing in the past give thanks, if only we ‘pray without ceasing.’ The
exhortation as applied to the present means that we bow our wills, that we believe that all things
are working together for our good, and that, like Job in his best moments, we shall say, ‘The
Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the Name of the Lord.’ Ah, that is hard. It is
possible, but it is only possible if we ‘pray without ceasing,’ and dwell beside God all the days of
our lives, and all the hours of every day. Then, and only then, shall we be able to thank Him for
all the way by which He hath led us these many years in the wilderness, that has been
brightened by the pillar of cloud by day, and the fire by night.
10. SBC, “The Duty of Gladness.
I. It is of the very nature of a duty that it is in our power to perform it; and so with this one, the
very fact of its being laid upon us proves that we may, if we will, obey it. And therefore this at
once disposes of those who would be inclined to say that gladness does not depend on ourselves,
that it is the privilege of the few only to be gay, and of those few only under peculiar
circumstances; and that it is as vain to tell people to be merry and joyful as to tell them to be tall

104. or short, or strong or handsome. There is always a disposition to make every thing in our
Christian life dependent on circumstances, and to make excuses for this or that sin or
shortcoming, by blaming circumstances and not ourselves. Once begin with the perilous
doctrine that men are what they are made, and that we cannot help our lapses because of the
taint and defects in our nature, and we open the door to excuses for every kind of enormity.
II. Just as we get nearer to our true selves, the fresher and purer, and wiser and truer our souls
become, the more food shall we find for joy; and because, as the pure soul finds life glad, and so
gladness reacts upon the soul and tends to make it pure, so this is the reason why the Apostle
tells us to rejoice; for joy tends to cleanse the heart and banish thought of sin and misery, and
wars against the useless recollection of sorrows that are gone, and of errors that cannot now be
retrieved, and of troubles that may be temptations to murmur, but which by all the murmurs in
the world can never be as though they were not. Sin slays gladness, and sin alone; and this is the
awful part of the curse on sin, that it robs us of our inheritance of delight, and is a bar to our
hearty joy. But to those who are trying to realise that they are Christ’s redeemed ones, and who
live in the habitual remembrance that God is their Father, joy need not be and ought not to be
hard.
A. Jessopp, Norwich School Sermons, p. 226.
Reference: 1Th_5:16.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1900.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
I. "Rejoice evermore." The Thessalonian converts were living in the sphere of sorrow. The
Apostle exhorts them to be "girded with gladness." This rejoicing, being in the Lord, is opposed
to the spurious joy which is the possession of sinners. The rejoicing before God is the deep, calm
delight of the soul in communion with the Saviour. It springs out of the three Christian graces
which this epistle so strongly emphasises—faith, hope, and love.
II. "Pray without ceasing." Prayerfulness is the atmosphere in which all things appear bright and
joyous. The Apostle takes it for granted that none of his readers will call in question the duty of
prayer. What he enjoins is constancy in prayer. The only conceivable way in which, on our part,
this communion may be maintained, is the lifting up of the heart in conscious dependence and
petition. The Church militant must ever be the Church suppliant. Prayer is the very beating of
the pulse of the Christian’s inner life. Without it life would cease to be.
III. "In everything give thanks." The clause seems to suggest not merely that the heart is at all
times, and for all things to be grateful, but that the gratitude is to overflow into every action of
the life—thanks giving and thanks living. Here is a sense in which we are evermore to pay back,
as it were, in active service, what we receive from God. That debt ever due, never cancelled, we
have ceaselessly to pay, and in paying it to find our highest joy.
J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 216.
11. CHARLES SIMEON 16-18, THE NATURE OF TRUE RELIGION

105. 1Th_5:16-18. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
THE just union of personal and relative duties is the brightest ornament of the Christian profession. The
discharge of either will be imperfect, if it be not united with an attention to the other. As beauty in the
human body consists not in the exquisite formation of any single feature, but in the just symmetry and
configuration of the whole frame, so the perfection of a Christian character consists not in an exclusive
attention to any one duty, but in a due regard to all duties, civil and religious, social and personal.
St. Paul has been giving directions respecting the duties we owe to each other as a Christian society
[Note: ver. 14.]. He now descends from the social to the personal duties; stating at the same time both the
grounds on which they stand, and the indispensable necessity of attending to them.
Taking his directions in a comprehensive and united view, we learn that religion is,
I. A spiritual service—
[Many, like the Pharisees of old, suppose it consists in a formal attendance on ordinances, and an
external decency of conduct. But true religion is inward and spiritual. It calls forth the strongest energies
of the soul. It enables a person to maintain a holy intercourse with God in secret. St. Paul himself
describes it as consisting, not in outward ceremonies of any kind, but in a devotedness of heart and soul
to God [Note: Rom_14:17.], and declares that no man can be a Christian indeed, who does not possess
and manifest this elevated state of mind [Note: Php_3:3 and Rom_2:28-29.]. How earnestly then should
we examine whether we be thus continually waiting upon God in the exercise of prayer and praise!]
II. A rational service—
[Spiritual religion is too often deemed enthusiasm. Indeed, if we interpreted the text literally and in the
strictest sense of the words, we should make religion impracticable and absurd; but, when properly
explained, it enjoins nothing but what is highly reasonable. It requires us to live in the stated and devout
exercise of public, social, and private prayer; and to maintain such a sense of our own unworthiness, as
excites a lively gratitude for every mercy we enjoy, and stimulates to an unwearied admiration of the
Divine goodness: and can any thing be more reasonable than such a state? Should not they, whose
iniquities are so great, and whose wants so numerous, be frequently employed in imploring mercy and
grace in the time of need? And they, who are daily loaded with benefits, be daily blessing and adoring
their Benefactor? Such a service is expressly called a “reasonable service [Note: Rom_12:1.].” To do
otherwise were surely most unreasonable: nor are any people more irrational than they who pour
contempt on these holy exercises from an affected regard for rational religion.]
III. A delightful service—
[Many are prejudiced against spiritual religion, as though it must of necessity deprive them of all the
comforts of life. Certain it is that it will rob them of all the pleasures of sin: but it will afford them infinitely
richer pleasures in its stead [Note: Pro_3:17. This is not true of formal, but only of inward and spiritual
religion.]. What can be more delightful than to maintain “fellowship with the Father, and with his Son
Jesus Christ?” Can there be any melancholy arising from incessant praises and thanksgivings? Were the
first converts, or the Samaritans, or the jailor, rendered melancholy by the acquisition of religion
[Note: Act_2:46; Act_8:8; Act_16:34.]? Many are made melancholy by false views of religion; but none
are by just and scriptural apprehensions of it. In proportion as we live in the exercise of it, we resemble

106. the glorified saints and angels.]
Such being the nature of true religion, we will endeavour to enforce the practice of it—
[The will of God should be the law of all his creatures; and his will respecting us is fully revealed. It is his
earnest desire that we should live in the enjoyment of himself. “He willeth not the death of a sinner, but
rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live.” It is moreover his authoritative command that we
should love and serve him: it is his command to all, whether rich or poor, learned or unlearned. None are
so high as to be exempt from this duty, nor any so situated as to be incapable of performing it. The heart
may be lifted up in prayer and praise even when we are occupied in the service of the world. Let all then
know God’s will respecting them. We must delight ourselves in communion with God. O let us be like-
minded with our heavenly Father! Let us say, this shall be my will also. From henceforth let us “watch
unto prayer and thanksgiving with all perseverance:” let us be ashamed that we have so long resisted the
Divine will; and let us so live in obedience to it on earth, that we may have our portion with those who are
praising him incessantly in heaven.]
17 pray continually,
1.BARNES, “Pray without ceasing - See the notes on Rom_12:12. The direction here may
be fairly construed as meaning:
(1) That we are to be regular and constant in the observance of the stated seasons of prayer.
We are to observe the duty of prayer in the closet, in the family, and in the assembly convened to
call on the name of the Lord. We are not to allow this duty to be interrupted or intermitted by
any trifling cause. We are so to act that it may be said we pray regularly in the closet, in the
family, and at the usual seasons when the church prays to which we belong.
(2) We are to maintain an uninterrupted and constant spirit of prayer. We are to be in such a
frame of mind as to be ready to pray publicly if requested; and when alone, to improve any
moment of leisure which we may have when we feel ourselves strongly inclined to pray. That
Christian is in a bad state of mind who has suffered himself, by attention to worldly cares, or by
light conversation, or by gaiety and vanity, or by reading an improper book, or by eating or
drinking too much, or by late hours at night among the thoughtless and the vain, to be brought
into such a condition that he cannot engage in prayer with proper feelings. There has been evil
done to the soul if it is not prepared for communion with God at all times, and if it would not
find pleasure in approaching his holy throne.
2. CLARKE, “Pray without ceasing - Ye are dependent on God for every good; without
him ye can do nothing; feel that dependence at all times, and ye will always be in the spirit of
prayer; and those who feel this spirit will, as frequently as possible, be found in the exercise of
prayer.

107. 3. GILL, “Pray without ceasing. Not that saints should be always on their knees, or ever
lifting up their hands, and vocally calling upon God; this is not required of them, and would
clash with, and break in upon other parts of religious worship, and the duties of civil life, which
are to be attended to, as well as this, and besides would be impracticable; for however willing a
spiritual man might be to be engaged in this work always, yet the flesh is weak, and would not be
able to bear it; and it requires food and drink, sleep and rest, for its refreshment and support;
for all which there must be time allowed, as well as for other actions of animal life, and the
business of a man's calling. But the meaning is, that believers should be daily, and often found in
the performance of this duty; for as their wants daily return upon them, and they are called to
fresh service, and further trials and exercises, they have need of more grace, strength, and
assistance, and therefore should daily pray for it; and besides certain times both in the closet,
and in the family, in which they should attend the throne of grace, there is such a thing as
mental prayer, praying in the heart, private ejaculations of the soul, which may be sent up to
heaven, while a man is engaged in the affairs of life. The Ethiopic version renders the words,
"pray frequently"; do not leave off praying, or cease from it through the prevalence of sin, the
temptations of Satan, or through discouragement, because an answer is not immediately had, or
through carelessness and negligence, but continue in it, and be often at it; see Luk_18:1. These
words are opposed to the practice of such, who either pray not at all, or, having used it, have left
it off, or who only pray in a time of trouble and distress, and bear hard on those who think they
should not pray but when under the influences of the Spirit, and when his graces are in a lively
exercise: the reason for this rule of praying with frequency and constancy is, because the saints
are always needy, they are always in want of mercies of one kind or another, and therefore
should continually go to the throne of grace, and there ask for grace and mercy to help them in
time of need.
4. HENRY, “Pray without ceasing, 1Th_5:17. Note, The way to rejoice evermore is to pray
without ceasing. We should rejoice more if we prayed more. We should keep up stated times for
prayer, and continue instant in prayer. We should pray always, and not faint: pray without
weariness, and continue in prayer, till we come to that world where prayer shall be swallowed up
in praise. The meaning is not that men should do nothing but pray, but that nothing else we do
should hinder prayer in its proper season. Prayer will help forward and not hinder all other
lawful business, and every good work.
5, JAMISON, “In order to “rejoice evermore,” we must “pray without ceasing” (1Th_5:17).
He who is wont to thank God for all things as happening for the best, will have continuous joy
[Theophylact]. Eph_6:18; Phi_4:4, Phi_4:6, “Rejoice in the Lord ... by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving”; Rom_14:17, “in the Holy Ghost”; Rom_12:12, “in hope”; Act_5:41, “in being
counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ’s name”; Jam_1:2, in falling “into divers
temptations.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17
The Greek is, “Pray without intermission”; without allowing prayerless gaps to intervene
between the times of prayer.

108. 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s
will for you in Christ Jesus.
1.BARNES, “In every thing give thanks - See the Eph_5:20 note; Phi_4:6 note. We can
always find something to be thankful for, and there may be reasons why we ought to be thankful
for even those dispensations which appear dark and frowning. Chrysostom, once the archbishop
of Constantinople, and then driven into exile, persecuted, and despised, died far away form all
the splendors of the capital, and all the comforts and honors which he had enjoyed, uttering his
favorite motto - δόξα τሬ Θεሬ πάντων ᅟνεκεν doxa to Theo panton heneken - “glory to God for all
things.” Bibliotheca Sacra, 1:700. So we may praise God for everything that happens to us under
his government. A man owes a debt of obligation to him for anything which will recall him from
his wanderings, and which will prepare him for heaven. Are there any dealings of God toward
people which do not contemplate such an end? Is a man ever made to drink the cup of affliction
when no drop of mercy is intermingled? Is he ever visited with calamity which does not in some
way contemplate his own temporal or eternal good! Could we see all, we should see that we are
never placed in circumstances in which there is not much for which we should thank God. And
when, in his dealings, a cloud seems to cover his face, let us remember the good things without
number which we have received, and especially remember that we are in the world of redeeming
love, and we shall find enough for which to be thankful.
For this is the will of God - That is, that you should be grateful. This is what God is pleased
to require you to perform in the name of the Lord Jesus. In the gift of that Saviour he has laid
the foundation for that claim, and he requires that you should not be unmindful of the
obligation; see the notes, Heb_13:15.
2. CLARKE, “In every thing give thanks - For this reason, that all things work together
for good to them that love God; therefore, every occurrence may be a subject of gratitude and
thankfulness. While ye live to God, prosperity and adversity will be equally helpful to you.
For this is the will of God - That ye should be always happy; that ye should ever be in the
spirit of prayer; and that ye should profit by every occurrence in life, and be continually grateful
and obedient; for gratitude and obedience are inseparably connected.
3. GILL, “In everything give thanks,.... That is, to God the Father, in the name of Christ; see
Eph_5:20 thanks are to be given to him for all things, as the Ethiopic version renders it; for all
temporal good things; for our beings, the preservation of them; for food and raiment, and all the

109. mercies of life; for the means of grace, the word and ordinances, and the ministers of the Gospel;
for spiritual blessings, for electing, redeeming, regenerating, adopting, pardoning, justifying,
and persevering grace: for a meetness for heaven, a right unto it, and a good hope of it; and
especially for Jesus Christ, for such an husband, such an head, such a surety and Saviour, and
advocate with the Father, as he is; and for life, peace, joy, comfort, righteousness, and salvation
in him: and thanks should be given to God in every circumstance of life; in adversity, as Job did;
when not in so comfortable and agreeable a frame of soul as to be wished for, since it might be
worse, and is not black despair; even under the temptations of Satan, since they might be greater
and heavier, and since the grace of God is sufficient to bear up under them, and deliver out of
them, and since there is such a sympathizing high priest and Saviour; and in afflictions of every
kind, since they are all for good, temporal, or spiritual, or eternal.
For this is the will of God; which may refer either to all that is said from 1Th_5:11 to this
passage, or particularly to this of giving thanks; which is the revealed and declared will of God, is
a part of that good, perfect, and acceptable will of his, and what is well pleasing in his sight, and
grateful to him; see Psa_69:30 and is
in Christ Jesus concerning you; either declared in and by him, who has made known the
whole of the will of God, and so the Arabic version, "which he wills of you by Jesus Christ"; or
which is exemplified in Christ, who for, and in all things, gave thanks to God, and had his will
resigned to his in every circumstance of life; or, which being done, is acceptable to God through
Christ. The Alexandrian copy reads, "for this is the will of God towards you in Christ Jesus"; that
is, with respect to you who are in Christ secretly by election, and openly by the effectual calling;
and who, of all men in the world, have reason to be thankful for everything, and in every
circumstance.
4. HENRY, “In every thing give thanks, 1Th_5:18. If we pray without ceasing, we shall not
want matter for thanksgiving in every thing. As we must in every thing make our requests
known to God by supplications, so we must not omit thanksgiving, Phi_4:6. We should be
thankful in every condition, even in adversity as well as prosperity. It is never so bad with us but
it might be worse. If we have ever so much occasion to make our humble complaints to God, we
never can have any reason to complain of God, and have always much reason to praise and give
thanks: the apostle says, This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us, that we give
thanks, seeing God is reconciled to us in Christ Jesus; in him, through him, and for his sake, he
allows us to rejoice evermore, and appoints us in every thing to give thanks. It is pleasing to
God.
5, JAMISON, “
In every thing — even what seems adverse: for nothing is really so (compare Rom_8:28;
Eph_5:20). See Christ’s example (Mat_15:36; Mat_26:27; Luk_10:21; Joh_11:41).
this — That ye should “rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, (and) in every thing give
thanks,” “is the will of God in Christ Jesus (as the Mediator and Revealer of that will, observed
by those who are in Christ by faith, compare Phi_3:14) concerning you.” God’s will is the
believer’s law. Lachmann rightly reads commas at the end of the three precepts (1Th_5:16-18),
making “this” refer to all three.

110. 6. CALVIN, “18For this is the will of God — that is, according to Chrysostom’ opinion — that we give
thanks. As for myself, I am of opinion that a more ample meaning is included under these terms — that
God has such a disposition towards us in Christ, that even in our afflictions we have large occasion of
thanksgiving. For what is fitter or more suitable for pacifying us, than when we learn that God embraces
us in Christ so tenderly, that he turns to our advantage and welfare everything that befalls us? Let us,
therefore, bear in mind, that this is a special remedy for correcting our impatience — to turn away our
eyes from beholding present evils that torment us, and to direct our views to a consideration of a different
nature — how God stands affected towards us in Christ.
19 Do not quench the Spirit.
1.BARNES, “Quench not the Spirit - This language is taken from the way of putting out a
fire, and the sense is, we are not to extinguish the influences of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
Possibly there may be an allusion here to fire on an altar, which was to be kept constantly
burning. This fire may have been regarded as emblematic of devotion, and as denoting that that
devotion was never to become extinct. The Holy Spirit is the source of true devotion, and hence
the enkindlings of piety in the heart, by the Spirit, are never to be quenched. Fire may be put out
by pouring on water; or by covering it with any incombustible substance; or by neglecting to
supply fuel. If it is to be made to burn, it must be nourished with proper care and attention. The
Holy Spirit, in his influences on the soul, is here compared with fire that might be made to burn
more intensely, or that might be extinguished.
In a similar manner the apostle gives this direction to Timothy, “I put thee in remembrance
that thou stir up ᅊναζωπυρεሏν anazopurein, kindle up, cause to burn) the gift of God;” 2Ti_1:6.
Anything that will tend to damp the ardor of piety in the soul; to chill our feelings; to render us
cold and lifeless in the service of God, may be regarded as “quenching the Spirit.” Neglect of
cultivating the Christian graces, or of prayer, of the Bible, of the sanctuary, of a careful
watchfulness over the heart, will do it. Worldliness, vanity, levity, ambition, pride, the love of
dress, or indulgence in an improper train of thought, will do it. It is a great rule in religion that
all the piety which there is in the soul is the fair result of culture. A man has no more religion
than he intends to have; he has no graces of the Spirit which he does not seek; he has no
deadness to the world which is not the object of his sincere desire, and which he does not aim to
have. Any one, if he will, may make elevated attainments in the divine life; or he may make his
religion merely a religion of form, and know little of its power and its consolations.
2. CLARKE, “Quench not the Spirit - The Holy Spirit is represented as a fire, because it is
his province to enlighten and quicken the soul; and to purge, purify, and refine it. This Spirit is
represented as being quenched when any act is done, word spoken, or temper indulged, contrary
to its dictates. It is the Spirit of love, and therefore anger, malice, revenge, or any unkind or
unholy temper, will quench it so that it will withdraw its influences; and then the heart is left in
a state of hardness and darkness. It has been observed that fire may be quenched as well by

111. heaping earth on it as by throwing water on it; and so the love of the world will as effectually
grieve and quench the Spirit as any ordinary act of transgression.
Every genuine Christian is made a partaker of the Spirit of God; and he who has not the spirit
of Christ is none of his. It cannot be the miraculous gifts of the Spirit which the apostle means,
for these were given to few, and not always; for even apostles could not work miracles when they
pleased; but the direction in the text is general, and refers to a gift of which they were generally
partakers.
3. GILL, “Quench not the spirit. By which is meant, not the person of the Spirit, but either
the graces of the spirit, which may be compared to light, and fire, and heat, to which the allusion
is in the text; such as faith, which is a light in the soul, a seeing of the Son, and an evidence of
things not seen; and love, which gives a vehement flame, which many waters cannot quench;
and zeal, which is the boiling up of love, the fervency of it; and spiritual knowledge, which is also
light, and of an increasing nature, and are all graces of the spirit: and though these cannot be
totally extinguished, and utterly put out and lost, yet they may be greatly damped; the light of
faith may become dim; and the flame of love be abated, and that wax cold; the heat of zeal may
pass into lukewarmness, and an indifference of spirit; and the light of knowledge seem to
decline instead of increasing; and all through indulging some sin or sins, by keeping ill
company, and by neglecting the ordinances of God, prayer, preaching, and other institutions of
the Gospel; wherefore such an exhortation is necessary to quicken saints, and stir them up to the
use of those means, whereby those graces are cherished and preserved in their lively exercise;
though rather the gifts of the Spirit are intended. The extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, bestowed
on the apostles at the day of Pentecost, are represented under the symbol of fire, to which
perhaps the apostle may here have respect; and the more ordinary gifts of the Spirit are such as
are to be stirred up, as coals of fire are stirred up, in order that they may burn, and shine the
brighter, and give both light and heat, 2Ti_1:6 and which may be said to be quenched, when
they are neglected, and lie by as useless; when they are wrapped up in a napkin, or hid in the
earth; or when men are restrained from the use of them; or when the use of them is not attended
to, or is brought into contempt, and the exercise of them rendered useless and unprofitable, as
much as in them lies. And even private persons may quench the Spirit of God, his gifts of light
and knowledge, when they hold the truth in unrighteousness, imprison it, and conceal it, and do
not publicly profess it as they ought.
4. HENRY, “Quench not the Spirit (1Th_5:19), for it is this Spirit of grace and supplication that
helpeth our infirmities, that assisteth us in our prayers and thanksgivings. Christians are said to
be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He worketh as fire, by enlightening, enlivening,
and purifying the souls of men. We must be careful not to quench this holy fire. As fire is put out
by withdrawing fuel, so we quench the Spirit if we do not stir up our spirits, and all that is within
us, to comply with the motions of the good Spirit; and as fire is quenched by pouring water, or
putting a great quantity of dirt upon it, so we must be careful not to quench the Holy Spirit by
indulging carnal lusts and affections, or minding only earthly things.
5, JAMISON, “Quench not — the Spirit being a holy fire: “where the Spirit is, He burns”
[Bengel] (Mat_3:11; Act_2:3; Act_7:51). Do not throw cold water on those who, under
extraordinary inspiration of the Spirit, stand up to speak with tongues, or reveal mysteries, or
pray in the congregation. The enthusiastic exhibitions of some (perhaps as to the nearness of

112. Christ’s coming, exaggerating Paul’s statement, 2Th_2:2, By spirit), led others (probably the
presiding ministers, who had not always been treated with due respect by enthusiastic novices,
1Th_5:12), from dread of enthusiasm, to discourage the free utterances of those really inspired,
in the Church assembly. On the other hand, the caution (1Th_5:21) was needed, not to receive
“all” pretended revelations as divine, without “proving” them.
6. CALVIN, “19Quench not the Spirit. This metaphor is derived from the power and nature of the Spirit;
for as it is the proper office of the Spirit to illuminate the understandings of men, and as he is on this
account called our light, it is with propriety that we are said to quench him, when we make void his grace.
There are some that think that it is the same thing that is said in this clause and the succeeding one.
Hence, according to them, to quench the Spirit is precisely the same as to despise prophesyings. As,
however, the Spirit is quenched in various ways, I make a distinction between these two things— of
a general statement, and a particular. For although contempt of prophesying is a quenching of the Spirit,
yet those also quench the Spirit who, instead of stirring up, as they ought, more and more, by daily
progress, the sparks that God has kindled in them, do, by their negligence, make void the gifts of God.
This admonition, therefore, as to not quenching the Spirit, has a wider extent of meaning than the one
that follows as to not despising prophesyings. The meaning of the former is: “ enlightened by the Spirit of
God. See that you do not lose that light through your ingratitude.” This is an exceedingly useful
admonition, for we see that those who have been once enlightened, (Heb_6:4) when they reject so
precious a gift of God, or, shutting their eves, allow themselves to be hurried away after the vanity of the
world, are struck with a dreadful blindness, so as to be an example to others. We must, therefore, be on
our guard against indolence, by which the light of God is choked in us.
Those, however, who infer from this that it is in man’ option either to quench or to cherish the light that is
presented to him, so that they detract from the efficacy of grace, and extol the powers of free will, reason
on false grounds. For although God works efficaciously in his elect, and does not merely present the light
to them, but causes them to see, opens the eyes of their heart, and keeps them open, yet as the flesh is
always inclined to indolence, it has need of being stirred up by exhortations. But what God commands by
Paul’ mouth, He himself accomplishes inwardly. In the mean time, it is our part to ask from the Lord, that
he would furnish oil to the lamps which he has lighted up, that he may keep the wick pure, and may even
increase it.
7. CHARLES SIMEON, “QUENCHING THE SPIRIT
1Th_5:19. Quench not the Spirit.
THERE is a harmony between all Christian graces, and a dependence of one upon another; so that none
can be exercised aright, unless all be allowed their due place and influence. There are doubtless many
occasions of grief and sorrow; yet no circumstances are so afflictive, but we may find in them some
ground of joy and gratitude. Hence in the directions which the Apostle gives to the Thessalonian Church,
he bids them to “rejoice evermore,” and “in every thing to give thanks.” But to moderate our feelings, and
to combine them in such a proportion as occasions may require, is difficult, yea, impossible, to flesh and
blood. In this arduous work, we must be directed and assisted by the Spirit of God. In this connexion, the
caution in the text is extremely forcible: for if we be not attentive to improve the proffered aids of the Spirit,
we shall never be able to execute any other part of our Christian duty.

113. The words before us may have some reference to the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit; but being inserted
amidst exhortations to various graces, they must be understood in reference to them also.
They contain a very solemn caution; in discoursing upon which we shall,
I. Consider the operations of the Spirit under the emblem of fire—
The Spirit is frequently spoken of under the emblem of fire [Note: Act_2:3-4. Mat_3:11. Rev_4:5.]: and fire
justly represents his offices and operations—
[Kindle a fire in a dark place, and it will give light to all around it. Draw near to it when chilled with cold,
and it will warm and comfort you. Cast wood or straw upon it, and it will cause them to burst forth into a
flame. Suppose it heated to a furnace, and, if you put stones into it, it will break and dissolve them. Let
gold or silver be submitted to its action, and it will purge them from their dross. Let iron be cast into it, and
it will transform the metal into its own likeness, so that it shall come out a solid mass of fire.
Here we see the operations of the Spirit. It is his office to enlighten the mind [Note: Eph_1:17-18.]; nor
had the Apostles themselves any light which they did not derive from him [Note: 1Co_2:12.]. Call upon
him in a state of great dejection; and he will be your Comforter [Note: Joh_14:16-
17; Joh_14:26. 2Co_7:6.]. Beg of him to reveal to you the Father’s love, and the grace of Christ; and he
will inflame your soul with love and gratitude [Note: Joh_16:14. Rom_5:5; Rom_15:13.]. Submit your
stony heart to his powerful operations; and he will break it in pieces, as he did in the days of old
[Note: Act_2:37.], and will melt it to contrition [Note:Eze_36:26-27.]. Carry your corruptions to him to be
subdued; and he will purify your soul from their power and defilement [Note: Eze_36:25 and 1Co_6:11.].
Let him exert his full influence upon you; and he will assimilate you to himself, and transform you into the
very image of your God [Note: 2Co_3:18.].]
Such being the operations of the Spirit, we shall,
II. Shew in what way we may “quench” them [Note: There are passages of Scripture which seem to
militate against this doctrine: see Joh_4:14 and 1Jn_3:9. But give them all the force you please, they do
not prove, that sin will not quench the Spirit; or, that they who live and die in sin shall not perish. And to
bring them forward on such an occasion, is to weaken (and, in reference to many, to destroy) the force of
the Apostle’s admonition. The caution is addressed to all Christians without distinction; and therefore
ought to be enforced in that extent. The very giving of the caution sufficiently shews the possibility and
danger of quenching the Spirit; and therefore we should all attend to it with fear and trembling.]—
We may quench the Spirit in a variety of ways:
1. By resisting his operations—
[There is not any one, on whom the Spirit has not frequently exerted his influence, to bring him to
repentance. But how have his motions been regarded? Have they not in many instances been resisted?
Have we not plunged ourselves into business or pleasure, perhaps too into revelling and intoxication, in
order to drown his voice, and silence the remonstrances of our conscience?
This then is one way in which many quench the Spirit. God has warned us, that “his Spirit shall not always
strive with man [Note: Gen_6:3.]:” and has told us how he dealt with his people of old; that “because they
hearkened not to his voice and would none of him, he gave them up to their own hearts’ lusts

114. [Note:Psa_81:11-12.].” And a similar resistance on our part will bring the same judgment upon us
[Note: Pro_1:24-26.].]
2. By delaying to comply with them—
[Few, if any, are so impious as to determine that they will never turn to God. Men deceive themselves with
some faint purposes of turning to God at a future period. Thus, when the Spirit “knocks at the door of their
hearts [Note: Rev_3:20.],” they send him away, as Felix did St. Paul, with an intention to “send for him at
a more convenient season.” But, as in the instance alluded to, the more convenient season never came,
so it too often happens with respect to us. The Spirit is a sovereign agent, that is not at our command: he
is “a wind that bloweth where he listeth:” and, if we will not spread our sails to the wind, and avail
ourselves of the advantage afforded us, we may bemoan our lost opportunity when it is too late
[Note: Isa_55:6.].]
3. By entertaining sentiments inimical to them—
[It is not uncommon for those whose consciences are awakened to a sense of their condition, to take
refuge in infidel opinions. If they do not cull in question the divine authority of the Scriptures, they doubt
the veracity of God in them, and deny the certainty and duration of the punishment which he denounces
against impenitent sinners. Others adopt an antinomian creed; and from some experience which they
suppose themselves to have had of the divine life, conclude they shall never be suffered finally to perish,
notwithstanding their present experience attests their hypocrisy and self-deceit. But. all of these are
“speaking peace to themselves when there is no peace;” and, if they he not roused from their delusions,
will soon reap the bitter fruits of their folly [Note: Jer_8:11. Deu_29:19-20.].]
4. By indulging habits contrary to his mind and will—
[God abhors iniquity of every kind: nor will he dwell in any heart that is allowedly debased by sin. If then
we harbour pride, envy, malice, covetousness, uncleanness, or any other secret lust, we shall provoke
him to abandon us to ourselves [Note: Psa_66:18.]: for he has said, “If any man defile the temple of God.
him shall God destroy [Note: 1Co_3:17.].”]
Lest any of you should be inattentive to the operations of the Spirit on your hearts, we shall,
III. Enforce the caution, not to quench them—Consider then,
1. Whom it is that you resist—
[It may appear to us to be only a friend or minister, or, at most, our own conscience, that we resist: but,
whatever be the means whereby God speaks to us, the voice is his; and an opposition to the dictates of
the Spirit is an opposition to God himself [Note: Act_5:4.]. Have we sufficiently considered whom we thus
“provoke to become our enemy [Note: Isa_63:10.]?”]
2. What is his design, in striving with you—
[Has God any interest of his own to serve? Will he be less happy or glorious, whether we be saved or
perish? He is moved by nothing but love and pity to our souls. And all that he desires is, to enlighten,
sanctify, and save us. The first impressions that he makes upon us may be painful; but they are a needful
incision, in order to a perfect cure. And should we resist his love and mercy? In what light shall we view

115. this conduct, when his gracious designs shall be fully known, and our ingratitude be contrasted with
them?]
3. How awful will be our state, if we finally prevail to quench his motions—
[While he continues to strive with us, there is hope. If there be but a spark of this heavenly fire within us,
the dying embers may be rekindled: but if once this fire be extinguished, there is no hope. If God has
once said, “Let him alone [Note: Hos_4:17.],” let him live only to fill up the measure of his iniquities, and to
“treasure up wrath against the day of wrath [Note: Rom_2:5.],” our state will be inconceivably dreadful:
better would it be for us that we had never been born. And who can tell but that this very day the Spirit
may depart from him never to return? Let the dread of this awaken us to a sense of our danger, and
stimulate us to improve the calls and assistances we now enjoy.]
Advice—
1. Renounce every thing that may lead you to quench the Spirit—
[Do ungodly companions try to lull you asleep in sin? forsake them. Do earthly, sensual, and devilish
affections grieve the Spirit? mortify them. Whatever it be that tends to damp this sacred fire, put it away.
Better were it to lose all that we have in the world, than to have the Spirit finally taken from us.]
2. Do all that you can to stir up the sacred fire within you—
[Fire will go out, if left to itself. We are commanded to “stir it up [Note: ἀ í á æ ð õ ñ å ῖ í , 2Ti_1:6.].” This
must be done by meditation [Note: Psa_39:3.], by prayer [Note: Psa_40:1-3.], by reading of the word of
God [Note: Jer_23:29. Heb_4:12.], by attending on divine ordinances [Note: Act_10:33-34], and by holy
and spiritual conversation [Note: Luk_24:32.]. Watch then the motions of the Spirit, and delay not to
comply with them. Let every thing serve as fuel to the flame: and, how much soever you delight in God,
endeavour to abound more and more.]
8. SBC, I. The Holy Spirit is here spoken of not strictly in respect of His Person, but in respect of
His energising power in and on the heart. His workings, the Apostle would say, may be so
counteracted as to become ineffectual. They may be quenched as the flame that is kindled for a
time, but being neglected, sooner or later expires. Rain, dew, wind, fire, those mysterious
agencies of nature, are in Scripture the fitting and effective emblems of the Holy Spirit’s power
in the hearts and lives of men. Those who are already believers are, in regard to their advancing
sanctification, to cherish His manifestations. By relapse into sinful indulgences, the follower of
Jesus quenches the spirit of grace within his heart.
II. "Despise not prophesyings." The Spirit is the Divine power, prophesyings are the human
instrumentality. If men would be kept from quenching the one, they must be kept from thinking
meanly of the other. The Spirit is the Divine light: if they would retain it, they must be careful to
preserve prophesyings, the lamp in which it is placed.
III. The next clause links itself on to that which precedes it. So far from Undervaluing or
spurning prophecies, believers are urged to test them. As there are counterfeits of the truth in
circulation, it is wise on the part of all who would buy the truth to test it, to submit it to careful
examination, so that they may not be deceived, but may become possessors of that priceless
treasure, gold tried in the fire, that finest gold which alone can make truly rich.

116. IV. The holding fast of the good exists only where there is an abhorring of that which is evil.
Hence follows the closing exhortation: "Abstain from every form of evil." While the first
reference is to evil elements, which might appear in the prophesyings, it purposely expands so as
to embrace every kind of evil into contact with which the follower of Christ may be brought. In
regard to all moral evil, he is enjoined to keep himself unspotted from the world.
J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 226.
9. BI, “Positive duties
I.
The first advice—“Quench not the Spirit.” The Spirit is quenched as a man doth quench his
reason with over-much wine; and therefore we say, “When the wine is in, the wit is out,” because
before he seems to have reason, and now he seems to have none; so our zeal, and our faith, and
our love, are quenched with sin. Every vain thought, and every idle word, and every wicked
deed, is like so many drops to quench the Spirit of God. Some quench it with the business of this
world; some quench it with the lusts of the flesh; some quench it with the cares of the mind;
some quench it with long delays, that is, not plying the motion when it cometh, but crossing the
good thoughts with bad thoughts, and doing a thing when the Spirit adviseth not, as Ahab went
to battle after he was forbidden. The Spirit is often grieved before it be quenched; and a man
when he begins to grieve, and check, and persecute the Spirit, though never so lightly, never
ceaseth until he have quenched it, that is, until he seem himself to have no spirit at all, but
walketh like a lump of flesh.
II. The second advice. After “Quench not the Spirit” followeth “Despise not prophesyings.” The
second admonition teacheth how the first should be kept. “Despise not prophesying,” and the
Spirit will not quench, because prophesying doth kindle it. This you may see in the disciples that
went to Emmaus. When Christ preached unto them from the law and the prophets, their hearts
waxed hot within them. This is no marvel that the spirit of a man should be so kindled and
revived with the Word; for the Word is the food of the soul. The apostle might have said, Love
prophesying, or honour prophesying, but he saith, “Despise not prophesying,” showing that
some were ashamed of it. The greatest honour we give to prophets is not to despise them, and
the greatest love we carry to the Word is not to loathe it. Prophesying here doth signify
preaching, as it doth in Rom_12:6. Will you know why preaching is called prophesying? To add
more honour and renown to the preachers of the Word, and to make you receive them as
prophets (Mat_10:41). Hath not the despising of the preachers almost made the preachers
despise preaching?
III. The third advice. After “Despise not prophesyings” followeth “Prove all things,” etc., that is,
try all things. This made John say, “Try the spirits.” We read that the Bereans would not receive
Paul’s doctrine before they had tried it; and how did they try it? They searched the Scriptures.
This is the way Paul would teach you to try others as he was tried himself; whereby we may see
that if we read the Scriptures we shall be able to try all doctrines; for the Word of God is the
touchstone of everything, like the light which God made to behold all His creatures (Gen_1:2). A
man trieth his horse which must bear him, and shall he not try his faith which must save him?
And when we have tried by the Word which is truth and which is error, we should keep that
which is best, that is, stay at the truth, as the Magi stayed when they came to Christ. We must
keep and hold the truth as a man grippeth a thing with both his hands; that is, defend it with our
tongue, maintain it with our purse, further it with our labour, and, if required, seal it with our
blood. Well doth Paul put “prove” before “hold;” for he which proveth may hold the best, but he
which holdeth before he proveth sometimes takes the worse sooner than the best.

117. IV. The forth advice. After “Prove all things, and hold that which is good,” followeth “Abstain
from all appearance of evil.” As if the adviser should say, That is like to be best which is so far
from evil that it hath not the appearance of evil; and that is like to be the truth which is so far
from error that it hath not the show of error. Paul biddeth us abstain from all appearance of evil,
because sin, and heresy, and superstition are hypocrites; that is, sin hath the appearance of
virtue, error the appearance of truth, and superstition the appearance of religion. If the visor be
taken away from them, they will appear exactly what they are, though at the first sight the visor
doth make them seem no evil, because it covereth them, like a painted sepulchre the dead men’s
bones beneath. (H. Smith.)
Words of warning
I. The work of the Holy Spirit.
1. The Holy Spirit is God, and so has all the strength of God. What He pleases to do He can
do. None can stand against Him. This is of the greatest possible comfort to us, because we
have enemies that are too strong for us; but no enemy is strong enough to hurt us if the
Spirit of God is on our side. And again, as the Holy Spirit is God, so He has that wonderful
power of working on the heart which belongs to God, and in purifying it, and making it holy
like Himself.
2. The Holy Spirit dwells in the Church. His work is done upon those who belong to the
Church. “He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” What the soul of each one is to our
body, so the Holy Spirit lives in the Church, and gives spiritual life to each member of the
Church. He works through the ordinances of the Church, and what He gives, He is pleased to
give through those ordinances.
3. The Holy Spirit is like a fire in the heart of man. Fire gives warmth and light. Is not this
exactly the character of the work of the Holy One. What is colder than the fallen heart of
man toward God? Who warms it into real love to God but the Spirit by whom the love of God
is shed abroad in the heart? Again, what is darker than the heart of man? Who pours light
into it, and makes us to see that God is the true portion of the soul? It is the Holy Ghost. “We
have an unction from the Holy One, and we know all things.”
II. The quenching of the Holy Spirit.
1. The power we have to do this. We have already said that the presence of the Holy Spirit in
the Church is like a fair shining light. Its rays fall on all hearts. It touches, it gilds, it
beautifies all souls. It gives them a new fairness, like the golden rays which bathe the whole
landscape, making each separate leaf to glisten as it dances on its branch, and hill and valley,
wood and meadow, to wear a holiday aspect. Do not choose darkness rather than light by
quenching the Spirit. We have power to do this. If we choose, we may say—I will not be
changed, I will not give up my icy coldness of soul, I will go on in the hard-bound frost of my
own selfishness, I will care for myself, live for myself; the fire may burn around me, but I will
quench it. So we may put out the light which would lead us to God and heaven.
2. The way in which we may exercise this power. The Spirit of God may give us light in the
Holy Scriptures, and we may refuse to read them at all, or read them without learning to
know God and ourselves. The Spirit of God may give us light in the Church, which is the
pillar and ground of the truth, and we may determine not to see what the Church would have
us to believe and to do. The loving Spirit of God is longing to work among you, His heart is
set upon you, He is opening out the treasures of His goodness before you. Oh! take care you
do not check Him by your indifference. He will act to you as you act to Him. Just as fire
cannot burn in a damp, unwholesome atmosphere—as there are places underground where

118. the air is so foul that the brightest candle will go out at once, so if you choke the heavenly fire
it will go out. The Holy Spirit will not work in the midst of cold, worldly, unbelieving hearts.
By all that is dear and precious, “Quench not the Spirit!” (R. W. Randall, M. A.)
The working of the Divine Spirit
There are three active elements in nature—air, water, fire; and one passive—earth. The Holy
Spirit is spoken of under the figure of each of the former, never of the latter. The Holy Spirit is
always in action. St. Paul is writing with evident reference to the promise, “He shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” Perhaps he may have had regard to some special
manifestations of the Spirit (see 1Th_5:20). A man might feel within him a fire burning, which
was meant for expression, and which he was tempted to suppress, through feelings of modesty,
false shame, indolence, or indifference, and he was anxious to caution against this. And there is
now a bad economy of Divine gifts; men possessing talents of property, position, influence,
persuasion, knowledge, grace, lock up that which was intended for the whole house of Christ.
This is quenching the Spirit. Personally, as the Divine Spirit, no efforts or negligences of man
could lessen His power or glory; but as the Divine Inhabitant of the soul it is otherwise. Note the
manner of His working. He acts on—
I. The understanding. He spake to the understanding of prophets, psalmists, apostles, etc., and
so we have in the Bible the truth brought home to our understandings. But the office of the
Spirit is not bounded by that. The Word of God is in the hand of every one, till it has become an
ill-used book by its very plentifulness; and to him who has not the Spirit to shine with the light
of His holy fire within the printed page all is darkness. The letter killeth, the Spirit alone
quickeneth. So, then, a man quenches the Spirit who either neglects the Bible or is not taught by
the Spirit out of it (Eph_1:18).
II. The conscience. The office of the Spirit is to bring sin to remembrance—a thankless office in
one sense. Tell your best friend his faults, he must be one of a thousand if you have not lost him.
Few can say, Let the righteous smite me (Psa_141:5). But the Spirit knows how to reprove
without irritating, and at the right time and in the right way. The still small voice takes
conscience for its mouthpiece. When that voice is heard bringing to remembrance some half-
excused sin, of the neglect of some half-denied duty, “Quench not the Spirit.”
III. Thy will. The understanding may see the truth—the conscience may be alive to duty—is the
work done? Answer all ye who know what it is to see the good, and yet to pursue the evil; to hate
yourselves for your weakness, and yet do again the thing ye would not! The Holy Spirit,
therefore, touches the will, the spring of being. He who says, “Stretch forth thy hand,” will give
the will and the power, and with the peace and reward.
IV. The heart. “Thou shalt love,” etc. Who gives so much as a corner of his heart to God? The
question is a self-contradiction, for the heart always gives itself whole or not at all. The Spirit
enables us to cry Abba, Father. It is a dreadful thing to quench the Spirit in an intellectual
scepticism; in a stubborn doggedness of conscience; in a settled obstinacy of will; but it is more
dreadful to quench Him in a cold obduracy of heart; to say to Him when He says “Son, give Me
thy heart”—“I will not—go Thy way—torment me not before the time” (Heb_10:29). (Dean
Vaughan.)
Quench not the Spirit
The word does not mean to resist, damp, or partially to smother, but to put out completely, as a
spark when it falls into water.

119. I. The spirit can be quenched. Else why the injunction?
1. The antediluvians quenched the Spirit. He strove with them to do them good, they strove
against Him to their destruction, and the flood swept them away.
2. In Neh_9:1-38 you will see how God strove with the Jews, and how they quenched the
Spirit and were left to perish.
3. The same law is in operation still. God gives His Spirit to instruct men. They refuse to
hear and God leaves them to their worst enemies—their sins. It is foolish to frame theories
with which these facts will not harmonize. The striving does not, of course, refer to God’s
power; there could be no striving with that. But it is man’s sins striving with God’s love; and
God tells us that He will not always strive with man’s sins, but will relinquish the contest,
leave the field, and allow him an eternity in which to learn the fearful misery of what it is to
have quenched the Spirit. As unbelief tied the Saviour’s hands so that He could not do any
mighty work, so it can cripple the agency of the Spirit.
II. How can He be quenched. Fire may be extinguished—
1. By pouring water upon it. The most direct way of quenching the Spirit is sin and
resistance to His influence. He may act as a friend who, having been wantonly slighted,
withdraws in grief and displeasure.
2. By smothering it. So the Spirit may be quenched by worldliness. The process may be a
slow and partially unconscious one, but it is real and sure.
3. By neglect. Timothy was exhorted to “stir up” His gift. And as a fire will die out unless it
receives attention, so will the Spirit if we indolently do nothing to improve the gift.
4. For want of fuel. And the Spirit will be quenched unless the Spiritual life is fed by the
Word of God, “Sanctify them through Thy truth.”
5. Through want of air. There may be abundance of fuel, but it will not burn. Not less
essential to the flame kindled by the Spirit is the breath of prayer. (E. Mellor, D. D.)
Quench not the Spirit
1. The Holy Spirit is represented as fire, the source of light and heat, because of His
searching, illuminating, quickening, reviving, refining, assimilating influences.
2. It is implied that He may be quenched; not in Himself, but by the withdrawal of His
influences, and so His graces, which are indicative of His presence, may be extinguished.
3. He may be quenched in others as well as in ourselves.
(1) In ministers, by contempt of their ministrations.
(2) Among Christians, by neglect of social prayer and religious conversation. Christians
are like coals of fire which kindle into a blaze only when kept together. How disastrous to
zeal are dissentions (Eph_4:30-32).
I. The instances in which we may quench the Spirit.
1. By slighting, neglecting and resisting His operations. When the Spirit stirs us up, and we
neither stir up ourselves nor our gifts, we quench the Spirit.
2. By diverting the mind from spiritual concerns, and engaging in vain and unnecessary
recreations. The love of pleasure will extinguish the love of God. Fulfilment of the lusts of the
flesh renders walking in the Spirit impossible.

120. 3. By inordinate affections towards any earthly object. The life and power of godliness are
seldom found among those who are eager in the pursuit of worldly gain (Mat_19:16-22).
4. By robbing Him of His glory, by denying His Divinity, or the necessity and efficacy of His
operations.
5. By sins of omission and commission. These are opposite to His nature. One will damp His
sacred fire, a course of iniquity will extinguish it.
II. The reasons which should warn us against this danger. If we quench the Spirit—
1. He will be silent to us, and will cease to admonish and guide either directly or through His
ministers (1Sa_28:15).
2. He will suspend His influences and leave us in darkness.
3. We shall sin both against God and our own souls. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
Quench not the Spirit
This is a little text, but it is full of large matters.
I. We have a Spirit to quench.
1. The possession of the Spirit is the distinguishing prerogative of the gospel covenant; this it
is which imparts a life, an energy, a fulness, a reality, to its every part and detail.
2. We are all the depositaries of this great treasure; the holders of a wonderful gift, for the
abuse or improvement of which we shall one day have to answer.
II. The nature and properties of this Spirit.
1. A consuming fire.
(1) It destroys in us at once that curse which adheres to us as children of a fallen parent.
(2) In those who yield themselves, gradually does one unholy habit of thought, one
unsanctified desire, one impure affection after another, succumb beneath its power and
influence.
2. A purifying fire; it does not wholly destroy the will, so as to make man a passive
instrument; it only strips the will of that evil which makes it at enmity with God. Nor does
the Spirit deaden and annihilate the affections, powers, faculties of our moral nature; it only
withdraws them from low, base, unworthy objects, and fixes them on others whose fruits will
be love, joy, peace.
3. A kindling fire. It raises in the mind of man the fervour of devotion and the heat of Divine
love.
4. A defending fire. Like the sword of the cherubim, it turns every way to guard “the tree of
life.”
5. An enlightening fire.
(1) The Christian, by the Spirit which is given him, is enabled to see what he is in
himself. It shows him how degraded is his nature, how forlorn and hopeless are his
prospects.
(2) This reveals to him what he is in Christ—Child of God. Heir of glory;
(3) This reveals to him the path of life.

121. (4) This lays open to him the mysterious, hidden wisdom of the Word of God.
III. What is meant by “quenching the Spirit.”
1. This is done by those who altogether fall away from Christ—by apostates.
2. It is not only, nor generally, by a sudden and violent wrenching and snapping asunder of
the ties which bind him to Christ, that the obdurate sinner quenches the Spirit. The integrity
and unity of his inner life is damaged and sapped little by little; he quenches the Spirit, more
or less, in all the stages of his spiritual decay.
IV. What are the means, and what the agency, which operate in bringing this about?
1. Floods of ungodliness swamp the soul.
2. Blasts of fierce and headstrong passions.
3. Want of fuel to nourish and preserve it. In many a soul the Spirit’s fire is quenched
because it is never replenished by prayer, meditation, self-examination, works of charity and
mercy, attendance on Holy Communion, etc.
V. The awful consequences. Let us quench the Spirit, and how shall the motions of sins which
are in our members be rooted out? how shall we be able to purify ourselves from all filthiness of
the flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord? (Arthur G. Baxter.)
On quenching the Spirit
“Quench not the Spirit.” Put not out that heavenly fire which you did not kindle, but which you
can extinguish. Put not out that holy fire which is the real heart of your life, and without which
spiritual death is sure to follow. Put not out that fire by sensual pleasures and indulgence of
fleshly appetites, as did Sodom and Gomorrah; by love of the world, as did Demas; by careless
neglect, as did the lukewarm Church of Laodicea.
I. The fire can be put out.
1. You may put it out by indulgence of the body. The brutalizing power of fleshly sins, of
whatever sort, always blunts the conscience, and makes the spiritual eye unable to discern
the true nature of God’s requirements. A man who has given himself up to these becomes
coarse. If the sins be such as men can see, he becomes visibly coarse and earthly. If the sires
be of the far wickeder and yet more secret sort, he often retains much outward refinement
and even softness of manner, but coarseness and earthliness of soul; with little sense of
disgust at impurity, with a low and animal idea of the highest of all affections.
2. The fire can be put out by worldliness and a life devoted to self and selfish hopes. What
can be more miserable than the condition of that man whose powers of mind have shown
him the truth of God, whose understanding has been too highly cultivated to allow him to
shut his eyes to the eternal laws of heaven, who can appreciate, perhaps, till his very heart
thrills with admiration, the high examples of love, of self-sacrifice, of a pure and brave
service, which history has recorded, and yet who cannot be, and who feels that he never can
be, what he himself admires; who feels that while he admires the noble and the true, yet he is
not attracted by it? The end of such a character generally is to lose even this much
appreciation of what is good, and to retain admiration for nothing but refinement without a
resolute will within; to despise all self-sacrifice, all generosity, all nobleness as romantic and
weak; and, of course, either to give up religion altogether, or to make a superstition to suit
the worldly temper.

122. 3. Lastly, and most often of all, the fire of the Spirit can be put out by mere neglect. The
Spirit holds before the sight, time after time, soul-stirring visions of what our lives and
characters might be. As we read, as we live with our fellows, as we worship, as we listen, we
are touched, enlightened, half roused to real resolution. But we hear not, or if we hear we
make no effort; or if we make an effort, we soon give it up. The greatest thoughts, the noblest
thoughts flit before the minds of men in whom their fellows suspect nothing of the kind; but
they flit across the sky, and those who share in them, yet feel them to be as unreal as those
clouds. There is no waste in nature equal to the waste of noble aspirations. What is the end
of such coldness? The end is an incapacity to heart what they have so often heard in vain. In
such men there comes at last an utter inability to understand that the message of God is a
message to them at all. They hear and they understand, but they find no relation between
their lives and what they learn. They will be selfish, and not know they are selfish; worldly,
and not be able to see they are worldly; mean, and yet quite unconscious of their meanness.
II. The last, the final issue of “quenching the Spirit,” I cannot describe. A fearful condition is
once or twice alluded to in the Bible, which a man reaches by long disobedience to the voice
within him, and in which he can never be forgiven, because he can never repent, and he cannot
repent because he has lost all, even the faintest tinge, of the beauty of holiness. What brings a
man into such a state as this we cannot tell; but it is plain enough that the directest road to it is
by “quenching the Spirit.” (Bp. Temple.)
On the Holy Spirit
Some have thought that the words of our text are to be referred to the extraordinary gifts of the
Spirit, which were enjoyed by the Church in the days of the apostle; such as the gift of healing,
the gift of tongues, the gift of prophesying. All this may be very just, and very suitable to the
Church of the Thessalonians; yet, if this were all, the words would have no application to us,
since those miraculous gifts have ceased. Still, this admonition stands in the midst of precepts
which are of lasting and universal obligation: “Rejoice evermore: Pray without ceasing: In
everything give thanks;” and, a little onward, “Prove all things: hold fast that which is good.”
Who does not see that, both before and after the text, every precept belongs to all ages?
I. Let us attentively consider the subjects presented to our notice in this brief but comprehensive
sentence. Here is a Divine person exhibited, the Spirit; a comparison implied, fire; a state of
privilege supposed, viz., that this fire is already kindled; finally, a sin prohibited, “Quench not
the Spirit.”
1. The gifts and illuminations, which we must not quench, cannot be viewed apart; they are
inseparable from an actual indwelling of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit, therefore, is a Divine
person. Sins are committed against Him. He must be a Divine person. The work which He
performs in our hearts requires infinite knowledge, infinite condescension, infinite wisdom,
and infinite power. The admonition of our text acquires a peculiar force from this
consideration. We live under the ministration of the Spirit.
2. Here is a comparison implied. But, without attempting to follow out this comparison in all
its particulars, it shall suffice to observe, that these words, addressed to the Thessalonians,
must refer either to the light kindled in them by His teaching, or to the affections inflamed
by His influence. True religion is both; it is inward illumination, and a hidden and celestial
fire, which purifies and warms the heart, originated and sustained by the Holy Spirit. Love to
God, fervency in prayer, ardent zeal for His glory, joy, desire hope, all mounting
heavenward; to what else could they be compared, with equal propriety? They conquer, they

123. possess, they fill, they purify the soul. This fire is communicated from above, like that which
burned upon the altar of old. Like that, it must be kept burning continually.
3. My dear brethren, you are addressed in the text, as those in whom this Divine fire is
already kindled. It supposes that you are true Christians, and that you have a concern to
keep the grace you have received. But is it really so? Alas! you cannot quench what has no
existence in the soul.
4. This leads us to inquire into the sin. What is it to quench the Spirit? How far is it possible
for a true believer to be guilty of it? And, by what means? Now, there are two ways, as we all
know, in which fire may be quenched. It may be quenched by not adding fuel, or by adding
water, and, in general, anything of a nature adverse to it. Hence there are two ways in which
the Spirit may be quenched, illustrated by this emblem, negligence and sin.
II. We shall endeavour to enforce this admonition; for it is by far too important to be discussed
only, without the addition of special motives, calculated to show the guilt and danger which
would be involved in its neglect.
1. Therefore, consider that, if you quench the Spirit, you will provoke in an eminent degree
the displeasure of God. No sins are reckoned so heinous as those which are committed
against this Divine Agent.
2. Consider that this would be, in general, to destroy all your spiritual comfort; and, in
particular, to silence the witness and obliterate the seal of your redemption, leaving you
without any evidence of your interest in the great Salvation.
3. Consider, once more, that to be guilty of such an offence would open wide the floodgates
of all sin, which it is the office of the Holy Ghost to subdue and destroy. It would leave you
without strength and without defence against Satan and your own corruptions. Let me close
by adding to this admonition a few words of exhortation.
1. Let me entreat you to conceive very affectionately of the Holy Spirit.
2. Let me exhort you to give honour to the Holy Spirit, by a distinct and continual
recognition of your dependence upon Him.
3. Finally, if all this be true, then how miserably mistaken must be that ministry which casts
the name and office of the Holy Spirit into the shade! (D. Katterns.)
Quenching the Spirit
The Holy Spirit is more than “Emmanuel, God with us.” He is God in us. Until He so comes we
are ruined; when He comes the ruin becomes a living temple. No man can explain this; and yet
every striving, expanding soul exults in the sacred belief. How awful, then, the power given to a
man to quench the Spirit. How? By any unfair dealing with the laws and principles of our
nature, by which lie works. He uses memory for conviction, conscience for condemnation or
justification, understanding for enlightenment, will for invigoration, affections for happiness;
and if we refuse to allow these faculties to be so used, we are quenching the Spirit. The Spirit’s
work is—
I. Conviction of sin. He takes a sinner, and makes memory a scourge to him: shows him the
holiness of God and the sinfulness of sin. It is a most gracious opportunity; but, alas! he misses
it, stifles memory and silences conscience, and thus quenches the Spirit. Christians, too, when
convinced of sin may quench the Spirit if they do not take heed.

124. II. Revelation. “He shall receive of mine,” etc. In conducting this great work He uses every kind
of suitable instrumentality—the inspired writings, the spoken word, thoughtful books, Christian
conversation, etc. It follows, then, that if we do not search the Scriptures and take kindly the
ministries of truth we are shutting out of our hearts the waiting Spirit of God.
III. Sealing or setting apart. When men are born by His regenerating power from above they are
marked for their celestial destination, and set apart for God. He renews His sealing process
again and again, retouching His work and bringing out the Divine inscriptions. Any one who
resists this process, who does not often think of the Father and the Father’s house, and who
minds earthly things is quenching the Spirit. Christian people, too, have thoughts given to them
purely as sealing thoughts; they are not needed for duty or life here, but for higher service and
the life to come. One is earlier down some morning than usual, and in the short moment of
quietness looks far away into the land of sunless light. One is struck suddenly—at the high noon
of city life—with the utter vanity of all the fever and toil and strife. Or at night there falls upon
the house a little visitation of silence. Quench not the Spirit in any of these His gracious
comings. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
Quenching the Spirit
I. Some distinctions of this sin.
1. Total and partial.
(1) Total, when the Spirit’s impressions are quite erased so that no spark is left among
the ashes. “My Spirit shall not always strive with man,” and this Spirit departed from
King Saul.
(2) Partial, when the Spirit is weakened and brought to a very spark, as was the case with
David (Psa_51:1-19).
2. Wilful and weak.
(1) Wilful, when men resolutely set themselves to put out the holy fire, being resolved
not to part with their lusts, they go on in opposition to their light, strangle their uneasy
consciences, murder their convictions that they may sin without control (Act_7:51).
(2) Weak, which is the result of carelessness rather than design (Eph_6:30; Son_5:2-5).
II. How the Spirit is quenched. This holy fire is quenched—
1. By doing violence to it, as when one puts his foot on the fire or casts water on it, or blows
it out. Thus the Spirit is quenched by sins of commission. As when one raises an oftensive
smoke in the room where his guest sits, he is grieved and departs; so the Spirit is grieved by
the offensive smell of our corruptions.
2. By neglecting it, as the lamp will be extinguished if you feed it not with more oil, so the
Spirit is quenched by neglecting his motions, and not walking in the light while we have it.
III. Why we should not quench the Spirit.
1. Because it is the holy fire; and, therefore, it ought to be kept carefully, and it is dangerous
to meddle with it (Lev_9:24).
2. Because we can do nothing without it. So far as the Spirit goes away, all true light and
heat go with Him, and then the soul is in death and darkness.

125. 3. Because when once quenched we cannot rekindle it, We “cannot tell whence it cometh or
whither it goeth.” Were it the fire of our own hearths we might kindle it again; but it is from
heaven, and we have no command there.
4. Because the quenching of this fire is the raising of another tending to the consuming of
the soul. This is a fire of corruption within us. When the Spirit departed from Saul he went to
the devil. And some people never come to a height of wickedness till the Spirit has been at
work in them, and they have quenched Him. Conclusion:
1. We may quench the Spirit in others—
(1) By mocking them.
(2) By speaking evil of the way of God (Act_19:9).
(3) By diverting them from duty.
(4) By tempting them to sin.
2. Quench it not in yourselves but cherish it.
(1) By diligence in duties—Bible reading, Christian conversation, private prayer.
(2) By keeping up a tender frame of spirit.
(3) By strict obedience.
(4) By making religion the one thing. (T. Boston, D. D.)
Quenching the Spirit
Light is the first necessity of life in this body; without it we could not go about our business, and
should lose health and die. Such also is knowledge to the soul, and the Holy Spirit is the means
of it. This light we are to beware of quenching. A light may be quenched—
I. By neglecting to feed and trim it. Coal, wood, oil, etc., serve as fuel for fire; Christian practice
serves to maintain Christian knowledge. Practice is necessary for the preservation of even
earthly knowledge. The knowledge communicated by the Spirit is that of salvation. This may be
extinguished by not caring for it. How few things we read in the newspaper we remember a week
after, simply because we are not interested. Shut up a light in a close place where no ray can pass
forth, and after a little flickering it will go out. So if the light of the knowledge of Christ does not
shine in deeds of faithful service it becomes extinguished.
II. By carelessness. This engenders wilfulness, and then wickedness, and like the lamps of the
virgins this light once quenched cannot be lighted again (Heb_6:4; Mat_6:23).
Quenching the Spirit
I. The object to which this exhortation relates. Not the essence of the Spirit, or His inherent
attributes, but His agency.
1. This agency is symbolized by fire. “He shall baptize you,” etc. (Act_2:1-3).
(1) Fire imparts light, so it is the office of the Spirit to impart knowledge. “The eyes of
your understanding being enlightened.”
(2) Fire is employed to purge metals from dross; the Holy Spirit purifies men from sin
and makes them holy. In the Old Testament He was “the Spirit of burning;” in the New
“the Spirit of holiness.”

126. (3) Fire imparts heat: it is the office of the Spirit to kindle in the soul emotions which
animate and enliven—love, zeal, joy.
2. The value of that agency. Its preciousness is beyond all conception, transforming as it
does the state and character and securing the blessings of eternity.
3. The responsibilities attached to it. It is not only a gift, it is a stewardship; it is not only a
privilege, it is a talent, to be cherished and improved.
II. The evils which the exhortation deprecates. The Spirit may he quenched—
1. By the want of a due recognition of His agency.
(1) A Christian may be tempted in his own case to ascribe that to himself which is really
the result of Divine grace.
(2) He may be tempted in the case of others to disbelieve in the existence of the Divine
work in spite of evidence, either in individual characters, or masses affected by revivals
of religion. Wherever there is this guilty incredulity there is a refusal to the Spirit of the
attributes due to Him.
2. By a want of holy separation from the world. The great design of the Christian vocation is
holiness, and this is the one purpose of the operations of the Divine Spirit (Joh_17:14-20;
Eph_5:7-15). If, then, a Christian permits himself to be so trammelled by earthly things as to
conceal his character; if he allows his affections to be earthly; if he practices secular
vocations which are forbidden, or pursues lawful ones inordinately; if he mingles in scenes
of worldly frivolity or worse, what becomes of the fire kindled in his heart? Of course its light
becomes faint, and its heat cools.
3. By a want of mutual forbearance and love.” The fruit of the Spirit is love,” etc. The
indulgence, therefore, of angry passions is incompatible with the influence of the Spirit
(Eph_4:30-32). Here is the condemnation of the strife of sects, of unbrotherly conduct in a
given Church, of family quarrels, of all unneighbourliness.
4. By neglect of the Word of God and prayer. The Word of God comprises the record and its
proclamation, both of which are under the influence of the Spirit. To neglect to read the one
or to hear the other is a sure method of quenching the Spirit, who convinces, converts,
sanctifies, etc., by each. So with prayer, private, domestic, congregational.
III. The blessings which compliance with this exhortation will secure. If Christians do not
quench the Spirit, if they rightly apprehend the nature of the Spirit’s agency—illuminating, etc.;
if they do homage to it by nonconformity to the world; if they cultivate love; if they render a
right regard to the Word of God and prayer they will secure—
1. The eminent prosperity and happiness of their own souls. We shall become firm in faith,
pure in life, glowing in love, burning in zeal. We shall not be dwarfish, stunted plants, but as
trees planted by rivers of water; others will take knowledge of us that we have been with
Jesus, and “the very God of Peace will sanctify us wholly.” And this prosperity will be our
happiness. We shall thus walk in the light of God’s countenance, enjoy His comforting,
gladdening friendship here; be animated by a sure hope, and finally enter into the joy of the
Lord.
2. The true glory of the Church. This glory does not consist in high sounding ecclesiastical
pretensions, in pompous ritual, but in humility, holiness, stedfastness to truth, etc. Let
Christians cherish and honour the Spirit and they will secure the beauty, spirituality, and
splendour of the Church.

127. 3. The rapid diffusion of religion. As the Church becomes more holy and prayerful obstacles
will disappear, revived energy will be given and exerted and nations will be born in a day. (J.
Parsons.)
Quenching the Spirit
I. How does the Spirit influence the mind? Not by physical agency but by means of the truth. He
persuades men to act in view of truth as we influence our fellows by truth presented to their
minds. Sometimes this truth is suggested by providence, sometimes by preaching; but whatever
the mode the object always is to produce voluntary action in conformity to His law.
II. What is implied in this fact and what must be inferred from it.
1. God is physically omnipotent, and yet His moral influences exerted by His Spirit may be
resisted; but if the Spirit moved men by physical omnipotence there could be no resistance.
The nature of moral agency implies the voluntary action of one who can yield to motive and
follow light or not as he pleases. When this power does not exist moral agency cannot exist.
Hence if our action is that of moral agents, our freedom to do or not do must remain.
2. If the Lord carries forward the work by means of revealed truth there must be most
imminent danger lest some will neglect to study and understand it, or lest, knowing, they
should refuse to obey it.
III. What is it to quench the Spirit?
1. The Spirit enlightens the mind into the meaning and self-application of the Bible. Now
there is such a thing as refusing to receive this light. You can shut your eyes against it; you
can refuse to follow it when seen; and in this case God ceases to hold up the truth before
your mind.
2. There is a heat and vitality attending the truth when enforced by the Spirit. If one has the
Spirit his soul is warm; if not his heart is cold. Let a man resist the Spirit and he will
certainly quench this vital energy.
IV. The ways in which the Spirit may be quenched.
1. By directly resisting the truth He presents to the mind. After a short struggle the conflict is
over, and that particular truth ceases to affect the mind. The man felt greatly annoyed by
that truth until he quenched the Spirit; now he is annoyed by it no longer.
2. By endeavouring to support error. Men are foolish enough to attempt by argument to
support a position which they know to be false. They argue it till they get committed, and
thus quench the Spirit, and are left to believe in the very lie they unwisely attempted to
advocate.
3. By uncharitable judgments, which are so averse to that love which is the fruit of the Spirit.
4. By bad temper, harsh, and vituperative language, and intemperate excitement on any
subject whether religious or otherwise.
5. By indulging prejudice. Whenever the mind is made up on any subject before it is
thoroughly canvassed, that mind is shut against the truth and the Spirit is quenched.
6. By violating conscience. Persons have had a very tender conscience on some subject, but
all at once they come to have no conscience at all on that point. Change of conscience, of
course, often results from conscientious change of views. But sometimes the mind is
awakened just on the eve of committing a sin. A strange presentiment warns the man to

128. desist. If he goes on the whole mind receives a dreadful shock, and its very eyes seem to be
almost put out.
7. By indulging appetites and passions. These not only injure the body but the soul: and God
sometimes gives men up to them.
8. By dishonesty and sharp practices in business.
9. By casting off fear and restraining prayer.
10. By idle conversation, levity, and trifling.
11. By indolence and procrastination.
12. By resisting the doctrine and duty of sanctification.
V. The consequence of quenching the Spirit.
1. Great darkness of mind. Abandoned by God, the mind sees truth so dimly that it makes no
useful impression.
2. Great coldness and stupidity in regard to religion generally. It leaves to the mind no such
interest in spiritual things as men take in worldly things. Get up a political meeting or a
theatrical exhibition, and their souls are all on fire; but they are not at the prayer meeting.
3. Error. The heart wanders from God, loses its hold on truth, and perhaps the man insists
that he takes now a much more liberal and enlightened view of the subject, and it may be
gradually slides into infidelity.
4. Great hardness of heart. The mind becomes callous to all that class of truths which make
it yielding and tender.
5. Deep delusion with regard to one’s spiritual state. How often people justify themselves in
manifest wrong because they put darkness for light and vice versa. (C. G. Finney, D. D.)
Quenching the Spirit
Fire may be quenched—
I. By casting water on it. This is comparable to actual, wilful sin (Psa_51:1-19).
II. By spreading earth upon it. This is applied to the minding of earthly things.
1. The cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches; excess of business which not only
employs but entangles a man in the affairs of this life, by toil, scheming, speculation. The
consequence is, the powers of the soul being limited, and when full, no matter of what, they
can hold no more. As the water partakes of the quality of the soil over which it rolls, so our
minds soon acquire a sameness with the object of our affection and pursuit.
2. Certain vanities and amusements erase the boundary line which should separate the
Church from the world, and if they are not unlawful they have a tendency to destroy
spirituality and a taste for devotion.
3. Worldly and political conversation which frets the mind, genders strife, and cools
religious ardour. If we talk of that which we love best, where habitually are the thoughts and
affections of many professed Christians? Surely it becomes us to live so as to “declare plainly
that we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
III. By the separation of the parts. Apply this to our divisions.

129. 1. With what earnestness does the apostle enforce unity and cooperation among Christians!
The enemy knows the importance of this; he therefore loves to separate, and unhappily finds
too much to favour his wishes in our ignorance, prejudice, and infirmities.
2. There are some families who are quarrelling all day, and then go to prayer in the evening.
If prayer does not induce people to avoid passion, then evil tempers will make them leave off
prayer or perform it in a manner that is worse than the neglect of it.
3. One truth aids another truth, and one duty another duty. Detach private devotion from
public, or public from private, and both sustain injury. Separate practice from principle,
works from faith, or promises from commands, and you destroy the effect of the whole.
IV. By withholding fuel. A real Christian will soon feel the disadvantage of disregarding the
means of grace. You may keep in a painted fire without fuel, but not a real one. Conclusion: We
cannot quench what we have not. The exhortation, therefore, supposes the possession of the
Spirit. Yet there is a common work of the Spirit which accompanies the preaching of the Word,
the effect of which may be entirely lost. Herod heard John gladly, but he cherished a criminal
passion which destroyed all his fair beginnings. Felix heard Paul, but the trembler dismisses the
preacher for a more convenient season which never came. He afterwards conversed with the
apostle, but he never again experienced the feelings he had subdued. (W. Jay.)
Protecting the Spirit’s light
A man has lost his way in a dark and dreary mine. By the light of one candle; which he carries in
his hand, he is groping for the road to sunshine and to home. That light is essential to his safety.
The mine has many winding passages in which he may be hopelessly bewildered. Here and there
marks have been made on the rocks to point out the true path, but he cannot see them without
that light. There are many deep pits into which, if unwary, he may suddenly fall, but he cannot
avoid the danger without that. Should it go out he must soon stumble, fall, perish. Should it go
out that mine will be his tomb. How carefully he carries it! How anxiously he shields it from
sudden gusts of air, from water dropping on it, from everything that might quench it! The case
described is our own. We are like that lonely wanderer in the mine. Does he diligently keep
alight the candle on, which his life depends? Much more earnestly should we give heed to the
warning, “Quench not the Spirit.” Sin makes our road both dark and dangerous. If God gave us
no light, we should never find the way to the soul’s sunny home of holiness and heaven. We
must despair of ever reaching our Father’s house. We must perish in the darkness into which we
have wandered. But He gives us His Spirit to enlighten, guide, and cheer us. (Newman Hall, LL.
B.)
Instance of quenching the Spirit
Several years ago I was called to visit a young man who was said to be sick, and wished to see
me. Approaching him as he was lying upon his bed, I remarked that he certainly did not look as
though he was ill. He replied, “I am not sick in my body, but in my soul. I am in deep distress.”
Asking him the cause of his distress, he said, “During the revival in our Church, I have not only
resisted its influence, but I have made sport of the young converts, I have ridiculed those who
were seeking the salvation of their souls, and I feel that I have committed an unpardonable sin,
and there is no hope for me.” I said to him, “Your sins are indeed fearfully great; but if you
sincerely repent, and will now believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, He will pardon you.” I referred to
the Saviour’s compassion to the thief on the cross, and to other cases that might awaken some
hope in his mind. But everything that was said failed to reach his case. His reply to every

130. argument, or appeal, or passage of Scripture that was quoted, was the same, “There is no hope
for me.” After an earnest prayer for his salvation, and commending him to the mercy of God, I
left him. Calling the next day, I found he had passed a sleepless night, and the state of his mind
was unchanged. Again, after pointing him to the promises of the Scriptures, and praying with
him, he expressed the same feeling of utter despair. Not a ray of light crossed the dark cloud that
hung over his soul. The third day on entering his room I found him in a raging fever. His mental
agony had taken effect upon his body. Without any indications at first of physical disease he was
now lying in a most critical condition. I pointed him once more to the bleeding Saviour on the
cross, and pleaded with him at the throne of grace. But with him the harvest was passed, the
summer of hope was ended. He had quenched the Spirit, not only by his personal resistance, but
by hindering and laughing at others who were seeking to escape eternal death. The next day I
found that his reason was dethroned. His fond mother was bathing his temples with ice water.
On my addressing him, he replied in an incoherent manner. He was beyond the reach of any
gospel tidings. That night his soul passed into eternity. (Rufus W. Clark, D. D.)
The Spirit quenched
An old man came to a clergyman and said, “Sir, can a sinner of eighty years old be forgiven?”
The old man wept much while he spoke, and on the minister inquiring into his history, gave this
account of himself:—“When I was twenty one, I was awakened to know that I was a sinner, but I
got with some young men who tried to persuade me to give it up. After a while I resolved I would
put it off for ten years. I did. At the end of that time my promise came to my mind, but I felt no
great concern, and I resolved to put it off ten years more. I did, and since then the resolution has
become weaker and weaker, and now I am lost!” After talking to him kindly, the minister prayed
with him, but he said, “It will do no good. I have sinned away my day of grace;” and in this state
he soon after died.
Danger of deferring reformation
How dangerous to defer those momentous reformations which conscience is solemnly preaching
to the heart! If they are neglected, the difficulty and indisposition increase every day. The mind
is receding, degree after degree, from the warm and hopeful zone, till at last it will enter the
arctic circle and become fixed in relentless and eternal ice. (J. Foster.)
The Spirit quenched
A few months ago in New York a physician called upon a young man who was ill. He sat for a
little by the bedside examining his patient, and then he honestly told him the sad intelligence
that he had but a short time to live. The young man was astonished; he did not expect it would
come to that so soon. He forgot that death comes “in such an hour as ye think not.” At length he
looked up in the face of the doctor and, with a most despairing countenance, repeated the
expression: “I have missed it—at last.” “What have you missed?” inquired the tender-hearted,
sympathizing physician. “I have missed it—at last,” again the young man replied. The doctor, not
in the least comprehending what the poor young man meant, said: “My dear young man, will
you be so good as to tell me what you—?” He instantly interrupted, saying: “Oh! doctor, it is a
sad story—a sad—sad story that I have to tell. But I have missed it.” “Missed what?” “Doctor, I
have missed the salvation of my soul.” “Oh! say not so. It is not so. Do you remember the thief
on the cross?” “Yes, I remember the thief on the cross. And I remember that he never said to the
Holy Spirit—Go Thy way. But I did. And now He is saying to me: Go your way.” He lay gasping
awhile, and looking up with a vacant, staring eye, he said: “I was awakened and was anxious

131. about my soul a little time ago. But I did not want religion then. Something seemed to say to me,
Don’t postpone it. I knew I ought not to do it. I knew I was a great sinner, and needed a Saviour.
I resolved, however, to dismiss the subject for the present; yet I could not get my own consent to
do it until I had promised that I would take it up again at a time not remote, and more
favourable. I bargained away, insulted and grieved the Holy Spirit. I never thought of coming to
this. I meant to have religion, and make my salvation sure; and now I have missed it—at last.”
“You remember,” said the doctor, “that there were some who came at the eleventh hour.” “My
eleventh hour,” he rejoined, “was when I had that call of the Spirit; I have had none since—shall
not have. I am given over to be lost.” “Not lost,” said the doctor; “you may yet be saved.” “No, not
saved—never! He tells me I may go my way now; I know it—I feel it here,” laying his hand upon
his heart. Then he burst out in despairing agony: “Oh, I have missed it! I have sold my soul for
nothing—a feather—a straw; undone forever!” This was said with such unutterable,
indescribable despondency, that no words were said in reply. After lying a few moments, he
raised his head, and, looking all around the rooms as if for some desired object, turning his eyes
in every direction, then burying his face in the pillow, he again exclaimed, in agony and horror:
“Oh, I have missed it at last!” and he died. (D. L. Moody.)
The coated heart
I heard a few nights ago that if you take a bit of phosphorus, and put it upon a slip of wood, and
ignite the phosphorus, bright as the blaze is, there drops from it a white ash that coats the wood
and makes it almost impossible to kindle the wood. And so when the flaming conviction laid
upon your hearts has burnt itself out, it has coated the heart and it will be very difficult to kindle
the light there again. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Self-destroyed
When some poor distracted one in Paris determines to lift his hand against his own life, he
begins by stopping up every nook and cranny in the room which lets in the sweet air of heaven.
He closes the door, he closes the windows, he fills in every hole, one by one, before he kindles
that fatal fire which by its fumes is to bring destruction. So it is when men deny the Spirit and
quench the Spirit. They may not know it, for the madness of sin is upon them, but none the less
is it true that one after another they close those avenues by which He might enter to save them,
until God can do no more than stated apart in judgment, as over Ephraim of old, saying, “O
Ephraim, thou hast destroyed thyself.” (W. Baxendale.)
20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt

132. 1.BARNES, “Despise not prophesyings - On the subject of prophesyings in the early
Christian church, see the notes on 1Co_14:1 ff1 ff. The reference here seems to be to preaching.
They were not to undervalue it in comparison with other things. It is possible that in
Thessalonica, as appears to have been the case subsequently in Corinth (compare 1Co_14:19),
there were those who regarded the power of working miracles, or of speaking in unknown
tongues, as a much more eminent endowment than that of stating the truths of religion in
language easily understood. It would not be unnatural that comparisons should be made
between these two classes of endowments, much to the disadvantage of the latter; and hence
may have arisen this solemn caution not to disregard or despise the ability to make known
divine truth in intelligible language. A similar counsel may not be inapplicable to us now. The
office of setting forth the truth of God is to be the permanent office in the church; that of
speaking foreign languages by miraculous endowment, was to be temporary. But the office of
addressing mankind on the great duties of religion, and of publishing salvation, is to be God’s
great ordinance for converting the world. It should not be despised, and no man commends his
own wisdom who contemns it - for:
(1) It is God’s appointment - the means which he has designated for saving people.
(2) It has too much to entitle it to respect to make it proper to despise or contemn it. There is
nothing else that has so much power over mankind as the preaching of the gospel; there is no
other institution of heaven or earth among people that is destined to exert so wide and
permanent an influence as the Christian ministry.
(3) It is an influence which is wholly good. No man is made the poorer, or the less respectable,
or more miserable in life or in death, by following the counsels of a minister of Christ when he
makes known the gospel.
(4) He who despises it contemns that which is designed to promote his own welfare, and
which is indispensable for his salvation. It remains yet to be shown that any man has promoted
his own happiness, or the welfare of his family, by affecting to treat with contempt the
instructions of the Christian ministry.
2. CLARKE, “Despise not prophesyings - Do not suppose that ye have no need of
continual instruction; without it ye cannot preserve the Christian life, nor go on to perfection.
God will ever send a message of salvation by each of his ministers to every faithful, attentive
hearer. Do not suppose that ye are already wise enough; you are no more wise enough than you
are holy enough. They who slight or neglect the means of grace, and especially the preaching of
God’s holy word, are generally vain, empty, self-conceited people, and exceedingly superficial
both in knowledge and piety.
3. GILL, “Despise not prophesyings. Or "prophecies"; the prophecies of the Old Testament
concerning the first coming of Christ, concerning his person, office, and work, his obedience,
sufferings, and death, his resurrection from the dead, ascension and session at God's right hand;
for though all these are fulfilled, yet they have still their usefulness; for by comparing these with
facts, the perfections of God, his omniscience, truth, faithfulness, wisdom, &c. are
demonstrated, the authority of the Scriptures established, the truths of the Gospel illustrated
and confirmed, and faith strengthened; and besides, there are many prophecies which regard
things to be done, and yet to be done under the Gospel dispensation, and therefore should not

133. be set at nought, but highly valued and esteemed: also the predictions of Christ concerning his
own sufferings and death, and resurrection from the dead, and what would befall his disciples
afterwards, with many things relating to the destruction of Jerusalem, his second coming, and
the end of the world, these should be had in great esteem; nor should what the apostles foretold
concerning the rise of antichrist, the man of sin, and the apostasy of the latter days, and the
whole book of the Revelations, which is no other than a prophecy of the state of the church, from
the times of the apostles to the end of the world, be treated with neglect and contempt, but
should be seriously considered, and diligently searched and inquired into. Yea, the prophecies of
private men, such as Agabus, and others, in the apostle's time, and in later ages, are not to be
slighted; though instances of this kind are rare in our times, and things of this nature should not
be precipitantly, and without care, given into: but rather prophesyings here intend the
explanation of Scripture, and the preaching of the word, and particularly by persons who had
not the gift of tongues, and therefore men were apt to despise them; see 1Co_13:2. Just as in our
days, if persons have not had a liberal education, and do not understand Latin, Greek, and
Hebrew, though they have ministerial gifts, and are capable of explaining the word to edification
and comfort, yet are set at nought and rejected, which should not be.
4. HENRY, “Despise not prophesyings (1Th_5:20); for, if we neglect the means of grace, we
forfeit the Spirit of grace. By prophesyings here we are to understand the preaching of the word,
the interpreting and applying of the scriptures; and this we must not despise, but should prize
and value, because it is the ordinance of God, appointed of him for our furtherance and increase
in knowledge and grace, in holiness and comfort. We must not despise preaching, though it be
plain, and not with enticing words of men's wisdom, and though we be told no more than what
we knew before. It is useful, and many times needful, to have our minds stirred up, our
affections and resolutions excited, to those things that we knew before to be our interest and our
duty.
5, JAMISON, “prophesyings — whether exercised in inspired teaching, or in predicting the
future. “Despised” by some as beneath “tongues,” which seemed most miraculous; therefore
declared by Paul to be a greater gift than tongues, though the latter were more showy
(1Co_14:5).
6. CALVIN, “20Despise not prophesyings. This sentence is appropriately added to the preceding one,
for as the Spirit of God illuminates us chiefly by doctrine, those who give not teaching its proper place, do,
so far as in them lies, quench the Spirit, for we must always consider in what manner or by what means
God designs to communicate himself to us. Let every one, therefore, who is desirous to make progress
under the direction of the Holy Spirit, allow himself to be taught by the ministry of prophets.
By the term prophecy, however, I do not understand the gift of foretelling the future, but as in 1Co_14:3,
the science of interpreting Scripture, (611) so that a prophet is an interpreter of the will of God. For Paul, in
the passage which I have quoted, assigns to prophets teaching for edification, exhortation,
and consolation, and enumerates, as it were, these departments. Let, therefore, prophecy in this passage
be understood as meaning — interpretation made suitable to present use. (612) Paul prohibits us
from despising it, if we would not choose of our own accord to wander in darkness.

134. The statement, however, is a remarkable one, for the commendation of external preaching. It is the
dream of fanatics, that those are children who continue to employ themselves in the reading of the
Scripture, or the hearing of the word, as if no one were spiritual, unless he is a despiser of doctrine. They
proudly, therefore, despise the ministry of man, nay, even Scripture itself, that they may attain the Spirit.
Farther, whatever delusions Satan suggests to them, (613) they presumptuously set forth as secret
revelations of the Spirit. Such are the Libertines, (614) and other furies of that stamp. And the more
ignorant that any one is, he is puffed up and swollen out with so much the greater arrogance. Let us,
however, learn from the example of Paul, to conjoin the Spirit with the voice of men, which is nothing else
than his organ. (615)
(611) See Calvin on the Corinthians, vol. 1, p. 415, 436.
(612) “Interpretation de l’ applicquee proprement selon le temps, les personnes, et les choses presentes;”
— “ of Scripture properly applied, according to time, persons, and things present.”
(613) “Leur souffle aux aureilles;” — “ into their ears.”
(614) See Calvin on the Corinthians, vol. 2, p. 7, n. 3.
(615) “L’ et instrument d’;” — “ organ and instrument.”
7. BI, “Despise not prophesyings
I. What prophesyings?.
1. The Scriptures written (2Pe_1:20-21; 2Ti_3:16).
(1) The truths asserted (Act_26:27).
(2) Commands enjoined (Mar_7:8-9).
(3) Promises made (Rom_4:20).
(4) Threatenings denounced (Pro_1:30; Amo_3:8).
2. The Scriptures preached (1Co_14:1-3), which they despise—
(1) Who do not come to hear them (Luk_4:16).
(2) Who do not regard what they have heard (Luk_4:20).
(3) Who do not practice what they hear commanded (Lev_26:15; Joh_13:17).
II. Why not despise them?
1. They are the Word of God (chap. 2:13).
2. They that despise them despise Him (Luk_10:16).
3. If we despise the Word we may be justly deprived of it.
4. If we despise His Word God will despise us (1Sa_2:30; Pro_1:25; Pro_1:28).

135. 5. By so doing we render it ineffectual to ourselves (Heb_4:2). (Bp. Beveridge.)
Despise not prophesyings
Prophesying in the ordinary sense means the foretelling of future events. Here the term denotes
exposition of the Scriptures.
1. Because some who do not despise the office itself may be disposed to cast contempt on
particular ministers, Paul forbids a Contempt of prophesyings in general, lest by particular
instances of neglect the office itself should be brought into disrepute. Ministers have peculiar
gifts. One is learned, another eloquent, another argumentative, etc., but there is no faithful
minister, whatever his gifts, from whom we may not reap some advantage. Those who hear
with prejudice will never hear with profit, let the preacher be who he may.
2. But the apostle forbids us to despise prophesyings, intimating that an undervaluing of the
one will lead to a contempt of the other. For our own sakes we are to receive the message, for
His sake who sent him the messenger. Lydia’s heart was open to the one, and her house to
the other.
I. The caution. Ministers are required to magnify their office, and to so discharge their duties as
to preserve it from contempt (1Co_14:39). The exhortation, however, applies more particularly
to hearers. Whatever be our attainments there is always room for improvement. Those despise
prophesyings who—
1. Refuse attendance upon a preached gospel. Some are so openly profane as to make the
Sabbath a day of worldly business or indulgence. Others pretend that they can profit more by
prayer and meditation at home. Those who in former times forsook the assembling of
themselves together, as the manner of some now is, did so from fear. But whatever the cause,
such souls famish and are accessory to their own destruction. “Woe is me,” says Paul, “if I
preach not the gospel”; and woe is the man who refuses to hear it (Pro_28:9; 1Co_9:16).
2. Attend the gospel but with improper disposition. Part of their time is spent in drowsiness
or trifling inattention, observing their neighbours instead of the preacher. Hence when they
come home they can tell more of what passed in the seats than in the pulpit. Others are not
contented with plain truths; wholesome truths must be garnished to their taste. Paul
represents such as having “itching ears”; and though they “heap to themselves teachers”
running from one church to another, they get but little good.
3. Are apparently serious in their attendance on the Word, but who neither receive it in love,
mix it with faith, nor reduce it to practice (Eze_33:31-32). The gospel is also despised when
it is attended to for unworthy purposes: to hide some iniquity, to silence conscience, to raise
our reputation, or promote our worldly interest (2Pe_2:1-2).
II. The reasons.
1. The weakness or wickedness of those who dispense the Word of God.
2. Familiarity on the part of the hearer. Scarcity creates a longing, but plenty breeds
contempt. The Word of God is “precious” when it is scarce.
3. Insensibility and unbelief. Sinners are at ease in their sins and love to be so.
4. Profaneness and desperate wickedness. The Word reproves such, and they cannot bear it.
Knowledge aggravates sin and raises a tempest in the soul.

136. III. The sin and danger. None but fools despise wisdom, and to despise the wisdom that cometh
from above is still more dangerous presumption (Pro_1:7; Jer_11:10-11). Those who despise
prophesyings—
1. Despise what God has honoured and will continue to honour (Isa_55:10-11).
2. Are guilty of despising the Divine authority (1Th_4:8).
3. Injure their own souls (Pro_8:34-36).
4. Will bring down contempt at length upon their own heads (Psa_50:22; Heb_12:25). (B.
Beddome, M. A.)
Careless listening
Father is ill and cannot go to church. Daughter, who has spent three years at a boarding school
and is a communicant and a teacher in the Sabbath school, enters. “Well, Mary, did you have a
good sermon this morning?” “Yes, splendid; I never heard Dr. X. preach better.” “What was the
text?” “Oh, I don’t remember! I never could keep texts in mind, you know.” “What was the
subject? Don’t you remember it or some of the ideas?” “No, papa, but I remember a beautiful
figure about a bird soaring up into the air. Why, I could almost see it and hear its song!” “Well,
what did he illustrate by the flight of the bird?” “Let me see. It was something about faith, or
about going to heaven. I can’t just recall now what it was, but the figure was splendid.” And the
father is satisfied. Why shouldn’t he be? That was the kind of listening to sermons that he taught
her by his own example. If he had heard it he could not have made a better report unless there
had been something in it about politics or the news of the day. We are losing the habit of
attention and the use of the memory in the house of God. The story of the Scotch woman and the
wool has comforted a great many careless and forgetful hearers of the Word. When criticized for
claiming to have enjoyed a sermon, and to have been edified by it, though she could not
remember a single idea in it, or even the text, she held up the fleece she had just washed, wrung
it dry, and said: “Don’t you see the water is all gone, and yet the wool is clean. So the sermon is
all gone, but in passing through my mind, as I listened, it did me good.” We think that hers was
an exceptional case. We don’t believe in cleansing hearts as she cleansed wool. The Saviour said,
“If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you.” And Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “By which
also (the gospel he preached) ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you.” He
evidently had no faith in the saving power of truth that merely rippled on the ear like water over
a rock.
8. EBC, “THE SPIRIT
THESE verses are abruptly introduced, but are not unconnected with what precedes. The
Apostle has spoken of order and discipline, and of the joyful and devout temper which should
characterise the Christian Church; and here he comes to speak of that Spirit in which the Church
lives, and moves, and has her being. The presence of the Spirit is, of course, presupposed in all
that he has said already: how could men, except by His help, "rejoice alway, pray without
ceasing, and in everything give thanks"? But there are other manifestations of the Spirit’s power,
of a more precise and definite character, and it is with these we have here to do.
Spiritus ubi est, ardet. When the Holy Spirit descended on the Church at Pentecost, "there
appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them";
and their lips were open to declare the mighty works of God. A man who has received this great
gift is described as fervent, literally, boiling (ζεων) with the Spirit. The new birth in those early

137. days was a new birth; it kindled in the soul thoughts and feelings to which it had hitherto been
strange; it brought with it the consciousness of new powers; a new vision of God; a new love of
holiness; a new insight into the Holy Scriptures, and into the meaning of man’s life; often a new
power of ardent, passionate speech. In the First Epistle to the Corinthians Paul describes a
primitive Christian congregation. There was not one silent among them. When they came
together everyone had a psalm, a revelation, a prophecy, an interpretation. The manifestation of
the Spirit had been given to each one to profit withal; and on all hands the spiritual fire was
ready to flame forth. Conversion to the Christian faith, the acceptance of the apostolic gospel,
was not a thing which made little difference to men: it convulsed their whole nature to its
depths; they were never the same again; they were new creatures, with a new life in them, all
fervour and flame.
A state so unlike nature, in the ordinary sense of the term, was sure to have its inconveniences.
The Christian, even when he had received the gift of the Holy Ghost, was still a man; and as
likely as not a man who had to struggle against vanity, folly, ambition, and selfishness of all
kinds. His enthusiasm might even seem, in the first instance, to aggravate, instead of removing,
his natural faults. It might drive him to speak-for in a primitive church anybody who pleased
might speak-when it would have been better for him to be silent. It might lead him to break out
in prayer or praise or exhortation, in a style which made the wise sigh. And for those reasons the
wise, and such as thought themselves wise, would be apt to discourage the exercise of spiritual
gifts altogether. "Contain yourself," they would say to the man whose heart burned within him,
and who was restless till the flame could leap out; "contain yourself; exercise a little self-control;
it is unworthy of a rational being to be carried away in this fashion."
No doubt situations like this were common in the church at Thessalonica. They are produced
inevitably by differences of age and of temperament. The old and the phlegmatic are a natural,
and, doubtless, a providential, counterweight to the young and sanguine. But the wisdom which
comes of experience and of temperament has its disadvantages as compared with fervour of
spirit. It is cold and unenthusiastic; it cannot propagate itself; it cannot set fire to anything and
spread. And because it is under this incapacity of kindling the souls of men into enthusiasm, it is
forbidden to pour cold water on such enthusiasm when it breaks forth in words of fire. That is
the meaning of "Quench not the Spirit." The commandment presupposes that the Spirit can be
quenched. Cold looks, contemptuous words, silence, studied disregard, go a long way to quench
it. So does unsympathetic criticism.
Everyone knows that a fire smokes most when it is newly kindled; but the way to get rid of the
smoke is not to pour cold water on the fire, but to let it burn itself clear. If you are wise enough
you may even help it to burn itself clear, by rearranging the materials, or securing a better
draught; but the wisest thing most people can do when the fire has got hold is to let it alone; and
that is also the wise course for most when they meet with a disciple whose zeal burns like fire.
Very likely the smoke hurts their eyes; but the smoke will soon pass by; and it may well be
tolerated in the meantime for the sake of the heat. For this apostolic precept takes for granted
that fervour of spirit, a Christian enthusiasm for what is good, is the best thing in the world. It
may be untaught and inexperienced; it may have all its mistakes to make; it may be wonderfully
blind to the limitations which the stern necessities of life put upon the generous hopes of man:
but it is of God; it is expansive; it is contagious; it is worth more as a spiritual force than all the
wisdom in the world.
I have hinted at ways in which the Spirit is quenched; it is sad to reflect that from one point of
view the history of the Church is a long series of transgressions of this precept, checked by an
equally long series of rebellions of the Spirit. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is," the Apostle tells
us elsewhere, "there is liberty." But liberty in a society has its dangers; it is, to a certain extent, at
war with order; and the guardians of order are not apt to be too considerate of it. Hence it came

138. to pass that at a very early period, and in the interests of good order, the freedom of the Spirit
was summarily suppressed in the Church. "The gift of ruling," it has been said, "like Aaron’s rod,
seemed to swallow up the other gifts." The rulers of the Church became a class entirely apart
from its ordinary members, and all exercise of spiritual gifts for the building up of the Church
was confined to them. Nay, the monstrous idea was originated, and taught as a dogma, that they
alone were the depositaries, or, as it is sometimes said, the custodians, of the grace and truth of
the gospel; only through them could men come into contact with the Holy Ghost. In plain
English, the Spirit was quenched when Christians met for worship. One great extinguisher was
placed over the flame that burned in the hearts of the brethren; it was not allowed to show itself;
it must not disturb, by its eruption in praise or prayer or fiery exhortation, the decency and
order of divine service. I say that was the condition to which Christian worship was reduced at a
very early period; and it is unhappily the condition in which, for the most part, it subsists at this
moment. Do you think we are gainers by it? I do not believe it. It has always come from time to
time to be intolerable. The Montanists of the second century, the heretical sects of the Middle
Ages, the Independents and Quakers of the English Commonwealth, the lay preachers of
Wesleyanism, the Salvationists, the Plymouthists, and the Evangelistic associations of our own
day, -all these are in various degrees the protest of the Spirit, and its right and necessary protest,
against the authority which would quench it, and by quenching it impoverish the Church. In
many Nonconformist churches there is a movement just now in favour of a liturgy. A liturgy may
indeed be a defence against the coldness and incompetence of the one man to whom the whole
conduct of public worship is at present left; but our true refuge is not this mechanical one, but
the opening of the mouths of all Christian people. A liturgy, however beautiful, is a melancholy
witness to the quenching of the Spirit: it may be better or worse than the prayers of one man;
but it could never compare for fervour with the spontaneous prayers of a living Church.
Among the gifts of the Spirit, that which the Apostle valued most highly was prophecy. We read
in the Book of Acts of prophets, like Agabus, who foretold future events affecting the fortunes of
the gospel, and possibly at Thessalonica the minds of those who were spiritually gifted were
preoccupied with thoughts of the Lord’s coming, and made it the subject of their discourses in
the Church; but there is no necessary limitation of this sort in the idea of prophesying. The
prophet was a man whose rational and moral nature had been quickened by the Spirit of Christ,
and who possessed in an uncommon degree the power of speaking edification, exhortation, and
comfort. In other words, he was a Christian preacher, endued with wisdom, fervour, and
tenderness; and his spiritual addresses were among the Lord’s best gifts to the Church. Such
addresses, or prophesyings, Paul tells us, we are not to despise.
Now despise is a strong word; it is, literally, to set utterly at naught, as Herod set at naught
Jesus, when he clothed Him in purple, or as the Pharisees set at naught the publicans, even
when they came into the Temple to pray. Of course, prophecy, or, to speak in the language of our
own time, the preacher’s calling, may be abused: a man may preach without a message, without
sincerity, without reverence for God or respect for those to whom he speaks, he may make a
mystery, a professional secret, of the truth of God, instead of declaring it even to little children;
he may seek, as some who called themselves prophets in early times sought, to make the
profession of godliness a source of gain; and under such circumstances no respect is due. But
such circumstances are not to be assumed without cause. We are rather to assume that he who
stands up in the Church to speak in God’s name has had a word of God entrusted to him; it is
not wise to despise it before it is heard. It may be because we have been so often disappointed
that we pitch our hopes so low; but to expect nothing is to be guilty of a sort of contempt by
anticipation. To despise not prophesyings requires us to look for something from the preacher,
some word of God that will build us up in godliness, or bring us encouragement or consolation;
it requires us to listen as those who have a precious opportunity given them of being
strengthened by Divine grace and truth. We ought not to lounge or fidget while the word of God

139. is spoken, or to turn over the leaves of the Bible at random, or to look at the clock; we ought to
hearken for that word which God has put into the preacher’s mouth for us; and it will be a very
exceptional prophesying in which there is not a single thought that it would repay us to consider.
When the Apostle claimed respect for the Christian preacher, he did not claim infallibility. That
is plain from what follows, for all the words are connected. Despise not prophesyings, but put all
things to the test, that is, all the contents of the prophesying, all the utterances of the Christian
man whose spiritual ardour has urged him to speak. We may remark in passing that this
injunction prohibits all passive listening to the word. Many people prefer this. They come to
church, not to be taught, not to exercise any faculty of discernment or testing at all, but to be
impressed. They like to be played upon, and to have their feelings moved by a tender or
vehement address; it is an easy way of coming into apparent contact with good. But the Apostle
here counsels a different attitude. We are to put to the proof all that the preacher says.
This is a favorite text with Protestants, and especially with Protestants of an extreme type. It has
been called "a piece of most rationalistic advice"; it has been said to imply "that every man has a
verifying faculty, whereby to judge of facts and doctrines, and to decide between right and
wrong, truth and falsehood." But this is a most unconsidered extension to give to the Apostle’s
words. He does not say a word about every man; he is speaking expressly to the Thessalonians,
who were Christian men. He would not have admitted that any man who came in from the
street, and constituted himself a judge, was competent to pronounce upon the contents of the
prophesyings, and to say which of the burning words were spiritually sound, and which were
not. On the contrary, he tells us very plainly that some men have no capacity for this task-"The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit"; and that even in the Christian Church, where
all are to some extent spiritual, some have this faculty of discernment in a much higher degree
than others. In 1Co_12:10, "discernment of spirits," this power of distinguishing in spiritual
discourse between the gold and that which merely glitters, is itself represented as a distinct
spiritual gift; and in a later chapter he says, (1Co_14:29) "Let the prophets speak by two or
three, and let the others" (that is, in all probability, the other prophets) "discern." I do not say
this to deprecate the judgment of the wise, but to deprecate rash and hasty judgment. A heathen
man is no judge of Christian truth; neither is a man with a bad conscience, and an unrepented
sin in his heart; neither is a flippant man, who has never been awed by the majestic holiness and
love of Jesus Christ, -all these are simply out of court. But the Christian preacher who stands up
in the presence of his brethren knows, and rejoices, that he is in the presence of those who can
put what he says to the proof. They are his brethren; they are in the same communion of all the
saints with Christ Jesus; the same Christian tradition has formed, and the same Christian spirit
animates, their conscience; their power to prove his words is a safeguard both to them and to
him.
And it is necessary that they should prove them. No man is perfect, not the most devout and
enthusiastic of Christians. In his most spiritual utterances something of himself will very
naturally mingle; there will be chaff among the wheat; wood, hay, and stubble in the material he
brings to build up the Church, as well as gold, silver, and precious stones. That is not a reason
for refusing to listen; it is a reason for listening earnestly, conscientiously, and with much
forbearance. There is a responsibility laid upon each of us, a responsibility laid upon the
Christian conscience of every congregation and of the Church at large, to put prophesyings to
the proof. Words that are spiritually unsound, that are out of tune with the revelation of God in
Christ Jesus, ought to be discovered when they are spoken in the Church. No man with any idea
of modesty, to say nothing of humility, could wish it otherwise. And here, again, we have to
regret the quenching of the Spirit. We have all heard the sermon criticised when the preacher
could not get the benefit; but have we often heard it spiritually judged, so that he, as well as
those who listened to him, is edified, comforted, and encouraged? The preacher has as much
need of the word as his hearers; if there is a service which God enables him to do for them, in

140. enlightening their minds or fortifying their wills, there is a corresponding service when they can
do for him. An open meeting, a liberty of prophesying, a gathering in which any one could speak
as the Spirit gave him utterance, is one of the crying needs of the modern Church.
Let us notice, however, the purpose of this testing of prophecy. Despise not such utterances, the
Apostle says, but prove all; hold fast that which is good, and hold off from every evil kind. There
is a curious circumstance connected with these short verses. Many of the fathers of the Church
connect them with what they consider a saying of Jesus, one of the few which is reasonably
attested, though it has failed to find a place in the written gospels. The saying is, "Show
yourselves approved money changers." The fathers believed, and on such a point they were
likely to be better judges than we, that in the verses before us the Apostle uses a metaphor from
coinage. To prove is really to assay, to put to the test as a banker tests a piece of money; the word
rendered "good" is often the equivalent of our sterling; "evil," of our base or forged; and the
word which in our old Bibles is rendered "appearance"-"Abstain from all appearance of evil"-
and in the Revised Version "form"-"Abstain from every form of evil"-has, at least in some
connections, the signification of mint or die. If we bring out this faded metaphor in its original
freshness, it will run something like this: Show yourselves skilful money changers; do not accept
in blind trust all the spiritual currency which you find in circulation; put it all to the test; rub it
on the touchstone; keep hold of what is genuine and of sterling value, but every spurious coin
decline. Whether the metaphor is in the text or not, -and in spite of a great preponderance of
learned names against it, I feel almost certain it is, -it will help to fix the Apostle’s exhortation in
our memories. There is no scarcity, at this moment, of spiritual currency. We are deluged with
books and spoken words about Christ and the gospel. It is idle and unprofitable, nay, it is
positively pernicious, to open our minds promiscuously to them, to give equal and impartial
lodging to them all. There is a distinction to be made between the true and the false, between the
sterling and the spurious; and till we put ourselves to the trouble to make that distinction, we
are not likely to advance very far. How would a man get on in business who could not tell good
money from bad? And how is any one to grow in the Christian life whose mind and conscience
are not earnestly put to it to distinguish between what is in reality Christian and what is not, and
to hold to the one and reject the other? A critic of sermons is apt to forget the practical purpose
of the discernment here spoken of. He is apt to think it his function to pick holes. "Oh," he says,
"such and such a statement is utterly misleading: the preacher was simply in the air; he did not
know what he was talking about." Very possibly; and if you have found out such an unsound idea
in the sermon, be brotherly, and let the preacher know. But do not forget the first and main
purpose of spiritual judgment-hold fast that which is good. God forbid that you should have no
gain out of the sermon except to discover the preacher going astray. Who would think to make
his fortune only by detecting base coin?
In conclusion, let us recall to our minds the touchstone which the Apostle himself supplies for
this spiritual assaying. "No one," he writes to the Corinthians, "can say Jesus is Lord except by
the Holy Ghost." In other words, whatever is spoken in the Holy Ghost, and is therefore spiritual
and true, has this characteristic, this purpose and result, that it exalts Jesus. The Christian
Church, that community which embodies spiritual life, has this watchword on its banner, "Jesus
is Lord." That presupposes, in the New Testament sense of it, the Resurrection and the
Ascension; it signifies the sovereignty of the Son of Man. Everything is genuine in the Church
which bears on it the stamp of Christ’s exaltation; everything is spurious and to be rejected
which calls that in question. It is the practical recognition of that sovereignty-the surrender of
thought, heart, will, and life to Jesus-which constitutes the spiritual man, and gives competence
to judge of spiritual things. He in whom Christ reigns judges in all spiritual things, and is judged
by no man; but he who is a rebel to Christ, who does not wear His yoke, who has not learned of
Him by obedience, who assumes the attitude of equality, and thinks himself at liberty to
negotiate and treat with Christ, he has no competence, and no right to judge at all. "Unto Him

141. that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by His blood; to Him be the glory and the dominion
forever and ever. Amen."
21 but test them all; hold on to what is good,
1.BARNES, “Prove all things - Subject everything submitted to you to be believed to the
proper test. The word here used (δοκιµάζετε dokimazete), is one that is properly applicable to
metals, referring to the art of the assayer, by which the true nature and value of the metal is
tested; see notes, 1Co_3:13. This trial was usually made by fire. The meaning here is, that they
were carefully to examine everything proposed for their belief. They were not to receive it on
trust; to take it on assertion; to believe it because it was urged with vehemence, zeal, or
plausibility. In the various opinions and doctrines which were submitted to them for adoption,
they were to apply the appropriate tests from reason and the word of God, and what they found
to be true they were to embrace; what was false they were to reject. Christianity does not require
people to disregard their reason, or to be credulous. It does not expect them to believe anything
because others say it is so. It does not make it a duty to receive as undoubted truth all that
synods and councils have decreed; or all that is advanced by the ministers of religion. It is, more
than any other form of religion, the friend of free inquiry, and would lead people everywhere to
understand the reason of the opinions which they entertain; compare Act_17:11-12; 1Pe_3:15.
Hold fast that which is good - Which is in accordance with reason and the word of God;
which is adapted to promote the salvation of the soul and the welfare of society. This is just as
much a duty as it is to “prove all things.” A man who has applied the proper tests, and has found
out what is truth, is bound to embrace it and to hold it fast. He is not at liberty to throw it away,
as if it were valueless; or to treat truth and falsehood alike. It is a duty which he owes to himself
and to God to adhere to it firmly, and to suffer the loss of all things rather than to abandon it.
There are few more important rules in the New Testament than the one in this passage. It shows
what is the true nature of Christianity, and it is a rule whose practical value cannot but be felt
constantly in our lives. Other religions require their votaries to receive everything upon trust;
Christianity asks us to examine everything.
Error, superstition, bigotry, and fanaticism attempt to repress free discussion, by saying that
there are certain things which are too sacred in their nature, or which have been too long held,
or which are sanctioned by too many great and holy names, to permit their being subjected to
the scrutiny of common eyes, or to be handled by common hands. In opposition to all this,
Christianity requires us to examine everything - no matter by whom held; by what councils
ordained; by what venerableness of antiquity sustained; or by what sacredness it may be
invested. We are to receive no opinion until we are convinced that it is true; we are to be
subjected to no pains or penalties for not believing what we do not perceive to be true; we are to
be prohibited from examining no opinion which our fellow-men regard as true, and which they
seek to make others believe. No popular current in favor of any doctrine; no influence which
name and rank and learning can give it, is to commend it to us as certainly worthy of our belief.

142. By whomsoever held, we are to examine it freely before we embrace it; but when we are
convinced that it is true, it is to be held, no matter what current of popular opinion or prejudice
maybe against it; no matter what ridicule may be poured upon it; and no matter though the
belief of it may require us to die a martyr’s death.
2. CLARKE, “Prove all things - Whatever ye hear in these prophesyings or preachings,
examine by the words of Christ, and by the doctrines which, from time to time, we have
delivered unto you in our preaching and writings. Try the spirits - the different teachers, by the
word of God.
Hold fast that which is good - Whatever in these prophesyings has a tendency to increase
your faith, love, holiness, and usefulness, that receive and hold fast. There were prophets or
teachers even at that time who professed to be of God, and yet were not.
3. GILL, “Prove all things,.... That are said by the prophets, all the doctrines which they
deliver; hear them, though they have not the gift of tongues, and all desirable advantages; do not
reject them on that account, and refuse to hear them, for so, many useful men may be laid aside,
and the Spirit of God in them be quenched; try their gifts, and attend to their doctrines, yet do
not implicitly believe everything they say, but examine them according to the word of God the
test and standard of truth; search the Scriptures, whether the things they say are true or not. Not
openly erroneous persons, and known heretics, are to be heard and attended on, but the
ministers of the word, or such who are said to have a gift of prophesying; these should make use
of it, and the church should try and judge their gift, and accordingly encourage or discourage;
and also their doctrines, and if false reject them, and if true receive them.
Hold fast that which is good; honest, pleasant, profitable, and agreeable to sound doctrine,
to the analogy of faith, and the Scriptures of truth, and is useful and edifying, instructive both as
to principle and practice; such should be held fast, that no man take it away; and be retained,
though a majority may be against it, for the multitude is not always on the side of truth; and
though it may be rejected by men of learning and wealth, as Christ and his doctrines were
rejected by the Scribes and Pharisees, and rulers of the people; and though it may be reproached
as a novel, upstart notion, or a licentious one, since these were charges against the doctrine of
Christ, and his apostles; and though it may be attended with affliction and persecution, yet none
of these things should move from it, or cause to let it go.
4. HENRY, “Prove all things, but hold fast that which is good, 1Th_5:21. This is a needful
caution, to prove all things; for, though we must put a value on preaching, we must not take
things upon trust from the preacher, but try them by the law and the testimony. We must search
the scriptures, whether what they say be true or not. We must not believe every spirit, but must
try the spirits. But we must not be always trying, always unsettled; no, at length we must be
settled, and hold fast that which is good. When we are satisfied that any thing is right, and true,
and good, we must hold it fast, and not let it go, whatever opposition or whatever persecution we
meet with for the sake thereof. Note, The doctrines of human infallibility, implicit faith, and
blind obedience, are not the doctrines of the Bible. Every Christian has and ought to have, the
judgment of discretion, and should have his senses exercised in discerning between good and
evil, truth and falsehood, Heb_5:13, Heb_5:14. And proving all things must be in order to

143. holding fast that which is good. We must not always be seekers, or fluctuating in our minds, like
children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. 7
5, JAMISON, “Some of the oldest manuscripts insert “But.” You ought indeed not to
“quench” the manifestations of “the Spirit,” nor “despise prophesyings”; “but,” at the same time,
do not take “all” as genuine which professes to be so; “prove (test) all” such manifestations. The
means of testing them existed in the Church, in those who had the “discerning of spirits”
(1Co_12:10; 1Co_14:29; 1Jo_4:1). Another sure test, which we also have, is, to try the professed
revelation whether it accords with Scripture, as the noble Bereans did (Isa_8:20; Act_17:11;
Gal_1:8, Gal_1:9). This precept negatives the Romish priest’s assumption of infallibly laying
down the law, without the laity having the right, in the exercise of private judgment, to test it by
Scripture. Locke says, Those who are for laying aside reason in matters of revelation, resemble
one who would put out his eyes in order to use a telescope.
hold fast that which is good — Join this clause with the next clause (1Th_5:22), not
merely with the sentence preceding. As the result of your “proving all things,” and especially all
prophesyings, “hold fast (Luk_8:15; 1Co_11:2; Heb_2:1) the good, and hold yourselves aloof
from every appearance of evil” (“every evil species” [Bengel and Wahl]). Do not accept even a
professedly spirit-inspired communication, if it be at variance with the truth taught you
(2Th_2:2).
6. CALVIN, “21Prove all things. As rash men and deceiving spirits frequently pass off their trifles under
the name of prophecy, prophecy might by this means be rendered suspicious or even odious, just as
many in the present day feel almost disgusted with the very name of preaching, as there are so many
foolish and ignorant persons that from the pulpit blab out their worthless contrivances, (616) while there
are others, also, that are wicked and sacrilegious persons, who babble forth execrable
blasphemies. (617) As, therefore, through the fault of such persons it might be, that prophecy was
regarded with disdain, nay more, was scarcely allowed to hold a place, Paul exhorts the Thessalonians
to prove all things, meaning, that although all do not speak precisely according to set rule, we must,
nevertheless, form a judgment, before any doctrine is condemned or rejected.
As to this, there is a twofold error that is wont to be fallen into, for there are some who, from having either
been deceived by a false pretext of the name of God, or from their knowing that many are commonly
deceived in this way, reject every kind of doctrine indiscriminately, while there are others that by a foolish
credulity embrace, without distinction, everything that is presented to them in the name of God. Both of
these ways are faulty, for the former class, saturated with a presumptuous prejudice of that nature, close
up the way against their making progress, while the other class rashly expose themselves to all winds of
errors. (Eph_4:14.) Paul admonishes the Thessalonians to keep the middle path between these two
extremes, while he prohibits them from condemning anything without first examining it; and, on the other
hand, he admonishes them to exercise judgment, before receiving, what may be brought forward, as
undoubted truth. And unquestionably, this respect, at least, ought to be shewn to the name of God — that
we do not despise prophecy, which is declared to have proceeded from him. As, however, examination or
discrimination ought to precede rejection, so it must, also, precede the reception of true and sound
doctrine. For it does not become the pious to shew such lightness, as indiscriminately to lay hold of what
is false equally with what is true. From this we infer, that they have the spirit of judgment conferred upon
them by God, that they may discriminate, so as not to be imposed upon by the impostures of men. For if
they were not endowed with discrimination, it were in vain that Paul said — Prove: hold fast that which is

144. good. If, however, we feel that we are left destitute of the power of proving aright; it must be sought by us
from the same Spirit, who speaks by his prophets. But the Lord declares in this place by the mouth of
Paul, that the course of doctrine ought not, by any faults of mankind, or by any rashness, or ignorance, or,
in fine, by any abuse, to be hindered from being always in a vigorous state in the Church. For as the
abolition of prophecy is the ruin of the Church, let us allow heaven and earth to be commingled, rather
than that prophecy should cease.
Paul, however, may seem here to give too great liberty in teaching, when he would have all things
proved; for things must be heard by us, that they may be proved, and by this means a door would be
opened to impostors for disseminating their falsehoods. I answer, that in this instance he does not by any
means require that an audience should be given to false teachers, whose mouth he elsewhere teaches
(Tit_1:11) must be stopped, and whom he so rigidly shuts out, and does not by any means set aside the
arrangement, which he elsewhere recommends so highly (1Ti_3:2) in the election of teachers. As,
however, so great diligence can never be exercised as that there should not sometimes be persons
prophesying, who are not so well instructed as they ought to be, and that sometimes good and pious
teachers fail to hit the mark, he requires such moderation on the part of believers, as, nevertheless, not to
refuse to hear. For nothing is more dangerous, than that moroseness, by which every kind of doctrine is
rendered disgusting to us, while we do not allow ourselves to prove what is right. (618)
(616) “Leurs speculations ridicules;” — “ ridiculous speculations.”
(617) “Horribles et execrables;” — “ and execrable.”
(618) “Tellement que nostre impatience ou chagrin nous empesche d’ qui est la vraye ou la fausse;” — “
that our impatience or chagrin keeps us from proving what is true or false.”
7. CHARLES SIMEON, “INVESTIGATION OF TRUTH RECOMMENDED
1Th_5:21. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
THERE are many who, either from an indifference about truth, or from a conceit that they are already
sufficiently acquainted with it, neglect the public ministration of the Gospel, and even hold it in contempt.
This is extremely culpable; because the ordinances of religion are God’s appointed means for carrying on
his work in the souls of men. Hence we are bidden “not to despise prophesying;” and “not to forsake the
assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is.” At the same time, we are not necessarily to
give our assent to every thing we hear; for error may be proposed to us as well as truth: and therefore the
Apostle gives us this advice: “Prove all things: hold fast that which is good.”
In considering the two parts of this advice, we shall take each in its order:
I. Prove all things—
Remarkable is that address of Elihu to his friends: “Hear my words, O ye wise men; and give ear unto me,
ye that have knowledge: for the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. Let us choose to us
judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good [Note: Job_34:2-4.].” There is much error abroad in
the world; andthat not only harboured, but propagated also. It will be well, therefore, for us to prove, by
some authorized standard,

145. 1. Our own sentiments—
[Every man has some sentiments about religion, though in many cases they are very crude and indistinct.
On any other subject, those who have never investigated the science will hold their sentiments with some
measure of diffidence and distrust: but, in reference to religion, the most ignorant are often the most
confident. The fall of man, the corruption of human nature, the necessity of an atonement, the influences
of the Spirit, are not only questioned by many, but are rejected by them as utter “foolishness
[Note: 1Co_1:23.];” and man’s sufficiency to save himself is maintained, as though it admitted not of any
doubt whatever. But, whatever be our sentiments on these heads, and on others connected with them,
we should bring them to the unerring standard of God’s word. Our inquiry in relation to every thing should
be, “What saith the Scripture?” By this must every sentiment be tried: and according to its agreement with
this test must every opinion stand or fall.]
2. The sentiments of others—
[We are particularly cautioned not to “believe every spirit; but to try the spirits, whether they be of God
[Note: 1Jn_4:1.].” The one standard, to which every thing must be referred, is the word of God: as it is
said, “To the law and to the testimony: if men speak not according to this word, it is because there is no
light in them [Note: Isa_8:20.].” To this our blessed Lord appealed, in confirmation of his word; “Search
the Scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me
[Note: Joh_5:39.].” And St. Paul commends the Ber æ ans, because, when they heard him, they
searched the Scriptures daily, to see whether his doctrines agreed with that unerring rule. If, then, our
blessed Lord and his Apostles desired to be tried by that standard, I have no hesitation in saying, “Prove
all things,” whether delivered by the many, or the great, or the learned, or the pious, or the
authorized and commissioned: if even an angel from heaven were to come to teach you, I would still give
the same advice, and say, As God has given you a perfect standard, it becomes you to refer every thing
to it, and to try every thing by it. The Church of Ephesus scrupled not to adopt this plan, in its fullest
extent; “Thou hast tried them which say they are Apostles, and are not; and hast found them liars
[Note: Rev_2:2.].” And whether this, or the contrary, be the result of your examination, I say with
boldness, “Try even an Apostle by the standard of God’s blessed word.”]
Having thus distinguished truth from falsehood, we must,
II. “Hold fast that which is good”—
There are many that would wrest it from us: and we must hold it fast against all assaults,
1. Of proud reason—
[Reason will presume to sit in judgment upon the truth of God. But this is not its province. Its proper office
is, to judge whether the Scriptures are a revelation from God: but, when that is ascertained, faith is then
to apprehend whatever God has spoken: and the highest dictate of reason is, to submit ourselves to God
with the simplicity and teachableness of a little child. When, therefore, reason presumes to oppose the
declarations of God and to say, “This is an hard saying: who can hear it?” regard not its proud dictates,
but “receive with meekness the written word [Note: Jam_1:21.];” remembering, that “what is foolishness
with man may be indeed the wisdom of God,” and “the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believes it.”]

146. 2. Of corrupt passion—
[This also fights against the truth of God. And no wonder: for the word of God condemns every
unhallowed desire, and requires us to “crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts.” How should it be
supposed that our corrupt nature should approve of a book, which enjoins us to “cut off a right hand, and
to pluck out a right eye,” lest by sparing either the one or the other we plunge both body and soul into the
fire of hell? It cannot be but that our self-indulgent appetites should rise against such severe dictates, and
condemn them all as unreasonable and absurd. But you must not listen to such objectors, who “hate the
light, and will not come to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved.” Our one question must be, “Lord,
what wilt thou have me to do?” and his will once known, must be the sole director of our ways.]
3. Of a menacing world—
[The world which lieth in wickedness ever did, and ever will, set itself against the self-denying doctrines of
the Gospel. But we are not to make a sacrifice of divine truth, to please man: for “if we vet pleased men,
we could not be the servants of Christ [Note: Gal_1:10.].” Nor are we to indulge any anxiety upon this
head: for the very desire to retain “the friendship of the world” is a certain mark of enmity against God
[Note: Jam_4:4. the Greek.]. Whatever men may say, or whatever they may do, we must be faithful to our
God, and “cleave unto him with full purpose of heart.” Having “bought the truth, you must never sell it.”
“Hold fast that thou hast; and let no man take thy crown [Note: Rev_3:11.].”]
But, before I conclude this subject, let me shew you, in few words,
1. How to distinguish what is “good”—
[You will naturally say, in reply to what has been spoken, ‘How shall I know what is good? for those who
oppose the Gospel will appeal to the word of God as confidently as those who receive it: and how am I to
determine between them?’ I answer, the despisers of the Gospel manifestly wrest the word of God, and,
by ingenious criticisms, pervert it, for the purpose of maintaining their own erroneous sentiments; whilst
the humble believer receives it with all humility of mind: so that from their very mode of interpreting the
Scriptures, you can tell, almost to a certainty, who is right. But, as a general rule, take the entire systems
of both, and compare them, and see what is the proper tendency of each: and then remember, that the
doctrine which humbles the sinner, exalts the Saviour, and promotes holiness, is and must be “good:”
whilst every thing which has an opposite tendency carries its own evidence along with it, as erroneous
and had. This rule, in conjunction with the other, will leave you in no danger of erring, if you cry to God for
the teaching of his Spirit, and rely with confidence on his heavenly guidance.]
2. How to make a just improvement of it—
[Rest not in a speculative view of truth, however good it may appear. The use of divine truth is, to enlarge
the mind, and renovate the soul. Your views of the Gospel ought to raise your affections to God, and to fill
you with adoring thoughts of your Lord and Saviour; and at the same time to transform you into his image.
Your soul should “be delivered into it, as into a mould;” so that every one of its divine lineaments may be
formed upon you. To hold it fast for any other end than this, will be to little purpose. But let it be thus
improved, and it will be found good indeed: for it will free you from every thing that is corrupt and sinful,
and bring you in safety to the realms of bliss.”]

147. 8. BI, “Prove all things: hold fast that which is good.
The design of these precepts is to caution us against two pernicious extremes; one is taking
opinions on trust without examination, the other is after a wise choice not being able to abide by
it. Credulity and unsteadiness are alike dangerous, and the only way to prevent them is to
examine every doctrine propounded to us in order to regulate our choice, and then, having made
a wise choice, to hold it unalterably so as to reap the full benefit. We must be as cautious in the
selection of our principles as of our friends, but once well chosen we must not lightly part with
them.
I. Care and discretion in choosing.
1. The persons. Not pastors only, but the Church was thus addressed (see also 1Jn_4:1;
2Co_13:5; 1Pe_3:15; Act_17:11). Vain, therefore, is the Romish contention that the laity are
excluded from judging for themselves. It is also one of man’s natural rights, resulting from
his being a rational creature, to judge for himself, and to trust other men’s eyes only when he
cannot use his own; and even then only after he has tested their trustworthiness.
2. The rule of procedure—that of right reason. Whatever on the best inquiry appears most
reasonable is to be received. It is assumed in all debates that reason is umpire.
(1) Two classes seem to form an exception—those who advise the surrender of reason to
the dictates of an infallible chair, and those who obtrude their dreams for Divine oracles.
But they have to give reasons, and so suppose what they deny. They plead that reason is
weak and fallible; but they can only know this by weak and fallible reason; and even
taking that for granted we must either trust it or something blinder, such as fancy,
passion or prejudice
(2) To discard reason is to discard faith which is built upon it. We ought to have a reason
for what we believe. We believe a doctrine because we find it in the Scriptures; we believe
the Scriptures because they speak the mind and will of God; we believe that they do so
because they have the marks of Divine authority.
(3) Reason and faith are not opposite but assistant to each other. The glory of religion is
that the best reasons go with it, and that it loves to be examined by the nicest reasons.
3. The use and application of this rule to the doctrines of Christianity.
(1) In some points Scripture is plain and clear and the reason of the thing as well, as in
its moral teaching.
(2) Sometimes it is clear and express, but the reason of the thing dark, as in the
mysteries of our faith. Here reason proceeds upon extrinsic evidence, the authority of the
Revealer; and brings proofs to show that it has been revealed without pretending to say
how or why it is.
(3) In other points Scripture may be obscure and silent, but the reason of the thing clear
as in infant baptism, and reason shows what by analogy or consequence though not
directly Scripture allows or condemns.
(4) Another case is where neither Scripture nor the reason of the thing are clear; both
together affording only dark hints of what is or is not. Here, then, is ground only for a
probable assent; it is, however, the business of reason to lay the things together, make
the best of its materials, and lean to the most charitable side without being too positive
in either.
II. Firmness and steadiness in retaining. To be always seeking without finding, ever learning
and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth neither becomes a Christian or a man. Of

148. course it is not implied that when we have once settled our opinions on good grounds, that we
are never to alter them on better. The best judgment will sometimes err, and men’s judgments
often ripen with their years. Yet as in civil matters wise men generally have some fixed leading
principles, so the wise Christians will have some fundamental articles of faith which once
intelligently accepted he will not have canvassed a second time. The proofs, e.g., of the
superiority of Christianity over Paganism and Mohammedanism, of the being of a God over the
atheistical contentions are so full and clear that they need never be reargued. So with revelation
and morality. And with regard to minor matters that we permit to be reopened, we must hold
fast to this that reason and not caprice, vanity, ambition, fear is to be umpire; and then if its
decisions are clear against us it is the truest constancy to change what is proved to be an error,
for we are commanded to hold fast only what is good. (D. Waterland, D. D.)
Prove all things
I. Religion addresses us as sensible beings.
1. Not every religion, nor even every section of Christianity. Some say, “Do not inquire;
submit implicitly to the teachings of your Church.” Truth does not do this; it courts
examination because it can afford it.
(1) There are difficulties in our faith, but they yield before a clear mind, patient study
and prayer, and a correct life. There are many things above reason, but reason proves
that it is reasonable to believe them.
(2) Surely this is what religion ought to be. Has God given us our mental faculties for
nothing? You are responsible for your beliefs, and while before God we shut our mouths;
yet before men we are bound to ask does God say it? I must have faith, but it must be an
intelligent and manly faith, else my religion will be unworthy a creature so highly
endowed.
2. “Prove” refers to the process of testing coin whether genuine or counterfeit. “Lest by any
means I should become a castaway,” i.e., as a piece of money that could not bear the test,
“Reprobate silver.” So are you to prove whatever is presented to you, as carrying the mark of
the King of kings, therefore asserting a Divine claim upon you, whether it be true or a
forgery.
II. What is the touchstone by which we are to gauge the real and the false? What is that spiritual
alchemy which shall always make the base to precipitate to the bottom, and the right and holy to
come up to the surface, separate and clear?
1. The first criterion of religious truth is personal experience, “Come and see;” have you
come?
(1) God will give everything He has promised to simple, earnest, persevering prayer.
Have you proved this?
(2) When a man turns to God in penitence and faith he is forgiven. Have you done this?
(3) God speaks of “a peace which passeth understanding.” Have you put yourself in the
way to get an experimental proof whether there is such a peace or not.
(4) So with happiness, wisdom, doctrine. Is it not shere madness to refuse such gold and
say “I will not test it.” If it do not turn out what it professes to be, then is the time to
reject it.

149. 2. The grace of common sense and moral perception which God has given us. These, of
course, are vitiated by wilful sin, and they will lead us wrong. But if a man will only be
careful to have a good conscience, lay open his heart to the influences of the Spirit, and
honour and obey them when they come, he will not make any great mistake.
3. God’s Word is the measuring line of all moral truth. If we give up that ultimate appeal
there is no resting place for the mind. This does not mean taking solitary verses which in the
Bible as elsewhere may be made to prove anything you like. You must gather the general
intention of the mind of God by study and prayer, dealing with the proportions of truth.
4. Above the Bible is Christ, the living Word. Everything is to be tested by Him.
(1) Doctrine—where does it place Him?
(2) Promise—does He seal it?
(3) Duty—does He command it?
(4) Pleasure—does He sanction it? (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Prove all things
We see Paul’s character here. He had been speaking with his wonted fervour; but he sees
nothing inconsistent in this with the soundest, calmest reasoning.
I. The first duty he urges—“Prove all things.” Be enthusiastic; but test, try, examine well.
Courses of sin need no testing. The apostle speaks of what seems good, wise, honourable.
1. At times indolence tempts to indifference. This is the greatest danger of our age; but it is
palsy too the mind, and death to the soul.
2. Some are afraid to think. But remember the greatest have stood firm; and the doubts of
our age are old and dry albeit they may seem new and fresh.
III. The second duty the apostle urges—“Hold fast that which is good.”
1. Hold fast what we have proved for ourselves to be true and good. Immature convictions
are generally abandoned, and wisely so.
2. But before we have had time and power to test, there is something good to grip. Even
heathen know the great foundations of the fitting, the beautiful, and the true. We are not
heathen born; therefore we must not cast off all that we have learned at our mother’s knee
for the sneers of half-read women and the cavils of daring men, but the rather “be valiant for
the truth.” (Bp. E. H. Bickersteth.)
Prove all things
I. What things?
1. Ourselves. The work of examination should begin at home—our state before God, our
graces, our practice.
2. Others—friends (Pro_25:19), candidates for Christian communion, ministers.
3. Doctrines—are they simply sanctioned by councils or by God? Do they minister to pride of
intellect, or humbleness of heart.

150. 4. Actions. Do we walk after the Spirit or after the flesh? Do we keep the ordinances of God
or of men (Pro_14:12)?
II. By what rules. Not by outward appearance: this was what Eve did, and what Samuel was in
danger of doing. But—
1. By fruits. This applies to both persons and doctrines, and is a test ordained by Christ.
2. The examples of good and wise men in so far as they follow Christ the supreme example.
3. The Divine Word: Search the Scriptures.
4. Our own experience corroborated by the word of truth. “He that believeth hath the
witness in himself.” (B. Beddome, M. A.)
Quinquagesima Sunday
The last clause of this verse is very commonly taken to mean, “Abstain from everything which
looks like evil, from everything which a bystander would suspect to be evil.” That St. Paul can
never have meant his exhortation to bear the sense which we have forced upon it, a moment’s
thought will convince you. “Judge not,” says our Lord, “according to the appearance, but judge
righteous judgment.” That passage cannot affect the construing of our text, for the word in St.
John is ᆇψις, not εᅽδος. But it directly affects the question, whether we are to judge of evil by the
mere look or semblance; for remember the occasion which called forth the precept of Christ. He
had healed a sick man on the Sabbath day. This act had the appearance of evil. It appeared evil,
not only to the accidental bystanders, but to the religious guides of the Jewish people. How
carefully these parts of His conduct are recorded by the Evangelists! How evidently they think
that, if they were blotted out of His life, He would not have perfectly revealed His Father, or
been a complete pattern to His disciples! Do you suppose he would have taught his Thessalonian
disciples that these conspicuous lines in the character of Christ were not to be copied, but to be
treated as dangerous? But did not St. Paul follow most strictly the steps of his Master, did he not
depart altogether from the maxim which has been ascribed to himself, when he appeared in the
eyes of the Jews, converted and unconverted, perhaps of apostles, to be violating sacred
customs, and trampling upon the covenant of his fathers? To which doctrine did he conform,
when he ate openly with the Gentiles in the presence of Peter and Barnabas, who were striving
to keep up what every Jew must have considered a graceful, if not necessary, recognition of the
difference between the chosen people and all others? How did he avoid the mere look of evil,
when he left the impression upon the minds of his countrymen that he was overthrowing the
righteousness of the Law, by preaching the righteousness of Faith? The three clauses, “Prove all
things; hold fast that which is good; abstain from all appearance of evil,” are not associated by
accident. Every person who has paid the least attention to St Paul’s style will perceive how
clearly the relation between them is indicated by the antithetical words κατέχετε ᅊπέχεσθε. “Hold
on to the good, hold off from every form of evil.” And it is clear that the thought which
determines the force of both these clauses—the thought which is uppermost in the writer’s
mind—is that which is expressed by the word “prove,”—δοκιµάζετε. Now that word and its
cognate substantive, whether it refers to things or to persons, to the soundness of money, or to
the qualifications for citizenship, always denotes a process of testing. So, then, according to the
popular interpretation of the text, St. Paul would say, in the first clause; “Be not content with the
mere semblance of anything you have to do with. Look into it; find out the good of it, hold to
that.” And he would say in a second and corresponding clause, “Be always afraid of semblances.
The moment anything looks like evil, fly from it. Throw away your tests and proofs; simply hold

151. off from that which seems evil to you or to the people about you.” This is not an antithesis, but a
contradiction.
I. He tells us first, to prove or test all things. I do not know a more honourable watchword to
inscribe upon our banners than this of prove all things, if only we know what it signifies, and
how St. Paul used it. Assuredly he did not understand it, as some of us do, “Bring all things to
the standard of your private judgment; see whether they accord with that; only hold fast that
which does.” If there is not that which is true absolutely—true for all men—search and inquiry
are very fruitless; we had better lay them aside. If my judgment is to be the measure of all things
that I see and converse with, if I am at liberty to use it as such a measure, if there is no higher
measure to which I can bring it, that it may be deepened and expanded, it is certain to become
narrower and feebler every day. Whereas, if I continually acknowledge the presence of a Light
which is greater than any organ of mine can take in, but yet with which I am intented to hold
communion, I shall desire that that Light may enter more and more into me, to purify my vision
and enlarge its capacities. I shall desire to see all things in this Light. And it will so distinguish
between what is fantastic and what is real, between the shows of things and their substance, that
it will not be possible for me to accept one for the other, either in obedience to my own natural
taste and inclination, or at the bidding of any earthly guides and authorities whatsoever.
II. Next, St. Paul tells us to prove all things. He does not say, “Prove or test certain doctrines
which are submitted to you;” though those are of course not excluded. He assumes that
everything whatsoever with which we come into contact—the ordinary notions and maxims of
society, the habits and traditions of the literary, or philosophical, or professional, or religious
circle in which we are moving, the words we speak, the common everyday experiences of life—all
need sifting and testing, that we may know what there is of good in them. Yes, believe that the
good is in all things, in those that you have made little account of, in those that you have been
taught by others to hate, in those which you have learnt to hate yourself. Do not shrink from
confessing that there is and must be a goodness, a beauty at the bottom of them all, else they
would not have continued to exist. Do not be afraid of inquiring for it lest you should fall in love
with the evil and ugliness which are also in them.
III. St. Paul goes on, “hold fast the good.” When you have perceived it, detected it, anywhere,
then cleave to it, hug it, swear that you will not let it go. Be sure that what you want is the
substantial good; the beauty in which is no flaw. Having that, you are sure you have what God in
His infinite love desires that you should have; you have what the Son of God took your nature
and died upon the cross that you might have; you have what the Spirit of God is stirring you and
all creatures to sigh and groan that you may have. Not that it is yours, in any sense which can
enable you to say to a neighbour, “It is not thine.” It is yours by faith; it is yours because it is
God’s, and He invites you to believe Him and trust Him, and so to inherit His own righteousness
and truth and blessedness. It is yours because it is not in your own keeping, because you are
lifted out of yourself that you may enjoy it.
IV. And so we come at last to the word with which I began, “abstain,” or “keep yourselves from
every form or appearance that is evil.” You have seen the good; you have grasped it; now have
nothing to do with whatever is not that, with whatever counterfeits it. There will be every variety
of evil shapes, forms, appearances; but if you have learnt to look below, to try and test the heart
of things, you will not be misled by this variety. You will detect the evil, the lie, under each new
disguise, and you will be able to stand aloof from it; to shun the contact of it. Just so far as the
truth has become precious and familiar to yon, this likeness, this double, this mockery, will be
loathed and kept at a distance. But I conceive, brethren, that the peril of our being vanquished
by some of its manifold forms will be infinitely increased, if we adopt that opinion which has
gained such strength from the supposed authority of St. Paul. To believe that we must fly from
that which people think evil, from everything which seems evil to ourselves at the first glance, is

152. to become a prey of evil in its worst sense. All reformation, in every age, has been retarded by
this doctrine, all corruptions have been sanctified by it. And yet it has not restrained a single
rash reformer; it has not preserved a single truth from outrage. The conscience of men cannot he
bound by a rule, which must be transgressed before a single brave act can be done, a single right
principle asserted. These are instances—your own experience may supply a hundred similar—
where this maxim proves utterly ineffectual to accomplish its own ends. For every vulgar worldly
argument which puts on a religious dress, and affects an authority that does not belong to it,
must prove feeble and worthless. The only consequence of resorting to it is, that you benumb the
moral sense, that you degrade the hearts of those whom you bring under its influence. They will
plead it for deserting a friend, for refusing to maintain an unpopular cause; they will forget it the
moment it interferes with any passion or propensity of their own. (F. D. Maurice, M. A.)
Prove—then hold fast
I. Two things to be done.
1. Prove, i.e., inquire into and decide upon after examination. Prove as gold and silver are
tried, and as the strength of building materials are tested. Haste in reception or rejection are
forbidden. The standards of proof are—
(1) The Holy Scriptures. The Bereans were “more noble,” etc.
there is something contemptible in a man refusing to look at statements put before him
as though it were impossible for him to make a mistake; teachableness is noble.
(2) Experience: “What fruit had ye,” etc. “Unto you that believe He is precious.”
(3) Observation: “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”
(4) The spiritual and religious faculty sanctified by the Holy Ghost: “He that is spiritual
judgeth all things.” “Ye have an unction,” etc.
2. Hold fast against indolence, prejudice, pride, perplexity, evil inclinations, influence of
irreligious men, winds of doctrine, false teaching and the fallible teaching of Christ’s best
friends.
II. The sphere for this particular action.
1. Prove all things—opinions, doctrines, requirements, customs, professions, characters,
modes of working.
(1) All ancient things. Things are not better for being old. Sin is old.
(2) New things. A thing is not wise or adapted to the times because new. It may be a new
folly.
(3) Common things. Things are not right because generally acceptable.
(4) Singular things.
(5) Attractive things which have too often misled our fallen nature—specious doctrines
which have pandered to our pride.
(6) Repulsive things—Christ, e.g., may put in our path a cross, which it is better for me
to bear than to wear a crown.
2. Hold fast the good. Not, of course, what is evil. If what is doubtful comes into your hand
let it lie there, but do not close your fingers over it until you have proved it; then hold it fast,

153. whether it be opinion and doctrine, custom and practise, communion and friendship, that
which your mind, faith, love, hope embraces—anything that is good.
3. The giving heed to this requirement is of great importance. Here it is in the statute Book,
and in vain do we call Christ Master unless we do what He bids us.
(1) If we receive error we cumber our minds with what is profitless, deceive ourselves,
impair bur spiritual life, and reject the truth.
(2) If we admit an evil custom, or have fellowship with evil-doers, we expose ourselves to
corruption; and by rejecting Christian ordinances and fellowships, we deprive ourselves
of means of grace.
4. These are times when the text is likely to be overlooked. In days of church slumber,
nothing is proved; in days of morbid wakefulness, nothing is held fast. And what is true of
the Church is true of the individual.
5. In cherishing obedience to the text, we must—
(1) In proving all things avoid—
(a) seeking for a kind of evidence God does not give.
(b) Encouraging a restless and captious spirit.
(c) Entertaining foolish questions which gender strifes.
(d) Misplacing the tests with which God has favoured us. The Bible is the supreme
standard.
(2) In holding fast the good, we must avoid prejudice, obstinacy, and pertinacity upon
doubtful matters. Conclusion: Take this yoke of Christ on you. No one can bear it for you,
neither Church nor individual, and for this you will be held responsible at the Judgment
seat of Christ. (S. Martin.)
Hold fast that which is good
I. The exhortation.
1. What are those good things which we have to hold fast.
(1) The Gospel and the way of salvation by Christ.
(2) That truth, in particular, which relates to the person and work of Christ (Rev_3:8).
(3) The good treasure lodged in our hearts or placed in our hands.
(4) Our spiritual comforts and whatever contributes to the peace and purity of our
minds.
(5) A line of conduct consistent with the Word of God.
(6) An open profession of religion.
2. How are we to hold them fast. It supposes—
(1) That our judgment concerning them is fixed.
(2) That we retain them in our memory (1Co_15:2; 2Pe_1:15).
(3) A high esteem and warm affection.

154. (4) Resistance to all opposition.
II. The motives.
1. The honour of God requires that we should hold fast what He has revealed.
2. The things we are required to hold fast are good in themselves.
3. If we part with the good we shall retain the evil, and cannot easily recover what we have
lost.
4. If we disobey, what account shall we give another day? Hence we learn—
(1) That nothing but true religion will stand its ground.
(2) That perseverance in the way of truth and holiness is necessary to eternal happiness
(Heb_10:38). (B. Beddome, M. A.)
Holdfasts
There are many occasions when the soul feels that it has come to a crisis. It may be compared to
the feeling of William Tell when he was taking aim at the apple. Everything depends on the
action of the next moment. It is to decide for God or the devil, for heaven or hell. We all need a
holdfast at such critical times. I will mention two.
I. There is a god. Unless we can hold on to that, life becomes hard and vexatious, and we are like
people floundering on ice, but when our heavenly Father is a fact to us, life loses its bitterness
and death cannot sting. God cannot be proved to any one. Every man must prove Him for
himself. You cannot prove colour to a blind man, to know it he must see. If you seek God with
the proper faculties, you will find and know Him.
1. One of the links in this holdfast is that God is perfect. You cannot trust men fully because
of their imperfections, but you can fully trust God because He is all-wise, all-powerful. He
does not learn by experience; what He does cannot be improved.
2. Another link is that God is loving. The sweetest and most self-sacrificing love this side of
heaven is not in the least degree comparable to it. It was not exhausted on Calvary. It is
treasured up for you.
3. It is possible for every man to find God. You are nearer to Him than you fancy. Open the
door of your faith and He will enter in.
II. The true motive of right action is love to God and man. When men act on this they cannot go
wrong. Do true children need rules and regulations to tell them how to behave towards parents
and brothers? If this law ruled all other laws would he needless. Hold then fast to this in—
1. Business perplexities.
2. Conflicting duties.
3. Fierce temptations.
4. Death. (W. Birch.)
Holdfast
Steadfastness is a prime virtue. “Be sure you are right, and then hold on though the heavens
fall.” “Prove all things,” and adhere to the “good,” and surrender it only with life. Hold fast—

155. I. To your faith. It is a lie of the devil that “it matters not what a man believes.” As he believes so
is he. Throw away or tamper with your faith in the inspiration and Divine authority of the
Scriptures, and you are sure to go astray and perish in your unbelief.
II. To your integrity. To let go one particle of it—to compromise in the least with wrong—
endangers your soul, and is sure to forfeit your peace of mind and your Christian standing and
influence.
III. To your profession. Cleave to the Church which Christ purchased with His blood. Honour
and magnify its mission. Sustain and advance its interests by all the means and influence which
God has given you.
IV. To Christian effort in behalf of souls. “Be not weary in well-doing.” Guard against “an evil
heart of unbelief.” Do not doubt “the promises”—they are all “yea and amen in Christ Jesus.”
The night of fear and struggle and waiting may be long and dark, but the morning will come to
gladden you, if, like Jacob, you hold on.
V. To prayer. Be sure you get hold of the everlasting arm, and then not let go. Persevere in the
face of a thousand obstacles. Let not God go till He bless. Be not denied. Turn rebuke and
seeming denial into fresh pleas, as did the Syro-Phoenicia woman. The answer, the blessing, is
sure, when God gives the grace of perseverance. To “hold fast” is to overcome.
VI. “Hold fast” to heaven. Make it the pole star of life. Never lose sight of it, no, not for an hour.
Live daily “as seeing the invisible.” (L. O. Thompson.)
Holding fast the good
I would apply the text to the religion of Jesus Christ and assert that it is good, and because good
that you are to hold it fast. By this is not meant theology, which is very good as science and art,
but is not life. Nor do we mean imposing rites, splendid churches which are very beautiful and
helpful to the weak, but are not the religion of Jesus Christ. This is—
I. Faith as opposed to infidelity—faith in God our Father, in the Lord Jesus who died for us, in
the spiritual nature of man, in the spirit world.
1. This faith harmonizes with our natural instincts which lead us to feel that all that exists is
not present to the bodily senses, that somewhere inside the temple of the universe is a holy
of holies filled with a glory that the eye of flesh cannot behold, and our desire is to enter that
inner temple, and behold what it is. A little bird in a London cellar knows instinctively that
there is an outer world, although he has never been there, and he is brave enough in his
gloomy place to make some attempts at singing and flying.
2. Infidelity says there is nothing to know—no God, etc. Matter is all. Well, a mole might say
there is no sun, no bright worlds; yet these do exist, and if the mole would only come out of
his hole he could catch some rays of glory. Let men cease then from burrowing in the earth.
They will never find heaven there. Let them follow their deepest instincts and highest
aspirations and they will reach the throne of God, and their first act will be to worship Him.
3. In this faith we can rest and find comfort, but the bed of infidelity is too short for my soul
to stretch itself upon.
II. Holiness as opposed to sin—all possible virtues and graces, all things true, good, beautiful.
1. The religion of Christ demands holiness, “Be ye holy.” “Be ye perfect.” In this demand we
see the wonderful possibilities of the soul. It is said that we have descended from very
humble ancestors. Then there must be in our nature some marvellous energy, for the

156. development has been truly wonderful. I can turn my face upward, build steamers that can
cross the ocean against the storm, etc., more, I can pass within the veil and lay my hand on
that of the Father, and say, “Thy will be done.” The artist takes the rough block of marble
and transforms it into a majestic statue, and everybody speaks of his genius. Yes, but
something must be said for the marble that has the power of being transformed. Very
wonderful is the work of the Divine Artist upon the soul, but something must be said for the
soul that is capable of being changed into His image, and it is nothing less than this that our
religion demands of it.
2. But it not only demands, it gives the sure promise of attaining holiness—the Church is to
be without spot, etc. The process may be sketched. God loved us—sent His Son to die for our
sins—gave His Holy Spirit to transform our nature—by and by He will take us to Himself. Is
not this religion good? Ask not where it came from. Judge it on its own merits for once.
III. Goodness as opposed to selfishness.
1. Selfishness, as seen in the priest and Levite in the parable of the good Samaritan, passes
by suffering, and avoids the inconvenience of sympathy: as seen in Lot’s choice, it takes the
best, indifferent to the claims of others.
2. Christianity says, “Bear ye one another’s burdens,” etc.—the burdens of ignorance,
disappointment, anxiety, fear. Now selfishness is hateful, and self-denial admirable by
common consent. We have examples in the three hundred at Thermopylae and in the man
who to save another’s life imperils his own. But try and rise from these to the self-denial of
Christ, “who loved us and gave Himself for us.” Imitate that, and you are a Christian.
IV. Hope and joy as opposed to despair.
1. The natural language of despair is, “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die,” and that
cry arises from materialism. There is no Father to care for us; the world formed itself; man is
only organized matter; there is no heaven; we are dissolved when we die as prophets,
apostles, reformers, martyrs, great statesmen, teachers, poets, and our own dear ones have
been. But philosophers, poets, teachers of all the religions, believed that the dead lived. It is
all a dream, says the materialist. Take what pleasure you can, don’t sorrow for anything,
laugh at distress.
2. The gospel brings joy to the distressed and sorrowful in the present. We look through our
tears at the closed grave, but see standing there One saying, “I am the Resurrection and the
Life.” Is not our religion good? Then trust it, and don’t be afraid that it is going to be
overthrown. It may be captured like the ark, but it will give the Philistines more trouble than
they bargain for. (T. Jones, D. D.)
The Bible and free inquiry
“Despise not prophesyings,” i.e., preaching, the apostle has just said. Now comes the text. “Don’t
deify the preacher.” Put what they say to the test (1Jn_4:1; Act_17:11). Congregations should
listen with a desire to profit, and then carry all the preacher says to the test of holy Scripture.
I. The end our inquiry should aim at—some real good.
1. There is such a thing as good. Philosophers have told us of a summum bonum, and
common experience points in the same direction: “There be many that say, Who will show us
any good?” We have not only intellects that want to be satisfied, but hearts and wills that
want to be cheered and guided. We want to be peaceful while we live and when we come to
die, and nothing is really good that does not help us to this end (Isa_55:1-3).

157. 2. This is the end our inquiry should aim at. Mere assault on error or ridicule of folly is poor
and heartless work. Sometimes it is necessary, but if this is all you attempt you may break
every idol and not increase man’s happiness by one atom. Paul did something more than this
at Athens.
3. Here is a model for the free inquirer. Let your object be to do all the good you can. All
your skill as an iconoclast will do nothing to meet the cry, “Who will show us,” etc.
II. The character the inquiry should assume. Put everything to the proof. The inquiry should
be—
1. Careful. This is required in chemistry and astronomy, and the man who does not carefully
examine the truths of religion will make the grossest blunders.
2. Comprehensive. You ought to examine the inquirer as well as the object, the instruments
he uses, and the faculties he employs. A man once gazed through a telescope at the sun, and
immediately turned away in alarm, exclaiming, “There is a monster in the sun.” It proved,
however, only to be an insect in the telescope. So with many who glance now and then at
religion. Their instruments of inquiry are not clear, and they ascribe to the shining orb what
really belongs to the foul tube. What would you think of a man who had no ear for music
criticizing Handel’s “Messiah”? Or a man colour blind describing a garden in May? Or a
prodigal judging the rules of his father’s house? Do these illustrations apply? I am not saying
that every free inquirer into religion is worse than other men, but that he is no better by
nature. Ought he not, then, to take this into account? If I have unworthy passions I have a
bias against a holy religion.
3. Free from pride, passion, sin, ambition. etc.
III. The welcome which the Bible gives to such inquiry. It welcomes inquiry.
1. Of such a nature. Here is this Book of Truth, not hiding in darkness, but exposing itself. I
tell you of—
(1) A God, a great, intelligent Creator. Put it to the test. Is it not more reasonable than
that there is no intelligent cause?
(2) A law ordaining perfect love to God and man. Put it to the test. What would the
world have been had it kept it? What is it because it has broken it?
(3) A Saviour. Prove Him. Does He not commend Himself to reason and conscience?
(4) Mysteries. Prove this too. Is it not reasonable that the finite can never grasp the
infinite?
2. To such an end. It is “good” we want. This the Bible brings. Its revelations were not given
for our amusement, but for our advantage. It gives peace with God through Christ in
obedience to the law, peace in our own souls and towards men, and leads to the world of
perfect peace. And now it says, “Hold it fast!” There is something rich and substantial about
it. Hold it fast against the power and subtlety of the tempter. (F. Tucker, B. A.)
The right of private judgment in matters of religion
I. Objections that are taken against the exercise of this right. It is said that if this be granted
then every individual will have his own religion.
1. Our answer to this is, such would be a consequence not of the exercise of private
judgment, but of human depravity. If imperfect men had all the privileges of angels

158. consequences would follow very different from those characterizing the history of angels, but
no one would say that they were the necessary effects of the enjoyment of angelic privileges.
If, then, instead of assailing the depravity of man for abusing the right of private judgment
we assail that right and forbid its exercise, we are mistaking the source of the evil and not
taking the proper method to prevent it.
2. Then we may ask how interdicting the right can prevent the evil consequences? Shall we
issue a decree and enforce it by penalties? But that will only stop the expression, and will not
interfere with the right of private judgment. The slave clad in iron fetters has still his private
judgment, and with his mind, which is free, you cannot meddle.
3. But it may be affirmed that to suppress this expression is a good thing, and prevents evil.
How so? This supposes an infallible instructor. How do we know that the public judgment of
any body of men may not be as pernicious as the private judgment of an individual? Look at
the past. Almost every heresy has at one time been protected and taught by public authority,
and almost every orthodox sentiment has been put down by the same.
II. Considerations in support of this right.
1. We find from Scripture that the right of private judgment in religious matters is the duty,
not merely the privilege, of every individual to whom the Word of God should come.
(1) This Epistle was addressed to the Church, not to any public functionary. Paul,
Timothy, and Silas, inspired teachers of the mind of God, say, “Prove all things.” If any
say that the laity must defer to authority, the authority here says exercise your private
judgment! Then what is the meaning of the general addresses to the Churches, as such,
at the commencement of each Epistle, but that the minds of laymen as well as ministers
should be exercised upon them?
(2) When we come to Epistles addressed to individuals such as Timothy and Titus we
find nothing investing them with the authority of interpreting against the private
judgment of those they taught. Nay, they are commanded “in meekness to instruct those
that oppose themselves,” not to dictate to them on the ground of authority.
(3) Then we have the doctrine that every one of us must give an account of himself to
God, which implies the exercise of private judgment. How can we reconcile this with
being compelled to follow the dictates of another? Shall we give an account of ourselves
to God at the last whilst we are permitted to take no account of ourselves? Shall we carry
mental slavery with us all the time we are in our state of probation, and in eternity only
stand on our own foundation? Nay; if God tells us that every one of us must give an
account then He means that we must prove all things against the day of that account.
2. The arguments derived from the powers and faculties that God has given us is no less
conclusive. Why did God give us the power of judging at all? Is it possible that God would
give men the exercise of public judgment for the things of time and forbid it in the affairs of
eternity?
III. Duties consequent upon this right.
1. Searching the Scriptures. We criminate ourselves deeply if we contend for the right of
private judgment and neglect to search those oracles about which alone the faculty can be
engaged. What should we think of a judge who insisted on his right to pronounce judgment
while ignorant of the matter on which the judgment was to be pronounced.
2. Stimulating others by teaching them the great things of God. If it be our duty to search the
Scriptures it is the duty of all. It is incumbent on us, then, not only to practice, but to
encourage this exercise.

159. 3. Duly appreciating the falsehood that revelation trammels the mind. On the contrary the
text breaks every mental bond. (J. Burnet.)
Innovation and conservatism in matters of religion
This advice is always pertinent; yet there are periods in which it is specially relevant. While
humanity on the whole is ever advancing, the stream at one time seems to stand still, and at
another rushes on with noisy activity. When Paul wrote all was full of mental activity, religious
conflict, political tumult, and the first century repeats itself in the nineteenth. Our age has three
characteristics which bear on the interests of religion.
1. Intellect is all alive, more so perhaps than at any other period. This is the result—
(1) Of those general laws by which the social progress of our race is governed.
(2) Of our refined civilization, which by ever becoming more complicated is continually
taxing the human mind.
(3) Of the stimulus of advancing education, which begets emulation, and raises
continually higher the standard of necessary acquirement. Hence—
2. The age is one of mental freedom. The mind is goaded by internal cravings and external
excitements. It goes forth to explore all regions, and will not be stopped by authority or
opposition. The right of private judgment is conceded, and is exercised without scruple.
Hence—
3. A clamorous war of opinion. The number of sects grows portentously. New opinions are
started on almost every subject. All extremes of views on religion are zealously and ably
advocated. If we be men and not children we cannot be unconcerned about these
controversies, but don’t be alarmed, “Prove all things,” etc. These words involve the
doctrines of—
(1) Individual responsibility for religious faith and practice.
(2) Individual duty and right of private judgment.
I. The liberal element in the text.
1. Candid inquiry. The disposition to know what others think is, when moderately possessed,
an admirable trait of character. Some ensconce themselves within the limits of their
hereditary creed, and listen with anger to opposing opinions deaf to all argument. These
intellectual pigmies have in all ages proved a stumbling block to educated men, and assumed
a position unwarranted by Christianity as the text shows. The gospel as an innovation, courts
the investigation that it has never scrupled to exercise, and aims at inspiring in its disciples
the love of truth as truth.
2. Patient examination. Be not like the Athenians, who spent their whole time in hearkening
to some new thing; but spend much of it in sifting the new things you hear. Neither novelty
nor authority can supply the place of argument.
3. Wise and decisive selection. The text supposes that when all things are proved, some will
be accepted, which are to be held fast. Some are ever learning, but never come to the
knowledge of the truth, attempting an easy neutrality which speedily turns into treason
against Christ. This discrimination between the good and the bad supposes the possession of
a touchstone. Primarily man’s reason is the touchstone. There are propositions which no
man can accept. We can no more believe in the incredible than see the invisible. The Word of
God is, of course, the final appeal, but not by superseding reason—only by assisting it.

160. Reason has first to decide on the credentials of Revelation, and then to be consulted as to its
contents. Reason, then, following the Word of God is to be the criterion by which we are to
“prove all things.”
II. The conservative element: “Hold fast,” etc. Which assumes—
1. That truth is attainable. Some deny this. Let Christian men beware of this perilous frame
of mind which leads inevitably to selfish misanthropy or unprincipled sensualism. A free
thinker is frequently a man who does not think at all, but considers all things as not worth
thinking about. Believe what all wise and good men have believed and proved, that there is
such a thing as fixed truth, and having found it—
2. Hold it fast, without fickleness or fear. Having made up your mind, after due deliberation,
adhere to your decision, and make use of it for further acquisition; not refuse to hear
anything more about it, but be not unsettled without fresh and weighty argument. Don’t
keep going over the old ground. This is the only means of attaining and retaining personal
peace, and manliness of Spirit. (T. G. Horton.)
Man in relation to the vast and the specific
I. A vast realm for inquiry: “Prove all things.” This implies—
1. Freedom of thought. Go into all churches and systems, there is good everywhere: find it
out. Confine not your mind to your own narrow creed or church.
2. A test of truth. This test is threefold—
(1) Results: “By their fruits shall ye know them.”
(2) The Spirit of Christ. Whatever agrees not with His free, righteous and loving Spirit
must be rejected.
(3) Conscience: “Why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?”
II. A specific object to attain: “Hold fast.” It is the good you want. What is the good? The “truth
as it is in Jesus,” a living, beautiful, soul transporting reality. Get this and then hold it fast. There
is a danger of losing it; it is worth holding; it is more precious than worlds, it is the pearl of great
price—the heaven of souls. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Testing the Bible
Let me caution you against putting off making up your mind about this Book. Ever since 1772
there has been great discussion as to who was the author of Junius’s Letters, those letters so full
of sarcasm, and vituperation, and power. The whole English nation was stirred up with them.
More than a hundred volumes have been written to discuss that question, who was Junius? who
wrote Junius’s Letters? Well, it is an interesting question to discuss; but still, after all, it makes
but little practical difference to you and to me who Junius was, whether Sir Philip Francis, or
Lord Chatham, or Home Tooke, or Horace Walpole, or Henry Grattan, or any one of the forty-
four men who were seriously charged with the authorship. But it is an absorbing question, it is a
practical question, it is an overwhelming question to you and to me, the authorship of this Holy
Bible, whether the Lord God of heaven and earth, or a pack of dupes, scoundrels, and impostors.
We cannot afford to adjourn that question a week, or a day, or an hour, any more than a sea
captain can afford to say, “Well, this is a very dark night; I have really lost my bearings; there’s a
light out there, I don’t know whether it’s a lighthouse or a false light on the shore. I don’t know

161. what it is; but I’ll just go to sleep, and in the morning I’ll find out.” In the morning the vessel
might be on the rocks and the beach strewn with the white faces of the dead crew. The time for
that sea captain to find out about the lighthouse is before he goes to sleep. Oh, my friends! I
want you to understand that in our deliberations about this Bible we are not at calm anchorage,
but we are rapidly coming towards the coast, coming with all the furnaces ablaze, coming at the
rate of seventy heart throbs a minute, and I must know whether it is going to be harbour or
shipwreck. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
A life given to proving all things
I have really no history but a mental history I have seen no one, known none of the celebrities of
my own time intimately or at all, and have only an inaccurate memory of what I hear. All my
energy was directed upon one end—to improve myself to form my own mind, to sound things
thoroughly, to free myself from the bondage of unreason and the traditional prejudices which
when I began first to think constituted the whole of my intellectual fabric. (Mark Pattison, B. D.)
Proving the power of God’s grace
It is related that Bishop Kavanagh was one day walking when he met a prominent physician,
who offered him a seat in his carriage. The physician was an infidel, and the conversation turned
upon religion. “I am surprised,” said the doctor, “that such an intelligent man as you should
believe such an old fable as that.” The bishop said, “Doctor, suppose years ago some one had
recommended to you a prescription for pulmonary consumption, and you had procured the
prescription and taken it according to order, and had been cured of that terrible disease, what
would you say of the man who would not try your prescription?” “I should say he was a fool.”
“Twenty-five years ago,” said Kavanagh, “I tried the power of God’s grace. It made a different
man of me. All these years I have preached salvation, and wherever accepted have never known
it to fail.”
Faith and reason
Faith and reason are, as it were, two keys which God has given us with which to unlock all
spiritual mysteries. It is as if I had a drawer in which were stored away my valuable papers. The
cabinet maker gives me two keys to my drawer, telling me that both keys will generally unlock
the drawer, but always, if one will not, the other will—that therefore I must keep them securely,
and keep them always tied together. But I untie and separate them, and, for safe keeping, place
one key carefully away in the drawer itself and lock it up with the other key. With this other key I
lock and unlock the drawer at pleasure. But the time comes at length when the key I have will
not unlock the drawer, and now I need the other; but I have locked it up and cannot get it. Just
so faith and reason are two keys that God, our Maker, has given us with which to unlock all
spiritual mysteries. Generally, either will unlock and explain all difficulties in Revelation and
Christian experience; but always, if the one fails, the other will unlock the mystery. But here is a
man that goes and locks his faith up in his reason; and presently he encounters a spiritual truth
which his reason will not explain or unlock—it transcends human reason. You tell him, for
example, that he must believe in the Trinity, in regeneration, in the resurrection of the body.
“But,” says he, “I cannot—they are unreasonable.” And why can he not believe these spiritual
truths? Simply because he has gone and locked his faith up in his reason, and will not accept any
truth which he cannot comprehend and which his reason will not fully explain of itself without
the aid of faith. The rationalist is he who locks his faith up in his reason. Now it may be, and is,
just as bad to lock your reason up in your faith. There, for instance, is the poor deluded

162. Romanist, who believes implicitly anything that his Church teaches, whether reasonable or
unreasonable. You remonstrate with him for believing in transubstantiation, in the virtue of
relics, in the absurd traditions of his Church. You tell him these things are unreasonable. “So
they may be,” he replies, “but I believe them nevertheless, for the Church teaches them, and I
believe whatever the Church teaches.” And why does he believe such absurdities? Simply
because he has locked his reason up in his faith and given the Pope the key—and whatever the
Pope or the Church or his bishop teaches he believes implicitly, whether it be reasonable or
unreasonable. It is impossible for one to be a true Roman Catholic without locking his reason up
in his faith. But God demands that we shall use both our faith and our reason, and keep them
both joined together. Doing this we shall be preserved from rationalism on the one hand, and
from credulity and superstition on the other. Now God does not demand that we shall believe in
anything that contradicts our reason; but He does demand that we shall believe in truths that
transcend human reason. If the Bible should teach that black is white, that right is wrong, that a
thing can be and not be at the same time, I would not and could not believe it, because it would
plainly contradict my reason. But when it teaches that there is a God, a Trinity, a soul in this
body, a heaven prepared for it, I may not and do not fully comprehend these spiritual truths; but
I do not decline to believe them on that ground; for while they do transcend my reason, they do
not contradict it. The Roman Catholic believes many truths that contradict human reason; the
rationalist will believe no truth which transcends human reason; the true intelligent Christian
believes nothing that will contradict, but many things that transcend, human reason. The first
locks his reason up in his faith; the second locks his faith up in his reason; the third uses both
his faith and his reason and keeps them ever joined together. (Prof. Tillett.)
22 reject every kind of evil.
1.BARNES, “Abstain from all appearance of evil - Not only from evil itself, but from
that which seems to be wrong. There are many things which are known to be wrong. They are
positively forbidden by the laws of heaven, and the world concurs in the sentiment that they are
wicked. But there are also many things about which there may be some reasonable doubt. It is
not quite easy to determine in the case what is right or wrong. The subject has not been fully
examined, or the question of its morality may be so difficult to settle, that the mind may be
nearly or quite balanced in regard to it. There are many things which, in themselves, may not
appear to us to be positively wrong, but which are so considered by large and respectable
portions of the community; and for us to do them would be regarded as inconsistent and
improper. There are many things, also, in respect to which there is great variety of sentiment
among mankind - where one portion would regard them as proper, and another as improper.
There are things, also, where, whatever may be our motive, we may be certain that our
conduct will be regarded as improper. A great variety of subjects, such as those pertaining to
dress, amusements, the opera, the ball-room, games of chance and hazard, and various practices
in the transaction of business, come under this general class; which, though on the supposition
that they cannot be proved to be in themselves positively wrong or forbidden, have much the
“appearance” of evil, and will be so interpreted by others. The safe and proper rule is to lean

163. always to the side of virtue. In these instances it may be certain that there will be no sin
committed by abstaining; there may be by indulgence. No command of God, or of propriety, will
be violated if we decline complying with these customs; but on the other hand we may wound
the cause of religion by yielding to what possibly is a mere temptation. No one ever does injury
or wrong by abstaining from the pleasures of the ball-room, the theater, or a glass of wine; who
can indulge in them without, in the view of large and respectable portions of the community,
doing that which has the “appearance” at least of “evil?”
2. CLARKE, “Abstain from all appearance of evil - Sin not, and avoid even the
appearance of it. Do not drive your morality so near the bounds of evil as to lead even weak
persons to believe that ye actually touch, taste, or handle it. Let not the form of it, ειδος, appear
with or among you, much less the substance. Ye are called to holiness; be ye holy, for God is
holy.
3. GILL, “Abstain from all appearance of evil. Of doctrinal evil. Not only open error and
heresy are to be avoided, but what has any show of it, or looks like it, or carries in it a suspicion
of it, or may be an occasion thereof, or lead unto it; wherefore all new words and phrases of this
kind should be shunned, and the form of sound words held fast; and so of all practical evil, not
only from sin itself, and all sorts of sin, lesser or greater, as the (w) Jews have a saying,
"take care of a light as of a heavy commandment,''
that is, take care of committing a lesser, as a greater sin, and from the first motions of sin; but
from every occasion of it, and what leads unto it, and has the appearance of it, or may be
suspected of others to be sin, and so give offence, and be a matter of scandal. The Jews have a
saying very agreeable to this (x),
"remove thyself afar off (or abstain) from filthiness, and from everything, ‫הדומה‬‫לו‬ , "that is like
unto it".''
4. HENRY, “. Abstain from all appearance of evil, 1Th_5:22. This is a good means to
prevent our being deceived with false doctrines, or unsettled in our faith; for our Saviour has
told us (Joh_7:17), If a man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God.
Corrupt affections indulged in the heart, and evil practices allowed of in the life, will greatly tend
to promote fatal errors in the mind; whereas purity of heart, and integrity of life, will dispose
men to receive the truth in the love of it. We should therefore abstain from evil, and all
appearances of evil, from sin, and that which looks like sin, leads to it, and borders upon it. He
who is not shy of the appearances of sin, who shuns not the occasions of sin, and who avoids not
the temptations and approaches to sin, will not long abstain from the actual commission of sin.

164. 5, JAMISON, “Tittmann supports English Version, “from every evil appearance” or
“semblance.” The context, however, does not refer to evil appearances IN OURSELVES which
we ought to abstain from, but to holding ourselves aloof from every evil appearance IN
OTHERS; as for instance, in the pretenders to spirit-inspired prophesyings. In many cases the
Christian should not abstain from what has the semblance (“appearance”) of evil, though really
good. Jesus healed on the sabbath, and ate with publicans and sinners, acts which wore the
appearance of evil, but which were not to be abstained from on that account, being really good.
I agree with Tittmann rather than with Bengel, whom Alford follows. The context favors this
sense: However specious be the form or outward appearance of such would-be prophets and
their prophesyings, hold yourselves aloof from every such form when it is evil, literally, “Hold
yourselves aloof from every evil appearance” or “form.”
6. CALVIN, “22From every evil appearance. Some think that this is a universal statement, as though
he commanded to abstain from all things that bear upon their front an appearance of evil. In that case the
meaning would be, that it is not enough to have an internal testimony of conscience, unless regard be at
the same time had to brethren, so as to provide against occasions of offense, by avoiding every thing that
can have the appearance of evil.
Those who explain the word speciem after the manner of dialecticians as meaning the subdivision of a
general term, fall into an exceedingly gross blunder. For he (619) has employed the term speciem as
meaning what we commonly term appearance. It may also be rendered either—evil appearance,
or appearance of evil. The meaning, however, is the same. I rather prefer Chrysostom and Ambrose, who
connect this sentence with the foregoing one. At the same time, neither of them explains Paul’ meaning,
and perhaps have not altogether hit upon what he intends. I shall state briefly my view of it.
In the first place, the phrase appearance of evil, or evil appearance, I understand to mean — when falsity
of doctrine has not yet been discovered in such a manner, that it can on good grounds be rejected; but at
the same time an unhappy suspicion is left upon the mind, and fears are entertained, lest there should be
some poison lurking. He, accordingly, commands us to abstain from that kind of doctrine, which has an
appearance of being evil, though it is not really so — not that he allows that it should be altogether
rejected, but inasmuch as it ought not to be received, or to obtain belief. For why has he previously
commanded that what is good should be held fast, while he now desires that we should abstain not
simply from evil, but from all appearance of evil? It is for this reason, that, when truth has been brought to
light by careful examination, it is assuredly becoming in that case to give credit to it. When, on the other
hand, there is any fear of false doctrine, or when the mind is involved in doubt, it is proper in that case to
retreat, or to suspend our step, as they say, lest we should receive anything with a doubtful and
perplexed conscience. In short, he shews us in what way prophecy will be useful to us without any danger
— in the event of our being attentive in proving all things, and our being free from lightness and haste.
(619) “S. Paul;” —” Paul.”
7. BI, “Safe conduct
A man will never begin to be good till he begins to decline those occasions that have made him
bad; therefore saith St.
Paul to the Thessalonians, and through them to all others, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”

165. I. The way to fulfil this counsel. You must shun and be shy of the very shows and shadows of sin.
The word which is ordinarily rendered “appearance,” signifies kind or sort; and so the meaning
of the apostle seems to be this, Abstain from all sort, or the whole kind, of evil; from all that is
truly evil, be it never so small. The least sin is dangerous. Caesar was stabbed with bodkins, and
many have been eaten up by mice. The least spark may consume the greatest house, the tinest
leak may sink the noblest vessel, the smallest sin is enough to undo the soul, and, therefore,
shun all the occasions that lead to it. Job made a covenant with his eyes (Job_31:1), Joseph
would not be in the room where his mistress was (Gen_39:10), and David, when himself, would
not sit with vain persons (Psa_26:3-7). As long as there is fuel in our hearts for a temptation we
cannot be secure: he that hath gunpowder about him had need keep far enough off from
sparkles; he that would neither wound conscience nor credit, God nor Gospel, had need hate
“the garment spotted with the flesh.” In the law, God commanded His people not only that they
should worship no idol, but that they should demolish all the monuments of them, and that they
should make no covenant nor affinity with those who worshipped them, and all lest they should
be drawn by those occasions to commit idolatry with them. He that would not taste of the
forbidden fruit must not so much as gaze on it; he that would not be bitten by the serpent, must
not so much as parley with him. He that will not fly from the occasions and allurements of sin,
though they may seem never so pleasant to the eye or sweet to the taste, shall find them in the
end more sharp than vinegar, more bitter than wormwood, more deadly than poison.
II. Noted examples to incite us. Scipio Africanus, warring in Spain, took New Carthage by storm,
at which time a beautiful and noble virgin resolved to flee to him for succour to preserve her
chastity. Hearing of this, he would not suffer her to come into his presence for fear of
temptation, but caused her to be restored in safety to her father. Livia counselled her husband
Augustus not only to do no wrong, but not to seem to do it. Caesar would not search Pompey’s
cabinet, lest he should find new matters for revenge. Plato mounted upon his horse, and judging
himself a little moved with pride, at once alighted, lest he should be overtaken with loftiness in
riding. Theseus is said to have cut off his golden locks, lest his enemies should take advantage by
laying hold of them. Oh, Christian people! shall the very heathen, who sit in darkness, shun and
fly from the occasion of sin, and will not you, who sit under the sunshine of the gospel? To
prevent carnal carefulness, Christ sends His disciples to take lessons from the irrational
creatures (Mat_6:26-32). And to prevent your closing with the temptation to sin, let me send
you to school to the like creatures, that you may learn by them to shun and avoid the occasions
of sin. A certain kind of fish, perceiving themselves in danger of taking, by an instinct which they
have, do darken the water, and so many times escape the net which is laid for them. And a
certain kind of fowl, when they fly over Taurus, keep stones in their mouths, lest by shrieking
and gabbling they discover themselves to the eagles, which are among the mountains, waiting
for them. Now, if all these considerations put together will not incite you to decline the occasions
of sin, I know not what will. (T. Brooks.)
Avoiding the appearance of evil
I. The nature of those appearances of evil we are required to avoid.
1. Whatever may be interpreted as evil by others, so as to become a stumbling block or
matter of reproach. Their consciences may be too scrupulous and their tempers censorious,
yet we are not to offend or grieve the weak unnecessarily. The omission of things indifferent,
can neither be sinful nor injurious, their commission may be both (1Co_8:13). This must, of
course, be understood with some limitation, else there would be no end of conforming to
men’s humours and fancies; therefore good men must be left to act according to their own

166. scruples and may disregard scruples which have no shadow of reason or Scripture to support
them.
2. What may be an occasion of evil to ourselves. Some things not evil may lead to evil.
Peter’s going into the palace of the high priest led to his denial of Christ. Achan’s looking
stirred up his covetousness; hence David prays to be turned away from beholding vanity, and
our Lord taught us to say, “Lead us not into temptation, but,” etc. The fly that buzzes about
the candle will at length singe its wings.
3. Whatever borders on evil or approaches towards it. Instead of inquiring how far we may
go in gratifying this or that appetite without offending God, let us keep as far away as we can.
If you would not swear do not use expletives: if you would be temperate do not load your
table with superfluities.
4. The first risings of evil in the heart such as anger, covetousness, uncleanness. “When lust
hath conceived it bringing forth sin,” etc. “Keep thy heart with all diligence,” therefore.
II. When may we be said to abstain from every appearance of evil? When our whole conduct will
bear the light; when we are sincere in our intentions and circumspect in our actions; when the
Divine glory is our aim and the good of man our work. To this end incessant watchfulness is
required.
1. In the common concerns of life. Everything like artifice or dishonesty is unworthy of the
Christian character (1Th_4:6),
2. In our amusements and recreations. They must be innocent and lawful, few and
inexpensive, healthful and select.
3. In our daily intercourse. We must speak the words of truth and soberness (Eph_4:29;
Jas_5:12).
4. In religious exercises, “Let not your good be evil spoken of.”
III. The motives. By abstaining from the appearance of evil.
1. Many of our falls will be prevented.
2. It will give credit to our profession, and tend to convince the world of the reality of our
religion.
3. It will contribute much to the peace and satisfaction of our minds. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
Abstinence from the appearance of evil
The tendency is to place too high an estimate on appearances. Hence outward religion comes to
be magnified at the expense of inward holiness. To guard against this great stress is laid in the
Bible on piety in the heart: but this has lead people to say, “Appearances are nothing—it is with
the heart God has to do.” The object of the text is to give appearances their real importance It is
therefore connected with several injunctions which relate to inward and practical Godliness and
which issue in a prayer which shows that abstinence from the appearance of evil is an essential
attribute of entire sanctification.
I. The import of the precept. There may be the appearance of evil where evil is not intended and
where there is no evil in fact.
1. In our actions.

167. (1) In our social intercourse we may aim to show a proper regard to men of the world for
our improvement or for their own, but this association may appear to be the result of
elective affinity.
(2) In our pursuits we may seem to ourselves to be merely diligent in business, while we
may appear to be contravening the prohibition of laying up treasures upon earth.
(3) In our dress and furniture we may merely seek our own convenience, while to others
we may appear conforming to the world.
(4) In our contributions and other expenditure we may seem to be merely liberal, but to
others prodigal.
(5) In our intercourse with the other sex we may think ourselves only courteous, but
appear to others amorous.
Conversely—
(1) We may shun society for the purpose of avoiding its contamination, but appear to
others to forget our social relations and duties.
(2) We may design to live above the world, but the world may think us negligent of
business.
(3) We may intend to be plain in dress, but appear to others to make religion consist in
plainness.
(4) We may be merely economical, but appear penurious.
(5) We may think ourselves correct in our bearing to the other sex, but they may think us
morose. It is difficult to determine on which side of the happy medium the greatest evil
lies, but as the least appearance of evil is injurious we should always be on our guard.
2. In our words.
(1) We may design to be free and pleasant and yet appear trifling.
(2) We may be in earnest only, and yet appear to be in a passion.
(3) We may be faithful in reproof and appear censorious.
(4) We may only intend to use plain language but it appears course and indelicate.
(5) We may be imparting instruction and be voted conceited.
3. In our spirit.
(1) Zeal may have the appearance of fanaticism;
(2) Elevation of mind, of haughtiness;
(3) Promptness of obstinacy;
(4) Calmness of stoicism;
(5) Humility of mean spiritedness;
(6) Deliberation of infirmity of purpose.
II. The reasons for the precept.
1. Those which affect ourselves. Falling into evil appearances—
(1) Results from the want of a correct taste, a well disciplined conscience, knowledge,
watch fulness, evils which will ripen into bad habits if not checked.

168. (2) Will mar our own enjoyment of religion when we find that it has done harm.
(3) Will ruin our usefulness which depends on our influence, which acts through
appearances, and is estimated by them.
2. Those which affect God’s glory. We honour God in proportion as we exhibit a practical
illustration of the purity of the Christian character before the world. The ungodly associate
our blemishes with our religion.
3. Those which regard the well-being of others. All example consists in appearances, and “no
one liveth to himself”; we are contributing by our appearances to the formation of the
characters of those around us, and any one of those appearances may make all the difference
between heaven and hell.
III. Inferences.
1. That appearances are of high importance.
2. That appearances, and not what a man means, determine his influence as a member of
the Church.
3. That the qualities which will enable us to avoid the appearance of evil should be
sedulously cultivated—an accurate judgment, a tender conscience, perfect self-knowledge.
4. That the Scriptures which pourtray so minutely the appearances of evil should be
diligently studied. (G. Peck, D. D.)
Avoiding sins of every appearance
1. The “appearance” of material things does not depend entirely upon their form, but largely
upon the medium through which, the light in which, and the eye by which they are seen.
Some men are colour blind. Some men have the jaundice. Thoughts and feelings are still
more liable to be misapprehended, because they must be addressed by one soul to another
through the senses—the eye, the ear, the touch, by the pressure of the hand, by speech, by
gesture, by writing. A thought or emotion, therefore, suffers a double refraction in passing
from one mind to another. And thus it comes to pass that even in communities composed of
most serene and wise intellects and loving hearts, the appearance does not always match and
represent the ideal.
2. The difficulty of the rule as it stands in our version is this, that there is nothing so good
but it may appear evil. To the evil all things seem evil, and you cannot help that. Was there
ever a virtue that did not seem a vice to a man’s enemy? Does not his liberality appear
prodigality, his economy parsimony, his cheerfulness levity, his conscientiousness
puritanism, his temperance asceticism, his courage foolhardiness, his devotion hypocrisy?
How is it possible to avoid such judgments as these unless a man could have the whole world
for his friends? Can the heavenly Father demand more of you than that you really be true
and faithful and pure? Must you also fritter your strength away in striving to make your good
life seem good in the eyes of perverse men?
3. The attempt to gain the favourable verdict of all men is not only impracticable, but it is
demoralizing. It occupies a man with appearances, and not realities; with his reputation, and
not with his character. There can be devised no shorter cut to hypocrisy than a constant
effort to “abstain from all appearance of evil.”
4. What, then, did the apostle mean? The difficulties of the text are removed by the
translation “abstain from evil of every form.” The lesson is total abstinence from what is

169. really evil. The complementary thought is that evil can never be good by a mere change of
appearance. Let us look at some of the ways in which we may follow what is really evil
because its appearance is good, and show how Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
I. Unity and uniformity. The most important thing about any man is his faith. A thorough belief
in a real truth is life: it will reproduce itself in the outward action. How easy it is here to find real
evil that is apparently good. To strive to compel men to uniformity seems a goud, whereas it is
really an evil. One may even quote Scripture in justification. “One faith.” A man may forget that
the essential principle may be one, while the phenomenal presentation may be manifold. All
compulsory uniformity is mischievous. The inquisition produced cruelties among good men, and
hypocrisies among bad. In its essence truth has always unity, in its development seldom
uniformity. Some think it would be delightful for all men to see truth at the same angle; but if
there were but two men who should profess to do it, it would be either a mistake, or a falsehood.
Give over the effort to secure ecclesiastical uniformity. Let grace be natural, and nature gracious.
Give room for God in man, and in the Church as you do in nature.
II. Liberty and licentiousness. There is something very captivating in “liberty.” The very word
sounds open and breezy. Liberty has been made a queen and a goddess. More money has been
spent for her, and more blood shed for her, than for any other. When one recollects the history
of the race, one is not surprised that when Madame Roland was going to her doom, she should
have saluted the statue of Liberty with the bitter exclamation, “O Liberty, what outrages are
perpetrated in thy name!” It is exceedingly difficult to draw the line between licentiousness and
liberty, and hence the danger is greater. True freedom of intellect and heart and life consists in
voluntary and exact obedience to the law of God. A compulsory obedience is mere hypocrisy. An
inexact obedience is a perpetual weakness. Every step taken in the statutes of the Lord with a
free will is a step of freedom. David perceived this when he said, “I will walk at liberty, for I seek
Thy precepts.” But, the moment a man lifts his foot from the law of the Lord, and sets it down
outside, he places it in the nets of evil, and is ensnared. But the modern and atheistic idea of
liberty is the absence of all moral law, or the refusal to be controlled by law. In other words, it is
licentiousness. Avoid it, no matter what its appearance. How vast are the hull and rigging of the
largest vessel on the ocean, and how small is the helm; and yet that little helm turns that great
bulk whithersoever the helmsman listeth. Suppose the great vessel should say, “I will not endure
this impertinent interference, this incessant control,” and should throw the helmsman
overboard, and unship both helm and rudder. She would be free then, would she not? Yes, but a
free prey to all winds and waves. Is that the freedom to be desired? And yet that is the idea of
this age. The State, the Church, the family are to be overthrown, for men must be free! It is
pitiful and painful to see human beings struggling to be free, to be hated, to starve, to die, to be
damned. Avoid this evil. Remember that no splendour of dress can make a leper clean, and no
brilliancy of appearance can make an evil good.
III. Justice and intolerance. The dogma of infallibility is not a mere ecclesiastical development.
Its seed is in every heart. If we are unconscious of it, who does not act upon it? We pronounce
judgment as if there could be no appeal, and act upon such sentences as final. Nay, more. There
is a disposition on the part of many to go beyond, and keep surveillance of society, making
themselves general detectives. They are often heresy hunters, self-constituted health boards,
enforcing social sanitary regulations of their own. The plain fact is, they are censorious. The
reason they did not “abstain from” this “evil” is, because it has the “appearance” of good. It
seems to evince a high moral sense. It looks like loyalty to truth, and unselfish. The man is not
seeking to be popular! He is a martyr to his sense of right? It is good and grand! He applauds
himself. He feels that others ought to applaud him. He undertakes to execute his own sentences.
The condemned is treated like a leper, like a lost man. All that is done that the purity of the
judge shall be evinced. Men and women seem to think that kindness to a sinner is endorsement
of, and participation in his sin. Hence the evil of social ostracism. A man that has fallen has so

170. few helps to rise, and a woman who has fallen has no aids but what God gives. “Abstain from
this evil” of censoriousness, whatever appearance it may have. It is very easy to get up the
requisite amount of virtuous indignation, but it is difficult to keep indignation virtuous. While
burning the sins I ought to hate, it will soon begin to burn the sinner whom I ought to love.
IV. Generosity and prodigality. The latter is an evil under any name and in every guise. It leads
men to be careless and lazy about their expenditures. Because there are so many easy givers,
there are so many easy beggars. It is injurious to give to the undeserving as it is injurious to
withhold from those who deserve. The man who walks through the streets talking or thinking,
and pulls something out of his pocket for every beggar without looking the applicant in the face,
or recollecting him ten minutes after, is not charitable. He is a thriftless prodigal. True charity,
and true liberality, and true generosity know how much, and to whom, and why, they gave; not
in remembrance of self-complaisance, but that they may see how much more they can do.
Abstain from the evil of prodigality which has the appearance of liberality.
V. Economy and stinginess. The grip of selfishness on money is the vice that makes a man feel
that it is better ninety-nine worthy cases suffer than that one unworthy case be helped. It is a
stone-blind vice. Men know when they are liars, thieves, murderers, but they do not know when
they are covetous. Every sin committed by man against man has been admitted by some one
who was guilty, except two; and one of them is covetousness. It puts on so good an
“appearance!” It is called among men prudence, economy, thrift, any word which glosses over
the inner viciousness. It was so in the time of David, who said, “Men will praise thee when thou
doest well to thyself.” But “abstain” from this “evil” of doing so well for yourself that you can do
nothing for others, and remember that the Lord will praise thee when they doest well to another.
VI. Independence and contempt for appearances. We are not to do a thing that is wrong because
it has the appearance of right in the eyes of many, and we are bound to do good, however it may
seem to others; but we are also to see to it that our “good be not evil spoken of.” There is in some
men a swaggering boastfulness of independence of the opinion of others, of determination to do
just what they think right, and of regardlessness of the feelings of others. They think it looks
well. There is an appearance of stern virtue in all this; of character; of independence. Any
voluntary hazarding of the appearance of evil is most foolish, if not criminal. No man has a right
on any pretence to “give a just offence to the moral sentiments” of the community. (C. F. Deems,
D. D.)
Avoiding the appearance of evil
Venn was given to understand that a lady to whom his ministry had been singularly blessed, had
been pleased to requite her obligations by making him heir to her property, which was very
considerable. And we may not doubt that he gladly accepted the intended favour, and persuaded
himself that it was a seasonable gift from God, for the relief of his mind, and for the comfort of
his family. Perhaps he might have so reasoned and felt, in regard to it, but the following letter
which he addressed to the lady, on hearing of her kind intention, will show in what a pure, lofty
sphere his spirit moved: “My very dear friend, I understand, by my wife, your most kind and
generous intention toward us in your will. The legacy would be exceedingly acceptable, and I can
assure you the person from whom it would come would greatly enhance the benefit. I love my
sweet children as much as is lawful, and as I know it would give you pleasure to minister to the
comfort of me and mine, I should, with greater joy, accept of your liberality. But an
insurmountable bar stands in the way—the love of Him to whom we are both indebted, not for a
transient benefit, for silver or gold, but for an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us. His honour, His cause, is, and must be, dearer to His
people than wife, children, or life itself. It is the firm resolve of His saints, yea, doubtless, I count

171. all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. To be, therefore,
a stumbling block in the way of any that are seeking Him—to give the least countenance to any
that would be glad to bring His followers into contempt, and call in question their sincere and
disinterested attachment to Him would grieve me while in health, darken my mind in sickness,
and load me with self-condemnation on a bed of death. How would it also render all my
exhortations feeble, and make them be accounted only as pulpit declamation, if, when I was
pressing that solemn truth upon my people, ‘Love not the world, neither the things in the world,’
they could say, our minister, however, was careful to secure the favour of this rich proselyte,
and, at length, to gain sufficiently by her! After the most mature deliberation, therefore, it is our
request, which we cannot permit you to refuse us, that you will not leave us any other token of
your regard than something of little value, but what it derives from the giver. If it should please
God that our connection should be prolonged some years, we shall, in our hearts, still more
abundantly enjoy your friendship when we are sure that we are not in danger of being influenced
by a regard to our own interest. And if we must soon have the cutting affliction of losing you, you
may depend on it, we shall not less affectionately make mention of your name, and your
unfeigned love for us both in Christ Jesus, than if we had what the world esteems the only
substantial proof of your regard. As for our children, whom many will think that we have not the
love for that we owe them, by refusing your great favour, I would say only this, we both know of
no inheritance equal to the blessing of God; and the certain way of securing it, as far as means
can avail, is to be found ready to love or suffer any thing sooner than to incur the appearance of
evil.” (Memoir of Venn.)
The appearance of evil
A missionary magazine, in giving an account of the conversion to Christianity of a high-caste
Brahmin in India, stated, as a good test of the new convert’s sincerity, the following fact: A
Christian friend, knowing that the Hindoo custom of wearing the hair long, and fastened with
sacred flowers in a knot at the back of the head, was intimately connected with certain acts of
idolatrous worship, advised the Brahmin to cut off this hair at once, and thus demonstrate to all
men that he had really ceased to be an idolater. To this suggestion the convert promptly replied,
“Yes, certainly, for it is the devil’s flag.” Accordingly, the hair was immediately cut off.
The appearance of evil
An old Chinese proverb says, “Do not stop in a cucumber field to tie the shoe.” The meaning is
very plain. Some one will be likely to fancy that you are stealing fruit. Always remember the
injunction: “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” Do not stop under the saloon porch to rest
yourself, however shady the trees may be, or however inviting the chairs. Some one may fancy
you are a common lounger there, and so your name be tarnished. Don’t go to a liquor saloon to
get a glass of lemonade, however refreshing it may seem to you. Rather buy your lemons and
prepare the cooling beverage at home, where others may share it with you, probably at no
greater expense than your single glass would cost you. Somebody seeing you drinking at the bar
will be sure to tell the story, and will not be particular to state that you were drinking only
lemonade. Then, too, if you are careless about the appearance of evil, you will soon grow equally
careless about the evil itself. (Great Thoughts.)
Fear of sin
The old naturalist, Ulysses Androvaldus, tell us that a dove is so afraid of a hawk, that she will be
frightened at the sight of one of its feathers. Whether it be so or not, I cannot tell; but this I

172. know, that when a man has had a thorough shaking over the jaws of hell, he will be so afraid of
sin, that even one of its feathers—any one sin—will alarm and send a thrill of fear through his
soul This is a part of the way by which the Lord turns us when we are turned indeed. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
The need of guarding against all evil
Manton says: “A man that would keep out the cold in winter shutteth all his doors and windows,
yet the wind will creep in, though he doth not leave any open hole for it.” We must leave no inlet
for sin, but stop up every hole and cranny by which it can enter. There is need of great care in
doing this, for when our very best is done sin will find an entrance. During the bitter cold
weather we list the doors, put sandbags on the windows, draw curtains, and arrange screens,
and yet we are made to feel that we live in a northern climate: in the same way must we be
diligent to shut out sin, and we shall find abundant need to guard every point, for after we have
done all, we shall, in one way or another, be made to feel that we live in a sinful world. Well,
what must we do? We must follow the measures which common prudence teaches us in earthly
matters. We must drive out the cold by keeping up a good fire within. The presence of the Lord
Jesus in the soul can so warm the heart that worldliness and sin will be expelled, and we shall be
both holy and happy. The Lord grant, it for Jesus’ sake. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
8. CHARLES SIMEON, “ABSTAINING FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL
1Th_5:22. Abstain from all appearance of evil.
SIN is a tremendous evil. The consequences of one single sin are beyond all our powers of thought or
conception. If one only be hardened by it, who can tell where his influence may extend, or through how
many generations it may be transmitted? To the individual who commits it, who shall say how much evil
will accrue? The Spirit may be grieved; the conscience seared; and Satan may get an advantage that
shall never be regained. Hence arises the necessity of standing at the remotest distance from evil: for if a
thing be not evil, yet, if it appear to be so, it has all the effect of a positive evil to those who behold it. We
should therefore “abstain even from all appearance of evil.”
In discoursing on this subject, we shall consider,
I. The injunction itself—
This may relate to,
1. The things we do—
[That which is perfectly indifferent in itself, may either appear wrong, or really be so, according to the
circumstances under which it is done. The eating of things offered to idols, or the observance of certain
days, were indifferent in themselves; and a person might either do or forbear these things, without

173. improving or injuring the state of his soul [Note: 1Co_8:8 and Rom_14:2-6.]. But if the doing or forbearing
these things had any influence to ensnare the consciences of others, it was the duty of every person to
pursue that line of conduct which was most inoffensive [Note: Rom_14:20-21.]. St. Paul thought, that
though “all things were lawful for him, all things were not expedient [Note: 1Co_10:23.];” and therefore
exercised self-denial with respect to things innocent in themselves, lest his influence should induce
others, who were less acquainted with Christian liberty, to follow his example, in opposition to the
suggestions of their own consciences [Note: 1Co_8:13.]. Ezra might have asked a guard to protect him
through the desert [Note: Ezr_7:16-18. with 8:22.]; and Nehemiah might have gone into the temple, to
save himself from danger [Note: Neh_6:10-19.]: but they both chose rather to expose their lives to any
peril, rather than do what in their circumstances would have been open to misconstruction, and would
have been imputed to them as sin. Thus there are some amusements and indulgences which, under
particular circumstances and in a limited degree, may be innocent, from which we nevertheless ought to
abstain; lest an undue advantage be taken of our conduct, and we be considered as patronizing that,
which, under other circumstances, would be positively evil.]
2. The manner in which we do them—
[Much, very much, depends on the manner in which we do things which in themselves are inoffensive or
even good. None can doubt but that alms-deeds, prayer, and fasting, are good in themselves; yet they
may be so performed as to be open to the imputation of vanity or hypocrisy: on which account our Lord
gives us rules for the due discharge of these duties [Note: Mat_6:1-6; Mat_6:16-18.]. To give instruction
or reproof to our neighbours is doubtless an important office; but if it be performed in an unbecoming
spirit, we shall appear to others to be only venting our own spleen, and all our endeavours will be lost
upon them. Hence is that direction given us by the Apostle, “Let not your good be evil spoken of
[Note: Rom_14:16.]]
3. The end for which we do them—
[Daniel might with great propriety have prayed in his house with his windows shut: yea, it might have
been thought, perhaps, more decorous. But, in his circumstances, he determined to die rather than to
suspend his devotions, or even to conceal them by shutting his windows. He was in the midst of idolaters,
and therefore he judged it necessary openly to confess his God. And, when the edict was issued by the
Persian monarch to forbid the offering of any petition to any one except himself for the space of thirty
days, Daniel was more bound than ever to worship openly; because the concealing of his devotions
would have been considered as a renunciation or denial of his God. Hence he determined to make no
alteration whatever in his conduct, but to abide the consequences of his fidelity to God [Note: Dan_6:10.].
Thus should we walk circumspectly, “cutting off occasion from them that seek occasion;” and determining
that our enemies “shall find no cause of complaint against us, except concerning the law of our God
[Note: Dan_6:5.]”]
To impress this injunction the more deeply on our minds, let us consider,
II. The importance of it—
The avoiding of all appearance of evil is of great consequence,
1. To ourselves—
[Our character is stamped by our actions as they appear to the world. God only can judge the heart: man

174. must of necessity form his judgment in a great measure from the outward appearance: though doubtless
he is to put the best possible construction upon every thing, so far as truth and reason will admit. We owe
it therefore to ourselves to guard against every thing that either deservedly or undeservedly may bring an
evil report upon us. St. Paul was very attentive to this, when he had collected a large sum of money for
the poor saints in Judea: he desired that some person of established reputation should go with him, that
so he might “provide things honest in the sight of all men [Note: 2Co_8:19-21.],” and “give no occasion to
the enemy to speak reproachfully [Note: 1Ti_5:14.].”]
2. To the world around us—
[The world are ever ready to spy out causes of complaint against the people of God, and, when they
behold a flaw, to cry out, “There, there, so would we have it.” Instantly they proceed to blame religion
itself for what they see amiss in the professors of it; and justify themselves as acting a more becoming
and consistent part. On this account we should “walk in wisdom towards them that are without
[Note: Col_4:5.],” and, if possible, “put to silence the ignorance of foolish men by welldoing
[Note: 1Pe_2:15.].” Indeed, as they may be hardened in their sins by an injudicious conduct, so they may
be “won by the good conversation” of those around them [Note: 1Pe_3:1-2.]. It may be, that our light
shining before them may constrain them to confess that God is with us of a truth, and lead them to “glorify
our Father that is in heaven [Note: Mat_5:16.].” Can we need any greater argument for circumspection?
Should not this consideration induce us all to adopt the Psalmist’s resolution: “I will behave myself wisely
in a perfect way [Note: Psa_101:2.]:” and make us pray with him, “Lead me, O Lord, because of mine
observers; make thy way straight before my face [Note: Psa_5:8. the marginal translation.].”]
3. To the Church of God—
[A discreet and blameless conduct is no less important as it respects the Church. The weak are of
necessity much influenced by those whom they consider as more advanced than themselves: and, if they
see any thing done by a person whom they respect, they will be ready to follow his example, even though
they are doubtful in their minds respecting the lawfulness of the act itself. Then, even though the act be
lawful, they commit sin, because they are not thoroughly persuaded of its innocence [Note: Act_14:23.].
And we, if we pay no attention to their weaknesses, actually sin against Christ ourselves, and are guilty of
destroying a soul for whom Christ died [Note: 1Co_8:9-12.]. Let us not then imagine ourselves at liberty to
do all things which are in themselves lawful; for we are not at liberty to cast a stumbling-block before a
weak brother [Note: Rom_14:13; Rom_14:15.]; but are to consult his good, no less than our own
[Note: 1Co_10:24.].]
Infer—
1. How far are they from real Christians who can live in known and allowed sin!
[Christianity requires us to abstain even from the appearance of evil: how much more from sin itself! Ah,
beloved, you may easily see the folly and hypocrisy of calling yourselves Christians, while your whole
conduct proclaims that you have no delight in God, nor any higher aim than to approve yourselves to
men.]
2. How excellent is the true Christian in comparison of others!
[Christians are not improperly called “the excellent of the earth.” Behold their care, their tenderness, their
circumspection, their “dread of even a garment spotted by the flesh [Note: Jude, ver. 23.].” Their conduct

175. is fitly described by the Apostle; “Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good
report, these they both think upon” and perform [Note: Php_4:8.]. “See then, Christians, that these things
be in you, and abound.” Let not “our boasting of you be found in vain” and delusive. But “as ye have
received how ye ought to walk and to please God, so abound more and more [Note: 1Th_4:1.].”]
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you
through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and
body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
1.BARNES, “And the very God of peace - The God who gives peace or happiness;
compare notes, Rom_1:7.
Sanctify you - See the notes at Joh_17:17.
Wholly - ᆇλοτελεሏς holoteleis. In every part; completely. It is always proper to pray that God
would make his people entirely holy. A prayer for perfect sanctification, however, should not be
adduced as a proof that it is in fact attained in the present life.
Your whole spirit and soul and body - There is an allusion here, doubtless, to the
popular opinion in regard to what constitutes man. We have a body; we have animal life and
instincts in common with the inferior creation; and we have also a rational and immortal soul.
This distinction is one that appears to the mass of people to be true, and the apostle speaks of it
in the language commonly employed by mankind. At the same time, no one can demonstrate
that it is not founded in truth. The body we see, and there can be no difference of opinion in
regard to its existence. The “soul” (ᅧ ψυκᆱ he psuche - psyche), the vital principle, the animal life,
or the seat of the senses, desires, affections, appetites, we have in common with other animals. It
pertains to the nature of the animal creation, though more perfect in some animals than in
others, but is in all distinct from the soul as the seat of conscience, and as capable of moral
agency.
See the use of the word in Mat_22:37; Mar_12:30; Luk_10:27; Luk_12:20; Act_20:10;
Heb_4:12; Rev_8:9, et al. In the Pythagorean and Platonic philosophy this was distinguished
from the higher rational nature ᆇ νοሞς, τᆵ πνεሞµα ho nous, to pneuma as this last belonged to man
alone. This “psyche” (ψυχᆱ psuche) “soul.” or life, it is commonly supposed, becomes extinct at
death. It is so connected with the bodily organization, that when the tissues of the animal frame
cease their functions, this ceases also. This was not, however, the opinion of the ancient Greeks.
Homer uses the term to denote that which leaves the body with the breath, as escaping from the

176. ᅟρκος ᆆδοντων herkos odonton - “the fence or sept of thy teeth” - and as also passing out through
a wound. - This ψυχή psuche - “psyche” - continued to exist in Hades, and was supposed to have
a definite form there, but could not be seized by the hands.
Ody. 2:207. See “Passow,” 2; compare Prof. Bush, Anasta. pp. 72, 73. Though this word,
however, denotes the vital principle or the animal life, in man it may be connected with morals -
just as the body may be - for it is a part of himself in his present organization, and whatever may
be true in regard to the inferior creation, it is his duty to bring his whole nature under law, or so
to control it that it may not be an occasion of sin. Hence the apostle prays that the “whole body
and soul” - or animal nature - may be made holy. This distinction between the animal life and
the mind of man (the “anima” and “animus,” the ψυχᆱ psuche and the πνεሞµα pneuma), was
often made by the ancient philosophers. See Plato, Timae. p. 1048, A. Nemesius, de Nat. Hom. 1
Cited Glyca, p. 70; Lucretius, 3:94; 116, 131; Juvenal, 15:146; Cicero, de Divinat. 129, as quoted
by Wetstein in loc. A similar view prevailed also among the Jews. rabbi Isaac (Zohar in Lev. fol.
29, 2), says, “Worthy are the righteous in this world and the world to come, for lo, they are all
holy; their body is holy, their soul is holy, their spirit and their breath is holy.” Whether the
apostle meant to sanction this view, or merely to speak in common and popular language, may
indeed be questioned, but there seems to be a foundation for the language in the nature of man.
The word here rendered “spirit” (πνεሞµα pneuma), refers to the intellectual or higher nature of
man; that which is the seat of reason, of conscience, and of responsibility. This is immortal. It
has no necessary connection with the body, as animal life or the psyche (ψυχᆱ psuche) has, and
consequently will be unaffected by death. It is this which distinguishes man from the brute
creation; this which allies him with higher intelligences around the throne of God.
Be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ - The apostle
does not intimate here that either the body or the vital principle will be admitted to heaven, or
will be found in a future state of being, whatever may be the truth on that subject. The prayer is,
that they might be entirely holy, and be kept from transgression, until the Lord Jesus should
come; that is, until he should come either to remove them by death, or to wind up the affairs of
this lower world; see the notes on 1Th_1:10. By his praying that the “body and the soul” -
meaning here the animal nature, the seat of the affections and passions - might be kept holy,
there is reference to the fact that, connected as they are with a rational and accountable soul,
they may be the occasion of sin. The same natural propensities; the same excitability of passion;
the same affections which in a brute would involve no responsibility, and have nothing moral in
their character, may be a very different thing in man, who is placed under a moral law, and who
is bound to restrain and govern all his passions by a reference to that law, and to his higher
nature. For a cur to snarl and growl; for a lion to roar and rage; for a hyena to be fierce and
untameable; for a serpent to hiss and bite, and for the ostrich to leave her eggs without concern
Job_39:14, involves no blame, no guilt for them, for they are not accountable; but for man to
evince the same temper, and the same want of affection, does involve guilt, for he has a higher
nature, and all these things should be subject to the law which God has imposed on him as a
moral and accountable being. As these things may, therefore, in man be the occasion of sin, and
ought to be subdued, there was a fitness in praying that they might be “preserved blameless” to
the coming of the Saviour; compare the notes on 1Co_9:27.
2. CLARKE, “And the very God of peace - That same God who is the author of peace, the
giver of peace; and who has sent, for the redemption of the world, the Prince of peace; may that
very God sanctify you wholly; leave no more evil in your hearts than his precepts tolerate evil in

177. your conduct. The word wholly, ᆇλοτελεις means precisely the same as our phrase, to all intents
and purposes. May he sanctify you to the end and to the uttermost, that, as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so may grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Your whole spirit and soul and body - Some think that the apostle alludes to the
Pythagorean and Platonic doctrine, which was acknowledged among the Thessalonians. I should
rather believe that he refers simply to the fact, that the creature called man is a compound being,
consisting,
1. Of a body, σωµα, an organized system, formed by the creative energy of God out of the dust
of the earth; composed of bones, muscles, and nerves; of arteries, veins, and a variety of
other vessels, in which the blood and other fluids circulate.
2. Of a soul, ψυχη, which is the seat of the different affections and passions, such as love,
hatred, anger, etc., with sensations, appetites, and propensities of different kinds.
3. Of spirit, πνευµα, the immortal principle, the source of life to the body and soul, without
which the animal functions cannot be performed, how perfect soever the bodily organs
may be; and which alone possesses the faculty of intelligence, understanding, thinking,
and reasoning, and produces the faculty of speech wherever it resides, if accident have not
impaired the organs of speech.
The apostle prays that this compound being, in all its parts, powers, and faculties, which he
terms ᆇλοκληρον, their whole, comprehending all parts, every thing that constitutes man and
manhood, may be sanctified and preserved blameless till the coming of Christ; hence we learn,
1. That body, soul, and spirit are debased and polluted by sin.
2. That each is capable of being sanctified, consecrated in all its powers to God, and made
holy.
3. That the whole man is to be preserved to the coming of Christ, that body, soul, and spirit
may be then glorified for ever with him.
4. That in this state the whole man may be so sanctified as to be preserved blameless till the
coming of Christ. And thus we learn that the sanctification is not to take place in, at, or after
death. On the pollution and sanctification of flesh and spirit, see the note on 2Co_7:1.
3. GILL, “And the very God of peace,.... Or "the God of peace himself". The apostle follows
his exhortations with prayer to God, knowing the weakness and impotency of the saints to
receive them, and act according to them, and his own insufficiency to impress their minds with
them; and that unless the Lord opened their ears to discipline, and sealed instruction to them,
they would be useless and in vain: wherefore he applies to the throne of grace, and addresses
God as "the God of peace"; so called, because of the concern he has in peace and reconciliation
made by the blood of Christ, and because he is the giver of peace of conscience, and the author
of peace, concord, and unity among the saints, and of all happiness and prosperity, both in this
world, and in that which is to come; See Gill on Rom_15:33. And the apostle might choose to
address God under this character, partly to encourage boldness, freedom, and intrepidity at the
throne of grace, and partly to raise hope, expectation, and faith of having his requests answered,
since God is not an angry God, nor is fury in him, but the God of peace: and the petitions he puts
up for the Thessalonians are as follow: and first, that God would

178. sanctify you wholly; or "all of you", as the Arabic version; or "all of you perfectly", as the
Syriac version. These persons were sanctified by the Spirit of God, but not perfectly; the Gospel
was come to them in power, and had wrought effectually in them, and they were turned from
idols to serve the living God, and had true faith, hope, and love, implanted in them, and which
they were enabled to exercise in a very comfortable and commendable manner; but yet this work
of grace and sanctification begun in them was far from being perfect, nor is it in the best of
saints. There is something lacking in the faith of the greatest believer, love often waxes cold, and
hope is not lively at all times, and knowledge is but in part; sin dwells in all; the saints are poor
and needy, their wants continually return upon them, and they need daily supplies; the most
holy and knowing among them disclaim perfection in themselves, though desirous of it. Their
sanctification in Christ is perfect, but not in themselves; there is indeed a perfection of parts in
internal sanctification, every grace is implanted, there is not one wanting; the new creature, or
new man, has all its parts, though these are not come to their full growth; there is not a
perfection of degrees, and this is what the apostle prays for; for sanctification is a progressive,
gradual work, it is like seed cast into the earth, which springs up, first the blade, then the ear,
then the full corn in the ear, and is as light, which shines more and more to the perfect day.
Sanctified persons are first as newborn babes, and then they grow up to be young men, and at
last become fathers in Christ; and this work being begun, is carried on, and will be performed,
fulfilled, and made perfect: and it is God's work to do it; he begins, and he carries it on, and he
will finish it; and therefore the apostle prays to him to do it; this is his first petition: the second
follows,
and I pray God your whole spirit, soul and body, be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. A like division of man is made by the Jews: says one of
their writers (y).
"a man cannot know God, unless he knows ‫נפשו‬‫ונשמתו‬‫וגופו‬ , "his soul, his breath, or his spirit, and
his body".''
Says (z) R. Isaac,
"worthy are the righteous in this world, and in the world to come, for lo, they are all holy; their
body is holy, their soul is holy, their spirit, and their breath is holy''
See Gill on Heb_4:12. Some by "spirit" understand the graces and gifts of the Spirit in a
regenerate man; and by "the soul", the soul as regenerated, and as it is the seat and subject of
these graces; and by the body, the habitation of the soul, which is influenced by the grace that is
last; and this is a sense not to be despised. Others by "the spirit" understand the rational and
immortal soul of man, often called a spirit, as in Ecc_12:7 and by the soul, the animal and
sensitive soul, which man has in common with brutes; see Ecc_3:21 and by the "body", the
outward frame of flesh and blood, and bones; but rather "spirit" and "soul" design the same
immaterial, immortal, and rational soul of man, considered in its different powers and faculties.
The "spirit" may intend the understanding, Job_32:8 which is the principal, leading, and
governing faculty of the soul; and which being enlightened by the Spirit of God, a man knows
himself, Christ Jesus, and the things of the Spirit, the truths of the Gospel, and receives and
values them. The "soul" may include the will and affections, which are influenced by the
understanding; and in a regenerate man the will is brought to a resignation to the will of God,
and the affections are set upon divine things, and the body is the instrument of performing
religious and spiritual exercises: and these the apostle prays may be

179. preserved blameless; not that he thought they could be kept from sinning entirely in
thought, word, or deed; but that they might be preserved in purity and chastity from the gross
enormities of life, and be kept from a total and final falling away, the work of grace be at last
completed on the soul and spirit, and the body be raised in incorruption, and glory; and both at
the coming of Christ be presented faultless, and without blame, without spot or wrinkle, or any
such thing, first to himself, and then to his Father.
4. HENRY, “In these words, which conclude this epistle, observe,
I. Paul's prayer for them, 1Th_5:23. He had told them, in the beginning of this epistle, that he
always made mention of them in his prayers; and, now that he is writing to them, he lifts up his
heart to God in prayer for them. Take notice, 1. To whom the apostle prays, namely, The very
God of peace. He is the God of grace, and the God of peace and love. He is the author of peace
and lover of concord; and by their peaceableness and unity, from God as the author, those things
would best be obtained which he prays for. 2. The things he prays for on behalf of the
Thessalonians are their sanctification, that God would sanctify them wholly; and their
preservation, that they might be preserved blameless. He prays that they may be wholly
sanctified, that the whole man may be sanctified, and then that the whole man, spirit, soul, and
body, may be preserved: or, he prays that they may be wholly sanctified, that is, more perfectly,
for the best are sanctified but in part while in this world; and therefore we should pray for and
press towards complete sanctification. Where the good work of grace is begun, it shall be carried
on, be protected and preserved; and all those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus shall be
preserved to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And because, if God did not carry on his good
work in the soul, it would miscarry, we should pray to God to perfect his work, and preserve us
blameless, free from sin and impurity, till at length we are presented faultless before the throne
of his glory with exceeding joy.
5, JAMISON, “the very God — rather as the Greek, “the God of peace Himself”; who can do
for you by His own power what I cannot do by all my monitions, nor you by all your efforts
(Rom_16:20; Heb_13:20), namely, keep you from all evil, and give you all that is good.
sanctify you — for holiness is the necessary condition of “peace” (Phi_4:6-9).
wholly — Greek, “(so that you should be) perfect in every respect” [Tittmann].
and — that is, “and so (omit ‘I pray God’; not in the Greek) may your ... spirit and soul and
body be preserved,” etc.
whole — A different Greek word from “wholly.” Translate, “entire”; with none of the integral
parts wanting [Tittmann]. It refers to man in his normal integrity, as originally designed; an
ideal which shall be attained by the glorified believer. All three, spirit, soul, and body, each in its
due place, constitute man “entire.” The “spirit” links man with the higher intelligences of
heaven, and is that highest part of man which is receptive of the quickening Holy Spirit
(1Co_15:47). In the unspiritual, the spirit is so sunk under the lower animal soul (which it ought
to keep under) that such are termed “animal” (English Version. “sensual,” having merely the
body of organized matter, and the soul the immaterial animating essence), having not the Spirit
(compare 1Co_2:14; see on 1Co_15:44; see on 1Co_15:46-48; Joh_3:6). The unbeliever shall rise
with an animal (soul-animated) body, but not like the believer with a spiritual (spirit-endued)
body like Christ’s (Rom_8:11).
blameless unto — rather as Greek, “blamelessly (so as to be in a blameless state) at the
coming of Christ.” In Hebrew, “peace” and “wholly” (perfect in every respect) are kindred terms;

180. so that the prayer shows what the title “God of peace” implies. Bengel takes “wholly” as
collectively, all the Thessalonians without exception, so that no one should fail. And “whole
(entire),” individually, each one of them entire, with “spirit, soul, and body.” The mention of the
preservation of the body accords with the subject (1Th_4:16). Trench better regards “wholly” as
meaning, “having perfectly attained the moral end,” namely, to be a full-grown man in Christ.
“Whole,” complete, with no grace which ought to be wanting in a Christian.
6. CALVIN, “23Now the God of peace himself. Having given various injunctions, he now proceeds to
prayer. And unquestionably doctrine is disseminated in vain, (620) unless God implant it in our minds.
From this we see how preposterously those act who measure the strength of men by the precepts of God.
Paul, accordingly, knowing that all doctrine is useless until God engraves it, as it were, with his own finger
upon our hearts, beseeches God that he would sanctify the Thessalonians. Why he calls him here
the God of peace, I do not altogether apprehend, unless you choose to refer it to what goes before, where
he makes mention of brotherly agreement, and patience, and equanimity. (621)
We know, however, that under the term sanctification is included the entire renovation of the man. The
Thessalonians, it is true, had been in part renewed, but Paul desires that God would perfect what is
remaining. From this we infer, that we must, during our whole life, make progress in the pursuit of
holiness. (622) But if it is the part of God to renew the whole man, there is nothing left for free will. For if it
had been our part to co-operate with God, Paul would have spoken thus — “ God aid or promote your
sanctification.” But when he says, sanctify you wholly, he makes him the sole Author of the entire work.
And your entire spirit. This is added by way of exposition, that we may know what the sanctification of the
whole man is, when he is kept entire, or pure, and unpolluted, in spirit, soul, and body, until the day of
Christ. As, however, so complete an entireness is never to be met with in this life, it is befitting that some
progress be daily made in purity, and something be cleansed away from our pollutions, so long as we live
in the world.
We must notice, however, this division of the constituent parts of a man; for in some instances a man is
said to consist simply of body and soul, and in that case the term soul denotes the immortal spirit, which
resides in the body as in a dwelling. As the soul, however, has two principal faculties — the
understanding and the will — the Scripture is accustomed in some cases to mention these two things
separately, when designing to express the power and nature of the soul; but in that case the term soul is
employed to mean the seat of the affections, so that it is the part that is opposed to the spirit. Hence,
when we find mention made here of the term spirit, let us understand it as denoting reason or intelligence,
as on the other hand by the term soul, is meant the will and all the affections.
I am aware that many explain Paul’ words otherwise, for they are of opinion that by the term soul is meant
vital motion, and by the spirit is meant that part of man which has been renewed; but in that case Paul’
prayer were absurd. Besides, it is in another way, as I have said, that the term is wont to be made use of
in Scripture. When Isaiah says,
“ soul hath desired thee in the night,
my spirit hath thought of thee,” (Isa_26:9)

181. no one doubts that he speaks of his understanding and affection, and thus enumerates two departments
of the soul. These two terms are conjoined in the Psalms in the same sense. This, also, corresponds
better with Paul’ statement. For how is the whole man entire, except when his thoughts are pure and holy,
when all his affections are right and properly regulated, when, in fine, the body itself lays out its
endeavors and services only in good works? For the faculty of understanding is held by philosophers to
be, as it were, a mistress: the affections occupy a middle place for commanding; the body renders
obedience. We see now how well everything corresponds. For then is the man pure and entire, when he
thinks nothing in his mind, desires nothing in his heart, does nothing with his body, except what is
approved by God. As, however, Paul in this manner commits to God the keeping of the whole man, and
all its parts, we must infer from this that we are exposed to innumerable dangers, unless we are protected
by his guardianship.
(620) “Que proufitera-on de prescher la doctrine ?” — “ profit will be derived from preaching doctrine?”
(621) “Repos d’;” — “ of mind.”
(622) “En l’ et exercice de sainctete;” — “ the study and exercise of holiness.”
7. SBC, “I. There is much of instruction and comfort in this Apostolic prayer. The blessing
prayed for is that the Thessalonian converts may be sanctified wholly, that their spirit and soul
and body may be preserved. The Apostle adopts the trichotomy which in some form or other
may be said to belong to almost all systems of philosophy—"body, soul, spirit" It is the
combination of these three which makes up our nature; it is the due relations between these
three which constitute our sole possible happiness; it is the right training of these three that is
the object of that lifelong education which should begin in our earliest years, and end only with
the grave. In the case of Christ’s people, the Apostle’s prayer is that body, soul, and spirit be
preserved entire, without blame, being sanctified wholly—each in its complete measure and
perfect proportions. Delivered from the dominion of sin and Satan, they are in God’s keeping
unto holiness. The whole man is to become wholly man and God.
II. St. Paul next turns aside, very characteristically, to ask the pleadings of his Thessalonian
friends with the God of peace on behalf of himself and his fellow-labourers. He who was giving
thanks always for them all, making mention of them in his prayers, in the yearning love of his
heart now asks them to make mention of himself in their prayers. Such is Christian fellowship.
The Apostolic teacher turns from instruction and exhortation and warning to supplication for
help—not man’s help, indeed, but God’s—yet God’s help brought near to him through the
intercessory prayer of God’s own people.
III. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." In all the variations with which it
appears in the Pauline epistles, this benediction never has the word "grace" a-wanting. Thus, his
first epistle begins and closes with that word, which, above all others, reveals the summed
sweetness of the whole Gospel. Those who have the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ with them on
earth, cannot fail to have glory with Him hereafter in heaven.
J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 238.

182. 8. EBC, “CONCLUSION
THESE verses open with a contrast to what precedes, which is more strongly brought out in the
original than in the translation. The Apostle has drawn the likeness of a Christian church, as a
Christian church ought to be, waiting for the coming of the Lord; he has appealed to the
Thessalonians to make this picture their standard, and to aim at Christian holiness; and
conscious of the futility of such advice, as long as it stands alone and addresses itself to man’s
unaided efforts, he turns here instinctively to prayer: "The God of peace Himself"-working in
independence of your exertions and my exhortations-"sanctify you wholly."
The solemn fulness of this title forbids us to pass it by. Why does Paul describe God in this
particular place as the God of peace? Is it not because peace is the only possible basis on which
the work of sanctification can proceed? I do not think it is forced to render the words literally,
the God of the peace, i.e., the peace with which all believers are familiar, the Christian peace, the
primary blessing of the gospel. The God of peace is the God of the gospel, the God who has come
preaching peace in Jesus Christ, proclaiming reconciliation to those who are far off and to those
who are near. No one can ever be sanctified who does not first accept the message of
reconciliation. It is not possible to become holy as God is holy, until, being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is God’s way of holiness; and this is
why the Apostle presents his prayer for the sanctification of the Thessalonians to the God of
peace. We are so slow to learn this, in spite of the countless ways in which it is forced upon us,
that one is tempted to call it a secret; yet no secret, surely, could be more open. Who has not
tried to overcome a fault, to work off a vicious temper, to break for good with an evil habit, or in
some other direction to sanctify himself, and withal to keep out of God’s sight till the work was
done? It is of no use. Only the God of Christian peace, the God of the gospel, can sanctify us; or
to look at the same thing from our own side, we cannot be sanctified until we are at peace with
God. Confess your sins with a humble and penitent heart; accept the forgiveness and friendship
of God in Christ Jesus: and then He will work in you both will and deed to further His good
pleasure.
Notice the comprehensiveness of the Apostle’s prayer in this place. It is conveyed in three
separate words - wholly (ολοτελεις), entire (ολοκληρον), and without blame (αµεµπτως). It is
intensified by what has, at least, the look of an enumeration of the parts or elements of which
man’s nature consists-"your spirit and soul and body." It is raised to its highest power when the
sanctity for which he prays is set in the searching light of the Last Judgment-in the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ. We all feel how great a thing it is which the Apostle here asks of God: can we
bring its details more nearly home to ourselves? Can we tell, in particular, what he means by
spirit and soul and body?
The learned and philosophical have found in these three words a magnificent field for the
display of philosophy and learning; but unhappily for plain people, it is not very easy to follow
them. As the words stand before us in the text, they have a friendly Biblical look; we get a fair
impression of the Apostle’s intention in using them; but as they come out in treatises on Biblical
Psychology, though they are much more imposing, it would be rash to say they are more strictly
scientific, and they are certainly much less apprehensible than they are here. To begin with the
easiest one, everybody knows what it meant by the body. What the Apostle prays for in this place
is that God would make the body in its entirety-every organ and every function of it-holy. God
made the body at the beginning; He made it for Himself; and it is His. To begin with, it is neither
holy nor unholy; it has no character of its own at all; but it may be profaned or it may be
sanctified; it may be made the servant of God or the servant of sin, consecrated or prostituted.
Everybody knows whether his body is being sanctified or not. Everybody knows "the
inconceivable evil of sensuality." Everybody knows that pampering of the body, excess in eating
and drinking, sloth and dirt, are incompatible with bodily sanctification. It is not a survival of

183. Judaism when the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us to draw near to God "in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
But sanctification, even of the body, really comes only by employment in God’s service; charity,
the service of others for Jesus’ sake, is that which makes the body truly His. Holy are the feet
which move incessantly on His errands; holy are the hands which, like His, are continually doing
good; holy are the lips which plead His cause or speak comfort in His Name. The Apostle himself
points the moral of this prayer for the consecration of the body when he says to the Romans,
"Present your members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification."
But let us look, now, at the other two terms-spirit and soul. Sometimes one of these is used in
contrast with body, sometimes the other. Thus Paul says that the unmarried Christian woman
cares for the things of the Lord, seeking only how she may be holy in body and in spirit, -the two
together constituting the whole person. Jesus, again, warns His disciples not to fear man, but to
fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell; where the person is made to consist, not of
body and spirit, but of body and soul. These passages certainly lead us to think that soul and
spirit must be very near akin to each other; and that impression is strengthened when we
remember such a passage as is found in Mary’s song: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my
spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour"; where, according to the laws of Hebrew poetry, soul and
spirit must mean practically the same thing. But granting that they do so, when we find two
words used for the same thing, the natural inference is that they give us each a different look at
it. One of them shows it in one aspect; the other in another. Can we apply that distinction here? I
think the use of the words in the Bible enables us to do it quite decidedly; but it is unnecessary
to go into the details. The soul means the life which is in man, taken simply as it is, with all its
powers; the spirit means that very same life, taken in its relation to God. This relation may be of
various kinds: for the life that is in us is derived from God; it is akin to the life of God Himself; it
is created with a view to fellowship with God; in the Christian it is actually redeemed and
admitted to that fellowship; and in all those aspects it is spiritual life. But we may look at it
without thinking of God at all; and then, in Bible language, we are looking, not at man’s spirit,
but at his soul.
This inward life, in all its aspects, is to be sanctified through and through. All our powers of
thought and imagination are to be consecrated; unholy thoughts are to be banished; lawless,
roving imaginings, suppressed. All our inventiveness is to be used in God’s service. All our
affections are to be holy. Our heart’s desire is not to settle on anything from which it would
shrink in the day of the Lord Jesus. The fire which He came to cast on the earth must be kindled
in our souls, and blaze there till it has burned up all that is unworthy of His love. Our
consciences must be disciplined by His word and Spirit, till all the aberrations due to pride and
passion and the law of the world have been reduced to nothing, and as face answers face in the
glass, so our judgment and our will answer His. Paul prays for this when he says, May your
whole soul be preserved blameless. But what is the special point of the sanctification of the
spirit? It is probably narrowing it a little, but it points us in the right direction, if we say that it
has regard to worship and devotion. The spirit of man is his life in its relation to God. Holiness
belongs to the very idea of this: but who has not heard of sins in holy things? Which of us ever
prays as he ought to pray? Which of us is not weak, distrustful, incoherent, divided in heart,
wandering in desire, even when he approaches God? Which of us does not at times forget God
altogether? Which of us has really worthy thoughts of God, worthy conceptions of His holiness
and of His love, worthy reverence, a worthy trust? Is there not an element in our devotions even,
in the life of our spirits at their best and highest, which is worldly and unhallowed, and for which
we need the pardoning and sanctifying love of God? The more we reflect upon it, the more
comprehensive will this prayer of the Apostle appear, and the more vast and far-reaching the
work of sanctification. He seems himself to have felt, as man’s complex nature passes before his
mind, with all its elements, all its activities, all its bearings, all its possible and actual

184. profanation, how great a task its complete purification and consecration to God must be. It is a
task infinitely beyond man’s power to accomplish. Unless he is prompted and supported from
above, it is more than he can hope for, more than he can ask or think. When the Apostle adds to
his prayer, as if to justify his boldness, "Faithful is He that calleth you, who will also do it," is it
not a New Testament echo of David’s cry, "Thou, O Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, hast
revealed to Thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house: therefore hath Thy servant found in his
heart to pray this prayer unto Thee"?
Theologians have tried in various ways to find a scientific expression for the Christian conviction
implied in such words as these, but with imperfect success. Calvinism is one of these
expressions: its doctrines of a Divine decree, and of the perseverance of the saints, really rest
upon the truth of this 24th verse (1Th_5:24), -that salvation is of God to begin with; and that
God, who has begun the good work, is in earnest with it, and will not fail nor be discouraged
until He has carried it through. Every Christian depends upon these truths, whatever he may
think of Calvinistic inferences from them, or of the forms in which theologians have embodied
them. When we pray to God to sanctify us wholly; to make us His in body, soul, and spirit; to
preserve our whole nature in all its parts and functions blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus, is
not our confidence this, that God has called us to this life of entire consecration, that He has
opened the door for us to enter upon it by sending His Son to be a propitiation for our sins, that
He has actually begun it by inclining our hearts to receive the gospel, and that He may be
depended upon to persevere in it till it is thoroughly accomplished? What would all our good
resolutions amount to, if they were not backed by the unchanging purpose of God’s love? What
would be the worth of all our efforts and of all our hopes, if behind them, and behind our
despondency and our failures too, there did not stand the unwearying faithfulness of God? This
is the rock which is higher than we; our refuge; our stronghold; our stay in the time of trouble.
The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. We may change, but not He.
What follows is the affectionate desultory close of the letter. Paul has prayed for the
Thessalonians; he begs their prayers for himself. This request is made no less than seven times
in his Epistles-including the one before us: a fact which shows how priceless to the Apostle was
the intercession of others on his behalf. So it is always; there is nothing which so directly and
powerfully helps a minister of the gospel as the prayers of his congregation. They are the
channels of all possible blessing both for him and those to whom he ministers. But prayer for
him is to be combined with love to one another: "Salute all the brethren with a holy kiss." The
kiss was the ordinary greeting among members of a family; brothers and sisters kissed each
other when they met, especially after long separation; even among those who were no kin to
each other, but only on friendly terms, it was common enough, and answered to our shaking of
hands. In the Church the kiss was the pledge of brotherhood; those who exchanged it declared
themselves members of one family. When the Apostle says, "Greet one another with a holy kiss,"
he means, as holy always does in the New Testament, a Christian kiss; a greeting not of natural
affection, nor of social courtesy merely, but recognising the unity of all members of the Church
in Christ Jesus, and expressing pure Christian love. The history of the kiss of charity is rather
curious, and not without its moral. Of course, its only value was as the natural expression of
brotherly love; where the natural expression of such love was not kissing, but the grasping of the
hand, or the friendly inclination of the head, the Christian kiss ought to have died a natural
death. So, on the whole, it did; but with some partial survivals in ritual, which in the Greek and
Romish Churches are not yet extinct. It became a custom in the Church to give the kiss of
brotherhood to a member newly admitted by baptism; that practice still survives in some
quarters, even when children only are baptised. The great celebrations at Easter, when no
element of ritual was omitted, retained the kiss of peace long after it had fallen out of the other
services. At Solemn Mass in the Church of Rome the kiss is ceremonially exchanged, between
the celebrating and the assistant ministers. At Low Mass it is omitted, or given with what is

185. called an osculatory or Pax. The priest kisses the altar; then he kisses the osculatory, which is a
small metal plate; then he hands this to the server, and the server hands it to the people, who
pass it from one to another, kissing it as it goes. This cold survival of the cordial greeting of the
Apostolic Church warns us to distinguish spirit from letter. "Greet one another with a holy kiss"
means, Show your Christian love one to another, frankly and heartily, in the way which comes
natural to you. Do not be afraid to break the ice when you come into the church. There should be
no ice there to break. Greet your brother or your sister cordially and like a Christian: assume
and create the atmosphere of home.
Perhaps the very strong language which follows may point to some lack of good feeling in the
church at Thessalonica: "I adjure you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the brethren."
Why should he need to adjure them by the Lord? Could there be any doubt that everybody in the
church would hear his Epistle? It is not easy to say. Perhaps the elders who received it might
have thought it wiser not to tell all that it contained to everybody; we know how instinctive it is
for men in office-whether they be ministers of the church or ministers of state-to make a
mystery out of their business, and, by keeping something always in reserve, to provide a basis
for a despotic and uncontrolled authority. But whether for this or some other purpose,
consciously or unconsciously influencing them, Paul seems to have thought the suppression of
his letter possible; and gives this strong charge that it be read to all. It is interesting to notice the
beginnings of the New Testament. This is its earliest book, and here we see its place in the
Church vindicated by the Apostle himself. Of course when he commands it to be read, he does
not mean that it is to be read repeatedly; the idea of a New Testament, of a collection of
Christian books to stand side by side with the books of the earlier revelation, and to be used like
them in public worship, could not enter men’s minds as long as the apostles were with them; but
a direction like this manifestly gives the Apostle’s pen the authority of his voice, and makes the
writing for us what his personal presence was in his lifetime. The apostolic word is the primary
document of the Christian faith; no Christianity has ever existed in the world but that which has
drawn its contents and its quality from this; and nothing which departs from this rule is entitled
to be called Christian.
The charge to read the letter to all the brethren is one of the many indications in the New
Testament that, though the gospel is a mysterion, as it is called in Greek, there is no mystery
about it in the modern sense. It is all open and aboveboard. There is not something on the
surface, which the simple are to be allowed to believe; and something quite different
underneath, into which the wise and prudent are to be initiated. The whole thing has been
revealed unto babes. He who makes a mystery out of it, a professional secret which it needs a
special education to understand, is not only guilty of a great sin, but proves that he knows
nothing about it. Paul knew its length and breadth and depth and height better than any man;
and though he had to accommodate himself to human weakness, distinguishing between babes
in Christ and such as were able to bear strong meat, he put the highest things within reach of all;
"Him we preach," he exclaims to the Colossians, "warning every man, and teaching every man in
every wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ." There is no attainment in
wisdom or in goodness which is barred against any man by the gospel; and there is no surer
mark of faithlessness and treachery in a church than this, that it keeps its members in a
perpetual pupilage or minority, discouraging the free use of Holy Scripture, and taking care that
all that it contains is not read to all the brethren. Among the many tokens which mark the
Church of Rome as faithless to the true conception of the gospel, which proclaims the end of
man’s minority in religion, and the coming to age of the true children of God, her treatment of
Scripture is the most conspicuous. Let us who have the Book in our hands, and the Spirit to
guide us, prize at its true worth this unspeakable gift.
This last caution is followed by the benediction with which in one form. or another the Apostle
concludes his letters. Here it is very brief: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." He

186. ends with practically the same prayer as that with which he began: "Grace to you and peace,
from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." And what is true of this Epistle is true of
all the rest: the. grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is their A-and their W, their first word and their
last. Whatever God has to say to us - and in all the New Testament letters there are things that
search the heart and make it quake-begins and ends with grace. It has its fountain in the love of
God; it is working out, as its end, the purpose of that love. I have known people take a violent
dislike to the word grace, probably because they had often heard it used without meaning; but
surely it is the sweetest and most constraining even of Bible words. All that God has been to man
in Jesus Christ is summed up in it: all His gentleness and beauty, all His tenderness and
patience, all the holy passion of His love, is gathered up in grace. What more could one soul wish
for another than that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ should be with it?
8. Charles Simeon, “COMPLETE SANCTIFICATION TO BE SOUGHT AFTER
1Th_5:23-24. The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and
body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you,
who also will do it.
PARENTS naturally desire the prosperity of their children; but they can by no means secure it: even
though their children should be disposed to concur with them in every prudent plan, yet cannot their
combined efforts insure success; since, in numberless instances, “the race is not to the swift, nor the
battle to the strong.” The spiritual parent, who by the ministration of the Gospel hath begotten sons and
daughters to the Lord, is more favourably circumstanced: he is sure that no untoward circumstances shall
disappoint his hopes, provided only his children exert themselves as becomes them, in the appointed
way. True indeed it is, that success in spiritual things is infinitely more difficult to be obtained, on account
of the obstacles which are to be surmounted, and the enemies which are to be subdued. But
Omnipotence is engaged in behalf of all who sincerely labour for themselves: nor is there any attainment,
to which they who go forward in the strength of God may not confidently aspire. The object which St. Paul
desired in behalf of his Thessalonian converts was doubtless exceeding great: it was, that they might be
“sanctified throughout, and be preserved blameless unto the day of Christ:” but “his hope concerning
them was steadfast,” being founded, not on their weak powers, but on the power and fidelity of God, who
had undertaken to “perfect that which concerned them [Note: Psa_138:8.].” In illustrating the words before
us, we shall notice,
I. The blessing desired—
This was the greatest that mortal man can enjoy on earth: it was,
1. The sanctification of their whole man—
[Man is usually spoken of as consisting of two parts, a body and a soul: but he may, perhaps with more
propriety, be considered as having three parts;—a corporeal substance; an animal soul, like that which
exists in the lower orders of creation; and a rational immortal spirit, which connects him with the world
above. This distinction between the soul and spirit is to be found also in the Epistle to the Hebrews; where
it is said, that “the word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder the
soul and spirit [Note: Heb_4:12.].” In all of these parts, man is corrupt: “his body, in all its members, is
only, and invariably, an instrument of unrighteousness unto sin [Note: Rom_6:12-13.]:” his animal soul,

187. with all its affections and lusts, leads him to those gratifications only, of which the brutes partake in
common with him [Note: Jude, ver. 10.]: and his immortal soul is filled with all those evil dispositions
which characterize the fallen angels, such as, pride, envy, malice, discontent, and rebellion against God.
These different kinds of wickedness are frequently distinguished by the Apostle, according to the sources
from whence they spring: he speaks of the unconverted man as “fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of
the mind [Note: Eph_2:3.];” and tells us, that we must “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh
and spirit, if we would perfect holiness in the fear of God [Note: 2Co_7:1.].” Agreeably to these
distinctions, the character of fallen man is, that he is “earthly, sensual, and devilish [Note: Jam_3:15.].” In
all of these parts, then, we need to be renewed and sanctified: we need to have our bodies made
instruments of “righteousness unto holiness [Note: Rom_6:19.];” our souls, with “their affections and lusts,
crucified [Note: Gal_5:24.];” and our spirits “renewed after the Divine image, in righteousness and true
holiness [Note: Eph_4:23-24.].” Hence St. Paul prays for the Thessalonian converts, that they may be
sanctified “wholly” that is, throughout their whole man, even “in their whole spirit, and soul, and body.”
This, and this only, will constitute us “new creatures:” “the old things” pertaining to every part of us must
“have passed away, and all things must have become new [Note: 2Co_5:17.]:” then alone can we be said
to be “partakers of the divine nature [Note: 2Pe_1:4.];” and then alone have we any satisfactory evidence
that we are Christians indeed [Note: 2Co_5:17.].
This entire change was the first part of the blessing which St. Paul solicited in their behalf. But he could
not be satisfied with this, he therefore further entreated.]
2. The continuance of it unto the day of Christ—
[To be made thus “blameless” is doubtless an unspeakable blessing; but it would be of little service to us,
if we were to lose it again, and to return to our former state of sin and uncleanness. This is an idea which
many lovers of human systems do not like: but it is inculcated in every part of the Holy Scriptures: nor can
any man get rid of this idea, without doing violence to many of the plainest passages of Holy Writ, and, I
had almost said, “wresting them to his own destruction.”
By the Prophet Ezekiel, God tells us, that, “if the righteous man depart from his righteousness, and
commit iniquity, his righteousness shall no more be remembered; but for the iniquity that he committeth,
he shall die [Note: Eze_18:24.].” St. Paul warns us, “that, if after tasting of the heavenly gift, and being
made partakers of the Holy Ghost, we fall away, it is impossible, (or so difficult as to be all but
impossible,) for us ever to be renewed unto repentance [Note: Heb_6:4-6.].” St. Peter speaks yet more
plainly, assuring us, that. “if after having escaped the pollutions of the world through knowledge of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we be again entangled therein, and overcome, our latter end will be worse
than the beginning: for that it would be better for us never to have known the way of righteousness, than,
after we have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto us [Note: 2Pe_2:20-21.].”
Hence St. Paul prayed for the Thessalonians, that they might “be preserved blameless unto the day of
Christ.” To run well for a season would avail them nothing, if they were hindered at last. To little purpose
would they have “begun in the Spirit, if they ended in the flesh.” We must “endure to the end, if ever we
would be saved [Note: Mat_14:13.].” And so important is this truth, and so necessary to be inculcated on
the minds of even the most exalted Christians, that our blessed Lord himself, in his Letters to the Seven
Churches, closes every letter with this solemn admonition, that “to him that over-cometh,” and to him
only shall the full blessings of his salvation ever be extended
[Note: Rev_2:7; Rev_2:10; Rev_2:17; Rev_2:26; Rev_3:5; Rev_3:12; Rev_3:21.] — — — Hence are
those frequent cautions against declension in the life and power of godliness [Note: 2 John. ver.
8. Rev_3:11. 2Pe_3:14; 2Pe_3:17-18.]. The Lord grant we may ever bear them in mind! for God himself

188. expressly says, “If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him [Note: Heb_10:38.].”
On these accounts the Apostle prayed for them, that “the work begun ill them might be carried on and
perfected unto the day of Christ [Note: Php_1:6.].”]
Vast as this blessing was, he did not doubt of obtaining it in their behalf. This appears from,
II. The assurance given—
To the attainment of this blessed state God “calleth us” in his Gospel—
[“God hath not called us to uncleanness, but unto holiness,” even to the highest measure of it that can
possibly be attained. He says not only, “Be ye holy, for I am holy [Note: 1Pe_1:15-16.];” but, “Be ye
holy, as I am holy,” and “perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect [Note: Mat_5:48.],”]
And, as “the God of peace,” he promises to raise us to it—
[“God, having given us his Son to bear our sins in his own body on the tree, and to “make reconciliation
for us through the blood of the cross,” is pleased to reveal himself to us under the endearing character of
“the God of peace:” and being now “our God and Father in Christ Jesus,” he undertakes to do for us all
that shall be necessary for our final acceptance with him in the day of judgment. He promises to “sprinkle
clean water upon us, and to cleanse us from all our filthiness, and from all our idols [Note: Eze_36:25-
27.].” He teaches us also to look, not to his mercy only, or his power, to effect this, but to his truth and
faithfulness, yea, and to his very justice too: “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness [Note: 1Jn_1:9.].” This I say, he promises to us, being first of all become,
through the atoning blood of Christ, a “God of peace.” We are not to get sanctification first, and then, in
consequence of that sanctification, to find him a “God of peace;” but first to look to him as reconciled to us
in Christ Jesus, and then to experience the sanctifying operations of his Spirit. This order must be
particularly noticed in our text, as also in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where it is particularly marked
[Note: Heb_13:20-21.]: if we overlook this, we shall be in danger of misapprehending and perverting the
whole Gospel of Christ: but if we bear this in mind, then may we expect from God a full and complete
salvation. In many places does he pledge ins faithfulness to do for us all that we can stand in need of,
and never to discontinue his mercies towards us [Note: 1Co_1:8-9 and2Th_3:3.] — — — He may punish
us, and hide his face from us; but he will not utterly abandon us, or cast us off [Note: Psa_89:30-
36. Jer_32:40].].
We must, however, be found in the diligent use of the appointed means—
[The dependence of his blessing on the use of the appointed means is not always expressed; but it is
always implied. “He will be inquired of by us,” before he will do for us the things which he has most freely
promised [Note: Eze_36:37.]. He has appointed the means as well as the end, or rather I should say, the
end by the means: he has “chosen us to salvation; but it is through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief
of the truth [Note: 2Th_2:13. 1Pe_1:2.].” He alone has the power whereby our salvation must be affected,
as the words of our text very strongly imply [Note: á ὐ ô ὀ ò ὁ È å ü ò .]; but he expects that we exert
ourselves, as much as if all the power resided in our own arm: and the very consideration which many
persons urge as a reason for their inactivity, is suggested by him as a reason and encouragement for our
most strenuous exertions [Note: Php_2:12-13]. If we will not ask, and seek, and strive, we must expert
nothing at his hands: but if we will put forth our own feeble energies in the way of duty, he will “strengthen
us by his Spirit in our inward man,” and “make us more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”]

189. From this subject we may learn,
1. How mistaken they are who think that the Gospel leads to licentiousness—
[What symptom of licentiousness is here? Rather, may we not challenge every religious system in the
universe to produce morality like unto this? Other systems provide for “the cleansing of the outside of the
cup and platter;” but no other so effectually reaches the heart. The Gospel provides for the sanctification
of all our faculties and powers, and for the transformation of our whole man into the very image of our
find. Its language is, “Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace
[Note: Rom_6:14.].” And its effect is, to produce in every mind the desire which is so affectionately
expressed in the text, and not for others only, but for ourselves also. Let all jealousy then on this head be
put aside: and let us seek to be justified freely by faith in Christ; that, having peace with God through his”
precious blood, we may receive the communications of his grace more abundantly, and be “changed into
his image from glory to glory by the Spirit of our God.”]
2. How deluded they are who rest in Christian principles, without aspiring after Christian attainments—
[Such there have been in every age of the Church. Not that the Gospel has in itself any tendency to
create such characters; but the corruption of men’s hearts will take occasion from the Gospel to foster
sentiments, which are, in reality, subversive of its most fundamental truths. Many regard all exhortations
to holiness as legal: yea, there are not wanting some who will maintain, that Christ, having fulfilled the law
for us, has absolved us from all obligation to obey it in any of its commands. They affirm that it is
cancelled, not only as a covenant of works, but as a rule of life. They profess, that the sanctification of
Christ is imputed to us, precisely as his righteousness is; and that we need no personal holiness,
because we have a sufficient holiness in him. Horrible beyond expression are such sentiments as these:
and how repugnant they are to those contained in our text, it is needless to observe. That some who
advance these sentiments are externally moral, and often benevolent, must be confessed: (if any be truly
pious, it is not by means of these principles, but in spite of them:) but the great body of them, with, it is to
be feared, but few exceptions, bear the stamp of their unchristian principles in their whole spirit and
conduct. The whole family of them may be distinguished by the following marks. They are full
of pride and conceit, imagining that none can understand the Gospel but themselves. Such is
their confidence in their own opinions, that they seem to think it impossible that they should err. They
are dogmatical in the extreme, laying down the law for every one, and expecting all to bow to their
judgment: and so contemptuous are they, that they speak of all as blind and ignorant who presume to
differ from them. Their irreverent manner of treating the great mysteries of our religion is also most
offensive; they speak of them with a most unhallowed familiarity, as though they wore common things:
and so profane are they, that they hesitate not. to sneer at the very word of God itself, whenever it
militates against their favourite opinions. “By these fruits ye shall know them;” and by these fruits ye may
judge of their principles. True indeed, with their errors they bring forth much that is sound and good: but
this only renders their errors the more palatable and the more delusive. They altogether vitiate the taste of
the religious world, and indispose them for all practical instruction. They so exclusively set forth what may
be called “the strong meat” of the Gospel, as to withhold all “milk” from the household of our God
[Note: Heb_5:13-14. 1Co_3:2.]. In a word, they promote nothing but spiritual intoxication, and banish from
the Church all spiritual sobriety.
In what we have said, we design not to mark the characters of any particular men, but the character and
effect of their principles: and we do not hesitate to say again, that this is the true character and effect
of Antinomianism, wherever it exists.

190. In opposition to all who would thus make “Christ a minister of sin,” we must declare, that he came to save
his people, not in their sins, but from them [Note: Mat_1:21.]; and that “the grace of God which bringeth
salvation, teaches, and must ever teach, men to live righteously, and soberly, and godly in this present
world [Note:Tit_2:11-12.],” yea, and to “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God
[Note: Col_4:12.].”]
3. How blessed they are who have obtained peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ—
[You are not called to “make bricks without straw.” That God, who is now reconciled to you through the
Son of his love, undertakes to supply you with “grace sufficient for you [Note: 2Co_12:9.],” and to “fulfil in
you all the good pleasure of his goodness, even the work of faith with power [Note: 2Th_1:11.].” And is he
not able to do this? or will he forget his promises, or “suffer one jot or tittle of his word to fail?” No: “He is
faithful who hath promised, who also will do it.” Be of good courage then, whatever difficulties ye may
have to encounter. Know, that “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world [Note: 1Jn_4:4.].”
Gird on the armour which is provided for you, and “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus
[Note: Eph_6:10-11. 2Ti_2:1.].” Our prayer for you is the same as that of St. Paul for the Thessalonian
Christians: yes, beloved, “this is our wish, even your perfection [Note: 2Co_13:9.].” And we rejoice in the
thought that “God is able to make all grace abound towards you, that ye, having always all-sufficiency in
all things, may abound unto every good work [Note: 2Co_9:8.].” Only look to him as “a God of love and
peace,” and you shall find that “what he hath promised he is able also to perform [Note: Rom_4:21.].”]
24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
1.BARNES, “Faithful is he that calleth you - That is, your sanctification after all depends
on him, and as he has begun a work of grace in your hearts, you may depend on his faithfulness
to complete it; see the 1Th_4:3 note; Phi_1:6 note; 1Co_1:9 note.
2. CLARKE, “Faithful is he that calleth you - In a great variety of places in his word God
has promised to sanctify his followers, and his faithfulness binds him to fulfill his promises;
therefore he will do it. He who can believe will find this thing also possible to him.

191. 3. GILL, “Faithful is he that calleth you,.... Into the fellowship of his Son, and to his
kingdom and glory, and who continues to do so, not only externally by his word, but internally
by his Spirit and grace.
Who also will do it. Two things the apostle mentions as the ground of confidence that the
above petition, would be heard and answered; that is, that God would wholly sanctify them, and
preserve the whole of them blameless to the coming of Christ; and they are the faithfulness of
God, and the effectual calling of his saints. God is faithful to his word, his covenant and
promises; he has promised to sanctify and cleanse his people from all their sins, and to preserve
them safe to his kingdom and glory; agreeably the Arabic version renders this last clause, "and
will execute his promise": and the effectual calling is a sure pledge of glorification; whom God
calls he justifies and glorifies; as sure as he gives grace, he will give glory; and whom he calls to
his eternal glory, he will make perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle. The Complutensian
edition reads, "who also will make your hope firm"; that is, with respect to the above things.
4. HENRY, “His comfortable assurance that God would hear his prayer: Faithful is he who
calleth you, who will also do it, 1Th_5:24. The kindness and love of God had appeared to them
in calling them to the knowledge of his truth, and the faithfulness of God was their security that
they should persevere to the end; and therefore, the apostle assures them, God would do what
he desired; he would effect what he had promised; he would accomplish all the good pleasure of
his goodness towards them. Note, Our fidelity to God depends upon his faithfulness to us.
5, JAMISON, “Faithful — to His covenant promises (Joh_10:27-29; 1Co_1:9; 1Co_10:23;
Phi_1:6).
he that calleth you — God, the caller of His people, will cause His calling not to fall short of
its designed end.
do it — preserve and present you blameless at the coming of Christ (1Th_5:23; Rom_8:30;
1Pe_5:10). You must not look at the foes before and behind, on the right hand and on the left,
but to God’s faithfulness to His promises, God’s zeal for His honor, and God’s love for those
whom He calls.
6. CALVIN, “24Faithful is he that hath called you. As he has shewn by his prayer what care he
exercised as to the welfare of the Thessalonians, so he now confirms them in an assurance of Divine
grace. Observe, however, by what argument he promises them the never-failing aid of God — because
he has called them; by which words he means, that when the Lord has once adopted us as his sons, we
may expect that his grace will continue to be exercised towards us. For he does not promise to be a
Father to us merely for one day, but adopts us with this understanding, that he is to cherish us ever
afterwards. Hence our calling ought to be held by us as an evidence of everlasting grace, for he will not
leave the work of his hands incomplete. (Psa_138:8) Paul, however, addresses believers, who had not
been merely called by outward preaching, but had been effectually brought by Christ to the Father, that
they might be of the number of his sons.
7. BI, The faith of man and the faithfulness of God

192. 1.
The highest object of man’s existence is to hold communion with God. For this his nature
was framed, and in this alone will it find repose.
2. But the vital tie that connected us with heaven is broken. We are as a limb of the body
separated by paralysis, or any other internal cause, from the benefits of the general
circulation. God is the heart: we have insulated ourselves from God, and deadened the nerve
that conducted his influences. We have a name to live but are dead.
3. This is a state of things deeply to be lamented; but no one ever lamented that the brute
creation was shut out from the converse of angels—because there are no faculties in brutes
that point to a higher destiny; no traces of a fall, nothing about them which makes it a
practical contradiction that they should be as they are and yet what they are. But even in the
natural man there are faint gleams of a something over and beyond his present state, a
perpetual unhappiness, proving his designation for a different state of things originally.
4. Now without some notion of the extent of the loss, you can never estimate the value or
nature of the restoration. It is by the length of the dark shadow that you compute the height
of the elevation beyond it. It is by summing up the long catalogue of woe that you will be able
to conceive the importance of that manifestation of mercy, whose object is, by the descent of
God, to bind once more the broken links of communion.
5. The nature of this restoration. Man is separated from God as a criminal, and as unholy;
the communion is restored by free pardon on God’s part for Christ’s sake, and the
acceptance of that pardon upon man’s, and by the process of sanctification which makes a
lost and ruined soul at length “meet for the inheritance of the saints.”
6. Of this union with God the first great characteristic must be one which concerns both
intellect and heart. It must behold God’s holiness, justice, and mercy, and must love the
holiness, dread the justice, desire the mercy. This complex act of knowledge and affection is
faith.
7. But in every perfect union there must be mutual confidence, and a strict fulfilment of
enjoyments on both sides. If man be trustful, God must be “faithful.” This is the affirmation
of the apostle. Thus faith in man and faithfulness in God are the two members of our
spiritual harmony.
I. The Divine faithfulness is gloriously characteristic of the spiritual system to which we belong.
No words can go beyond the confidence of David in the faithfulness of God, and no doubt high
and spiritual meanings belong to his expressions of such confidence. Holiness was to be the
foundation of all, but yet a holiness triumphant in visible majesty and regal pomp. But the
faithfulness of our text has exclusive reference to sanctification. It was no relief from temporal
evils that Paul promised; the mercy of God might send them to the lions; it was still His mercy, if
it but kept them unspotted from the world. How many are content with such faithfulness as
this? Is this the tenor of your prayers? Is your heart busy in pleading with God His own eternal
faithfulness in behalf of your sanctification and spiritual safety?
II. The Divine faithfulness extends to the whole man. The entire, if feeble humanity, is sheltered
under this canopy of Divine protection. The body is subdued into its place as minister to the
soul; the soul is guarded from its own special corruptions; and the spirit is preserved undecayed
amid an hostile world. Of a surety the sacred Trinity that occupies the throne of heaven will not
forget this humble image of Their ineffable mystery. Surely the soul will be pre served by that
creative Deity who first infused it into the frame; the body by that Eternal Son who was pleased
to assume it; and the spirit, by that ever blessed Spirit who bestows it and may well guard His
own inestimable gift.

193. III. This faithfulness is of Him “that calleth you.” It is a fidelity to His own gracious
engagement. He without destroying human freedom or responsibility, of His free grace
commences, continues and ends the whole Christian work. Yet so faithful is His compassion that
He represents Himself as bound and tied to the impulses of His own unconstrained mercy.
There is no bond but His own love, yet that bond is stronger than iron; and He, whom the
universe cannot compel, commands Him self.
IV. With such a God, such promises and faithfulness, why is there a delay in appropriating so
great salvation? If we believe that these things are true where is the earnest active faith, and
where the life that answers to it? (W. Archer Butler, M. A.)
God’s faithfulness—Grandly did the old Scottish believer, of whom Dr. Brown tells us in his
“Horae Subsecivae,” respond to the challenge of her pastor regarding the ground of her
confidence. “Janet,” said the minister, “what would you say, if after all He has done for you, God
should let you drop into hell?” E’en’s (even as) He likes,” answered Janet. “If He does, He’ll lose
mair than I’ll do.” At first sight Janet’s reply looks irreverent, if not something worse. As we
contemplate it, however, its sublimity grows upon us. Like the Psalmist she could say, “I on Thy
Word rely” (Psa_119:114, metrical version). If His Word were broken, if His faithfulness should
fail, if that foundation could be destroyed, truly He would lose more than His trusting child. But
that could never be. “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all
generations.” Well then might Janet encourage herself in the Lord her God, and say, “God hath
spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice.” Assurance of victory—I can never conceive that it dispirits
the soldier, when he is fighting, to tell him that he must win the victory. This is what Cromwell’s
ironsides said when they saw the great general riding along the ranks, “‘Tis he!” they said, “‘tis
he!” they felt the victory was sure where Cromwell was, and like thunderbolts they dashed upon
their enemies, until as thin clouds before the tempest the foemen flew apace. The certainty of
victory gives strength to the arm that wields the sword. To say to the Christian you shall
persevere till you get to the journey’s end—will that make him sit down on the next milestone?
No; he will climb the mountain, wiping the sweat from his brow; and as he looks upon the plain,
he will descend with surer and more cautious footsteps, because he knows he shall reach the
journey’s end. God Will speed the ship over the waves into the desired haven; will the conviction
of that on the part of the captain make him neglect the vessel? Yes, if he be a fool; but if he be a
man in his wits, the very certainty that he shall cross the deep will only strengthen him in time
of storm to do what he would not have dreamt of doing if he had been afraid the vessel would be
cast away. Brethren, let this doctrine impel us to a holy ardency of watchfulness, and may the
Lord bless us and enable us to persevere to the end. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us.
1.BARNES, “Brethren, pray for us - A request which the apostle often makes; notes on
Heb_13:18. He was a man of like passions as others: liable to the same temptations; engaged in

194. an arduous work; often called to meet with opposition, and exposed to peril and want, and he
especially needed the prayers of the people of God. A minister, surrounded as he is by
temptations, is in great danger if he has not the prayers of his people. Without those prayers, he
will be likely to accomplish little in the cause of his Master. His own devotions in the sanctuary
will be formal and frigid, and the word which he preaches will be likely to come from a cold and
heavy heart, and to fall also on cold and heavy hearts. There is no way in which a people can
better advance the cause of piety in their own hearts, than by praying much for their minister.
2. CLARKE, “Pray for me - Even apostles, while acting under an extraordinary mission,
and enjoying the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, felt the necessity of the prayers of the faithful.
God requires that his people should pray for his ministers; and it is not to be wondered at, if
they who pray not for their preachers should receive no benefit from their teaching. How can
they expect God to send a message by him, for whom they, who are the most interested, have not
prayed? If the grace and Spirit of Christ be not worth the most earnest prayers which a man can
offer, they, and the heaven to which they lead, are not worth having.
3. GILL, “Brethren, pray for us. Which is added with great beauty and propriety, after the
apostle had so earnestly and affectionately prayed for them; and this is directed, not to the
pastors of the church only, but to all the members of it, whom the apostle styles "brethren" in a
spiritual relation, as he often does; and of whom he requests, that they would pray for him, and
the rest of his fellow ministers and labourers in the word, that God would more and more qualify
and fit them for their work, assist in private studies and meditations, give them freedom of
thought, liberty of expression, and a door of utterance, and follow their ministrations with a
divine blessing and success, and deliver them out of the hands of unreasonable men; See Gill on
Heb_13:18.
4. HENRY, “His request of their prayers: Brethren, pray for us, 1Th_5:25. We should pray
for one another; and brethren should thus express brotherly love. This great apostle did not
think it beneath him to call the Thessalonians brethren, nor to request their prayers. Ministers
stand in need of their people's prayers; and the more people pray for their ministers the more
good ministers may have from God, and the more benefit people may receive by their ministry.
5, JAMISON, “Some oldest manuscripts read, “Pray ye also for (literally, ‘concerning’) us”;
make us and our work the subject of your prayers, even as we have been just praying for you
(1Th_5:23). Others omit the “also.” The clergy need much the prayers of their flocks. Paul makes
the same request in the Epistles to Romans, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and
in Second Corinthians; not so in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus, whose intercessions, as his
spiritual sons, he was already sure of; nor in the Epistles, I Corinthians, and Galatians, as these
Epistles abound in rebuke.
6. BI, “Prayer for missionaries

195. I.
The grounds of this appeal.
1. The character of the men required. “Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest,” etc. The
work requires fully qualified workers. It must have apostolic, unselfish, unworldly, spiritual,
sympathetic, brotherly men. Pray for such. Only God can send them.
2. The work they are called to accomplish—
(1) There are evils to be vanquished before the good can be created—apathy, a dead
conscience, helpless dependence on others. On the other hand, the missionary has to
create a spirit of hopefulness and of self-help, and the recognition of the Divine claim. He
has to secure a quickened conscience to stand trembling in the presence of sin, and yet
able to rest immovable in the recollection of free grace and dying love.
(2) There are special difficulties he has to overcome.
(a) He has no human constraints. At home if a man neglects his work his material
interest suffers; the salary of the missionary is constant. At home the pastor has his
equals; abroad he is supreme. At home we are under constant inspection; the
missionary is thousands of miles away from criticism. These constraints are very
helpful, however unpalatable; and lacking them the missionary needs our prayers.
(b) He has no human helps of association and sympathy to which we owe so much,
of these the missionary often knows nothing. What solitude of mind, heart and
sorrow! far from country, kindred, home! All sights and sounds uncongenial.
(c) He meets with frequent and bitter disappointment—rank hypocrisy where
conversion seemed sound.
(d) Then there is the climate and its effects. How much we are indebted to our much
complained of and variable weather for the strength of our physique. In India the
more regular climate seems to dry up all the energies. But this is nothing compared
to the vitiating moral atmosphere.
II. The nature of this appeal.
1. What it supposes.
(1) Faith in prayer. Prayer is of the essence of religion, and if prayer be not availing then
religion is an illusion and must die. But if it be availing then religion is a practical force
and cannot die.
(2) Faith in the gospel, for it is the universal law of God’s service that no man shall take a
share in His work without faith. Without it we cannot please Him, secure His Spirit, nor
rouse and devote our energies to the conversion of souls. But given faith all things are
possible.
(3) Brotherly sympathy. Missionaries are “brethren” calling on the same Father, steeped
in the same temper, going to the same reward.
2. What, if we comply with it, will it bring?
(1) All will be occupied at the same time and in the same work. Some are strong, some
weak; some are rich, some poor; some are learned, others ignorant—but all can pray, and
this is the grandest privilege and mightiest power of all.
(2) All will be benefitted by it. He who prays, he for whom prayer is offered.
(3) It will be for the Divine honour, “Not by might nor by power,” etc.

196. (4) It will appropriate and apply God’s benefits. (J. Aldis.)
The prayers of Christian people in relation to ministerial work
It is useless for any man to pray unless he has, even to every human being, this brotherly feeling.
True prayer is the outflowing of a kind and loving heart. Ministers need specially the sympathies
and prayers of their people on account of—
1. The difficulties of their work.
2. The peculiar trials of their work; and
3. The twofold results of their work.
I. The difficulties of ministerial work. The first difficulty here is to be always in a proper mental
mood for mental work. There is—
1. A work of preparation for the pulpit, and—
2. A work of communication in the pulpit. The result in either case depends upon the
atmosphere which surrounds the preacher’s soul—upon the current of his inmost feeling. It
is the duty of every Christian minister, however great his mental culture and creative genius,
to make special and careful preparation for the pulpit. To keep clear of all disturbing forces,
so as, at the proper time to retain the power of fixing the mind upon the subject to be
investigated, and to be just then in a state of spiritual repose “in the spirit,” the state which is
the condition of spiritual perception, as the truth is spiritually discerned, requires great
grace. The second difficulty is the finding of a variety of subjects—subjects which shall—
(1) Be taken hold of by the preacher’s own mind.
(2) Be relished by the people; and—
(3) Prove permanently profitable to both.
II. The trials of ministerial work. The first of these trials arises from a deep consciousness of
personal weakness and inadequacy for the work. These trials arise from want of success.
III. The two-fold effect of ministerial work, The final result of every human work is solemn. The
day of final reckoning is solemn to every one, but yet the issues in that day, of ministerial work
here, will be perhaps the most solemn of all solemn things. I have spoken of the minister’s need
of an interest in your prayers. I have spoken of the cheering influence which an assurance of this
will have upon his own spirit, how it will actually give a richer tint to the glorious truths of God’s
Holy Book as they will be, from time to time, presented in his discourses. But, as all forces in
nature are reciprocal in their action, so does prayer act upon him who prays as well as upon him
for whom the prayer is offered. If you wish to be profited by the preaching, pray for the
preacher. (Evan Lewis, B. A.)
The force of prayer
What is the prayer for which I ask? It is not the self-willed importunity of him who thinks he
shall be heard for his much speaking. It is not the opening to God of thoughts which His love has
not anticipated. It is not the pleading of our personal wishes as isolated objects of Divine favour;
say, rather, it is the humblest, tenderest, most unquestioning expression of our dependence, the
confession of our wants and weaknesses, as we have felt them, the firmest resolution to rest in
God’s will, and to make His will our own; the energy of a spiritual communion by which we

197. realize our own well-being in the well-being of others; the endeavour to quicken and chasten
and hallow every prompting of duty by the light of heaven. In this sense, “brethren, pray for us.”
Such prayer corresponds—
I. With our Christian fellowship. We are not, we cannot be, alone. In itself the fact is fitted to
oppress us with the feeling of our powerlessness. But it can be transfigured. And to pray one for
another is to transfigure it. When St. Paul speaks of Christians being “in Christ,” he has gathered
up the gospel in two syllables; he has proclaimed the unfailing bond of fellowship, the adequate
provision for effective ministry, the victorious sovereignty of redeeming love.
II. With our present needs.
III. With our Divine assurance. Christianity deals with social problems, not accidentally, but in
virtue of its existence. For us the Incarnation is the rule and the motive power. The Resurrection
is the sign of God’s purpose for all material and transitory things, the transfiguration of the
completeness of human life. The Christian Church is, as we believe, the present organ of a living
Spirit. We claim for it, in virtue of the assurance of the Lord, not simply the right of existence or
the power of self-defence, but the certainty of conquest. (Bp. Westcott.)
The ministers’ plea for the peoples’ prayers
I. Directions. Pray for us.
1. That we may be furnished with all proper gifts and graces for our work.
2. That we may be preserved from the defections of the age.
3. That we may be helped to fulfil our ministry in the best manner.
4. That our ministry may be accepted of God in Christ, and of His people.
5. That we may be made successful in our work.
6. That the usefulness of our lives may be continued.
7. That we may be united with one another, and with the Churches of Christ, in carrying on
the work of the Lord.
8. That our own souls may be saved, and that we may give up our accounts with joy in the
day of the Lord Jesus.
II. Considerations.
1. Our work is very important.
2. Our difficulties in managing it are many—arising from the work, ourselves, and our
hearers.
3. Our strength is small.
4. The residue of the Spirit is with the Lord, and there is room for hope that, by the help of
your fervent prayers, it may be brought down upon us.
5. Our prayers and labours for you call for a return of your prayers for us.
6. The answer of your prayers for us will turn to your own benefit, and to the advancement
of Christ’s kingdom and glory. (J. Gouge, D. D.)

198. Prayer for ministers
Pray for us—
I. As teachers, that we may be taught of the Holy Spirit, and have more of the mind of Jesus;
and that eschewing all false doctrine—the materialistic and the sensuous on the one side; and
the rationalistic and the sceptical on the other—we may hold, and teach, and feel, the truth in all
its proportions.
II. As preachers and evangelists, that we may never preach ourselves, but Christ only, in all His
fulness, without limit: affectionately, earnestly, persuasively, lovingly, savingly: give true bread
to our people: speaking as a dying man to dying men; as a redeemed soul to souls for whom
Jesus died.
III. As ministers of holy sacraments, the Word, and services of the Church. That her beauty and
grace may never be injured by us, and that we may do all holy things with a holy mind; and that
God will so honour His own ordinance, that, even at our lips, His Word may go with the greater
power; and when there shall be made a true confession, the assurance of absolving grace may
reach comfortably even through us, to the yet unquiet conscience; and true sacrifices arise at our
hands, from fervent and united hearts; and the whole Church “grow up into Him in all things
which is the Head.”
IV. As men, “Brethren, pray for us.” Acknowledging and claiming, by that word, a common
brotherhood,—lest, perhaps, they might think of him only in his official capacity. “Pray for us” as
men, subject as much—if not more—to the same infirmities that you are; poor, ignorant men,
that know nothing as they ought to know it; wanting guidance at every step, and sympathy, and
the blood of Jesus to wash both their bodies and their souls. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The value of prayer for ministers
John Livingstone, of Scotland, once spent a whole night with a company of his brethren in
prayer for God’s blessing, all of them together beseiging the throne; and next day, under his
sermon, eight hundred souls were converted. All the world has known how the audience of
President Edwards was moved under his terrible sermon on “Sinners in the hands of an angry
God.” But the secret of that sermon is known to but few. Some Christians in the vicinity had
become alarmed, lest while God was blessing other places He should in anger pass them by; and
so they met on the previous evening and spent the whole night in agonizing prayer. (H. C. Fish,
D. D.)
The minister’s prayer book
A worthy minister of the gospel, in North America, was pastor of a flourishing Church. He was a
popular preacher, but gradually became less to his hearers, and his congregation very much
decreased. This was solely attributed to the minister; and matters continuing to get worse, some
of his hearers resolved to speak to him on the subject. They did so; and when the good man had
heard their complaints, he replied, “I am quite sensible of all you say, for I feel it to be true; and
the reason of it is, that I have lost my prayer book. They were astonished at hearing this, but he
proceeded: “Once my preaching was acceptable, many were edified by it, and numbers were
added to the Church, which was then in a prosperous state. But we were then a praying people”
They took the hint. Social prayer was again renewed and punctually attended. Exertions were
made to induce those who were without to attend the preaching of the Word. And the result was,
that the minister became as popular as ever, and in a short time the Church was again as

199. flourishing as ever. (Clerical Library.)
Prayer helps preaching
There was once in the old days a famous mission preacher; whenever he preached he was
accompanied by a little blind boy, his brother. As the great preacher stood on chancel step, or in
pulpit, and people wept or trembled at his words, close by would be the blind child, with his
sightless eyes turned upward, as though watching his brother. One night, the preacher saw a
vision in church, he thought an angel touched him, and pointed to the blind boy. Then he saw a
stream of light from heaven shining on the sightless eyes, and he understood now that it was not
the eloquence of the preacher, but the prayers of the blind child which wrought such wonderful
results. (W. Buxton.)
26 Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss.
1.BARNES, “
2. CLARKE, “Greet all the brethren - See the note on Rom_16:16. Instead of all the
brethren, the Coptic has, greet one another; a reading not noticed by either Griesbach or
Wetstein.
3. GILL, “Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. In opposition, to an unchaste and
hypocritical one. His meaning is, that they would salute the members of the church in his name,
and give his Christian love and affections to them. And his view is to recommend to them
brotherly love to each other, and to stir them up to the mutual exercise of it more and more.
4. HENRY, “His salutation: Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss, 1Th_5:26. Thus the
apostle sends a friendly salutation from himself, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, and would have
them salute each other in their names; and thus he would have them signify their mutual love
and affection to one another by the kiss of charity (1Pe_5:14), which is here called a holy kiss, to
intimate how cautious they should be of all impurity in the use of this ceremony, then commonly
practised; as it should not be a treacherous kiss like that of Judas, so not a lascivious kiss like
that of the harlot, Pro_7:13.

200. 5, JAMISON, “Hence it appears this Epistle was first handed to the elders, who
communicated it to “the brethren.”
holy kiss — pure and chaste. “A kiss of charity” (1Pe_5:14). A token of Christian fellowship in
those days (compare Luk_7:45; Act_20:37), as it is a common mode of salutation in many
countries. The custom hence arose in the early Church of passing the kiss through the
congregation at the holy communion [Justin Martyr, Apology, 1.65; Apostolic Constitutions,
2.57], the men kissing the men, and the women the women, in the Lord. So in the Syrian Church
each takes his neighbor’s right hand and gives the salutation, “Peace.”
6. CALVIN, “26Salute all the brethren with an holy kiss. As to the kiss, it was a customary token of
salutation, as has been stated elsewhere. (623) In these words, however, he declares his affection
towards all the saints.
7. BI, “The holy kiss
This exhortation in various forms is frequent (Rom_16:16; 1Co_16:20; 2Co_13:12; 1Pe_5:14);
and it must be borne in mind was addressed to men with respect to men, and to women with
respect to women only.
At this time worship would be conducted in accordance with the strict customs of the East, the
men being separated from the women. It is still altogether contrary to “chastity” or “good fame”
for a man and woman to greet one another in public, even though members of the same family.
Hence the embarrassment of the disciples (Joh_4:27). Had anything been intended so
monstrous to the notions of the Greeks as the fact of all men indiscriminately kissing all women
it must have been distinctly stated, and that with restrictions to guard against its abuse.
Moreover, had such indiscriminate salutation been allowed it would have formed a damaging
charge, sure to have been brought by Pagan and Jewish objectors; but no such charge is
discovered in the writings of the early centuries. The custom was practised for a long time. It
was called “the kiss of greeting,” “the kiss of peace,” sometimes only “the peace.” One special
time when it was employed was during Divine service just before Communion. In the Apostolic
Constitutions, a work of the third century, the author says, “On the other side let the men sit
with all silence and good order; and the women, let them also sit separately, keeping silence
Then let the men salute one another, and the women one another with the kiss in the Lord.”
There are two distinct kinds of kissing—one is that of dependants or suppliant’s kissing a
supreme hand, feet, hem of garment, or dust on which he has trodden. The other is that which
takes place between equals. When these are relatives or dear friends each in turn places his head
face downwards upon the other’s left shoulder, and afterwards salutes the right cheek, and then
reverses the action (Gen_33:4; Gen_45:14-15! Act_20:37). Between the first and last mentions
of this custom stretches a period of more than eighteen hundred years! What wonder, then, that
after the lapse of another eighteen hundred years, we find it still the same in the changeless life
of Bible Lands! When a kindly, but somewhat more formal and respectful, salutation passes
between those of the same rank, they will take hold of each other’s beards and kiss them, and it
is a great insult to take hold of a man’s beard for any other purpose (2Sa_20:9-10). There is,
however, another common occasion of kissing, viz., between a host and his guests, when one
places the right hand upon the other’s left shoulder and kisses the right cheek, and then the left
hand on the right shoulder, kissing the left cheek (2Sa_15:5). For the neglect of this Simon the
Pharisee was rebuked (Luk_7:45), by our Lord, committing, as he did, a gross breach of the laws
of hospitality. Another formal mode of salutation between equals is to join the right hands; then

201. each kisses his own hand and puts it to his lips and forehead or over his heart. Most probably it
was by laying the hand on the shoulder and kissing the cheek that the early Christians saluted
one another. It was intended to teach believers of their common brotherhood in Christ, without
distinction of caste or rank. It answers exactly to our hearty shaking of the hands. (J. Neil, M. A.)
Fraternal salutation
I. The practice itself. It was an ordinary mode of salutation, and had been practised at all times
in eastern countries, sometimes even by men, and that, too, for opposite purposes. Hence Judas,
when he wished to betray his Master, he did so with a kiss, testifying his apparent friendship on
the one hand, and his abominable treachery on the other. A kiss was the sign of affection; and so
by that slight artifice Judas thought to conceal his base purpose. Jesus, with severity,
reproached him justly for it: “Betrayest thou,” He said, “the Son of Man with a kiss?” As if He
had said, Dost thou violate all thy obligations of fidelity to thy Master, and thus deliver Him up
to death? The kiss is the outward token of inward affection, but thou dost employ it basely and
wickedly, intending to add deceit, disguise, and the prostitution of a mark of esteem to the crime
of treason. Every word of Christ’s reproach must surely have gone to the heart of Judas. The
same artifice, however, was frequently resorted to for a like purpose. Take, as proof, that
between Joab and Abner (2Sa_3:27).
II. The sanctity of this practice. St. Paul speaks of “a holy kiss,” to denote that he intended it to
be an expression of Christian affection, and so to guard it against all improper familiarity and
scandal. Thus he sends a friendly salutation from himself, and Silvanus, and Timotheus; and he
would have them signify their mutual love and affection to one another by “the kiss of charity.”
So far this was well; but there are other ways of showing attachment to Christian brethren of a
less suspicious and more certain character, such as rejoicing with them when they rejoice, and
weeping with them when they weep, bearing their burdens and relieving their wants. This is
indeed good and acceptable in the sight of God. (A. Barnes, D. D.)
Christian greeting
Shake hands with somebody as you go out of church. The more of it the better, if it is expressive
of real interest and feeling. There may be a great deal of the spirit of the gospel put into a hearty
shake of the hand. Think of St. Paul’s four times repeated request, “Greet one another,” after the
custom then in common use, and one which is expressive of even warmer feeling than our
common one of hand shaking. Why not give your neighbours the benefit of the warm Christian
feeling that fills you to your finger tips, and receive the like from them in return? You will both
be benefited by it; and the stranger will go away feeling that the church is not, after all, so cold as
he had thought it to be.
A smiling greeting
A lady of position and property, anxious about her neighbours, provided religious services for
them. She was very deaf—could scarcely hear at all. On one occasion, one of her preachers
managed to make her understand him, and at the close of their conversation asked: “But what
part do you take in the work?” “Oh,” she replied, “I smile them in and I smile them out!” Very
soon the preacher saw the result of her generous, loving sympathy in a multitude of broad-
shouldered, hard-fisted men, who entered the place of worship, delighted to get a smile from her
as she used to stand in the doorway to receive them. Why do not the working classes attend the
house of God? They would, in greater numbers, if self-denying, Christ-loving Christians would
smile them in and smile them out. (The Christian.)

202. 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter
read to all the brothers and sisters.
1.BARNES, “I charge you by the Lord - Margin, “adjure.” Greek, “I put you under oath by
the Lord” - ενορκίζω ᆓµᇰς τᆵν Κύριον enorkizo humas ton Kurion. It is equivalent to binding
persons by an oath; see the notes on Mat_26:63; compare Gen_21:23-24; Gen_24:3,
Gen_24:37.
That this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren - To all the church; compare notes
on Col_4:16. The meaning is, that the Epistle was to be read to the whole church on some
occasion. on which it was assembled together. It was not merely designed for the individual or
individuals into whose hands it might happen to fall, but as it contained matters of common
interest, and was designed for the whole body of believers at Thessalonica, the apostle gives a
solemn charge that it should not be suppressed or kept from them. Injunctions of this kind
occurring in the Epistles, look as if the apostles regarded themselves as under the influence of
inspiration, and as having authority to give infallible instructions to the churches.
2. CLARKE, “I charge you by the Lord, that this epistle be read - There must have
been some particular reason for this solemn charge; he certainly had some cause to suspect that
the epistle would be suppressed in some way or other, and that the whole Church would not be
permitted to hear it; or he may refer to the smaller Churches contiguous to Thessalonica, or the
Churches in Macedonia in general, whom he wished to hear it, as well as those to whom it was
more immediately directed. There is no doubt that the apostles designed that their epistles
should be copied, and sent to all the Churches in the vicinity of that to which they were directed.
Had this not been the case, a great number of Churches would have known scarcely any thing of
the New Testament. As every Jewish synagogue had a copy of the law and the prophets, so every
Christian Church had a copy of the gospels and the epistles, which were daily, or at least every
Sabbath, read for the instruction of the people. This the apostle deemed so necessary, that he
adjured them by the Lord to read this epistle to all the brethren; i.e. to all the Christians in that
district. Other Churches might get copies of it; and thus, no doubt, it soon became general. In
this way other parts of the sacred writings were disseminated through all the Churches of the
Gentiles; and the errors of the different scribes, employed to take copies, constituted what are
now called the various readings.
3. GILL, “I charge you by the Lord,.... Or "I adjure by the Lord"; by the Lord Jesus: it is in
the form of an oath, and a very solemn one; and shows that oaths may be used on certain and
solemn occasions:

203. that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren; to all the members of the church,
who are called "holy", because they were sanctified or set apart by God the Father in election;
and were sanctified by the blood of Christ, or their sins were expiated, or atoned for by the
sacrifice of Christ in redemption; and were sanctified or made holy by the Spirit of God in
regeneration; and were enabled by the grace of God to live holy lives and conversations. Now
this epistle being directed only to some of the principal members of the church, it may be to one
or more of their elders; lest he or they should be tempted on any account to conceal it, the
apostle in a very solemn manner adjures, that it be read publicly to the whole church whom it
concerned, that all might hear, and learn, and receive some advantage from it; from whence we
may learn, as is observed by many interpreters, that the sacred Scriptures, neither one part nor
another, nor the whole of them, are to be kept from private Christians, but may be read, and
heard, and used by all.
4. HENRY, “His solemn charge for the reading of this epistle, 1Th_5:27. This is not only an
exhortation, but an adjuration by the Lord. And this epistle was to be read to all the holy
brethren. It is not only allowed to the common people to read the scriptures, and what none
should prohibit, but it is their indispensable duty, and what they should be persuaded to do. In
order to this, these holy oracles should not be kept concealed in an unknown tongue, but
translated into the vulgar languages, that all men, being concerned to know the scriptures, may
be able to read them, and be acquainted with them. The public reading of the law was one part
of the worship of the sabbath among the Jews in their synagogues, and the scriptures should be
read in the public assemblies of Christians also.
5, JAMISON, “I charge — Greek, “I adjure you.”
read unto all — namely, publicly in the congregation at a particular time. The Greek aorist
tense implies a single act done at a particular time. The earnestness of his adjuration implies
how solemnly important he felt this divinely inspired message to be. Also, as this was the FIRST
of the Epistles of the New Testament, he makes this the occasion of a solemn charge, that so its
being publicly read should be a sample of what should be done in the case of the others, just as
the Pentateuch and the Prophets were publicly read under the Old Testament, and are still read
in the synagogue. Compare the same injunction as to the public reading of the Apocalypse, the
LAST of the New Testament canon (Rev_1:3). The “all” includes women and children, and
especially those who could not read it themselves (Deu_31:12; Jos_8:33-35). What Paul
commands with an adjuration, Rome forbids under a curse [Bengel]. Though these Epistles had
difficulties, the laity were all to hear them read (1Pe_4:11; 2Pe_3:10; even the very young,
2Ti_1:5; 2Ti_3:15). “Holy” is omitted before “brethren” in most of the oldest manuscripts,
though some of them support it.
6. CALVIN, “27I adjure you by the Lord. It is not certain whether he feared that, as often happened,
spiteful and envious persons would suppress the Epistle, or whether he wished to provide against another
danger — lest by a mistaken prudence and caution on the part of some, it should be kept among a
few. (624) For there will always be found some who say that it is of no advantage to publish generally
things that otherwise they recognize as very excellent. At least, whatever artifice or pretext Satan may
have at that time contrived, in order that the Epistle might not come to the knowledge of all, we may

204. gather from Paul’ words with what earnestness and keenness he sets himself in opposition to it. For it is
no light or frivolous thing to adjure by the name of God. We find, therefore, that the Spirit of God would
have those things which he had set forth in this Epistle, through the ministry of Paul, to be published
throughout the whole Church. Hence it appears, that those are more refractory than even devils
themselves, who in the present day prohibit the people of God from reading the writings of Paul,
inasmuch as they are no way moved by so strict an adjuration.
END OF THE COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS.
(624) “Qu’ par vne prudence indiscrete, la communicassent seulement a quelque petit nombre sans en
faire les autres participans;” — “ some by an ill-advised prudence, would communicate it only to some
small number without making others participate in it.”
7. BI, “The authority of St.
Paul’s Epistles
This is by implication a remarkable ecclesiastical sanction claimed for this Epistle. In the Jewish
Church Moses and the Prophets were constantly read (Luk_4:16; Act_13:27; Act_15:21). The
injunction here reminds us of the blessing in Rev_1:3, and the impressive solemnity with which
it is given is worthy of note. Surely it suggests the duty of reading passages of the New
Testament in church, and even the guilt of neglecting it, or of keeping it from the people. This is
one of the passages which give us an idea of the great authority attributed to the Epistles from
the earliest times. They were carried by the apostle’s delegates (like the iggereth of the
synagogues); they were held to have equal dogmatic authority with the apostle himself; they
were read out and finally deposited among the archives of the church; they were taken out on
solemn days and read as sacred documents, with a perpetual teaching. Thus the epistolary form
of literature was peculiarly the shape into which apostolic thought was thrown—a form well
adapted to the wants of the time, and to the character and temperament of St. Paul. (Bp.
Alexander.)
Bible reading in the Church
The solemnity of this charge suggests—
1. The coordinate authority of the Epistles with other portions of Holy Writ. The Old
Testament lessons came as messages from God in the synagogue; the New Testament
lessons come as the same in the church.
2. The prominent place they should occupy in public worship. Too many regard them as
amongst the “preliminaries,” and treat them accordingly. Singing, prayer, reading, preaching
are each of the utmost importance. If any deserve prominence it is reading, for that is the
declaration of the pure Word of God.
I. How the Bible should be read in church.
1. Distinctly. When mumbled the time is simply wasted, and the people deprived of
edification and comfort. Those who protest against their being read in a dead language
should beware of reading them in a dead voice.
2. Reverently. Carelessness is a grave fault; it begets careless hearing. The Word read is a
savour of life unto life or of death unto death. What a responsibility, therefore, rests on the
reader!

205. 3. Impressively. The art of elocution is by no means to be despised. We take all possible
pains to impress our own messages on the minds of those who listen. We are pathetic,
earnest, persuasive, as the case may be; how much more then should we be with the message
from God?
4. Without note or comment. This should be the rule, although there may be exceptions.
Comment comes naturally in the sermon. The Bible should be allowed a fair chance to do its
own work. “My Word”—not a comment on it “shall not return unto Me void.” “All Scripture
… is profitable for doctrine,” etc.
II. Why?
1. As a perpetual safeguard against heretical teaching. The preacher may err from the truth,
but if the Bible be in the reading desk, the antidote is always at hand.
2. As a continual supply of teaching, comfort, and edification. If the preacher be inefficient,
the reading of the lessons will do much to supply the want.
3. As an ever-recurring reminder of the duty of searching the Scriptures. It is to be feared
that the Scriptural knowledge of multitudes is just what they learn on Sunday.
4. As a constant witness of God’s presence in His Church. The speaker is not far away from
his speech. (J. W. Burn.)
A solemn mandate
This is not only an exhortation, but an adjuration by the Lord that must not be set aside for any
consideration. What was the special reason for this serious order at Thessalonica is not stated;
but it is possible that an opinion had begun to prevail even then and there that the Scriptures
were designed to be kept in the hands of the ministers of religion, and that their common
perusal was to be forbidden. At all events it is not unreasonable to suppose that the Holy Spirit,
by whom this Epistle was dictated, foresaw that the time would come when this prohibition
would be broached and upheld by certain ecclesiastics and councils, and that acted upon it
would be one of the means by which a huge religious fabric would be established. Hence the
mind of the apostle was supernaturally directed to give this solemn injunction, that the contents
of this Epistle should be communicated without reserve to all the Christian brethren in
Thessalonica.
I. The apostolic injunction is an express Divine command. All the people must have access to the
Word of God. So important was this considered that it was deemed necessary to enjoin those
who should receive the Word of God, under the solemnities of an oath, and by all the force of
apostolic authority to communicate what they had received to others.
II. The unlimited character of this apostolic injunction. Not a single member of the Church at
Thessalonica was omitted from it, whether high or low, rich or poor. The command is, indeed,
that the Word of God be “read unto all the holy brethren,” but by parity of reasoning it would
follow that it was to be in their hands; that it was to be ever accessible to them; that it was in no
manner to be withheld from them. Probably many of them could not read, but in some way the
contents of revelation were to be made known to them; and not by preaching only, but by
reading the words inspired by God. No part was to be kept back; nor were they to be denied such
access that they could fully understand it. It was presumed that all the members of the Church
would understand what had been written to them, and to profit by it.
III. The sin of violating the injunction. If all be true we have stated, and true all is, it follows that
there is great sin in all decisions and laws which are designed to keep the Scriptures from the

206. people, and great sin in all opinions and dogmas which prevail anywhere, denying them the
right of private judgment. The richest blessing of heaven to mankind is the Bible; and there is no
book ever written so admirably adapted to the popular mind, and so eminently fitted to elevate
the fallen, the ignorant, and the wicked; and there is no more decided enemy of the progress of
the human race in intelligence and purity than he who prevents in anywise the free circulation of
the Holy Volume, while there is no truer friend of his species than he who causes it to be read by
all men, and who contributes to make it accessible to all the peoples of the world. (A. Barnes, D.
D.)
Desire to know God’s Word
The following is an extract from a petition which was signed by 416 Roman Catholics in the
vicinity of Tralee, the parents and representatives of more than 1,300 children, and presented to
the Roman Catholic Bishop of Kerry in 1826:—“May it please your reverence,—We, the
undersigned, being members of the Roman Catholic Church in your bishopric, beg leave to
approach you with all the respect and deference due to our spiritual father, and to implore your
pastoral indulgence on a subject of much anxiety to us, and of great importance to the bodies
and souls of our dear children. We approach your paternal feet, holy father, humbly imploring
that you will instruct the clergy to relax that hostility which many of them direct against the
Scripture schools, and to suspend those denunciations and penalties which are dealt to us
merely because we love our children and wish to see them honest men, loyal subjects, good
Christians, and faithful Catholics. In short, permit us to know something of the Word of God, so
much spoken of in these days.” (Religious Tract Society Anecdotes.)
The authenticity of the Epistle
To produce a letter purporting to have been publicly read in the Church of Thessalonica, when
no such letter in truth had been read or heard of in that Church, would be to produce an
imposture destructive of itself. At least it seems unlikely that the author of an imposture would
voluntarily and even officiously afford a handle to so plain an objection. Either the Epistle was
publicly read among the Thessalonians during Paul’s lifetime or it was not. If it was, no
publication could be more authentic, no species of notoriety more unquestionable, no method of
preserving the integrity of the copy more secure. If it was not, the clause would remain a
standing condemnation of the forgery, and one would suppose, an invincible impediment to its
success. (Archdeacon Paley.)
The witness to Christ of the oldest Christian writing
This Epistle is of peculiar interest, as being the most venerable Christian document, and as
being a witness to Christian truth quite independent of the Gospels. There are no such doctrinal
statements in it as in the most of Paul’s longer letters; it is simply an outburst of confidence and
love and tenderness, and a series of practical instructions. But if it be so saturated as it is with
the facts and principles of the Gospel, the stronger is the attestation which it gives to the
importance of these. I have, therefore, thought it might be worth our while if we put this—the
most ancient Christian writing—into the witness box, and see what it has to say about the great
truths and principles which we call the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us hear its witness—
I. To the Divine Christ.

207. 1. Look how the letter begins (1Th_1:1). What is the meaning of putting these two names
side by side, unless it means that Christ sits on the Father’s throne, and is Divine.
2. More than twenty times in this short letter that great name is applied to Jesus, “the
Lord”—the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament Jehovah.
3. Direct prayer is offered to our Lord. Thus the very loftiest apex of revealed religion had
been imparted to that handful of heathens in the few weeks of the apostle’s stay amongst
them. And the letter takes it for granted that so deeply was that truth embedded in their new
consciousness that an allusion to it was all that was needed for their understanding and their
faith.
II. To the dying Christ.
1. As to the fact. “The Jews killed the Lord Jesus.” And then, beyond the fact, there is set
forth the meaning and the significance of that fact—“God hath not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us.” I need but mention in this
connection another verse which speaks of Jesus as “He that delivereth us from the wrath to
come.” It is a continuous deliverance, running all through the life of the Christian man, and
not merely to be realized at the far end; because by the mighty providence of God, and by the
automatic working of the consequences of every transgression and disobedience, that
“wrath” is ever coming towards men and lighting on them, and a continual Deliverer, who
delivers us by His death, is what the human heart needs. This witness is distinct that the
death of Christ is a sacrifice, is man’s deliverance from wrath, and is a present deliverance
from the consequences of transgression.
2. And if you will take this letter, and only think that it was merely a few weeks’ familiarity
with these truths that had passed before it was written, and then mark how the early and
imperfect glimpse of them had transformed the men, you will see where the power lies in the
proclamation of the gospel. The men had been transformed. What transformed them? The
message of a Divine and dying Christ, who had offered up Himself without spot unto God,
and who was their peace and their righteousness and their power.
III. To the risen and ascended Christ. “Ye turned unto God … to wait for His Son from heaven
whom He raised from the dead.” And again, “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with
a shout.” The risen Christ, then, is in the heavens.
1. Remember we have nothing to do with the four Gospels here: we are dealing here with an
entirely independent witness. And then tell us what importance is to be attached to this
evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Twenty years after His death here is this man
speaking about that resurrection as being the recognized and notorious fact which all the
churches accepted, and which underlay all their faith. Then if, twenty years after the event,
this witness was borne, it necessarily carries us back a great deal nearer to the event, for
there is no mark of its being new testimony, but every mark of its being the habitual and
continuous witness that had been borne from the instant of the alleged resurrection to that
present time. The fact is, there is not a place where you can stick a pin in, between the
resurrection and the date of this letter, wide enough to admit of the rise of the faith in a
resurrection of the Church to the admission that the belief in the resurrection was
contemporaneous with the alleged resurrection itself.
2. And so we are shut up to the old alternative, either Jesus Christ rose from the dead, or the
noblest lives that the world has ever seen, and the loftiest system of morality that ever has
been proclaimed, were built upon a lie. And we are called to believe that at the bidding of a
mere unsupported, bare, dogmatic assertion that miracles are impossible. I would rather
believe in the supernatural than the ridiculous. And to me it is unspeakably ridiculous to

208. suppose that anything but the fact of the resurrection accounts for the existence of the
Church and for the faith of this witness that we have before us.
IV. To the returning Christ. That is the characteristic doctrinal subject of the letter. The coming
of the Master does not appear here with emphasis on its judicial aspect. It is rather intended to
bring hope to the mourners, and the certainty that bands broken here may be reknit in holier
fashion hereafter. But the judicial aspect is not, as it could not be, left out. And the apostle
further tells us that “that day cometh as a thief in the night.” That is a quotation of the Master’s
own words, which we find in the Gospels; and so again a confirmation, from an independent
witness, as far as it goes, of the Gospel story. And then he goes on, in terrible language, to speak
of “sudden destruction, as of travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” These,
then, are the points of this witness’s testimony as to the returning Lord—a personal coming, a
reunion of all believers in Him, in order to eternal felicity and mutual gladness, and the
destruction that shall fall by His coming upon those who turn away from Him. What a revelation
that would be to men who had known what it was to grope in the darkness of heathendom and
to have no light upon the future! I remember once walking in the long galleries of the Vatican,
on the one side of which there are Christian inscriptions from the catacombs, and on the other
heathen inscriptions from the tombs. One side is all dreary and hopeless, one long sigh echoing
along the line of white marbles—“Vale! vale! in aeternum vale!” (“Farewell, farewell, forever
farewell!”)—on the other side, “In Christo, In pace, In spe” (“In hope, in Christ, in peace”). That
is the witness that we have to lay to our hearts. And so death becomes a passage, and we let go
the dear hands, believing that we shall clasp them again. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
8. MACLAREN, “PAUL'S EARLIEST TEACHING
If the books of the New Testament were arranged according to the dates of their composition,
this epistle would stand first. It was written somewhere about twenty years after the Crucifixion,
and long before any of the existing Gospels. It is, therefore, of peculiar interest, as being the
most venerable extant Christian document, and as being a witness to Christian truth quite
independent of the Gospel narratives.
The little community at Thessalonica had been gathered together as the result of a very brief
period of ministration by Paul. He had spoken for three successive Sabbaths in the synagogue,
and had drawn together a Christian society, mostly consisting of heathens, though with a
sprinkling of Jews amongst them. Driven from the city by a riot, he had left it for Athens, with
many anxious thoughts, of course, as to whether the infant community would be able to stand
alone after so few weeks of his presence and instruction. Therefore he sent back one of his
travelling companions, Timothy by name, to watch over the young plant for a little while. When
Timothy returned with the intelligence of their steadfastness, it was good news indeed, and with
a sense of relieved anxiety, he sits down to write this letter, which, all through, throbs with
thankfulness, and reveals the strain which the news had taken off his spirit.
There are no such definite doctrinal statements in it as in the most of Paul’s longer letters; it is
simply an outburst of confidence and love and tenderness, and a series of practical instructions.
It has been called the least doctrinal of the Pauline Epistles. And in one sense, and under certain
limitations, that is perfectly true. But the very fact that it is so makes its indications and hints
and allusions the more significant; and if this letter, not written for the purpose of enforcing any
special doctrinal truth, be so saturated as it is with the facts and principles of the Gospel, the
stronger is the attestation which it gives to the importance of these. I have, therefore, thought it
might be worth our while now, and might, perhaps, set threadbare truth in something of a new
light, if we put this—the most ancient Christian writing extant, which is quite independent of the
four Gospels—into the witness-box, and see what it has to say about the great truths and

209. principles which we call the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is my simple design, and I gather the
phenomena into three or four divisions for the sake of accuracy and order.
I. First of all, then, let us hear its witness to the divine Christ.
Look how the letter begins. ‘Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the
Thessalonians, which is in God the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ.’ What is the meaning of
that collocation, putting these two names side by side, unless it means that the Lord Jesus Christ
sits on the Father’s throne, and is divine?
Then there is another fact that I would have you notice, and that is that more than twenty times
in this short letter that great name is applied to Jesus, ‘the Lord.’ Now mark that that is
something more than a mere title of human authority. It is in reality the New Testament
equivalent of the Old Testament Jehovah, and is the transference to Him of that
incommunicable name.
And then there is another fact which I would have you weigh, viz., that in this letter direct prayer
is offered to our Lord Himself. In one place we read the petition, ‘May our God and Father
Himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way unto you,’ where the petition is presented to both,
and where both are supposed to be operative in the answer. And more than that, the word
‘direct,’ following upon this plural subject, is itself a singular verb. Could language more
completely express than that grammatical solecism does, the deep truth of the true and proper
divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? There is nothing in any part of Scripture more
emphatic and more lofty in its unfaltering proclamation of that fundamental truth of the Gospel
than this altogether undoctrinal Epistle.
The Apostle does not conceive himself to be telling these men, though they were such raw and
recent Christians, anything new when he presupposes the truth that to Him desires and prayers
may go. Thus the very loftiest apex of revealed religion had been imparted to that handful of
heathens in the few weeks of the Apostle’s stay amongst them. And nowhere upon the inspired
pages of the fourth Evangelist, nor in that great Epistle to the Colossians, which is the very
citadel and central fort of that doctrine in Scripture, is there more emphatically stated this truth
than here, in these incidental allusions.
This witness, at any rate, declares, apart altogether from any other part of Scripture, that so
early in the development of the Church’s history, and to people so recently dragged from
idolatry, and having received but such necessarily partial instruction in revealed truth, this had
not been omitted, that the Christ in whom they trusted was the Everlasting Son of the Father.
And it takes it for granted that, so deeply was that truth embedded in their new consciousness
that an allusion to it was all that was needed for their understanding and their faith. That is the
first part of the testimony.
II. Now, secondly, let us ask what this witness has to say about the dying Christ.
There is no doctrinal theology in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, they tell us. Granted that
there is no articulate argumentative setting forth of great doctrinal truths. But these are implied
and involved in almost every word of it; and are definitely stated thus incidentally in more
places than one. Let us hear the witness about the dying Christ.
First, as to the fact, ‘The Jews killed the Lord Jesus.’ The historical fact is here set forth
distinctly. And then, beyond the fact, there is as distinctly, though in the same incidental
fashion, set forth the meaning of that fact—’God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us.’
Here are at least two things—one, the allusion, as to a well-known and received truth,
proclaimed before now to them, that Jesus Christ in His death had died for them; and the other,
that Jesus Christ was the medium through whom the Father had appointed that men should

210. obtain all the blessings which are wrapped up in that sovereign word ‘salvation.’ I need but
mention in this connection another verse, from another part of the letter, which speaks of Jesus
as ‘He that delivereth us from the wrath to come.’ Remark that there our Authorised Version
fails to give the whole significance of the words, because it translates delivered , instead of, as
the Revised Version correctly does, delivereth . It is a continuous deliverance, running all
through the life of the Christian man, and not merely to be realised away yonder at the far end;
because by the mighty providence of God, and by the automatic working of the consequences of
every transgression and disobedience, that ‘wrath’ is ever coming, coming, coming towards men,
and lighting on them, and a continual Deliverer, who delivers us by His death, is what the
human heart needs. This witness is distinct that the death of Christ is a sacrifice, that the death
of Christ is man’s deliverance from wrath, that the death of Christ is a present deliverance from
the consequences of transgression.
And was that Paul’s peculiar doctrine? Is it conceivable that, in a letter in which he refers—once,
at all events—to the churches in Judea as their ‘brethren,’ he was proclaiming any individual or
schismatic reading of the facts of the life of Jesus Christ? I believe that there has been a great
deal too much made of the supposed divergencies of types of doctrine in the New Testament.
There are such types, within certain limits. Nobody would mistake a word of John’s calm,
mystical, contemplative spirit for a word of Paul’s fiery, dialectic spirit. And nobody would
mistake either the one or the other for Peter’s impulsive, warm-hearted exhortations. But whilst
there are diversities in the way of apprehending, there are no diversities in the declaration of
what is the central truth to be apprehended. These varyings of the types of doctrine in the New
Testament are one in this, that all point to the Cross as the world’s salvation, and declare that
the death there was the death for all mankind.
Paul comes to it with his reasoning; John comes to it with his adoring contemplation; Peter
comes to it with his mind saturated with Old Testament allusions. Paul declares that the ‘Christ
died for us’; John declares that He is ‘the Lamb of God’; Peter declares that ‘Christ bare our sins
in His own body on the tree.’ But all make one unbroken phalanx of witness in their
proclamation, that the Cross, because it is a cross of sacrifice, is a cross of reconciliation and
peace and hope. And this is the Gospel that they all proclaim, ‘how that Jesus Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures,’ and Paul could venture to say, ‘Whether it were they or I, so we
preach, and so ye believed.’
That was the Gospel that took these heathens, wallowing in the mire of sensuous idolatry, and
lifted them up to the elevation and the blessedness of children of God.
And if you will read this letter, and think that there had been only a few weeks of acquaintance
with the Gospel on the part of its readers, and then mark how the early and imperfect glimpse of
it had transformed them, you will see where the power lies in the proclamation of the Gospel. A
short time before they had been heathens; and now says Paul, ‘From you sounded out the word
of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to Godward is
spread abroad; so that we need not to speak anything.’ We do not need to talk to you about ‘love
of the brethren,’ for ‘yourselves are taught of God to love one another, and my heart is full of
thankfulness when I think of your work of faith and labour of love and patience of hope.’ The
men had been transformed. What transformed them? The message of a divine and dying Christ,
who had offered up Himself without spot unto God, and who was their peace and their
righteousness and their power.
III. Thirdly, notice what this witness has to say about the risen and ascended
Christ. Here is what it has to say: ‘Ye turned unto God . . . to wait for His Son from
heaven whom He raised from the dead.’ And again: ‘The Lord Himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout.’

211. The risen Christ, then, is in the heavens, and Paul assumes that these people, just brought out of
heathenism, have received that truth into their hearts in the love of it, and know it so thoroughly
that he can take for granted their entire acquiescence in and acceptance of it.
Remember, we have nothing to do with the four Gospels here. Remember, not a line of them had
yet been written. Remember, that we are dealing here with an entirely independent witness. And
then tell us what importance is to be attached to this evidence of the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Twenty years after His death here is this man speaking about that Resurrection as being
not only something that he had to proclaim, and believed, but as being the recognised and
notorious fact which all the churches accepted, and which underlay all their faith.
I would have you remember that if, twenty years after this event, this witness was borne, that
necessarily carries us back a great deal nearer to the event than the hour of its utterance, for
there is no mark of its being new testimony at that instant, but every mark of its being the
habitual and continuous witness that had been borne from the instant of the alleged
Resurrection to the present time. It at least takes us back a good many years nearer the empty
sepulchre than the twenty which mark its date. It at least takes us back to the conversion of the
Apostle Paul; and that necessarily involves, as it seems to me, that if that man, believing in the
Resurrection, went into the Church, there would have been an end of his association with them,
unless he had found there the same faith. The fact of the matter is, there is not a place where you
can stick a pin in, between the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the date of this letter, wide
enough to admit of the rise of the faith in a Resurrection. We are necessarily forced by the very
fact of the existence of the Church to the admission that the belief in the Resurrection was
contemporaneous with the alleged Resurrection itself.
And so we are shut up—in spite of the wriggling of people that do not accept that great truth—we
are shut up to the old alternative, as it seems to me, that either Jesus Christ rose from the dead,
or the noblest lives that the world has ever seen, and the loftiest system of morality that has ever
been proclaimed, were built upon a lie. And we are called to believe that at the bidding of a mere
unsupported, bare, dogmatic assertion that miracles are impossible. Believe it who will, I decline
to be coerced into believing a blank, staring psychological contradiction and impossibility, in
order to be saved the necessity of admitting the existence of the supernatural. I would rather
believe in the supernatural than the ridiculous. And to me it is unspeakably ridiculous to
suppose that anything but the fact of the Resurrection accounts for the existence of the Church,
and for the faith of this witness that we have before us.
And so, dear friends, we come back to this, the Christianity that flings away the risen Christ is a
mere mass of tatters with nothing in it to cover a man’s nakedness, an illusion with no vitality in
it to quicken, to comfort, to ennoble, to raise, to teach aspiration or hope or effort. The human
heart needs the ‘Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us.’ And this independent witness confirms the Gospel
story: ‘Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.’
IV. Lastly, let us hear what this witness has to say about the returning Christ.
That is the characteristic doctrinal subject of the letter. We all know that wonderful passage of
unsurpassed tenderness and majesty, which has soothed so many hearts and been like a gentle
hand laid upon so many aching spirits, about the returning Jesus ‘coming in the clouds,’ with
the dear ones that are asleep along with Him, and the reunion of them that sleep and them that
are alive and remain, in one indissoluble concord and concourse, when we shall ever be with the
Lord, and ‘clasp inseparable hands with joy and bliss in over-measure for ever.’ The coming of
the Master does not appear here with emphasis on its judicial aspect. It is rather intended to
bring hope to the mourners, and the certainty that bands broken here may be re-knit in holier
fashion hereafter. But the judicial aspect is not, as it could not be, left out, and the Apostle

212. further tells us that ‘that day cometh as a thief in the night.’ That is a quotation of the Master’s
own words, which we find in the Gospels; and so again a confirmation, so far as it goes, from an
independent witness, of the Gospel story. And then he goes on, in terrible language, to speak of
‘sudden destruction, as of travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.’
These, then, are the points of this witness’s testimony as to the returning Lord—a personal
coming, a reunion of all believers in Him, in order to eternal felicity and mutual gladness, and
the destruction that shall fall by His coming upon those who turn away from Him.
What a revelation that would be to men who had known what it was to grope in the darkness of
heathendom, and to have new light upon the future!
I remember once walking in the long galleries of the Vatican, on the one side of which there are
Christian inscriptions from the catacombs, and on the other heathen inscriptions from the
tombs. One side is all dreamy and hopeless; one long sigh echoing along the line of white
marbles—’Vale! vale! in aeternum vale!’ (Farewell, farewell, for ever farewell.) On the other
side—’In Christo, in pace, in spe.’ (In Christ, in peace, in hope.) That is the witness that we have
to lay to our hearts. And so death becomes a passage, and we let go the dear hands, believing
that we shall clasp them again.
My brother! this witness is to a gospel that is the gospel for Manchester as well as for
Thessalonica. You and I want just the same as these old heathens there wanted. We, too, need
the divine Christ, the dying Christ, the risen Christ, the ascended Christ, the returning Christ.
And I beseech you to take Him for your Christ, in all the fulness of His offices, the manifoldness
of His power, and the sweetness of His love, so that of you it may be said, as this Apostle says
about these Thessalonians, ‘Ye received it not as the word of man, but, as it is in truth, as the
word of God.’
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
1.BARNES, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, ... - notes, Rom_16:20.
In regard to the subscription at the close of the Epistle, purporting that it was written from
Athens, see the introduction, section 3. These subscriptions are of no authority, and the one
here, like several others, is probably wrong.
From the solemn charge in 1Th_5:27 that “this epistle should be read to all the holy brethren,”
that is, to the church at large, we may infer that it is in accordance with the will of God that all
Christians should have free access to the Holy Scriptures. What was the particular reason for
this injunction in Thessalonica, is not known, but it is possible that an opinion had begun to
prevail even then that the Scriptures were designed to be kept in the hands of the ministers of
religion, and that their common perusal was to be prohibited. At all events, whether this opinion
prevailed then or not, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the Holy Spirit, by whom this
Epistle was dictated, foresaw that the time would come when this doctrine would be defended by
cardinals and popes and councils; and that it would be one of the means by which the monstrous

213. fabric of the Papacy would be sustained and perpetuated. It is worthy of remark, also, that the
apostle Paul, in his epistles to the Thessalonians, has dwelt more fully on the fact that the great
apostasy would occur under the Papacy, and on the characteristics of that grand usurpation over
the rights of people, than he has anywhere else in his Epistle; see 2Th_2:11. It is no improbable
supposition that with reference to that, and to counteract one of its leading dogmas, his mind
was supernaturally directed to give this solemn injunction, that the contents of the Epistle which
he had written should be communicated without reserve to all the Christian brethren in
Thessalonica. In view of this injunction, therefore, at the close of this Epistle, we may remark:
(1) That it is a subject of express divine command that the people should have access to the
Holy Scriptures. So important was this considered, that it was deemed necessary to enjoin
those who should receive the word of God, under the solemnities of an oath, and by all the
force of apostolic authority, to communicate what they had received to others.
(2) This injunction had reference to all the members of the church, for they were all to be
made acquainted with the word of God. The command is, indeed, that it he “read” to them,
but by parity of reasoning it would follow that it was to be in their hands; that it was to be
accessible to them; that it was in no manner to be withheld from them. Probably many of
them could not read, but in some way the contents of revelation were to be made known to
them - and not by preaching only, but by reading the words of inspiration. No part was to
be kept back; nor were they to be denied such access that they could fully understand it;
nor was it to be insisted on that there should be an authorized expounder of it. It was
presumed that all the members of the church were qualified to understand what had been
written to them, and to profit by it. It follows therefore,
(3) That there is great iniquity in all those decisions and laws which are designed to keep the
Scriptures from the common people. This is true:
(a) In reference to the Papal communion, and to all the ordinances there which prohibit
the free circulation of the Sacred Volume among the people;
(b) It is true of all those laws in slave-holding communities which prohibit slaves from
being taught to read the Scriptures; and,
(c) It is true of all the opinions and dogmas which prevail in any community where the
right of “private judgment” is denied, and where free access to the volume of inspiration
is forbidden.
The richest blessing of heaven to mankind is the Bible; and there is no book ever written so
admirably adapted to the common mind, and so fitted to elevate the sunken, the ignorant, and
the degraded. There is no more decided enemy of the progress of the human race in intelligence,
purity, and freedom, than he who prevents the free circulation of this holy volume; and there is
no sincerer friend of the species than he who “causes it to be read by all,” and who contributes to
make it accessible to all the families and all the inhabitants of the world.
2. CLARKE, “The grace of our Lord Jesus - As the epistle began so it ends; for the grace
of Christ must be at the beginning and end of every work, in order to complete it, and bring it to
good effect.
Amen - This is wanting in BD*FG and some others. It was probably not written by St. Paul.
The subscriptions are, as in other cases, various and contradictory. The chief MSS. conclude
as follows: The first to the Thessalonians is completed; the second to the Thessalonians begins -
DFG. The first to the Thessalonians written from Athens - AB, and others. From Laodicea - Cod.
Claromont. The first to the Thessalonians, written from Athens - Common Greek text.

214. The Versions conclude thus: -
The First Epistle to the Thessalonians was written at Athens, and sent by the hands of
Timotheus. - Syriac.
To the Thessalonians. - Aethiopic.
Nothing in the Vulgate.
The end of the epistle: it was written from a city of the Athenians, and sent by the hand of
Timotheus.
And to the Lord be praise for ever and ever. Amen. - Arabic.
Written from Athens, and sent by Silvanus and Timotheus. - Coptic.
That it was not sent by either Silvanus or Timothy is evident enough from the inscription, for
St. Paul associates these two with himself, in directing it to the Thessalonian Church. Others say
that it was sent by Tychicus and Onesimus, but this also is absurd; for Onesimus was not
converted till a considerable time after the writing of this epistle. That it was written by St. Paul,
there is no doubt; and that it was written at Corinth, and not at Athens, has been shown in the
preface.
1. The two preceding chapters are certainly among the most important and the most sublime
in the New Testament. The general judgment, the resurrection of the body, and the states
of the quick and dead, the unrighteous and the just, are described, concisely indeed, but
they are exhibited in the most striking and affecting points of view. I have attempted little
else than verbal illustrations; the subject is too vast for my comprehension; I cannot order
my speech by reason of darkness. Though there are some topics handled here which do
not appear in other parts of the sacred writings, yet the main of what we learn is this. “Our
God will come, and will not keep silence; a fire shall burn before him, and it shall be very
tempestuous round about him; he shall call to the heavens above, and to the earth
beneath, that he may judge his people. “The day of judgment! what an awful word is this!
what a truly terrific time! when the heavens shall be shrivelled as a scroll, and the
elements melt with fervent heat; when the earth and its appendages shall be burnt up, and
the fury of that conflagration be such that there shall be no more sea! A time when the
noble and ignoble dead, the small and the great, shall stand before God, and all be judged
according to the deeds done in the body; yea, a time when the thoughts of the heart and
every secret thing shall be brought to light; when the innumerable millions of
transgressions, and embryo and abortive sins, shall be exhibited in all their purposes and
intents; a time when Justice, eternal Justice, shall sit alone upon the throne, and
pronounce a sentence as impartial as irrevocable, and as awful as eternal! There is a term
of human life; and every human being is rapidly gliding to it as fast as the wings of time, in
their onward motion, incomprehensibly swift, can carry him! And shall not the living lay
this to heart? Should we not live in order to die? Should we not die in order to be judged?
And should we not live and die so as to live again to all eternity, not with Satan and his
angels, but with God and his saints? O thou man of God! thou Christian! thou immortal
spirit! think of these things.
2. The subject in 1Th_5:27 of the last chapter I have but slightly noticed: I charge you, by the
Lord, that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. This is exceedingly strange; the
Epistles to the Romans, the Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,
and Thessalonians, were directed to the whole Church in each of those places; why, then,
after directing this, as he did all the rest, to the whole Church, should he at the conclusion
adjure them, by the Lord, that it should be read to all the holy brethren; that is, to the very
persons to whom it was addressed? Is there not some mystery here? Has it not been the

215. endeavor of Satan, from the beginning, to keep men from consulting the oracles of God;
and has he not used even the authority of the Church to accomplish this his purpose! Was
not the prohibiting the use of the Scriptures to the people at large the mystery of iniquity
which then began to work, and against which the adjuration of the apostle is directed? see
second epistle, chap. 2; this mystery, which was the grand agent in the hands of Mystery,
Babylon the Great, to keep the people in darkness, that the unauthorized and wicked
pretensions of this mother of the abominations of the earth might not be brought to the
test; but that she might continue to wear her crown, sit on her scarlet beast, and subject
the Christian world to her empire. Was it not the Christian world’s total ignorance of God’s
book which the Romish Church took care to keep from the people at large, that induced
them patiently, yet with terror, to bow down to all her usurpations, and to swallow down
monstrous doctrines which she imposed upon them as Christian verities? Was it not this
deplorable ignorance which induced kings and emperors to put their necks, literally,
under the feet of this usurped and antichristian power? This mystery of iniquity continues
still to work; and with all the pretensions of the Romish Church, the Scriptures are in
general withheld from the people, or suffered to be read under such restrictions and with
such notes as totally subvert the sense of those passages on which this Church endeavors
to build her unscriptural pretensions. It is generally allowed that the Vulgate version is the
most favorable to these pretensions, and yet even that version the rulers of the Church
dare not trust in the hands of any of their people, even under their general ecclesiastical
restrictions, without their counteracting notes and comments. How strange is this! and yet
in this Church there have been, and still are, many enlightened and eminent men; surely
truth has nothing to fear from the Bible. When the Romish Church permits the free use of
this book, she may be stripped, indeed, of some of her appendages, but she will lose
nothing but her dross and tin, and become what the original Church at Rome was, beloved
of God, called to be saints; and have her faith, once more, spoken of throughout all the
world, Rom_1:7, Rom_1:8. She has, in her own hands the means of her own regeneration;
and a genuine Protestant will wish, not her destruction, but her reformation; and if she
consent not to be reformed, her total destruction is inevitable.
Finished correcting for a new edition, on the shortest day of 1831. - A. C.
3. GILL, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, Amen. This is the apostle's
usual salutation in all his epistles, and the token of the genuineness of them, 2Th_3:17. See Gill
on Rom_16:20, 1Co_15:23, 2Co_13:14.
The subscription to this epistle is not genuine, which runs thus, "The first Epistle unto the
Thessalonians was written from Athens"; whereas it appears from 1Th_3:1 compared with
Act_18:1 that it was written from Corinth, and not from Athens; nor are these last words, "from
Athens", in Beza's Claromontane copy; though they stand in the Syriac and Arabic versions of
the London Polygot Bible, which add, "and sent by Timothy", and in the Alexandrian copy, and
Complutensian edition.
4. HENRY, “The apostolical benediction that is usual in other epistles: The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you. Amen, 1Th_5:28. We need no more to make us happy than to know
that grace which our Lord Jesus Christ has manifested, be interested in that grace which he has
purchased, and partake of that grace which dwells in him as the head of the church. This is an
ever-flowing and overflowing fountain of grace to supply all our wants.

216. 5, JAMISON, “(See on 2Co_13:14.) Paul ends as he began (1Th_1:1), with “grace.” The oldest
manuscripts omit “Amen,” which probably was the response of the Church after the public
reading of the Epistle.
The subscription is a comparatively modern addition. The Epistle was not, as it states, written
from Athens, but from Corinth; for it is written in the names of Silas and Timothy (besides
Paul), who did not join the apostle before he reached the latter city (Act_18:5).
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