Comfort & Exhort
In whether we are awake or asleep (1 Thess. 5:10), Paul returns to his first application of asleep as picturing death (see 4:14). In 5:6, we noticed, he used the term to represent a careless indifference, the opposite of being alert. And after his strong emphasis on the necessity of watchfulness in verses 6 and 7, he certainly would not, almost immediately, suggest that it was not important to stay alert because, in any case, God will grant us life with Him.
All interpreters agree that in verse 10, Paul means that whether we are awake (that is, living) or asleep (that is, deceased), God will take us to be with Him forever. Thus, nearing the close of the section on the return of Christ, Paul reassures both those concerned about deceased loved ones and those apprehensive about their own destiny, that Christ has conquered sin and death. Therefore, we may hold fast to our hope of salvation (5:8) because Christ has fast hold on all who are His own.
Of course, this is no excuse for coasting along carelessly in our Christian lives. Rather, the conclusion Paul draws is this: Therefore encourage one another (5:11). This is the same Greek verb as that used in 4:18, but now the emphasis is upon mutual exhortation, on encouraging more than comforting. This is clear from the context, and is supported by the use of the second verb of exhortation—build each other up (5:11). The latter is a favorite theme of Paul (1 Cor. 8:1; 10:24; 14:3–5, 12, 17, 26; Eph. 4:12, 16, 29; 2 Cor. 10:8; 12:19; 13:10). Both verbs are in a form which denotes continuous action. Thus, J. B. Phillips translates 5:11, “So go on cheering and strengthening each other …” (The New Testament in Modern English).
We should notice the mutuality connected with both commands: encourage one another and build each other up (1 Thess. 5:11a). Every believer has something to contribute to the other members of the body of Christ. Later Paul will elaborate on this (1 Cor. 12). But already, in this which may be his earliest letter, he is emphasizing the importance of “body life.” We may think of Paul as the intrepid pioneer missionary, but he was no “lone ranger.”
Just as in fact you are doing (1 Thess. 5:11) illustrates once more Paul’s tactfulness and his use of positive reinforcement, marks of a good pastor.
So Paul closes this section by calling for mutual ministry within the body. What form(s) should that ministry take? He provides some direction in the next paragraph.
SO COMFORT ONE ANOTHER (V. 11)
Paul now exhorts the Thessalonian believers to comfort one another as and when they need comforting, and also to edify one another. At the same time he tactfully acknowledges that this is what they are already doing.
Sometimes we need reminding of these things. We may be used to help others by reminding them of these encouraging words, and not only by comforting them, but also by building them up. We all need to help one other grow and progress in the Christian faith. This should be the aim of every church member (Rom. 14:19; 15:2; 1 Cor. 14:3–5, 12, 17, 26; Eph. 4:12, 29; Col. 2:7).
Grief is natural in response to loss of someone or something. Just as evidence of burial rituals in an archaeological site is a sign of truly human existence, so, too, grieving is a universal human phenomenon. One thing that distinguishes Christianity is that Christians are called on to grieve differently from non-Christians. They are not to grieve as people who have no hope or faith in the afterlife or the resurrection.
Grieving may be natural, especially when one has loved someone or something profoundly and then it or they are gone suddenly, but it sometimes becomes egocentric in Christian contexts. One is grieving only for oneself and one’s own loss if one truly believes the deceased has “gone to a better place” or is “in a better condition.” This is in some ways unlike pagan grieving, where one is presumably grieving both for the deceased and for oneself. But one could argue that even pagans, if they truly believed in the immortality of the soul, were also grieving mainly for themselves. Yet in the contrast between two very different forms of afterlife (immortality of the soul and resurrection of the body) lies some profound differences in the way death, and so grieving, ought to be viewed. Let us consider some reflections by Frederick Buechner.
Those who believe in the immortality of the soul believe that life after death is as natural a function of man as digestion after the meal. The Bible instead speaks of resurrection. It is entirely unnatural. Man does not go on living beyond the grave because that’s how he’s made. Rather, he goes to his grave as dead as a doornail and is given his life back by God (i.e. resurrected) just as he was given it by God in the first place, because that is the way God is made.… The idea of immortality of the soul is based on the experience of man’s indomitable spirit. The idea of resurrection of the body is based on the experience of God’s unspeakable love.
What is especially helpful about these remarks is that they stress that Christians ought to look at life and ought to grieve, not only as those who have hope but also as those who have a memory that God has already raised Jesus from the dead and are prepared to trust that a loving God can do it again. Grieving, while trusting God, does not allow us to sink into prolonged self-pity or fear that after all one who has died is truly gone forever. In Christ there is no such thing as a lost loved one—they may be gone to be with the Lord, but they are not lost. The Christian knows right where to find them.
If there really is an all-powerful God of love whose character is revealed in Jesus, this ought to make a world of difference in the way a Christian approaches death or reacts to another Christian’s death. Henri Nouwen put it this way: “Learning how to die has something to do with living each day in full awareness that we are children of God, whose love is stronger than death.” Learning how to grieve and how to comfort others who grieve, having something hopeful and meaningful to say, requires a similar awareness.
He died for us (5:10) points to the basis of our salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ—Christ’s atoning death for us and our union with Him by faith. The little phrase for us must not be missed. It expresses the truth of substitutionary atonement, which, of course, is basic in Pauline theology (Rom. 3:21–26; 5:6, 8; 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:14–15; etc.). The way he mentions it here, almost in passing, indicates that he had made that a basic element in his teaching of the new believers in Thessalonica (1 Thess. 1:10; 2:15; 4:14); therefore, he does not need to elaborate now.
In whether we are awake or asleep (1 Thess. 5:10), Paul returns to his first application of asleep as picturing death (see 4:14). In 5:6, we noticed, he used the term to represent a careless indifference, the opposite of being alert. And after his strong emphasis on the necessity of watchfulness in verses 6 and 7, he certainly would not, almost immediately, suggest that it was not important to stay alert because, in any case, God will grant us life with Him.
All interpreters agree that in verse 10, Paul means that whether we are awake (that is, living) or asleep (that is, deceased), God will take us to be with Him forever. Thus, nearing the close of the section on the return of Christ, Paul reassures both those concerned about deceased loved ones and those apprehensive about their own destiny, that Christ has conquered sin and death. Therefore, we may hold fast to our hope of salvation (5:8) because Christ has fast hold on all who are His own.
Of course, this is no excuse for coasting along carelessly in our Christian lives. Rather, the conclusion Paul draws is this: Therefore encourage one another (5:11). This is the same Greek verb as that used in 4:18, but now the emphasis is upon mutual exhortation, on encouraging more than comforting. This is clear from the context, and is supported by the use of the second verb of exhortation—build each other up (5:11). The latter is a favorite theme of Paul (1 Cor. 8:1; 10:24; 14:3–5, 12, 17, 26; Eph. 4:12, 16, 29; 2 Cor. 10:8; 12:19; 13:10). Both verbs are in a form which denotes continuous action. Thus, J. B. Phillips translates 5:11, “So go on cheering and strengthening each other …” (The New Testament in Modern English).
We should notice the mutuality connected with both commands: encourage one another and build each other up (1 Thess. 5:11a). Every believer has something to contribute to the other members of the body of Christ. Later Paul will elaborate on this (1 Cor. 12). But already, in this which may be his earliest letter, he is emphasizing the importance of “body life.” We may think of Paul as the intrepid pioneer missionary, but he was no “lone ranger.”
Just as in fact you are doing (1 Thess. 5:11) illustrates once more Paul’s tactfulness and his use of positive reinforcement, marks of a good pastor.
So Paul closes this section by calling for mutual ministry within the body. What form(s) should that ministry take? He provides some direction in the next paragraph.
8b. It befits the man who is of the day to be watchful and sober: putting on a breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet (the) hope of salvation.
The question may be asked, “How is it that Paul suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly comes up with these articles of defensive armor: breastplate and helmet?” The answer given by A. T. Robertson (Word Pictures, Vol. IV, p. 35) may well be correct: “The idea of watchfulness brings the figure of a sentry, on guard and armed, to Paul’s mind.…”
By the exercise of calm and stedfast faith in and love for God in Christ—which in the midst of a wicked world becomes an aggressive testimony—the watchful and sober person wards off the poisonous arrows of temptation. He puts on faith (“a certain knowledge of God and of his promises … and a hearty confidence that all his sins are forgiven him for Christ’s sake”) and love (the yielding of the self to God, the object of his delight, in the spirit of joy and gratitude) just like a warrior would put on his breastplate.
Faith and love (genitives of apposition) constitute the Christian’s coat of mail. The readers understood this illustration. The breastplate protected the sentry’s breast, shoulders, and back. It was made of various materials, for instance, leather, quilted cloth, linen (Herodotus III. xlvii), brass, iron (1 Sam. 17:5; Rev. 9:9) or at times even gold (1 Macc. 6:2). The warrior Goliath wore a scale-armor coat (1 Sam. 17:5). The soldiers of Antiochus Eupator had chain coats (1 Macc. 6:35). Compare today’s “bulletproof vest.”
What is important to note, in this connection (yet, is generally overlooked) is that Paul calls active faith and love a piece of defensive armor, a breastplate! How perfectly true is this comparison, for in matters of religion (and often also in so-called secular matters) the best defence is an offense; the most positive protection is an attack. The believer’s spontaneous and aggressive testimony of faith in and love for God in Christ keeps him from the dissolute habits of the world. The work resulting from faith and the exertion prompted by love—the “walking by faith”—keep one from “fulfilling the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).
To faith and love, Paul adds hope, just as he did in 1:3. Here too, just like in 1:3, he expands the third element in the series; hence, “and for a helmet the hope of salvation (objective genitive),” etc. To be sure, in principle believers in Thessalonica were already in possession of salvation. But this is full salvation, the salvation which was going to be theirs at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul is fond of this word salvation (σωτηρία). He uses it again and again (in addition to its use in the present passage see also 5:9; 2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:10; 3:15; then Rom. 1:16; 10:1, 10; 11:11; 13:11; 2 Cor. 1:6; 6:2 twice; 7:10; Eph. 1:13; Phil. 1:19, 28; 2:12). This salvation is a. negatively: rescue from the guilt, pollution, and punishment of sin (specifically, it is often represented as a deliverance from the wrath of God which rests upon sin and which will one day be revealed; cf. 1:10; 2 Thess. 1:8, 9; Eph. 2:3, 5; Phil. 1:28) this rescue being a result of Christ’s objective substitutionary atonement; and b. positively: that sum-total of every spiritual endowment which God grants to his people on the basis of the redemptive work of his Son. Both the negative aspect of this salvation (deliverance from wrath) and the positive aspect (for instance, “living together with him”) are mentioned here in the immediately following context (see on verses 9 and 10). Since salvation is here an eschatological concept, it is understandable that the apostle speaks about “the hope of salvation,” for hope ever looks to the future. It is the confident and firmly anchored assurance that the full inheritance will one day be ours.
This hope is the Christian’s helmet. The helmet of iron and brass (1 Sam. 17:5, 38; 2 Chron. 26:14; cf. 1 Macc. 6:35) afforded a measure of protection for the head, as did the breastplate for the heart. Much more did hope—and the endurance inspired by hope, cf. 1:3—preserve the believer in safety over against the seduction of the world. Here too the assault upon the fortress of darkness by those Christians who endured to the very end, ever ready to testify, was their best defence. On the entire armor of the Christian read Eph. 6:10–20.
9, 10. As already remarked, Paul expands the concept salvation (or, if one prefers, “hope of salvation”) in the following two verses: For God did not appoint us for wrath but for the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, in order that whether we wake or whether we sleep we may live in fellowship with him.
This passage indicates the reasonable character of the aforementioned hope. This hope is not visionary. It will be fulfilled, as is clear from the fact that God did not appoint (this verb combines duty and destination) us for wrath (to be revealed at Christ’s return, 1:10; cf. 2 Thess. 1:8–10), but for the obtaining of salvation (see on verse 8 above) through our Lord Jesus Christ (see on 1:1).
While the expression the obtaining places the emphasis on that which, according to God’s purpose, is our duty, the immediately added phrase “through our Lord Jesus Christ” indicates that it is only through him (his death for us, his power operating in us) that we are able to carry this out. Paul is fond of this juxtaposition of the divine and the human element in the acquisition of salvation (cf. Eph. 2:8; 2:10; Phil. 2:12, 13).
When the apostle mentions the Lord Jesus Christ as the cause of our salvation, he immediately thinks of the Savior’s death for us, inasmuch as that is basic. This death concerns us. Literally we read, “… who died with reference to (περί) us (though there is also some textual support for another preposition, ὑπέρ, for the meaning of which see N.T.C. on John 10:11. The Good Shepherd gave his life for the benefit of the sheep). Paul says “for us.” In this us he includes all believers, whether they be readers or writers or anyone else who can lay claim to the name believer. Specifically, he is thinking here of the same two groups which he has mentioned before (see on 4:13–18): the survivors and the departed ones. The purpose (or the result, it makes little difference in this connection) of Christ’s death for his own is that whether at his coming we be waking or sleeping the sleep of death (καθεύδωμεν cf. Mark 5:39), we may together live in fellowship with him. Compare and see on 4:17.
This is the simplest explanation. Those who are awake are those who are alive, the survivors, the ones who according to 4:15 are “left until the coming of the Lord.” And those who are sleeping are the dead, the departed, the ones who according to 4:15 “fell asleep” (namely, in or through Jesus Christ).
11. The relation between 5:10 and 11 is a close parallel to that between 4:17 and 18. Just as in chapter 4 the clause, “And so shall we always be with the Lord” was followed by “Therefore encourage one another with these words,” so here in chapter 5 the clause “In order that … we may live in fellowship with him” is followed by Therefore encourage one another and build up one the other, as in fact you are doing.
That last expression, “as in fact you are doing” has been explained in connection with 4:10. By instructing one another and by encouraging one another with the comfort which is found in the preceding paragraph (such comfort as is contained in assurances like “You are not in darkness,” “You are all sons of day,” “For God did not appoint us for wrath but for the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ … in order that we may live in fellowship with him”), believers at Thessalonica will be doing very valuable personal work: building up one the other; for the church and also the individual believer is God’s edifice, God’s temple, 1 Cor. 6:19.
Paul ends this section of his letter with a sentence similar to 4:18, throwing on the Thessalonians the responsibility of mutual encouragement for the growth of the community, a responsibility which he tactfully notes they have already been exercising (just as you are doing). The End is near, they are prepared, but even the most alert can be overcome by sleep; they ought to encourage one another (see on 4:18) to watchfulness. Paul adds to this a new conception build up (οἰκοδομεῖσθαι) which goes beyond 4:18; it later became one of his favourite words in relation to the growth of the church. Originally used literally the word quickly took on a metaphorical meaning; this was made especially easy for Jews because of the description of the people of God as the house of Israel; Jeremiah speaks of God’s building up the people as carried out through his own prophetic activity (Jer. 12:16f; 31(38):4). Verse 11 is the first time Paul uses it in the letters which we have from him and he attributes the activity of building up to all the members of the community: they build up one another. The phrase εἷς τόν ἕνα is unusual and probably of Semitic origin; its meaning is clear; Paul uses it as an equivalent of ἀλλήλους = one another which he has just used and wishes to avoid using again (cf. Bl.-Deb. §247.4; Moulton-Turner, p. 187). In 1 Cor. 14:3–5, 12, 17, 26 (cf. Rom. 14:19; 15:2; Eph. 4:12, 16) ‘building up’ is applied to the charismata that members of the community possess and is even transferred to the virtues in which Christians are to grow (1 Cor. 8:1; 10:23). Later Paul used the word, almost certainly in imitation of Jeremiah, of his own apostolic activity (2 Cor. 10:8; 12:19; 13:10; cf. Rom. 15:20). But it is difficult to define precisely the distinction between this and the more general usage; presumably it is an instance of the general usage applied to the apostolic charisma which he believed himself to possess. The metaphor appears also in a variant form when the church itself is described as the ‘building’ (1 Cor. 3:9; Eph. 2:21), i.e. the result of the process of building. This coheres with the emphasis on Christians as building up their own community, not so much in the sense of adding new members to it, as of enabling each individual to grow in faith, hope and love. The phrase Paul uses in 5:11 (let each of you build up his fellow-Christian; Christian is not expressed in the Greek but is implied) contains the germ of all this future development: (i) the Christian does not build up himself, he builds up his fellow-Christians; the object of his activity is the church, and only as all grow together can one grow in particular; each knows the grace of God but only as he uses it for others and receives it from them, i.e. is built up by them, can real growth take place. (ii) Some of the building activities which Paul relates to the charismata of the church are already present in 5:12–22 (see especially vv. 14, 19, 20f), though not necessarily expressed in the same terms. Indeed the whole of 5:12–22 could be regarded as an expansion of our phrase. On οἰκοδομεῖσθε see O. Michel, T.D.N.T. V, pp. 136–48; P. Bonnard, Jésus-Christ édifiant son Église, Neuchâtel and Paris, 1948.
4:13–5:11 is the passage in our letter in which Paul approaches most closely the type of theological discussion we find in some of his other letters, notably Rom., Gal., and 1 Cor. Yet there appear to be also vast differences in the theology of this passage from that of the other letters. The death of Jesus receives little attention, there is no reference to the righteousness of God or justification by faith, and the very frequent phrase ‘in Christ’ with its variants rarely appears. Instead attention is directed towards the End, salvation is related to this and not to the present, and the ‘creed’ which seems to express Paul’s initial preaching in 1:10 is different from that of 1 Cor. 15:3–5. The problem thus created has often been answered with the argument from silence: if Paul does not mention any particular doctrine in the Thessalonian epistles this does not imply he did not teach it to them; he is answering questions arising out of their situation and perforce must write in terms of a future and not a present salvation. This is negative, but there is also some evidence that what at first sight seems to be missing was actually present in Paul’s initial preaching 1:9f may make no reference to the death of Jesus but the casual introduction of a reference to Jesus as ‘dying for us’ (5:10) in a traditional form implies that Paul had taught the Thessalonians about the relevance and meaning of Christ’s death. It must be allowed that Paul does not mention either the righteousness of God or justification by faith in our letters but neither is prominent in the Corinthian letters. While it would be incorrect to argue that they only found a place in Paul’s theology after our letters were written it would not be incorrect to argue that they are the form which Paul’s theology took when faced with a particular problem, viz., the question of the Law and the admission of Gentiles to the church; take away this problem and Paul’s theology necessarily takes a different form; the problem in Thessalonica is eschatology and so the form will be different. Moreover while salvation is oriented towards the End almost exclusively in 1 & 2 Th. this same orientation can be found in other epistles (e.g. Rom. 5:9; 1 Cor. 3:15; 5:5; Phil. 3:20). However we can go much further than this and argue that Paul’s thought in 1 Th. runs along the lines of at least some of the basic structural elements of his theology. At least three such elements can be isolated: (i) The believer has a new existence. In his letters this is expressed in varying ways: he is a son of God (Gal. 3:26; Rom. 8:16f), newly created (2 Cor. 5:17), a man (1 Cor. 13:11), a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), in the Spirit (Rom. 8:9). In 1 Th. it is expressed by saying that the Christian is ‘a son of the light, of the Day’ (5:5); this is certainly a more purely eschatological term than the others, although there is a sense in which they are all eschatological, just because the context is more purely eschatological. (ii) The association of the indicative and the imperative based on it is found everywhere in Paul and is especially noticeable in Romans which both in its overall structure and in the details of its separate sections follows the pattern: the Christian is justified, let him be just. In 1 Th. 5:1–11 we find exactly this pattern: the Christian is a son of the light, let him live in the light. Somewhat similarly 5:11 resembles the conclusion of many of Paul’s passages of theological argument in ending with a paraenetical statement (cf. Rom. 6:11; 12:1f; 1 Cor. 15:58; Phil. 2:12f). (iii) The close relationship of believers to Christ. We have seen that 4:14; 5:10 preserve the union of believers with Christ; the rationale of this does not need to be explored now, but whatever led Paul to use phrases like ‘in Christ’, ‘dying with Christ’, ‘members of Christ’ led him to write 4:14 and 5:10; and 5:11b implies the inter-relationship of Christians as much as 1 Cor. 12–14. None of this implies that Paul’s theology did not develop or change, e.g. his ideas about the ultimate fate of the Jews (see on 2:16) and about his own position in relation to the coming of the parousia altered, and in being applied to different situations his thought was developed in new directions, but it suggests that the basic structural pattern remained the same.
(f) LIFE IN THE COMMUNITY 5:12–22
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who are working so hard among you by caring for you in the Lord and by admonishing you; 13 and esteem them very highly with your love because of what they do. Live at peace among yourselves. 14 And we request you, brothers: admonish loafers, encourage the worried, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 See that no one pays back evil with evil, but at all times seek eagerly the good of one another and of all men. 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray unceasingly; 18 whatever happens give thanks (to God); for this is God’s will in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not extinguish the Spirit; 20 do not despise prophetic revelations; 21 but test all of them: hold fast what is good; 22 keep clear of whatever kind is evil.
We have here a series of largely unrelated exhortations; on the whole they deal with the internal life of the community, and the first part may be influenced by the exhortation to build up one another in v. 11
4:18. Writers of letters of consolation sometimes urged their readers to “comfort” (KJV, NASB; or “exhort,” “encourage”) themselves and others with their words. In the same way, Jewish people recognized that committed servants of God could exhort one another to stand firm in the face of suffering and martyrdom (2 Macc 7:5). Even the majority of the Old Testament prophets who wrote most fiercely of judgment included words of comfort and hope for the righteous remnant, and hope is central to Paul’s message about the future for his readers, who make up such a remnant.
5:1–11
Watchfulness
Paul continues his discussion of the Lord’s coming (4:13–18), ending on the same exhortation to comfort or encourage one another (4:18; 5:11).
5:1. Here Paul cites another saying of Jesus (later recorded in Acts 1:7; writers normally paraphrased sayings when quoting them). The general thought—that the time of the end was unknown—was common enough in other Jewish circles; teachers debated whether the righteous could hasten the time of the end or whether it would simply come in the time that God had ordained, but most agreed that people could not know the time of the end. Some, however, worked up elaborate schemes to predict that it was about to occur; Paul does not subscribe to such theories.
5:2. This verse is another saying of Jesus (Mt 24:43; also used in 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 3:3; 16:15). “The day of the Lord” in the Old Testament was the day of God, the judgment at the end of the age (sometimes prefigured in nearer judgments, but ultimately cataclysmic in its final form). Jewish apocalyptic commonly spoke of an unexpected end, yet one that was preceded by signs. Paul does not mean that no signs can precede the day of the Lord (2 Thess 2:2–4)—only that they will not pinpoint the time or provide sufficient warning to the wicked (1 Thess 5:3–4).
5:3. These “birth pangs” are not the age-long ones of Matthew 24:8, but the final pangs of destruction in the day of the Lord, as in Isaiah 13:8. Birth pangs were a common image of agony and destruction (Ps 48:6; Is 21:3; 26:17–18; 42:14; Jer 4:31; 6:24; 13:21; 22:23; 49:22–24; 50:43; Hos 13:13). Sudden destruction was also a common biblical idea (Is 47:11; Jer 6:26), and unexpected judgment on the wicked became a regular motif of Jewish apocalyptic; but Paul may here especially reflect Jesus’ teaching (Mt 24:36–44).
The Jewish people knew well about false peace: false prophets prophesying peace had led to Judah’s judgment in the Old Testament (e.g., Jer 6:14); the first-century B.C. Roman general Pompey had entered Jerusalem pretending peace; and roughly two decades after Paul wrote this letter, false prophets of victory led the Jerusalemites to slaughter at the hands of Titus’s Roman army. Paul’s readers in Thessalonica, however, would take his words as an attack on claims of earlier Roman emperors to have established peace and security (pax et securitas) throughout the empire. Teachings like this one sounded subversive and may have aroused persecution against Christians (Acts 17:7).
5:4–5. The background to these verses is quite natural: Paul extends the image of the day of the Lord coming as a thief in the night (see comment on v. 2). Thieves normally broke in at night, but believers in Jesus were people of the day of the Lord. Paul parallels day with light and night with darkness, using common images for good and evil in his day. “Sons of” (NIV, NASB) or “children of” (KJV, NRSV) was a way of saying “people characterized by.”
5:6–7. Night was the time for both sleeping and drunken parties. Paul may draw on the sayings of Jesus in Matthew 24:42, 49 and 26:45, besides the obvious Matthew 24:43. Other moralists also used “sobriety” metaphorically.
5:8. Roman guards and other kinds of night watchmen (such as shepherds) were the only people who stayed awake at night, apart from those engaging in drunken revelry. Paul’s armor imagery may also reflect the standard Jewish idea of a final war preceding the end and the military imagery used by moralists concerning their struggle with the passions (see comment on Rom 13:12; cf. also comment on Eph 6:10–20).
5:9. Although “salvation” could mean “deliverance,” in the context of the final salvation it would also be associated with the bodily resurrection of the righteous, as here. Judaism juxtaposed this resurrection with the wrath God would pour out on the Gentiles and disobedient Jews at his coming to judge the earth, which they expected would occur at the same time.
5:10. On the image of “sleep” see comment on 4:13 (it cannot allude to the image of 5:5–7, where it refers to the people of darkness).
5:11. See comment on 4:18.
PAUL’S MINISTRY (1:1–5:28)
The enemies of Paul had driven him from the city of Thessalonica with the hope of aborting his evangelistic mission (see Acts 17:5–15). Apparently, the enemies pursued with other tactics as well, such as slanderous rumors about Paul’s personal life, motives, and methods in his evangelistic campaigns. This would account for Paul’s devoting so much space in this short epistle to defend his ministry. Just what the apostle said about himself is the main subject of chapters 1 and 2.
Review the threefold ministry of Paul to the Thessalonians, as shown on Chart 90. Observe the following in the Bible text:
1. Ministry in person (1:2–2:16). Observe the repeated pronoun “you” in chapter 1, and “we” (referring to Paul) in chapter 2. Both chapters are Paul’s testimonies. What are his main points?
2. Ministry in absentia (2:17–3:13). Paul regrets that he cannot be with the Thessalonian Christians in person for the time being. What two things does he do for them?
3. Ministry by epistle (4:1–5:28). At 4:1 Paul begins especially to exhort the Thessalonians concerning their behavior in daily living. Paul never wrote a letter without appealing for Christian conduct that magnified Christ and pleased God. The apostle here reminds the Thessalonians that he had earlier instructed them about these things when he was with them. Now, he writes, “keep on” living in that way, but “doing still better” (4:1, Berkeley). Healthy Christian living is not static; it is always dynamic. Christians are to keep growing, moving, abounding. As someone has said, “There is no finality in practical holiness while the Christian remains on the earth.”
VI. THEME, KEY WORDS AND VERSES FOR 1 THESSALONIANS
How would you identify the theme of 1 Thessalonians? Observe the theme identified on Chart 90 as a title. Note the key words and verse shown also on the chart. Compare these with your own choices made on the basis of your survey.
VII. APPLICATIONS FROM 1 THESSALONIANS
Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians abounds in practical applications. Reflect on the things you have learned here about the following:
1. the comfort and hope of Christ’s return
2. endurance in affliction
3. faithful Christian service
4. maturing as a Christian.
No one knows when God’s call will come, and there are certain things that cannot be left until the last moment. It is too late to prepare for an examination when the examination paper is in front of you. It is too late to make the house secure when the storm has burst. When the English queen, Mary of Orange, was dying, her chaplain wanted to read to her. She answered: ‘I have not left this matter until this hour.’ It was similar with an old Scotsman to whom someone offered comforting sayings near the end. The old man’s reply was: ‘I theekit [thatched] ma hoose when the weather was warm.’ If a call comes suddenly, it need not find us unprepared. Those who have lived all their lives with Christ are never unprepared to enter his nearer presence.
5:11 The passage concludes with an admonition to mutual encouragement and edification similar to that in 4:18. Believers knew of the future judgment. They knew the character of the Christian life they were to live. But knowing and doing are two different things. Paraenesis functions to remind readers to do what they already are aware they should do. Paul encouraged his readers to help one another remain alert and self-controlled. Both imperatives, “encourage one another” (cf. 4:18, where the same imperative is used) and “build each other up,” are positive. Paul instructed the Corinthians to “build up” others in the church by providing both examples (1 Cor 8:1; 10:23) and words (14:4), which would especially benefit the less mature Christian. The Ephesian churches were advised that the exercise of gifts for mutual benefit is how the church “grows and builds itself up in love” (4:16). In addition, these commands to engage in encouragement and in constructive ministry to one another are both present tense, implying consistency of action. The last clause of the verse, “just as in fact you are doing,” affirmed the good already evident even as it encouraged the Thessalonians to continue doing the good work of mutually strengthening one another.
11 As in 4:18, Paul calls the members of the Christian community to use this teaching for mutual comfort as well as edification. While this comfort and edification are rooted in the apostolic teaching, the pastoral responsibility does not fall simply to the founders or even the leadership of this church. Their grief in the face of death and their confusion about the time of the day of the Lord (4:13; 5:1–2) find their answer in the fundamental apostolic doctrine and the mutual support of members in the church. The apostle concludes the section with the words, Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. The first part of the exhortation is identical to 4:18 (see commentary), and, along with 5:9–10, implies that the Thessalonians’ concern about the day of the Lord was linked with their questions about the dead in Christ. They are therefore to “comfort” one another, reminding each other that God has destined all of them, both the living and the dead, to salvation. This call to mutual comfort is tied in with the further exhortation to build each other up, a verb that appears for the first time here in the Pauline letters. It derives from the world of construction (Matt. 21:33; 23:29; Mark 14:58; Luke 12:18; Acts 7:47), but the apostle uses it metaphorically. It describes the way the apostle and other believers help each other grow and progress in the faith. Each individual in the community is responsible for the development of others and of the whole through this mutual building process. This term therefore becomes fundamental to Paul’s understanding of the life of the church. The goal of each member of the community is to build up other members of the church (Rom. 14:19; 15:2; 1 Cor. 14:3–5, 12, 17, 26; Eph. 4:12, 29; Col. 2:7) through the use of the gifts of the Spirit. Although Paul does not state explicitly that the church should use the teaching previously presented for mutual comfort and edification, as he did in 4:18 (“encourage each other with these words”), most likely he has their instruction in mind. But since the Thessalonian church was already practicing this mutual ministry, the apostle encourages them to continue in what they are already doing, just as in fact you are doing (cf. 4:9–10, 1). With these words he concludes his responses to the questions put to him by the church (4:9).
The purpose of eschatological teaching is not to fuel speculation about the dates and times of the final consummation. The time of the end is God’s concern, and the “when” is a secret he has decided not to share. The future should not bring dread but call the believer to be prepared, whenever the day of the Lord may come. The Christian therefore “lives in the light of his coming,” each day doing that which is good and just. The current trend toward speculation based on counting toes in Daniel or horns in Revelation and relating them to current events is somewhat misplaced. Whatever happens in Israel or the Middle East is, for us, beside the point. The Christian focus is always on readiness, but a readiness not based on an “accurate” reading of the times but on living in faith, hope, and love. In an age of comfort and materialism some Christians have let any thought of a final consummation and judgment become like so many dusty, unread books on the shelf. Concerns about their present wellbeing and prosperity drown out any biblical call to be mindful of the future. Genuine Christian faith has an “eschatological edge” that balances vivid hope about the future with stellar piety in the present.
4. “Respect those who work hard among you”—The Community and Its Leadership (5:12–13)
Occasionally in the letters we catch a glimpse of the way the NT authors made use of a common store of teaching to develop their thoughts or how one author would use the same, standard instruction in correspondence to different churches. For example, the teaching on reciprocal relationships, “house tables” as they are sometimes called (or Haustafeln in German), appears in more than one of Paul’s writings as well as in 1 Peter (Eph. 5:21–6:9; Col. 3:18–4:1; 1 Pet. 2:18–3:7). The same general orientation about the Christian’s responsibility toward the state is found in both Romans 13:1–7 and 1 Peter 2:13–17. Peter and James lay out almost identical instruction about the Christian’s response to the devil in 1 Peter 5:5–9 and James 5:6–7. Similarly, the apostolic decree of Acts 15:29 is echoed in 1 Thessalonians 4:3. In the following section (5:12–22), the moral instruction Paul elaborates seems to be standard stuff that he turned around and used in his letter to the Romans as well (Rom. 12:3–17
Anxiety and fear marred many lives, then as now. Increasingly the Thessalonians were able to act in faith, trusting not only God but one another (see 1 Thes. 1:3, 10; also 2 Thes. 1:3–4). Even when suffering affliction, these men and women were able to retain their confidence (1 Thes. 3:4).
Isolation was as much a fact of first-century life as of our own. Individualism created the lonely crowd then as now. But when Christ entered a person’s life, this changed. Increasingly the new believers developed the capacity to care. As a result, they reached out in love to others, and others drew close to them as well. Barriers between people of differing cultures were breached as Christ’s transforming power brought a new freedom to love (1 Thes. 1:3; 2:7–11; 3:6–10, 12; 4:9–10; 5:13). Love for God and man became a reality.
Moral compromise was replaced by steadfastness and commitment. The courage to live by inner convictions, unswayed by circumstance, developed naturally with growth in the new faith (1:3; 2:14; 3:4, 8).
Motivations also underwent an increasingly dramatic change. The self-interest, materialism, natural drives, and passions that once controlled thoughts and actions were replaced by new values and desires (1:6; 2:4–6, 14; 3:3; 4:3–6, 11–12; 5:8, 12). The very core of the personality underwent a gradual transformation as believers experienced more and more of the power of Jesus Christ.
Personal failures, an inability to be what they wanted to be, must have nagged first-century men and women even as it does us today. But disappointment and shame were gradually replaced too as believers discovered a new power for holiness. God’s transformation worked within to make these growing believers more and more like the Lord (3:12; 4:1, 3, 7; 5:23).
Lack of goals and meaning plagued many lives. With Christ, even this changed. The letters to Thessalonica show us that a new sense of purpose and meaning, which could be expressed practically in daily life, now gripped the believers. A commitment to good deeds, to honest work, and to right behavior took on fresh and deeper meaning as Christians recognized that every action could reflect credit on their Lord (4:1, 11–12; 5:14–15). Daily duties as well as the privilege of serving others began to bring new satisfaction.
The newness of this life did not come from improved circumstances or from sudden prosperity. The newness of these Christians’ lives was deeply rooted within the believers’ own personalities. The fulfilled promise of transformation is part of the secret of the early church’s power. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed” (Rom. 12:2) lost all tinge of mockery, and brought a living hope.
This transformation is not automatic. It wasn’t in New Testament times, and it’s not today. But transformation is uniquely provided in the Holy Spirit’s working, through distinctive resources closely associated with God’s Word.
We saw in 1 Thessalonians 2 that God communicates His love through human beings. His truth about relationships is validated by love within the body of Christ.
It is important to remember that church in the New Testament has an uncluttered meaning. Today we commonly associate the term with a building, Sunday morning services, or an organization with membership, officers, programs, and planned activities. None of these ideas was characteristic of the church of New Testament times. At that time, church meant something basic and clear, namely, community. The church was an assembly of people, called out of the world into the closest of all possible relationships. The church was and is the family of God.
Thus church in the Scripture is a relational term. Always in view are the people, who share a common relationship with one Father and with one another as brothers and sisters. In the intimate context of family relationships, God chooses to work His transformation in human lives.
It shouldn’t be too surprising, then, to find that when a person is born again as a child of God, the Lord chooses to put him in this family. Here growth toward Christian maturity takes place. “Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing,” Paul urged the Thessalonians. “Live in peace with each other.… Warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone” (1 Thes. 5:11, 13–14).
The Thessalonian letter helps us see the quality of relationships appropriate to the family of God. As believers strive together to be responsive to the Word, they provide continual examples for each other (1:7; 2:14). Within the family is an intense love, a love that reaches out and seeks to draw others close. “You yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers,” Paul praised the Thessalonians (4:9–10). In the closeness of the family, we verbally exhort and instruct each other (2:11; 4:1). In our concern for each other, we comfort and encourage (4:18; 5:14). The love is so real, the belonging so sure, that we don’t hesitate even to admonish or to discipline (v. 14).
1 DO YOU THIRST FOR GOD?
2 ARE YOU GOVERNED INCREASINGLY BY GOD’S WORD?
3 ARE YOU MORE LOVING?
4 ARE YOU MORE SENSITIVE TO GOD’S PRESENCE?
5 DO YOU HAVE A GROWING CONCERN FOR THE SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL NEEDS OF OTHERS?
6 DO YOU DELIGHT IN THE BRIDE OF CHRIST?
7 ARE THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT TO YOU?
8 DO YOU STILL GRIEVE OVER SIN?
9 ARE YOU A QUICKER FORGIVER?
10 DO YOU YEARN FOR HEAVEN AND TO BE WITH JESUS?
“DURING THE PAST YEAR, HAVE YOU HAD ANY TROUBLE SLEEPING?
Have you experienced any breathing difficulties?
Any changes in your eyesight?
Relax while I test your reflexes.
Has the nurse drawn your blood yet?
Now for this next test …”
This is the way it goes during my annual physical checkup. The doctor always evaluates my bodily health by two means—questions and tests.
EXPRESSING YOUR DELIGHT
Delight is much more than fancy. True delight must be expressed. To say “As for the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight” without feeling it and showing it is hypocrisy. Here are two of many possible suggestions for expressing your delight in the saints of God. The first suggestion relates to raising the temperature of your delight in the church and her work. The second has to do with outward change.
Grow to see the bride of Christ and her work more as Jesus does. Do you see the beauty in the bride and what she does that the world cannot see? Can you see more clearly than before what Christ loves in His bride and her labors? What He loves is the increasing clarity of His own reflection in the church and her ministry. Nothing in existence or imagination can compare with the beauty of the triune God. Christ could give no greater gift or beauty than to give His bride the beauty of His holiness. He loves to see this beauty grow in the hearts and lives of His people. Can you see in the church something of what He sees? Let’s take it out of the theoretical: What are three examples of the beauty of Christ’s holiness that you can identify in your local church?
This coming weekend—Lord willing—I will be in Tennessee teaching more than a hundred people how to pray through a passage of Scripture. I believe it can change their prayer lives dramatically, which means it can change everything about their lives and make them more like Jesus. The great majority of people in that area will be consumed with thoughts about a football game. Forty-eight hours afterward, however, the game will be largely forgotten and virtually meaningless to most of them. I think about this during the build-up of hype prior to each Super Bowl. At the time, it is the dominant event in our culture, and yet its impact is so short-lived. Who played in the Super Bowl just two years ago? For two weeks before that kickoff nothing else in the world seemed as important or as glorious; today it is insignificant to, if not forgotten by, those who so anticipated it. The work done for the kingdom of God, by contrast, often seems so colorless and marginal at the time, but it has a beauty and glory that the world cannot see—yet. And its impact can last forever.
It takes eyes of faith to see this, and eyes of faith can grow in their acuity. Whereas in the body one’s eyes tend to weaken as a person matures, in the spiritual realm the eyes of maturing faith become sharper and more penetrating. This is akin to what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16: “Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” Those whose spiritual vision is becoming clearer will increasingly see the splendor and value of the work of the church versus the things that are passing away. And what looks so powerful and impressive to the world begins to appear weak and pale to the maturing Christian.
The more your eyes perceive Jesus’ bride and her work in the way that He does, the more you will love her and it as He does.
Demonstrate your delight in the bride of Christ in ways that will make a real difference. The work of the local church is the work of Jesus in the world. How can anyone place a low priority on involvement with the work of Christ and think he or she is becoming more like Christ?
Where does the church of Christ that you attend need help? Chances are it makes its needs known regularly. Are you listening? Can’t find your niche? Then take the initiative and create a ministry. Look for the delight found in hidden and unheralded places of service. Pursue the secret glory concealed in the mundane ministries. Give your heart and time and money and zeal to the bride for whom Christ gave His life. How long should you do this? For as long as you can say of those who have the Spirit of God, “They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.” And for as long as Christ loves His bride.
This is how you will help to build what will last. Contrary to what man builds, “whatever God does, it shall be forever” (Ecclesiastes 3:14). Regardless of how despised or irrelevant the work of the church appears in the eyes of the world, it is a work that will gleam with God-given glory forever.
Imagine a history book written in Heaven a million years after the end of the earth. How much space will it devote to the stock market, corporate mergers, presidential elections, and sports championships? Won’t it be dominated instead by actions in and through local churches, deeds that passed unnoticed at the time by people the world overlooked? The names of many mighty and noble may be mere footnotes, but the names of those who loved the Lord and ministered to His saints will fill its pages. And written in gold letters on the flyleaf may be this inscription, “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Hebrews 6:10).
Psalm 149:4 tells us that “the LORD takes pleasure in His people.” Do you?