Chapter 4:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Johnson
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 Colossians 2 Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians 4
Concise Complete
Exhortations to purity and holiness. (1-8) To
brotherly love, peaceable behaviour, and diligence. (9-12) Not to sorrow unduly
for the death of godly relations and friends, considering the glorious
resurrection of their bodies at Christ's second coming. (13-18)
Verses 1-8
To abide in the faith of the gospel is not enough, we must abound in the work of
faith. The rule according to which all ought to walk and act, is the
commandments given by the Lord Jesus Christ. Sanctification, in the renewal of
their souls under the influences of the Holy Spirit, and attention to appointed
duties, constituted the will of God respecting them. In aspiring after this
renewal of the soul unto holiness, strict restraint must be put upon the
appetites and senses of the body, and on the thoughts and inclinations of the
will, which lead to wrong uses of them. The Lord calls none into his family to
live unholy lives, but that they may be taught and enabled to walk before him in
holiness. Some make light of the precepts of holiness, because they hear them
from men; but they are God's commands, and to break them is to despise God.
Verses
9-12 We should notice in others what is good, to their praise, that we may
engage them to abound therein more and more. All who are savingly taught of God,
are taught to love one another. The teaching of the Spirit exceeds the teachings
of men; and men's teaching is vain and useless, unless God teach. Those
remarkable for this or any other grace, need to increase therein, as well as to
persevere to the end. It is very desirable to have a calm and quiet temper, and
to be of a peaceable and quiet behaviour. Satan is busy to trouble us; and we
have in our hearts what disposes us to be unquiet; therefore let us study to be
quiet. Those who are busy-bodies, meddling in other men's matters, have little
quiet in their own minds, and cause great disturbances among their neighbours.
They seldom mind the other exhortation, to be diligent in their own calling, to
work with their own hands. Christianity does not take us from the work and duty
of our particular callings, but teaches us to be diligent therein. People often
by slothfulness reduce themselves to great straits, and are liable to many
wants; while such as are diligent in their own business, earn their own bread,
and have great pleasure in so doing.
Verses
13-18 Here is comfort for the relations and friends of those who die in the
Lord. Grief for the death of friends is lawful; we may weep for our own loss,
though it may be their gain. Christianity does not forbid, and grace does not do
away, our natural affections. Yet we must not be excessive in our sorrows; this
is too much like those who have no hope of a better life. Death is an unknown
thing, and we know little about the state after death; yet the doctrines of the
resurrection and the second coming of Christ, are a remedy against the fear of
death, and undue sorrow for the death of our Christian friends; and of these
doctrines we have full assurance. It will be some happiness that all the saints
shall meet, and remain together for ever; but the principal happiness of heaven
is to be with the Lord, to see him, live with him, and enjoy him for ever. We
should support one another in times sorrow; not deaden one another's spirits, or
weaken one another's hands. And this may be done by the many lessons to be
learned from the resurrection of the dead, and the second coming of Christ.
What! comfort a man by telling him he is going to appear before the
judgment-seat of God! Who can feel comfort from those words? That man alone with
whose spirit the Spirit of God bears witness that his sins are blotted out, and
the thoughts of whose heart are purified by the Holy Spirit, so that he can love
God, and worthily magnify his name. We are not in a safe state unless it is thus
with us, or we are desiring to be so.
Chapter 4:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Johnson
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 Colossians 2 Thessalonians
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalm
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
