Word Pictures in the New Testament - 1 Thessalonians - Enhanced Version

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For they have no thought of a future resurrection, but believing that the bodies of those that were dead would forever lie in the grave, made use of cypress at their funerals, which is a tree that being once cut never revives, but dies away. But Christians, on the other hand, having better hopes, and knowing that this very body of their friend, which they are now going solemnly to commit to the grave, shall one day rise again, and be reunited to his soul, instead of cypress, distribute rosemary to the company, which being always green, and flourishing the more for being crops and of which a sprig only being set in the ground, will sprout up immediately and branch into a tree , is more proper to express their confidence and trust.

Therefore I will not bid you good night, for we shall suddenly meet with joy in the kingdom of heaven. This little girl is just like a remittance sent to heaven before you yourself. I suppose a merchant in charge is never heard expressing himself thus: I am sorry she has escaped the storms that are coming!

One of the lessons which our Master enforced was that there should be a marked contrast between His disciples and worldly men. If a Christian differs in no important respect from a man without Christian faith, wherein is he better? They were to regard life and death with a marked difference from the world. It was in this spirit that Paul wrote these words. There is to be a difference between death in the Christian and death in the unchristian household. If you bow your head or are overborne as others, how are you any better?

If in anything one might be left to his own way we should suppose it would be in the sorrows of bereavement. It is no part of Christian teaching that men should not sorrow; but it is a part of Christian teaching that men should not sorrow as others who have no hope. Christ suffered and shed tears; but both stood in the reflected light of the other world. The apostles suffered, but they gloried in the fact that if they suffered they would reign.

Suffering is good if it arouses in men their divine rather than their lower human nature; it is to be such as does not exclude joy and is in the light of joy. Neither is it the teaching of Christ that he affections and relationships of men are trivial and unworthy of regard.

Indeed, we have no guides to go by except these. Who would know the love of God if we did not know the love of man? To say that human affections are nothing, and that to love one another is to love dust, is to destroy the potency and value and use of those very ordinances of the household and friendship by which God means to develop our spiritual nature. Some teach that we are to let all the relationships of life seem so little in comparison with Christ that it will make no difference to us whether they go or stay.

I could not respect a religion which made love a mere currency for good in this world alone. The spirit of Christianity sanctifies the love of husband and wife, parent and child, etc. Least of all does Christ teach that pain is unworthy of manhood and is to be strangled. Any such violence is to destroy what He elaborately created.

The teachings of the Bible, and the example of Christ and of His apostles and saints has inculcated anything but the stoical doctrine. The Christian idea is the great power of victory over suffering, the bush burning but unconsumed. But Christ did require that we should look upon our sorrow as surrounded by considerations derivable from his life and truth. A wanton and ungovernable sorrow is a violation of Christian duty. It acts as if there were no God or Christ. There is a great difference, of course, between the first burst of sorrows and a continuous state.

When one has been worn out physically, the gracious God finds no fault with the uncontrollable sweep of anguish. Let the cloud burst, but do not let the waters become a deep flowing river. When the first rush of feeling is over there should be that in the believer which will bring him back to Christ.

It is not right sorrow that seeks every aggravation, employing memory as a dragnet to bring back refuse experiences, to create unhappiness, and recount miseries as if proud of them. Blessed are they who can shut the door on the past and not open it again unless to bring some fairer joy and better hope. A true Christian bereavement ought not to narrow the disposition and take men away from active affairs. Spurzheim used to say that no woman was fit to be wife and mother till she had been educated in suffering. I say that no man or woman is fit for the highest offices of friendship and life without it.

Every man that suffers bereavement ought to make it manifest that it is grace not nature that heals. It is true that grace employs nature, and that time is a good nurse; but a Christian ought to be ashamed if nothing can cure him but time. How many there are who wait until their griefs are worn out before they get over them.

But the man who knows how to apply the promise and realize the presence at the right time, has not only comfort in himself, but is a living and powerful witness to the power of Christ such as refutes infidelity as nothing else can, and wins to the Gospel as no preaching can do. The sorrow which Christians may lawfully indulge for departed friends.

Feel your griefs, bereaved and desolate believers; you are permitted to sorrow. Away with the sentiments of those who teach that we should evidence an utter insensibility, a stupid unconcern, under affliction! But why mention inferior cases?

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Behold Jesus--our law giver and model, authorizing a submissive grief by His emotion and tears at the tomb of Lazarus. An unlamented death is divinely represented as a judgment and a curse Jeremiah But we may mourn as Christians over our departed; and where can the soul that is bowed and overwhelmed better flee than to its Father? Where find more comfort than in the bosom of its God?

Christianity does not destroy our nature; it only regulates it. In giving us a heart, God has permitted us to exercise its emotions, and sensibility, instead of being a weakness in the Christian, is one of his noblest prerogatives, since it is one great source of his virtues. No; it is not the soul of a Christian which can be callous and insensible while standing by the corpse or the grave of a departed friend.

The sorrow which Christians are forbidden to exercise. When in their hearts, or by their lips, they murmur against the disposals of God, and blame Him for unkindness and cruelty to them. When the grief of Christians unfits them for holy duties, and prevents the exercise of religious devotion.

What, because one we loved is dead, shall our heart also become dead and lifeless in all spiritual employments, and as cold as is his inanimate body? What, shall our tears be ever flowing over a mouldering form, and our affections never be raised to a living God? When sorrow does not lead Christians to inquire what was the design of God in afflicting them.

When Christians follow not their departed friends beyond the grave. Sorrow is also criminal when Christians have no well-grounded hope of reunion and fellowship with their departed in heaven. Heaven is the glorious rendezvous of all saintly men John There are some who have no hope in their sorrow. As far as we can, we should see that no relative passed away out of our home and left us in unmixed grief.

Are there any who would so treat a relative as to leave him in doubt as to their salvation?

Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

There are those who have good hope mixed with their grief. Even when there is the strongest hope of salvation, there will be sorrow. Sorrow mixed with hope is full of comfort. This comfort depends upon acquiescence in the will of God disposing us as His own. The grounds of this consolation as here laid down. Death is compared to a sleep as indicating The calm repose of a dying believer. The certainty of the resurrection. The beauty and glory of the redeemed Church. Recognition of the saints in heaven. Text Courtesy of BibleSupport. Bibliography Exell, Joseph S.

But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not as the rest, who have no hope. We would not have you ignorant This was one of Paul's favorite ways of introducing a new and important subject. It is also found in Romans 1: Concerning them that fall asleep This should not be understood in the limited sense of "have fallen asleep" KJV , because it purposely included those already dead and others yet to die before the coming of Christ.

Paul had not departed from Thessalonica a very long time before these lines were written, but already the death angel had descended upon the homes of some of the Thessalonians, accompanied by the inevitable grief precipitated by such an event. This beloved metaphor was frequently used by our Lord himself, as in the instances of Jairus' daughter Mark 5: To what extent, then, may solid doctrinal postulations be founded upon such a metaphor, which is obviously founded upon the superficial resemblance between a dead person and one who is merely asleep?

Mason warned that no doctrine "may be deduced with precision, from such a metaphor"; [22] and full agreement is felt with this. However, Christ used this metaphor just prior to performing two resurrections, and the apostle Paul would not have used it here, except for the purpose of suggesting "a continued even if partly unconscious existence, and the possibility of a reawakening.

That ye sorrow not Taken alone, these words do not convey Paul's thought. It is not "sorrow not," but "sorrow not as those who have no hope. Paul was about to make an argument for the encouragement of the Thessalonians; but in doing so, he did not introduce the doctrine of the resurrection as anything new, but as something they already knew and believed in.

Their vivid and naive belief in Christ's advent within their own lifetime was the very source of their distress. Zondervan Publishing House, , p. Baker Book House, , p. All other rights reserved. Bibliography Coffman, James Burton. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren , As they seem to have been, about the state of the pious dead, the rule and measure of mourning for them, the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, the second coming of Christ, and the future happiness of the saints; wherefore the apostle judged it necessary to write to them upon these subjects: This way of speaking is used frequently both in the Old and the New Testament; see 1 Kings 2: The apostle designs such persons among the Thessalonians, who either died a natural death, or were removed by violence, through the rage and fury of their persecutors, for whom their surviving friends were pressed with overmuch sorrow, which is here cautioned against:.

A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: This error Paul here corrects compare 1 Thessalonians 5: Not all natural mourning for dead friends is forbidden: Contrast Catullus [ Carmina 5. Copyright Statement These files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text scanned by Woodside Bible Fellowship. This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-Brown Commentary is in the public domain and may be freely used and distributed. Bibliography Jamieson, Robert, D. We do not wish. A formula often used by Paul to call special attention to what he is about to say.

See on Acts 7: The dead members of the Thessalonian church. According to some, the Thessalonians supposed that eternal life belonged only to such as should be found alive at the parousia, and therefore that those already dead would not share the blessings of the second advent.

Others, assuming an interval between the advent and the general resurrection, think that the Thessalonians were anxious lest their brethren who died before the advent would be raised only at the general resurrection, and therefore would not share the blessings of communion with the Lord during the millennial reign. It is impossible to decide the question from Paul's words, since he does not argue, but only consoles.

The value of his consolation does not depend upon the answer to the question whether the departed saints shall first be raised up at the general resurrection, or at a previous resurrection of believers only. The Thessalonians were plainly distressed at the thought of separation from their departed brethren, and had partially lost sight of the elements of the Christian hope - reunion with them and fellowship with the Lord. These elements Paul emphasizes in his answer. The resurrection of Jesus involves the resurrection of believers. The living and the dead Christians shall alike be with the Lord.

Paul makes a sharp distinction between Christians, and all others. Who have no hope Only believers have hope of life after death. The speculations and surmisings of pagan philosophy do not amount to a hope. Copyright Statement The text of this work is public domain. Bibliography Vincent, Marvin R. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

Now — Herein the efficacy of Christianity greatly appears, - that it neither takes away nor embitters, but sweetly tempers, that most refined of all affections, our desire of or love to the dead. Copyright Statement These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that is available on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library Website.

Them which are asleep; which are dead,--referring, perhaps, to some who had lost their lives in the persecutions. Bibliography Abbott, John S. It is not likely that the hope of a resurrection had been torn up among the Thessalonians by profane men, as had taken place at Corinth. For we see how he chastises the Corinthians with severity, but here he speaks of it as a thing that was not doubtful. It is possible, however, that this persuasion was not sufficiently fixed in their minds, and that they accordingly, in bewailing the dead, retained something of the old superstition.

For the sum of the whole is this — that we must not bewail the dead beyond due bounds, inasmuch as we are all to be raised up again. For whence comes it, that the mourning of unbelievers has no end or measure, but because they have no hope of a resurrection? It becomes not us, therefore, who have been instructed as to a resurrection, to mourn otherwise than in moderation. He is to discourse afterwards as to the manner of the resurrection; and he is also on this account to say something as to times; but in this passage he meant simply to restrain excessive grief, which would never have had such an influence among them, if they had seriously considered the resurrection, and kept it in remembrance.

He does not, however, forbid us altogether to mourn, but requires moderation in our mourning, for he says, that ye may not sorrow, as others who have no hope. He forbids them to grieve in the manner of unbelievers, who give loose reins to their grief, because they look upon death as final destruction, and imagine that everything that is taken out of the world perishes.

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As, on the other hand, believers know that they quit the world, that they may be at last gathered into the kingdom of God, they have not the like occasion of grief. Hence the knowledge of a resurrection is the means of moderating grief. He speaks of the dead as asleep , agreeably to the common practice of Scripture — a term by which the bitterness of death is mitigated, for there is a great difference between sleep and destruction It refers, however, not to the soul, but to the body, for the dead body lies in the tomb, as in a couch, until God raise up the man.

Those, therefore, act a foolish part, who infer from this that souls sleep. Let, therefore, the grief of the pious be mixed with consolation, which may train them to patience. The hope of a blessed resurrection, which is the mother of patience, will effect this. The communion of Saints. Where shall I go when I die? I know I shall not merely sleep. He has said He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. He did not tell me much, but He told that little very clearly. You remember the parable of Dives and Lazarus, you remember the conversation which Jesus represented as taking place between two men.

There is not only a conversation, which of course means life, but there is an appeal to memory of the things in this world. You do not preach to people who are incapable of hearing—who are asleep. A family never gets smaller. It has some of its members behind the veil, but all are to be joined together again. Scripture does not reveal very much, but we have very sound ground to go on. Surely we may understand this: Those in Paradise gain a clearer knowledge, a closer communion with God.

We do not know what the saints are doing, we know nothing about Paradise, but we know that God has them in safe keeping. And one day we hope to join them. What are you and I doing to prepare for the fuller life beyond the veil? That ye sorrow not ] Non est lugendus qui moritur, sed desiderandus, saith Tertullian. Abraham mourned moderately for his deceased wife, Genesis It is one of the dues of the dead to be lamented at their funerals. But let us whose departed souls angels accompany, Christ embosometh, and all the court of heaven comes forth to welcome account mortality a mercy; and be grieved that we are so long detained here from the company of our Christ, saith Jerome.

John Trapp Complete Commentary.

Perhaps what he says here was part of what he wanted to teach them, as not having seen it proper before to enter into these discoveries; namely, whether the last generation should die at all or no; and whether the dead saints should be raised before the living were transformed. But, having heard that they still lamented over their dead, like their heathen neighbours, and perhaps that they still hired mourners,—were apt to repine at the Divine providence,—to lament, and be excessively dejected; he here delivers two most important truths, to dry up their tears: He briefly repeats what he had taught already, strongly asserting the resurrection of the pious dead to an eternal life of holiness and happiness, in consequence of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and according to his express and repeated promises.

He makes this new discovery,—that the last generation of saints should not die at all, but be on a sudden changed into immortals. From which he concludes, that the Christians ought to leave off their excessive lamentations for their deceased friends, and no longer imitate their heathen neighbours, who, though they might have some obscure notions and expectations of the immortality of the soul, had no such hopes as the Christian of a resurrection from the dead, and of an eternal life of such holy and glorious enjoyments; in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the holy angels, and of all the wisest, worthiest, and best of men, who will be perfect and happy as well as they, 1 Thessalonians 4: Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible.

Our apostle, from this verse to the end of the chapter, exhorts the Thessalonians to moderate their grief and sorrow for their friends who died in Christ, many of which, no doubt, were martyrs for the truth in those days of persecution: Our apostle doth not forbid sorrow for the dead absolutely, which Christ shewed for Lazarus, and the church for Stephen, but it is excessive sorrow only that is here condemned. That all sorrow for the death of friends is not unlawful, or forbidden to Christians; the Christian religion doth not destroy natural affections, but teaches us to moderate them.

That there is a mighty difference between the Christian's sorrow for the dead, and theirs who are strangers to Christianity: That the belief of a future state, and the hope of a joyful resurrection, is the cause of this great difference: It was an expression reff. Surely not absolutely the mourning for our loss in their absence , but for theirs see above , and in so far , for ours also. Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary. A recognised Pauline formula of transition to new and important communications; comp. In an analogous manner, Paul uses also positive turns of expression: The selection of the word is the more appropriate, as the discourse in what follows is concerning a revivification.

But not the dead generally are meant, which Lipsius Theolog. This is evident from all that follows, particularly from the confirmatory proposition in 1 Thessalonians 4: After the example of Weizel Stud. Woken in Wolf gives the directly opposite meaning to the words: Absit a vobis tristitia, quemadmodum etiam abest a reliquis illis, qui nempe non tristantur ob mortuos et tamen spem nullam certam habent de felicitate. Naturally; for death has no more any sting for the Christian.

He does not see in it annihilation, but only the transition to an eternal and blessed fellowship with the Lord. It is, however, possible that Paul may also have thought on a portion of the Jews, namely, the sect of the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection. Soles occidere et redire possunt. Nobis quum semel occidit brevet lux, Nox est perpetua una dormienda.

Nec quisquam expergitus exstat, Frigida quem semel est vitae pausa secuta. From this comparison with those who do not believe in a future life in general , it inevitably follows that also the Thessalonians feared for their deceased Christian friends, not merely a temporary deprivation of the eternal life of bliss to be revealed at the advent, but an entire exclusion from it. If the comparison is to have any meaning which Hofmann with great arbitrariness denies , the blessing for whose loss the Gentiles mourn must be the same as the blessing for whose loss the Christians are not to mourn.

The efficacy of the Christian religion is even in an especial degree evident from this circumstance, that it does not take away or embitter, but sweetly soothes modifies , regret for the dead; the finest of the affections, whether their death has taken place recently or in former times.

Bibliography Bengel, Johann Albrecht.

Reading the New Testament Commentary (12 vols.)

The apostle now proceeds to a new discourse, about moderating of their sorrow for the dead, not for all, but the dead in Christ. He had either observed their sorrow in this kind excessive, while with them; or else by Timothy, or some other way, he had heard of it. Wherein observe in general, he doth not condemn their sorrow, but the excess of it. Grace destroys not nature, but regulates it; nor reason, but rectifies it; nor takes away the affections, but moderates them; doth not make us Stoics, or stocks.

Affections are good when set upon right objects, and kept within due bounds, and this Christianity doth teach, and grace doth effect. And to mourn for the dead, especially the dead in the Lord, is a duty that both nature and grace teach, and God requireth; and the contrary is reproved by God himself, Isaiah It is only then immoderate sorrow the apostle here means; and to prevent it, or remove it, gives many instructions and arguments.

And the apostle, because of his short stay among them, had not had opportunity to instruct them about these things, and therefore doth it here distinctly and fully; as he doth the Corinthians, hearing there were some among them, even of the church itself, that said there was no resurrection, 1 Corinthians It is such a mystery to reason, that it is hard to believe it; and the most learned of the heathen doubted of it, and some exploded and scoffed at it, as we find, Acts And hereupon in this verse the apostle doth assert two things in general to relieve them against immoderate sorrow.

He calls the death of the saints a sleep. After sleep we know there is awaking, and by sleep nature is revived; and so it shall be with the saints in death. Hereupon the grave is called a bed, Isaiah There is hope in their death, as Proverbs This the apostle here intends. The heathen and infidels buried their dead without this hope, as they are said to be without hope, Ephesians 2: We are hereby the betrayers of our faith and hope, and the things we preach will seem false and feigned.

And though man is said to die without hope as to a return to his former state of life here, Job Bibliography Poole, Matthew, "Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4: Asleep ; asleep in Jesus, who have died in union with Christ by faith, verse 1 Thessalonians 4: Others ; the unenlightened heathen, who have no hope of a resurrection and life of blessedness with Christ in heaven.

But we would not have you to be ignorant, brothers. The present participle denotes what is going on. This trouble had now arisen for the first time; see Introd. Now that some of their number have died, or are dying,— what about these? The grief of some of the readers bordered on extreme despair cf.

We must allow for the short time that the Thessalonians had been under instruction and the many new truths they had to master, for the stupefying influence of grief, and for the power with which at such an hour, and amid the lamentations of unbelieving kindred, the darkest fears of their pre-Christian state would re-assert themselves. This implied a materialistic conception of the Parousia—almost inevitable in the first instance—which is tacitly corrected in 1 Thessalonians 4: Despair of any future beyond death was a conspicuous feature of contemporary civilization.

The more enlightened a Greek or Roman might be, the less belief he commonly held in the old gods of his country and in the fables of a life beyond the grave: Bibliography "Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4: There is no reason why you should sorrow, as those who do not share in your Christian hope cannot fail to do. For as surely as our belief is rooted in the death and resurrection of Jesus, even so we are confident that God will bring along with the returning Jesus those who have fallen on sleep through Him.

The same metaphor frequently occurs in the earlier O. See also the striking saying of Gorgias 5. The word is often thought to be exclusively Christian, but Roberts-Gardner p. The first of these C. For the existence of a Jewish colony in Athens cf. The inscriptions tell the same tale, e. It is clear that the Thessalonians had grasped the idea that Jesus Christ was imminently returning and were in expectation that it would be very soon. Thus when some died before that glorious event took place they were concerned lest that meant that those dying would lose out in some way.

The majority of Gentiles saw no hope beyond the grave. They saw death as the end. The picture comes originally from Daniel But in each case it is connected with the resurrection. Other references to death as sleep such as Job We can understand why. A dead person often looks just like someone in the repose of sleep.

The thought was that they had found final rest. This idea of death as sleep carries on into the New Testament. Paul regularly speaks of death as sleep 1 Thessalonians 5: See also Acts Sleep is a time of restoration and a kind of awareness. It is not necessarily a time of total lack of consciousness. Thus Paul can look forward to sleep beyond death as being enjoyed in the conscious presence of Christ Philippians 1: Certainly the vast majority of the Gentile world saw no hope beyond death.

The Platonists believed in the immortality of the soul and thus an afterlife of sorts in a disembodied state, but they were comparatively few and restricted mainly to the thinking classes. For the rest death was the end. Ancient literature and tomb inscriptions were full of the awareness of the hopelessness of death. Thus the fear of the Thessalonians appears to have been that those of them who died before the second coming died without hope.

Paul answers this firstly by stressing the fact of the resurrection in order that they need not sorrow. This refers to sorrow over final death not sorrow over a temporary parting. But —This is the earliest written part of St. See notes on 1 Corinthians The commentator needs search for no occult connexion between this and the previous paragraph, for St. Paul here introduces an entirely new topic. It was suggested, we suppose, by information derived from Timothy, or some other comer from Thessalonica, of the state of feeling among some mourning Christians there who feared that their lately deceased Christian friends would lose their blessed share in the glorious advent of Christ.

One is tempted to ask in surprise, Could it he that the apostle preached there more than three weeks, and gave glowing descriptions of the coming of Christ, Acts Were those Thessalonians really ignorant of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead? Olshausen vainly supposes that they understood the final resurrection of all mankind, but feared that none but living Christians would share the glorious first resurrection one thousand years earlier than the final. But, first, There is no mention ever made by St.

Paul of two bodily resurrections, or of any intervening thousand-year period, nor any indication that he ever held any such doctrine. Second, It is difficult to conceive how they could have imagined any such first resurrection without including, what is held to be its very purpose and essence, the glory of all believers therein. But it is not so easy to fix in the mind and memory of a series of miscellaneous audiences of pagan hearers an entire new system of Christian doctrine in a brief time. Some will hear a particular doctrine explained, others not. Some will remember; others not.

So that important blanks will remain. Paul preached to the living; and many would forget that the dead were concerned. And it is remarkable that some of the most vivid and extended descriptions of the last day in the New Testament omit the resurrection. Such in 2 Thessalonians 1: The resurrection, as Auberlen remarks, was a difficult thought for the Greek mind to take in. It is possible, also, that these doubting mourners were but a small part of the Church, and many of them even new converts from heathendom who had never heard St.

We can easily conceive, therefore, that there should be those who feared that a scene like 2 Thessalonians 1: So 1 Corinthians He is the author of many books in the area of biblical studies, past president of the Society of Biblical Literature southeast region , and a member of the Catholic Biblical Association. Joseph Trafton was concerned that much of the popular understanding of Revelation was based on traditions of interpretation and not on the book itself. Having done his masters thesis on Revelation, Trafton came to see how crucial it was to view the book in its historical and conceptual contexts.

He reveals the Jewish thought-world that underlies the book and shows how the various sections of the book fit together with one another. He believes many interpreters inundate their explanations with extraneous ideas that actually prevent or get in the way of a clear understanding of the text. Trafton hopes that Reading Revelation will help readers see what is actually there. He is a regular speaker at churches, campus groups and civic groups.

Faithlife Your digital faith community. Logos Powerful Bible study tools. Faithlife TV A Christian video library. Faithlife Proclaim Church presentation software. Chapters 3 vols. The Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible 43 vols. Proverbs John Phillips Commentary Series 27 vols. Products Reading the New Testament Commentary 12 vols. Reading the New Testament Commentary 12 vols. Dowd, Sharyn Talbert, Charles H. Pay Monthly Customize the length of your payment plan in cart. Overview Reading the New Testament Commentary series aspires to present cutting edge research in a way that is accessible to upper-level undergraduates, seminarians, seminary educated pastors, and educated laypeople, as well as to graduate students and professors.

Section-by-section commentary on key concepts Literary-theological tone while focusing on the final structure of the text Ideal for students, pastors, and professors. Reading the New Testament Commentary Publisher: Garland's Reading Matthew is, as of the moment, probably the first commentary I would recommend to a serious undergraduate student or seminarian interested in learning what modern scholarship now does with Matthew.

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Scott Spencer, Catholic Biblical Quarterly. Dowd puts this information to excellent interpretive use. Charles Talbert, perhaps the foremost interpreter of Luke-Acts among biblical scholars in the United States, has produced an unusual and highly readable commentary… Reading Luke will reward every serious student of Luke-Acts with an abundance of astute observations and insights.

It brings together in one volume the mature insights of a major North American interpreter of Luke-Acts. Talbert's commentary maintains the special focus that keeps this series from just rehashing the more thorough classic commentaries. It is an original, very close reading of the final form of the Gospel and Letters of John for their religious content, in light both of ancient Greco-Roman, Jewish, and Christian writings, and of present-day pastoral concerns What impresses me is definitely his close reading of the original text, coming up with fresh and acute insights.

He is not content to state the obvious and revisit the commonplace. He finds new light. Talbert will inform the student and inspire the preacher with perspectives freshly found. Luke Timothy Johnson Series: Reading Corinthians makes an excellent companion for those who want to study in a thorough fashion one of the most revealing of Paul's letters. To these audiences I would heartily recommend Reading Corinthians as a reliable guide to understanding Corinthians.

Reading Galatians, Philippians, and 1 Thessalonians Author: Critically aware and theologically sensitive, this commentary will lead its readers into the best of modern scholarship as well as back to the verities of a former generation. But then it must be wielded by an almighty arm: None but He who moved upon the chaos, and formed it into order and beauty, can new create the soul. Thus persons who are dead in sin, may be brought to a profession of religion by other means: With an assured sense of its truth and excellence—.

We should go to hear it, as a hungry person goes to a feast: When the Gospel comes in this manner, even as it did on the day of Pentecost, it lays open the whole heart [Note: What effects it will then produce—. They have counted the cost, and are willing to pay it. While they call themselves followers of Christ and his Apostles, they also become imitators of them [Note: They will no longer follow the course of this world, but will regulate their conduct by a higher standard: And in this all true Christians will resemble them.

One in whom the word has wrought effectually will not be contented with setting a good example to the world around him; this would be a matter of no great difficulty: All should endeavour to grow in grace, that from children they may become young men, and from thence advance till they are fathers in Christ [Note: And it is certain, that all who are perfect, or have attained to maturity in the Christian life, will be thus minded [Note: What reason for thankfulness they have, in whom the Gospel has wrought effectually—. The power that effected it was not in the word; for then the same change would have been wrought in all who heard it: No; it was God alone who made us to differ [Note: How we are to obtain benefit from the word delivered to us—.

This is the way which God himself has prescribed [Note: It is owing to the want of this, both in ministers and people, that the ordinances are so unprofitable [Note: Let us then abound more in the great duty of prayer [Note: He will give us that unction of the Holy One that shall teach us all things [Note: Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae. Bengel, Schott, Hofmann, and others unite 1 Thessalonians 1: But evidently 1 Thessalonians 1: This reason is twofold— 1 The power and confidence by which the gospel was preached by him and his companions in Thessalonica 1 Thessalonians 1: Non stetit intra verba.

Nor is the gospel denoted as a miraculous power Benson , which meaning in itself is possible. Nor is the efficacy of the preached word among the Thessalonians indicated Bullinger: Per virtutem intellexit efficaciam et vim agentem in cordibus fidelium. But the communication of the Holy Spirit is beyond the power of the apostles, as being only possible on the part of God.

Accordingly, the meaning is: Pelt, entirely perverting the meaning, thinks that the apostle in these concluding words would hold forth his example for the emulation of his readers. It also does not mean quales fuerimus so de Wette, Hofmann, and others , but can only denote the being made for some purpose.

It thus contains the indication that the emphatic element in the preaching of the gospel at Thessalonica was a work of divine appointment—of divine grace. Both [Paul, Sylvanus, and Timothy, on one hand, and the Thessalonians on the other] knew. Bibliography Bengel, Johann Albrecht. Our gospel because preached by him and others to them; or intrusted with them egenhyh eiv umav. Came not unto you in word only, but also in power; confirmed by miracles, and had powerful operation upon your hearts. The power of God went along with our ministry, which did not with the false teachers, 1 Corinthians 4: And in the Holy Ghost; either in gifts of the Holy Ghost which ye received, or that power which ye felt from the gospel upon your hearts was through the Holy Ghost: And in much assurance; ye giving full assent to the truth of the gospel, without doubting on your part; or preached to you with much confidence and assurance on our part.

The former sense is best. And there is an allusion in the word to a ship riding upon the sea with a full gale, and not turned out of its course by a contrary wind. Your faith triumphed over the waves of all objections, disputes, or hesitations of mind. For doubtings of mind do much hinder the power of the word upon the heart. And this assurance they had from the Holy Ghost. As ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake; we did not carry ourselves among you like ordinary men, but by our laboriousness and zeal in preaching, our patient suffering for the gospel we preached, by our holy conversation, by our denial of ourselves in labouring with our hands amongst you, and by our great tenderness and affection to you, you might perceive that we were men sent of God, and our ministry was from heaven, and that we sought not yours, but you; whereby you had an advantage to entertain the gospel preached by us with greater assurance.

And in all these things we had respect to your salvation. And for the truth of all this, he appeals to their own knowledge, and that mighty presence and assistance of God in their ministry among them; as they could not but perceive it, so it was all for their sake. And ye became followers of us; as you received our gospel in the power of it into your hearts, so you showed it forth in your conversation, becoming followers or imitators of us in our patient and cheerful sufferings, and our holy and self-denying carriage. The doctrine of the gospel which we taught you, we practised it before your eyes, and you followed us therein; though before you walked according to the course of the world, and were followers of the religion and manners of the heathen.

1 Thessalonians - for our gospel - Verse-by-Verse Commentary

The examples of ministers ought to be teaching as well as their doctrine. And of the Lord; we have followed the example of Christ, and ye followed us. So that as you believed on Christ as your Saviour, so you followed his commands and examples as your Lord and Master; as he exhorts the Corinthians: Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ, 1 Corinthians Having received the word in much affliction: For receiving the word, in the Scripture phrase, comprehends all this in it. The glad tidings of the gospel did more comfort them, than all their sufferings did cast them down.

Bibliography Poole, Matthew, "Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 1: In power , and in the Holy Ghost , and in much assurance ; the last clause of this verse shows that the immediate reference of these words is to the apostle and his associates. Their preaching was in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in full assurance of what they uttered. But this cannot be separated from the effect on their hearers. To them also their preaching was attended with the power of the Holy Ghost; it was embraced with full conviction of its truths, and led them to break off their sins and turn to the Lord.

See verse 1 Thessalonians 1: Its bearers in delivering their message at Thessalonica were conscious of a supernatural power that made them at the time sure of success. See 1 Corinthians 2: For confirmation of what the writers assert about their preaching, they appeal, in passing, to the knowledge of the readers: Sprache 2 , ii. A colon, not a full-stop, should close 1 Thessalonians 1: According to a , the Thessalonians imitated the Apostles and their Lord in their manner of receiving the word: The welcome given to the Gospel was enhanced at once by the adverse conditions attending it in much affliction and by the gladness which surmounted these conditions with joy of—inspired by—the Holy Spirit.

For the association of joy with receiving the word , see Luke 2: The genitive is that of source connoting quality —a joy that comes of the Spirit and is spiritual. Bibliography "Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 1: Similarly, in accordance with the tendency in late Gk. The corresponding verb is found five times in the Pauline Epp. For —Furnishing evidence of their election. In word , but not in word only. Salvation is shaped into human syllables, but there are wonders of meaning in those syllables, a power , both in themselves, and in the ideas they present.

Did he see their stupendous import he would be knocked down by the conception, as Saul was by the sight of the risen Jesus. The poorest gospel sermon ever heard, by the drowsiest preacher that ever preached, has import enough in it to smite the congregation from their seats to the floor. In the Holy Ghost — When the divine Spirit establishes the words , then how does the power melt or smite and break the heart! Paul is here describing, from vivid memory, the powerful revival which brought the Thessalonian Church into existence.

Manner of men —Our conduct and character filled out the programme of our preaching. We lived the gospel as well as spoke it. For your sake and for no success or interest of our own. The effect of the Spirit on the preachers is followed up in 1 Thessalonians 1: The Expositor's Greek Testament.

For our gospel — The gospel which we preach, and which has been solemnly committed to our charge; came not unto you in word only — You not only heard, understood, and assented to it as a revelation from God, and received thereby information concerning those spiritual and divine things of which you were before ignorant; but it came also in power — Awakening your minds to a deep sense of the infinite importance, as well as certainty, of the discoveries it makes you, especially concerning the future and eternal state awaiting you, and your present fallen, sinful, and depraved condition; convincing your consciences of the number and greatness of your sins and follies, and your want of a Saviour from that state of ignorance and guilt, depravity, weakness, and misery, in which you saw yourselves to be involved; thus humbling you before a holy and just God, and bringing you to the footstool of his mercy in true repentance and godly sorrow, productive of fruits worthy of repentance.

And in the Holy Ghost — Bearing an outward testimony by various miraculous operations to the truth and importance of the gospel which we preach; and by his enlightening, quickening, and renewing influences on your souls, causing it to produce the fore-mentioned effects; and above all, inspiring you with living faith in Christ, and in the promises of God through him, and thereby revealing him to and in you the hope of glory; Galatians 1: So that both the full assurance of faith, and the full assurance of hope, accompanied with perfect love casting out fear, all which graces are expressly mentioned by the apostles in their epistles, see Hebrews 6: And these effects, if not the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, always more or less attend the faithful preaching of the true and genuine gospel of Christ; neither are some extraordinary operations of the Holy Ghost always wholly withheld, where the gospel is preached with power, and preachers and hearers are alive to God.

As ye know what mariner of men we were among you — How we conducted ourselves, and with what zeal and diligence we exerted ourselves in order to your salvation; for your sakes — Seeking your advantage, not our own. Bibliography Haydock, George Leo. Not in the sense that the gospel message originated in the minds of Paul, Silvanus or Timothy Galatians 1: Do we embrace the gospel message this closely? It also infers that Paul and his companions needed the gospel message just as much as any other person. Unfortunately, this contradicts Romans 1: It also infers that the gospel message is much more than just words.

It is God"s message to mankind 1 Corinthians 2: The words in the gospel are those chosen by God Himself 1 Corinthians 2: They are the building blocks of sentences by which we communicate with one another. People often forget that the Holy Spirit in the process of conversion, does not work independently of the gospel, rather the gospel message is the tool or medium in which the Holy Spirit uses to convict the sinner John In addition, remember that we have a record of what Paul did in Thessalonica Acts He reasoned and argued from the Scriptures.

This may refer to miracles that accompanied the preaching Hebrews 2: Which means that Paul preached by inspiration, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit Ephesians 3: The "assurance" of this verse refers to how the gospel was preached to the Thessalonians, that is, Paul, Silvanus and Timothy preached it boldly and with confidence Ephesians 6: Paul"s preaching was confident in its presentation.

Unfortunately, too many Christians feel that the message we have is a somewhat inferior gospel to that preached in the First Century, yet we forget that the essential miracles performed to produce faith are still recorded in the gospel John The message is inspired of God, and if I handle it accurately, then the message that I am preaching is the Word of God 2 Timothy 2: We can be just as confident, because the needs of man have not changed.

We have the complete picture. We can look back at the whole plan, and see how everything fits together, as we read both Testaments. Man is still just as spiritually blind without the Word of God Jeremiah They could testify to the following fact. Apparently, accusations had been made against Paul"s motives or character.

This was indeed how Paul and his companions had behaved themselves, and the Thessalonians knew it. They plied their trade for their own sake, in their own interest. Paul often urges people to follow his example 1 Corinthians 4: I believe that this is part of that "confidence" and conviction that Christians are to have. Our assurance of the Divine message should be to such a point that we have applied it to our own lives. We are willing to let our lives be examined and imitated. Compare 1 Corinthians God is not demanding the impossible. God is not requiring that we become "Divine".

Yet God does believe that we adopt the attitudes manifested by His Son Matthew 5: Also note that accepting the gospel message is much more than a mere intellectual acquiesence to the truth of the gospel. To accept the gospel means that one conforms to the godly examples found therein. It is never enough to merely believe that Christ or the apostles said and taught. We must be sold on what they taught, we must apply what they taught, and we must follow in His footsteps 1 Peter 2: After all, this is the true meaning of the word "disciple" not a mere student, but an adherent, a supporter.

The gospel message does not need "ideal" circumstances to flourish, rather just good and honest hearts Luke 8: Unfortunately, we often fail to talk to others about the gospel, because we are always looking for that "right" moment. The gospel is good news, but trouble often comes with it. There are always those who resent what it proclaims Acts Means to embrace or welcome. Those who "received" the word on the day of Pentecost, were baptized Acts 2: This is a joy that is produced by the Spirit Galatians 5:

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