+I. We must observe a rule and method in this duty.+
+II. This method is taught not in the school of nature, but of
Christ.+--1. _In general, we must comfort one another with the Word
of God._ 2. _We must comfort one another with the Scripture teaching
on the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the
dead.--Farindon._
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER V.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Times and seasons.+--The one is the even, continuous flow of
the river, the other is the cataract. Seasons we may represent as
epochs. Our Lord in the same words refused to gratify the curiosity
of His followers (Acts i. 7).
Ver. 2. +For yourselves know perfectly.+--The adverb here is the same
as in Eph. v. 15 (A.V. "circumspectly," R.V. "carefully"). It is used
five times only in the New Testament. The translations are
interesting--Matt. ii. 8: A.V. "diligently," R.V. "carefully." Luke
i. 3: R.V. "accurately." Acts xviii. 25 (like Matt. ii. 8). Perhaps
the Thessalonians had asked for precise information. "The apostle
replies, with a touch of gentle irony, 'You already know precisely
that nothing precise on the subject can be known'--that the great day
will steal upon the world like a thief in the night." (_Findlay_).
Ver. 3. +For when they shall say.+--R.V. "when they are saying." No
matter at what hour they say, "Peace and security," like the voice of
the watchman crying, "All's well." +Then sudden destruction.+--The
word for "sudden" is only found again at Luke xxi. 34 in the New
Testament. It is really unforeseen. +As travail.+--In the simile
there is the suggestion that the day cannot be far off though not
exactly known.
Ver. 5. +Children of light.+--Quite an Oriental expression. The kings
of Egypt called themselves "children of the sun." So these of a
better sun.
Ver. 6. +Let us watch and be sober.+--Ever on the alert as men who
live in hourly expectation of their Lord's arrival. It is precisely
they who maintain the preparedness of spirit who are calm when the
midnight cry rings out, "The bridegroom cometh."
Ver. 7. +They that be drunken are drunken in the night.+--The
explanation is given in our Lord's words--"because their deeds are
evil": as though darkness could veil the loss of self-respect.
Ver. 9. +For God hath not appointed us to wrath.+--The inevitable
sequence of a life of sensual gratification. The very severest forms
of expression for wrath fell from the gentlest lips concerning the
servant who falls to gluttony and drunkenness because his lord does
not appear at the expected hour (Luke xii. 45, 46).
Ver. 12. +Them which labour among you and are over you in the
Lord.+--"A clear testimony, from this earlier New Testament writing,
to the existence in the Church at the beginning of a ministerial
order--a clergy as distinguished from the laity--charged with
specific duties and authority. But there is nothing in grammar nor in
the nature of the duties specified which would warrant us in
distributing these functions amongst distinct orders of Church
office" (_Ibid._).
Ver. 13. +And to esteem them very highly in love.+--R.V. "exceeding
highly"--the same Greek adverb as in ch. iii. 10, the strongest
intensive possible to the language. So deep and warm should be the
affection uniting pastors and their flocks. Their appreciation is not
to be a cold esteem (_Ibid._).
Ver. 14. +Warn them that are unruly.+--R.V. "admonish the
disorderly." Every Church knows these characters--men who will break
through all restraint. +Comfort the feeble-minded.+--R.V. "encourage
the faint-hearted." In ch. ii. 11 we have met the verb before. The
feeble-minded would have been scarcely worth the pity of the
philosophers with whom alone the great-souled man was supreme. The
comfort in that teaching, for the hour when the strong shall be as
tow, was very scanty and inadequate. +Support the weak.+--So be like
the Lord who "upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that
be bowed down" (Ps. cxlv. 14). +Be patient toward all men.+--R.V.
"longsuffering." It is the very opposite of what we mean by being
"short-tempered."
Ver. 15. +Evil for evil.+--A _quid pro quo,_ similar in kind and in
quantity perhaps, but retaliation delights in interest.
Ver. 19. +Quench not the Spirit.+--When there has been excess, and a
good has come into disrepute, it is natural to seek to stifle down
further manifestations of it. The energy of the Holy Spirit, like
Pentecostal flame, is regarded as being capable of extinction.
Ver. 20. +Despise not prophesyings.+--Do not set down as of no value,
prophesyings. The word for "despise" is used of those who trusted in
themselves that they were righteous and set at nought others (Luke
xviii. 9), and the contemptuous bearing of him who eats flesh with
which an idol's name has been associated, and laughs at the
shuddering scruples of the brother who thinks it a dreadful thing to
do, and sets him at nought (Rom. xiv. 3-10). The prophesyings at
Corinth were such as might easily be contemned (1 Cor. xiv. 23).
Ver. 21. +Prove all things.+--Make trial of all. A sentence fatal to
the suppression of inquiry and to credulous faith. It forbids me to
accept what is given out as prophecy even, unless it has a
self-evidencing power. +Hold fast that which is good.+--The good here
is that which is ethically beautiful. In ver. 15 another word points
the contrast to the evil return of injury.
Ver. 22. +Abstain from all appearance of evil.+--Perhaps the best
idea of the word rendered "abstain" would be gained by "hold off," in
antithesis to the "hold fast" of ver. 21.
Ver. 23. +Sanctify you wholly.+ "Rather--unto completeness. The
apostle prays that they may be sanctified to the fullest extent"
(_Ibid._). +Your whole spirit . . . be preserved blameless.+--R.V.
"be preserved entire, without blame." "From the degree of holiness
desired we pass to its range, from its intension (as the logicians
would say) to its extension" (_Ibid._).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-11.
_The Attitude of the Church towards the Second Coming of Christ._
A book written by one who knew of the _first_ advent of the Redeemer
closes, anticipating, desiring, beseeching the _second,_--"Even so,
come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. xxii. 20). The revelation concerning that
second coming is distinct and emphatic; but the exact period, when
the event will happen, is wrapped in uncertainty. As when we ascend a
winding river some well-known landmark appears to alter its position,
seeming now distant, now near--so, at different points on the
circuitous stream of life, the familiar subject of the second Advent
reveals itself as a near or remote event. "It is plain," says Archer
Butler, "that that period which is distant in one scheme of things
may be near in another, where events are on a vaster scale and move
in a mightier orbit. That which is a whole life to the ephemera is
but a day to the man; that which is in the brief succession of
authentic human history is counted as remote, is but a single page in
the volume of heavenly records. The coming of Christ may be distant
as measured on the scale of human life, but it may be 'near,' and 'at
hand,' and 'at the door,' when the interval of the two advents is
compared, not merely with the four thousand years which were but its
preparation, but with the line of infinite ages which it is itself
preparing." The uncertainty of the time of the second Advent and its
stupendous issues define the attitude of the Church.
+I. It is an attitude of expectancy.+--1. _The time of the second
coming is uncertain._ "But of the time and the seasons, brethren, ye
have no need that I write unto you" (ver. 1). A gentle hint that all
questions on that subject were unnecessary, as there was nothing more
to be revealed. The untameable curiosity and reckless daring of man
tempt him to pry into secrets with which he has nothing to do and to
dogmatise on subjects of which he knows the least. Many have been
fanatical enough to fix the day of the Lord's coming. For a time,
there has been a local excitement; the day has come and gone; the
world has moved on as before, and the prophetic enthusiasts have
exposed themselves to scorn and ridicule. "Of that day and hour
knoweth no man" (Mark xiii. 32). This uncertainty is a perpetual
stimulant to the people of God to exercise the ennobling virtues of
hope, of watchfulness, of fidelity, of humility, of earnest inquiry,
and of reverential awe.
2. _The second coming will be sudden._--"For yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction
cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child" (vers. 2, 3).
The thief not only gives no notice of his approach but takes every
possible care to conceal his designs. The discovery of the mischief
he has wrought takes place when it is too late. The prudent will take
every precaution to avoid surprise and to baffle the subtlety and
sharpness of the marauder. That which is sinful and unlawful in
itself affords a resemblance to express an important truth and to
admonish to duty. There is nothing more certain than that the Lord
_will_ come; nothing more uncertain _when_ He will come; and both the
one and the other should keep His people in an attitude of prayerful
expectation and moral preparedness. Faith breeds fear; the more
earnestly we believe, the more we tremble at the Divine threatenings.
Unbelief lulls the soul into false security. What a dreadful
awakening will that be, when the thunder of God's wrath shall
suddenly burst from the hitherto tranquil heavens!
3. _The second coming will be terrible to the wicked._--"And they
shall not escape" (ver. 3). Wicked men are never more secure than
when destruction is nearest, never nearer destruction than when they
are most secure. The swearer may be seized while the oath is burning
on his tongue, the drunkard engulfed in judgment while the cup is
trembling between his lips. The other day a certain suspension bridge
was crowded with pleasure seekers; the slender erection, yielding
under the unwonted strain, broke in two, and in a moment precipitated
numbers into the river rolling below and into a watery grave. Not
less fragile is the confidence on which the unbelieving rest; and
more terrible still will be the catastrophe that will suddenly
overtake them. The destruction of the wicked--of all their joy, of
all they most prized in this life--will be sudden, painful,
inevitable. Now there is peace, for mercy reigns; but when the great
day comes there will be nothing but indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil (Rom.
ii. 8, 9).
+II. It is an attitude of vigilance.+--1. _This vigilance is enforced
on the ground of a moral transformation._ "But ye, brethren, are not
in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all
the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the
night, nor of darkness" (vers. 4, 5). Believers in Christ are
delivered from the power of darkness, of spiritual ignorance, of
godless profanity, of dark and dangerous security, and translated
into the kingdom of light, of truth, of purity, and felicity. They
are children of the day when the light shines the brightest, when
privileges are more abundant, when opportunities multiply, and
responsibility is correspondingly increased. The light of past ages
was but the dawn of the effulgent day which now shines upon the world
from the Gospel sun. Every inquiring and believing soul passes from
the dawn to the daylight of experimental truth.
2. _This vigilance must be constant._--"Therefore let us not sleep,
as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep
sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the
night" (vers. 6, 7). Let us not, like the drunkards steeped in
sottish slumber, be immersed in the deep sleep of sin and unconcern,
neglecting duty, and never thinking of a judgment; but let us watch,
and in order to do so effectually, be sober. We are day-people, not
night-people; therefore, our work ought to be day-work, not
night-work; our conduct such as will bear the eye of day and has no
need to hide itself under the veil of night. A strict sobriety is
essential to a sleepless vigilance.
+III. It is an attitude of militant courage.+--"But let us who are of
the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and
for an helmet the hope of salvation" (ver. 8). The Christian has to
fight the enemy, as well as watch against him. He is a soldier, and a
soldier on sentry. The Christian life is not one of soft, luxurious
ease; it is a hard, fierce conflict. The graces of faith, love, and
hope constitute the most complete armour of the soul. The breastplate
and helmet protect the two most vital parts--the head and the heart.
With head and heart right, the whole man is right. Let us keep the
head from error and the heart from sinful lust, and we are safe. The
best guards against error in religion and viciousness in life
are--faith, hope, and charity; these are the virtues that inspire the
most enterprising bravery. Drunkards and sluggards never make good
soldiers.
+IV. It is an attitude of confidence as to the future blessedness of
the Church.+--1. _This blessedness is Divinely provided._ "For God
hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ, who died for us" (vers. 9, 10). The whole scheme of
salvation was Divinely conceived and Divinely carried out in all its
essential details. And, without discussing other methods by which the
salvation of the race could be effected, it is sufficient for us to
know that the infallible wisdom of God provided that the death of His
Son was the most effectual method. Our sins had exposed us to the
wrath of God, who had declared death to be the penalty of sin. This
death Christ underwent on our behalf, in our stead, and so saved us
from it. In every extremity, at every new challenge of the enemy, on
each successive field of effort and peril, this is the password and
battle-cry of God's people--_Christ died for us._
2. _This blessedness consists in a constant fellowship with
Christ._--"That whether we wake or sleep, we should live together
with Him" (ver. 10). The happiest moments on earth are those spent in
the company of the good, reciprocating the noblest ideas and
emotions. Christ, by dying for us, has begotten us into a life of
ineffable and endless felicity; and "the hope of salvation" enables
us to look forward to the period when, released from the sorrows and
uncertainties of this changeful life, we shall enjoy the bliss of
uninterrupted communion with Jesus.
"The soul to be where Jesus is
Must be for ever blest."
3. _The confidence of inheriting this blessedness encourages mutual
edification._--"Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one
another, even as also ye do" (ver. 11). "All Christians
indiscriminately are to use these doctrines for mutual exhortation
and mutual edification. And so the spirit of the verse will be this:
Comfort one another as to this matter, and then, free from the
distracting and paralysing influence of vain misgivings, go on
edifying one another in all the relations, and by all the means and
appliances of your Church fellowship; even as also ye do. Ye do it
now, in the midst of your own secret, personal sorrows and depressing
fears. But you will be able to do it more effectively, with the
clearer views I have now given you of what awaits us all--those
sleeping in Jesus, and us who are alive and remain unto the coming of
the Lord" (_Lillie_).
+Lessons.+--1. _The great event of the future will be the second
coming of Christ._ 2. _That event should be looked for in a spirit of
sobriety and vigilance._ 3. _That event will bring unspeakable
felicity to the good and dismay and misery to the wicked._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._