Deeper Commentary
CHAPTER 4
4:1 Finally, brothers, we urge and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that
you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you
ought to walk and to please God- “The Lord make you to increase and
abound in love one toward another... to the end He may establish your
hearts” (1 Thess. 3:12,13) gives an insight into the upward spiral of
development which the Lord wishes us to partake in. The theme continues
here in chapter 4: “abound more and more… increase more and more”
(4:1,10). "As you received from us" lends further weight to the argument
that Paul's limited contact hours with them were spent teaching them
practical things about how they "ought to walk", rather than theological
issues- hence the gap in their knowledge about the resurrection which Paul
addresses later in this chapter.
4:2 For you know what instruction we gave you through the Lord Jesus-
The abounding love which is the context here (3:12,13), leading to an
established heart before both the Lord and our brethren at judgment day,
means that we will not commit fornication (:3). Paul's brief time with the
Corinthians had been an instruction of them as it were by the Lord Jesus,
whom Paul manifested. "Instruction" translates a specific term generally
used in the contemporary literature for military orders. Paul set them up
as soldiers in spiritual warfare, and gave them specific commands about
moral issues. All this was part of the teaching of the basic Gospel.
4:3 For this is the will of God, that you live sanctified lives.
Therefore abstain from fornication- The Greek for "sanctification"
here was a term used for consecration unto an idol. But that consecration
often involved the use of the cult prostitutes as a sign of consecration
to the cult. Consecration to the one true God and His Son was through
living a moral life, and specifically denied such fornication / porneia
/ use of prostitutes. It was a radically new approach to religion. Despite
Paul's praise of their faith and spirituality, the Thessalonians like the
Corinthians appear to have been tempted to still visit the idol shrines
and use the prostitutes there. Remember that most of the Thessalonian
converts had been religiously curious Gentiles who attended the synagogue,
which is where they encountered Paul (see on 1:9). It could well be that
they continued this syncretism, by not abstaining from the porneia
of the idol cults. Paul has praised them for turning away from the idols
(1:9); but he is not unaware that some of them had not done so completely.
Again we see his positivism regarding his converts, and his great valuing
of their status in Christ.
The will of God is not always done on earth automatically; it’s not
determining of human behaviour in absolute terms; otherwise the will of
God would exclude human freewill. “This is the will of God, even your
sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication” (1 Thess. 4:3
AV); but the Thessalonians still had the freedom to commit fornication.
The will of God here refers to the wish / desire of God. But the
fulfilment of God’s will is of course up to the freewill of the
individual. Which is why we pray for God’s will to be done in our lives;
not in the sense of ‘OK well get on and do what You are going to do
anyway’, but rather of seeking for strength to personally do God’s wish in
our lives. And as we mature, our will and the Father’s become closer. We
ask what we will and it is done; and therefore and thereby we ask
for the Father’s will to be done.
There was evidently a problem with immorality in the Thessalonica ecclesia
(1 Thess. 4:3-6). And yet the ecclesia was so eager for the second coming
that some were throwing in their jobs, so certain were they that it was
imminent. Clearly the moral implications of the soon coming of the Lord
had not been felt. And this is why in every chapter of those epistles,
Paul pounds away about the Lord's return- a fact which they knew and
enthused about, just as we can, and yet would not face up to its real
implications. If Christ is coming soon, we must quit the things which
plagued Thessalonica- immorality, laziness, irresponsibility etc.
4:4 Let each one of you take a wife for himself in sanctification and
honour- This command suggests that some of them, perhaps the younger
ones, were using the temple prostitutes (see on :3). A wife / woman "for
himself" suggests they needed to stop having relations with multiple women
and have just one woman, their wife. And yet we recall the warm praise
which Paul has heaped upon the Thessalonians, for their faith and
spirituality, even saying this before God (1:2,3). Yet he did this being
fully aware of their weakness. In 2 Thess. 1:3 he states that the love of
each and every one of them was growing and he rejoiced in this; and yet in
2 Thess. 3 he clearly is aware that all was far from well with the
spiritual state of some of them. The AV gives "possess his vessel" for
"take a wife", and the reference in that case would be to knowing how to
use our bodies. This would then make better sense of :5.
4:5 Not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who do not know
God- As noted on :4, Paul was aware that the church as a whole, and
not just some of them, needed warning about not living "in the passion of
list". We would probably have praised the faithful amongst them, and then
singled out the weaker members and made it clear that we are addressing
them, and not the faithful. But we see no such division in Paul's writing
here. The Gentile Thessalonians had turned from idols to the one true God
(1:9); but by 'knowing God' Paul refers to relationship with Him. If we
"know God" we will not live "in the passion of lust". To know God is not
therefore a question of academic knowledge of theology alone.
We noted on :4 that the context here could be regarding how a man takes a
wife, or how he possesses his body. If the reference is to taking a wife,
then marriage is not to be entered on the sole basis of wanting to
legitimize sex, for that would be taking a wife "in the passion of lust".
If the context is as AV of 'possessing his vessel' or body, then the idea
would be that our body should be possessed by the outcome of knowing God,
i.e. His Spirit, and not in the spirit of the passion of carnal lusts. It
is walking by the Spirit which empowers us to not obey the lusts [s.w.] of
the flesh (Gal. 5:16). The same word translated "lust" is used in Rom.
6:12: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should
obey it in the lusts thereof".
Col. 3:5 uses the same Greek word for "passion" and adds: "Which is
idolatry". I suggested on :3 that the specific porneia in view was
the usage of idol prostitutes.
4:6 Let no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter. Because
the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and
testified- This appears to be a direct and sober warning against using
another brother's wife. The context before and after is clearly in this
context. I noted on :3 that the immediate reference may be to cult
prostitution, and perhaps the particular scenario in view was in that
context. Again we note that Paul is backing up what he has verbally taught
them during his brief presence with them- he had warned them and testified
about these things. And yet later in this chapter we find a gap in their
knowledge about the death state and resurrection. Clearly his focus when
with them had been on teaching the life in Christ rather than theology.
4:7 For God called us not to uncleanness but to sanctification-
Perhaps the argument was that the usage of prostitutes was part of God's
call; and Paul is saying that His call is to a holy life, quite the
opposite. Religion and sex have always got mixed up, unashamedly so in
pagan religions. This was the problem at Corinth and there probably was a
tendency in all the Gentile churches to import into Christianity the
religious practices to which they had been accustomed. This call to
holiness and not to uncleanness is described in :8 as a "teaching" Paul
had given them during his brief time with the Thessalonians.
Paul had the same calling as we do (Rom. 9:24; 1 Thess. 4:7); in him above
all there is set a pattern for all those who would hereafter believe. This
may not entail itinerant missionary work as it did for Paul, but all the
same, the same essential commitment to Gospel preaching must be at the
core of the life of every convert.
4:8 Therefore he that rejects this teaching rejects not man but God,
who gives His Holy Spirit to you- The "therefore" implies that to
reject God's calling is to reject God. This is why most hard core atheists
whom I know were actually exposed to God's calling and refused it. The
Holy Spirit is given at baptism, the internal potential power to overcome
the flesh and be transformed "in the inner man" (Eph. 3:16-20), but the
Spirit is progressively poured out into the hearts of those open to it.
"The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is
given unto us" (Rom. 5:5), and Paul several times prays that converts will
receive the Spirit in this ongoing sense (Eph. 3 in particular). The
result is that we are filled with the Spirit in order to sanctify us; to
live in uncleanness rather than sanctification is therefore to grieve the
Spirit, to go against God's sanctifying intention for us.
4:9 But concerning love of the brothers, you have no need that anyone
write to you. For you yourselves are taught of God to love one another-
"But concerning" suggests Paul is going through a list of issues, perhaps
brought to his attention as a result of Timothy's visit to them and his
report back to Paul. Perhaps the Thessalonians had asked Paul to write to
them about brotherly love; his response is that no letter from anyone can
teach that better than the teaching they have from God to love one
another. God's ongoing involvement in our lives is therefore to be seen as
His constant teaching of us "to love". Peter uses similar ideas as found
in this section when he comments that we have been sanctified [:7] through
the Spirit [:8] unto "love of the brothers" (1 Pet. 1:22 s.w.).
4:10 For indeed you do it toward all the brothers that are in all
Macedonia. But, brothers, we encourage you to abound more and more-
Paul's desire for their love to increase came true, for he says in 2
Thess. 1:3 that their love for each other is abounding. This is a feature
of the love which is formed by the Spirit- it abounds, it increases, it is
not stable nor does it decline or fragment into familiarity and mere
sentimental fondness for a person or persons whom we have known a long
time. True love keeps on growing, and we shall eternally experience this.
Love is something 'done'; they 'did' love to the Macedonian brothers,
perhaps in reaching out to their "great trial of affliction and deep
poverty" (2 Cor. 8:2).
4:11- see on 1 Cor. 1:26-28.
May you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and
to work with your own hands, as we commanded you- "That ye study (be ambitious) to be
quiet" (AV) presents a powerful opposition of ideas; to have heroic
ambition to be quiet; to be self-controlled, living a blameless spiritual
life in everyday things (:12; this is what the idiom of "walk" refers to).
In 2 Thess. 3:12,13, Paul returns to this idea: He tells them once again
to live a quiet life, and says in that context: "Be not weary in
(such) well doing". Yet he asks them in 1 Thess. 4:11 to be ambitious to
be quiet. By encouraging them to keep on being "quiet" he is encouraging
them not to be weary in living a life of such ambition. And this is not
the only reference to ambition in Thessalonians. Paul praises them for the
brotherly love which they undoubtedly had. But he doesn't just say 'Keep
it up!'. He exhorts them to increase in it, more and more (1 Thess. 4:10).
Paul's "command" to "work with your own hands" was backed up by his own
example in the three weeks he was amongst them (see on 1:9). There was a
congruence between his teaching and example; a word made flesh. "Mind your
own business" may seem superfluous, but in illiterate urban society, with
people living and working on top of each other, gossip and over
involvement in the lives of others was a problem major enough to split a
church. They were to aspire, or be ambitious, not to be like that. And we
can take the exhortation too. For the world of social media today is
little different in essence.
4:12 That you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that
you may lack nothing- Paul perceived very clear boundaries between
those in Christ, and all others "who are outside". The commands of :11
were in order to make a witness to those "outside", just as Paul had lived
amongst them as he did so conscious that he was setting an example: ""You
know what kind of men we were among you for your sake". "Properly"
can also mean "honestly" (AV), and this would connect with them 'having
lack of nothing'. The temptation in that kind of society would be to do
what everyone else did, and practice petty dishonesty so that they could
make ends meet. But by being honest, they would under God's providence
"lack nothing". But the Greek can equally mean "that you may need no man".
In :11 he has urged them to work with their own hands, and in this case,
his argument would be that they then would have no need of asking support
from others. Paul returns to this issue in 2 Thess. 3, where he openly
states that some of them were asking for help but refused to work. Paul's
great love for this group is the more notable, seeing that he speaks so
highly of them all as a group, and having worked night and day, despite
having been beaten in Philippi just beforehand, in order to get enough to
eat during the three weeks he was with them.
4:13 Brothers, we would not have you ignorant concerning those that
fall asleep, lest you grieve like those who have no hope- The
following section addresses the question of what happens to believers who
die, and it concludes by urging them therefore to be of good comfort
(:18). Several times in these letters, Paul reminds them of practical
issues about the life in Christ which he says he had already taught them
whilst with them (2:11,12; 3:4; 4:1,2,8,11; 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:5; 3:10). If
he had taught them about these issues concerning resurrection, we would
rather expect him to point that out to them, and perhaps rebuke them for
having forgotten. But he doesn't, which implies his brief contact time
with them during his three week stay with them had been taken up with
teaching them practical things rather than theology about death and
resurrection. Yet he praises them before God for their hope in Christ
(1:3). But they were seriously deficient in understanding what that hope
was in detail, apparently not understanding much about the resurrection.
Yet Paul perceived their faith in Christ and firm expectation ["hope"] of
salvation in Him, and praises them for it- even if they were astray or
ignorant in their understanding of how it would work out in practice. We
can only conclude that not understanding the details of our future hope
does not mean we do not have a valid faith in Christ, nor does it hinder
the validity of a baptism. But like Paul, we are to seek to fill in the
gaps which believers have in their knowledge of these things.
4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again- As noted on
:13 and elsewhere, Paul had only taught the Thessalonians very basic
theology; most of his teaching during his three weeks with them had been
about practical issues of the Christian life. He is now drawing out an
implication of the basic belief that "Jesus died and rose again". 1 Cor.
15:1-4 likewise defines the Gospel Paul preached as being this thing- the
death and resurrection of the Lord.
Just as surely those that have fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring up
with him- We can read this as
meaning that those baptized into the Lord will share a resurrection like
His. "Bring up with him" would therefore refer to the resurrection. The
Lord's resurrection is the basis for ours. Despite the emotion and
hardness of death itself, our belief in resurrection is rooted in our
faith that our Lord died and rose. When comforting those who had lost
loved ones in the Lord, Paul doesn't simply remind them of the doctrine of
the resurrection at the Lord's coming. His focus instead is on the fact
that "if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him" (1 Thess. 4:14). The reality
of the resurrection must mean something to us in the times of death which
we face in life. Jesus and the New Testament writers seem to me to have a
startling disregard of death.
But "bring up with him" can also mean just as well "bring with him". It could be that the idea is that the Lord Jesus will "bring with Him" from Heaven "them also which sleep in Jesus" (1 Thess. 4:14) when the Heavenly Jerusalem (the believers) comes down from Heaven at Christ's return (Rev. 21:1). However, we know that the Lord Jesus will bring the Angels with Him. Being the guardians of those who have died, in this sense those people come with Christ from Heaven, although of course literally and personally they cannot seeing they "sleep in Jesus" in the dust of the earth. See on Dan. 5:23. Or perhaps there is in view the Lord's triumphant arrival in Jerusalem to save Israel with the resurrected believers with Him.
"Bring with Him" are the same three words used in Lk. 23:32 [again
concerning the Lord] for the "criminals led out with
him to be executed". The connection may be teaching
us that if we suffer with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we are
brought with Him to death, dying in Him, with Him and for Him- then we
shall be brought out with Him in resurrection.
4:15- see on 1 Cor. 7:11.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive,
that are still living at the coming of the Lord-
By or in the word of the Lord Jesus may mean that here Paul is repeating
the teaching of the Lord in the Gospels. 1 Thess. 4 and 5 are shot through
with allusions to the Olivet prophecy. A few of the more obvious are
listed:
|
1 Thess. |
Olivet Prophecy |
|
4:15 "This we say unto you by the word of the Lord" Jesus |
Jesus on Olivet |
|
4:16 |
Mt. 24:30,31 |
|
5:1 |
Lk. 21:24 |
|
5:2 |
Mt. 24:43 |
|
5:3 |
Mt. 24:43,48,51 |
|
5:5 " Children of light" |
Wise virgins with lamps (Mt. 25) |
|
5:6 |
Mt. 24:13,25,42,49 |
|
5:9 |
Mt. 24:51 |
1 Thess. 4:15-18 begins with "For..." . This is explaining 1 Thess. 4:14,
which states that "them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring (up) with
him". This will thus be true both spiritually, in that they will share His
victory over death, and, literally, in that they will come with their
judge to judgment. John 14:3 may also become easier to handle with this
understanding: "I will come again, and take you to be with me"
(N.I.V.). Initially, this may mean a literal ascent into the sky, followed
by a return to earth to be with Christ eternally in the Kingdom. "That
where I am, there ye may be also" may be the Spirit's basis for 1 Thess.
4:17, "And so shall we ever be with the Lord". The idea of literally
travelling through the sky to the judgment seat was plainly taught by our
Lord in His explanation of how "one shall be taken (literally disappear)
and the other left" at His coming; "Wheresoever the body is, thither
will the eagles be gathered together" (Lk. 17:36,37). The point of
this allusion is to show that as the eagle travels through the air with a
natural homing instinct, without fear or worry as to correct direction, so
there should be no apprehension in the mind of the believer concerning the
mechanics of how he will be taken away to meet his Lord.
S
4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven-
Alluding to how "this same Jesus" shall return as He
was seen ascending into Heaven (Acts 1:11). We note the continuity between
the Jesus of history and the Lord who shall return to the earth.
With a shout, with
the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in
Christ shall rise first- The Greek for "shout" really means a shout of
command. The command in view is for the dead in Christ to rise; we recall
the Lord's loud shout to bring forth Lazarus from the dead. The
shout of command is also for the responsible to come to judgment. The
parable of the wise and foolish virgins suggests that initially, we have a
choice as to whether to obey that command. And that will decide our
eternity. If we "open unto Him immediately" we will be saved. "The
archangel" is defined in Jude 9 as Michael. The connection is clearly to
the prophecy of Dan. 12:1-3, which speaks of the revelation of "Michael"
as being at the time the dead are resurrected. "The trumpet of God" is
also associated with the Angels at the Lord's return in Mt. 24:31: "He
shall send his Angels with a great sound of a trumpet"; see on :14. 1 Cor.
15:52 likewise: "The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised".
Perhaps there shall be a literal trumpet sound as the first concrete sign
of the Lord's return; but the allusion is to the trumpet blasts which
called the camp of God to move onwards in the wilderness, which
announced the day of Atonement of Year of Jubilee, and which
brought down the walls of Jericho so that God's people could possess the
promised land.
4:17 Then we that are alive- Paul is speaking of the faithful
believers in 1 Thess. 4 and 5 rather than all the responsible. He comforts
them that the dead believers really will be rewarded with immortality, and
that they can take comfort from the fact that they would live for ever (1
Thess. 4:13,14,18). Paul is therefore assuming their acceptability at
judgment. "You are all the children of light" (1 Thess. 5:5) as opposed to
the unworthy within the ecclesia, who were in darkness. This suggests that
Paul wrote as though his readership were all faithful and assured of
eternal life.
If we believe that we are counted righteous, we must likewise assume that
all those properly baptized are equally righteous, and will be saved along
with us. We cannot condemn each other; therefore we must assume each other
will be saved. If we have a positive attitude to our own salvation, we
will likewise perceive our whole community. And the reverse is true; if we
cannot believe that God sees us positively, we will tend towards a
negative outlook upon ourselves. My sense is that many of us fail in this
area. Paul had many reasons to think negatively of his converts; and yet
he writes to the Thessalonians as if ‘we all’, all his readership, would
be saved (1 Thess. 4:17). And likewise to dodgy Corinth, he writes as if
they would all be accepted at the Lord’s return (1 Cor. 15:52); he saw
them all as innocent Eve in danger of being beguiled (2 Cor. 11:3).
That are left, shall together with them be snatched away in the clouds in the air- Hama, "together", means 'at the same time'. There appears to have been a concern amongst the Thessalonians about the fate of dead believers. The assurance here is that there will be no different treatment; the resurrected, along with those who remain alive at the Lord's coming, will at the same time be snatched away. "With them" connects with "ever with the Lord". To be with the Lord is to be with our resurrected brethren. For they are His body. Eternity with Him means eternity with our brethren. We must treat them like that now.
Jesus will return to
earth for judgement with His Angels, as we are told in His parables
concerning the judgement. In the parable of the wheat and tares the point
is made that the Angels do not just come to gather the harvest, but also
to separate the wheat from the tares. Thus it would seem that the actual
process of judgement will be largely associated with the Angels. We are
told in 1 Thess. 4:17 that "we which are alive and remain shall be caught
up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air". The clouds must be the
clouds of Angels with which Jesus returns, and may even represent the
figurative "air" in which we meet Him first of all, as if He is manifested
through the Angels which He sends to gather us to judgement (although it
is quite possible to take the 'air' literally too).
To meet the Lord, and so shall we ever be with the Lord- The simple
picture of salvation is that we will eternally "be with Jesus". And that
has just been stated in :14. We will be 'brought with Jesus' and shall
remain with Him for ever. It is all about personal relationship, rather
than eternity spent in some optimal physical environment. Indeed, very
little is said in the New Testament about the physical environment of
eternity. It's all about relationship. The connections
between the parable of the virgins and 1 Thess. 4 are strengthened by the
same Greek word being translated "meet" in Mt. 25:6 concerning the wise
virgins going out to "meet" Christ and also in 1 Thess. 4:17: "We which
are alive and remain shall be caught up... in the clouds to
meet
the Lord in the air". The picture is therefore presented of the righteous
obeying the call of their own volition, and then being confirmed in this
by being 'snatched away' to meet Christ in the (literal) air. We will then
travel with Christ "in the clouds" (literally) to judgment in
Jerusalem. In no way, of course, does this suggestion give countenance to
the preposterous Pentecostal doctrine of being 'raptured' into heaven
itself. Every alternative interpretation of 1 Thess. 4:17 seems to run
into trouble with the phrase "meet the Lord in the air". 1
Thessalonians is not a letter given to figurative language, but rather to
the literal facts of the second coming. Further, the 1 Thess. 4:16-18
passage is described by Paul as him speaking “by the word of the Lord”
Jesus (1 Thess. 4:15). If 1 Cor. 7 is any guide to how Paul uses this
phrase, he would appear to be saying that in this passage he is merely
repeating what the Lord Himself said during His ministry. This deals a
death blow to some Pentecostal fantasies about the passage.
Those wise virgins who go forth to meet Christ immediately are those who
will be "caught up together" with the faithful believers who will have
been resurrected. This will be when the Angels "gather together his
elect" (Mt. 24:31). They then "meet the Lord in the air" literally,
perhaps connecting with Rev. 11:12: "They (the faithful, persecuted saints
of the last days) heard a great voice from heaven (cp. "the voice" of 1
Thess. 4:16) saying unto them, Come up (cp. " caught up...") hither.
And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud (cp. " caught up... in clouds”);
and their enemies beheld them". It may well be that Rev. 11:12
is speaking of the faithful Jewish remnant of the last days, who will be
snatched away along with us. This cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1) will then
go with Jesus to judgment, which must be located on earth for the glimpses
of the judgment seat which we are given to be realistically fulfilled. It
is reasonable to guess that this assembly of faithful believers will
visibly reflect God's glory, giving the impression of a 'shekinah' cloud.
This may be due to the physical presence of the Angel with us during our
time in this cloud. Such a picture is presented in Dan. 7:9-14;
Jesus comes with the faithful, symbolized as clouds, along with the
Angels, to the judgment seat. It is at this stage that the responsible
from all nations come to the judgment (Mt. 25:32) so that there can be a
separation of sheep and goats. The 'coming down' of the righteous
responsible to Jerusalem will be at the same time as the judgment of the
wicked nations in that same place: "Thither cause thy mighty ones to come
down" (Joel 3:11) occurs in the context of Armageddon. "Saviours shall
come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau" (Obad. v 21), i.e.
Israel's Arab enemies. The sequence of events here suggested chimes in
with the thought so often expressed by generations of believers - that our
initial reaction to the knowledge that our Lord is back will effectively
be our judgment, although this will be formally confirmed at the judgment
seat before which all the responsible must appear (2 Cor. 5:10).
The chronology we have suggested can now be summarized:-
- Persecution of believers.
- The Lord is revealed; the resurrection.
- An Angel invites each of the responsible to go and meet Christ.
- The unworthy delay, whilst the worthy go immediately.
- The worthy are snatched away into the air, forming a cloud of
glory which is visible to all. They are physically with Jesus.
- Along with Him they come to Jerusalem.
- The unworthy are then gathered there.
- There is a tribunal-style judgment. The sheep and goats are
together before the judgment seat. They are then finally
separated by Christ's judgment, and receive their rewards.
- The wicked are destroyed along with the nations then surrounding
Jerusalem.
The time scale for all this is unimportant- it could well be just a few
seconds, if the meaning of time is to be collapsed, although there
presumably must be a period of time for the cloud of witnesses to be
beheld, and for the unworthy to desperately try to slap themselves into
spiritual shape. The tremendous encouragement offered by the scenario here
presented should not be missed: we will come with our judge, possibly
already reflecting His glory, to the judgment. This in itself should give
us a sense of humble certainty as we come before His tribunal. So much
will depend on our reaction to the Angel's coming- our faith in
acceptance, our degree of concern for the things of this life - all will
be revealed in that instant.
4:18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words- The
implication could be that they were indeed grieving as others who had no
hope; see on :13 for the implications of this. The same word for "comfort"
is used of how Paul comforted the Thessalonians whilst with them (2:11),
how Timothy comforted them on his follow up visit (3:2), and how Paul
comforted them in his letter (4:1,10). But the sign of true maturity
amongst converts is when they can comfort each other (as also in 5:11),
without needing letters and personal visits. This kind of spiritual
autonomy amongst converts should be the aim of all missionary endeavour.
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