Transcriber's Note:
An advertisement for the Expositor's Bible series has been moved to the end of the text.
The start of each chapter extends over several pages in the original. These have been simplified.
Small capitals have been rendered in ordinary capitals. Italics are indicated by _underscores_.
Apparent punctuation errors, and a small number of apparent spelling errors (both English and Greek) have been corrected. Hyphenation has been rationalised.
The
Expositor's Bible
Edited by
W. Robertson Nicoll, D.D., LL.D.
BY THE REV. JAMES DENNEY, B.D.
HODDER & STOUGHTON NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
PAGE I. THE CHURCH OF THE THESSALONIANS 3
II. THE THANKSGIVING 21
III. THE SIGNS OF ELECTION 37
IV. CONVERSION 53
V. APOLOGIA PRO VITA SUA 69
VI. IMPEACHMENT OF THE JEWS 83
VII. ABSENCE AND LONGING 99
VIII. LOVE AND PRAYERS 117
IX. PERSONAL PURITY 135
X. CHARITY AND INDEPENDENCE 151
XI. THE DEAD IN CHRIST 169
XII. THE DAY OF THE LORD 185
XIII. RULERS AND RULED 201
XIV. THE STANDING ORDERS OF THE GOSPEL 217
XV. THE SPIRIT 233
XVI. CONCLUSION 251
I. SALUTATION AND THANKSGIVING 271
II. SUFFERING AND GLORY 289
III. THE MAN OF SIN 305
IV. THE RESTRAINT AND ITS REMOVAL 323
V. THE THEOLOGY OF PAUL 341
VI. MUTUAL INTERCESSION 359
VII. THE CHRISTIAN WORTH OF LABOUR 375
VIII. FAREWELL 391
"Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three sabbath days reasoned with them from the scriptures, opening and alleging, that it behoved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom, _said he_, I proclaim unto you, is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people. And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, _one_ Jesus. And they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go."--ACTS xvii. 1-9 (R.V.).
"Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace."--1 THESS. i. 1 (R.V.).
Thessalonica, now called Saloniki, was in the first century of our era a large and flourishing city. It was situated at the north-eastern corner of the Thermaic gulf, on the line of the great Egnatian road, which formed the main connection by land between Italy and the East. It was an important commercial centre, with a mixed population of Greeks, Romans, and Jews. The Jews, who at the present day amount to some twenty thousand, were numerous enough to have a synagogue of their own; and we can infer from the Book of Acts (xvii. 4) that it was frequented by many of the better spirits among the Gentiles also. Unconsciously, and as the event too often proved, unwillingly, the Dispersion was preparing the way of the Lord.
To this city the Apostle Paul came, attended by Silas and Timothy, in the course of his second missionary journey. He had just left Philippi, dearest to his heart of all his churches; for there, more than anywhere else, the sufferings of Christ had abounded in him, and his consolations also had been abundant in Christ. He came to Thessalonica with the marks of the lictors' rods upon his body; but to him they were the marks of Jesus; not warnings to change his path, but tokens that the Lord was taking him into fellowship with Himself, and binding him more strictly to His service. He came with the memory of his converts' kindness warm upon his heart; conscious that, amid whatever disappointments, a welcome awaited the gospel, which admitted its messenger into the joy of his Lord. We need not wonder, then, that the Apostle kept to his custom, and in spite of the malignity of the Jews, made his way, when Sabbath came, to the synagogue of Thessalonica.