The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Thessalonians — Section 87

Be abldeth in his ['eople's heart by the indwelling o( the Holy Spirit. All holy desires all _go_od coun~els, all jnst w?r~s, come from him-from his inspiring, ~levating presence'. This 1s the will of God; this 1s what God would h~ve us to be. It 1s a very high and heavenly state; yet in its various de;.:ree.s it must be by the grace of God within our reach. For he is the God of truth; his promises are not deceitful; his commandment, do not mock us with a standard impossible of attainment. II. PnRITY OF LIFE. 1. Chastity. The apostle is writing to converts who but • short time before had been heathens. It was necessary to speak very plainly and solemnly on this subject; for the heathen commonly regarded that impurity, which is so great a sin in the sight of God, almost a.s a thing indifferent. But the will of Gorl is our sanctification, and sanctification involves purity. Without sanctification we cannot see the Lord; but the pure in heart shall see him. God is light; in him is no dark- ness at all. There is somethiug awful in the stainless purity of the starry heavens. As we gaze into them, we feel ourselves oppressed with an overwhelming sense of our own uncleanness. It is a parable of the ineffable purity of God. In bis sight the heavens are not clean. He is of purer eyes than to behold evil; therefore only the pure in heart can see his face. That inner purity covers the whole spiritual Ii fe. It implies freedom from all lnwer motives-all that is selfish, earthly, false, by~ritical; it is that trans- parency of character which flows from the consciousness of the perpetual presence of God. But that inner purity, which is so large an element in sanctification, involves the perfect purity of the outward life. Religion is not morality, but it cannot exist without morality. It transcends morality, but it implies it. This was not the teaching of the religion which the Thessalonians had abaniloned. That admitted immorality. Their very gods were immoral. They were served, not by purity of life, but by sacrifices and outward rites often leading to impurity. Hence the urgency of the apostle's appeal. Amid the evil surroundings of a heathen town, living in an atmosphere of depraved public opinion, new converts were exposed to constant and great dangers. St. Paul reminds them that holiness, without which there is no salvation, is impossible without chastity. Fornication is not, what they once deemed it, a thing indifferent. It is an awful sin against God. Christianity has taught us this. We know it well We wonder at the light way in which heathen writers speak of abominations which now we shrink from nan,ing. But the sin exists still in terrible strength. It hides itself, indeed; it walketh in the darkness; Christianity has driven it there. But still, alas! it slays its thousands and its ten thousands. It cuts a soul away from God with a fearful rapidity. It fills the mau with impure images, unholy desires. It drives out of the heart the thought of God. The soul that is tainted with this foul leprosy cannot pray. It cannot endure the thought of the presence of God in his heart-searching nearness, in his awful purity. Impurity destroys the possibility of the slightest approach to that sanctification without which we cannot see God. Hence the necessity of the apostle's earnest words, "The will of God is your sanctification ; and there can be no sanctifica- tion if ye live in uncleanness." 2. Honour. The unclean life of the heathen cities was lull of sin and shame. The Christian life is truly honourable. The Christian's body is a holy thing. It has been dedicated to God. It is "for the Lord" (1 Cor. vi 13). The Christian must acquire a mastery over it in honour. He must yield his "members as instruments of righteousness unto God." The Christian husband must give hono,1r to his wife. Christian marriage must be honourable, for it is a parable of the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and his Church. The life of holiness and purity is a thing to be honoured. Those who honour holiness honour God, who is the most holy One, the one Fountain of holiness. 3. The knowledge of God. The heathens knew not God. They might have known him. He had manifested in the works of creation his eternal power and Godhead. But they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man. Their false gods resembled men, not only in their form, but also in their sius and uncleanness. Mon had framed a conception of Deity from thoir own corrupt nature, and that concep- tion reacted powerfully upon their character. Their gods were like them, and they were like their gods. The Thessalonian Christians had learned a holier know\ed~': They must not live like the heathen, who knew not the true and living God. '!'heir knowledge must act upon their life. They must be pure. 4. Imp1,rity is c, .si11. tJgain•I l'IIGR. " Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." Impure desires assume  88 THE FIRST EPISTLE 'l'O THE THESSALONIANS. [OB. IY. 1-18.