The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Thessalonians — Section 96

e.t a great dill&dvantage? Would they have any share at all in hia coming? Were they not to be sorrowed over e.s those who he.d missed the great object of their hope? For the relief of the Thessalonians Paul tells them this, to begin with, that the Christian dead are to be brought with Jesus. We are not to think of them as brought from heaven, for they are view1>d in respect of their being in their graves. But we may think of them as joining their descending Lord, and brought with him to earth. lIJ. REVELATION MADE TO PAUi, THAT THE CHRISTIAN LIVING ARE NOT TO HAVE THJ: PREOEDENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN DEAD AT CHRIST'S OOMING. "For this we say unto you by the word of thP. Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep." It ie true that in all he says in this Epistle he is under the direction of the Spirit of the Lord. In what he is now to say he proceeds on a word of the Lord such as there is in the Epistles to the seven Churches. He was p1ivileged to announce directly from the heavenly Christ what had hitherto been concealed. The heavenly Chri1t was so interested in the Thes- saloniane that he bad given his servant this revelation for them. The apostle divides Christians into two classes-" we that are alive, that are left unto the comina of the Lord " and " they that a.re fallen asleep." He includes himself in the former cl~ss, and fro~ this it has been very confidently inferred that he had a <kfini~ ei,;pectation of livina unto the coming of Christ. But he includes, not only himself and Silas and Timothy: bnt alJK> the Thessalonia.ns, .a.bout whom he has said that there were those among them who from time to time were falling a.sleep. Did he, then, having a definite expectation for all, believe in a.II being saved from death by an immediate coming of Christ? Is it not more reasonable to suppose that, he thought of the living and left as in a continual flu:r.? This is borne out by the use of the present instead of the future-" we who are for the present the living and left, who have no certainty that we will not remain unto the coming of Christ, but have also no certainty that another moment will not tr&.nllfer 1111 to the class of them that are fallen a.sleep." The revelation ma.de to Paul related to a question of priority of time. It is strongly denied of the Christian living that they will come into the presence of the Lord at hill coming before the Christian dead. Thie was further relief to the distressed Thessalonia.ns. Their departed Christian friends would not only be brought with JesllJ!; it was also trne that this bringing would not be deferred until aft.er the Christian living had taken their places in nearer relation to their Lord. IV. GB.E.A.T DB.Alli OF THE FUTURE. Here we are supplied· more particularly with the contents of " the word of the Lord." L Prdude : TM Lord desC6'Tlding m majesty. " For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." The central Figure is the Lord himself. He now sits enthroned in heaven, Lord OVtfT' all. But he shall yet descend from heaven. There is thus confirmation of the announcement ma.de by the heavenly visitants to the disciples gazing after their vanished Lord: "This same J esoe, which ie taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." We are left to think of the majesty of our descending Lord chiefly from the accompani- ments of the descent. He shall descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, , and with the trump. The shout is such a. shout of command as is given by a leader to his host. There are some who think of the shout of command a.e given by Christ. ThiB ie the view which ie adopt.ed by Milton in his conception of another scene. "The Son gave signal high To the bright minister that we.t.ched : he blew His trumpet, heard in Oreb since perhaps When God descended ; e.ud perhaps once more To sound e.t general doom." There is thiB consideration which tells against that interpretation, that God hu beon introduced as bringing them that a.re asleep with Jesus. \Ve are thus led to think of God 11,11 the Actor behind the scene, which is confirmed by the expression following- " the trump of God." ThiB makes it more natural to think of the accompaniments of the scene u arranged by God. .Are we, then, to think of God a.e giving the ■bout of command ? The objection to that view ill, that the shout Is represented not u preceding (as befitting God) but u accompanying the descent. It seems better, OB. IT. 1-18.] THE FIRS'l' EPISTLE ·ro THE THESBALONIANS. 86