The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Thessalonians — Section 131

Il. TD 1'11.ATBB GROUNDED IN THE FAITBFULNBIIII OF Go». "Faithful la he thal call~ you. who will also do It." There is a distinct covenanting on the part of God to brinp; about our sanctification. "For this is the covene.nt that I will make with the house of lsl'Bel e.fter those de.ye, se.ith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, e.nd on their bee.rt also will I write them : and I will be to them a God, e.nd they she.II be to me a people." God, in ce.lling, actually begins the covenant work of our sa.nctifi- cation, and an appee.l can be made to him as the faithful God, by ourselves or others, to carry out what he has begnn. Let us not be backward to remind him of his promise, or to look for it being followed by performance. CoNcLUSION. 1. Req1JR,st for praye1·. "Brethren, pray for us." This request for prayer comes from the three Christian worken. They were thrown upon those for whom they le.boured, in being themselves also compassed with infirmity. They felt that, if the Divine blessing Wll8 to rest upon their work in the highest measure, then the Thesse.- lonian Church must join with the other Churches in giving them the assistance of their prayer&. 2. The holy kiss. "So.lute all the brethren with a holy kiss." 'l'his was the common Eastern form of salutation, associated. with religion. Apparently the elders were thw; to sah.:te the members of the Thessalonian Church, one by one, in the name of Paul and Silas and Timothy. Propriety does not allow with us the use of this form of salutation between the various members of the Christian circle. But there is no reason why there should not be all the good feeling and fellowship with Christ of which the holy kiss is symbolic. At the same time, if love is to be sustained, it must h.! allowed all suitable forms of manifestation. 3. DirectiQ11, as to the public reading oj the 1:pistl.e. "I adjure you by the Lord that this Epistle be read unto all the brethren." fhe Jirection is given in the most solemn manner. Paul writes in his own name, and adjures by the Lord. The adjuration was apparently founded on the importance of the Epistle, not merely to the elders to whom it was handed, but to the whole community. Let it be brought directly to bear upon all, that they may each for themselves have their impression of its content.s. Such an adjuration in the first of Paul's Epistles significantly points to the right of every Christian member to have direct acceBB to the Word of God. "What Paul," says Bengel," commands with an adjuration, Rome pro- hibits with an anathema." 4. Benedi.ction. "The grace of our Lord Jeeue Christ be with yolL" He ends his Epistle as he began, by imploring grace. It is to the ever- living Divine Head of the Church that we must look for the bestowe.l of the blessing, =d not according to the merit of any for whom we implore it, but only according to the abundance of the merit that he hu obtained for them.-R. F. Vere. 2-4.-..t fhief in the night. The one idea. to be impressed upon 118 by this striking image is that of unexpectedness. The thief succeeds in making his entrance when he is least expected. So will it be on "the day of the Lord." The idea is derived from the teaching of Christ, in which it is more fully expanded (see Matt. uiv. 43, 44). The "day of the Lord" which is to come thus suddenly is often referred to in the Old Test.ament. There it is a dreadful occasion of Divine manifestation for judgment, to be hailed with gladness when the judgment falls on the enemies of Israel and brings the choeen people deliverance, but to be regarded with terror by sinful Israelites (Amos v.18). St. Paul regards it u the day of Christ's second advent. But the general use of the expression in the Old Testament justifies Ill in applying the warning concerning it to various forms of the p<IITOU,BW. 1. THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COKE UPON THE BENIGHTED A8 A THIEF. 1. The day is ~ - What did the heathen fellow-citizens of the 'l'hessalonians know, or think, or care about the glorious advent of Christ, with its angel-summons and ite trumpet- blast for which the CbriBtians were watching so eagerly? The Jews did not expect the coming of the Son or man in the destruction of Jerusalem. 'l'he world does not think of the great judgment-day. Worldly people do not contemplate death. 2. No ,igna are given to the wc,rld of the dawning of thu dread day. No lurid twilight betokens the tempestuous morning. It bursts suddenly upon a world 8(umbering in darkness Science, philosophy, ordinary signs of the times, give no hint of it to the unspiritual. 'l'h&t biblica.1 arithmetic of our modern pro1,hets is always proving itself at fault. No bare intellectual calculation will ever discover the "day of the Lord" 3. It iB best for t~ wurld t/,at rw ,.atural aign, should herald thi~ day. (1) Christian people are better oe. v. 1-28.J 'l'HE lt'IH8T EPISTLE TO 'l'HE THESSALONIANS. 131