7. The Glorious Restoration Of Israel
Article contributed by www.walvoord.com
The partial restoration of the nation Israel to their ancient land in the middle of the twentieth century should be recognized by all careful students of the Bible as a most remarkable event. It seems to be a token that God is about to fulfill His Word Concerning the glorious future of His chosen people. As has been pointed out in previous discussion, the return of Israel to their ancient land and the establishment of the state of Israel is the first step in a sequence of events which will culminate in Christ’s millennial kingdom on earth. The present return of Israel is the prelude and will be followed by the dark hour of their suffering in the great tribulation. This will in turn be succeeded by the return of Christ, the establishment of Christ’s kingdom on earth, and the exaltation of the people of Israel to a place of prominence and blessing. Scriptures already discussed have brought out these major aspects of Israel’s future program. This concluding study will concern itself with the fulfillment of countless prophecies relating to them in relationship to the millennial reign of Christ.
The Final Judgement Of Israel
At the time of the second coming of Christ to establish His kingdom, two major aspects of Israel’s judgment may be observed. First, the righteous dead of Israel will be raised and will be judged relative to rewards. Second, those in Israel who have survived the great tribulation will be judged, and the righteous in Israel will enter into the Promised Land and enjoy the blessings of the millennial kingdom.
The resurrection of the righteous of Israel is indicated in Daniel 12:2, 3 in these words: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” Scholars have not all agreed on the details indicated by this prophecy. It has been characteristic of some branches of premillenarians to include the resurrection of Israel with the resurrection of the church at the time of the rapture. Those who have followed this interpretation have been somewhat embarrassed by the fact that Daniel 12:1, 2 seems to place the resurrection of Israel after the tribulation instead of before it. This would indicate either that the rapture is postribulational in that the resurrection follows the tribulation, or that they were wrong in their preliminary judgment that the resurrection of Israel occurred at the time of a pretribulational rapture.
Though disagreement on the interpretation of this passage continues, many careful students of premillennial truth have come to the conclusion that the opinion that Israel’s resurrection occurred at the time of the rapture was a hasty one and without proper Scriptural foundation. It seems far more preferable to regard the resurrection of Daniel 12:2 as a literal one following the tribulation, but not to be identified with the pretribulational rapture of the church. If this interpretation be allowed, then the expression “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake” can be regarded as a literal and bodily resurrection of righteous Israel from the grave in order that they might participate in the millennial reign of Christ as resurrected beings along with the resurrected and translated church of the New Testament.
A further difficulty is found in the fact that Daniel 12:2 states that some awake to everlasting life and “‘some to shame and everlasting contempt.’“ Premillenarians are agreed that the resurrection of the wicked does not occur until after the thousand-year reign of Christ. The declaration of the resurrection of the righteous in almost the same breath as the resurrection of the wicked, separated as they are by the thousand-year reign of Christ, is a difficulty for some premillenarians.
A careful study of the passage, however, reveals that most of the difficulty is in the English translation. The Hebrew seems to make quite a sharp contrast between those who are raised to everlasting life and those who are raised to shame and everlasting contempt. A paraphrase would render the passage this way: “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, these to everlasting life, and those to shame and everlasting contempt.” The passage then becomes a statement that subsequent to the tribulation all the dead will be raised, but in two groups, one group to everlasting life and the other group to everlasting contempt. The fact that these are separated in time is clearly spelled out in Revelation 20, and the fact that this detail is not given here should not be considered a major problem.
It is evident from Daniel 12:3 that the main purpose of this revelation is to deal with the resurrection of the wise. These are declared to “shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” In this statement it is evident that the resurrected saints of the Old Testament, which is primarily the resurrection of Israel but will undoubtedly include the righteous of the Gentiles as well, will be an occasion for recognition of their good works. Rewards will be distributed to them much in the way that rewards were given to the church, that is, those who are righteous will be given places of prominence and privilege in the millennial kingdom of Christ and their righteousness will be displayed for all to see.
A parallel passage to this resurrection of Israel from the dead is found in Isaiah 26:14, 19. Verse 14 says: “They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all remembrance of them to perish.” In contrast to the wicked whose end is here described as not being included in the resurrection of the righteous, the prospect of Israel is declared in verse 19: “Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.” Though perhaps less clear than the Daniel 12 reference, Isaiah 26 confirms the idea of the resurrection of the righteous dead in Israel. It may be concluded that at the beginning of the millennium all of the righteous dead have been raised. The church will be raised at the time of the rapture before the tribulation, and Old Testament saints, including Israel, at the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ. Only the wicked dead remain in the graves awaiting their resurrection at the end of the millennial kingdom.
Those in Israel who survive the tribulation and who are on earth at the time of Christ’s second coming are declared to be judged in Ezekiel 20:34-38. Ezekiel states: “And I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face. Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, saith the Lord Jehovah. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.”
As in previous declarations concerning God’s work of restoring Israel at the beginning of the millennial kingdom, the judgment of Israel is preceded by their regathering from all the peoples of the earth. They are assembled in the place described as “the wilderness of the peoples” and there God declares that He will enter into judgment upon them. It will be like the judgment of their forefathers at the time of the Exodus when the adult population perished in the forty years of wandering, but the younger generation was permitted to enter into the land. In this judgment of living Israel at the beginning of the millennial kingdom, God says that He will have them pass under the rod and that He will purge out the unrighteous described as “the rebels” and as “them that transgress against me.” Though included in the work of regathering, they will not enter into the Promised Land and apparently perish like their gainsaying forefathers in the wilderness.
The clearcut division in Israel of those who are righteous and those who are unrighteous arises from the fact that some are saved by faith in Christ, but others rejected Him and were worshipers of the beast, the world ruler of the great tribulation. According to Revelation 13:8 all those on earth during the great tribulation will worship the world ruler except for those whose names are written in the book of life. It is stated in Revelation 14:9 that those who are worshipers of the beast come under the fearful wrath of God and are cast into everlasting torment forever and ever. A similar conclusion is derived from the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13 where all the tares are burned up and the wheat is gathered into the barn. Israel’s purging judgment at the end of the age will therefore not only include the trials of the great tribulation in which two thirds of the nation will perish, but will culminate in the judgment of God following their regathering in which all unbelievers who remain will be purged out. The millennial kingdom, therefore, will begin with the godly remnant of Israel who have put their trust in the Lord and who will desire to follow the leadership of their Messiah and King.
The Rule Of Christ Over Israel
According to the second Psalm, it is the divine purpose of God that His Son will reign over the earth. In spite of the raging of the nations and their rebellion against God, the sovereign purpose of God that His Son will rule is plainly stated in these words: “Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of the decree: Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Psalm 2:6-9). In this declaration God not only affirms that Christ will reign from Mount Zion, but that all the nations of the world will come under His reign. It will be an absolute government as shown in the expression: “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
The rule of the Son of God is described in a similar way in many other passages. In Daniel 7:13, 14 it is written: “I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Here the kingdom is described, not simply in its millennial context, but as that which continues after the millennium in the eternal state.
According to Isaiah 2:1-4, Jerusalem will be the center of the millennial government. Beginning in verse 2 Isaiah writes: “And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:2-4). From this passage it is evident that Jerusalem is to be the capitol of the world, that from Zion the law will go forth, and all nations will be under the sway of this righteous government. The result will be that “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4).
One of the interesting aspects of the millennial government is the fact that resurrected David will apparently be a prince under Christ in administering the millennial kingdom in so far as it relates to Israel. According to Ezekiel, David will act as a shepherd over the people of Israel: “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken it” (Ezekiel 34:23,24). Some have interpreted this mention of David as a reference to Christ. However, there is no good reason for not taking it in its ordinary literal sense inasmuch as David will certainly be raised from the dead and will be on the scene. What would be more natural than to assign him a responsible place in the government of Christ in relation to the people of Israel? The concept that David will rule under Christ is found not only here, but also in Jeremiah 30:9; 33:15-17; Ezekiel 37:24, 25; Hosea 3:5; and oblique references in Isaiah 55: 3, 4 and Amos 9:11.
The government of Christ will obviously be, one of righteousness and justice. In the comprehensive view of the kingdom afforded in the prophecy of Isaiah 11:1-10, the character of Christ’s rule is revealed. In verses 3 to 5 the following description is given: “And his delight shall be in the fear of Jehovah; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.” The millennial kingdom will therefore be a time of justice for all, and any who dare to rebel against the king will be subject to immediate divine judgment. For the first time since Adam the entire earth will be under the immediate control and direction of God with resulting blessing in every aspect of human life.
General Characteristics Of The Millennial Kingdom
Students of prophecies relating to the millennial kingdom are embarrassed by the wealth of materials which is afforded. Passage after passage describes in glowing character the righteousness of the kingdom, the universal peace which will characterize the world, and the fact that there will be universal knowledge of the Lord. Peacefulness will not only extend to relationships of men, but even the natural world will be affected. Beasts that are naturally ferocious and enemies of other beasts will live together harmoniously. As depicted in Isaiah 11:6-9, it will be a time of universal knowledge of the Lord. According to Isaiah 11:9; “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.” According to the provisions of the new covenant outlined by Jeremiah 31:33, 34, God will write the law in the hearts of Israel and all will know the Lord. Jeremiah expresses this in these words: “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shah be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his brother saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.” It should be quite obvious that this is not a situation which exists today and in no literal sense are these millennial prophecies being fulfilled now. This could only be possible under the peculiar circumstances of the universal reign of Christ, the purging out of unbelievers at the beginning of the millennium, and the constant proclamation of the truth regarding Christ.
Many other passages confirm these conclusions. Isaiah 9:6, 7 affirms that Christ is the Prince of Peace who will reign on the throne of David and establish justice and righteousness. Isaiah 16:5 reveals that Christ will sit in the tent of David ministering perfect justice. Isaiah 24:23 states that Jehovah of hosts will reign in Mount Zion. Isaiah 32:1 predicts that a king will administer absolute righteousness. Isaiah 40:1-11 is a classic passage predicting the coming of the King, climaxing its revelation in verses 10 and 11: “Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his reek like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and will gently lead those that have their young.”
The ministry of Christ as King will not only be one of absolute justice, but one of great beneficence, as is brought out in Isaiah 42:3, 4. According to Isaiah 52:7-15, the introduction to the great Messianic chapter, Isaiah 53, the King will come to Zion. The kingdom which shall never be destroyed will be set up by God, according to Daniel 2:44, and Christ’s kingdom is declared to be everlasting in Daniel 7:27. The prophecy of Micah 4:1-8 is similar to that found in Isaiah 2. Micah 5:2-5 predicts the birth of Christ in Bethlehem as One who is to be ruler in Israel and who shall “be great unto the ends of the earth.” The familiar prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, quoted as fulfilled in Matthew 21:5, pictures the King in His first coming, but anticipates that “his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth” (Zechariah 9:10).
The concluding prediction of Zechariah 14:16, 17 gives us an insight into the character of the millennial reign of Christ. Zechariah writes: “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso of all the families of the earth goeth not up unto Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain.” It is evident from this Scripture that Christ actively rules, requires the nations of the world to conform to His rule, and observe the religious rites which characterize the millennial kingdom. Taking the whole picture as provided by the prophets, the millennial kingdom depicts a world situation of righteousness, peace, and knowledge of the Lord which is quite foreign to the present age, but which will be subject to literal fulfillment when Christ actually reigns on earth.
Israel’s Spiritual Life In The Millennium
The very fact that Christ will be bodily and gloriously present in the earth during the millennial kingdom and that Satan will be bound and inactive (Revelation 20:1-3) provides a context of spiritual life on the part of Israel which is most favorable. As has been previously pointed out, everyone will have the basic facts about the Lord (Isaiah 11:9; Jeremiah 31:33, 34). The millennial government will assure that there will be peace among nations and righteousness in the administration of justice in relation to the individual (Isaiah 2:4; 11:3-5). The resulting world situation will be a joyous one in sharp contrast to the dark hour of Israel’s suffering in the tribulation and her bitter experiences of centuries of wandering. Isaiah speaks of the joy of the Lord in that day in these words: “And in that day thou shalt say, I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah; for though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid: for Jehovah, even Jehovah, is my strength and song; and he is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:1-3). Joy and gladness will be as common as sighings and sadness were in Israel’s earlier experience.
The millennial period for both Israel and the Gentiles will also be a time of special ministry of the Holy Spirit. In this period, according to Isaiah 32:15, the Spirit will be poured out from on high. A similar prophecy is found in Isaiah 44:3: “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.” Ezekiel predicts: “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:27). In Ezekiel 39:29 a further similar statement is found: “Neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.” The presence of Christ, the evident power of the Holy Spirit, and the context of the knowledge of the Lord and peace, righteousness, and joy will provide a basis for spiritual life in the millennium far more favorable than any preceding dispensation.
A number of Scriptures also describe the temple worship which will characterize the millennial kingdom. According to Ezekiel, a magnificent temple will be built, and a system of priesthood and memorial sacrifices will be set up. Scholars have not all agreed as to the interpretation of this difficult portion of Ezekiel. Some have felt it impossible to have a system of animal sacrifices subsequent to the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross in the light of New Testament passages stating that the sacrifice of Christ makes other sacrifices unnecessary. Though varied explanations have been given for Ezekiel 40-48 which unfolds these details, no satisfactory explanation has been made other than that it is a description of millennial worship. In any case, it is clear that the sacrifices are not expiatory, but merely memorials of the one complete sacrifice of Christ. If in the wisdom and sovereign pleasure of God the detailed system of sacrifices in the Old Testament were a suitable foreshadowing of that which would be accomplished by the death of His Son, and if a memorial of Christ’s death is to be enacted, it would seem not unfitting that some sort of a sacrificial system would be used. While problems remain, it seems clear that Israel will have an ordered worship with Jerusalem once again the center of their religious as well as political life. A new order of priesthood would be required somewhat different than the Aaronic order, and rituals will be observed similar to the Mosaic order but differing in many aspects. In any case, a spiritual life of wonderful depth and reality far beyond anything Israel had known in her entire history will characterize her experience in the millennial kingdom. There will be complete fulfillment of Joel 2:28, 29 and blessings unmeasured will extend throughout the entire kingdom period.
Social, Economic, And Physical Aspects Of Israel In The Kingdom
The combination of righteous government and abundant spiritual life will issue in many practical results in the millennial kingdom, and Israel will enjoy a period of physical as well as spiritual prosperity. Universal justice and peace will provide a proper basis for economic development without the curse of military expenditures, injustice, or inequities. Evidence seems to point to the fact that at the beginning of the millennium all adults who are permitted to enter the kingdom will be saved. The probability is that as children grow to maturity and a new generation is born a majority of those on the earth will experience real salvation, a situation far different than any previous period since the early days of man on earth. The curse inflicted upon the earth as a result of Adam’s sin seems to be lifted, at least in part, during the millennial kingdom. Isaiah records the happy situation in Isaiah 35:1, 2: “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our God.” As a result, the earth will bring forth in abundance and desert places formerly unproductive will have rich vegetation. There will be rainfall in areas where before there was drought (Isaiah 30:23; 35:7). Not only crops but cattle will prosper (Isaiah 30:23, 24).
There will be general prosperity in all aspects of economic development. Jeremiah speaks of this in Jeremiah 31:12: “And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shah flow unto the goodness of Jehovah, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: mad their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.” Ezekiel speaks of causing evil beasts to depart out of the land, permitting them to sleep safely in the woods at night (Ezekiel 34:25). Increased rainfall is mentioned and abundant yielding of fruit trees (Ezekiel 34:26, 27). A similar picture is given in the prophecies of Joel 2:21-27. Joel writes of rich pastures, trees bearing fruit, and the vine yielding its strength, of rain coming down in abundance, of floors being full of wheat, of vats overflowing with wine, and Israel enjoying plenty of all the good things of the land. Amos gives a similar picture in the closing two verses of his book: “And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God” (Amos 9:14, 15).
Israel’s experience in the millennium will also be one of physical health and freedom from disease. Isaiah 35:5, 6 seems to speak of this: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.” In Isaiah 33:24 it is predicted: “And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.” A similar description of healing is given in Isaiah 29:18.
It would seem clear from prophecy that most of the earth’s population will perish in the great tribulation and subsequent judgments and that the millennial kingdom begins with a comparatively small number of people. According to Jeremiah 30:19, 20, however, the earth’s population will mushroom during the millennium and from those who have survived the tribulation who are still in their natural bodies, a multiplied offspring will come. According to Jeremiah 30:19,20 God declares: “And I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me; and I will punish all that oppress them.”
The Conclusion Of The Millennial Kingdom
This selective study of the many Scriptures bearing upon the future restoration of Israel in the millennial kingdom of Christ constitutes a convincing demonstration of the glories of this period. Nothing comparable to this has ever been experienced in the history of man. It would seem that in the closing dispensation prior to the eternal state God is erecting the most favorable possible circumstances to which man could be subjected. When Satan is loosed again according to Revelation 20:7-9, how sad is the record that many born in the ideal circumstances of the millennium are revealed to have only outward profession and not real faith and submission to Christ. Once again judgment must fall upon those who have spurned every possible help in bringing them into proper relationship to their Lord and Saviour. The glorious millennial reign will be the capstone of Israel’s history. Though the evidence seems to indicate that Israel will continue as a people into eternity, the millennium will be the final chapter of their history in the present earth. To this consummation the world is rapidly moving and the predicted sequence of events will unfold in proper succession once the present age has come to its close with the rapture of the church.
Israel’s Restoration In Relation To The Hope Of The Church
In the present world scene there are many indications pointing to the conclusion that the end of the age may soon be upon us. These prophecies relating to Israel’s coming day of suffering and ultimate restoration may be destined for fulfillment in the present generation. Never before in the history of the world has there been a confluence of major evidences of preparation for the end.
Today, to the north of the nation Israel is the armed might of Russia. Never before has it seemed more likely that the prediction will be fulfilled given by Ezekiel (chapters 38 and 39) of an invasion from the north. To the east is the rising might of Red China, with the growing force of nationalism in India as well as the revival of Japan. Never before has it seemed more likely that there should be a tremendous military host coming from Asia, crossing the Euphrates fiver, and moving down on the scene of battle in the Middle East as predicted in Revelation 9:16.
The formation of the United Nations and the universal recognition of some form of world government as an alternative to war seem to be paving the way for the acceptance of the world ruler of Revelation 13 which will characterize the great tribulation. Never before have more people been persuaded that a world government is the only way to world peace.
The rising might of communism, embracing as it has a large portion of the world, and its spectacular rise which is without parallel in the history of the world, also has its prophetic portent. Though communism as such does not seem to enter into the prophetic picture of the end, its basic philosophy of materialistic atheism seems to be precisely the character of the false religion of the great tribulation (Daniel 11:36-38). Millions of youths in communistic lands are being systematically taught to trust only military might and to give blind allegiance to a human leader in place of worship of and service to the omnipotent God. Just such a point of view and just such blind devotion will be required by the world ruler who will honor only the god of military might and disregard all other deities.
The modern movement toward a world church embodied in the ecumenical program seems also a preparation for acceptance by the world of a world church in the earlier phases of the tribulation period. The wicked woman of Revelation 17, the epitome of apostate ecclesiasticism, seems to be the representation of this ultimate ecclesiastical organization after every true Christian is removed by the rapture. The apostasy and unbelief which exists in our day seems to be the forerunner of the utter blasphemy which will characterize the worship of the beast in Revelation 13.
One of the most dramatic evidences that the end of the age is approaching is the fact that Israel has re-established her position as a nation in her ancient land. Israel today is in the proper place to enter into the covenant anticipated in Daniel 9:27 which will begin the last seven-year period leading up to the second coming of Christ. Even the modern city of Jerusalem built by Israel is occupying the precise area predicted in Jeremiah 31:38-40 and constitutes a fulfillment of this prophecy given twenty-five hundred years ago and never before fulfilled. Jeremiah states that when Jerusalem is built in the area described, as it has been in our generation, it will be a sign of the final chapter in the history of Jerusalem, in preparation for the millennial kingdom of our Lord.
The study of the history and prophecy of Israel is not a mere academic exercise on the part of the theologian or Bible student, but provides an unparalleled perspective of the majestic dealings of God with this prophetic nation. In it is revealed the faithfulness of God to the people whom He sovereignly chose, the effective outworking of God’s wise purpose for them in spite of failure, delay, and indifference to God’s will. The fact that in our day there is again movement and development in relation to this ancient nation is a sign that the stage is being set for the final world drama. Certainly as Israel’s promises are being fulfilled before our eyes other aspects of prophecy such as the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the translation of living saints become a real and an imminent possibility. The hope of Israel is also the hope of the church. With John the Apostle all faithful students of the prophetic Word can say: “Amen: come, Lord Jesus.”
1. Christ Shall Be Magnified
Article contributed by www.walvoord.com
Salutation (1:1-2)
The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians, one of the most intimate of all his letters, opens with utmost simplicity: “Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” Following the custom of polite correspondence and in keeping with his other letters, this epistle begins by stating the name of the author, including those who joined with him, and indicating those to whom it is being sent. Because it is more in the nature of a personal letter than a theological treatise, the description of Paul as an apostle found in most of the Pauline letters is omitted, and he describes himself and Timothy1 merely as servants (literally, “slaves”) of Jesus Christ. The letter is being sent to all the saints at Philippi described by the Pauline expression “in Christ Jesus.” Significant is the addition of the bishops or overseers, and deacons, indicating that the letter is especially addressed to the officers of the church. This is indicative of the fact that the church at Philippi is now well organized and no longer a mission point.
As is characteristic of Paul in all his epistles, he extends to them the apostolic greeting: “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” One of the wonders of the Word of God is how much can be said in a few words. The two words grace and peace express to an infinite degree the heart of salvation in Christ. Grace is not only a relationship to God, a righteous standing with God, but it is also an experience of God’s favor toward us, His love, and all that is comprehended in redemption. It is righteous favor as opposed to righteous judgment. The Philippians had come to know the grace of God through Paul the apostle of grace. In similar character the word peace represents what we have and are in Christ. The saints at Philippi had peace with God through Jesus Christ, and it was possible for them to have the peace of God that passeth all understanding as Paul declares to them in chapter four. Grace and peace are the heritage of all who have Christian faith, and in his apostolic greeting Paul indicates his desire for the Philippian Christians to enter fully into the meaning of these words. Grace and peace come from God our Father as the originator and the Lord Jesus Christ as the mediator.
Rejoicing In Their Fellowship In The Gospel (1:3-7)
In keeping with the character of the entire epistle which is essentially a word of thanks to them for their gift, gratitude is expressed to God for them. In verse three he expresses this: “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” As he contemplated the grace of God working through him which had led to their salvation, the formation of the church, the dramatic deliverance from the Philippian jail, and their subsequent growth and development, Paul’s heart was filled with a symphony of praise and thankfulness to God. The fact of their continuance in the gospel was especially in his mind as he writes: “Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.” One of the remarkable facts of Paul’s epistles is the evidence of the extensive prayer ministry of Paul. Though separated from the churches which he had ministered to, he faithfully remembered them in prayer, not simply as a group, but by name. No doubt his confinement in prison had enlarged his prayer ministry. He not only prayed for them, but he thanked God for the answers to prayer received as manifested in their lives.
The significant words “every” in verse three and “all” in verse four are worthy of note. Every thought of the Philippian church that crossed his mind was an occasion for thanksgiving to God, and every prayer for any one of them was an occasion for joy. It was not that everyone in the Philippian church was perfect, but in each person there was the wonderful fruit of the grace of God, growth in spiritual things, and an attitude of love toward the apostle.
Members of the church today may well ask the pointed question: “Does my pastor thank God for me?” How much it means to spiritual leaders to have the sympathetic understanding and appreciation of those to whom they minister. This relationship is expressed in the words: “Your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.” They had not only been recipients of the gospel, but they had labored with Paul in the task of bringing the gospel to others. They had shared the blessed truth of the gospel and they had shared the task of its extension. Further, they had had fellowship with him in financial needs, having sent aid to him on a number of occasions.
With this unmistakable evidence of a work of salvation in their hearts he expresses his confidence that God will continue to work in them and through them until the day of Jesus Christ. He states this in verse six: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” In these words Paul expresses not only his own assurance as to their salvation, but his confidence of their security in Christ. He contemplates the goal of their salvation as being achieved at the day of Jesus Christ.
This expression “the day of Jesus Christ” is found with some variation three times in the Epistle to the Philippians and three other times in Paul’s epistles (1 Cor. 1:8; 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14; Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16). Judging by the context, this expression seems to refer to the time of Christ’s coming for His church when living Christians will be translated and the dead in Christ shall be raised. It is to be contrasted with the expression “the day of the Lord” which refers to the time of judgment and the righteous rule of Christ on earth in His millennial kingdom. The work, which God had begun in the Philippian church, in Paul’s mind was considered as moving majestically forward until it reached its acme in their presentation in glory when Christ comes for His own.
The apostle further substantiates his confidence in them in verse seven when he writes: “Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.” His judgment of their security in Christ springs first of all from the fact that the Philippian Christians are objects of his love, whom God has laid upon the heart of Paul. The suggested alternative translation “because you have me in your heart” does not seem to be well substantiated. It is rather that Paul had the Philippians in his heart even though it was a mutual love. This love had been manifested by Paul toward them, and it had been reciprocated by the Philippian church. Both in his time of imprisonment and in his work in defense and confirmation of the gospel the Philippian church had been partakers of the grace of God which Paul had declared to them. They had shared both his sufferings and his ministry. Their works were not the grounds of the grace of God to them, but they were the evidence, and in this Paul rejoices and contemplates with joy the consummation of their redemption in glory.
Prayer For Abounding Love (1:8-11)
Although the Apostle Paul is abundantly satisfied with the salvation and growth in grace of the Philippian church, he still longs for their continued development and maturity in Christ. He introduces this in verse eight with the words: “For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.” His love for them is in proportion to the tender compassions of Christ. The heart of the apostle is laid bare in the touching statement of his prayer objectives for the Philippian church as contained in verses nine, ten, and eleven. “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;2 that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” The frequent reference to the prayer life of the Apostle Paul and the burden of his petitions to the Lord as contained in his epistles are more than just an expression of Paul’s own objectives. Frequently they state succinctly the very essence of the spiritual life and the goals that are properly before us as we grow in grace. In his Ephesian letter he prays for wisdom and power (Eph. 1:16-23) and that they may be rooted and grounded in love (Eph. 3:14-19). Similarly, here he prays that their love may abound.
In listing the fundamentals of Christian faith, too often the itemization is limited to fundamental theology to the neglect of the fundamentals of spiritual life. In his epistles, while fully sustaining theological essentials, the apostle constantly emphasizes the need for love as a fruit of the Spirit. In this his exhortation is in keeping with the new commandment given by Christ to His disciples summarized by our Lord in the upper room in the words: “That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34). Christ further declared: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). There are many evidences of the Christian life such as Paul had already enumerated in his description of the Philippian church. Undoubtedly the Philippian Christians did love one another. The apostle is concerned, however, lest this be limited and perfunctory. The real ties that bound them together were not similar beliefs or common tasks, it was a love which came from the heart of God. There are many ills in modern Christianity, some theological, some ecclesiastical, some moral, and many problems afflict the church of Jesus Christ. Undoubtedly one of the greatest needs, however, is a genuine love for those who share with us faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As Paul points out, however, what he sought in prayer for the Philippian Christians was not simply a sentiment, but it was “in knowledge [lit., full knowledge] and in all judgment.” It was a discerning kind of love, a love that had real depth and character. It was not an unreasoning sentiment, but that which sprang from spiritual discernment and recognition of the grace of God that had operated in their relationships.
This attitude of divine love one toward another was to manifest itself in various ways. In verse ten he describes it as governing their walk; “That ye may approve3 things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till4 the day of Christ.” Here again the Apostle Paul holds before them the objective of the day of Christ and the consummation of Christian life and faith. In view of the fact that life is temporary and time is precious, the apostle wants them to approve things that are excellent, that is, to apply to the choices and decisions of life spiritual discernment which will lead them to make the right decisions. This in turn will lead to their being “sincere and without offence.”
The word sincere (Gr. eilikrineis) is a word containing the idea of sunlight. If pictures taking an object for examination into the broad light of day in order to prove it genuine. In our lives it means submitting to the searching light of the Word of God in order to be shown pure and capable of standing the test of full exposure. The result will be that one will be judged blameless or without offense at the judgment seat of Christ. The standard which Paul suggests is far above the common question: “Is this wrong?” It is rather the question: “Is this right?” or “Is this the will of God?” The Philippian Christians are urged to look at life from God’s viewpoint and from the standpoint of God’s standards. Nothing short of a holy life, a life motivated by love and guided by eternal values, was acceptable to Paul.
In verse eleven the apostle sums up the resultant fullness of life in the words: “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” In achieving the goals of abounding in love one toward another, of manifesting holiness and usefulness in Christian life, the Philippian Christians would be characterized as a fruit tree loaded with fruit. This would be made possible by their relationship to Jesus Christ. Worthy of commendation, they would be unto the glory and praise of God.
In this opening section of the epistle two major aspects of the Christian life are emphasized. The one is the certainty of salvation based on the finished work of Christ and the grace of God, manifested in the Philippian church by the evident work of grace in their lives. Assured of their salvation, the apostle now challenges them to realize to the full the excellencies of Christian character and life embodied in love, holiness, and service.
Paul’s Imprisonment Furthers The Gospel (1:12-18)
In verse twenty of the first chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians one of the great affirmations of the letter comes from the pen of the apostle when he states: “Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” This statement forms the heart of the discussion by Paul of one of the profound questions which faces the Christian faith: Why does a loving heavenly Father permit His children to suffer? It is impossible to estimate the number of people who are suffering in one way or another in one generation. Millions live in constant fear. Other millions never know what it is to have enough to eat. Probably the majority of the earth’s population never have comfortable homes or adequate clothing. Human suffering is one of the obvious facts of life. Many attempts have been made to analyze the problem of suffering, but only the Bible has an authoritative answer. According to Scripture, suffering springs from the fact of sin, from a world which is out of the will of God in which suffering and death are the natural consequences. The disobedience of Adam and Eve, created in sinless perfection, but choosing to disobey God, plunged the whole race into sin. Sin has come by the choice of man rather than by act of God.
The particular problem to which Paul addresses himself is not that of suffering in general, but suffering in the life of a child of God. It is not too difficult to understand why those who are ungodly, who have rejected Christ and Biblical standards, should suffer. The more pointed question is why a child of God who has received divine grace and forgiveness of sins should nevertheless suffer. Here again we are shut up to Scripture for a sure answer. In this portion of Paul’s letter to the Philippians he is dealing with this precise question.
It should be clear to all that Paul is not suffering because he is a sinner. Nor has he transgressed the law of God in such a way as to have brought the suffering upon himself. It is rather that his suffering springs from his dedication to Christ and because he had been faithful in preaching the gospel. In the performance of the will of God he had run into conflict with the desires of evil men, and this explains his imprisonment. Because the principles of human suffering affect the lives of so many, Paul wants the Philippian church to understand that his suffering has a proper cause and is being used by God to His glory. The discussion of Paul should be seen in the light of the general answer that the Word of God gives to the reasons for suffering in the lives of His children.
There are a number of differing causes for suffering in the life of a child of God. Paul himself bears witness to this fact, and some of the other reasons can be observed elsewhere in Scripture. In some instances God allows suffering in the lives of His children to encourage in them a life of close fellowship with Himself and as a means of reminding them of their place of dependence upon the power and grace of God. The practical effect of this type of suffering is that it keeps the Christian from sinning and prevents departure from God that otherwise might have eventuated. This is illustrated in Paul’s own experience of having a thorn in the flesh. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 the apostle reveals that he had a “thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me.” He also explains that though he had besought the Lord three times in a formal way that this thorn in the flesh might be removed, God had replied to him: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” The necessity of the thorn in the flesh was to keep him from being “exalted above measure” because of the great revelations given him when he was caught up into the third heaven. Paul’s experience, therefore, is an illustration of preventive sufferings.
Another type of suffering is in the form of chastening or discipline of a child of God by his Heavenly Father. In this case the child of God has wandered from the will of God and the discipline in the form of suffering is designed to bring him back into a state of righteous living. This type of suffering illustrated in the life of David is corrective in principle and designed to restore a sinning saint to a life of fellowship.
Still another kind of suffering revealed in Scripture is that which is permitted to instruct the saint. The Book of Job is an outstanding illustration of this. Though described as a perfect man and a righteous man by God, suffering is permitted in the life of Job, not only to demonstrate his faithfulness to God, but also to teach Job many lessons that otherwise he would not have learned. The fruits of such suffering are declared in Romans 5:3-4; “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.” The lessons learned in suffering often can be achieved in no other way.
Suffering is sometimes allowed in the life of a child of God as a means for increasing his testimony. The Apostle Paul himself, when he first trusted in the Lord, was informed that he was called to a life of suffering and that through this suffering he would be a testimony for Jesus Christ. Often the presence of suffering in the life of a believer is an occasion for demonstrating his own trust in the Lord and encouragement of others who are in need. The sustaining grace of God manifested in Paul is a testimony to the grace and faithfulness of God in upholding him in his hour of need.
It is in the light of this Scriptural revelation concerning the reasons for permission of suffering in the life of a child of God that Paul presents his own testimony of God’s dealings with him. He writes the Philippian church beginning in verse twelve: “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which have happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.” In other words, instead of hindering his preaching of the gospel God had used his imprisonment as a means of bringing the gospel where otherwise it would not have been heard.
As an instance and proof of this the apostle explains in verse thirteen: “So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places.” Though Paul was in bonds and a prisoner of the Roman government, because he was the Lord’s servant it resulted in a testimony to all those who came in contact with him. The expression “in all the palace” is probably better translated “throughout the whole Praetorian Guard.” This reference, one of the outstanding proofs that he was in Rome, reveals Paul’s testimony to the Praetorian Guard. This guard was a special contingent of soldiers composed of nine cohorts of one thousand men each. It was their special duty to guard prisoners and the various cohorts alternated in fulfilling this responsibility. Though some have taken this expression to refer to Praetorian Palace or to the quarters of the Praetorian Guards, the additional phrase “and in all other places”—better translated, “and to all the rest”—seems to refer to persons rather than places. The imprisonment of Paul, therefore, had resulted in a testimony for the gospel to this elite corps of soldiers, with untold results as some of them were converted to Christ and became in turn witnesses of the gospel.
Not only had his testimony reached the Praetorian Guard, but it had affected also his brethren in the Lord in their testimony. Of this he writes in verse fourteen: “And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” The presence of the apostle preaching boldly, even though a prisoner to those who were his guards and keepers, encouraged others who were free on the outside to bear a more faithful testimony to the Lord and to be delivered from fear. To be sure, not all those who preached the gospel did so out of admiration of Paul. The gospel was controversial, and sometimes engendered envy and strife. Paul, however, rejoices in the fact that whether preached well or not the gospel reached some who might not have heard. He therefore writes in verses fifteen to eighteen: “Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: the one5 preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add6 affliction to my bonds: but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.”
Judging by what Paul says about these who preach Christ moved by envy and strife, the major difficulty was not theological in that they preached another gospel, but rather that their motives were not good. Some of the believers were embarrassed by the fact that Paul was a prisoner and may have been tempted to blame him for his difficulty. His very success in winning some to Christ may have provoked others to envy. Instead of manifesting Christian love and understanding, they were therefore contentious and attempted to disassociate themselves from Paul whose faithfulness in standing for the gospel had resulted in his imprisonment. But all were not of this kind. Paul mentions that there were some who preached in love, recognizing that he was suffering for Christ’s sake. These were encouraged by Paul’s faithfulness and were moved to preach the gospel more faithfully than would otherwise have been the case.
Paul’s conclusion therefore is that regardless of motive Christ is preached, and in this he sincerely rejoices and thanks the Lord that his suffering as a prisoner had resulted in such fruits of the gospel. In this he rejoices now and will continue to rejoice.
Christ Is Magnified (1:19-20)
The beneficial effects of Paul’s sufferings, however, did not tend only to increase Gospel witness in Rome, but, according to his own statement, would result in blessing to Paul himself. This he states in verse nineteen: “For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” The very fact that Paul had been in prison had undoubtedly stimulated the prayer of the Philippian church and other friends. His sufferings therefore had been occasion for increased intercession, and he is confident that this would result in his salvation, that is, his deliverance from prison as a result of their faithful prayers. It also was related to the fact that the Holy Spirit of God was undertaken on behalf of Paul and was sustaining him, caring for him in this time of trial.
The apostle, however, saw a far more important result than his deliverance from prison. The factor in his suffering which brought greater satisfaction to him was that through his trial Christ would be magnified. He expresses this hope in verse twenty: “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” The passionate desire of Paul that at all costs Christ would be glorified is revealed in this statement. Paul wanted his testimony under all circumstances, even imprisonment, to be such that he would never be ashamed of his witness for Christ. He wanted a holy boldness to characterize all his ministry. This boldness had of course led to his imprisonment in the first place, but he was concerned lest his suffering would in anywise dull the keen edge of his testimony. Whether in prison or out of prison he wanted Christ to be magnified in his body.
Just as a magnifying glass brings out the insignificant as well as the more prominent points of excellence in an object, so Paul wanted his life to be such that Christ would be held up to the full view and comprehension of those who observed; in a word, that they would see the perfections of Christ in and through Paul. This he determines to do whether by life or by death. The unstinted devotion and dedication of the Apostle Paul to the will of God is disclosed in his willingness to die if need be for Christ’s sake. He was indeed facing the issue of life or death at Caesar’s judgment seat. Humanly speaking, he might be put to death or he might be released.
To Live Is Christ; To Die Is Gain (1:21-23)
In either event, Paul wanted Christ to be magnified. Accordingly he writes the Philippians: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.” The mainspring of Paul’s life is summed in the word Christ. This represented all for which he was living as well as that for which he was willing to die. To live was for Paul simply to live for Christ and to proclaim the One who had saved him. To die meant only that his life’s ministry was over and that he would go into the presence of his blessed Lord. His only purpose in living was to have fruit through his labor on earth.
The choice of whether to live or to die, however, was not a bitter alternative for Paul. In fact, he is caught between two desires, one to serve his Lord on earth and the other to be in the presence of his Lord in heaven. Between the two he did not know how to choose. He writes in verse twenty-three: “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart,7 and to be with Christ; which is far8 better.” As far as Paul himself was concerned, he is convinced that to be with the Lord would be far better than to enjoy any blessing on earth. To him Christian faith was not an escape, as human life on earth slips through our fingers, but rather it was the utmost goal, the prize to be received, the rest after labors had been finished.
His Confidence Of His Continued Ministry (1:24-26)
He goes on, however, in verse twenty-four to say: “Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” He recognizes that his presence on the earth, permitted by God, was designed for useful ends and that his continuance in life would be a blessing to the Philippian church. God had, however, revealed to the apostle that he would be released and would be able to continue his ministry. He writes the Philippians in verse twenty-five: “And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you for your furtherance and joy of faith.” The sufferings of the Apostle Paul were not simply to eventuate in furtherance of gospel testimony in Rome or in enriched ministry in which he would magnify Christ, but would also have its result in encouraging those who were suffering, in particular the Philippian church.
His confidence that he would be released and return to active ministry and be able to visit the Philippian church again is therefore the ground for his belief that his difficulties would result in their furtherance and joy of faith. His total experience, both of imprisonment and release, would prove to be a blessing to them. He refers to this as their “furtherance.” He means by this that they would proceed further in the Christian life, that there would be more growth in grace and increased knowledge of the truth. It would also, however, result in the joy of their faith. His release and return to them would contribute to their Christian joy. It is another reason why God is leaving him behind to continue his work.
The apostle also expresses confidence that he will visit them again as stated in verse twenty-six: “That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.”9 They would not only have the joy of knowing that he had been released from the prison in answer to their prayers, but the renewal of their fellowship in Christ on the occasion of his visit would result in rejoicing more abundantly.
Exhortation To Unity And Steadfastness (1:27-30)
The coming of the Apostle Paul to Philippi after his release from prison, however, was not only to be an occasion for joy but would also be a time when the Apostle Paul would evaluate their testimony in Christ. With this in view, he exhorts them in verse twenty-seven: “Only let your conversation10 be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving11 together for the faith of the gospel.” Whether present or absent, the Apostle Paul wanted their conversation, that is, their manner of life, to be in keeping with the precious truths of the gospel. Whether he witnessed this with his own eyes or heard it by the report of others, he wanted their testimony to be that they stood fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Once again his exhortation takes the form of encouragement to unity and oneness of purpose. This unity was to be reflected in their teamwork in proclaiming the gospel of Christ.
One of the important reasons why they needed unity both in mind and testimony was the fact that they faced suffering and persecution in their witness. The apostle, however, encourages them in verse twenty-eight: “And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.” To their adversaries the sufferings of the Philippian Christians was a token of divine disapproval. They could not understand how those who were favored by God would be permitted to endure such trials and privations. To the eye of faith, however, it was evident instead that their very opposition and experience of difficulties were proof of their salvation of God. It is a patent fact in Christian experience that many new converts in Christ experience more difficulties in their early days of Christian life than they did before they put their trust in Christ. The Scriptural explanation of course is that now they have an adversary, one who will challenge every step of progress that they make. Such difficulties are permitted by God, even though at the same time He supplies faith and strength to have victory in the time of trial. The existence of enemies of those who would follow Christ is confirming evidence that they are true believers and properly identified as belonging to the Lord Jesus. Such an experience is perfectly normal, and the apostle concludes this chapter with recognition of this in these words: “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake; having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.” It is part of Christian testimony that those who believe in Christ will also suffer for Christ’s sake. The experience of the Philippian church therefore is not unusual or novel and is in nowise a contradiction of Scriptural revelation. In fact, their very sufferings are illustrated also in the sufferings of Paul, and they share the same conflict with the evil one which Paul is experiencing. This conflict they had witnessed earlier when Paul had been thrown into the Philippian jail, and now the tidings that he is in Rome are similar in import.
Taken as a whole, Paul’s experience then, though one of genuine suffering, has been turned by God to be a blessing. Through Paul’s suffering many heard the gospel who might otherwise not have heard. Through Paul’s suffering others were encouraged to pray for him so that his deliverance from prison would eventuate. In his sufferings also Paul would magnify God in a way that otherwise might not have been possible. Further, his sufferings were to result in blessing to the Philippian church, not only encouraging them in their own path of suffering but binding their hearts all the closer to Paul and the teachings which he had given them. Theirs was a common lot both of faith in the gospel and of the sufferings which resulted. They were fellow soldiers, fellow sufferers, and contenders in the same conflict.
1 Timothy is mentioned as joining with Paul in seven epistles, viz., 1 and 2 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Of the prison epistles only Ephesians omits Timothy’s name.
2 From Gr. aisthesei, found only here in the New Testament, and means perception and discernment.
3 Translation of the dokimazein meaning to test the value, or to approve after testing.
4 Gr. eis, meaning unto or in respect to.
5 In the best Greek texts verses sixteen and seventeen appear in reverse order, verse seventeen coming first. The order of the text used in the A.V. follows the order of thought in verse fifteen. In either case the meaning is the same.
6 The best texts have egeirein meaning to arouse or stir up rather than epitherein meaning to add or to bring. Those preaching Christ contentiously would stir up trouble for Paul who was already in bonds.
7 Gr. analusai, meaning to loosen. It is a figure of loosing the ropes on a ship about to sail.
8 Gr. polloi mallon kreisson, a double comparative, meaning much more the better.
9 Considerable evidence supports the idea that Paul was released from his first imprisonment in keeping with his hope expressed here, undertook a fourth missionary journey which took him as far as Spain, only to be rearrested, tried, and executed. Details of Paul’s experience mentioned in Titus and 1 and 2 Timothy seem to have occurred after the close of Acts. He mentions a visit to Crete (Titus 1:5), spending the winter in Nicopolis (Titus 3:12), a trip to Macedonia not mentioned in Acts (1 Tim. 1:3), a visit to Troas and Miletus (2 Tim. 4:13-20), and an earler deliverance from death when on trial (2 Tim. 4:16-17). Among the early fathers, Eusebius as well as Clement of Rome, Chrysostomus, and Hieronymus supported this view. Paul also seems to have complete confidence in his coming release on stating “I know” (from Gr. oida, which implies certain knowledge).
10 Gr. politeuesthe meaning to live as a citizen, i.e., to live as a good citizen in the Christian community.
11 Gr. sunathlountes meaning striving, or playing the game energetically, as in an athletic contest. Cf. “conflict” (v. 30) Gr. agon, referring to the exertion of an athletic contest.
2. At the Name of Jesus Every Knee Should Bow
Article contributed by www.walvoord.com
Exhortation To Unity Of Love And Lowliness Of Mind (2:1-4)
The second chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians contains one of the greatest declarations coming to us from the pen of the apostle, the theological statement of the humiliation and self-emptying of Christ and the exaltation of Christ which follows. This section pivots on the great affirmation of verses ten and eleven: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” Contemplated in this statement is the universal acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
The church at Philippi had relatively few spiritual problems as compared to the church at Corinth. There seems to have been no doctrinal heresy or serious breach of morality among the Philippians. Though Paul takes up in chapter four the problem of two women in the church who had some differences, there was no serious schism, and on the whole a united testimony was being maintained. Yet there was room for improvement along several lines. The plea of the apostles in chapter one for a spirit of abounding love, spiritual discernment, and for a fullness of spiritual fruit summarized the spiritual need of the church. Having referred to the need for unity in verses nine and twenty-seven in chapter one, the apostle now deals with the problem of unity more in detail in the opening four verses of the second chapter.
Most translations of these four verses do not carry the full implication which the original language connotes. The fourfold “if” of verse one has no sense of uncertainty, but is rather a statement of fact. The passage could be translated: “Because there is consolation in Christ, comfort of love, fellowship of the Spirit, and tender compassions and mercies, therefore fill my joy full by being likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, and of one mind, doing nothing through faction or empty pride, but in lowliness of mind each considering the other to be better than themselves, not looking every man on his own things, but every man also giving consideration to the things that belong to others.”
Essentially, these four verses are a plea for thoughtfulness and an exhortation to approach the work of God in a spirit of unity in which all work together sympathetically to accomplish their common task. In view of the blessings which are common to all Christians, such as consolation in Christ, the comfort of love, the fellowship of the Spirit, and God’s tender mercies and compassions, we should also manifest the unity of the Spirit in the ministry of the church. The Philippians in doing this would fill Paul’s cup of joy to the full. He is already rejoicing in their faithfulness, the certainty of their salvation, and their efforts to further the gospel. Now he wants them to add to this the supreme grace of working together unselfishly for the goal God has set before them.
The admonition of the apostle is at once good common sense and good spiritual sense. It is according to the mind of God. It is the kind of common effort that should characterize every body of Christians, though sometimes it is sadly lacking. In the Corinthian church, for instance, there were four contending parties, each considering itself right and regarding the other three as wrong. The only way it is possible to have one mind is to have the mind of God derived from the unity of the Spirit of God, a unity which comes only when believers find the will of God and give themselves unselfishly and unstintingly to its fulfillment.
The Example Of Christ (2:5-8)
Having set before them the precept of unity and humility, the apostle now introduces the supreme example, the Lord Jesus Christ in His act of incarnation, suffering, and death. This is often called the kenosis passage because in it Jesus Christ is described as emptying Himself. The word kenosis is derived from the Greek word ekenosen, meaning to empty. The passage is not without its theological and expositional problems, but presents more succinctly and pointedly than any other Scripture the practical application of the attitude of Christ to the attitude of the individual believer.
The great truth of the humiliation of Christ is introduced in support of the exhortation: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” The passage then reveals in detail what Jesus Christ did in becoming incarnate: “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”
It is declared first that He existed in the form of God. The expression “being12 in the form13 of God” means not only that Christ is God, but that He always was God and that He existed as God, not simply because He possessed all the attributes of God, but because these were manifested outwardly and He had the appearance and glory of God. Being thus from eternity past all that God is both in substance and in manifestation, He did not consider His being on equality with God something that needed to be retained by self-effort, but rather “made himself of no reputation,” literally, “emptied Himself,” taking on the form of a servant.14
The fact that the Apostle Paul here reveals that Jesus Christ emptied Himself has given rise to much discussion. Some have attempted to prove from this statement that Christ partially gave up His deity and reduced Himself to the level of man. This, however, the passage does not say, and our understanding of what it means should be indicated by what the passage itself reveals. What Paul is actually stating is that Jesus Christ, though essentially God and entitled to the outer manifestation of His deity, voluntarily set aside the manifestation of His glory and substituted instead the appearance of a servant, or a slave. This of course is what Christ did when He was born a babe in Bethlehem and lived among men, and became in outer appearance no different than that of an ordinary servant.
The apostle goes on to speak of the complete humiliation of Christ in dying on the cross. Because He “was made in the likeness of men” and was “found in fashion as a man,” that is, His outer appearance was that of a man. He was able to humble Himself, become “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” His great act of condescension in becoming man and His willingness to be completely humiliated in the death on the cross is set before us here as the supreme example of what our attitude should be. If Jesus Christ the Lord of glory was willing to be obedient unto death, how much more should sinners saved by grace who owe everything to God give back to the God who saved them the life which He has redeemed.
There is much for the spiritual soul to contemplate in this great declaration of what Christ did for us. It of course reveals the genuine humanity of our Lord and Savior. Though He was born without human father, He was a genuine man in every respect apart from sin. He had a real human soul and spirit. He had a genuine physical body. Unlike other men, however, He was God incarnate, all that God is and all that man is in every essential particular. His genuine humanity is revealed not only in His birth, but in His growing maturity as a child and young man. At the age of twelve, though the scholars of His day were astounded at His wisdom, they did not question His humanity. Later after being introduced by John the Baptist to His public ministry, He labored for three and one half years walking the dusty roads of the Holy Land and ministering in word and deed. Finally, rejected by His own people and sentenced by a Roman ruler, He submitted Himself to the supreme ordeal of being crucified on the cross at Calvary. It should be obvious to any careful and discerning reader of Scripture that Christ was under no external compulsion to submit to the cross. He was the eternal God, and, though He was in human flesh, He could have stepped down from the cross if He wished or prevented His crucifixion from coming into reality. He did not die because it was impossible for Him to prevent it, but He died willingly in obedience to the will of God the Father. He died in submission to God in keeping with His prayer in Gethsemane: “Not my will, but thine be done.” There was no holding back. He went all the way to the cross. This was the supreme manifestation of His yieldedness to the will of God and His willingness to accept the utmost in humiliation.
No one else has ever come from infinite heights of glory to such a shameful death. If there had been a better way or another way by which the sin of the whole world could have been taken away, surely God would not have required His beloved Son to submit to such a death. This was the only way. There had to be a perfect sacrifice, an atonement of infinite value. This could be accomplished only by a person who was both God and man, who was without sin and yet was truly a man representing the human race. No other could take the place of Christ, no act of devotion, however unselfish, no act of ordinary man, however courageous, could atone for sin. As we contemplate the mind of Christ which made Him willing to die on the cross, we must realize that if Christ had not died men would still be in their sins with a hopeless eternity and facing just as certain a judgment as that which is the lot of the lost angels who know nothing of salvation.
With this reminder that eternal life is ours because of the mind of Christ in being willing to go to the cross, certainly our complaining lips and murmuring hearts should be stilled as we realize that God never asks His children to suffer or bear what Christ endured upon that cross. Whatever our measure of sacrifice, it is insignificant in comparison to what Christ did. We cannot share His sacrifice, but we can have the same attitude, the mind of Christ. We can be like Christ, obedient unto death. It is this attitude which yields the precious fruit of the unity of the Spirit and humility of mind which Paul sought to inculcate in the believers in the church at Corinth.
The Exaltation Of Christ (2:9-11)
The story does not end, however, with Christ on the cross or His dead body in the tomb. Evangelical Christians use as a symbol of their faith an empty cross because the work is now finished. The body of Christ was taken off the cross, temporarily laid in a tomb only to rise in triumph and victory over death and the grave. Our Savior now is a glorified Savior, not only possessing the glory which was His from eternity past as the Second Person of the Trinity, the outer manifestation of which He laid aside when He became incarnate, but now He has the added glory of victory over sin and death, the demonstrated power and work which He accomplished while in the earthly sphere. Of His present glory the apostle writes, beginning in verse nine: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” The same Christ who divested Himself of the outer form of deity, condescended to become man, and humbled Himself by becoming obedient unto death, now is highly exalted and given a name which is above every name.
There has been some speculation as to just what this name is before whom every knee should bow. The simplest explanation however seems to be the best. As indicated in the text, the name before which everyone will bow is not some mystical unrevealed name which is yet to be given, but it is rather the simple name Jesus, the human name of Christ, the name which means Savior. It is this name which gathers in the whole story of His victory over sin and death and represents the added glory which was obtained by Christ through becoming man.
Those who are described as bowing the knee to the name of Jesus, though not named, are declared to be in heaven, in earth, and under the earth. This probably includes all created moral intelligences, namely, angels and men. Because of the exaltation of Christ, everyone in heaven should bow the knee to Him. Everyone in earth should recognize His supremacy and even those under the earth. Those in heaven undoubtedly include the holy angels and the saints. Those on earth may have primary reference not only to those now living on the earth, but to those over whom Christ will reign in His millennial kingdom. All will bow the knee to Him on earth in that future day. Those under the earth seems to be a reference to those who die without salvation and are forever lost. As stated in the text, the glory of Christ is presented as being such that everyone should bow before Him and confess Him as Lord.
A number of ancient manuscripts with slightly different reading affirm that not only should everyone confess Jesus Christ as Lord, but state that everyone shall confess Jesus Christ as Lord.15 In our present earthly experience it is clear that not all will bend the knee, nor will all acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, but the day is coming when every moral intelligence, both men and angels, will recognize that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord and that He is worthy of worship and adoration. Whether or not lost men and lost angels will ever bend the knee, they will not be able to gainsay in that day that Jesus Christ as their Judge is also their Lord.
Their reluctant confession in that day, however, will be too late. The Scriptures make plain that now is the day of salvation. Now is the time to receive God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. The Scriptures do not promise further opportunity on the morrow. The universal recognition that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord, which will occasion the shout of triumph and the adoration of the saints, will wring a cry of despair from those who have neglected their day of opportunity. But now it is still the day of grace and the day of opportunity. This is the impelling motive for evangelism, for missions, for translation of the Scriptures into all the languages of the world. It is still true that whosoever will may come.
If these things be true, let us heed the admonition of Scripture to bow our hearts, to bend the proud knee, and to acknowledge Him now, while there is time, as our Lord and Savior. May we not only enter into that which pertains to our personal salvation, but may we worship and adore the one who throughout all eternity will be the revelation of divine love, the one who considered the outer manifestations of His deity not something to be retained, but was willing to go all the way to the death on the cross. If we are able to enter into this blessed truth of what it means to have the mind of Christ, we will have opened the door to achieve the will of God for our lives.
As we examine our own meager vessels of devotion, our own limited yieldedness to the will of God, we have set before us the great example of a Savior who loved us to infinity, who gave Himself without stint, who held nothing back. For Him no task was too hard, no shame too great, no physical suffering beyond endurance. How necessary in the church of Jesus Christ as well as in our own souls is this attitude. As we sometimes find ourselves unwilling to do even a simple thing to the honor and glory of God, how important it is to turn away from all that is selfish and to be willing to serve God in unstinted love and devotion.
Application Of Christ’s Example (2:12-16)
Following the great declaration of the self-humiliation of Christ in His sufferings and death and the significant exaltation of Christ in glory which followed, the apostle now drives home to his Philippian readers the practical application of these truths to their own lives. This exhortation found in verses twelve to sixteen has its key thought in the expression of verse thirteen: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
The work of Christ on the cross was only the beginning of the work of God for man. Rich as was its provision in the redemption provided for the entire world, the application of that redemption to the individual and the realization in spiritual experience of victory over sin involves a subsequent undertaking of God. God’s method, using the work of Christ as the basis and the example of Christ as the pattern, is to reproduce in the life of the Christian the mind of Christ. The secret of this is bound up in the little phrase: “God worketh in you.” This portion of Scripture does not intend to unfold the complete doctrine, for it is clear that the total process of salvation, beginning with conviction before the transformation and consummating in perfection in glory, is a work of God involving many doctrines. In verse twelve, however, it is presented as a Christian experience of manifesting the salvation which God provides in a life of victory and obedience.
In approaching this subject the Apostle Paul is encouraged by the fact that the Philippians are not novices in the faith, but are already mature Christians. He addresses them therefore in these words: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” These verses have been subject to considerable misunderstanding in that the emphasis seems to be upon self-effort. What does it mean to work out one’s own salvation? Some have attempted to support the idea that when God saves a soul it is then up to the individual to possess and achieve the ultimate goals of salvation in Christ. They view Christianity as a step-ladder which reaches from earth to heaven which it is our duty to climb. A careful examination of this passage, however, will not justify this immature conclusion.
First of all, the salvation which is in view in this passage is not salvation from the guilt of sin. This is accomplished once and for all when a sinner receives Jesus Christ by faith as the One who bore his sins in His own body on the cross. In this sense, salvation is accomplished once and for all. Many times in Scripture, however, salvation is presented as a process which is not completed until the redeemed saint stands perfect in glory. The salvation that is in view in this passage, therefore, is deliverance from the power of sin, and the experience and manifestation of the new life in Christ. Like all other forms of salvation, it is a work of God but involving to a larger degree the element of individual experience and participation. It is therefore described as a human work in the expression: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” What does this mean?
As many have pointed out, it is not possible to work out something which is not already possessed. In other words, having received Christ as our Savior and having become a child of God, one has received many things which relate to his salvation which are true of every Christian, such as the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, eternal life, and the new possibility of serving God acceptably. The exhortation is to the point that this manifestation of salvation in life is one of the supreme goals of Christian experience, the details and realization of which is of such importance that one should approach the task with fear and trembling. The exhortation to accomplish this is couched in most loving terms by the apostle. He reminds the the Philippians of their past experience of always obeying, a yieldedness to God that was manifested not only when he was there but also in his absence. Now without his presence in their midst they were to give themselves all the more to a diligent working out of their salvation. In a word, it is an exhortation to realize the whole program of God in sanctification, testimony, and growth in grace.
Having thus alerted them to the necessity of serious effort, he assures them, however, that salvation fundamentally is a work of God for, in, and through man, not a work of man for God. It is God’s work in us. It is something that God does for us. Whatever effort we may expend, our salvation is nevertheless the working out of God’s plan in our life and experience. Accordingly, in verse thirteen he assures them: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Though the Scriptures recognize the validity of human choice, it is no contradiction of the principle of human responsibility that God works especially in His children inclining their wills to do the will of God and providing spiritual enablement that they may accomplish His good pleasure. Even the present experience of salvation depends upon divine provision. The present tense of the word worketh is most significant. It is God who keeps on working, not content with initiating the believer’s salvation, but continuing the work of salvation until the process is complete in glory.
With the great principles of experience of salvation set forth in verses twelve and thirteen, a series of particular exhortations follow. Though at first glance they may not seem to be sweeping in their character, a closer study will reveal that the apostle has set forth in these three verses the great essentials of the believer’s testimony in the world. In verse fourteen he categorically commands them: “Do all things without murmurings and disputings.” There are few exhortations in Scripture that are more incisive or demanding than this simple command. It demands of the Christian that he avoid complaining, not only in some things but in all things. The very common failing of the saints of God of murmuring, as illustrated in the life of Israel in the wilderness, is regarded as a very serious failure in the eyes of God. Their complaint about lack of water and lack of food, though very human, nevertheless brought sweeping divine judgment upon them. Their murmuring, though understandable, reflected an attitude of insubordination and lack of faith in their relationship to their God.
The saints at Philippi were exhorted to avoid murmuring and disputings or arguments in regard to all things. The order of Greek words is very significant, the word all occurring first and the verb second. Further, the tense of the verse is in the present, emphasizing that in all things and at all times they were not to murmur, or to substitute human reasonings for faith in God. This attitude of complete submission and complete trust is of course the key to working out our own salvation in fear and trembling and is the mark of a truly spiritual Christian.
In verse fifteen the apostle makes the further point that complete avoidance of murmurings and human reasonings is essential to a true testimony for God. The achievement of this standard will make possible, as he states in verse fifteen: “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” They were to be blameless, or more accurately, without blemish and harmless, pure in the midst of a wicked world. As the children of God (tekna, born ones), they were to be like lights in a dark world. Their moral purity was to be in contrast to the immoral world, their testimony as lights in a dark place.
Their position in the world, however, was not to be one of silent display, but they were actively to proclaim the gospel. This the apostle expresses in verse sixteen in the words: “Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.” The primary object of Christian testimony is not simply to illustrate in life the holiness and purity of Christ, but to proclaim in word the way of salvation that others may participate also in God’s salvation. They were to run the race to win the prize (Gal. 2:2; 1 Cor. 9:24; 2 Tim. 4:7). Paul holds this before them as an objective that they bring his own testimony in their midst to mature fruition. He anticipates the day of Christ, an expression earlier mentioned in chapter one, verses six and ten, referring to the rapture of the church and the judgment seat of Christ. The full fruit of his ministry in Philippi was not achieved simply by leading them to a knowledge of Christ as Savior, but depended upon their manifestation of that new life in Christ and the full extension of their Christian testimony. Evangelism and missions do not achieve their goals simply in the salvation of souls, but in the maturing of saints and the establishment of a true testimony for Jesus Christ.
The Example Of Paul (2:17-18)
The second chapter of Philippians falls naturally into four divisions. The chapter opens with four verses devoted to the exhortation to unity and humility. The second division deals with the humiliation and exaltation of Christ as the supreme illustration of the mind of Christ which should be in the believer. The exposition of what the mind of Christ is as manifested in working out one’s own salvation is contained in the third section, verses twelve to sixteen. In the concluding section, beginning with verse seventeen, a threefold illustration of the mind of Christ is offered in the life and witness of the Apostle Paul (w. 17-18), in Timothy (vv. 19-24), and in Epaphroditus (vv. 25-30). The mind of Christ as presented in this chapter therefore is not an unattainable ideal, but that which has been realized in large measure by those who have committed themselves completely to the will and service of the Lord.
The first illustration is that of Paul himself in which he speaks of his rejoicing in whatever measure God has used him to be of help to the Philippian church. He writes: “Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.” Paul is here contemplating the possibility that his service for the Lord may result in his martyrdom. He therefore contemplates what would be his reaction if he, like a drink offering, were poured out. The word offered is literally “to be poured out,” a figure of speech which might refer to his own blood shed in martyrdom, but perhaps more generally to be understood as the offering or pouring out of his life. Whether as a sacrifice or in priestly service, Paul would rejoice in the sacrifice and service of God up to the time of his writing in which he and the Philippian church had joined. Like Paul, the church at Philippi rejoiced in its sacrifices for it was to the glory of God and in it Christ was magnified. In some real measure Paul approximated the mind of Christ in being like Christ, willing to suffer and die in achieving the will of God.
The Example Of Timothy (2:19-24)
Not all of God’s servants, however, face martyrdom, and faithfulness in life and ministry are also an acceptable sacrifice to God. In this light the apostle commends Timothy to the Philippian church as his beloved son in the gospel, and announces his intention to send Timothy to them in verse nineteen: “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.” Paul’s concern for the Philippian church is manifested in this plan to send Timothy to them that Timothy may in turn report their progress in spiritual things. He therefore also includes a commendation that they may receive Timothy as his personal representative.
Paul describes Timothy’s testimony in these words: “For I have no man likeminded,16 who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.” In thus referring to Timothy he is not casting reflection on others who have served with him, such as Luke, but it is rather that Timothy to a pre-eminent extent had revealed the mind of Christ. Timothy’s care for the saints at Philippi was a natural or genuine solicitude. In contrast to others described as seeking their own advantage rather than the things of Christ, Timothy was genuinely unselfish in his love for others just as Christ manifested His love for the world. This was not idle sentiment on the part of Paul. He reminds the Philippian church that they knew Timothy’s testimony proved by a long life of service for God. Under Paul’s tutelage, as a son with his father, Timothy had demonstrated his faithfulness in the past in his service in the gospel.
Paul, however, will delay his sending of Timothy until such time as Timothy can bring report to the Philippian church of the outcome of his trial before Caesar. Paul anticipates that he will be able to follow Timothy shortly with a personal visit after his freedom. This he states in verses twenty-three and twenty-four: “Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.”
The Example Of Epaphroditus (2:25-30)
This great chapter of Scripture concludes with another illustration of a saint who had attained the mind of Christ in his life and witness. Epaphroditus, who had come from Philippi with the offering of the Philippian church to Paul, is being sent with this epistle back to Philippi with a word of apostolic approbation. As Timothy would be delayed until after the outcome of the trial, he is sending Epaphroditus at once. He describes him in verse twenty-five in these words: “Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.” In these words the apostle graciously describes Epaphroditus first as his brother in Christ, then as his companion in labor and fellowsoldier, that is, one who has borne the hardness of the spiritual conflict with Paul. He reminds them that Epaphroditus is also their messenger and one who faithfully ministered to Paul on their behalf.
In the providence of God, Epaphroditus had been very sick while in Rome, and in that state had been full of concern for he learned that the Philippian church had received tidings of his illness. Paul bears witness that their concern was not without foundation for in verse twenty-seven he indicates that Epaphroditus “was sick nigh unto death.” A further word of praise comes from the pen of Paul as he contemplates God’s mercy, not only upon Epaphroditus in raising him up, but also on Paul himself lest the added sorrow of Epaphroditus death should be laid upon him in his already burdened state in prison.
The sending of Epaphroditus to the Philippian church therefore has a double meaning. Paul states: “I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.” In stating that he “sent him the more carefully,” the meaning is that Paul has been more diligent in returning Epaphroditus to them promptly because of their concern about him and his desire that they may rejoice in his full recovery, thereby relieving any concern on the part of the apostle for the Philippian church in this time of testing.
He exhorts them: “Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation.” Epaphroditus was not only to be received as one of their own number who had served the Lord well, but they were to recognize his faithful ministry in Christ. This ministry is described in verse thirty. “Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding17 his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.” Paul is not complaining here about any lack of service on the part of the Philippian church, but rather taking note of their separation by distance which made impossible any other means of service than that which they had employed in sending Epaphroditus with their offering. The devotion of Epaphroditus to his responsibility toward Paul, even to the experiencing of sickness which might have resulted in his death, is an occasion of thankfulness to the Philippian church because in effect he was their substitute or representative.
12 The Greek here is not the usual verb on (to be), but huparchon in the form of an imperfect participle, meaning continued existence, emphasizing the fact that Christ had always been and still is in the form of God. The imperfect tense is in contrast to the aorist verbs used in reference to the incarnation which describe acts in time.
13 Three Greek words are used to describe the outer appearance of Christ: (1) Morphe (form), referring to divine nature and attributes in their manifestation. The form of God is in contrast to the form of a servant (v. 7) or the manifestation of Christ in the substance and attributes of a servant. (2) Homoiomati (likeness), meaning that Christ was made like other men in His essential attributes and manifestation as a genuine man (v. 7). (3) Schemati (fashion), referring to outer manifestation and more transient characteristics of humanity (v. 8). The use of the three words together affirm that Christ was from eternity past all that God is in substance, attributes, and manifestation. Becoming incarnate He was all that was necessary to genuine humanity apart from sin. In appearance he looked like a man and acted like a man. In His incarnate state Christ continued to be all that God is though appearing in the form of man. After His ascension and glorification He continued to be all that man is apart from sin, limitation, and human characteristics that pertain only to this life.
14 The Greek expresion ekenosen, meaning to empty, is a strong word speaking of the dramatic act of incarnation. It must be interpreted, however, by its context. Christ did not empty Himself of deity, but of its outward manifestation. He emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant (Gr. labon, meaning taking, an aorist participle indicating simultaneous action). The incarnation did not change the person and attributes of Christ in His divine nature, but added to it a complete human nature. To achieve the divine purpose of becoming the Savior, the divine glory needed to be veiled. Christ voluntarily, moment by moment, submitted to human limitations apart from sin. The humiliation was temporary. The incarnation was everlasting.
15 Translators have preferred the reading giving the form of confess (Gr exomologesetat) as the aorist subjunctive (found in Aleph and B). An alternate reading in the form of the future indicative achieved by the change of one letter would make this a prophecy, i.e., “shall confess” instead of “should confess.” This is supported by a number of ancient manuscripts (ACDFGKLP).
16 The word translated likeminded (Gr. isopsuxon) is found only here in the New Testament and means literally like-souled.
17 In some versions with slight change of rendering the meaning is risking or gambling his life.
3. We Look for the Savior
Article contributed by www.walvoord.com
Warning Against Judaizers (3:1-3)
The apostle opens the third chapter with an exhortation: “Finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.” The introduction of the word finally would seem to indicate that the apostle was about to reach the conclusion of the epistle. Instead, what appears to be grammatically and in thought a long digression follows beginning with verse two and continuing through the third verse of chapter four when he again brings up the theme of rejoicing in the Lord.
The command to rejoice is found in the present imperative tense, emphasizing the thought not only of rejoicing in the Lord, but continuous rejoicing. It could be translated, “Keep on rejoicing in the Lord.” He immediately introduces the digression which follows with the words: “To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.” By this the apostle seems to indicate that he is repeating a matter of instruction which he had given them previously, either in an earlier epistle as some think, or in his oral ministry while he was in their midst. The problem which he introduces is of such moment that he feels that it would be best to repeat his instructions as it would not be grievous to them and it might assure their preservation from departure from the faith.
Paul introduces the discussion with a sharp threefold word of warning: “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.” The Scriptures do not define these terms, but it would seem from the discussion which follows that he is describing Judaizers or legalists. The term concision means cutting and apparently applies to the same persons he is describing as dogs and evil workers.
Dogs today are regarded as pets and objects of affection, but in Bible times they were scavengers, normally living on garbage and without human masters. They were always looking for something to eat. The people therefore described in this terminology seem to have the characteristic of dogs. They are described as evil workers and offer a form of legalism comparable to those who belong to a cult of self-mutilation such as was common in the early centuries. Some heathen religions had rites in which self-inflicted wounds were marks of special holiness. Those of whom they were to be afraid had the religious characteristics of dogs, evil workers, and these pagan legalists. The term concision may have referred to Judaizing teachers who emphasized the rite of circumcision.
In contrast to these, in verse three he states the position of a true Christian in the words: “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” In referring to Christians as belonging to the circumcision he apparently is not talking about the rite, but rather the spiritual significance of separation to God which it signifies. In contrast to those who have legalistic rites, a true Christian worships God in the Spirit rather than in the letter of the law and rejoices in Christ Jesus rather than in his own holiness. He does not depend on his own achievements, avoiding confidence in the works of the flesh as indicated in verse two.
Warning Against Confidence In The Flesh (3:4-6)
In verse four the apostle takes up his own experience with confidence in the flesh. If anyone had a right to confidence in religion as such or a worship of man’s own attainment, the Apostle Paul was in a position to take a foremost place. He writes: “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”
As others have also observed, there is a fivefold ground for trusting in the flesh (1) Confidence in a rite. Like all faithful Jews, he had observed the command given to Abraham and had received circumcision on the eighth day according to the law. If the rite of circumcision would offer confidence in the flesh, Paul had just ground for claiming it.
(2) Confidence in race. Many of the Jewish legalizers felt that their race gave them automatically standing before God in the matter of salvation. If so, Paul also could claim having a superior race because he was not only of the stock of Israel, but he was of the favored tribe of Benjamin. Further, he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, meaning that he could speak and understand the Hebrew language.
(3) Confidence in religion. In respect to the law Paul was a Pharisee, one who belonged to the strictest sect of the Jews who observed not only the law itself, but the detailed interpretation of the law which had accumulated in centuries of exposition. If confidence in a religion would help, Paul had every right to claim this ground.
(4) Confidence in record. In addition to all these claims for confidence in the flesh, the apostle had manifested great zeal in persecuting the church and certainly nothing more could have been demanded of him than the zeal which he manifested in hounding Christians to prison and even to death prior to his own conversion. His record with the Jews spoke for itself.
(5) Confidence in personal righteousness. In addition to all these other claims, the Apostle Paul had meticulously kept the law in so far as it was possible for any Jew to do so. His was a high moral character, and he had observed the details required in the religious life of the Jews. Even though this fell short of perfection and left him condemned before God in the light of God’s perfect and just demands, he was far ahead of his Judaizing competitors. None of them could equal the record of Paul himself.
Superiority Of Righteousness In Christ (3:7-9)
Having itemized his ground for confidence in the flesh however, the Apostle Paul sweeps it aside in the words of verse seven: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted18 loss for Christ.” As compared to what he had in Christ, all these items of legal righteousness paled into insignificance. He therefore writes the Philippians: “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”
When the Apostle Paul met Christ, he once and for all counted as loss all his religious righteousness which he once possessed. Now he states he continues to count all things but loss. In its place he has first of all the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Christ was more than all the truth that Paul knew through his study in the Old Testament, more than all the learning he had received at the feet of Gamaliel. Christ was pre-eminent, satisfying alike to the heart and mind of the apostle. All other things were as refuse in comparison to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.
Not only had Paul come into a personal relationship with his Savior but he had come into a new position. He was now in Him as he states in verse nine. In his new position in Christ he no longer needed his own righteousness which was of the law, but had received by divine imputation a righteousness which was through the faith of Christ or, more accurately, the faith in Christ. His was a righteousness on an infinitely higher plane than human attainment. It was a righteousness based on the perfect work of Christ bestowed on Paul as the free gift of grace. The importance of the issue which Paul raises in this discussion with the Philippian church is just as apparent in the church of Jesus Christ today. There is the tragedy of millions who have never heard the gospel and who have not been reached by any evangelical testimony. One of the greatest of tragedies, however, is represented in the thousands who attend church regularly and yet are just as far from true salvation in Christ as one who has never heard. The tendency to return to an external form of religion, whether legalistic, mystical, or emotional, and to exalt ritual instead of reality has given thousands a false sense of security. Their confidence is in a religion, not in Christ; in human works, not in the finished work of their Savior. The result is churchianity, not Christianity; reformation, not regeneration; education, not sanctification. They need to have what Paul had, a vital experience of faith in Christ and a recognition that in Christ alone one can be saved and established in a perfect righteousness which God will accept in time and eternity.
Superiority Of Resurrection Power (3:10-11)
The apostle, however, does not mean to imply by the perfection of his position in Christ that there is not yet much ground to be attained. He holds before him this objective in verse ten: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” He had already stated that he had traded his legal righteousness for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. Now he wants to go on. He wants to know Christ, not simply as his Savior, but in the power of His resurrection. By this reference he does not have in mind the apologetic significance of the death of Christ which establishes His deity and justifies confidence in His finished work on the cross. It is rather the experimental realization of that same delivering power of God which is revealed in Christ’s resurrection and now needs to be appropriated by Paul. It was not simply the fact and significance of the resurrection which he claimed. He wanted the same power in his own life.
It was for this power that Paul prayed God on behalf of the Ephesian Christians in his great prayer in the first chapter of that epistle, when he claimed by faith for the Ephesians the knowledge of the greatness of the power of Christ manifested in His resurrection from the dead and His exaltation to glory. Paul wants this same deliverance in his own life in his battle with sin and human limitations. Along with this expressed desire he wants to claim also the fellowship of His sufferings in order that he might be conformed unto the death of Christ. The Apostle Paul was not seeking an easy road in which divine power would deliver him from human limitations. He realized the path of power was also the path of suffering. He wanted the mind of Christ to be realized in himself.
It is significant that in thus thinking of attaining the knowledge of Christ Paul uses the infinitive form gnonai, meaning to know experimentally. There are different words for knowledge in the Greek New Testament which Paul could have used. For instance, he could have used the word meaning to comprehend mentally (Gr. eidotes from oida) found in 1 Thessalonians 1:4 where the statement is made: “Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.” Our election of God must be perceived intellectually rather than experimentally. Another word for knowledge is to know by acquaintance or by familiarity or contact (Gr. epistomai, Acts 10:28). Still another word for knowledge refers to a deep insight based on logical analysis of the facts (Gr. suniemi, Eph. 5:17). The word here, however, is the common word to know experientially. Though there is an intellectual aspect of it and though knowledge by acquaintance or by analysis may form a part of it, Paul wants more than this. He wants to know Christ in his own personal experience.
The knowledge of the power of Christ’s resurrection which Paul desires is a reminder that the resurrection of Christ is the supreme demonstration of the power of God in this dispensation. In the Old Testament God gave to Israel the illustration of power occasioned by His deliverance of them from Egypt. Whenever Israel had any questions as to whether God had power, they were told by the prophets to remember their deliverance from Egypt and from its plagues, how God carried them through the Red Sea, how He gave them manna from heaven, water out of the rock, how they crossed the Jordan, and how they conquered Jericho. In the prophetic Scriptures which speak of Israel’s future kingdom on earth the standard of power in that day is revealed to be the regathering and restoration of the nation Israel. This will be the supreme demonstration of the power of God and faithfulness to His word.
To Christians like Paul who live in this present age, however, the resurrection of Christ is our supreme illustration. That power which God manifested in the transformation of the dead body of Christ in the tomb to the glorious risen Savior now at the right hand of the Father is God’s token of His power to transform us and to lift us above the results of sin and establish us in Christ for time and eternity. The apostle intentionally reverses the historical order placing the resurrection first and then following with the reference to the sufferings of Christ. This is the order of Christian experience. When one experiences the power of Christ, it is then possible for him to enter into the fellowship of His sufferings and be made conformable to His death. The apostle of course is speaking of complete identification with Christ, not only in position but in experience.
This statement of purpose on the part of the apostle is followed by a declaration of his hope. “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” A number of interpretations have been given to this problem text, made difficult by the uncertainty as to what Paul meant when he expressed the hope of attaining to the event of resurrection. The word for resurrection itself (exanastasis) is a word found only here in the New Testament, having the peculiarity of the ordinary word for resurrection with the prefix ex meaning out of. Paul is not referring here to a general resurrection of all the dead, but rather to a special resurrection which will be out from among the dead. By this token he is referring to the resurrection of the righteous as distinguished from the resurrection of the wicked.
According to premillenarian interpretation, the resurrection of the righteous will precede the millennial kingdom, whereas the resurrection of the wicked will follow the millennial kingdom. Further, many interpreters believe that the Pauline doctrine of the resurrection and translation of the church is an event which will precede the predicted time of the great tribulation. It was this event of the translation of the church which Paul regarded as the goal of his faith and hope.
Expositors, however, have been troubled as to how this hope was in any sense dependent upon his knowledge of the resurrection power of Christ or his growing apprehension of the grace of God. Did it not in fact rest instead upon the gift of righteousness which he had mentioned in verse nine of this chapter? It is true of course that Christian experience is a confirmation of the fact of salvation and therefore would grant additional assurance of being included in the resurrection of the righteous.
This passage, however, yields the possibility that what Paul actually had in mind at this point was the hope that he would “attain” to the resurrection, that is, still be living on earth at the time of the resurrection of the righteous dead and that he himself would be translated without seeing death. If it were possible to realize this goal through growing Christian experience and even suffering for Christ’s sake, Paul was willing. Later, of course, as indicated in 2 Timothy, it was made plain to Paul that he was to suffer a martyr’s death, but this was not known to him at this time and did not form a part of his conscious expectation.
Perfection Yet To Be Attained (3:12-14)
One of the by-products of Judaizing legalism was the thought of the possibility of attaining perfection through human works. This, however, Paul definitely disclaims. Even though he is perfectly satisfied in Christ, he recognizes there is much yet to attain in Christian experience. This he states in verses twelve through fourteen: “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
In this statement the apostle definitely puts behind him the idea that perfection is something that can be reached before we see our Lord at the rapture of the church. Perfection in an absolute sense is not for this life. The Scripture teaches that it is possible for the Christian to be filled with the Spirit and to have victory over sin. Christians should grow in grace and increase in maturity and experience holiness. All of these are proper goals. In spite of all God’s wonderful provision, however, no one reaches the stage of sinless perfection.
No possibility is recognized in the Scripture of eradicating sin or of reaching the point in spiritual maturity where it is impossible to sin any more. There are always more goals to be reached. The word perfect in verse twelve (Gr. teleleiomai) does not mean perfection in the absolute sense. It is rather the word for reaching an ultimate goal. This Paul declares to be the “prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” as stated in verse fourteen. This future goal is when Paul leaves earth and flesh behind and enters into the presence of the Lord, either through death or translation. His present task is not perfection, but is rather to lay hold on the purposes of God for his life, to wit, to fulfill his apostleship and God’s purpose for him to grow in grace.
In attempting to achieve this he declares in verse thirteen that he realizes that he has only imperfectly accomplished this objective, but that in his zeal to reach the goal, like a runner, he is ignoring the things which are behind him and reaching forth unto those things which are ahead. He presses for the finished mark and the prize which lies beyond it, the high calling or upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.
On the one hand, therefore, Paul disclaims that he is on any high plateau beyond which there is no improvement. He denies that he has attained all that he wants to attain. His earnestness, however, is expressed in his relentless determination to fulfill his course and eventually to meet his Savior face to face. In these words Paul also contrasts the self-satisfaction of the legalist, in what he is and what he has attained, with the true spiritual approach of which Paul is representative, recognizing the perfections of Christ on the one hand and on the other the imperfections of human apprehension of Christ.
Exhortation To Be Followers Of Paul (3:15-19)
The application of these truths, however, to the Philippian Christians is made in verses fifteen and sixteen in these words: “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” The fact that this exhortation is addressed to “as many as be perfect” has seemed to contradict the statement of the Apostle Paul in the preceding section that perfection has not been attained. The misapprehension, however, arises from a misunderstanding of the meaning of perfection. The word here translated perfect (Gr. teleioi) means perfection, in the sense of maturity or full growth. These are exhorted to have the same attitude or approach that Paul has indicated was true of his own experience. If they have failed to achieve this or have failed to understand it, he promises that “God shall reveal even this unto you.” It is Paul’s point of view, however, that their difficulty is not lack of comprehension, and he therefore exhorts them to walk by this same rule and to mind the same goals that were before Paul.
In verses seventeen to nineteen he concludes his treatment of the Judaizers by calling upon the Philippian church to mark those who follow Paul and those who do not. Judaizers are described as enemies of the cross. Paul expresses this in these words: “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)”
One of the sad facts of modern Christianity is that everyone who claims the name of Christ is not necessarily worthy of the name. Some of the worst enemies of the cross are those who claim to be leaders in the Christian religion. For those living in days of confusion that parallel to some extent the issues which faced the Philippian church, it is necessary to observe those who follow Paul’s example and those who do not. This should not be a superficial distinction, but based upon a true Biblical definition of vital Christianity. Paul is not talking about those within the church who differ on minor issues, but rather those who deny the centrality of the cross and the principles of grace that enter into Christian salvation and the Christian walk. He declares that the Judaizers in the Philippian church are enemies of the cross of Christ. It is apparent that he regards them as being outside the true body of Christ. Their end is described as that of destruction, and they themselves are pictured as utterly berefit of a true worship of God, substituting instead glorying in their own flesh.
The Hope Of Glory (3:20-21)
In contrast to this sad future for the enemies of the cross, the apostle in verses twenty and twenty-one holds before us the goal that is ours as Christians. He writes: “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
In the point of view expressed by Paul in this inspired Scripture our conversation or citizenship is not in this life, but is in heaven. The earthly phase of our experience is purely temporary, the goal is to be with the Lord forever. Accordingly, our hope is not simply deliverance from sin in this life or growth in grace or the knowledge of Christ, but our anticipation leaps forward to that day when we will see our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here again Paul has in mind the time of the resurrection of the righteous dead and the translation of the living saints. On that occasion he declares in verse twenty-one that our vile body, or body of humiliation, will be transformed and fashioned according to the pattern of the glorious resurrection body of Christ. This will be a demonstration of divine power of the One who is able to subdue all things unto Himself. Our present body will be transformed into a body that will last forever, a body that will not know pain, or disease, or sin. It will be a body that is timeless in its character and will never wear out. It will be suited in holiness for the glorious presence of the Lord. This does not mean that our bodies will have divine attributes such as God alone possesses, but our resurrection bodies will reflect to some extent the beauty, the glory, and the holiness which is in the resurrection body of our Lord in heaven.
With this thought before us, it is fitting to turn to the verse which opened this chapter where Paul said: “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.” We should keep on rejoicing in the Lord as our Savior who give us righteousness. We should rejoice in the Lord of experience, the One who manifests resurrection power, and the One who can give peace, joy, and victory over sin. Paul contemplates the fact that the day is coming when these hours of struggle for attainment and apprehension of Christ will be over, and we will stand as trophies of His grace in His presence.
Today with Paul we can share the experience of dissatisfaction with ourselves and at the same time complete satisfaction and trust in the Savior. That which is imperfect now will be replaced by perfection in the presence of the Lord. Ultimate victory for the Christian is assured, whether in the fulfillment of the hope of Paul we live until the day of the resurrection and the translation of the saints, or whether, like Paul, we leave behind our vile body and go immediately into the presence of the Lord through death. This important truth is Paul’s hope and the hope of all who claim Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
18 Translation from Gr. hegemai, meaning here to count or to regard. It is used in the perfect tense meaning that he has counted the things which were gain to him loss for Christ in the past and he still is doing so. The thought is reiterated in verse eight where in the expression “I count all things but loss” he uses the present tense, and in the latter part of the verse, “do count them but dung,” he uses the aorist indicating a definite act. The use of the three tenses emphasizes how completely he counted all things loss for Christ.
4. The God of Peace Shall Be With You
Article contributed by www.walvoord.com
Peace In The Church (4:1-5)
The opening verse of the fourth chapter of Philippians is at once the conclusion of the previous discussion and the introduction of a new subject. In the light of doctrinal confusion caused by false teachers in contrast to the wonderful hope to be found in Christ culminating in our glorification in heaven, the apostle continues with another word of exhortation to realize in experience the unity, joy, and peace of Christian fellowship. He writes: “Therefore, my brethren dearly longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.”
Though he had earlier referred to the church at Philippi as the object of his love and affection, he now uses more emphatic language to express his love for them. They are not only dearly beloved (Gr. agapetoi) in contrast to being merely brethren as he had previously addressed them, but they are longed for and his joy and crown.19 They are exhorted to stand fast in the Lord. At the close of the verse he repeats the appellation by way of emphasis: “My dearly beloved.” In every way he has manifested his love for them to an unusual degree. Even the expression “longed for” (Gr. epitothetoi) is found only here in the New Testament though it occurs occasionally in other Greek literature.
With this background of love and devotion expressed to the Philippian church, he introduces a word of entreaty to Euodias and Syntyche for which apparently he had been preparing the way in the previous references urging unity in the church. He writes: “I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.” The same thought of unity is found earlier in the epistle (1:9, 27; 2:14; 3:16). Though there is no explanation of the problem beyond that which is stated in the next verse, a reasonable deduction is that these two women in the church had contributed an element of disunity which the apostle wants them to correct by becoming of the same mind in the Lord. It would seem from the general tenor of the epistle that the difficulty was not deep-seated and did not constitute a major schism, but it is evident that there was some friction between them.
One of the realistic problems which must be faced in the church is that personalities which differ may sometimes introduce an element of disharmony. The fact that individuals are fellow members in the church of Jesus Christ does not automatically give them the same opinion, either in doctrinal or practical matters. Sometimes ambition, pride, and stubbornness can intrude. These matters, however, are not impossible for grace to conquer, and it is this approach that is taken by the apostle. Though they may not be of the same mind in many matters, they should seek to have the same mind in the Lord.
In a partial solution of the problem which may have been created by these two contending women, he addresses in verse three an entreaty to one described as his “true yokefellow.” Some have taken the word for yokefellow (Gr. sunzuge) as a proper name of an individual. If it is a reference to a general rather than a specific person, it leaves us without a definite clue. Though the most likely solution is that it is addressed to Epaphroditus who is going to carry the letter back to Philippi, other suggestions have been made such as Timothy, Silas, Paul’s wife, or the husbands of the two women named in verse two. Light-foot’s suggestion that it is Epaphroditus is probably the best interpretation.
More important than the identity of the one to whom this exhortation is addressed is the exhortation itself: “And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.” There perhaps had been a failure to recognize the proper place of women in the Philippian church, either by giving them undue place or insufficient recognition. Paul exhorts that those women who had labored with him in the gospel should have the sympathetic co-operation and help of the men in the church. Though their names are not mentioned, Paul assures us that their names are entered in the book of life along with other laborers.
The reference to the book of life is left without explanation and has been variously interpreted as containing the roll of the saints who have eternal life or as the book which contains the names of all men, but from which have been deleted those who reject Christ or who fail to be numbered among those who are saved (cf. Ex. 32:32; Dan. 12:1; Luke 10:20; Rev. 3:5; 13:8; 20:12). The clear implication here is that those who are mentioned are permanently inscribed in this record of the saints.
There is no implication in this passage that Paul is here authorizing women to take the place of men as preachers or evangelists. It is rather that in Scripture recognition is given to work properly assigned to women which is not properly assigned to men, and men are called to ministries that women are not. The principle guiding Paul’s exhortation is that every Christian, whether man or woman, should have his proper place and proper recognition in the Lord’s work.
In concluding this section on exhortation pertaining to unity and peace in the church, two important commands are given. “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” The theme of rejoicing introduced in chapter three, verse one, before taking up the subject of false teachers, is here reinforced by a double command. The use of the present imperative is emphatic. They were not only to rejoice, but they were to keep on rejoicing in the Lord at all times. This is so important that Paul repeats the command at the close of verse four.
There is an evident connection between rejoicing in the Lord and having peace and unity in the church. Both are products of fellowship with God, oneness of mind, and singleness of purpose in the Lord. To this exhortation he adds: “Let your moderation be known unto all men.” Translators have struggled to capture the meaning of this term translated moderation, and various alternatives have been suggested. One of the most accurate and significant is the expression “sweet reasonableness.” One possesses a sweet reasonableness who has the capacity of seeing things from another’s point of view. Such an attitude would help immeasurably in achieving peace and unity in a church fellowship.
The exhortation concludes with the simple declaration: “The Lord is at hand.” The significant fact of the Lord’s return mentioned in 3:20 has a tremendous effect on our judgment in matters facing spiritual decision. When problems are viewed from the standpoint of the imminent coming of the Lord, some things that formerly seemed important become unimportant, and others assume larger significance. Matters that pertain to eternity and which have eternal value tend to unify Christians in a common effort for the Lord.
Peace In The Heart (4:6-7)
The secret of peace in the church and unity of Spirit in spiritual matters is directly related, however, to peace in the heart of the individual believer. One of the major problems which faces the world in general as well as the individual believer in Christ is the matter of inner adjustment. The world as a whole is characterized by trouble, and problems both real and fancied plague the human heart. The world for all its scientific brilliance, its great scholars, and tremendous advance in many areas, has somehow not achieved a true ground for peace among nations, peace among individuals, or peace in the heart. On every hand there is evident tension and lack of peace is seen in the relationship between nations, the relationship between races, and even in the home. The many panaceas suggested fall far short of meeting the need. It should be obvious to any intelligent child of God that only by application of the Word of God can real peace be achieved. There is no peace for the wicked, and the Scriptures assure us that the way of the transgressor is hard.
It should be kept in mind that in addressing the Philippian church and exhorting them to peace of heart the apostle is building on the assumption that they already have received peace with God through personal faith in Jesus Christ. The only ground for real peace is one of individual relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. The basic requirement includes not only satisfaction of the righteous law of God through justification by faith, but the inner adjustment that is made possible by the new life in Christ Jesus and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit who alone can bring peace to troubled hearts.
It is nevertheless true, however, that Christians sometimes fall far short of experiencing the peace that could be theirs in Christ. Many genuine Christians never enter into the truth that God can give them peace, and for this reason they continue in a struggle with a strain and stress which God never intended them to have. Paul had established a standard of peace in the church and the goal of having one mind. Now he desires that Christians should also have the peace of God which passeth understanding.
It is with the purpose that the Philippian believers might know the reality of the peace of God that he exhorts them in verses six and seven: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” In exhorting the Philippian church that they should be careful for nothing, the apostle does not mean that they should be without care or careless. It is rather that they should in nothing be filled with anxious care but rather should present their needs to the Lord in prayer.
Three words are used for prayer. The first is a reference to prayer in general (Gr. proseuche). It is an approach to God which recognizes His infinity, His power, and His majesty. To this is added “supplication” (Gr. deesei) which has the thought of asking for specific things or the presentation of our needs. The third word, “requests,” (Gr. aitemata) is a word which sums up the items included in the two previous words for prayer and implies that divine action in answer to prayer is anticipated. The extent of the prayer life is defined by the phrase “in everything,” constituting an important reminder that lack of peace often results from lack of faithfulness in presenting to God in prayer the little things which constitute the frustrations and annoyances of life. It is only as every need is presented that God is given proper ground for granting peace in every respect. Appending the prayer, however, is the voice of praise indicated in the phrase “with thanksgiving.” This is at once a recognition of the grace of God, but is also the expression of faith that the God who has answered prayer in the past will continue to answer prayer in the future.
The question has often been raised, Why is it necessary to pray if God knows all about our life and our needs? Why is it necessary for the believer to exercise his privilege in prayer? The complete answer may not be given in the Word of God, but it is clear that God expects His children to pray and to present in detail the needs of their lives. It is also clear that the gracious provision of God is sometimes withheld because of failure on the part of the believer to come to God faithfully in prayer. Answers to prayer hang upon a simple human condition: “Let your requests be made known unto God.” This is then eloquently expressed in the familiar hymn: “Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain, we bear, All because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.”
The exhortation is followed by the promise of verse seven: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” It is of course true that much can be learned by the application of ordinary psychology to the mental and intellectual problems of life. Undoubtedly Christians do not always employ common sense in approaching their problems. Sometimes even those who are not Christians can achieve a relatively sane attitude toward life and an adjustment to their difficult circumstances even apart from divine enablement.
In this passage, however, Paul is not referring to a peace of God which is derived from human reasoning or proper application of psychology. He specifically claims that the peace of God is an experience over and beyond any ordinary step toward mental health. It is not simply a balanced mind or looking at life from the standpoint of common sense. It is not to be defined as reducing our problems to proper dimensions and taking steps to solve them. Here he is talking about a peace that defies the psychologist, a peace which is beyond human understanding, a peace that is contradiction to common sense. It is a peace that can be achieved in the midst of trouble with problems unsolved, with the future unknown. It is the kind of peace that keeps not only the heart, the seat of human personality and feelings of love and emotions, but it keeps also our minds.
As the child of God faces the intellectual problems of life, the decisions that must be made and situations for which there does not seem to be any reasonable solution, he can still have the peace that passeth understanding. It is not derived from unusual analysis of his problems, nor peculiar insight. It is a peace which passeth understanding which is derived through his relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. Though the unbelieving world and many false religions offer a counterfeit peace, there is no substitute or equal to the peace of God. It is the fruit of the Spirit, a heart at rest in complete confidence, fellowship, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is truly a peace of God, not a peace of man. It is the right and privilege of every child of God to have this blessed experience.
Peace With God (4:8-9)
In verses eight and nine of the fourth chapter of Philippians the apostle unfolds the doctrine of peace as it relates to the believer’s fellowship with the Lord. Though every Christian has peace with God in the sense that he is in Christ and no longer at emnity with God, many times that experience of peace does not include as it should a proper relationship experimentally with the Lord. The life of peace has not only the factors of faith and trust and resulting tranquillity of soul, but it involves also great moral issues without which there can be no experience of peace.
It is with this thought that the apostle exhorts the church at Philippi in verses eight and nine in these words: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” It is clear from this exhortation that the experience of peace in our relationship to God involves a mental approach and a moral life that is in contrast to that of the world.
Paul begins by mentioning that our minds should be fixed on that which is true in contrast to that which is false, on things that are honest or honorable, on things that are just or right, on things that are pure in a moral sense, on things that are lovely, that is, attractive to the spiritual mind, on things of good report, that is, things that are judged good by our fellow Christians. If there is any virtue, i.e., moral excellence or any item worthy of praise, these should be the objects of our meditation. In a word, the apostle exhorts the Philippian believers to being occupied mentally with the things of God, thereby providing the proper soil for the nurture of the soul and the experience of the peace of God. Further, he concludes that they should follow the example of Paul and do those things which they have learned, received, heard, and seen in him. He assures them that if they follow this instruction and this program of life that the God of peace would be with them. He does not imply that these are necessary to avoid abandonment by God, but it is rather that God would manifest Himself to them as the giver of perfect peace.
In the upper room the Lord told His disciples: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” These memorable words define what is meant by the peace of God. Christ in the shadow of the cross, in the hour of great agony of soul as He contemplated becoming the sin offering for the whole world, could nevertheless speak of “my peace.” He referred to the peace of God, that peace which rests in unlimited measure in the heart of God and is realized by the believer as he puts confidence in a God of wisdom, a God of love, and a God of power. It is a peace that comes from dependence upon a God who knows the end from the beginning, who does all things well, and will not permit in the life of His children anything that will not work out for eternal good. The peace of God, which is described by Paul as beyond understanding, becomes the possession of the child of God when he is willing to rest his burden with the Lord and find the divine grace which is bestowed through the Holy Spirit.
Contentment In All Circumstances (4:10-13)
In the closing portion of his Epistle to the Philippians, the apostle discusses the main purpose and occasion of the epistle, that is, the recognition of the gift the Philippian church had sent to him by the hands of Epaphroditus. His joy at their gift and the thoughtfulness and love it reflected is described and made the occasion for a discussion of the proper attitude of a Christian toward physical things. He opens the discussion in verse ten by writing: “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.”
It might have been expected that the Philippian church would have communicated to Paul’s needs if he had been in jail at Philippi, but the long distance between Philippi and Rome did not give them opportunity to minister to him, and it is to this he refers. The fact that they had gone to such effort to send him an offering by the hand of one of their beloved brethren in the church at Philippi touched Paul’s heart and gave him great encouragement in the lonely hours of his imprisonment.
Paul wants, however, to make it plain to the Philippian church that his joy is not occasioned primarily by the physical benefit he derived. It would not have been impossible for him to go on without their help. Therefore he is careful to state in verses eleven and twelve: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both20 to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”
As is made clear by the life and testimony of the Apostle Paul, these words are not an idle boast, but a sober statement of life principle. In many years of suffering deprivation because of his loyalty to the Lord, he had learned to adjust to any situation and to be content with it as that which God had provided for him. In his experience he had had all the vicissitudes of life. He had on occasion been abased, and on others had abounded. At times he had had plenty, and at other times had been hungry and suffered need. The apostle is mentioning this not only to clarify his own motives in receiving their gift but also in the hope that they would share with him the same attitude toward life. The secret of his contentment was not simply resolution of character, but is revealed in verse thirteen in the simple affirmation: “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened! me.” In other words, his ability to withstand suffering and endure privation did not arise in his own character, but instead was a testimony to the power and grace of Christ operating in him.
Though he was sufficient by the grace of God to do without things when this was necessary, he wanted it to be understood that this was accomplished by the power of Christ which was also available to them.
Thanksgiving For Their Gift (4:14-18)
In verse fourteen he assures them that nevertheless God was working in their loving gift which they had communicated to him. He writes: “Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.” The word translated “communicate” has the thought of fellowship or sharing. Through their gift they had not only communicated to Paul a share of their temporal goods, but had in measure shared with him his trials.
The gift of the Philippian church was all the more remarkable because it was not the first gift they had sent. He bears testimony in verse fifteen to their earlier love gifts: “Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.” In verse sixteen he mentions that while he was in Thessalonica, even though his stay there was so short, they had sent more than one gift. “For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.” Considering the many friends of the Apostle Paul and the many churches to which he ministered, it is no less than remarkable that none of them undertook to care for Paul in temporal things like the Philippian church. It therefore was not simply the physical benefit that was derived, but the thoughtfulness and love which it reflected that moved the Apostle Paul to write these tender words of appreciation.
In discussing the matter the apostle again makes clear that it is not the gift in which he is interested primarily, but in the giver. In verse seventeen he wrote: “Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.” Then, lest it should be thought that the apostle was indulging in any self-pity, he describes their offering in glowing terms as having met completely his need. “But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.” It would seem to indicate from this description that their gift was a generous one and one that met his immediate financial needs, but Paul is mostly concerned with the nature of the offering which he describes as an odor of sweet smell, an acceptable sacrifice, and one that is well-pleasing to God, and similar to the sweet-savor offerings of the Old Testament. Paul uses the same expression for sacrifices that are well-pleasing to God as is mentioned in Hebrews 13:16.
If the Philippian church is here commended because of its gift to the Apostle Paul, it should be clear that the principle of faithful stewardship on the part of churches in support of Christian workers is also commended. Though sacrifice is inevitable in any true service for God, it is not to be one-sided. Those who dedicate their lives like Paul should not be expected to bear a disproportionate share of the sacrifice, but the churches that are served or represented by the Lord’s servant should, like the church at Philippi bring their offerings as an acceptable sacrifice in which God is well pleased. Such an offering as described is similar to the sweet savor which ascended from the altar of sacrifice or the altar of incense and was accepted by God as a most commendable work. It is remarkable that a God who possesses all earthly things can be impressed by the temporal gifts of His children. It is not the amount or character of the gift that is important. It is the love and devotion it reflects. In giving a love token to one of infinite wealth the value of the gift is insignificant. The thoughtfulness, love, and motives that prompt the gift are by far more important. The widow’s mite is noticed by an infinite God who ignores the gifts without sacrifice of the rich.
Assurance Of Divine Supply (4:19-20)
Though Paul could give to the Philippian church no monetary gift in return, he gives them a promise worth infinitely more as recorded in verses nineteen and twenty: “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” The Philippian church had been faithful with what God had committed to them. Now they were given in return the promise that God would supply their needs.
One of the questions which face all donors who give of their substance to the Lord is whether they will ever need it themselves. To human wisdom the future is unknown, and there may be troubles and unexpected needs ahead. Every act of giving is by its very nature an act of faith. The Philippians are assured that their act of faith will be rewarded. God will supply all their needs. This does not mean necessarily that they would be unduly wealthy, but that there would be manifested in their physical as well as their spiritual lives the evident supply of the Lord.
There is no better way to be assured of God’s care in the future on the part of the child of God than to have the conviction that he is being faithful with what God is giving to him at the present. God may not always award His children distinctive temporal gifts, but it is impossible to be a faithful steward without just recompense from a faithful God. God may not give us all our desires or even what we consider to be wants, but He will supply our needs.
The pattern of divine giving is also stated graphically in this passage as being according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. It is another way of saying that God will give according to His own infinite ability to give, according to His infinite love, and according to His infinite grace. Though all we give to God necessarily has been given to us by God and we are only stewards of all we possess, it is nevertheless true that God will repay a hundredfold every act of devotion, every gift of sacrifice, and that He will pay accounts in full, not only in this life but in the life to come. Both the gift and its reward, however, fit into the larger pattern of bringing glory to the Lord, and with this he concludes the exhortation of the book: “Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Salutations And Benedictions (4:21-23)
In the closing verses of this epistle Paul addresses greetings to the saints: “Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you. All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” Though many of Paul’s friends were far removed from him in distance, he was not without fellowship with the believers in Rome. These brethren joined with him in greetings to the Philippian church. Of particular interest, however, is the fact that joining with the others are some who are members of Caesar’s household, undoubtedly trophies of grace won through his faithful witness as a prisoner in the city of Rome. They too sent their greetings to the Philippian church as if to say that their presence is another evidence of the faithfulness of God in using the witness of the apostle.
As Paul closes the epistle he pronounces the usual benediction: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” Above all else he wanted the grace of God to be experienced by the Philippian church, to be manifested in their lives and testimony, and to cause the fruit of the gospel to abound in them.
19 Gr. Stephanos, a crown given to a victor in an athletic contest to be contrasted to diadema, the crown of a ruler.
20 Gr. memuemai, to learn or be initiated in a secret, to be initiated.
1. Salvation in Relation to the Coming of the Lord
Article contributed by www.walvoord.com
First Thessalonians 1:1-10
Background of the Epistle
Thessalonica in the time of Paul was a thriving commercial town astride an important trade route. It had been founded in 316B.c.by Cassander, King of Macedonia, who named it in honor of his wife, Thessalonica, the half sister of the famous Alexander the Great. Like Esther and Ruth in the Old Testament, the Thessalonian epistles trace their name to a famous woman.
When the Apostle Paul accompanied by Silas and Timothy entered Thessalonica, it was probably the first gospel witness ever given there. Acts seventeen records the amazing results of their ministry of less than a month. In those few short weeks, a small group of Thessalonians came to know Jesus Christ as Savior. Persecution that broke out almost immediately forced Paul and his companions to leave after ministering for three Sabbath days. Some months later, after he had heard of their continued faithfulness to Christ in the midst of persecution, Paul sent them this communication known to us as his First Epistle to the Thessalonians, in which he gives them encouragement and reminds them of his love and faithful prayer for them.
Remarkable Features of the Epistle
There are a number of reasons why First Thessalonians is of special interest to believers in Christ today. One of the important reasons is that it is the first inspired letter written by Paul. As a letter addressed to young Christians, it is significant of the rich doctrinal content of Pauline teaching. Many important truths pertaining to the Christian life are unfolded in the letter, and in every chapter the theme of the coming of the Lord is prominent.
The first chapter unfolds the great theme of the Lord’s coming in relation to salvation. In Chapter 2 the Lord’s coming in relation to Christian service is presented. Chapter 3 relates sanctification to the Lord’s coming. In Chapter 4 the Lord’s coming is revealed as the surety of resurrection of our loved ones who have died in Christ. Chapter 5, which concludes the epistle, deals with the safety of the believer in the days of the wrath of God preceding the second coming of Christ. Throughout the epistle the theme of the coming of the Lord is related to practical Christian living.
The richness of the teaching of the Apostle Paul is evident as we study First Thessalonians. Though the Thessalonians were young Christians with less than a year of Christian experience, nevertheless they were familiar with the great and deep truths of the Christian faith, such as salvation, sanctification, assurance, the Trinity, the nature of man, resurrection, and the Day of the Lord. It is hard to realize as one reads First Thessalonians that the Christians to whom it was addressed had no New Testament. It is doubtful if they had any large portion of the Old Testament. They were immature Christians, with many trials and difficulties, and enduring much persecution. In the midst of their tribulations some of their number had gone on to be with the Lord, and with this in view Paul is writing them this letter of comfort, exhortation, and instruction.
Opening Salutation
Chapter 1 opens with a very simple salutation: “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians.” It is noteworthy that here, just as in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, there is an absence of all apostolic titles. There are only the simple names, Paul, and Silvanus—which was just another name for Silas—and Timotheus, which was another name for Timothy. The three of them had been the ones who had given the gospel to the Thessalonians. Timothy later had made one trip back to Thessalonica and had reported to Paul concerning what he had discovered (1 Thess. 3:1-6). The report was an epic of the steadfastness and faithfulness of the Thessalonian Christians. Paul was told that in spite of persecution the Thessalonians had a good testimony for Jesus Christ and were bearing high the gospel message.
Grace and Peace
In the first verse of First Thessalonians there is quite a contrast between what the church at Thessalonica was as far as state is concerned— that is, persecution, uncertainty, and trouble — and the position that they had in Christ. Paul addresses them as the church of the Thessalonians which is “in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Nothing could change their position—it included everything that was theirs because of being in Christ. It was true no matter what happened. But they needed more than this position.
Paul prays for them: “Grace be unto you, and peace.” How rich are the simple words “grace” and “peace.” Those without grace and peace are in utter poverty though they may possess all the riches of the world. Those with grace and peace are infinitely rich, though enduring persecution and sorrow, like the Thessalonians. Grace expressed the whole of God’s love and favor in Christ. Peace with God and the peace of God is the priceless possession of the child of God. What richer jewels from God’s treasures could be asked for anyone than “grace” and “peace”? While in a sense they already had grace and peace, they needed its manifestation, its experience, its triumph.
Thanks to God Always
The Apostle begins with a burst of praise, more or less the theme of the whole epistle, his thankfulness to God for saving these Thessalonians through faith in Christ. He breathed out from his very heart in verse 2:’ ‘We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.” Again something of the faithfulness of the prayer ministry of the Apostle Paul is indicated: “We give thanks to God always.” In the days and the months which had passed since he left this little band of Thessalonians Paul had been faithful in prayer. What a rebuke it is to many of us who serve the Lord that often our hearts are not burdened with the needs of God’s people nor thankful for the Lord’s grace in their lives, especially when they are out of sight and out of mind. But Paul gives his testimony: “We give thanks to God always for you all.”
This expression “for you all” is a very significant one. “You all” is used in the southern United States as an expansive, general expression referring to one person or many. Paul, however, uses it very accurately here. He was thanking God for all of them. In each life and heart the Spirit of God had wrought His work in such a way that souls had been saved and were now bearing a faithful testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ. He did not thank God for only some of them, but he thanked God for all of them. As we consider our own life and testimony, do our pastors and our Sunday school teachers—those with whom we work in Christian service—thank God for us always? Certainly there is a challenge to be like the Thessalonian Christians and so to live before God and our fellow Christians that they may thank God always for us.
Remembering Without Ceasing
As Paul thanked God he prayed, “making mention of you in our prayers.” As he prayed for the Thessalonians he rehearsed some of the great realities that comprise the salvation of the believer. The remaining verses of Chapter 1 constitute a simple outline. First of all, in verse 3, Paul remembers what God has done through them and in them. Second, in verses 4-9, on the basis of what God has done, Paul knows certain things. Third, in verse 10 he expresses the hope of Christian salvation.
As he recalled his experiences with these Christians at Thessalonica, he states in verse 3: “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.” There are three famous words in this verse, “faith, hope, love.” Paul is not thanking the Lord simply because in the Thessalo-nians there was faith and hope and love, which certainly ought to characterize every Christian. He is thanking God for what these three things had produced.
It is impossible to see faith, or love, or hope; they are immaterial things. But they can be manifested in a very definite physical way. It is this of which he speaks. “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith.” Sometimes works and faith are contrasted, but here they are one and the same. A true faith is manifested in what we do. A true faith produces works. That is why James writes that faith without works is dead. It is not that works is a substitute for faith, but true faith in Christ will bring a real salvation which will in turn change the works of the believer in Christ. Not only was there a work of faith, but there was a labor of love. Love is more than a sentiment. It is a driving force in the heart of the believer who loves the Lord, and because he loves the Lord he is willing to labor; he is willing to work where it is difficult; he is willing to bear the burden.
Added to the labor of love was hope, and not simply hope, but hope that produced patience. What kind of hope is it that produces patience? The kind of hope that produces patience is a calm, sure, trusting hope. The reason that Christians can have patience in hope is because they are sure that our hope in Christ will be fulfilled. Thus it was in the Thessalonian church. They not only hoped in God but hope wrought patience in their hearts even in the time of trial and affliction which had overtaken them.
Verse 3 concludes with something that is most significant. It tells us that Paul regards their work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ not simply as he saw these things, but as they were in the sight of God and our Father. This brings us to a very pointed question which every one of us can ask ourselves: “What does God see in our hearts?” A real trust in Him? A real love for Him? A real hope for that which is a part of our Christian faith? Paul saw the outward evidence of these things, but God looks at the heart. Paul was able to commend these Christians in Thessalonica as he remembered not only what he saw, but what he knew that God saw in their hearts and lives.
Knowing Your Election
The second great theme of Paul’s thankfulness to God was what he knew about them. There were some things that he knew about these Thessalonian believers because they had trusted in God and received His wonderful salvation. In verse 4 attention is called to this: “Knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election” (A.S. V.). How can a person know that somebody else is one of the elect of God? It was amazing that the Thessalonian Christians had been instructed in this doctrine of election, considering the short time that Paul and the others had ministered to them. Many Christians who have gone to church all their lives in our modern day know very little about the doctrine of election. The Bible indicates that God not only saves us, but that He chose us before the foundation of the world. It is a doctrine often not understood completely but believed because the Bible teaches it. Christians are the elect of God because God chose them before they chose Him. But how can anyone know the elect of God? Who of us have ever seen the Book of Life? How can one really know that his brethren are the elect of God?
Basis of Assurance
The verses which follow give the basis of Paul’s faith in connection with the Thessalonian Christians and, at the same time, give the basis for our faith and assurance that God is able to save those who trust in Christ. In verse 5 Paul writes: “Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.” In other words, one of the reasons why he believed that they were really saved and why he knew their election was of God was the way the gospel came to them. It came in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance—literally, “in full measure.” It had not been simply an emotional experience nor had they been swept off their feet by Paul’s oratory. This was unmistakably the power of the Holy Spirit at work. Further, it had been confirmed by the way Paul and his companions had lived among them. He reminds them of this when he goes on, “as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.” The power of God had been clearly manifested in their lives as well as in their testimony.
The crowning evidence was in the way the Word was received. It is one thing to preach the Word; it is another thing to receive the Word. In verse 6 there are three things noted concerning the way they received the Word. First, they received it in such a way that they became followers of Paul, “Ye became followers of us, and of the Lord.” Second, they received the Word in much affliction. They did not receive the Word because it was easy to receive; they received it in spite of the persecution they knew would follow. Third, they received the Word with joy of the Holy Ghost. In other words, in spite of affliction, in spite of trial, there was the evidence of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. They had the unspeakable joy of the Holy Spirit. The Word was received in such a way that they knew and Paul knew that they were really saved.
Resulting Life of Testimony
Then, we have the capstone of it all. The Thessalonians not only had the Word come to them, they not only had received the Word of God, but their salvation was manifested in their life and testimony. In other words, as they had really trusted in Christ, it resulted in such a transformation of their lives that they became examples to all who believe. Verses 7 and 8 summarize it, “So that ye were ensamples [literally, types or examples] to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia [that was the area in which they lived], but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.”
In other words, Paul was not required to tell people about how wonderfully God had been working in the Thessalonian church. The testimony went out everywhere without his help. One of the reasons for this was that Thessalonica was on a trade route, and people passing through Thessalonica came in contact with the aggressive evangelism and testimony of these Christians who lived in Thessalonica. In our day many folks come and go in our cities and towns and never come in contact with any vital Christianity. That apparently was not true in Thessalonica, for as the word spread it was widely known that God had done a wonderful work. The Thessalonians were preaching the Word, and everywhere the testimony of their faith to God was spread abroad.
Turning to God From Idols
Paul was told how God had worked in the Thessalonians. It had resulted in their turning to God from idols to serve the living and the true God. This is a very accurate expression and one that we should understand. It does not say that they turned from idols to God. Rather, they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. It was not reformation first and faith in Christ second, but it was faith in Christ first with the result that idols were forsaken. The tense of the word turned, as it is found in the Greek New Testament, is in the aorist which means that they turned once for all. It was a single, definite act. In a single, deliberate choice, they turned to God from idols. It was not simply that they were trusting God but the result of it was that they served the living and the true God. As Paul thinks on the faith and testimony of these Thessalonian Christians, young as they were, ignorant of many truths that we know today, there was, nevertheless, assurance in his heart that they were really saved. He knew that they were brethren beloved of God; he knew their election of God by the evidence of the transforming work of salvation manifested in their changed lives.
Waiting for His Son from Heaven
Not only did these believers have salvation in this wonderful manifestation, but they also had a glorious hope. One of the most precious things about the Christian hope is that it goes on and on and on. It is not something only for the present, but it is something for the future. In verse 10 the truth of the Lord’s coming is introduced—a truth prominent in First Thessalonians in succeeding chapters.
It is significant that Paul in such a brief period of ministry not only led them out of darkness into the light in the gospel, but also faithfully preached to them the truth of the coming of the Lord. By contrast today, some folks who go to church year after year never hear the precious truth that Christ who came to Bethlehem so long ago is coming again and that we can be looking for that wonderful return of the Lord for His own. So in verse 10 he reminds the believers in Thessalonica that they not only have turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God—a present work—but they also have a new hope for the future: “And to wait for His Son from heaven.” The word “wait” is in the present tense. They had turned to God in one act, but there remained the constant, day by day expectation. In other words, they were constantly looking for the return of the Lord, the coming of the Lord for His saints.
Delivered From Wrath
The chapter closes with the reminder that the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is coming, the one “whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus,” the Savior, “delivered us from the wrath to come.” In one short verse there are gathered the great doctrines of the second coming of Christ, “waiting for His Son from heaven”; the resurrection of Christ, “whom he raised from the dead”; and the salvation that Christ wrought in His first coming when He died on the cross, “which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
Wrath is coming! The closing chapter of First Thessalonians brings this very graphically before us. There is a day of judgment coming. There is a time when God is going to judge this sinful world. Christ on Calvary nineteen hundred years ago delivered us from the wrath to come, that is, He delivered all who would trust in Him, all who would receive the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior. These Thessalonians who lived so long ago had come into the glorious truth that Christ had died for them. They were delivered from the wrath to come. For them the coming of the Lord was a glorious event to which they could look with keen anticipation and with hearts that were filled with expectation.
The Challenge
This first chapter of First Thessalonians constitutes a real challenge to every thinking Christian. It is first of all a challenge for us to ask, “What do people think of us when they pray for us?” Do they remember our work of faith, our labor of love, and our patience of hope? When they think of us, are they assured of our salvation? Do they see in our lives the evidence that the Word of God has come in power, that we have been transformed, that we have been made followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we exercise our faith in the midst of affliction, that we have the evidence of the joy of the Holy Spirit and a transformed life so that our testimony is spread abroad? Is that true of us? And is it true of us, like the Thessalonians, that there is the living hope of the coming of the Lord, the same one who loved us, who died for our sins that He might deliver us from the wrath to come, and who was raised in victory over the grave? Yes, this letter was written many years ago, to Christians who long since have left the earthly scene, but the truth lives on. May the truth of this chapter not only live in the written pages of the Word of God, but may it be manifested in our hearts and in our daily lives.
Questions
1. What do we know about the background of Thessalonica and the situation there when Paul arrived?
2. Why is 1 Thessalonians of special interest?
3. What five words characterize the five chapters of 1 Thessalonians?
4. How would you contrast the state and position of the Thessalonians?
5. How is Paul an example to us in thanksgiving and prayer?
6. What was the basis of Paul’s assurance of their salvation?
7. What did Paul reveal to them concerning the nature of their hope?
2. Serving the Coming Lord
Article contributed by www.walvoord.com
First Thessalonians 2:1-20
Salvation First
Over the first chapter the word “salvation” was written because this letter would never have been written if the Thessalonians had not trusted in the Lord Jesus. It was the beginning of vital living for God, of entering into eternal things. It is a reminder, of course, that one does not begin living until he is saved by trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. Life begins when that greatest of all decisions is made of trusting in Jesus Christ as personal Savior.
There are many today who have religion, that is, they go to church and engage in religious activities. But it is only too true that many have only the outer appearance of Christianity and have never come to real faith in Jesus Christ as personal Savior. The Thessalonians were not guilty of superficial religion, however. They had really trusted Christ and their lives had been transformed. The fact of their salvation lays the foundation for the truths which are revealed in the chapters which follow.
A Success Story
Over Chapter 2 can be written a very common word, “service.” The chapter reveals how to serve God both by precept and by Paul’s dynamic example. Chapter 2 of First Thessalonians is a “success story.” Paul had done something that was quite phenomenal. He had come to a town where there was not a single Christian. He had gone into the Jewish synagogue and there had preached the gospel. He had preached also to Gentiles in their homes. In three weeks this dynamic person by the grace of God had founded a new church—a church which has come down through the centuries to us as an example of faith and faithfulness. How did he do it?
There are many communities in America that need desperately churches bearing a real testimony for Christ. Can we have such churches? The answer is found in the second chapter of First Thessalonians. Paul begins chapter 2 with the fact of their testimony being used of God: “For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain.” God had undertaken for them and blessed the message and souls were saved. In verse 2 the secret of it is revealed.
Boldness in Testimony
Over the first two verses of the second chapter we can write the word boldness. One of the reasons why Paul was successful was that he was bold. If he had gone to Thessalonica and had failed to preach the gospel, the probability is that in three weeks he would not have made much of an impression. If he had not told anyone about the Lord Jesus Christ, if he had not proclaimed boldly that Christ was the only Savior, that Christ loved the world, that He died for the world, that they could be saved only by trusting in the risen Savior, he would not have had one convert.
Boldness in Spite of Suffering
The first point in effective service for God is boldness, a boldness made more significant by subjection to suffering. Paul and Silas had come from Philippi where they had been thrown into prison, and beaten, and had suffered for the gospel’s sake. When Paul came to Thessalonica, instead of saying “I have suffered enough”—as some Christians might have done—he spoke boldly. Hence in verse 2 we read, “Even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.”
The word that is translated “bold” comes from a Greek word of eight syllables, eparresiasametha. It is a long word. It means to be bold in the sense of speaking out publicly, of making a public declaration. It is possible to be a secret believer. Undoubtedly, some are saved that have not told very many about it. But secret believers do not lead souls to Christ. The way to lead people to Christ is to be bold, to proclaim the gospel. This is the basic program of the present dispensation.
Boldness with Agony of Heart
Paul was called to preach and he preached boldly, “with much contention.” The word which is translated “contention” is agoni. It is the word from which we get agony. There was an agony of soul in Paul as he preached the gospel. To be effective in our testimony, to be successful even by worldly standards, it is necessary to have a boldness inspired by an agony of heart. This does not mean that one should be tactless, or without common sense in the approach, but there must be a bold witness for Jesus Christ.
Preaching the Pure Word
In 1 Thessalonians 2:3-6, the character of Paul’s preaching is graphically portrayed. One of the tragedies of our day, as all true Bible students know, is that some preaching is not according to the Word of God. Like the ancient Bereans, modern Christians need to search the Scriptures, testing the message by the Book. By this standard, Paul’s preaching rang true. This was evident first by the things that were not true about his preaching. In verse 3 Paul writes, “Our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile.” In other words, it was pure in its content and in its intent. It was pure in the sense that there was no deceit or, literally, no error. There was no uncleanness or impurity of motive either.
Danger of Adulterating the Word
Sometimes truth is mixed with error. In fact, the most dangerous kind of preaching is that which is partly true. But Paul said, “my message was not just partly true. It is without error. It has no deceit in it. It is the pure truth. It is not adulterated by human philosophy and human speculation.” It was, then, God’s message to them concerning Christ.
Paul goes on to a further claim: his message was also without guile—that is, Paul did not come to trick them and to use methods that were questionable. He did not try to get a superficial decision for Christ, but he laid down plainly before them the truth of the gospel and the issues of heaven and hell that were concerned. The result was that when they trusted in Christ it was a clear-cut decision which resulted in a real testimony that stood the test in the days that followed. It depended upon the purity of the message in both its content and intent.
Pleasing God
It is also brought out that Paul was a faithful servant of God as he preached. “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.” The final test of every life and of every message or sermon is “What does God think about it?” The judgment of God is not always according to the judgment of men. Men may judge a message by its interest, its literary quality, the words delivered, its intelligence, the fact that the speaker revealed great background of knowledge in his subject, or by the skill with which it was delivered. When a preacher delivers a message for God it should be just as good as he can make it. On the other hand, God is primarily concerned with the message itself. Is it true? The most beautifully delivered sermon that is not true, that is not God’s message, is useless in the hands of God.
The ultimate test of a message is, does it please God? That is true for the preacher, for the Sunday school teacher, or the personal worker. There is no more acid test of any service that is rendered for God than the question, “Is it pleasing to God?” Our little houses of self-praise and self-gratification tumble in a moment when we stop to consider “What does God think about it?” As Paul preached he said, “I was not trying to please you Thessalonians; I did not come here to impress upon you that I was a great pulpit orator, or a great missionary, or a great scholar. I was here because I was seeking to please God.” Certainly this is a standard to challenge every thoughtful Christian.
Twin Evils of Flattery and Covetousness
Paul reveals how this worked out in verse 5: “Neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness.” In this verse is seen, as was mentioned earlier, in Chapter 1, that Paul appeals sometimes to the outward, i.e., what man can see; sometimes he appeals to what God can see. It is not difficult for us to identify flattery. We all know people who are flatterers, and sometimes we like to listen to them. Some people delight to be told, “My, you look so young,” and to hear the comment that they look fifteen years younger than they actually are. The flesh loves flattery. But Paul said, “I did not come to you Thessalonians and say, What outstanding citizens you are! What beautiful characters you are! Folks as good as you are ought to be trusting Christ.” No, he did not use any flattery. He told them the hard truth, that they were lost sinners, that they were bound for hell, that they needed a Savior desperately, that their religion such as they had was not enough. They needed Christ; they needed His glorious salvation. There was no flattery in that, was there? That was the truth. He said, “I did not come to flatter you; I came to deliver a message from God.” He reminds them of the fact that they knew it. There was no one in Thessalonica who thought of Paul as a flatterer.
But when it came to covetousness, there was something that pertains to the heart. It is not always apparent whether a person is covetous or not. It is difficult to determine whether one is serving you to make money or whether he is honestly trying to help you without covetousness. Paul does something here which is certainly the application of the acid test. He calls God to witness. “As God is my witness, I did not come here to make merchandise of you; I did not come because you promised me an honorarium, or a high salary, or any of the things that pertain to the comforts of life. I did not come that way to you and you know it. God is witness that my heart was right in this thing.” Not only was his message pure in its content, but his whole purpose was pure in the sight of God. That, of course, was one of the reasons God could use him.
Renunciation of the Honor of Men
Verse 6 adds another important factor: “Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.” In other words, Paul could have come to the Thessalonians and expanded his chest and said, “I am an apostle and you must recognize my high office because God has sent me.” He could have told them he had the right to order them around, but he said, “I did not come in that spirit. I did not come to be honored by you. I came because I had a message, because I wanted to help you, because you needed the Savior.” Certainly that is the secret of effective Christian testimony. Boldness, having our hearts right before God, delivering God’s message in its purity and in its power, seeking not our own advantage but seeking the glory and the approbation of God—that is the secret of Paul’s success.
Loving the People of God
Through verse 6 Paul has itemized the things that he did not do. He was not covetous or deceitful and he did not have errors in his message. In verse 7 and through verse 12 we have what he did do—the positive side of his message. There is a danger of regarding Christianity as a negative standard. We should not do this; we should not do that; we should not do something else. There are bona fide negatives in the Christian faith. If one is going to have a real testimony for Christ, there are some things he cannot do. But Christianity does not consist in negatives. Christianity consists in what one believes, in the life one lives and in the service one renders. Paul is revealing here the secret why he was so effective in this Thessalonian church.
In verses 7-8 Paul shows his loving care for them: “But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: so being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.” Here is the compassionate heart that made possible the successful ministry of Paul.
In our service for God have we lost our heart? Sometimes we do things for God because it is our duty. If we cannot do it for any other reason, let us do it as our duty. But certainly there is something deeper than that. Paul had come to this city of Thessalonica, to those he had never seen before. But how he loved them now as trophies of grace! As a parent loves his child he loved these little ones of Christ.
Paul was taking care of them just as a nurse takes care of her children. Literally, the expression is a “nurse taking care of her own children.” A professional nurse will often do a good job of taking care of someone else’s child because she believes in a certain professional standard of duty. But if it is her own child, that makes a tremendous difference. All the technicalities now become tremendously important and she is willing, if necessary, to give her own life, as Paul says he is willing to do for the Thessalonians. Paul is revealing the compassion, the burning heart that he has as he deals with these whom he had led to know Jesus Christ as Savior.
Laboring Night and Day
Paul reminds the Thessalonians also in verse 9 how he had labored in their midst: “Ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.” Paul did not have a forty-hour week. When it came to 4:30 or 5:00 o’clock, he did not say, “Now the rest of the day is mine; I can do with it as I please.” No, Paul was a bondslave of Jesus Christ. He was under orders like a soldier whether it was eight hours or twelve hours or twenty-four hours. Paul was on duty, and as he realized that his time was short he “laboured night and day.”
In apostolic times it was customary to stop work when darkness came and go to bed. When a person labored night and day it was the unusual thing, but that was what Paul did. Many a lonely hour in the night he was trying to help some soul come to Christ, to understand the tremendous issues that were latent in the gospel message, and praying with them. He was laboring night and day. There was many a late hour when Paul was alone on his knees before God getting the power and strength and the wisdom to know what to do the next day as he sought to be a true servant of God. The Christian life is not a continuous vacation. Christians should have vacations even as Christ took His disciples off to rest awhile. But the Christian life should not be a question of doing as little as possible. Rather like Paul our lives should be poured out in service for the Lord.
Inverses 10-11 he reminds them of his faithful labors: “Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe: as ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children.” Earlier Paul used the figure of a nurse caring for her child, a mother’s love if you please; now he turns to a different figure, a father’s love for his children. Both were true in the Apostle’s heart. His labor and his ministry were honorable before God who sees the heart. Seeking to win others for Christ is not only a matter of boldness in the spoken message. There must also be the attendant life of testimony for God. Few Christians realize how many are watching them to discover in their lives the answer to the question of whether Christianity is real, whether it really satisfies, and whether it pays to serve the Lord. Paul, as he ministered to the Thessalonians, not only delivered the message in word but he delivered the message also in life. His daily life before them was the life of a man who was walking in the will of God.
Walking Worthy
Paul concludes this section, therefore, in verse 12, with the exhortation “That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.” Christians are in the kingdom of God now, but there is a glorious kingdom ahead of us also, the glory that is going to be ours in the predicted millennial kingdom and throughout eternity as we are with Christ. In view of these things, God has called us to a walk that is in keeping with our destiny. A little child born into a royal family is given special care. He cannot do the things that other children do, at least not in quite the same way. The reason is that he is being prepared for a place of responsibility and leadership.
Christians are exactly in that position. We do not “walk worthy” in order to be saved, or in order to become a royal child, but we “walk worthy” of God because we are saved, because we are a child of the King by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul lays before the Thessalonian Christians this exhortation to “walk worthy.” How many problems this standard solves! Sometimes folks will come to a preacher or a Sunday school teacher and say: “Now, is this right? Can a Christian do this?” So many of those problems are solved in a moment if the question is asked: “Is it worthy? Is it something that is honoring to God? Would God be pleased with this situation? So often the uncertainties and the obscurities in the judgment of men are wiped away when one applies the test of the Scriptures. Certainly there are many things that we cannot do as Christians because we are Christians, because God has called us to a holy walk and a life that is well pleasing to Him.
Receiving the Word As From God
In the closing portion of Chapter 2, beginning with verse 13, the other side of the picture is presented. In the first eleven verses Paul’ s secret of success is unfolded — why he preached, how he preached, and why he had such phenomenal results. There are two aspects to every sermon; one is the delivery and the other is the hearing. How do we listen to sermons? We listen to sermons from different standpoints. A preacher may listen to a sermon to see if he can get a message for some future occasion. A Sunday school teacher may listen to a sermon to see if he can get some information for his Sunday school lesson. A person who is lonely may be coming for comfort. A person who is unsaved may be seeking salvation. There are different motives behind our hearing. Sometimes our motives are not good. Sometimes Christians do not really come with open hearts to receive a message from God, and become occupied with the messenger instead of the message and the Savior.
The Thessalonian Christians, according to the record, were not simply interested in Paul, as grand a figure as he was, but as he delivered the message recorded in these verses they received it as the Word of God. Verse 13 notes:” For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” The message was received not because Paul delivered it. The thing that thrilled them was that they had heard the Word of God. They had received it as the authoritative Word of God because it came from God. The proof of it is found in the verses that follow.
Persecution a Test of Faith
Testing had come almost at once for this new band of Christians and they were bitterly persecuted. Paul tells them that they became followers of others who were persecuted. “Ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews.” One of the hardest experiences in life when you stand for Christ is to have your own loved ones oppose you. If friends and neighbors and relatives—one’s own loved ones—oppose a young Christian, it makes it very difficult, but this was often true in the early church. It is also true in modern times. What a young Christian does under these circumstances is a test of the reality of his faith. The Thessalonians had stood true, no matter who opposed them.
Persecution was not peculiar to the Thessalonians however. Paul mentions the fact that those who lived in Jerusalem at that time had “killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men.” You see Paul, who was a Jew, was being persecuted by his fellow countrymen just as Christ had been crucified before by His own people. The Thessalonians were going through a similar experience. Opposition to the apostles had gone so far as to be described in verse 16 as “forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.” The opposition of the world and of the unbelieving heart is especially brought out when a person faithfully preaches Christ. The world does not necessarily oppose morality as such. It often does not oppose religion as such, but it does oppose a bona fide, transforming kind of Christianity. The world does not want Christ and Him crucified. When we take our stand for Christ, we can expect some opposition from unbelievers.
Paul’s Longing for Them
Paul opens his heart in verses 17 and 18 as he tells them how he longed after them. When we have loved ones who are away from us and we get word that they are going through the deep waters of affliction, how we want to drop everything and rush to them! We think they need us, and our comfort and help. Paul was just that way, but he could not go back. If he had gone back, he would have become a martyr for the faith. He would have cut short a ministry that God had for him. It was not God’s will for Paul to die at this point in his life. For this reason, he could not go to Thessalonica. Satan hindered him. How Satan sometimes gets in our way! This word hinder in the Greek means to break up the road. The thought is that the way was impassable. Satan had broken up the road before him and Paul could not get through to them, even though he longed to see them and to be a further help to them.
What Is Our Hope?
But all was not lost. In verses 19 and 20 there is a bright note, repeated so often in this epistle, the theme of the coming of the Lord and the joy that will be ours when Christ comes back. Paul asks in verse 19, “What is our hope?” What does the future hold for us? Do we have a real hope? A person who is a Christian has a real hope. One who has been born again, who is a child of God, has a real hope. But if our hope is not in Christ we have no ground for hope. Paul said, “What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?”
What Is Our Crown of Rejoicing?
Paul is looking forward to that glad day when this life’s journey will be over and he would be in the presence of the Lord along with all the other Christians. He is picturing the time of the translation of the church, when Christ will come for His own to take them home to glory. He had asked, What is our hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing? The answer is: “Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy.” Paul was not content to be saved himself. It is wonderful to be saved; it is wonderful to know one is going to heaven. But Paul said the real joy that was going to be in his heart as he stood in the presence of the Lamb of God, the one who loved him, the one who had died for him on the cross, would be his spiritual children that he would bring with him, whom he had led to know Jesus Christ as Savior.
Have you ever led a soul to Christ? One may say, “I am not an evangelist. I am not a good personal worker.” But have you ever tried? God loves to use those who are willing to be used, and there is latent in many a Christian a gift for leading souls to Christ which he does not realize. Almost anyone can give out gospel tracts. Any Christian can pray. Anyone can give of his substance for missions. There are more ways than one by which earnest Christians can lead souls to Christ. When that glad day comes when we are in the presence of Christ, will we have some trophies of grace? Paul said, “When that day comes, I am going to be exalted. Why? Because of you Thessalonians who came to know the Lord Jesus Christ through my ministry among you.” In that day, will it be our portion to look at those saved through our gospel testimony and with Paul to say, “Ye are our glory and joy”?
Questions
1. Why is this chapter a success story?
2. What do we learn about boldness?
3. Explain how Paul’s message was pure in content and intent.
4. Contrast Paul’s desire to please God and his approach to pleasing men.
5. Contrast what Paul did not do with what he did do in presenting his message to them.
6. How does Paul describe the response of the Thessalonians to his message?
7. How does Chapter 2 end on a message of hope?
3. Unblamable in Holiness
Article contributed by www.walvoord.com
First Thessalonians 3:1- 4:12
Background of Chapter Three
In the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians, the great theme of salvation was unfolded. There is nothing in all the world that thrills the heart like a real experience of trust in the Lord Jesus, which the Thessalonians had experienced. Chapter 2 presented the challenge of Christian service. Paul speaks of his own service and the rules of ministry, as well as the service and faithfulness of the Thessalonian church as it will be recognized at the judgment seat of Christ in glory. Chapter 3, before us now, has the theme of sanctification, which continues into Chapter 4 through verse 12.
The Good Tidings from Thessalonica
In 1 Thessalonians 3:1-10 Paul relates the testimony of the Thessalonian church as it was brought to him. In a word, this is what happened: When Paul was meditating upon the need of the Thessalonian church and his heart was burdened in prayer for them, he had sent Timothy back to find out how they were getting along. He is described as “our brother, and minister of God, and our fellow-labourer in the gospel of Christ.” Gracious words here from the great apostle! The purpose of sending Timothy was “to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith.” Timothy was to do what Paul longed to do himself, but could not. Paul wanted the Thessalonians to continue steadfast in spite of affliction of which Paul states, “We are appointed thereunto.” He was concerned lest the trial uncover superficiality in their faith and “our labour be in vain.”
Timothy had gone to Thessalonica and had brought encouragement to them, continuing to teach them the Word of God. Now Timothy has returned to Paul with the message that the Thessalonians were standing fast in the faith, that they longed to see Paul, that they were just as he had left them — their hearts fixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ and looking for His coming. Paul’s own heart overflowed as he contemplated the goodness of God in blessing his testimony there and working so abundantly in the lives of these Thessalonians.
Paul’s Great Heart
There are a number of things that could be said about this portion of Scripture. Paul recites how he was comforted and how the tidings came. It is summed up more or less in verse 8: “For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.” More expressively translated, it states: “Now we are really living, if you are standing fast in the faith.” In other words, his whole spiritual joy and happiness is linked with the experience of victory in this Thessalonian church. Consider for a moment the background of this statement. How interested and how concerned would we be if we had been in Paul’s position? Paul had been there just a few weeks and had led these few souls to Christ, but now it seems that his very life depended upon the success and the prosperity of this church. His whole heart was wrapped up in the spiritual prosperity of these his children in the faith.
What a challenge this should be to us that we may have that same sensitivity of the soul, that we may have that passion, that love which was in the heart of Christ Himself for the sheep, for the people of God. In the Bible, men of God, men who really served God had a heart for the needs of souls. Too often in our modem life our theology is in one compartment and our heart is in another. We believe that souls are lost without Christ and recognize human suffering and human need, but it is never translated into prayer, or into helpfulness, or into doing what we can to meet the needs of others. What a contrast to Paul!
In verses 9 and 10 we get a picture of Paul’s great heart. “For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God; night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?” Here is the compassionate heart of Paul toward the Thessalonian believers and his concern lest they lack something of completion of their spiritual faith and experience. Modern Christians are so prone to ignore a need like this. While recognizing that so many Christians are ignorant of the great truths of Scripture and are not going on with the Lord, they do not have a real prayer life; they do not give themselves to the study of the Word; they are not soul winners. It is a tragedy that in our hearts there can be such coldness and such a lack of response to spiritual need. What a challenge Paul is! In his own spiritual experience his heart is overflowing in praise to God for hearing his prayer. It was not just a few minutes or a few sentences of prayer, but he tells us here he spent hours, day and night, praying to God for the continuance and faithfulness of this little band of Christians. If we had prayer like that and if our hearts were stirred like Paul’s, we would have a spiritual revival such as this nation has never seen. What we need is revival first of all in the hearts of the people of God.
The Challenge to Our Hearts
What does Paul say to us in this passage? He is saying that if we are really committed to the Lord—if we are really letting the Holy Spirit rule supremely in our hearts and lives—that there should be the evidence of the love of the Spirit and the compassion of the Spirit toward our fellow Christians as well as toward those who do not know the Lord Jesus. The challenge of this passage is to let the Spirit of God transform our hearts and make them tender, that we may not follow the pattern of this careless and indifferent generation which is unmindful of the spiritual needs of those about us.
Are we really concerned about souls? Do we pray for the salvation of that neighbor in the next apartment or in the next house? Are we concerned in our churches about the backsliders and the indifferent who are not serving the Lord as they should? Paul tells us that the secret is to pray. If we have a real burden of prayer we will have Paul’s experience of the joy of answered prayer. Certainly these are important and most practical verses.
Increasing and Abounding in Love
In verses 11 and 12 Paul breathes another prayer that he might go back and see the Thessalonians again. “Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.” In other words, Paul said: “Let us go on in our Christian faith.” The most dangerous thing in our spiritual experience is to ease off and to rest on our oars. Normal Christian growth brings with it an increase in love to each other and to all men. While the Thessalonians were a model church, there was still room for growth and improvement.
Perfecting That Which Is Lacking
The coming of the Lord is mentioned again in verse 13. In Thessalonians every chapter deals with the Lord’s coming. The last verse of Chapter 1 dealt with waiting for the Lord’s return. Chapter 2 spoke of the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming in verse 19. The last verse of Chapter 3 deals once again with the coming of the Lord. Paul, as he is praying for these Thessalonian Christians, has in mind not only their present holiness, but also that they should go on to perfection.
In verse 10 the word perfect is mentioned, “That we … might perfect that which is lacking in your faith.” There are some in our day who think that it is not possible to be saved unless one reaches a stage of moral perfection. They attribute to the word perfect ideas which are contrary to the Word of God. Paul was praying that “God might perfect that which is lacking.” What did he mean? It seems clear that he was not doubting their salvation because he speaks of “knowing, brethren, your election” (1:4).
What Is Biblical Perfection?
There are two main ideas about perfection in the Bible. There is first of all the idea of perfection which is the thought of coming to the end of a journey or the fulfillment of a purpose or a design. It is fulfillment or perfection in the sense, for instance, of a perfect man, one who has grown through boyhood and youth until he has the full stature of a man. He is a perfect man in the sense that he has reached the goal of growth. He is perfect in the sense that he has completed the man. There is another word used for perfection which has the thought of equipment. It means to be completely equipped, in other words, the details are in order. A home, for instance, can be spoken of as being fully equipped. It has everything that a home ought to have: furniture, curtains, rugs, and everything else. It is perfectly equipped. This is what Paul had in mind here.
Perfection Never Means Sinless
Paul accordingly prayed that God might perfect that which was lacking in these Thessalonian Christians. Their faith needed to be enlarged. Their lives were not complete in their spiritual experience. Paul wanted God to deal with them and to bring them on to that further step of perfection. Nowhere in the Bible is the word perfect used to mean sinlessly perfect. In fact, that is not the idea at all. There is need for another word in English into which we could translate these words, because the word perfection in the ordinary sense is not exactly the idea. It is only the thought of completion or attainment but not the idea of sinless perfection. Paul is praying that the Thessalonians might be complete and in the end might stand unblamable in holiness before God.
Unblamable in Holiness
In verse 13 Paul’s prayer for them is that they may abound in love “to the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” Some may recall how H. A. Ironside, that great expositor of Scripture, in his early years struggled with the problem of holiness, seeking earnestly an experience of complete sanctification. The story is told in his book, Holiness, the False and the True, in which he says he thought he had to be completely holy in order to be saved. Accordingly, he would have some experience and would believe he was saved and completely sanctified. He would go on for a week or two and then suddenly be aware that he was not perfect after all. Then he came to the conclusion that he was not saved. So he would do the whole thing over again. In this difficulty, he discovered Hebrews 12:14 where he read: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” He reasoned correctly that when one follows he has not attained, but that it will be attained when we see the Lord.
This same thought is in 1 Thessalonians 3:13: “to the end that he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” While we are imperfect in this life, constantly falling short and having to come to God in confession of our sins, the day is coming when we shall be perfect, absolutely unblamable, not only in our position before God but in our spiritual state. That day will be when we stand before Christ at His coming. We are rightly concerned about our imperfections, but, thank God, if He has saved our soul He will never let us go until He has brought us to perfection which will be realized when Christ comes for His own. This is the great expectation behind Paul’s prayer that these Thessalonians may grow in grace and attain the ultimate goal of being unblamable in holiness before Christ at His coming.
Coming Events in the Prophetic Word
Verse 13 has attracted students of the Word from another standpoint in regard to the expression,” at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” Many Bible teachers teach, as does the writer, that the Lord is coming for His church at any time. We believe in the imminent return of Christ, that 1 Thessalonians 4 is going to be fulfilled, that the dead in Christ are going to arise, and that living Christians will be translated without dying into the presence of God. We further believe that after this event there will take place a great time of trouble in the world, predicted by Daniel and Christ Himself, culminating in the great tribulation. We believe that at the end of the great tribulation Christ is coming back in power and glory from heaven with the saints and with the holy angels and that He will establish His righteous government on the earth as predicted many times in the Bible, which will last, according to Revelation 20, for one thousand years and ultimately will be followed by the eternal state after the judgment of the great white throne.
Where does this passage fit into this background? Many expositors, in considering this particular expression, “at the coming [lit., in the coming] of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints,” have distinguished His coming for His saints (the rapture) and His coming with His saints (the second coming to establish the millennial kingdom). While this is a bona fide distinction, it raises the question: “Just when will Christians be presented unblamable in holiness before God?” If we believe that Christ is coming before the great tribulation, we are going to be presented unblamable in holiness before God long before His second coming to set up His kingdom. If that is true, how can we explain this portion of Scripture?
Three Words for the Coming of the Lord
The secret of it is in the word coming. There are at least three great words in the New Testament used to express the truth about the coming of the Lord: epiphaneia, apokalupsis, and parousia. All three of these words are used of Christ coming for His church. They are also used of His coming to set up His kingdom on the earth. They are not technical words, then, but general words, and all of them have to do with the coming of Christ. One of them (epiphaneia)simply speaks of His appearing, that is, that we are going to see Him. We are told also that when Christ comes to set up His kingdom on the earth every eye will see Him.
There is another word (apokalupsis) translated revelation. It is the word used for the name of the last book of the New Testament, the Revelation of Jesus Christ in the sense of the revelation of His glory. When Christ came the first time He came in humiliation. His glory was veiled except on the Mount of Transfiguration and perhaps in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the latter place, when those who came to take Him asked if He was Jesus and He said “I am,” they all fell before Him to the ground, apparently struck down by a momentary flash of the glory and authority of Christ. For the most part, however, His glory was veiled even after His resurrection. When He comes the second time we will see Him in His glory and this will be a revelation.
The word that is found here in 1 Thessalonians 3:13 is the third word, the Greek word parousia, which means presence, but is usually translated coming. This word is derived from two words: a preposition (para) meaning along, and ousia which is a form of the verb to be; hence the word means, to be along side of, or to be present. While commonly translated in the Bible by the word coming, the word itself does not strictly mean coming and is used with other meanings. It means presence and is so translated in 2 Corinthians 10:10 and Philippians 2:12.
What does this word coming or presence mean here in Thessalonians? When someone is coming, we also speak of his presence. For instance, a visiting preacher might be welcomed with the words,” We are happy for the coming of the Reverend John Doe.” What would be meant by that? How he came would not be important; the point would be that he is here. What is meant is that we are glad for his presence. His coming was just the means to the end. Even in English we use the term coming in the sense of presence. That is precisely the thought here. But when are we going to be in the presence of the Father?
In the Presence of the Lord
According to Scripture, Christians are going to meet Christ in the air. We are going to be present with Him at that moment. After we meet Him in the air, He will take us home to glory to be in the presence of the Father and the holy angels. After that we are coming back to the earth with Christ. This word coming here may not refer specifically to the coming of Christ with His saints to the earth, but rather the coming to heaven when they will be in the presence of the Father. That is the same thought considered in 2:19, “in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming,” literally,” before our Lord Jesus Christ in his presence.” In 3:13, the verse, translated literally, reads, “before God, even our Father in the presence [italics supplied] of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” There is a coming to the earth, but there is also the coming to heaven. What an event that arrival in heaven is going to be! All the holy angels will be in attendance on that day. When the dead in Christ and living Christians are caught up to be with the Lord and arrive in heaven as the trophies of grace, the marvels of God’s resurrection power, they will be presented as a spotless bride, as a holy people, as those who are the workmanship of Christ. At the coming of Christ with all His saints to heaven, we will be “unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father.” In that day we will not be “unblamable” because of any works on our part. It will rather reflect our entering in God’s marvelous grace—unblamable because every sin is washed away, every unholy thing once and forever removed.
Sanctification the Will of God
Having held before them this glorious prospect, in Chapter 4 Paul goes on to deal with the great doctrine of sanctification: “We beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.” He was never content with past spiritual achievement. There was always the appeal to be growing, expanding, having more. In verse 2 he reminds them that this is the commandment he had given them by the Lord Jesus, “For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.”
In verses 3-8 the great subject of sanctification is discussed. Verse 3 reads: “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.” Too often when this verse is read, those reading stop in the middle of verse 3 and do not go on to study the context. Furthermore, there is a tendency to read into this word sanctification the thought of moral perfection. That is not what Paul meant. What he is saying is that the Thessalonian believers were already sanctified. In other words, they had already been set apart as holy to God.
Just what does it mean to be sanctified? Suppose one were living in the time of Christ and wanted to make a gift to the temple. He would bring his gift of gold coins and lay them on the altar. What happened to those gold coins? The moment they were given to God they became sanctified. They were set apart for holy use. The sanctification did not change the character of the gold coins, but it did change their use and the purpose for which they were directed. So, every true Christian has been set apart as holy to God, even though he falls short of perfection.
Sanctification Is Not a State of Sinlessness
Even a casual study of the Bible will show that holiness in the Bible does not necessarily mean moral perfection. For instance, consider the expression that is found in 2 Peter, that holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Of whom is this speaking? Peter was referring to the Old Testament writers of Scripture and to prophets who spoke the Word of God. Were those men holy? Yes, they were. The Scripture says so. Were those men perfect? Certainly not. Was Moses perfect? Was David perfect? Yet Moses wrote the law and David wrote some of the most beautiful psalms. They were not perfect, but were nevertheless holy. God had set apart these prophets to His own holy use. Though they were not perfect, He guided them so that they wrote perfect Scripture. The Word of God as it came forth from them was inspired of God. But they were still imperfect and had to strive just as we do for holy living.
Sanctification Is Practical Righteousness
Does this mean Christians should not strive for holiness? Certainly not. As Paul deals with these Thessalonians he says to them: “This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication.” The idol worship from which some of these Thessalonians had been saved included the most abominable and immoral rites. The Thessalonian Christians who were Gentiles had come out of that background, where immorality and religion were all mixed up. There is no holiness in heathen religion. Holiness was an entirely new idea. For the first time they were faced with the fact that worshiping God involved a holy life. Paul had to deal with them as he did with the Corinthians and others, reminding them that as Christians their bodies were set apart as holy to God.
In keeping with the high moral standards befitting Christians, Paul exhorts them not to give themselves to the lust of desire as the Gentiles do. In verse 6 he writes: “That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter.” He has in mind here a man running off with another’s wife. He forbids this, because God “is the avenger of all such.” In verses 7 and 8 Paul adds: “God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.” Once again we are reminded that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and therefore we are set apart as holy to God. How we need to enter into this! Do we realize that our lives have been bought by the precious blood of Christ? Do we realize that our bodies are a holy temple occupied by the Holy Spirit? That is true whether we recognize it or not. Paul is appealing to the Thessalonian believers to live a life of holiness, a life of being set apart to the holy things of God.
Christian Love Is Holy
In verses 9 and 10 Christian love is introduced in contrast to lust. What a difference! He tells them: “But as touching brotherly love [which ought to characterize the Christian] ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more.” Love is a growing experience. We should increase more and more in our love. Do we love the Lord Jesus Christ more today than we did a year ago, or two years ago, or three years ago? We ought to. If we have been going on with the Lord we know more about Him, and the more we know about Him the more we are going to love Him. If we do not love the Lord Jesus it is because we are not very well acquainted with Him. He is altogether lovely.
Walking Honestly
In verses 11 and 12 there is a very practical admonition: “That ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.” These are words of sound wisdom. Sometimes Christians get so concerned with the coming of the Lord that they forget that there is a task to do right now.
Paul is a very practical man. He believed in the glory to come, but he also believed that we should lead a practical life. One of the things he commands is to study to be quiet. God honors the person who is quiet, particularly about his own exploits. We are exhorted also to mind our own business. No one gets into trouble minding his own business, but if he starts minding someone else’s business, that usually causes a lot of trouble. They were exhorted to mind their own business, and to work with their own hands. Honest toil is a good thing, and God’s people need to work to earn an honest living.
There are many illustrations of this in the Bible. It is recorded of Haggai and Zechariah, the great prophets who exhorted Israel to build the temple, that they worked with their own hands. When Paul ministered the gospel and ran out of funds, he did not wring his hands and say, “Now God has not been faithful to me.” Oh no! He made some tents. He worked with his own hands. That is perfectly honorable. Today the standard too often is to do as little as one can for as much as one can. The Bible standard is just the opposite. The purpose of it is “That ye may walk honestly,” in other words, pay our debts. Sometimes Christians are not too careful in their business relationships.
The Call to Holy Living
This business of sanctification, this call to holiness, extends to every aspect of our life. May God challenge us. We have been sanctified by the blood of Christ, by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, by the purposes of God in our life in time and eternity. May we give ourselves to these things as the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts.
Questions
1. Whom did Paul send to Thessalonica and what report did he receive from him?
2. How did Paul’s response to this report indicate his great heart?
3. What was Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians?
4. What does Paul teach about sinless perfection now and in the future?
5. On what prophetic note does Chapter 3 end?
6. What three important words are used for the Lord’s coming?
7. What is meant by sanctification?
8. What is the difference between love and lust?
9. What practical advice does Paul give in verses 11 and 12?
4. The Translation of the Church
Article contributed by www.walvoord.com
First Thessalonians 4:13-18
The Daily Expectation of the Early Church
The fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians contains one of the outstanding prophetic or eschatological passages of the New Testament. In this epistle there is constant reference to future things, each chapter closing with some allusion to prophecy. It was typical of the early church to have daily expectation that Christ would return. None of the apostles or early Christians, however, realized that the church age in which we find ourselves would be extended two thousand years. They, of course, did not set any date for the return of the Lord, but they were looking for Christ’s coming in their lifetime, and this expectation continued in the early church fathers.
In the Old Testament there had been many predictions concerning Christ’s coming, including His first as well as His second coming. As far as the Old Testament revelation was concerned, both comings were seen in one picture. The disciples did not understand the distinction between the two comings because the Old Testament does not make clear that there was to be a period of time between the first and the second coming of Christ. The disciples anticipated that when Christ came the first time He would fulfill the prophecies that actually pertained to His second coming, such as the earthly reign of Christ, the kingdom of righteousness and peace, and the deliverance of the Jews from their enemies, the Romans. They confidently expected that Christ would reign and that they would reign with Him. That is why they were so disappointed and disillusioned when Christ began to tell them that it was necessary for Him to die. They could not fit this into the picture. They thought Christ was going to bring in the Messianic kingdom immediately.
Doctrine of Translation Introduced in John 14
In Chapter 14 of John, in the very shadow of the cross, Christ reveals an amazing new revelation which He had not tried to teach them before, that is, that there was another purpose of God to be fulfilled first before bringing in the millennial kingdom. Christ told the disciples that He was going to leave them and go to heaven, that He would prepare a place for them in heaven, and that He would come back to receive them unto Himself. In other words, He revealed to them that before He fulfilled His purpose to bring in a kingdom on earth He was going to take them home to glory first. He would come back for them and take them to dwell with Him in the Father’s house in heaven before His return to the earth. This truth, of course, was not completely understood by the early Christians, just as it is not completely understood by many Christians today, but it inspired a daily expectancy of His return. They were looking for Christ to come and take them home to glory. This was not death, though of course when a Christian dies we believe that he is “absent from the body” and “present with the Lord.” They were looking for Christ to come and take them home to glory without dying.
The Order of Resurrection and Translation
Though Paul had been in Thessalonica a short time, it is quite clear that he taught the Thessalonian Christians this truth. As this epistle makes plain, they had no doubt as to the truth of the coming of Christ for them. But there was a problem which Paul had not made clear to them. That was the question concerning the time when their loved ones who had died in Christ would be raised. It is evident that Paul had taught them that there would be a number of resurrections in a chronological order as the Scriptures portray—not just one general resurrection as some believe today. The question in their minds was: When, in the order of the various resurrections, would the loved ones in Christ be raised? Apparently they thought they would be caught up to be with the Lord at any time and that the resurrection of their loved ones would be delayed, possibly until after the great tribulation when Christ came back to establish His kingdom. They wanted some instruction on this point. Paul writes this letter to answer this question.
The Certainty of Christian Hope
In 1 Thessalonians 4:13 Paul states: “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” One of the great facts of the Christian faith is that we have hope when our loved ones in Christ are taken away from us in death. Christians often fail to realize the hopelessness that characterizes heathen religions. There is no hope in the future life apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. A Christian has a wonderful hope that after this life there is going to be a glorious, unending existence in the presence of God with all the joy and ecstasy that will be ours when we are joined to Christ and with our loved ones in Christ who have gone on before us. So Paul tells the Thessalonians that he does not want them to have the attitude of the pagan world which has no hope, but instead he wants them to enter experimentally into the glory of the hope that is before them.
In verse 14 the ground for that hope is given. How certain is our hope? “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” In other words, the precious truth concerning the coming of Christ for His own is as certain as the central doctrine of the death and resurrection of Christ. Unless we are absolutely certain concerning the death and resurrection of Christ, we are not certain in our Christian hope. The place to begin is at the cross of Christ. It is there that Christ died for our sins; it is there we learn that we had a substitute—one who was able to save us and one who provided a sufficient sacrifice for our sin. We do not progress in our Christian faith until we come to the cross. Linked with the cross is the resurrection of Christ which is God’s seal and the evidence or the apologetic for our Christian faith. Here is the stamp of certainty: Christ rose from the dead. If we believe that Christ died for us, if we believe that Christ rose from the dead, and really believe it by receiving Jesus Christ as our Savior, then we have a ground for hope.
Loving His Appearing
One of the reasons why so many in these days do not consider seriously the coming of Christ for them is that they have not been at the cross of Christ enough. Pulpits that do not proclaim the death of Christ and His resurrection can hardly be expected to preach the coming of the Lord. It is all tied together. If we accept what the Scriptures teach about the first coming of Christ and put our trust in Him, then there will be planted in our hearts an earnest desire to see the Savior, and the truth of His coming for us will be exceedingly precious. Do we really love the Lord’s appearing? Does it mean anything that Christ might come back today? There are many Christians who may have it as a part of their creed, but not as a living expectation. The difficulty is that their hearts and minds are not really fixed on Christ. We will love the appearing of the Lord in direct proportion as we love the Lord Himself. If we love Him, if we long to see Him who first loved us, then the truth of the Lord’s coming and the fact that He could come today will be a precious truth.
Them Which Are Asleep
In verse 14 there is the statement: “Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” Reference is made in verse 13 and in verse 15 to “them which are asleep,” and in verse 14tothem “which sleep in Jesus.” What does it mean? Sleep is a softened expression for death, which for a Christian is very much like sleep. We understand from Scripture that it refers to bodies which are laid in the grave. As far as our souls and spirits are concerned, we go immediately into the presence of God, into the conscious enjoyment of heaven, for “to be absent from the body” is “to be present with the Lord.” We believe in the sleep of the body, but we do not believe in the sleep of the soul. Those whose bodies are sleeping in the grave, according to this Scripture, will be resurrected when Christ comes back.
There is a problem in verse 14 in the statement, “them also which sleep in Jesus.” Literally, it is “them also which sleep through Jesus,” the preposition being not in according to the Greek New Testament, but through. What does it mean to sleep through Jesus? The meaning is that when a Christian dies, his hope of being in the presence of God is made possible through Jesus. Our loved ones who are asleep through Jesus go to sleep in the certain hope of waking. Some have taken the expression “through Jesus” to go with “shall God bring with him.” This is also true and may be the meaning of the expression. All our hope is certainly “through Jesus.”
The Time of the Resurrection
In verse 15 and following Paul answers their main question. This question was not “Is the Lord coming?” or “Are we going to be with the Lord?” They believed that. The question was: “What is going to happen to our loved ones who have preceded us in death?” Some of the Thessalonians may have died a martyr’s death. The expression “asleep through Jesus” could mean this. In any case, in the few months since Paul had been in Thessalonica these had slipped away from their mortal bodies. It reminds us of the uncertainty of life. Whether we are young or old, whether well or in poor health, we do not know how much time God is going to give us to serve Him in this world. These few in the Thessalonian church who had already died in Christ were illustrations of the uncertainty of human life. We should be living every day in such a way that if it is our last day on earth it will be a day well spent in the Master’s will.
Because some had gone on to be with the Lord, Paul writes the Thessalonians in verses 15 and 16: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [or “shall not precede”] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” The question had been asked: “When will the dead in Christ be raised?”
The answer is: “The dead in Christ will be raised before we go to see the Lord.” Then it follows, verse 17: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” This passage teaches that when Christ comes back He will come back to the atmospheric heaven. When that occurs and the other events which are pictured here, Christians whose bodies have been in the grave will be resurrected, their bodies will be transformed into resurrection bodies and they will meet the Lord in the air. All of this will take place in a split second before living Christians are translated from these bodies of flesh into resurrection, immortal, incorruptible bodies.
The Translation of Living Saints
The companion passage to 1 Thessalonians 4 is the revelation given in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. Just as 1 Thessalonians 4 teaches about the dead in Christ, so 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 teaches concerning the translation of the living saints. It reveals that they will be transformed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and will be given immortal, incorruptible bodies. This Corinthian passage teaches very plainly the order of the resurrection of Christians. It is going to occur just a moment before the translation of the church. Those rising from the grave and the church on the earth are going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
The Scriptures also seem to make it very clear that when Christ comes for His own He will take them to heaven where He has gone now to prepare a place for us in the Father’s house (John 14:1-3). Thereafter on the earth, while the church is in glory, will take place the great climactic event of this age—the great tribulation, and the outcalling of a great many Jews and Gentiles even in that awful time who come to trust in Christ. There will be many martyrs in this period. The climax will come when Christ returns in power and glory with the angels and with the church from heaven to set up His righteous kingdom on the earth.
The Shout of Command
There are some aspects of the revelation that deserve closer study. In verse 16 it is stated that the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. This word for shout is a peculiar word. It is a word for a command. It is the shout of a military officer giving a command such as “Forward, march.” When Christ comes back He will give a shout of command. In Chapter 11 of John the^ account is given of Lazarus being raised from the dead. When Christ went to the tomb and said, “Lazarus, come forth,” Lazarus came forth. Some have commented that if Christ had left off the name of Lazarus, all the dead would have come forth. Such was the authority and sovereignty of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lazarus was not resurrected in the sense that we will be. He was restored to a mortal body and in due time, as age came upon him, it can be presumed that he died a natural death and was returned to the tomb. Christians will be resurrected like the resurrection body of Christ and will have a resurrection body which will never wear out, which will never be subject to death or disease or pain, a body which will last for all eternity, suited for the glorious presence of the Lord.
The Voice of the Archangel
In attendance was the voice of the archangel, who is none other than Michael, the chief of the angels, and the special protector of Israel. He also gives a shout. The Bible does not explain why Michael gives this shout or why he should be included. The Scriptures do reveal, however, that there is a great battle going on, a battle which began in the Garden of Eden and perhaps even before, and has continued through the present age. This battle is against the forces of darkness, the forces of Satan and the wicked angels and the demons who are associated with him. This is why Paul tells us that we wrestle not with flesh and blood. This is why we need to pray without ceasing. This is why we need to come to God for protection, care, and guidance. When the archangel speaks, it is a shout of victory not only for men but a shout of victory for the angels. It is a great victory for the angels when Christ comes for His church. Even though it is a work of Christ and not the angels, the archangel rejoices and exults in the tremendous victory over the forces of evil that is occasioned by the resurrection of the church from the dead.
The Trump of God
Another significant expression is “the trump of God.” There are many trumpets mentioned in Scripture. There were trumpets in the Old Testament at the beginning of each month. There was the feast of trumpets and countless different trumpets. In the order of march, trumpets were used. The trumpet seems, in Scripture, to be a sign of assembling, a sign of going forward, of taking a new step, of unfolding something that has not been revealed before. The sounding of the trumpet here is like the sounding of the trumpet to an army. It is the call to forward march. So in this passage there is the shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God. These are three separate things, but they picture to us one grand event: the coming of Christ for His church, and the translation of the church living and dead from scenes of earth to the scenes of heaven.
Some students of Scripture have had difficulty with the trump because they find other trumps in the Bible. For instance, in the Book of Revelation there is mention of seven trumpets. These are part of the dramatic sequence of events unfolded in what Christ called the great tribulation. Revelation presents first of all seven seals. Out of the seventh seal there comes a series of events which is called the seven trumpets, and out of the seventh trumpet comes another series of events known as the seven bowls of the wrath of God or the seven vials. These picture in very graphic language in the Book of Revelation the climactic events of the great tribulation leading up to the second coming of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 15 there is mention of the last trump and some have said: “If this is the last trump, it must be the seventh trump of Revelation.” That certainly is not true! Anyone who will study the subject of trumpets from Genesis to Revelation will find that there are many trumps. In fact, the last trump of Revelation is not the last trump in the Bible at all. At the second coming of Christ, which is after the seven bowls of wrath, there still is another trump that calls the elect, mentioned in Matthew 24:31.
Is this trump of 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15:52 the same as the seventh trump of the Revelation? What do the seven trumpets of Revelation do? Every one of them is a judgment of God upon a Christ-rejecting world. They assemble no one; they are not symbols of salvation; they are not symbols of deliverance; there are no resurrections; they are symbols of judgment upon men living in the world who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ.
By contrast, what is the significance of the trump of 1 Thessalonians 4? It is a call addressed to the saved, to those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a trumpet of deliverance, of grace, and of mercy. God is dealing with His saints only in this trump and there is absolutely no connection with judgment upon unbelievers. The only similarity is that in both cases there are trumps. Simply because there is mention of the last trump in 1 Corinthians 15 does not mean that it is the last trump in God’s whole program.
At Dallas Theological Seminary there are classes regulated by a system of bells. These bells ring several times each hour. The question sometimes arises concerning what bell has been ringing. There is a series of bells: a three-minute warning bell, then the bell to start the class, another warning bell five minutes before the end of the class, and finally the last bell closing the class period. When the warning bell preceding the beginning of the class rings, someone might ask, “Is that the last bell?” The answer would be, “No, that is the first bell.” A few minutes later the last bell—which is the bell that begins the class—would ring. After forty-five minutes, the warning bell near the end of the class session would ring. Someone then might ask, “Is that the first bell?” The reply of course would be, “Yes, that is the first bell.” In another five minutes, the bell would ring again—the last bell for the class hour. In a few minutes the whole cycle of bells begins again for the next hour. The last bell for one class hour would ring before the first bell of the next hour. How ridiculous it would be to make all the “last bells” one and the same. So it is with the trumpets of Scripture. The last trumpet for the church is long before any of the trumpets of Revelation.
Meeting the Lord in the Air
The Thessalonians passage continues with another tremendous revelation. “The dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” This Scripture does not reveal where we are to go with the Lord, but, as has been already indicated, John 14 tells us plainly that when Christ comes for us He will take us to the Father’s house in heaven. When we meet the Lord in the air, we shall assemble in the atmospheric heaven and from there go to the third heaven, which is the immediate presence of the Father. This is indicated in the last part of the preceding chapter where Paul speaks of our being in the presence of God the Father, unblamable in holiness.
It will be a wonderful event when you and I who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ in this life stand in His presence. In that triumphant moment we will be like Christ for we are told in 1 John 3 that we will be perfectly holy. We will be cleansed from every spot and wrinkle and every sign of age and corruption. We will be a perfect and a beautiful bride for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and shall be with Him forever. Whether Christ is in heaven or reigning on the earth, or in the new earth or the new heaven in eternity future, wherever Christ is there shall the church also be. We are going to be with the Lord forever.
The Dead in Christ
A fascinating sideline study is the expression “the dead in Christ” (v. 16). What does it mean to be “in Christ” and who are the dead in Christ? Obviously the “dead in Christ” are those who in life were in Christ and have died a physical death. In other words, their bodies have been laid in the grave and their spirits have gone to heaven. This expression occurs about forty times in the New Testament and in most of these instances refers to our position in Christ. When a person receives Jesus Christ as Savior and trusts in Him as the Son of God, as the one who died for him on the cross and who shed His blood for his sins and rose in triumph, God does something. He saves his soul.
At the very moment God saves us many wonderful things happen. Lewis Sperry Chafer in his book Salvation lists thirty-three things that occur instantaneously the very moment a person puts His trust in Jesus Christ. One of the things that occurs is that we are placed in Christ which the Scriptures explain by telling us that we are baptized into one body and are baptized into Christ. We become an integral part of the organism which is the church of Jesus Christ in the world. This occurs the instant we really trust in Christ. Every genuine Christian is equally in Christ. First Thessalonians 4 teaches that the dead in Christ will be raised when Christ comes back. It is a selective resurrection. All dead will not be raised. The Scriptures make it plain that unsaved people will not be raised until many years later after the predicted millennium as is made very clear in the twentieth chapter of the Book of Revelation. The question which has bothered Bible students is whether the dead in Christ include all the saints who have died up to this point or does it include only the saints of this dispensation, that is, from the Day of Pentecost until the present time?
C. I. Scofield, who edited the Scofield Reference Bible which has been such a blessing to countless numbers of readers, says in a note on 1 Thessalonians 4 that the dead in Christ includes all the saints. Lewis Sperry Chafer, who was for nearly two decades Scofield’s associate, after studying the question for many years came to a different conclusion, that the expression the “dead in Christ” refers only to the saints of this dispensation. If the translation occurs before the time of great tribulation pictured in the Bible, then the resurrection of the Old Testament saints would occur after the tribulation in connection with Christ’s return to establish His kingdom. If two men of God like Scofield and Chafer differ, how can we determine the correct interpretation? The key seems to be in the phrase “in Christ.”
This expression “in Christ” in every one of its many instances in the New Testament refers only to the saints of this dispensation. As far as the expression “the dead in Christ” indicates, only those in Christ are raised. Of course, all the saints are in Christ in the sense that Christ is their substitute, but the question is whether they are in the body of Christ, baptized into His body, as the Scriptures picture.
The doctrine of the resurrection of the Old Testament saints, as it is revealed in the Old Testament itself, relates the event to the second coming of Christ to establish His kingdom. By way of illustration, Daniel 12:1 deals with the great tribulation. Daniel 12:2 speaks of many being raised from the dust of the earth. If that is a genuine resurrection, it is a clear indication that according to Daniel the resurrection of the Old Testament saints occurs after the tribulation. The resurrection of the church, however, occurs before the tribulation. There is no explicit teaching anywhere in the Bible that reveals that the Old Testament saints are resurrected at the time the church is resurrected. In other words, the two events are never brought together in any passage of Scripture. The best explanation of the expression “dead in Christ” is to refer it to the church alone.
The Comfort of the Lord’s Return
The Thessalonians were having a hard time and this wonderful truth of the coming of the Lord, the resurrection of their loved ones, and their being gathered together to be with the Lord was a joyous prospect. Paul writes accordingly, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” This is another good reason why the Lord is going to come for His church before the tribulation. Paul did not tell these Thessalonian Christians: “Now if you endure through the tribulation time, if you survive that awful period, then you will see your loved ones at the end.” That would not have been an encouragement to them. They were in trouble already and no doubt they had been taught that the time of great tribulation would be much worse than the trouble they then had. Instead, Paul lifts up their eyes to contemplate the coming of the Lord and they were comforted; they were encouraged by the fact that the Lord would come at any time to receive them unto Himself.
The Challenge of the Truth
This very precious truth of the Lord’s return is certainly very important and one that is most significant, but it depends on our personal relationship to Jesus Christ. Are we really trusting Him? Is our heart, our faith, our life really centered in the Lord Jesus Christ? Some Christians are actually afraid of the doctrine of the Lord’s coming, and of the thought that the Lord might come today. Such an attitude is born of ignorance and unbelief. Oh the prospect, the joy of looking forward to the coming of the Lord, and of resting in these precious truths! There are so many ills of life that nothing can heal except the Lord’s return. How many loved ones are on the other side and how many problems of this life, incurable diseases, pain, sorrow, difficulties will be made all right. As we face the duties and the challenges and the trials of life, God has given us this blessed hope, this hope of the Lord’s return. May we take it to our bosoms, may we live in its reality, and may our hearts be refreshed by this precious truth. This hope can be the certain prospect of anyone who will trust in Jesus Christ the Son of God, who loved us and died for us, who shed His blood that we might be saved, and who rose in victory that we might have hope.
Questions
1. Where is the doctrine of the rapture first introduced in the Bible?
2. What was the problem which the Thessalonians had concerning the relationship of resurrection and translation?
3. Is there evidence that God wants believers to understand prophecy?
4. How does prophecy relate to comfort?
5. How certain is the hope of the Lord’s return?
6. What does it mean that Christ will bring those “which sleep in Jesus” with Him and why does He do it?
7. What is Paul’s authority for his teaching on the rapture?
8. Explain how the shout of the Lord, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God relate to the rapture.
9. Who responds first to the command to be raptured and how does this solve the problem of the Thessalonians?
10. Where do believers meet Christ?
11. Is there any indication in Scripture where the saints will go after they meet Christ in the air?
12. What does the expression “the dead in Christ” mean?
13. In what sense is the Lord’s return a comfort to the Thessalonians and to us?
14. Does Paul predict any events as preceding the rapture of the church in this passage?
6. Christian Testimony in the Light of the Lord’s Return
Article contributed by www.walvoord.com
First Thessalonians 5:12-28
Testimony Toward Christian Leaders
While First Thessalonians unfolds many great doctrinal revelations, it closes with a very practical note. First, the general theme of our testimony is presented. What do others see in our Christian life? In verses 12-13 the rather unusual point of view is presented concerning our testimony toward those who are our spiritual leaders. Paul exhorts them in these verses: “We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.”
There was an unusual situation in this church at Thessalonica, arising from the fact that the church had been in existence only a few months. Every member of this church was a new convert. Some of them had probably been saved on the same day, or in the same week. God had taken this church and had called out a few of their number to be leaders. They had not had any seminary or college or Bible institute training. All they had was what Paul had given them and what the Spirit of God had taught them in the days and weeks which followed. But God had put His hand upon some to be teachers and leaders, and some overseers of God’s people. Paul’s message to this Thessalonian church is, “Give recognition to those who have the gift of leadership.”
It is naturally difficult for two Christians who start out the same way and have come from the same background to recognize that one is better than the other as far as administering the Lord’s work is concerned. Some may have said of a leader, “Who is he to take the place of leadership in the church?” Paul is telling them to recognize people according to their ministry, not for what they are, but for what they are doing as ministers of the Lord. Thus Paul writes: “I ask you,” or “beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you”—to know them in the sense of respecting them. He refers to the leaders as those “who are over you in the Lord.”
Christians are all alike in the sense that both the clergy and laity are on the same level. But the Bible also teaches that we do not all have the same gifts. Some can teach; some can administer; some can help; some can pray. There is a difference in the opportunity and the way in which we serve the Lord. If a believer has gifts of teaching and of being a leader, other members in the church should recognize that and respond to these gifts and the exercise of them which God has given. The Thessalonians were exhorted to do this, and to accept the admonition given to them by those who teach.
In verse 13 Paul exhorts, “to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.” How carefully Paul expresses it! He does not say: “Accept them because they are unusually fine looking, or because they are well dressed, or because they have such fine gifts of oratory.” There were many things, no doubt, that were commendable about those leaders, but that was not the point. They should be esteemed because of the work they were doing. In other words, when we recognize that God is using a man, it is in the end a recognition of God and His sovereign choice, of divine grace and gifts, and not of the man himself. The glory must remain with God even though we recognize the instrument. We are to esteem them highly for their work’s sake. While God expects us to be discerning and not to accept that which is contrary to the Word of God, any criticism should be in love and for the furtherance of the work of God. We are very definitely taught that we should esteem God’s servants, even the humble ones, very highly for their work’s sake.
Then Paul adds, “And be at peace among yourselves.” The relationship of recognizing leadership to peace is a very obvious one. It is impossible for any work of God to be run by everyone. There must be someone who is responsible for different parts. It is possible to have too many cooks in the kitchen. That is also true in the work of the Lord. We can have too many people trying to run the church. We should recognize leaders and pray for them, at the same time being willing to follow the leadership that is given. Peace among ourselves requires also that each person do his own work and not the work of someone else, responding to the plan and program as God has led in it.
Testimony to Christian Brethren
In verses 14-15 our testimony toward our Christian brother is discussed. Paul encourages them and commands, “Brethren, warn them that are unruly.” The word used here for warn is the same word used in verse 12 for admonish. It is the idea of warning in a sense of instructing or admonishing them, encouraging them to do that which is right. We are to admonish those who are unruly, who are not cooperating in the work of the Lord, who are doing the wrong thing. Apparently they had trouble even in that day with people who did not get in line and do the thing they ought to do. Then Paul also told them to “comfort the feebleminded,” as we have it in the Authorized Version, or, better translated, “to comfort the feeble in spirit,” or “the weak spirited.” There are some who are discouraged very easily. Perhaps they have an inferiority complex and they need much encouragement. All of us have had the experience in life of being very discouraged at times and when someone spoke an encouraging word it helped us a great deal.
We are also to support the weak. The weak here apparently refers to weakness in our spiritual life. Some Christians are just weak, that is, they are easily led astray. They have not learned to lean upon Christ to support them, and to help and encourage them. In this church of young Christians, they were exhorted by Paul to support the weak and at the same time commanded to “be patient toward all men.” While some must have specialized treatment when it comes to patience, there is not a Christian living who does not need to have a little patience administered to him at times. Do not expect anyone to be perfect, but have a little patience whenever it is required. “Be patient toward all.”
In verse 15 a great Christian principle is stated: “See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.” Someone has said that there are three standards: first, the standard of the heathen wicked world which does evil in response to good; second, there is the attitude of the so-called cultured world which is to do good toward those who do good to them; third, there is the attitude of Christian faith to do good to them who do evil to us. This is contrary to the natural man; it is contrary to natural ethics, but it is according to the Word of God. The Thessalonian Christians are admonished here not to pay back evil for evil, not to try to get even, not to take things into their own hands. They were being persecuted for their faith and were having a hard time. How easy it would have been for them to “get even,” as we say. But Paul said, No, that is not the Christian way. The Christian way is to take evil and respond with good. Certainly that is what God has done for us. God has surely shown His love particularly for those who have trusted in Christ. God has taken the evil which resulted in the crucifixion of Christ, and in response to our sins God has done us good. He has given us grace and salvation. He has given us hope in the Lord Jesus.
Our Testimony Toward God
In verses 16-23 the third aspect of our testimony is presented, our testimony toward God. Our testimony toward those who minister over us was considered in verses 12-13, and our testimony toward our Christian brethren was discussed in verses 14-15. Now the most important of all — our testimony before God— is examined. The world can see only our outer life, but God really knows what we are doing. He knows our hearts, our attitude, and the real character of our spiritual life. Paul raises the ultimate question of all, “What does God think about us?” In answer to that question, he gives the most simple and yet profound exhortation to be found anywhere in the Word.
In verses 16-18 three exhortations are grouped together. It is not as clear in the English as it is in the Greek New Testament. In verse 18 it begins, “This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you,” and it seems clear from the Greek that these three commands—“rejoice,” “pray,” and “give thanks”—are summed up as a unit, as combining the will of God. Here is Christian testimony in relation to God in a very concise statement. What are these three things?
Rejoice Evermore
First, in verse 16 the command is given, “Rejoice evermore.” This verse is the shortest verse in the Bible. Some think that “Jesus wept” (John 11:35) is the shortest, and in the English it is. In the New Testament in Greek, 1 Thessalonians 5:16 is the shortest verse in the Bible. It contains two words and they are short words, whereas in the original for “Jesus wept” there are three words and they are longer words. Even though it is the shortest verse in the Bible, it certainly says a great deal.
One of the amazing things about the Word of God is that it can say so much in a few words. Suppose that all that was known about a Christian was that he rejoiced evermore. How much would you know? You could be sure that he was genuinely saved. The world may have its pleasure, but it knows nothing of rejoicing evermore. For the Christian who is living in the will of God, there is the possibility of rejoicing evermore. It shows that a person is living in the realm of faith, trusting the Lord. Does that characterize our lives as God knows our lives? Consider the simple sin of murmuring as recorded in the Book of Exodus and other books which tell of Israel’s journey from Egypt to the promised land. God punished them severely for their murmuring. They complained about the same things which we are apt to complain about: our food, our drink, our circumstances. Here we have the opposite to murmuring, that Christians should rejoice evermore.
Pray Without Ceasing
The next verse is, “Pray without ceasing.” What does it mean to pray without ceasing? Does it mean to stay on one’s knees twenty-four hours a day? No, our Lord did not do that, and Paul did not either. Then, what does he mean by praying without ceasing? It means, first of all, that Paul maintained his stated times of prayer. Daniel prayed three times a day. When the decree was given that he should not do it, what did he do? Did he stop? Did he cut out one of them? Or did he close the windows? No, he went right on faithfully, three times a day. He continued in prayer without ceasing. He went right on praying at his stated times. It represents the fact also that we are always in touch with God. Certainly two friends can be in the same room and be in harmony and fellowship one with the other, even though they may not be talking with each other all the time. Paul is saying, “Do you want a really rich experience? Begin a walk of fellowship with the Lord, not only at stated times of prayer, in which you bring all your needs to the Lord, but also the unbroken walk of communion — praying without ceasing.”
In Everything Give Thanks
In verse 18 Paul adds the third exhortation, “In everything give thanks.” Put these three things together. “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks.” There is no easier or a more simple recipe for a happy Christian experience. What does it mean, “In every thing give thanks”? It does not necessarily mean for everything give thanks. It means this: that in every circumstance of life, no matter where God puts you, no matter what your difficulties are, in those circumstances you can thank God for all He has done for you. You may be praying earnestly that He will change your circumstances. You may be praying for victory. You can thank God that in it all you will be victorious in Christ. So in everything give thanks. This recipe, of course, is the will of God, as we have it stated so plainly here, “this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Quench Not the Spirit
In verses 19-22 there is a further admonition. These four verses relate to the first command of this section, “Quench not the Spirit.” This tremendous doctrine in a word is this: When Christ went to heaven He sent the Holy Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost every true believer in Christ was indwelt by the Spirit. Ever since, whenever a person really trusts in Christ as his Savior, the Holy Spirit comes into his mortal body and makes it a holy sanctuary, a temple of God. The Holy Spirit is there to minister to us. He is there to teach us, to guide us, to direct us, to rebuke us, to show us the way to unfold the Scripture, to give us joy and peace and love, and to transform our lives and our character and our experience. How manifold are the ministries of the Holy Spirit! Yet, you and I have within us under the providence of God the capacity to quench or stifle the Spirit. Sometimes we see Christians who we know are saved, but their lives do not reflect the fragrance of the presence of God. What is wrong with them? They are resisting the Holy Spirit. What is it to quench the Spirit? It is just saying “no” to God. We should instead always be saying, “Yes, Lord.”
In thus yielding to the Lord, the Thessalonian Christians were told they should, first of all, not despise prophesyings. Further, they were to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” In other words, everything they heard was not necessarily prophesied. They had to distinguish between truth and error, even as we do today. They had to hold to what was good and put away that which was bad. In verse 22 Paul summed up what it means to quench not the Spirit, “Abstain from all appearance of evil,” or, as it is better translated, “Abstain from every form of evil.” We have the broad statement that regardless of what it is in our life that may be contrary to the will of God, it should be taken out of our life.
Complete Sanctification
In verse 23, in conclusion, Paul contemplates the time when we are going to be perfect in the presence of God. In a word, it is the truth that God has set us apart to holy living. It does not mean that we are perfect now. Paul was not perfect; John was not perfect. It does mean that we should be holy, belonging to the Lord. “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly,” that is, in every respect. He continues, May “your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The word whole here refers to the parts of our natural life: our spirit, our soul, and our body. Each of these three parts should be preserved holy to God and be used by God. That means that everything we are belongs to the Lord—our physical bodies, our spiritual or intellectual life, and our psychological or natural life.
In verse 24 Paul reminds us, “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” No one can sanctify himself. God has to set us apart as holy to Himself, and the great truth here is, “Faithful is he who is going to do this.”
Verse 25 is a very understandable exhortation. Paul writes: “Brethren, pray for us.” We need prayer. It takes prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit to accomplish any true work for God. After this appeal, Paul closes with a greeting to all the brethren. He charges them to have the epistle read. He was conscious of the fact that this was the very Word of God. Finally, he concludes with that great benediction: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” As Paul wrote this to the Thessalonian Christians, so may the grace of God, His favor, His enablement, be made real in all our lives.
Questions
1. What should be the relationship of Christians to Christian leaders and how does this relate particularly to the Thessalonian church?
2. What should characterize our testimony toward our Christian brethren?
3. What should characterize our testimony toward God?
4. What should characterize our rejoicing, prayer, and giving of thanks?
5. What is meant by the command: “Quench not the Spirit” and what does Paul include as evidence of it?
6. What does Paul mean by his prayer that God will “sanctify you wholly”?
7. Who does the sanctifying?
8. What is Paul’s final request?