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1 Thessalonians 4:1. For this reason, brethren, we ask and plead with you by Christ Jesus, that you, having received from us how you ought to act and please God, may be more successful in doing so. “The same, brothers, we ask and pray for the Lord Jesus.” Guided by this intention, we offer you instruction. For the Apostle said: the same thing, instead of: “Our admonition is sufficient for you.” Which one exactly? “As you have received from us how it is fitting for you to walk and please God,... may you be even more abundant.” We have shown you what kind of life is pleasing to the God of all. Therefore, try to keep the rules given to you. 1 Sol.4:2. For you know what commandments we gave you from the Lord Jesus. “I know what the Lord Jesus has commanded you.” And above he said: about “the Lord Jesus,” and here he says: “by the Lord Jesus,” making his instruction worthy of faith by mentioning the Master. This is enough to expose the blasphemy of Arius and Eunomius. For if the preposition διά means a servant, does it mean that the Lord Jesus is Paul’s servant? because he gave the commandment by the Lord Jesus (διά του Κυρίου Ιησου) and the admonition he made about the Lord Jesus. And if they also avoid this blasphemy and recognize Paul as a slave, and the Lord as Lord, then it is clear that the divine Apostle indifferently uses pretexts. But let us return to the sequence of interpretation. 1 Sol.4:3. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from fornication; “This is the will of God, your holiness.” Then the Apostle makes it known what virtue he called holiness. “Keep your samech from all fornication.” There are many types of lewdness. Therefore, he did not say: “from fornication,” but: “from all fornication.” 1 Thessalonians 4:4. So that each of you knows how to keep your vessel in holiness and honor. “Lead each one from you to acquire his vessel for holiness and honor.” Others interpreted the words “your vessel” as follows: your wife. But I think that the Apostle called everyone’s body a vessel, because he gives the law to more than just those living in marriage. 1 Sol.4:5. And not in the passion of lust, like the pagans who do not know God; “And not in the passion of lust, as the pagans do not know God.” Free yourself from error, says the Apostle; you have come to know the real God, therefore do not imitate those who live in the darkness of ignorance and do not be enslaved by the passion of lust. Then he sets out the law more clearly. 1 Sol.4:6. So that you do not treat your brother in any way unlawfully or selfishly: for the Lord is the avenger of all this, as we have told you and testified before. “And do not transgress and take covetousness from your brother’s property.” The Apostle here called adultery extortion, because he who undermines the marital consent of others and steals the bed given to another concerns what does not belong to him. He strengthened the accusation, making it clear that the one offended is a brother. But he also points out punishment, opposing fear to the curbing of lawlessness. “The Lord is the avenger of all these, just as He also spoke to you before and testified.” For we have already taught the teaching that the Lord of all is a truthful Judge and punishes the wrongdoers. But the Apostle also proves the justice of the punishment. 1 Sol.4:7. For God has not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness. “For God did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness.” The devil filled the dogmas of non-existent gods with obscenity, encouraging people to take this path; The true God commands us to deviate from this path, but orders us to walk the path of chastity. 1 Sol.4:8. So he who is disobedient is not subject to man, but to God, who gave us His Holy Spirit. “In the same way, when you sweep away, you do not sweep away man, but God,” and God, who gives “His Holy Spirit in us.” Therefore, our untruth concerns the God of all things Himself. For He also gives us the grace of the All-Holy Spirit. So the Apostle, having outlined the doctrine of chastity, moves on to another type of instruction. 1 Sol.4:9. There is no need to write to you about brotherly love; for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. 1 Thessalonians 4:10. for this is what you do to all the brothers throughout all Macedonia. We beseech you, brothers, to prosper more 1 Sol.4:11. And try hard to live quietly, to do your own thing and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you. 1 Sol.4:12. So that you may act decently before outsiders and not lack for anything. “As for brotherly love, do not demand, but let it be written to you, for you yourself are taught by God to love one another: for do this to all the brethren who are in all Macedonia.” The Apostle here called brotherly love generosity in monetary donations; He said about her that they do not need instruction, because they succeed in this by the grace of God. “We pray you, brethren, to be more generous and kindly diligent, to remain silent and do your own deeds and do with your own hands, as I commanded you: so that you may walk decently towards outsiders and demand nothing of the kind.” This instruction does not contradict the above praises. For it happened that some generously gave what they needed to those in need, but because of their generosity they did not bother to get busy. And the Apostle rightly praised some, and gave useful advice to others, and decently called doing business generosity. For those who, through the generosity of fellow believers, can feed themselves without work, but even after that do not agree to live without work, earning food with their own hands, seem to be showing some kind of generosity through hard work. The Apostle himself interpreted the words: “let you walk gracefully toward those outside”, adding: “and you demand nothing more.” It is a shame, he says, to live in inaction, not to provide for what one needs by one’s work, but to love a beggarly life and expect the generosity of others. After this, he offers the doctrine of the resurrection and consoles those who grieve over the dead. 1 Sol.4:13. I do not want to leave you, brothers, in ignorance about the dead, so that you do not grieve like others who have no hope. “I do not want you, brothers, not to know about the departed (dead), so that you do not grieve, like others who have no hope.” The Apostle does not completely prohibit sorrow, but he rejects the immoderation of sorrow and consoles him with the hope of the resurrection. For those who do not have this hope are excusable to indulge in immoderate sadness. That is why he did not say: “about the dead,” but: “about the departed,” concluding consolation in the very name. Then he presents the proof of the resurrection from the teaching that has been received about the Lord Christ. 1 Sol.4:14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. “If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so God will bring with Him those who have died in Jesus.” If Christ’s resurrection seems to us worthy of faith, then we will believe that we too will receive the resurrection, because the mystery of the incarnation is being built for us. The divine Apostle said very wisely that the Lord Jesus died; for others denied His perception of the flesh and thought that the Lord was both visible and suffered in a ghost. He called the dead departed, and by the name itself comforted the saddened; for sleep is followed by awakening. 1 Thessalonians 4:15. For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not warn those who are dead. “For this we speak to you by the word of the Lord.” We are not led by our own thoughts, but our teaching is drawn from Divine Revelation. Which one exactly? “For we who are living and remain at the coming of the Lord are not imams to go before the dead.” All those who have died, says the Apostle, will be resurrected so quickly, quickly and instantly that they will precede those who remain alive at that time and will first meet the Savior of the universe. For this: “we who live,” the Apostle did not say about his own person, but about the people who will live to see that time. In what has been said, no matter how wonderful it may be, the power of the Acting One assures. 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Because the Lord Himself, with a proclamation, with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. “For the Lord Himself will descend into heaven in command, in the voice of the Archangel and in the trumpet of God.” The Lord Himself of all will first of all appear to those descending from heaven and command the Archangel to cry out and raise the dead. The trumpets will sound something great and wondrous everywhere. The Apostle said this in his Epistle to the Corinthians: “For we will not all fall asleep; we will all be changed: soon, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51-52) If, at the sound that was on Mount Sinai, it was commensurate with the hearing of those living then, the people did not endure the excessiveness of fear, but said to the great Moses: “Speak thou with us, and let not God speak unto us, lest we die” (Ex. 20:19); who will endure the voice that will then sound? And this: “in command, in the voice of the Archangel,” means that one of the Archangels will command the dead to rise; and will immediately rise again with such speed that they will precede those who are still alive. Something similar is said in the Divine Gospel in the parable of the virgins: “At midnight there was a cry: behold, the bridegroom comes, go out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6). “And those who are dead in Christ will rise first.” The Apostle calls the faithful dead, not only those who believed in the Gospel, but also those who shone under the law and before the law. For he said this in the Epistle to the Hebrews: “And all these, having obeyed by faith, not having received the promises, I foresaw the best of us for us, so that not without us they would receive perfection” (Heb. 11:39-40). Therefore, all who have distinguished themselves by piety will be the first to be worthy of resurrection. The Apostle also teaches this in his Epistle to the Corinthians: “Christ was the firstfruits, then those who believed in Christ at His coming had the same end” (1 Cor. 15:23-24) 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Then we who are left alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. “Then we who are alive and remain, together with them, will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” The apostle showed the greatness of honor. Just as the Lord Himself ascended on a bright cloud, so those who believed in Him, both those resurrected from the dead and those still alive, carried on the clouds, will meet the Judge of the universe and will remain with Him for an endless age. The Lord taught this in the Holy Gospel: “there will be two on one bed: one will be eaten, and the other will be left... two together, grinding: one will be eaten, and the other will be left. Two... in the village: one is eaten, and the other is left” (Luke 17:34-36). And by “bed” he meant abundant life, and by “mill” - slavery and hired service, and by “village” - agricultural life, and taught that every kind of life has both those who are saved and those who are punished. Thus, when a king enters a city, officials and honorable citizens meet somewhere far from the city, and those accused of something inside the city await the arrival of the judge. 1 Thessalonians 4:18. So comfort one another with these words. “In the same way, comfort one another in these words.” Therefore, knowing this, bravely endure the sorrows of this age. You might be interested in: