Therefore he who rejects this doesn’t reject man, but God, who has also given his Holy Spirit to you.
Parallel Translations
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Therefore he who rejects this doesn’t reject man, but God, who has also given his Holy Spirit to you.
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He therfore that despiseth despiseth not man but God which hath sent his holy sprete amonge you.
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Hee therefore that despiseth these thinges, despiseth not man, but God who hath euen giuen you his holy Spirit.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to 1 Thessalonians 4:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 John 3:24 He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.
- Luke 10:16 Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
- 1 Samuel 8:7 Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.
- John 12:48 He who rejects me, and doesn’t receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke will judge him in the last day.
- Proverbs 1:7 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
- Proverbs 23:9 Don’t speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
- Romans 5:5 and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
- 2 Peter 1:21 For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Samuel 10:19 But you have today rejected your God, who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said to him, ‘No! Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes, and by your thousands.”
- Nehemiah 9:30 Yet many years you put up with them, and testified against them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not listen. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
- Acts 5:3-4 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land? While you kept it, didn’t it remain your own? After it was sold, wasn’t it in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You haven’t lied to men, but to God.”
- 1 Corinthians 7:40 But she is happier if she stays as she is, in my judgment, and I think that I also have God’s Spirit.
- Galatians 4:6 And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”
- Jude 1:8 Yet in the same way, these also in their dreaming defile the flesh, despise authority, and slander celestial beings.
- Isaiah 49:7 Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and rise up, princes, and they shall worship, because of Yahweh who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
- Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days and Yahweh’s pleasure will prosper in his hand.
- Acts 13:41 ‘Behold, you scoffers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which you will in no way believe, if one declares it to you.’ ”
- 1 Corinthians 2:10 But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
- 1 Peter 1:12 To them it was revealed, that they served not to themselves, but to you, in these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 8 Who hath also given. That he may the…
8 Who hath also given. That he may the more effectually turn away the Thessalonians from such contempt and obstinacy, he reminds them that they had been endowed with the Spirit of God, first, in order that they may distinguish what proceeds from God; secondly, that they make such a difference as is befitting between holiness and impurity; and thirdly, that, with heavenly authority, they may pronounce judgment against all manner of unchastity — such as will fall upon their own heads, unless they keep aloof from contagion. Hence, however wicked men may treat with ridicule all instructions that are given as to a holy life and the fear of God, those that are endowed with the Spirit of God have a very different testimony sealed upon their hearts. We must therefore take heed, lest we should extinguish or obliterate it. At the same time, this may refer to Paul and the other teachers, as though he had said, that it is not from human perception that they condemn unchastity, but they pronounce from the authority of God what has been suggested to them by his Spirit. I am inclined, however, to include both. Some manuscripts have the second person — you, which restricts the gift of the Spirit to the Thessalonians.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain These commandments which I gave you.
These commandments which I gave you.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but…
8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
Ver. 8. He therefore that despiseth] That thinks it a trick of youth to fornicate, and a trick of wit to over reach or oppress; that holds it a matter of nothing to set light by the former lessons; he shall find that he hath to deal with God and not man in this business; and that it is by the Spirit of God that we have spoken unto him, who will punish their contempt of his counsels.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He therefore that despiseth,.... The Vulgate Latin adds, "these…
He therefore that despiseth,.... The Vulgate Latin adds, "these things"; these exhortations now delivered, the commandments given by the Lord Jesus Christ, and the will of God above declared; he that rejects these things with contempt, takes no notice of them, and acts not according to them,
despiseth not man; not men only, the apostles of Christ, and ministers of the Gospel; for, by despising these exhortations, they themselves were despised, though not alone: but God; Father, Son, and Spirit; God the Father, whose will was their sanctification, even to abstain from fornication, and every act of uncleanness, which, if not attended to, was a despising of him; and the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom, and for whose sake they were entreated and exhorted, and in whose name, and by whose authority the apostle gave them these commandments; wherefore to slight them, was to slight Jesus Christ himself; and, by the way, this is a proof of the true and proper deity of Christ. Moreover, such despisers also, in some sense, do despite unto the spirit of grace, by whom the apostles spake, or who spoke in them these things, as follows,
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who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit; as he did to the prophets of the Old Testament, and therefore what they said was equally by divine inspiration of God; and hence despising them, was despising the Spirit of God that spake by them. The Syriac and Arabic versions read, "who hath given unto you his Holy Spirit"; and so all Stephens's copies; which furnishes out a fresh reason or argument, dissuading from uncleanness, since God had given them his "Spirit" to convince them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, so that they were not ignorant of the things warned against; and he had given them his Spirit as an "holy" Spirit, as a Spirit of sanctification, to begin and carry on that work in them, to which uncleanness was very opposite; and he had given his Spirit unto, or "into" them, to dwell in them, as in his temple, and therefore should be careful not to defile it; and to cause them to walk in his statutes, and to assist them to keep his judgments, and do them, and as an earnest of their inheritance, and a sealer of them up unto the day of redemption; wherefore it became them not to grieve him by an impure life; and they were laid under obligations to live in the Spirit, and to walk after him, and not after the flesh.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain He that despiseth - The commandments we gave. Despiseth…
He that despiseth - The commandments we gave. Despiseth God - Himself. Who hath also given you his Holy Spirit - To convince you of the truth, and enable you to be holy. What naked majesty of words! How oratorical, and yet with what great simplicity!-a simplicity that does not impair, but improve, the understanding to the utmost; that, like the rays of heat through a glass, collects all the powers of reason into one orderly point, from being scattered abroad in utter confusion.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. He therefore that despiseth] He who will…
Verse 8. He therefore that despiseth] He who will not receive these teachings, and is led either to undervalue or despise them, despises not us but God, from whom we have received our commission, and by whose Spirit we give these directions. See Clarke's note on 1Th 4:15.
Hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit.] Instead of εις ημας, unto US, εις υμας, unto YOU, is the reading of BDEFG, a great many others, the Syriac, all the Arabic, Armenian, later Syriac in the margin, some of the Itala, Clement, Didymus, and Ambrosiaster; this seems to be the better reading. God has taught us that we may teach you; and he has also given you his Holy Spirit that ye might understand and be enabled to practise these things. It is one thing to receive a revelation from the Spirit of God; it is another thing to receive that Spirit to enable a man to live according to that revelation. In the first sense the apostles alone received this Holy Spirit; in the latter sense all true Christians, as well as the Thessalonians, receive it. I think υμας, you, is the true reading, and that it is confirmed by the following verse: For ye yourselves are TAUGHT OF GOD to love one another. Griesbach has inserted it in the margin, but has not admitted it into the text, because it has not what he deemed full support from those MSS. which are of the Alexandrian recension; but he thought its genuineness very probable.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He therefore that despiseth - Margin, “rejecteth.” That is,…
He therefore that despiseth - Margin, “rejecteth.” That is, he who disregards such commands as these which call him to a holy life, is really rejecting and disobeying God. Some might be disposed to say that these were merely the precepts of man, and that therefore it was not important whether they were obeyed or not. The apostle assures them in the most solemn manner, that, though communicated to them by man, yet they were really the commands of God.
Who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit - This is a claim to inspiration. Paul did not give these commands as his own, but as taught by the Spirit of God; compare notes on 1Co 7:40.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain despiseth, &c.--Greek, "setteth at naught" such engagements imposed on…
despiseth, &c.--Greek, "setteth at naught" such engagements imposed on him in his calling, Th1 4:7; in relation to his "brother," Th1 4:6. He who doth so, "sets at naught not man (as for instance his brother), but God" (Psa 51:4) is used of despising or rejecting God's minister, it may mean here, "He who despiseth" or "rejecteth" these our ministerial precepts.
who hath also given unto us--So some oldest manuscripts read, but most oldest manuscripts read, "Who (without 'also') giveth (present) unto you" (not "us").
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his Spirit--Greek, "His own Spirit, the Holy (One)"; thus emphatically marking "holiness" (Th1 4:7) as the end for which the Holy (One) is being given. "Unto you," in the Greek, implies that the Spirit is being given unto, into (put "into" your hearts), and among you (compare Th1 2:9; Eph 4:30). "Giveth" implies that sanctification is not merely a work once for all accomplished in the past, but a present progressive work. So the Church of England Catechism, "sanctifieth (present) all the elect people of God." "His own" implies that as He gives you that which is essentially identical with Himself, He expects you should become like Himself (Pe1 1:16; Pe2 1:4).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Despiseth—These warnings of vengeance upon all violations of…
8. Despiseth—These warnings of vengeance upon all violations of the law of purity in sex and business.
Not man—Though I am but a man, who declare the law.
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But God—Who is real author of the law.
Holy Spirit— By which he both inspires this declaration and bears it home upon the conscience.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but…
8. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God] Therefore should stand first, as in R. V.; it gathers up and re-affirms with emphasis the charge of 1Th_4:2-7 : Wherefore then.
For despiseth read rejecteth (A. V. margin, and R. V.), as this word is rendered in Luk_10:16; in Gal_2:21 we read it, “I do not make void the grace of God.” It points to some authority set at nought, or engagement nullified. It was God’s call which had summoned the Thessalonians to their new life; His voice, not man’s, had reached them by the Gospel (see ch. 1Th_2:12-13). It will be God’s authority therefore, not man’s, that they defy, if this charge is disregarded; comp. 1Th_4:1, “how you ought to please God;” and 1Th_4:3, “This is God’s will.”
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And the God Whom they would thus set at nought, is He who gives His Holy Spirit unto you. The Greek text of this clause is doubtful in several points. The Revisers are probably right in reading giveth in place of hath also given (A. V.); and you in place of us (A. V.), this word closing the sentence with emphasis.
The preposition is strictly into you, implying beyond the mere fact of the impartation of the Holy Spirit, His entrance into the soul. There is probably a reminiscence of Eze_37:6, where the LXX represents the Lord as saying to the dry bones, “I will give (Hebrew, put) My Spirit into you, and you shall live, and shall know that I am the Lord.” Similarly in Gal_4:6, “God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts;” and in Eph_3:16, “strengthened through His Spirit (entering) into the inward man.” The gift of the Holy Spirit of God, bestowed to dwell within the soul of him who believes in Christ, is the peculiar distinction and the essential blessing of Christ’s religion. “I will pray the Father,” said Jesus, “and He will give you another Paraclete, that He may be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth. He abideth with you, and shall be in you” (Joh_14:16-17; comp. Luk_11:13). The whole grace of the Gospel is summed up by St Paul in “the promise of the Spirit,” received “through faith” (Gal_3:14). Through His indwelling we know the love of God, and are conscious of being sons of God and heirs of life eternal (Rom_5:5; Rom_8:14-17; Gal_4:6-7; Eph_1:13-14).
Now the unchaste act or thought is an affront to the Holy Ghost, Who dwells as Guest in the soul and body of the Christian. This final warning seals the Apostle’s charge. He appeals to the presence of the Holy Spirit, of Whose continued visitations and influence his readers were sensible. To “reject the God Who gives” this gift would be for the Thessalonians to sin against the light that was in them. We are reminded again of 1Co_6:19, “Know you not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost Which is in you, Which you have from God?”
“Gentle, awful, holy Guest,
Make Thy temple in each breast,
There supreme to reign and rest,
Comforter Divine.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) “So you see that to act contumeliously in…
(8) “So you see that to act contumeliously in the matter is to act contumeliously not only towards your neighbour, but towards God Himself, and that, too, after He has given you a gift which should have preserved you from these corruptions.”
He . . . that despiseth.—The verb means to treat as insignificant either persons or things. Here the object is not supplied in the first instance, in order to heighten the effect of the second clause. If we were to supply it, it would include all the rights which the unclean liver spurns, “the commandments which we (mere men as you thought us) gave you,” the “brother” whose domestic happiness has been invaded, the unfortunate victim herself, and, finally, the “honour” due to the sinner’s own body. Since it was God who ordered the relations in which we all stand to one another, contempt for these relations is contempt for Him.
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Who hath also given.—Mistranslated for “who also gave.” St. Paul is looking back to the day when he confirmed them; for the right reading is not “unto us,” but “unto you,” or more correctly “into you”—i.e., “to enter into you, and dwell there” (Joh_14:17, and many other places). The word “holy” in the original is very emphatically put:” Who also gave His Spirit—His Holy Spirit—to enter you,” thus bringing out the startling contrast between such foul lives and the holiness which befitted and was possible (Rom_6:14; Rom_8:3-4) for men in whom the Holy Ghost, communicated by the laying on of hands, vouchsafed to dwell.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He therefore that despiseth; or, as it is in…
He therefore that despiseth; or, as it is in the margin, rejecteth (R.V). What is rejected is either the above commands to moral purity, or the Christian calling to holiness, or, better still, Paul himself, as the organ of God. Despiseth; or, rejecteth. Not man; that is, not me, as if the commands were given from myself were of mere human origin. But God; the Giver of these commands. So also Peter said unto Ananias, "Thou hast not lied unto man, but unto God"; (Act_5:4) and our Lord says, "He that rejecteth you rejecteth me". (Luk_10:16) Who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit. If this is the correct reading, then the apostle here again asserts his own inspiration, and that in the strongest and plainest terms. The best manuscripts, however, read, "who giveth his Holy Spirit unto you" (R.V) a strong enforcement of holiness, inasmuch as the Holy Spirit was given them for the express purpose of producing holiness within them.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain He therefore that desptseth, despiseth not man but God
1Th_4:8
He therefore that desptseth, despiseth not man but God
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The sin of despising God
The things set at nought are not specified, because the apostle wanted to draw our particular attention to Him whom in them we despise.
It is, however, easy to see that they are all religious duties, moral laws and precepts, the observance of which makes up the sum total of a religious life.
1. Instinctively our thoughts turn first to that low value which many persons entertain of life. They live to waste, or, as they say, using an almost criminal expression, to kill time: they occupy themselves with worthless books or newspapers, and regard reading solely as the diversion of the hour; they take up some work which is good in itself, but having no perseverance, fling it aside unfinished the moment they are weary of it; they spend their days in one long course of pleasure, harmless or harmful they care not which, and at the end ask themselves the question, Is life worth living? They are earnest, if earnest at all, only about the things of time and sense, and treat all matters merely as pastimes, means by which serious thoughts of death and eternity may be diverted.
2. There is another more open, yet possibly not more perilous way of despising than the above. There are those who from their youth, if not from their childhood, have been steeped in the sins of the flesh, who not only commit such things, but have pleasure in those that do them; forgetful, it may be, of the apostles words, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.
3. Then there are those who are living in unbelief--open scoffers of things Divine--men who do not want to believe in a Lawgiver, because, if they did, they would feel obliged to keep His laws; men who ridicule religion in order to deny its claim on their lives; who think, or pretend to think, that religion is not true, because in their case the wish is father to the thought. To them this question should be brought home. Be honest with yourselves and say, what if, after all, the God whom you affect to deny be the Lord of the universe, the Sovereign to whom you owe allegiance? what if you find at the last that you have had light enough, and you are forced to admit then that you have had no excuse for your obstinate unbelief? How will it be with you then, when you shall see eye to eye, and the truth, no longer hidden beneath the veil of your own weaving, shall stare you in the face in all its tremendous reality? To refuse to see and hear Him is to despise Him to whom nature pays her willing homage; for when the voice of man is dumb, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handywork. (C. W. H. Kenrick, M. A.)
A word to She despiser
Notice:
I. That the Christian minister is spiritually commissioned to exhort men to holiness. Who hath also given unto us His Holy Spirit. The apostles were endowed for their special ministry by the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost. Though miraculous gifts are no longer bestowed, Christian ministers are nevertheless called and qualified by the Divine Spirit (2Co_5:20).
II. That the most faithful exhortations of the Christian minister may be despised. This is done when men reject the word spoken, refuse to listen to it, neglect to meditate upon it, and decline to enter upon the course of holy living with its counsels. This conduct shows--
1. The voluntary power of man. He can resist the truth, or accept it. He is responsible for the exercise of all his moral powers; and, therefore, incurs guilt by any abuse of those powers.
2. The blinding folly of sin. It darkens the understanding, perverts the will, petrifies the affections, and banishes the good that elevates and saves. To wilfully reject the overtures of righteousness is to relinquish eternal life, and to doom the soul to spiritual death.
III. That to despise the faithful exhortations of the Christian minister is to despise God. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man but God. The contempt of the true minister does not terminate in his person but reaches the majesty of that Being by whom he is commissioned. To disregard the message of an ambassador is to despise the monarch he represents (Luk_10:16). As the edicts proclaimed by the public herald are not his own, but the Prince who gives them authority and force; so the commands published by the divinely commissioned minister are not his own, but belong to Him whose will is the law of the universe. It belongs to God to reveal the law, it belongs to man to declare it. The exhortation, whether uttered by a Moses, or by a Simeon Niger, is equally the word of God, to which the most reverential obedience is due. To despise the meanest of Gods ministers, is an insult to the majesty of heaven, and will incur His terrible displeasure. Lessons:
1. The Divine commands concern mans highest good.
2. Take heed how ye hear.
3. To despise the Divine message is to be self-consigned to endless woe. (G. Barlow.)
The causes which induce a despising of Divine revelation
I. The rejection of Christianity cannot arise from a superior intellect on the part of infidels. Infidelity is not an intellectual state. But if great names are cited as giving sanction to unbelief, we can quote greater names as allies of faith.
II. Nor can it be traced to their superior knowledge. The same sources of learning are open to believer and sceptic, and it has yet to be shown that the former have been less assiduous in drawing from them than the latter. On the contrary, the infidel must be charged with ignorance oral.
1. The language of Holy Writ.
2. Philosophy.
3. Historical facts and monuments.
III. Nor to their superior morality.
1. Can the despisers point to superior moral examples? It is well known that many fall off to infidelity through immorality.
2. Can they produce a superior system? The world does not contain the equal of Christianity.
3. Can they present superior motives? Anti-Christian morality, whatever may be its achievements, and these are small indeed, is ever based upon the motive that is either weak or low. (T. Archer, D. D.)
The cause of despising
As they who are displeased with all things that profit them not; or as a blind man, who, groping by the walls of a fair house, doth find fault with the windows because they are not so smooth as the walls; even so, such are they that find fault with the Scriptures because they show the spots as well as the beauty, the vice as well as the virtue. (W. Cawdray.)
The impotence and folly of despising the truth
Rest thee well assured, O scorner! that thy laughs cannot alter the truth, thy jests cannot avert thine inevitable doom. Though in thy hardihood thou shouldst make a league with death, and sign covenant with hell, yet swift justice shall overtake thee, and strong vengeance strike thee low. In vain dost thou jeer and mock, for eternal verities are mightier than thy sophistries; nor can thy smart sayings alter the Divine truth of a single word of the volume of Revelation. Oh, why dost thou quarrel with thy best friends and ill-treat thy only refuge? There yet remains hope even for the scorner--hope in a Saviours blood, in the Fathers mercy, in the Holy Spirits omnipotent agency. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The sinfulness of the despiser
Here is a man who says to his poor wife who is a Christian, who, because she sometimes has a slip in temper or does now and then what he does not approve, Ah, that is your Christianity, is it? Well, if that be your church and chapel going, I will have none of it. Beast, fiend! There are such creatures to be found. They are to be found amongst men and amongst women. Oh, the unkindness, the cruelty, the heart slaughter! It were nothing to kill a man--stab him right through the heart and let him die. But when he is struggling towards light, towards God, and has to fight with all these demoniacal passions and influences round about, over which he seems to have little or no control, when he just stumbles on the road and they point at him and say, Ha, ha, that is your Christianity, is it? that is thrice dying, that is intolerable pain! We know we are inconsistent, we know we are selfish, we cannot boast of ourselves. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 8. He that despiseth. Who considers not the rights…
8. He that despiseth. Who considers not the rights and welfare of his fellow-beings, and invades the purity of the home, let him know that it is God he despises, not man. God has required of him holiness instead of uncleanness. Giveth his Holy Spirit. The temple of the Holy Spirit must be holy. To defile it, that is ourselves, is to insult God.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain 1Th_4:8. He therefore that despiseth.—Margin and R.V. “rejecteth.” He…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
1Th_4:8. He therefore that despiseth.—Margin and R.V. “rejecteth.” He who pushes aside sanctification in his preference for uncleanness will have to reckon with God Himself.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF 1Th_4:8
A Word to the Despiser.
I. The Christian minister is spiritually commissioned to exhort men to holiness.—“Who hath also given unto us His Holy Spirit.” The apostles were endowed for their special ministry by the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost; they were infallibly guided into all truth; they wrought miracles; and their word was with power. Though miraculous gifts are no longer bestowed, Christian ministers are nevertheless called and qualified by the divine Spirit; they are empowered to proclaim the will of God and to urge men to reconciliation and purity (2Co_5:20). The Rev. F. W. Robertson was once hesitating in the pulpit of a brother-clergyman which of two sermons he should preach. Something whispered to him, “Robertson, you are a craven; you dare not speak here what you believe.” He selected a sermon that seemed almost personal in its faithfulness and power. But it was the message given to him for that hour.
II. That the most faithful exhortations of the Christian minister may be despised.—This is done when men reject the word spoken, refuse to listen to it, neglect to meditate upon it, and decline to enter upon the course of holy living which it counsels. This conduct shows:—
1. The voluntary power of man.—He can resist the truth or accept it. He is responsible for the exercise of all his moral powers, and therefore incurs guilt by any abuse of those powers.
2. The blinding folly of sin.—It darkens the understanding, perverts the will, petrifies the affections, and banishes the good that elevates and saves. Sin is also a force—a stealthy, remorseless, destructive force; wherever it breathes, it blasts and withers; wherever it plants its sharpened talons, it lacerates and destroys; and the disorder, the moral anarchy, the writhing agony of a groaning world bear witness to the terrible ravages of man’s great enemy. To wilfully reject the overtures of righteousness is to relinquish the inheritance of eternal life, and to doom the soul to the endless miseries of spiritual death.
III. That to despise the faithful exhortations of the Christian minister is to despise God.—“He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God.” The contempt of the true minister does not terminate in his person alone, but reaches the majesty of that Being by whom he is commissioned. To disregard the message of an ambassador is to despise the monarch he represents. The Saviour declared, “He that despiseth you, despiseth Me” (Luk_10:16). As the edicts proclaimed by the public herald are not his own, but the edicts of the prince who gives them authority and force, so the commands published by the divinely commissioned minister are not his own, but belong to Him whose will is the law of the universe. It belongs to God to reveal the law, freighted with His sanction and authority; it belongs to man to declare it. The exhortation, whether uttered by a Moses, who was commended for the beauty of his personal appearance, or by a Simeon Niger, who was remarkable for his physical deformity, is equally the word of God, to which the most reverential obedience is due. To despise the meanest of God’s ministers is an insult to the majesty of Heaven, and will incur His terrible displeasure. In Retzsch’s illustrations of Goethe’s Faust there is one plate where angels are represented as dropping roses upon the demons who are contending for the soul of Faust. Every rose falls like molten metal, burning and blistering where it touches. So is it that truth acts upon the soul that has wilfully abandoned its teachings. It bewilders when it ought to guide.
Lessons.—
1. The divine commands concern man’s highest good.
2. Take heed how ye hear.
3. To despise the divine message is to be self-consigned to endless woe.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain Therefore he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God,…
Therefore he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God, who giveth his Holy Spirit unto you . [The "rejecteth" of this verse refers to the forewarning and testifying of verse 6. Those who did not heed the warning and testimony were not rejecting the counsel of Paul, but the counsel of God himself ( Luk_13:16 ; Act_5:4 ), and if they were Christians they were doubly guilty, it being sin enough to reject God's warnings even if he had not given his Holy Spirit to strengthen and encourage in heeding those warnings. The Holy Spirit makes us temples not to be defiled. Here again Paul asserts the divine authority of the teaching which came through him.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 4:8 Rejecting Paul’s teaching on these matters was the…
4:8 Rejecting Paul’s teaching on these matters was the same as rejecting God. • The Holy Spirit empowers Christians to live in accord with God’s will (Ezek 36:27; Rom 8:1-4; Gal 5:16; 1 Jn 3:24).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.