See that no one returns evil for evil to anyone, but always follow after that which is good for one another and for all.
Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you. Don’t quench the Spirit. Don’t despise prophecies. Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 15 See that no one render evil for evil.…
15 See that no one render evil for evil. As it is difficult to observe this precept, in consequence of the strong bent of our nature to revenge, he on this account bids us take care to be on our guard. For the word see denotes anxious care. Now, although he simply forbids us to strive with each other in the way of inflicting injuries, there can, nevertheless, be no doubt that he meant to condemn, at the same time, every disposition to do injury. For if it is unlawful to render evil for evil, every disposition to injure is culpable. This doctrine is peculiar to Christians — not to retaliate injuries, but to endure them patiently. And lest the Thessalonians should think that revenge was prohibited only towards their brethren, he expressly declares that they are to do evil to no one. For particular excuses are wont to be brought forward in some cases. “What! why should it be unlawful for me to avenge myself on one that is so worthless, so wicked, and so cruel?” But as vengeance is forbidden us in every case, without exception, however wicked the man that has injured us may be, we must refrain from inflicting injury.
But always follow benignity. By this last clause he teaches that we must not merely refrain from inflicting vengeance, when any one has injured us, but must cultivate beneficence towards all. For although he means that it should in the first instance be exercised among believers mutually, he afterwards extends it to all, however undeserving of it, that we may make it our aim to overcome evil with good, as he himself teaches elsewhere. (Romans 12:21) The first step, therefore, in the exercise of patience, is, not to revenge injuries; the second is, to bestow favors even upon enemies.
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 On vv15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 Charity ought not to be overcome with any injuries.
Charity ought not to be overcome with any injuries.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–23 15 See that none render evil for evil unto…
15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
Ver. 15. See that none render] Nothing is so natural to us; and Aristotle commends revenge as a piece of manhood, when indeed it is doghood rather. Excellently Lactantius, Non est minus mall referre iniuriam, quam inferre. It is as bad to recompense wrong as to do wrong. {See Trapp on "Mat 5:44"} {See Trapp on "Rom 12:17"}
Read full note →
But ever follow that which is good] Not to do good is to do evil; not to save a man when we can, is to destroy him, Mar 3:4. {See Trapp on "Mar 3:4"}
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–23 These words seem directed to the guides of the…
These words seem directed to the guides of the church, who are called overseers, Act 20:28, and therefore the apostle requires them to see that none render evil, &c. Or if to the whole church, as before, then it is a solemn charge which they ought to be all circumspect in observing. And the charge is:
1. Negative, not to render evil for evil; which is to revenge themselves; and that is forbidden by the apostle, Rom 12:17,19; 1Pe 3:9; and is the resisting of evil forbidden by our Saviour, Mat 5:39. But it is to be understood of private revenge rising out of malice, not of public censures, either civil or ecclesiastical, or of seeking reparations for injuries received in courts of justice according to law and equity. This private revenge cannot consist with that patience that he required towards all men in the foregoing verse, nor is it conformable to the example of Christ, 1Pe 2:23, nor to the Christian calling and profession, 1Pe 2:21.
Read full note →
2. Positive; good in itself, or that which is good to others, as the word is often taken, Mat 7:11; Luk 1:53; Gal 6:6; and so stands opposite here to the rendering of evil. And the word follow signifies an earnest following, which is sometimes taken in a bad sense, for persecution, Mat 5:11, and sometimes in a good sense, as Heb 12:14; 1Pe 3:11; and to follow good imports more than only to do good, 1Pe 3:11, when the inward bent of the soul and the outward endeavours are towards doing good. And this ought to be ever, or always, that is, in all places, times, occasions, company. Man’s course of life ought in this to be uniform, though his outward condition vary; sometimes to do good to the souls, sometimes to the bodies of men, and that either in a privative or positive good; preventing evil, or bestowing that which is good.
Both among yourselves, and to all men: Do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith, Gal 6:10. As they say of good, the commoner the better; but the contrary of evil. Christians stand in a special relation to one another, but in a common relation to all, and every relation ought to be filled up with good. As love is a common debt to all men, so the fruit of it, which is doing good. Our doing good should not be confined among Christians only of one way, opinion, or congregation; nor to men only under some limiting circumstances; but it should reach all men as we have ability, opportuniy, and call, even enemies themselves, as our Saviour requires, Mat 5:44. This is to act like God, and may commend religion to all men, and is not to be looked upon as commended by way of counsel, as the papists say, but commanded by precept. And it is not enough not to do evil, but we must do good: not to save a man’s life when we have power to do it, is to kill him, as Christ argues, Mar 3:4; so not to save a man’s estate when we may, is to steal from him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv15–23 Our apostle from this verse closes his epistle with…
Our apostle from this verse closes his epistle with a general exhortation to all Christians to be found in the practice of several necessary and important duties; the first of which is to abstain from all revenge, render to no man evil for evil; a malicious desire of revenge is so far beneath a Christian, that it is the baseness of a man. Let him that does the wrong look to it, could a heathen say. Not only revenge in the action, but in the affection, is greatly sinful before God, and deeply penal also; as jealousy is the rage of a man, so malice and revenge is the rage of the devil, it is the very soul and spirit of the apostate nature.
By good here, as it stands in opposition to rendering evil, must be understood good-will and beneficence, or doing good to enemies, and this the apostle would have us follow, or, as the word signifies, pursue with eagerness, as the hunter doth his game, and this continually. Ever follow that which is good, without interruption, notwithstanding a multiplication of injuries; and this not only among themselves, who were Christian professors, but even among heathens (with whom they lived) though bitter enemies to Christianity.
Read full note →
Learn hence, that a Christian must not turn vindictive and impatient, or incline to any desires or motions towards private revenge, notwithstanding the malicious temper of his adversary continues: but instead of being overcome of evil, must labour to overcome evil with good; render to no man evil for evil, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv16, 23 Here we have divers short exhortations, that will not…
Here we have divers short exhortations, that will not burden our memories, but will be of great use to direct the motions of our hearts and lives; for the duties are of great importance, and we may observe how they are connected together, and have a dependence upon one another. 1. Rejoice evermore, Th1 5:16. This must be understood of spiritual joy; for we must rejoice in our creature-comforts as if we rejoiced not, and must not expect to live many years, and rejoice in them all; but, if we do rejoice in God, we may do that evermore. In him our joy will be full; and it is our fault if we have not a continual feast. If we are sorrowful upon any worldly account, yet still we may always rejoice, Co2 6:10. Note, A religious life is a pleasant life, it is a life of constant joy. 2. Pray without ceasing, Th1 5:17. Note, The way to rejoice evermore is to pray without ceasing. We should rejoice more if we prayed more. We should keep up stated times for prayer, and continue instant in prayer. We should pray always, and not faint: pray without weariness, and continue in prayer, till we come to that world where prayer shall be swallowed up in praise. The meaning is not that men should do nothing but pray, but that nothing else we do should hinder prayer in its proper season. Prayer will help forward and not hinder all other lawful business, and every good work. 3. In every thing give thanks, Th1 5:18. If we pray without ceasing, we shall not want matter for thanksgiving in every thing. As we must in every thing make our requests known to God by supplications, so we must not omit thanksgiving, Phi 4:6. We should be thankful in every condition, even in adversity as well as prosperity. It is never so bad with us but it might be worse. If we have ever so much occasion to make our humble complaints to God, we never can have any reason to complain of God, and have always much reason to praise and give thanks: the apostle says, This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us, that we give thanks, seeing God is reconciled to us in Christ Jesus; in him, through him, and for his sake, he allows us to rejoice evermore, and appoints us in every thing to give thanks. It is pleasing to God. 4. Quench not the Spirit (Th1 5:19), for it is this Spirit of grace and supplication that helpeth our infirmities, that assisteth us in our prayers and thanksgivings. Christians are said to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He worketh as fire, by enlightening, enlivening, and purifying the souls of men. We must be careful not to quench this holy fire. As fire is put out by withdrawing fuel, so we quench the Spirit if we do not stir up our spirits, and all that is within us, to comply with the motions of the good Spirit; and as fire is quenched by pouring water, or putting a great quantity of dirt upon it, so we must be careful not to quench the Holy Spirit by indulging carnal lusts and affections, or minding only earthly things. 5. Despise not prophesyings (Th1 5:20); for, if we neglect the means of grace, we forfeit the Spirit of grace. By prophesyings here we are to understand the preaching of the word, the interpreting and applying of the scriptures; and this we must not despise, but should prize and value, because it is the ordinance of God, appointed of him for our furtherance and increase in knowledge and grace, in holiness and comfort. We must not despise preaching, though it be plain, and not with enticing words of men's wisdom, and though we be told no more than what we knew before. It is useful, and many times needful, to have our minds stirred up, our affections and resolutions excited, to those things that we knew before to be our interest and our duty. 6. Prove all things, but hold fast that which is good, Th1 5:21. This is a needful caution, to prove all things; for, though we must put a value on preaching, we must not take things upon trust from the preacher, but try them by the law and the testimony. We must search the scriptures, whether what they say be true or not. We must not believe every spirit, but must try the spirits. But we must not be always trying, always unsettled; no, at length we must be settled, and hold fast that which is good. When we are satisfied that any thing is right, and true, and good, we must hold it fast, and not let it go, whatever opposition or whatever persecution we meet with for the sake thereof. Note, The doctrines of human infallibility, implicit faith, and blind obedience, are not the doctrines of the Bible. Every Christian has and ought to have, the judgment of discretion, and should have his senses exercised in discerning between good and evil, truth and falsehood, Heb 5:13, Heb 5:14. And proving all things must be in order to holding fast that which is good. We must not always be seekers, or fluctuating in our minds, like children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. 7. Abstain from all appearance of evil, Th1 5:22. This is a good means to prevent our being deceived with false doctrines, or unsettled in our faith; for our Saviour has told us (Joh 7:17), If a man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God. Corrupt affections indulged in the heart, and evil practices allowed of in the life, will greatly tend to promote fatal errors in the mind; whereas purity of heart, and integrity of life, will dispose men to receive the truth in the love of it. We should therefore abstain from evil, and all appearances of evil, from sin, and that which looks like sin, leads to it, and borders upon it. He who is not shy of the appearances of sin, who shuns not the occasions of sin, and who avoids not the temptations and approaches to sin, will not long abstain from the actual commission of sin.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–23 See that none render evil for evil unto any…
See that none render evil for evil unto any man,.... Not an ill word for an ill word, railing for railing, nor an ill action for an ill action; no, not to any man whatever, not to an enemy, a persecutor, a profane person, as well as not to a brother, a believer in Christ; and this the saints should not only be careful of, and guard against in themselves, but should watch over one another, and see to it, that no such practice is found in each other.
But ever follow that which is good; honestly, morally, pleasantly, and profitably good; even every good work, which is according to the will of God, is done in faith, from love, and to the glory of God; and particularly acts of beneficence and liberality to the poor; and which are not to be once, or now and then done, but to be followed and pursued after, and that always;
Read full note →
both among yourselves, and to all men; not only to the household of faith, though to them especially, and in the first place, but to all other men, as opportunity offers, even to our enemies, and them that persecute us, and despitefully use us; do good to their bodies, and to their souls, as much as in you lies, by feeding and clothing the one, and by praying for, advising, and instructing the other.
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 On vv15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 See that none - Watch over both yourselves and…
See that none - Watch over both yourselves and each other. Follow that which is good - Do it resolutely and perseveringly.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15–23 Verse 15. See that none render evil for evil]…
Verse 15. See that none render evil for evil] Every temper contrary to love is contrary to Christianity. A peevish, fretful, vindictive man may be a child of Satan; he certainly is not a child of God.
Follow that which is good] That by which ye may profit your brethren and your neighbours of every description, whether Jews or Gentiles.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 20, 23 1Th 5:16-18. Rejoice evermore — In your present privileges…
1Th 5:16-18. Rejoice evermore — In your present privileges and future hopes. See note on Rom 14:17; Php 4:4; 1Pe 1:6. Pray without ceasing — In order to maintain and improve this holy joy, be always in a spirit of prayer, that is, retain a continual sense of your spiritual wants, and of your dependance on God, through Christ, for the supply of those wants, and let your desires for that supply be frequently offered up to God in faith: let your heart aspire after him, and long for a further acquaintance with him, conformity to him, and enjoyment of him; and be constant in the use of private and fervent prayer at all proper seasons, joining also at all opportunities with your family, Christian friends, and the congregations of God’s people, in social and public addresses to the throne of grace. In every thing give thanks — Remembering, not only your dependance on God, but your obligation to him for all things, temporal and spiritual, and being persuaded that you never can be in such circumstances of affliction, but that you have much greater cause for thankfulness than complaint. This is Christian perfection: further than this we cannot go, and we need not stop short of it. Our Lord has purchased joy as well as righteousness for us. It is the very design of the gospel, that, being saved from guilt, we should be happy in the love of Christ. Prayer may be said to be the breath of our spiritual life. He that lives cannot possibly cease breathing. So much as we really enjoy of the presence of God, so much prayer and praise do we offer up without ceasing; else our rejoicing is but delusion. Thanksgiving is inseparable from true prayer. It is almost essentially connected with it. He that always prays, is ever giving praise; whether in ease or pain, both for prosperity and the greatest adversity. He blesses God for all things, looks on them as coming from him, and receives them only for his sake; not choosing nor refusing, liking nor disliking any thing, but only as it is agreeable or disagreeable to his perfect will. For this — That you should thus rejoice, pray, give thanks; is the will of God in Christ Jesus — Always holy, just, and good, and always pointing at our salvation.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv15–23 See that none render evil for evil - See…
See that none render evil for evil - See the notes on Mat 5:39, Mat 5:44. The meaning here is, that we are not to take vengeance; compare notes on Rom 12:17, Rom 12:19. This law is positive, and is universally binding. The moment we feel ourselves acting from a desire to “return evil for evil,” that moment we are acting wrong. It may be right to defend our lives and the lives of our friends; to seek the protection of the law for our persons, reputation, or property, against those who would wrong us; to repel the assaults of calumniators and slanderers, but in no case should the motive be to do them wrong for the evil which they have done us.
But ever follow that which is good - Which is benevolent, kind, just, generous; see the notes, Rom 12:20-21.
Read full note →
Both among yourselves, and to all men - The phrase “to all men,” seems to have been added to avoid the possibility of misconstruction. Some might possibly suppose that this was a good rule to be observed toward those of their own number, but that a greater latitude in avenging injuries might be allowable toward their enemies out of the church. The apostle, therefore, says that the rule is universal. It relates to the pagan, to infidels, sceptics, and persecutors, as well as to the members of the church. To every man we are to do good as we are able - no matter what they do to us. This is the rule which God himself observes toward the evil and unthankful (notes, Mat 5:45), and is one of the original and beautiful laws of our holy religion.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 21, 23 Always rejoice. It is usual for St. Paul to…
Always rejoice. It is usual for St. Paul to recommend joy to the faithful. Cheerfulness is indeed the characteristic of true virtue, which by no means consists in, nor encourages, sourness or moroseness, as some mistaken people imagine. God loves a cheerful giver. Sorrow, which is of this world, killeth. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–23 (Rom 12:17; Pe1 3:9.)
(Rom 12:17; Pe1 3:9.)
unto any man--whether unto a Christian, or a heathen, however great the provocation.
Read full note →
follow--as a matter of earnest pursuit.
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 On vv15–23 15. The negative cautions, necessary to the above positive…
15. The negative cautions, necessary to the above positive duties, are now added. Avoid the law of retaliation in order to the above peace. It may be necessary to seek justice, to aim at correction, to rebuke wrong; but never necessary to act in the spirit of revenge, or in any other spirit than that of love and fairness.
Good—Not merely profitable; but morally right, and spiritually excellent.
Read full note →
Yourselves—The Church.
All—The outside world.
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 On vv15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23 15. See that none render evil for evil unto…
15. See that none render evil for evil unto any man] The stress lies not on the personal object, as in the former clause (all, any), but on the quality of the act: better, See that none render unto any one evil in return for evil. The Thessalonian Christians were receiving much evil from the world; possibly some of its members were wronging others: there must be no retaliation. “Blows may fall on you; you must never return them.” This command is linked closely with the last; for while that bids each man restrain his own anger, this requires him to check the resentful spirit wherever it appears. It is a reproach to all, a discredit to the common faith, when a Christian gives back wrong for wrong. Comp. Rom_12:19-21, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good;” also 1Pe_2:18-25; and especially the teaching of Christ in Mat_5:38-48. On evil, see note to 1Th_5:22.
but ever follow that which is good] This is to “follow” not by way of imitation, as in ch. 1Th_1:6, 1Th_2:14, but by way of aim and pursuit: hence, follow after (R. V.). And “the good” is here “the beneficial.” As much as to say: “Make the good of your fellow-men your constant pursuit, and let no Injury or unworthiness on their part tarn you aside from it.”
Read full note →
This line of conduct is to be pursued both within and without the Church: one toward another, and toward all. Amongst Christians such seeking of the good of others is mutual, and there its best results will appear. But its exercise is to be unlimited. No follower of Christ will do wilful harm to any man. The distinction made “by them of old time. Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy,” Christ, our Lawgiver, has abolished (Mat_5:43-48).
From social duties the Apostle’s homily now rises to matters of religion, from the claims of Christians on each other to “the will of God” concerning them. See note introductory to 1Th_5:12.
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 On vv15–23 (15) See that.—The exhortation is given to those who…
(15) See that.—The exhortation is given to those who have the authority to oversee the Church (Act_19:28; 1Pe_5:2).
None render evil for evil.—Like the prohibition of fornication, abstinence from revenge is practically a new thought for Greeks, among whom feuds were frequent and undying. (Comp. Rom_1:31; Tit_3:3.)
Read full note →
That which is good—i.e., that which is kind. (See Note on 1Th_3:6.) This duty is to be “followed,” i.e., made an object to be pursued eagerly, “toward all men.” There is not one standard of morals towards the brethren and another towards the world.
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 On vv15–23 See that none render evil for evil unto any.…
See that none render evil for evil unto any. The prohibition of revenge is peculiarly Christian, neither corresponding to the spirit of heathenism, nor yet clearly revealed in Judaism. A precisely similar prohibition is given in Rom_12:17, "Recompense to no man evil for evil." But ever follow; pursue after. That which is good; the good, the beneficial. Both among yourselves; your fellow-Christians. And to all men. The human race in general; the one being brotherly kindness and the other charity. (2Pe_1:7)
Christian forgiveness.
Read full note →
1. Its peculiarity. Forgiveness of our enemies is pre-eminently a Christian virtue. It had no place in the morality of the heathen. The utmost they could attain to was, "Thou shall love all men except those who have wronged thee." It was very obscurely revealed in the Old Testament. The ancient saints did not distinguish between sinners and their sins; hence David"s bitter curses against his and the Lord"s enemies. Jesus Christ was the first to lay special stress on forgiveness.
2. Its properties. Forgiveness must be free, full, and universal; no feelings of enmity or ill will to any of our fellow-men ought to lodge in our hearts. We must imitate the example of our Savior, who on the cross prayed for the forgiveness of his murderers. Abstinence from revenge, and the steadfast pursuit of good.
To a people fleshly emerged out of paganism this counsel was still most appropriate, for the Greeks were remarkable for their undying feuds.
I WARNING AGAINST RETALIATION. "See that none render evil for evil to any man.
1. Retaliation is condemned both by the Old and the New Testaments. (Lev_19:18; Rom_12:19)
2. It is condemned by Christs beautiful example of forbearance. (1Pe_2:23) "Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not.
3. It is expressly rebuked by Christ in the case of the disciples James and (Luk_9:54, Luk_9:55)
1. It springs from a spiteful heart. (Eze_25:15)
2. It indicates a want of trust in God. (Pro_20:22)
II INCULCATION OF THE PURSUIT OF GOOD. "But ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men." Believers are not to resist evil, but to return good for evil to overcome evil with good.
1. The good to be done is after the example of Christ, who "went about every day doing good.
2. It is done in virtue of union with Christ. (Joh_15:4, Joh_15:5; Php_1:11)
3. It is the preordained pathway of God"s children. (Eph_2:10)
4. Christians ought to provoke each other to good. (Heb_10:24)
5. It is a grand argument for the gospel. (Mat_5:16)
6. It is to be catholic in its spirit; for it is to he done, not to believers only, but "to all men." The believer is to have "brotherly kindness" as well as "love". (2Pe_1:7)
1. It is to be earnestly pursued. "Follow after that which is good.
1. Because it glorifies God. (Mat_5:16)
2. Because God remembers it. (Heb_6:9, Heb_6:10)
3. Because it is an evidence of faith. (Jam_2:14-20)
4. Because it shall be brought into judgment. T.C. (2Co_5:10)
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 On vv15–23 See that none render evil for evil
1Th_5:15
See that none render evil for evil
Read full note →
Negative and positive precepts
I.
See that none render evil for evil unto any man. Retaliation betrays a weak and cruel disposition. Pagan morality went so far as to forbid the unprovoked injuring of others; and it is not without noble examples of the exercise of a spirit of forgiveness. The Jews prostituted to purposes of private revenge the laws which were intended to administer equitable retributions. It is Christianity alone that teaches man to bear personal injuries without retaliation. Hath any wronged thee, says Quarles, be bravely revenged; slight it, and the work is begun; forgive it, and it is finished. He is below himself that is not above an injury. Public wrongs the public law will avenge; and the final recompense for all wrong must be left to the Infallible Judge (Rom_12:19-20).
II. But ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men. The noblest retaliation is that of good for evil. In the worst character there is some element of goodness. Our beneficence should be as large as an enemys malice (Mat_5:44-45). That which is good is not always that which is pleasing. Goodness should be sought for its own sake. It is the great aim and business of life. Goodness is essentially diffusive; it delights in multiplying itself in others. It is undeterred by provocation; it conquers the opposition. Lessons:
1. The perceptive morality of Christianity is a signal evidence of its transcendent glory.
2. Practice is more potent than precept.
3. The Christian spirit is the root of genuine goodness. (G. Barlow.)
It is not strictly true to say that Christianity alone at first forbade to return evil for evil. Plato knew that it was not the true definition of justice to do harm to ones enemies. The Stoics, who taught the extirpation of the passions, were far enough from admitting of revenge to be the only one that should be allowed to remain. It is a higher as well as a truer claim to make for the gospel, that it kindled that spirit of kindness and goodwill in the breast of man (which could not be wholly extinguished even towards an enemy), until it became a practical principle; and that it preached as a rule of life for all, what had previously been the supreme virtue, or the mere theory of philosophers. (Prof. Jowett.)
Following the good
Ever follow that which is good among yourselves and to all--
1. In political effort men can unite, and so they ought in religious; for religion means the link which binds men for good work. Is it more important to put ones political friends in Parliament than to win ones neighbours for heaven?
2. Remember the unwearied diligence of political partizans. All, one cannot help regretting that Christians are less earnest.
3. In politics men will give up their dearly loved crotchets to promote the welfare of the general party. Why not, then, sink our individualism in following that which is good? We are to ever do so--
I. In building up our own character.
1. It is easier to do good than to be good. We are so apt to be discouraged by many failures. We have wished to grow in goodness like a tree, but we have more to contend with than a tree. We promise well in bud and leaf, and then the fruit does not ripen, and we get discouraged. Some of us have done worse. We have put forth the bud of innocence, but the blossom of virtue has been nipped by the frost of misfortune, or the blast of temptation, and we have given up. To all such let this exhortation come with power. Still set your face towards the good. Try again. Will you throw away your coat because it is soiled? Would you have your child despair of writing because he has upset the ink?
2. In following the good let us aim high. To copy from another may help us a little; but we shall make the surest progress if we follow only Christ. We teach children writing by setting the best copy before them. If we fall today, let us arise today and follow Him.
II. In the Church. Every Church should be a missionary society, and when a new member is received something should be found for him to do. It is true you cannot find a perfect Church; but this should not dishearten you. Go into an organ factory--what a horrible din! Yes; but what is the result? The Church is an organ factory. All our pipes have to be made and tuned. But if we are in earnest we shall not care for the discord; the instrument will one day play harmonious music. In battle, if a general see a brigade hardly pressed he orders out another to support it. So, if the Churchs battalion in the slums is weak, the battalion in the suburbs should hasten to its help. Let us by our example make the Church vigorous and good. If the prayer meeting is good, the Lords supper, etc., follow them. Be as regular and earnest in Church duty as though you were paid for it.
III. In the world. Lift up your voices against war. Working men uphold arbitration against strikes. Do not blame statesmen for making war, when master and man fight and ruin one another.
IV. In your own neighbourhood. There is much that you can do there. Conclusion:
1. Persevere in following the good.
2. Let your motive be the love of Christ.
3. If you keep following the good, your works will follow you. (W. Birch.)
Perseverance in following the good
When Columbus was sailing over the Atlantic, believing there was another continent in the west, his men were dispirited and almost in mutiny, he said, Unless we have some sign of land within the next three days, we will turn back. Fortunately, they had some signs of land, and the ships steered on until they came to the American coast. Now, what you are doing is good, and you should tolerate no if about it. You have been preaching, and teaching, and doing good for a long time, and perhaps you are ready to say, Unless I have some signs of good fruit from my labour, I will give up. Do not. If that which you are following be really for the benefit of mankind, be not weary in well-doing. The test of success is not in numbers. Remember that Jesus had no disciples with Him in His trial; at His crucifixion He had only one, and He ended His beautiful ministry by the cross. Therefore, do not despair. Keep on with your work and keep at it. Persevere. Follow that which is good continuously unto the end. (W. Birch.)
Good for evil
Bacon said, He that studieth revenge keepeth his own wounds green. Philip the Good, of Burgundy, had it in his power to punish one who had behaved ill to him; but he said, It is a fine thing to have revenge in ones power, but it is a finer thing not to use it. Another king of France said of his foes, I will weigh down the lead of their wickedness with the gold of my kindness. A minister remarked, Some persons would have had no particular interest in my prayers, but for the injuries they did me. (H. R. Burton.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On vv16, 20, 23 Chapter 14
Chapter 14
THE STANDING ORDERS OF THE GOSPEL
Read full note →
1Th_5:16-18 (R.V.)
THE three precepts of these three verses may be called the standing orders of the Christian Church. However various the circumstances in which Christians may find themselves, the duties here prescribed are always binding upon them. We are to rejoice alway, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks. We may live in peaceful or in troubled times; we may be encompassed with friends or beset by foes; we may see the path we have chosen for ourselves open easily before us, or find our inclination thwarted at every step; but we must always have the music of the gospel in our hearts in its own proper key. Let us look at these rules in order.
"Rejoice alway." There are circumstances in which it is natural for us to rejoice; whether we are Christians or not, joy fills the heart till it overflows. Youth, health, hope, love, these richest and best possessions, give almost every man and woman at least a term of unmixed gladness; some months, or years perhaps, of pure light heartedness, when they feel like singing all the time. But that natural joy can hardly be kept up. It would not be good for us if it could; for it really means that we are for the time absorbed in ourselves, and having found our own satisfaction decline to look beyond. It is quite another situation to which the Apostle addresses himself. He knows that the persons who receive his letter have had to suffer cruelly for their faith in Christ; he knows that some of them have quite lately stood beside the graves of their dead. Must not a man be very sure of himself, very confident of the truth on which he stands, when he ventures to say to people so situated, "Rejoice alway"?
But these people, we must remember, were Christians; they had received the gospel from the Apostle; and, in the gospel, the supreme assurance of the love of God. We need to remind ourselves occasionally that the gospel is good news, glad tidings of great joy. Wherever it comes, it is a joyful sound; it puts a gladness into the heart which no change of circumstances can abate or take away. There is a great deal in the Old Testament which may fairly be described as doubt of Gods love. Even the saints sometimes wondered whether God was good to Israel; they became impatient, unbelieving, bitter, foolish; the outpourings of their hearts in some of the psalms show how far they were from being able to rejoice evermore. But there is nothing the least like this in the New Testament. The New Testament is the work of Christian men, of men who had stood quite close to the supreme manifestation of Gods love in Jesus Christ. Some of them had been in Christs company for years. They knew that every word He spoke and every deed He wrought declared His love; they knew that it was revealed, above all, by the death which He died; they knew that it was made almighty, immortal, and ever present, by His resurrection from the dead. The sublime revelation of Divine love dominated everything else in their experience. It was impossible for them, for a single moment, to forget it or to escape from it. It drew and fixed their hearts as irresistibly as a mountain peak draws and holds the eyes of the traveller. They never lost sight of the love of God in Christ Jesus, that sight so new, so stupendous, so irresistible, so joyful. And because they did not, they were able to rejoice evermore; and the New Testament, which reflects the life of the first believers, does not contain a querulous word from beginning to end. It is the book of infinite joy.
We see, then, that this command, unreasonable as it appears, is not impracticable. If we are truly Christians, if we have seen and received the love of God, if we see and receive it continually, it will enable us, like those who wrote the New Testament, to rejoice evermore. There are places on our coast where a spring of fresh water gushes up through the sand among the salt waves of the sea; and just such a fountain of joy is the love of God in the Christian soul, even when the waters close over it. "As sorrowful," says the Apostle, "yet alway rejoicing."
Most churches and Christians need to lay this exhortation to heart. It contains a plain direction for our common worship. The house of God is the place where we come to make united and adoring confession of His name. If we think only of ourselves, as we enter, we may be despondent and low spirited enough; but surely we ought to think, in the first instance, of Him, Let God be great in the assembly of His people; let Him be lifted up as He is revealed to us in Jesus Christ, and joy will fill our hearts. If the services of the Church are dull, it is because He has been left outside; because the glad tidings of redemption, holiness, and life everlasting are still waiting for admission to our hearts. Do not let us belie the gospel by dreary, joyless worship: it is not so that it is endeared to ourselves or commended to others.
The Apostles exhortation contains a hint also for Christian temper. Not only our united worship, but the habitual disposition of each of us, is to be joyful. It would not be easy to measure the loss the cause of Christ has sustained through the neglect of this rule. A conception of Christianity has been set before men, and especially before the young, which could not fail to repel; the typical Christian has been presented, austere and pure perhaps, or lifted high above the world, but rigid, cold, and self-contained. That is not the Christian as the New Testament conceives him. He is cheerful, sunny, joyous; and there is nothing so charming as joy. There is nothing so contagious, because there is nothing in which all men are so willing to partake; and hence there is nothing so powerful in evangelistic work. The joy of the Lord is the strength of the preacher of the gospel. There is an interesting passage in 1Co_9:1-27, where Paul enlarges on a certain relation between the evangelist and the evangel. The gospel, he tells us, is Gods free gift to the world; and he who would become a fellow worker with the gospel must enter into the spirit of it, and make his preaching also a free gift. So here, one may say, the gospel is conceived as glad tidings; and whoever would open his lips for Christ must enter into the spirit of his message, and stand up to speak clothed in joy. Our looks and tones must not belie our words. Languor, dulness, dreariness, a melancholy visage, are a libel upon the gospel. If the knowledge of the love of God does not make us glad, what does it do for us? If it does not make a difference to our spirits and our temper, do we really know it? Christ compares its influence to that of new wine; it is nothing if not exhilarating; if it does not make our faces shine, it is because we have not tasted it. I do not overlook, any more than St. Paul did, the causes for sorrow; but the causes for sorrow are transient; they are like the dark clouds which overshadow the sky for a time and then pass away; while the cause of joy-the redeeming love of God in Christ Jesus-is permanent; it is like the unchanging blue behind the clouds, ever present, ever radiant, overarching and encompassing all our passing woes. Let us remember it, and see it through the darkest clouds, and it will not be impossible for us to rejoice evermore.
It may seem strange that one difficult thing should be made easy when it is combined with another; but this is what is suggested by the second exhortation of the Apostle, "Pray without ceasing." It is not easy to rejoice alway, but our one hope of doing so is to pray constantly. How are we to understand so singular a precept?
Prayer, we know, when we take it in the widest sense, is the primary mark of the Christian. "Behold, he prayeth," the Lord said of Saul, when He wished to convince Ananias that there was no mistake about his conversion. He who does not pray at all-and is it too much to suppose that some come to churches who never do?-is no Christian. Prayer is the converse of the soul with God; it is that exercise in which we hold up our hearts to Him, that they may be filled with His fulness, and changed into His likeness. The more we pray, and the more we are in contact with Him, the greater is our assurance of His love, the firmer our confidence that He is with us to help and save. If we once think of it, we shall see that our very life as Christians depends on our being in perpetual contact and perpetual fellowship with God. If He does not breathe into us the breath of life, we have no life. If He does not hour by hour send our help from above, we face our spiritual foes without resources.
It is with such thoughts present to the mind that some would interpret the command, "Pray without ceasing." "Cherish a spirit of prayer," they would render it, "and make devotion the true business of life. Cultivate the sense of dependence on God; let it be part of the very structure of your thoughts that without Him you can do nothing, but through His strength all things." But this is, in truth, to put the effect where the cause should be. This spirit of devotion is itself the fruit of ceaseless prayers; this strong consciousness of dependence on God becomes an ever present and abiding thing only when in all our necessities we betake ourselves to Him. Occasions, we must rather say, if we would follow the Apostles thought, are never wanting, and will never be wanting, which call for the help of God; therefore, pray without ceasing. It is useless to say that the thing cannot be done before the experiment has been made. There are few works that cannot be accompanied with prayer; there are few indeed that cannot be preceded by prayer; there is none at all that would not profit by prayer. Take the very first work to which you must set your mind and your hand, and you know it will be better done if, as you turn to it, you look up to God and ask His help to do it well and faithfully, as a Christian ought to do it for the Master above. It is not in any vague, indefinite fashion, but by taking prayer with us wherever we go, by consciously, deliberately, and persistently lifting our hearts to God as each emergency in life, great or small, makes its new demand upon us, that the apostolic exhortation is to be obeyed. If prayer is thus combined with all our works, we shall find that it wastes no time, though it fills all. Certainly it is not an easy practice to begin, that of praying without ceasing. It is so natural for us not to pray, that we perpetually forget, and undertake this or that without God. But surely we get reminders enough that this omission of prayer is a mistake. Failure, loss of temper, absence of joy, weariness, and discouragement are its fruits; while prayer brings us without fail the joy and strength of God. The Apostle himself knew that to pray without ceasing requires an extraordinary effort: and in the only passages in which he urges it, he combines with it the duties of watchfulness and persistence. {Col_4:2 Rom_12:12} We must be on our guard that the occasion for prayer does not escape us, and we must take care not to be wearied with this incessant reference of everything to God.
The third of the standing orders of the Church is, from one point of view, a combination of the first and second; for thanksgiving is a kind of joyful prayer. As a duty, it is recognised by everyone within limits; the difficulty of it is only seen when it is claimed, as here, without limits: "In everything give thanks." That this is no accidental extravagance is shown by its recurrence in other places. To mention only one: in Php_4:6 the Apostle writes, "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Is it really possible to do this thing?
There are times, we all know, at which thanksgiving is natural and easy. When our life has taken the course which we ourselves had purposed, and the result seems to justify our foresight; when those whom we love are prosperous and happy; when we have escaped a great danger, or recovered from a severe illness, we feel, or say we feel, so thankful. Even in such circumstances we are possibly not so thankful as we ought to be. Perhaps, if we were, our lives would be a great deal happier. But at all events we frankly admit that we have cause for thanksgiving; God has been good to us, even in our own estimate of goodness; and we ought to cherish and express our grateful love toward Him. Let us not forget to do so. It has been said that an unblessed sorrow is the saddest thing in life; but perhaps as sad a thing is an unblessed joy. And every joy is unblessed for which we do not give God thanks. "Unhallowed pleasures" is a strong expression, which seems proper only to describe gross wickedness; yet it is the very name which describes any pleasure in our life of which we do not recognise God as the Giver, and for which we do not offer Him our humble and hearty thanks. We would not be so apt to protest against the idea of giving thanks in everything if it had ever been our habit to give thanks in anything. Think of what you call, with thorough conviction, your blessings and your mercies, -your bodily health, your soundness of mind, your calling in this world, the faith which you repose in others and which others repose in you; think of the love of your husband or wife, of all those sweet and tender ties that bind our lives into one; think of the success with which you have wrought out your own purposes, and laboured at your own ideal; and with all this multitude of mercies before your face, ask whether even for these you have given God thanks. Have they been hallowed and made means of grace to you by your grateful acknowledgment that He is the Giver of them. all? If not, it is plain that you have lost much joy, and have to begin the duty of thanksgiving in the easiest and lowest place.
But the Apostle rises high above this when he says, "In everything give thanks." He knew, as I have remarked already, that the Thessalonians had been visited by suffering and death: is there a place for thanksgiving there? Yes, he says; for the Christian does not look on sorrow with the eyes of another man. When sickness comes to him or to his home; when there is loss to be borne, or disappointment, or bereavement; when his plans are frustrated, his hopes deferred, and the whole conduct of his life simply taken out of his hands, he is still called to give thanks to God. For he knows that God is love. He knows that God has a purpose of His own in his life, -a purpose which at the moment he may not discern, but which he is bound to believe wiser and larger than any he could purpose for himself. Everyone who has eyes to see must have seen, in the lives of Christian men and women, fruits of sorrow and of suffering which were conspicuously their best possessions, the things for which the whole Church was under obligation to give thanks to God on their behalf. It is not easy at the moment to see what underlies sorrow; it is not possible to grasp by anticipation the beautiful fruits which it yields in the long run to those who accept it without murmuring: but every Christian knows that all things work together for good to them that love God; and in the strength of that knowledge he is able to keep a thankful heart, however mysterious and trying the providence of God may be. That sorrow, even the deepest and most hopeless, has been blessed, no one can deny. It has taught many a deeper thoughtfulness, a truer estimate of the world and its interests, a more simple trust in God. It has opened the eyes of many to the sufferings of others, and changed boisterous rudeness into tender and delicate sympathy. It has given many weak ones the opportunity of demonstrating the nearness and the strength of Christ, as out of weakness they have been made strong. Often the sufferer in a home is the most thankful member of it. Often the bedside is the sunniest spot in the house, though the bedridden one knows that he or she will never be free again. It is not impossible for a Christian in everything to give thanks.
But it is only a Christian who can do it, as the last words of the Apostle intimate: "This is the will of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward." These words may refer to all that has preceded: "Rejoice alway; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks"; or they may refer to the last clause only. Whichever be the case, the Apostle tells us that the ideal in question has only been revealed in Christ, and hence is only within reach of those who know Christ. Till Christ came, no man ever dreamt of rejoicing alway, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in everything. There were noble ideals in the world, high, severe, and pure; but nothing so lofty, buoyant, and exhilarating as this. Men did not know God well enough to know what His will for them was; they thought He demanded integrity, probably, and beyond that, silent and passive submission at the most; no one had conceived that Gods will for man was that his life should be made up of joy, prayer, and thanksgiving. But he who has seen Jesus Christ, and has discovered the meaning of His life, knows that this is the true ideal. For Jesus came into our world, and lived among us, that we might know God; He manifested the name of God that we might put our trust in it; and that name is Love; it is Father. If we know the Father, it is possible for us, in the spirit of children, to aim at this lofty Christian ideal; if we do not, it will seem to us utterly unreal. The will of God in Christ Jesus means the will of the Father; it is only for children that His will exists. Do not put aside the apostolic exhortation as paradox or extravagance; to Christian hearts, to the children of God, he speaks words of truth and soberness when he says, "Rejoice alway; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks." Has not Christ Jesus given us peace with God, and made us friends instead of enemies? Is not that a fountain of joy too deep for sorrow to touch? Has He not assured us that He is with us all the days, even to the end of the world? Is not that a ground upon which we can look up in prayer all the day long? Has He not told us that all things work together for good to them that love God? Of course we cannot trace His operation always; but when we remember the seal with which Christ sealed that great truth; when we remember that in order to fulfil the purpose of God in each of us He laid down His life on our behalf, can we hesitate to trust His word? And if we do not hesitate, but welcome it gladly as our hope in the darkest hour, shall we not try even in everything to give thanks?
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv15–23 15. See that none render evil for evil. See…
15. See that none render evil for evil. See note on Rom. 12:21. This doctrine was subversive of the practice of the whole world.
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 On vv16, 19, 23 MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Th_5:16-18
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Th_5:16-18
The Secret of a Happy Life.
Read full note →
Happiness is not found in anything external. It is a certain state of the soul when it is filled with the peace of God and lit up with the sunshine of heaven. It is a mockery to talk about cultivating happiness. It is not a potato to be planted in mould, and tilled with manure. “Happiness is a glory shining far down upon us out of heaven. It is a divine dew which the soul, on certain of its summer mornings, feels dropping upon it from the amaranth bloom and golden fruitage of paradise.” An aged divine once gave this advice to a newly married pair: “Don’t try to be happy. Happiness is a shy nymph, and if you chase her, you will never catch her; but just go quietly on and do your duty, and she will come to you.” In these verses we have revealed to us the secret of a happy life.
I. The secret of a happy life is found in the constant and faithful discharge of Christian duties.—
1. It is our duty continually to rejoice. “Rejoice evermore” (1Th_5:16). To rejoice is not only a privilege, but a duty; the believer is as much obliged to rejoice as he is to believe. It seems a mockery to direct people to rejoice in the midst of a world of sin, sorrow, and death, and in a Church which is sorely tried; and yet such was the condition of things when these words were penned, and when similar counsel was given to the Philippians (1Th_4:4). Religion is never recommended by sour looks, sepulchral tones, and suppressing every external manifestation of gladness. No wonder the Christian is able to rejoice continually, when we remember the inexhaustible sources of joy he possesses in his relations to Christ, to God, and to the Holy Ghost, in the promises of the divine word, and in a loving, beneficent, and holy life. By becoming religious, a man does not lose his joys, but exchanges them—transitory, fading, earthly joys—for joy unspeakable, glorious, and that fadeth not away.
2. It is our duty to pray always.—“Pray without ceasing” (1Th_5:17). As we are every moment in need, so should we every moment seek help in prayer. The Lord requires not only frequency in prayer, but also unwearied importunity. We must guard against the error of the Euchites, who flourished in the fourth century, and who regarded all other exercises of religion than inward prayer as unnecessary and vain. Live in the spirit of prayer. Let the whole work of life be as prayer offered to God. He who prays the most lives the best. Prayer surrounds the soul with a golden atmosphere, through which is sifted the sunbeams of heavenly joy.
3. It is our duty to be ever grateful.—“In everything give thanks” (1Th_5:18). Prayer should ever be accompanied with thanksgiving. What we may pray for, for that we must give thanks; and whatever is unfit matter for prayer is unfit for thanksgiving. The Christian can meet with nothing in the way of duty that is not a cause for thankfulness, whatever suffering may be entailed. When we think of the ceaseless stream of God’s mercies, we shall have ample reasons for unintermitted thanksgiving.
II. The secret of a happy life is in harmony with the divine will.—“For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1Th_5:18). It is the will of God that His people should be rejoicing, praying, and grateful; and this will is revealed by Christ, as declared in His gospel, as received in His Church, and as observed by those in communion with Him. What a revelation is this, not of an arbitrary demand of the impossible state of the affections towards God, but a beautiful and consolatory discovery of the largeness of His love and of the blessed ends for which He has redeemed us in Christ. The will of God supplies constant material for gratitude and praise.
Lessons.—Learn the three indubitable marks of a genuine Christian:
1. To rejoice in the mercy of God.
2. To be fervent in prayer.
3. To give thanks to God in all things.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Th_5:16. Rejoice Evermore.
I. In the exercise of faith.—
1. In the truths of God.
2. In the promises of God.
II. In the practice of Christian hope.
III. In performing the duty of charity.—Barrow.
1Th_5:17. On Self-recollectedness and Ejaculatory Prayer.
I. Mental prayer consists in gathering up the mind from its wanderings, and placing it consciously in the presence of God.
II. In breathing out the mind towards God.
III. Materials for ejaculatory prayer.—
1. Found in daily portions of Scripture.
2. Stated prayer cannot be dispensed with even where ejaculatory prayer is practised.
3. Ejaculatory prayer helpful in striving after a life of sanctity.—E. M. Goulburn.
1Th_5:18. The Perpetual Thanksgiving of a Christian Life.
I. Its difficulty.—
1. From our fancied knowledge of life.
2. From our unbelieving distrust of God.
II. Its motive.—God’s will is so revealed in Christ, that, believing in it, we can give thanks in all things.
1. Life the perpetual providence of a Father.
2. That perpetual providence is a discipline of human character.
3. The discipline of life is explained by eternity alone.
III. Its attainment.—It is the gradual result of a life of earnest fellowship with God.—E. L. Hull.
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.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv16, 23 16. “Rejoice ever more.
ARGUMENT 9
PAULINE AND WESLEYAN STANDARD OF SANCTIFICATION
Read full note →
16. “Rejoice ever more.
17. “Pray without ceasing.
18. “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” This beautiful and notable Scripture received great notoriety during the Wesleyan holiness movement as the shibboleth of the embattled host. It was everywhere rendered prominent as the Wesleyan standard of entire sanctification, insisted upon by the great founder of Methodism. While it is the standard of John Wesley and his followers, it is still more consolatory that it was the standard of Paul and the Apostolic Church. When you get the artesian well of entire sanctification in your soul, you will find this high standard of religion not only practicable, but easy, restful, and infinitely enjoyable. In the infancy of the experience, you will find it necessary to be exceedingly vigilant, probably involving a degree of care and labor which will soon obliviously evanesce, superseded by a delectable, unutterable rest in which to “rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks,” will become habitual, settled, and permanent, and almost as spontaneous as breathing, so as to transpire currently and uniformly without attracting attention or observably encumbering the will. Amid the sweet tranquillity of the soul’s imperturbable repose, constant joy, incessant prayer, along with holy gratitude, become the normal state of our spiritual life, natural and unconscious as breathing.
19. “Quench not the Spirit.” The Greek word for quench means to put out fire by throwing water on it. Fire is the symbol of the Holy Ghost throughout the Bible. Hence, you are never to throw Satan’s cold water on the Lord’s fire. Popular Churches and fashionable preachers are avowedly and habitually Spirit quenchers, always ready to throw cold water on the fire of the Holy Ghost, thus keeping their Churches in a North Pole atmosphere, freezing out every spark of spiritual life. This is awfully wicked, and grievous to the Holy Spirit. Satan’s plan is to freeze people here, and burn them in hell through all eternity. A cold religion is the devil’s dumping-cart into hell. The scribes and Pharisees at the present day are awfully fearful of fanaticism. They would better fear hell-fire. Satan’s counterfeit religion in all ages has denounced God’s salvation as “fanaticism.” Dr. Clark says, “There is very apt to be some fox-fire where there is much true fire.” We certainly would better have religion with fanaticism, than none at all. The man who throws away all the wheat to get rid of the chaff, starves to death as the result of his blind folly. People who, through fear of fanaticism and excitement, let their Churches freeze out and die, are laughingstocks for devils in hell.
20. “Despise not prophecies.” The Greek and Hebrew for prophecy means to boil up like an artesian well, flowing impetuously, incessantly, and forever. Prophecy is one of the nine Pauline spiritual gifts. (1Co 12:10.) We have it defined (1Co 14:3):
“He that prophesieth, speaketh to men edification, exhortation, and comfort.”
This gift was the crowning glory of the pentecostal experience. It fills with the Holy Ghost, imparts tongues of fire, split in twain, one prong to preach hell-fire to sinners, and the other heavenly fire to sanctify the Christians. It lets the tongue loose at both ends and in the middle, to speak red-hot words incessantly and forever; indiscriminately, regardless of race, rank, or color, administering edification, exhortation, and comfort to all you meet, whithersoever you go. God’s plan is to save the world by preaching, not the modern scientific sermonizing, which is unknown in the Bible; but this everlasting talking, exhorting, praying, entreating, and comforting. Dead pastors are opposed to all this, as they think the people would monopolize their business and take it out of their hands. Moses thought very differently when God laid the spirit of prophecy (this very thing) on the seventy, and they all broke out preaching with all their might, like a holiness camp-meeting under a pentecostal baptism, and the people running to him from all the seventy prophets in different parts of the encampment, telling him to stop them or they will take his business forever out of his hands. Moses, thus bewildered by their multitudinous clamor, leaps and shouts with stentorian voice, “Would God that every man in Israel did prophesy!” Here we have the positive commandment, “Despise not prophecies;” i. e., we are not only to permit every man, woman, and child to throw their mouths open, and talk freely for the Lord; but to encourage them. But the clerical wiseacre says, “They are incompetent, having neither intellect nor education.” Jesus says, “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praises.” What a contrast with the dumb Churches of the present day!
21,22. “Abstain from every evil sight.” Your eyes belong to God. If you give the devil the use of them in any way, he is certain to corrupt your heart. You should be constantly turning your eyes away from the devil’s advertisements, conspicuous throughout our cities, purposely to arouse lust and allure into his hell-dens. You should never permit yourself to look at anything evil, if you don’t want a fiend from the bottomless pit to creep into your heart.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v16 1 Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians
CONTINUAL PRAYER AND ITS EFFECTS
Read full note →
1Th 5:16-18.
The peculiarity and the stringency of these three precepts is the unbroken continuity which they require. To rejoice, to pray, to give thanks, are easy when circumstances favour, as a taper burns steadily in a windless night; but to do these things always is as difficult as for the taper’s flame to keep upright when all the winds are eddying round it. ‘Evermore’--’without ceasing’--’in everything’--these qualifying words give the injunctions of this text their grip and urgency. The Apostle meets the objections which he anticipates would spring to the lips of the Thessalonians, to the effect that he was requiring impossibilities, by adding that, hard and impracticable as they might think such a constant attitude of mind and heart, ‘This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ So, then, a Christian life may be lived continuously on the high level; and more than that, it is our duty to try to live ours thus.
We need not fight with other Christian people about whether absolute obedience to these precepts is possible. It will be soon enough for us to discuss whether a completely unbroken uniformity of Christian experience is attainable in this life, when we have come a good deal nearer to the attainable than we have yet reached. Let us mend our breaches of continuity a good deal more, and then we may begin to discuss the question whether an absolute absence of any cessation of the continuity is consistent with the conditions of Christian life here.
Now it seems to me that these three exhortations hold together in a very striking way, and that Paul knew what he was about when he put in the middle, like the strong central pole that holds up a tent, that exhortation, ‘Pray without ceasing.’ For it is the primary precept, and on its being obeyed the possibility of the fulfilment of the other two depends. If we pray without ceasing, we shall rejoice evermore and in everything give thanks. So, then, the duty of continual prayer, and the promise, as well as the precept, that its results are to be continual joy and continual thanksgiving, are suggested by these words.
I. The duty of continual prayer.
Roman Catholics, with their fatal habit of turning the spiritual into material, think that they obey that commandment when they set a priest or a nun on the steps of the altar to repeat Ave Marias day and night. That is a way of praying without ceasing which we can all see to be mechanical and unworthy. But have we ever realised what this commandment necessarily reveals to us, as to what real prayer is? For if we are told to do a thing uninterruptedly, it must be something that can run unbroken through all the varieties of our legitimate duties and necessary occupations and absorptions with the things seen and temporal. Is that your notion of prayer? Or do you fancy that it simply means dropping down on your knees, and asking God to give you some things that you very much want? Petition is an element in prayer, and that it shall be crystallised into words is necessary sometimes; but there are prayers that never get themselves uttered, and I suppose that the deepest and truest communion with God is voiceless and wordless. ‘Things which it was not possible for a man to utter,’ was Paul’s description of what he saw and felt, when he was most completely absorbed in, and saturated with, the divine glory. The more we understand what prayer is, the less we shall feel that it depends upon utterance. For the essence of it is to have heart and mind filled with the consciousness of God’s presence, and to have the habit of referring everything to Him, in the moment when we are doing it, or when it meets us. That, as I take it, is prayer. The old mystics had a phrase, quaint, and in some sense unfortunate, but very striking, when they spoke about ‘the practice of the presence of God.’ God is here always, you will say; yes, He is, and to open the shutters, and to let the light always in, into every corner of my heart, and every detail of my life--that is what Paul means by ‘Praying without ceasing.’ Petitions? Yes; but something higher than petitions--the consciousness of being in touch with the Father, feeling that He is all round us. It was said about one mystical thinker that he was a ‘God-intoxicated man.’ It is an ugly word, but it expresses a very deep thing; but let us rather say a God-filled man. He who is such ‘prays always.’
But how may we maintain that state of continual devotion, even amidst the various and necessary occupations of our daily lives? As I said, we need not trouble ourselves about the possibility of complete attainment of that ideal. We know that we can each of us pray a great deal more than we do, and if there are regions in our lives into which we feel that God will not come, habits that we have dropped into which we feel to be a film between us and Him, the sooner we get rid of them the better. But into all our daily duties, dear friends, however absorbing, however secular, however small, however irritating they may be, however monotonous, into all our daily duties it is possible to bring Him.
‘A servant with this clause Makes drudgery divine, Who sweeps a room, as by Thy laws, Makes that and the calling fine.’
But if that is our aim, our conscious aim, our honest aim, we shall recognise that a help to it is words of prayer. I do not believe in silent adoration, if there is nothing but silent; and I do not believe in a man going through life with the conscious presence of God with him, unless, often, in the midst of the stress of daily life, he shoots little arrows of two-worded prayers up into the heavens, ‘Lord! be with me.’ ‘Lord! help me.’ ‘Lord! stand by me now’; and the like. ‘They cried unto God in the battle,’ when some people would have thought they would have been better occupied in trying to keep their heads with their swords. It was not a time for very elaborate supplications when the foemen’s arrows were whizzing round them, but ‘they cried unto the Lord, and He was entreated of them.’ ‘Pray without ceasing.’
Further, if we honestly try to obey this precept we shall more and more find out, the more earnestly we do so, that set seasons of prayer are indispensable to realising it. I said that I do not believe in silent adoration unless it sometimes finds its tongue, nor do I believe in a diffused worship that does not flow from seasons of prayer. There must be, away up amongst the hills, a dam cast across the valley that the water may be gathered behind it, if the great city is to be supplied with the pure fluid. What would become of Manchester if it were not for the reservoirs at Woodhead away among the hills? Your pipes would be empty. And that is what will become of you Christian professors in regard to your habitual consciousness of God’s presence, if you do not take care to have your hours of devotion sacred, never to be interfered with, be they long or short, as may have to be determined by family circumstances, domestic duties, daily avocations, and a thousand other causes. But, unless we pray at set seasons, there is little likelihood of our praying without ceasing.
II. The duty of continual rejoicing.
If we begin with the central duty of continual prayer, then these other two which, as it were, flow from it on either side, will be possible to us; and of these two the Apostle sets first, ‘Rejoice evermore.’ This precept was given to the Thessalonians, in Paul’s first letter, when things were comparatively bright with him, and he was young and buoyant; and in one of his later letters, when he was a prisoner, and things were anything but rosy coloured, he struck the same note again, and in spite of his ‘bonds in Christ’ bade the Philippians ‘Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice.’ Indeed, that whole prison-letter might be called the Epistle of Joy, so suffused with sunshine of Christian gladness is it. Now, no doubt, joy is largely a matter of temperament. Some of us are constitutionally more buoyant and cheerful than others. And it is also very largely a matter of circumstances.
I admit all that, and yet I come back to Paul’s command: ‘Rejoice evermore.’ For if we are Christian people, and have cultivated what I have called ‘the practice of the presence of God’ in our lives, then that will change the look of things, and events that otherwise would be ‘at enmity with joy’ will cease to have a hostile influence over it. There are two sources from which a man’s gladness may come, the one his circumstances of a pleasant and gladdening character; the other his communion with God. It is like some river that is composed of two affluents, one of which rises away up in the mountains, and is fed by the eternal snows; the other springs on the plain somewhere, and is but the drainage of the surface-water, and when hot weather comes, and drought is over all the land, the one affluent is dry, and only a chaos of ghastly white stones litters the bed where the flashing water used to be. What then? Is the stream gone because one of its affluents is dried up, and has perished or been lost in the sands? The gushing fountains away up among the peaks near the stars are bubbling up all the same, and the heat that dried the surface stream has only loosened the treasures of the snows, and poured them more abundantly into the other’s bed. So ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’; and if earth grows dark, lift your eyes to the sky, that is light. To one walking in the woods at nightfall ‘all the paths are dim,’ but the strip of heaven above the trees is the brighter for the green gloom around. The organist’s one hand may be keeping up one sustained note, while the other is wandering over the keys; and one part of a man’s nature may be steadfastly rejoicing in the Lord, whilst the other is feeling the weight of sorrows that come from earth. The paradox of the Christian life may be realised as a blessed experience of every one of us: a surface troubled, a central calm; an ocean tossed with storm, and yet the crest of every wave flashing in the sunshine. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice.’
III. Lastly, the duty of continual thankfulness.
That, too, is possible only on condition of continual communion with God. As I said in reference to joy, so I say in reference to thankfulness; the look of things in this world depends very largely on the colour of the spectacles through which you behold them.
‘There’s nothing either good or bad But thinking makes it so.’
And if a man in communion with God looks at the events of his life as he might put on a pair of coloured glasses to look at a landscape, it will be tinted with a glory and a glow as he looks. The obligation to gratitude, often neglected by us, is singularly, earnestly, and frequently enjoined in the New Testament. I am afraid that the average Christian man does not recognise its importance as an element in his Christian experience. As directed to the past it means that we do not forget, but that, as we look back, we see the meaning of these old days, and their possible blessings, and the loving purposes which sent them, a great deal more clearly than we did whilst we were passing through them. The mountains that, when you are close to them, are barren rock and cold snow, glow in the distance with royal purples. And so if we, from our standing point in God, will look back on our lives, losses will disclose themselves as gains, sorrows as harbingers of joy, conflict as a means of peace, the crooked things will be straight, and the rough places plain; and we may for every thing in the past give thanks, if only we ‘pray without ceasing.’ The exhortation as applied to the present means that we bow our wills, that we believe that all things are working together for our good, and that, like Job in his best moments, we shall say, ‘The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the Name of the Lord.’ Ah, that is hard. It is possible, but it is only possible if we ‘pray without ceasing,’ and dwell beside God all the days of our lives, and all the hours of every day. Then, and only then, shall we be able to thank Him for all the way by which He hath led us these many years in the wilderness, that has been brightened by the pillar of cloud by day, and the fire by night.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv15–23 See that none render unto any one evil for…
See that none render unto any one evil for evil [Christians are repeatedly bidden to return good for evil ( Mat_5:38-48 ; Rom_12:19-21 ; 1Pe_2:18-25 ). "See that" puts the Thessalonians on notice that the practice of retaliation or revenge was apt to creep in unawares, and so it was, for persecution wakens revenge as fire kindles fire, thus making two wrongs out of one]; but always follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all . ["Make," says the Cambridge Bible, "the good of your fellow-men your constant pursuit, and let no injury or unworthiness on their part turn you aside from it. Revenge must be cherished neither toward those within nor those without the church, but good must be rendered to all-- Gal_6:10 ]
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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v23 whole spirit and soul and body
whole spirit and soul and body
Man a trinity. That the human soul and spirit are not identical is proved by the facts that they are divisible. Heb 4:12 and that soul and spirit are sharply distinguished in the burial and resurrection of the body. It is sown a natural body (soma psuchikon= "soul- body"), it is raised a spiritual body (soma pneumatikon). 1Co 15:44. To assert, therefore, that there is no difference between soul and spirit is to assert that there is no difference between the mortal body and the resurrection body. In Scripture use, the distinction between spirit and soul may be traced. Briefly, that distinction is that the spirit is that part of man which "knows" 1Co 2:11 his mind; the soul is the seat of the affections, desires, and so of the emotions, and of the active will, the self. "My soul is exceeding sorrowful" Mat 26:38 see also; Mat 11:29; Joh 12:27. The word transliterated "soul" in the O.T. (nephesh) is the exact equivalent of the N.T. word for soul (Greek - εὐψυχέω ), and the use of "soul" in the O.T. is identical with the use of that word in the N.T. (see, e.g.); Deu 6:5; Deu 14:26; 1Sa 18:1; 1Sa 20:4; 1Sa 20:17; Job 7:11; Job 7:15; Job 14:22; Psa 42:6; Psa 84:2. The N.T. word for spirit (pneuma) like the O.T. (ruach), is trans. "air", "breath", "wind," but predominantly "spirit," whether of God (e.g.); Gen 1:2; Mat 3:16 or of man; Gen 41:8; 1Co 5:5. Because man is "spirit" he is capable of God-consciousness, and of communication with God; Job 32:8; Psa 18:28; Pro 20:27 because he is "soul" he has self- consciousness; Psa 13:2; Psa 42:5; Psa 42:6; Psa 42:11 because he is "body" he has, through his senses, world consciousness.
Read full note →
(See Scofield "Gen 1:26") .
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv16, 23 The Christian’s personal bearing and conduct:
The Christian’s personal bearing and conduct:
v. 16. Rejoice evermore.
Read full note →
v. 17. Pray without ceasing,
v. 18. In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
v. 19. Quench not the Spirit.
v. 20. Despise not prophesyings.
v. 21. prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
v. 22. Abstain from all appearance of evil.
Of these brief admonitions one commentator says: "To comment adequately upon these diamond drops would be to outline a history of the Christian experience in its higher levels. " Always to rejoice is a characteristic of all Christians, even in poverty, sickness, misery, persecution, and whatever other mischance befall them, for they know that all things work together for good to them that love God, Rom 8:28. As far as the attitude toward God is concerned, it cannot be anything but joyful. It is not easy, of course, for weak flesh and blood to reach this level, but the Christian has the remedy and the tonic all in one: Without ceasing pray. Believers, as children of God in Christ Jesus, have the habit of praying, of bringing all their needs to their heavenly Father. The apostle does not merely urge regularity in the practice of prayer, but he wants our hearts always to be disposed toward prayer, always in the mood to make all our wants known to Him who never fails His children. There must be a constant spirit of prayer breathing through the Christian’s whole life. Incidentally, no prayer should be offered without thanksgiving, express or implied; every petition should be accompanied by thanksgiving, for the gift will surely be forthcoming if the prayer is made in faith, according to the will of God, The fulfillment may not agree with the form of our petition, but it surely is always in line with our needs; and so the will of God toward us in Christ Jesus, our Savior, is that we practice the giving of thanks at all times, in all things.
The apostle now passes on to the source from which prayer and thanksgiving flow, admonishing the Christians not to quench or oppress the Spirit, The Holy Ghost, received as a gift of God through the Word, works in the hearts of the Christians, distributing various gifts of grace, making intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, Rom 8:26. To resist the influence of the Spirit, to grieve Him in His work, either by ingratitude or by any ever so slight transgression of the will of God, means to render His work ineffectual and even to drive Him out of the heart. For that reason the Thessalonian Christians mere also not to disdain and despise prophetic revelations wherever they are given, since they are the work of the Spirit. Whenever a Christian, under this special influence of the Spirit, with this special gift, had a message to the Church, an explanation of some divine truth, especially with reference to the future, his proclamation should be received with all due respect. This does not mean, however, that every message purporting to be a prophecy should be accepted blindly and without judgment. All things prove, the good accept, the apostle says. We should apply a test, the test of the Word of God, to all matters that are presented for our consideration and for our acceptance, after the example of the Bereans, Act 17:11. And what, according to this criterion, is found excellent, that we should hold fast, that we should cling to, that we should retain. At the same time, of course, we should abstain from everything that appears to be wickedness or from every kind of evil, even from the apparently spiritual form, in doctrine as well as in conduct. So many forms of evil, particularly in our days, appear under the guise of the greatest good, under a sacred pretense, that it requires the most careful application of the standard given by the Word of God to detect the swindle and to remain uncontaminated. There are few pious frauds in our days that do not find ready acceptance, as the increasing number of sects plainly indicates.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 19, 23 Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks
Paul is exhorting the believers to maintain a spiritual attitude of rejoicing in all things, being vigilant in prayer, and expressing thankfulness in all things.
Read full note →
In everything
In all circumstances
For this is the will of God
Paul is referring to the behavior he just mentioned as being God's will for the believers.
translationWords
evil
good
joy
pray
will of God
Jesus
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 5:15 Jesus and the apostles warned against retaliation (Matt…
5:15 Jesus and the apostles warned against retaliation (Matt 5:38-48; Luke 6:27-36; Rom 12:17-21; 1 Pet 3:9). The Roman author Seneca, by contrast, considered revenge legitimate and necessary as a way of restoring social honor lost because of ill treatment from others. Paul calls Christians to do good—both to members of the church (each other) and to those outside the Christian community (to all people), including their persecutors (1 Thes 2:14; see 3:12; Gal 6:10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.