Having comforted the Thessalonians about their dead, Paul turns to the living. When will the Lord come? No one knows the hour, and for a sleeping world the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. But God’s people are children of the day. They are to stay awake, armed with faith, love and hope, and to fill the waiting time with a church life of respect, patience and kindness, with constant joy, prayer and thanksgiving, and with open but discerning hearts toward the gifts of the Spirit, until the God of peace presents them whole and blameless at the coming of Jesus Christ.
A study in 1 Thessalonians 5 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 22 min read
As A Thief In The Night
“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
1 Thessalonians 5:1-3
After hearing about the resurrection, the natural next question was “When?” Paul says they already know the answer, because he taught them in person: the day of the Lord comes “as a thief in the night.” A thief does not announce his arrival. The comparison, which comes from Jesus Himself (Matthew 24:43), is about surprise, not secrecy. Chapter 4 has already shown that His coming will be loud and visible to all. The question is who will be caught unready by it.
“While laboring at Thessalonica, Paul had so fully covered the subject of the signs of the times, showing what events would occur prior to the revelation of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven, that he did not think it necessary to write at length regarding this subject.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 259, 260
The people caught off guard are those saying “Peace and safety.” They see no danger. Life is going on as it always has. And then, as suddenly and as inescapably as labor pains, destruction comes. Jesus drew the same picture from the days of Noah, when people were eating, drinking and marrying right up until the flood (Luke 17:26-27).
“Come when it may, the day of God will come unawares to the ungodly. When life is going on in its unvarying round; when men are absorbed in pleasure, in business, in traffic, in money-making; when religious leaders are magnifying the world’s progress and enlightenment, and the people are lulled in a false security—then, as the midnight thief steals within the unguarded dwelling, so shall sudden destruction come upon the careless and ungodly, ‘and they shall not escape.’ Verse 3.”
Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 38
Children Of The Day
“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.”
1 Thessalonians 5:4-7
“But ye.” The day that surprises the world does not need to surprise the church. We cannot know the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36), but we are not left in the dark about the season. Jesus gave signs so that His people could “know that it is near, even at the doors” (Matthew 24:33).
“So today the kingdom of this world absorbs men’s thoughts, and they take no note of the rapidly fulfilling prophecies and the tokens of the swift-coming kingdom of God. ‘But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.’ While we are not to know the hour of our Lord’s return, we may know when it is near.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 235
Notice Paul’s shift in the word “sleep.” In chapter 4 it meant death, and there was no blame in it. Here it means spiritual drowsiness — carelessness, indifference, living as if the Lord were not coming. The first kind of sleep will end with the trumpet. The second kind must end now.
“But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”
1 Thessalonians 5:8-11
The watchman on the wall wears armor. Paul’s armor is made of the same three graces he praised in chapter 1: faith and love as a breastplate guarding the heart, and hope as a helmet guarding the mind. Years later he would describe the whole armour of God in Ephesians 6 (see that study).
And the helmet rests on a promise: “God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation.” Watching is not anxious fear. It rests on what Christ has already done — He “died for us” — and on what He guarantees: “whether we wake or sleep,” whether we are alive at His coming or asleep in the grave, “we should live together with him.” Chapter 4’s comfort returns in a single sentence.
“The watchful Christian is a working Christian, seeking zealously to do all in his power for the advancement of the gospel. As love for his Redeemer increases, so also does love for his fellow men. He has severe trials, as had his Master; but he does not allow affliction to sour his temper or destroy his peace of mind.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 261
Be At Peace Among Yourselves
“And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.”
1 Thessalonians 5:12-15
How does a watching church live? First, it respects its leaders, not for their titles but “for their work’s sake.” The young church had leaders who worked hard and sometimes had to “admonish” — and some members did not like it.
“The church had been properly organized, and officers had been appointed to act as ministers and deacons. But there were some, self-willed and impetuous, who refused to be subordinate to those who held positions of authority in the church. They claimed not only the right of private judgment, but that of publicly urging their views upon the church.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 261
Second, each member takes care of the others, and fits the care to the need. The “unruly” — the word was used of soldiers breaking ranks, and here likely of those who had quit working (4:11) — need a warning. The “feebleminded,” better translated “fainthearted,” need comfort. The weak need a hand to hold them up. And everyone needs patience. A wise church does not warn the fainthearted or merely comfort the unruly.
Third, no revenge. The Thessalonians were being mistreated by their neighbors. Paul tells them, as Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount, not to pay back evil for evil, but to do good “to all men.”
Rejoice Evermore. Pray Without Ceasing.
“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Three of the shortest commands in the Bible, and three of the hardest. Rejoice always — not because every circumstance is good, but because the Lord is. Pray without ceasing — not by speaking prayers every minute, but by living in an unbroken awareness of God, turning to Him naturally all through the day, the way the farm couple in Millet’s painting The Angelus stop their work in the field to pray. And give thanks “in” everything — not necessarily “for” everything, but in every situation, because God is at work in it.
“‘In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ 1 Thessalonians 5:18. This command is an assurance that even the things which appear to be against us will work for our good. God would not bid us be thankful for that which would do us harm.”
Ellen G. White · The Ministry of Healing, p. 255
“This is the will of God” — the same phrase Paul used in 4:3 for sanctification. People often wonder what God’s will is for their lives. Here is a large part of the answer, and it is available to anyone today: a joyful, praying, thankful heart.
Prove All Things
“Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22
These verses belong together. The Holy Spirit is like a fire, and fire can be put out. One of the ways He works in the church is through the gift of prophecy, God speaking through a human messenger. Some in Thessalonica, perhaps burned by the excitable claims of fanatics, were tempted to dismiss all such messages. Paul says: do not despise them. But do not swallow them whole either. “Prove all things” — test every claim against the word of God already given, as the Bereans did (Acts 17:11) — and “hold fast that which is good.” The gift of prophecy is not a relic of the apostles’ day; Paul lists it among the gifts Christ gave to the church until it reaches “the unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:11-13; see the study of Ephesians 4).
“The apostle cautioned the Thessalonians not to despise the gift of prophecy, and in the words, ‘Quench not the Spirit; despise not prophesyings; prove all things; hold fast that which is good,’ he enjoined a careful discrimination in distinguishing the false from the true.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 263
“Abstain from all appearance of evil” is better understood as “every form of evil.” What fails the test is not merely to be set aside; it is to be avoided in every shape it takes.
Spirit And Soul And Body
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
For the fifth time, and at the very end, the letter reaches the coming of Christ. And Paul’s closing prayer is for the whole person. Holiness is not only for the “spiritual” part of us. It reaches the mind, the emotions, the choices, and the body too — what we eat and drink, how we rest, what we do with our hands and eyes. Scripture does not picture a human being as an immortal soul temporarily housed in a disposable body. It pictures one whole person, and it is the whole person, “spirit and soul and body,” that God will keep and present at the coming of the Lord.
“The sanctification set forth in the Scriptures embraces the entire being—spirit, soul, and body. Paul prayed for the Thessalonians that their ‘whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Again he writes to believers: ‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.’ Romans 12:1.”
Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 473
And who will accomplish it? Not the Thessalonians, trying harder. “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” The God who began the work will finish it.
“Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”
1 Thessalonians 5:25-28
The great apostle asks the young church to pray for him. And he insists that the letter be read to “all the holy brethren” — every member, not only the leaders. What he had written was for everyone.
That is the whole of 1 Thessalonians. It was written to a young church in a hostile city, and every chapter ends with the coming of Christ: the Son they wait for from heaven (1:10), the crown of rejoicing at His coming (2:19), hearts blameless at His coming (3:13), the dead raised and all caught up to meet Him (4:16-17), and the whole person preserved unto His coming (5:23). That hope did not make them idle or anxious. It made them work, love, endure, rejoice, pray and give thanks, as children of the day, while the world slept. The next letter will show what happened when some of them began to misunderstand that hope, and what must take place before that day comes.
