THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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MONDAY, Ja n u ary 20th. 1 Thess. 5 :9 - 1 1 - . Verse 9 gives th e ground for our hope, v iz .,. “ for God appointed (lite r ally, set) u’s (i. e., believers in C h rist), no t unto w rath (i. e., th e w rath which is coming upon th e World and those who reje ct Christ-—cf. John 3 :36 ; 1 Thess. 1 :10) b u t unto the (th ere is no “th e ” 'in th e Greek) obtaining of (or, acquisition of) salvation (in th e m idst of th e general wreck and ruin, as Noah in th e tim e of the flood) th rough our Lord Jesus Christ” (who is our a rk ). Every one who will accept Christ (cf. John 5 :40 ; Rev. 22:17) God appoints to salvation. We do not owe our salva tion to any m erit of our own, bu t to th is sovereign gracious etern al appoint m ent of God (cf. 2 Tim. 1 :9 ; Eph. 1:5, 11; 2 Thess. 2:13, 14). If we will not believe, we are appointed to w rath and fitted for it (cf. Jude 4; Rom. 9 :2 2 ). In th a t case we have no one to blame bu t ourselves: we would not believe (cf. John 5 :4 ; Matt. 2 3 :3 7 ). In th e other case we can tak e no m erit to ourselves,- we simply accepted grace th a t began in th e etern al purpose of th e love of God alone. All th e praise is His. This sal vation is “ th rough o u r Lord Jesus Christ.” P aul emphasizes th e fact th a t th e Lord Jesus Christ “ died for us.” It is th rough th e Christ th a t died th a t we are saved (cf. Isa. 5 3 :6 ; Gal. 3:13; 2 Cor. 5 :21 ; 1 Pet. 2 :2 4 ). He died for us “ th a t (more exactly, in o rder th a t) we should live together w ith H im .” His death is th e source of our life (cf. John lO ilO , 11). We shall live w ith Him “w hether we wake or sleep.” According to th e imm ediate context th is would seem to mean th a t w hether we are sp iritually alert, watching for His com ing, or w hether we are drowsy, if we are really in Him, believers in Him, we shall live w ith H im (cf. v. 6, and also Matt. 2 5 :5 ). B u t it may mean th a t we shall “ live together w ith H im” w hether we be found awake, i. e., alive, a t Christ’s coming or asleep, i. e., dead ch. 4:18. 4:18 reads, “W herefore com fo rt one an o th er” while th is passage reads “w herefore exhort one an o th er” (R .V .), b u t the Greek in th e two pas sages is precisely th e same, and th e dif ference is in th e tran slation , not in the Greek. The word rendered “ com fort” in the one instance and “exho rt” in the o th er means both to “ com fort” and to “ exhort.” The though t of exhortation b etter fits th e context in the -verse before us. He fu rth e r urges them to
to which sleep and drunkenness belong, “ so th en let us not sleep, (i. e., be in a state of to rpo r and ap athy and uncon sciousness to sp iritu al things and espe cially to the coming of th e L o rd ), as do th e re st (i. e., all th e unconverted, cf. ch. 4:13, R .V .), b u t le t us watch (literally , be wakeful, sp iritually alert, p articu larly as regards our Lord’s com ing, cf. Luke 12:35-40, and be sober (refrain ing from w ine and o ther indulg ences th a t deaden the alertness of th e m in d )’"’ (cf. Luke 21:34-36; 1 Pet. 5 :8 ). P au l here uses an illu stration from th e n a tu ra l world and applies it to the sp iritual. In th e n a tu ra l world th e rule is (of course, th e re are exceptions) th a t “ they th a t sleep sleep in th e n igh t; and they th a t are drunken are drunken in th e n igh t.” Now we “ are of the day,” we have passed out of sp iritu al darkness into sp iritu al ligh t (cf. John 8 :12 ; 1 2 :3 6 ), th erefo re “ le t us, since we are of th e day, be sober.” B u t it is no t enough th a t we be awake and be sober, we m ust also be armed, “ pu tting on th e b reastp late of faith and love: and fo r a helmet, th e hope of salvation.” In Eph. 6:11-17 we also have an arm or mentioned, b u t th e re th e arm or is ag ain st th e wiles and assau lts of the Devil. H ere th e arm or is ra th e r a guard against being surprised by “ the day of th e Lord,” and being found unprepared and unprotected. Ih Eph. 6:14 th e b reastp late is “righteousness,” here it is “ faith and love,” b u t “ fa ith ” is th e spring of “ righteousness” (cf. Rom. 4 :3 , 22-24; Gal. 5 :6 ), and “ love” is th e substance of “ righteousness” (cf. Gal. 5 :6 ). In Eph.. 6:17 “ salvation” is th e “ helm et,” h ere “th e hope of sal vation,” i. e., full salvation th a t is to be ours a t the coming of th e Lord (cf. Phil. 3:20, 21; 1 P et. 1 :5 ; Rom. 8 :2 4 ), is the “ helm et.” “The hope of th e sal vation” which is to be fully bestowed upon us a t our Lord’s re tu rn is the best protection for th e head, keeping it from being befogged by th e subtle erro rs of a purely metaphysical theology and from becoming drowsy and th u s not being ever w atchful for our Lord’s retu rn . “F a ith ,” “ hope” and “ love” are th e th ree abiding elements of a tru e life (cf. 1 Cor. 13:13; 1 Thess. 1 :3 ), and here we have th e th ree in combina tion in th e Christian’s armor. SUNDAY, Ja n u ary 19. 1 These. 5 :7 , 8.
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