Chapter IV.
(Vers. 1.)
(Verse 1.) Therefore, brethren, we beg and beseech you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, so you would abound more and more. This is what I said above, that he wants them to increase in good works according to the apostolic commandments, to accumulate their joy.
(Vers. 2-6.)
(Verse 2-6.) For you know what precepts I have given you through our Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no one overstep and defraud his brother in any matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all these things, as we have forewarned you and testified. Although he praises them throughout the entire letter, he warns them not to be led astray by any deceit and not to seek revenge, which they have learned is the punishment of evils. Knowing that this pleases God, if they keep their bodies undefiled and behave sincerely with their brothers, so that they are not found to be like the Gentiles and thus be rejected from the name of adoption.
(Vers. 7, 8.)
(Vers. 7, 8.) For God has not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness. Therefore, whoever rejects these things does not reject man, but God, who has also given us his Holy Spirit. To emphasize this, he adds the person of God, saying: He does not reject man who disregards the commandments, but God. He says that God has given us the Holy Spirit so that we may live holy lives; for the Holy Spirit does not reside in a body that is subject to sin (Wisdom 1:4).
(Vers. 9, 10.)
(Verses 9, 10.) However, concerning brotherly love, we do not have a need to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another (John 15:17). For indeed, you do this toward all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Although he praises them for doing this, he also admonishes them to do it more fervently; for he indicates that those who are taught by God himself should be more ready in brotherly love. For because of His great love, God had mercy on us, and having become imitators of Him, we have shown ourselves rightfully adopted by God as His children.
(Vers. 11.)
(Verse 11) But we urge you, brothers, to abound more and to strive to be quiet and to mind your own business and work with your hands, as we instructed you. So that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. Again, he urges the same, that you excel in good deeds and work diligently. For this is pleasing to God and he reminds us of this frequently. For the path of righteousness must be followed in order to come to mercy by right. Those who are of lesser means should labor with their hands. By their very intention, they should be lifted from common restlessness and wrong thinking, so that their discipline may also be praised by unbelievers and they may be provoked to faith.
(Vers. 12, 13.)
(Verses 12, 13.) But we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. It is clear, because if the resurrection of the dead is believed to be future, those who go forth with the sign of the cross should not be mourned. Truly, those who pass from here into Gehenna are the ones who should be mourned, so that they may learn that what they refused to believe is true. But the faithful will rise again to glory, so that those who in this world were considered foolish because of their faith may be seen as prudent; for they have provided for themselves glory. These are the ones who, through Jesus, that is, going out in the hope of this faith, will be brought with him in his coming; so that they may be seen by men. Yet, even though he himself prevents mourning over the departure of the deceased, he himself says elsewhere: 'I should not have sadness' (Philip. 2:27). But now it is explained in its proper place.
(Vers. 14-17.)
(Verse 14-17.) For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore console yourselves with each other in these words. The sense of the Lord reveals Himself, when He says: We tell you this by the order of the Lord. For He explains in what manner the future will be, by the command of Judge Christ, with the holy Spirit revealing; so that through this hope, those who have sent ahead their beloved ones may not grieve, learning that in the coming of the Lord, the first to rise will be those who die in Christ. For Christ Himself, by the will of the Father, as the first angel of the heavenly host, as is contained in the Apocalypse of John the Apostle (Rev. XII, 7 et seq.), will descend from heaven to wage war in the name of God against the antichrist. And when he is destroyed, by his command the dead will rise. This is therefore to descend in the trumpet of God, to wage war in the name of God; for as He Himself said to Joshua the son of Nun (Joshua V, 14), He is the leader and prince of the army of the Lord, for which He is called the archangel. But when the voice of God descends in the trumpet, he is God; for both Scriptures contain this, just as in Exodus we read that an angel appeared to Moses in a flame, and immediately we recognize that God himself is in what is below, that is, the Son of God, the same Scriptures saying: And Moses approached, and said, I turn away, for I cannot look upon the face of God (Exod. III, 6). Therefore, he is God, because the Son of God is true God; and he is the leader and prince, because he is the head of all, for through him are all things. Therefore, with the first who rise again, who died in Christ, then we who are alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ in the air; so that all may come with the Lord to battle, and he may see those whom he had killed, alive; because just as the clouds are obedient to the Lord, so too are those whom he has deemed worthy to call his brothers. And thus, we will always be with the Lord; for in that sudden rapture, death will come and the soul, as if through sleep, will be restored in an instant. For when they are taken away, they will die; so that when they come to the Lord, they may receive the souls in the presence of the Lord; because they cannot be dead with God. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. With this hope, they encourage each other to console those who still mourned the departure of their loved ones, according to the pagan custom.