And to wait for his Son from heaven - It is clear from this and from other parts of these two Epistles, that the return of the Lord Jesus to this world was a prominent subject of the preaching of Paul at Thessalonica. No small part of these Epistles is occupied with stating the true doctrine on this point (1 Thessalonians 4:), and in correcting the errors which prevailed in regard to it after the departure of Paul. Perhaps we are not to infer, however, that this doctrine was made more prominent there than others, or that it had been inculcated there more frequently than it had been elsewhere, but the apostle adverts to it here particularly because it was a doctrine so well fitted to impart comfort to them in their trials 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and because, in that connection, it was so well calculated to rouse them to vigilance and zeal; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. He makes it prominent in the second Epistle, because material errors prevailed there in reference to it which needed to be corrected.

In the passage before us, he says that the return of the Son of God from heaven was an important point which had been insisted on when he was there, and that their conduct, as borne witness to by all, had shown with what power it had seized upon them, and what a practical influence it had exerted in their lives. They lived as if they were" waiting" for his return. They fully believed in it; they expected it. They were looking out for it, not knowing when it might occur, and as if it might occur at any moment. They were, therefore, dead to the world, and were animated with an earnest desire to do good. This is one of the instances which demonstrate that the doctrine that the Lord Jesus will return to our world, is fitted, when understood in the true sense revealed in the Scriptures, to exert a powerful influence on the souls of people. It is eminently adapted to comfort the hearts of true Christians in the sorrows, bereavements, and sicknesses of life John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Peter 3:8-9; to lead us to watchfulness and to an earnest inquiry into the question whether we are prepared to meet him Matthew 24:37-44; Matthew 25:13; to make us dead to the world, and to lead us to act as becomes the children of light (1 Thessalonians 5:5-9; to awaken and arouse impenitent and carless sinners 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3; 2 Peter 3:3-7, and to excite Christians to self-denying efforts to spread the gospel in distant lands, as was the case at Thessalonica. Every doctrine of the gospel is adapted to produce some happy practical effects on mankind, but there are few that are more full of elevated and holy influences than that which teaches that the Lord Jesus will return to the earth, and which leads the soul to wait for his appearing; compare notes, 1 Corinthians 1:7; Philippians 3:20.

Whom he raised from the dead - See the Acts 2:24-32 notes; 1 Corinthians 15:4-9 notes. Paul probably means to intimate here, that this was one of the great truths which they had received, that the Lord Jesus had been raised from the dead. We know it was a prominent doctrine wherever the gospel was preached.

Which delivered us from the wrath to come - Another of the prominent doctrines of Christianity, which was undoubtedly always inculcated by the first preachers of religion. The "wrath to come" is the divine indignation which will come upon the guilty; Matthew 3:7. From that Christ delivers us by taking our place, and dying in our stead. It was the great purpose of his coming to save us from this approaching wrath. It follows from this:

(1) that there was wrath which man had to dread - since Jesus came to deliver us from something that was real, and not from what was imaginary; and,

(2) that the same wrath is to be dreaded now by all who are not united to Christ, since in this respect they are now just as all were before he died; that is, they are exposed to fearful punishment, from which He alone can deliver. It may be added, that the existence of this wrath is real, whether people believe it or not, for the fact of its existence is not affected by our belief or unbelief.

Remarks On 1 Thessalonians 1

This chapter teaches:

(1) That it is right to commend these who do well; 1 Thessalonians 1:3. Paul was never afraid of injuring any one by commending him when he deserved it: nor was he ever afraid to rebuke when censure was due.

(2) Christians are chosen to salvation; 1 Thessalonians 1:4. Their hope of heaven depends on the "election of God."

(3) it is possible for a people to know that they are chosen of God, and to give such evidence of it that others shall know it also; 1 Thessalonians 1:4. It is possible for a church to evince such a spirit of piety, self-denial, love, and holiness, and such a desire to spread the gospel, as to show that they are "chosen of God," or that they are a true church. This question is not to be determined by their adherence to certain rites and forms; by their holding to the sentiments of an orthodox creed: or by their zeal in defense of the "apostolic succession," but by their bringing forth "the fruits of good living." In determining that the church at Thessalonica was "chosen of God," Paul does not refer to its external organization, or to the fact that it was founded by apostolic hands, or that it had a true ministry and valid ordinances, but to the fact that it evinced the true spirit of Christian piety; and particularly that they had been zealous in sending the gospel to others. There were three things to which he referred:

1. that the gospel had power over themselves, inducing them to abandon their sins;

2. that it had such influence on their lives that others recognized in them the evidence of true religion; and,

3. that it made them benevolent, and excited them to make efforts to diffuse its blessings abroad.

continued...

And to wait for his Son from heaven - To expect a future state of glory, and resurrection of the body, according to the Gospel doctrine, after the example of Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead, and ascended unto heaven, ever to appear in the presence of God for us.

Delivered us from the wrath to come - From all the punishment due to us for our sins, and from the destruction which is about to come on the unbelieving and impenitent Jews.

This was the news, the sounding out, that went abroad concerning the converted Thessalonians. Every where it was said: They have believed the Gospel; they have renounced idolatry; they worship the living and true God; they have received the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit; they are happy in their souls, unspotted in their lives, and full of joy; expecting an eternal glory through that Christ who had died for and purged their sins, and who shall fashion their degraded bodies and make them like to his glorious body, and give them an eternal residence with himself in a state of blessedness.

These were glorious news; and, wherever they were told, prepared the way of the Gospel among the heathen. The mere preaching of the Gospel has done much to convince and convert sinners, but the lives of the sincere followers of Christ, as illustrative of the truth of these doctrines, have done much more: Truth represented in action seems to assume a body, and thus renders itself palpable. In heathen countries, which are under the dominion of Christian powers, the Gospel, though established there, does little good, because of the profane and irreligious lives of those who profess it. Why has not the whole peninsula of India been long since evangelized? The Gospel has been preached there; but the lives of the Europeans professing Christianity there have been, in general, profligate, sordid, and base. From them sounded out no good report of the Gospel; and therefore the Mohammedans continue to prefer their Koran, and the Hindoos their Vedas and Shasters, to the Bible. It should now ever be acknowledged, to the glory of God, that of late years a few apostolic men in that country are turning the tide in favor of the Gospel; and several eminent Europeans have warmly espoused the doctrine of Christ, and are labouring to circulate the word of God through the whole of British India.

And to wait for his Son from heaven,.... The Lord Jesus Christ, who is the natural, essential, and eternal Son of God; and whoever is truly converted, is not only turned to God the Father, and believes in him; but also believes in, receives, embraces, and professes his Son Jesus Christ; who became incarnate, and, in the human nature he assumed, obeyed, suffered, and died and rose again, and ascended into heaven, where he now is, and will be till the time of the restitution of all things; when he will descend from thence, and come and judge the world in righteousness; and from thence the saints expect him, and look and wait by faith for eternal glory and happiness by him, and with him at his appearance and kingdom; so that many articles of faith are contained in this expression, which these Thessalonians were acquainted with, believed, and acted upon: and Christ the Son of God is further described as that person

whom he raised from the dead; that is, God the Father raised from the dead, and whereby he was declared to be the Son of God; and which supposes his dying for the sins of his people, as it expresses his rising again for their justification; things which the faith of these believers was led unto, and in which light they viewed him:

even Jesus, which delivered us from wrath to come; which is revealed from heaven against sin, and comes upon the children of disobedience; which all men are deserving of, even God's elect themselves, but shall not partake of, because they are not appointed to it, but to salvation; and because they are justified by the blood and righteousness of Christ, and so are saved from it; not from all fears about it, and apprehensions of it, which they are filled with, especially under first awakenings, and sometimes afterwards when under afflictive providences; but they are delivered from the thing itself, by which is meant vindictive punishment, even from all punishment in this life, for there is no wrath mixed with any of their mercies or their chastisements; and from all punishment in the world to come, which will fall heavy on others; and that because Christ has bore their sins, and the wrath of God and curse of the law, due unto them, in their room and stead.

To wait for (ἀναμένειν)

N.T.o. Several times in lxx, as Job 2:9; Job 7:2; Isaiah 59:11. Paul's usual word is ἀπεκδέχομαι: see Romans 8:19, Romans 8:28, Romans 8:25; 1 Corinthians 1:7; Philippians 3:20.

From heaven (ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν)

Lit. from the heavens. Comp. 1 Corinthians 15:47; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:7. Paul uses the unclassical plural much oftener than the singular. Although the Hebrew equivalent has no singular, the singular is almost universal in lxx, the plural occurring mostly in the Psalm. Οὐρανός is from a Sanscrit word meaning to cover or encompass. The Hebrew shamayim signifies height, high district, the upper regions. Similarly we have in N.T. ἐν ὑψίστοις in the highest (places), Matthew 21:9; Luke 2:14 : ἐν ὑψηλοῖς in the high (places), Hebrews 1:3. Paul's usage is evidently colored by the Rabbinical conception of a series of heavens: see 2 Corinthians 12:2; Ephesians 4:10. Some Jewish teachers held that there were seven heavens, others three. The idea of a series of heavens appears in patristic writings, in Thomas Aquinas's doctrine of the celestial hierarchies, and in Dionysius the Areopagite, Through the scholastic theologians it passed into Dante's Paradiso with its nine heavens. The words to await his Son from heaven strike the keynote of this Epistle.

Jesus which delivered (Ἱησοῦν τὸν ῥυόμενον)

More correctly, delivereth. See on Matthew 1:21. Ῥύεσθαι to deliver, mostly in Paul. Lit. to draw to one's self. Almost invariably with the specification of some evil or danger or enemy. Σώζειν to save is often used in a similar sense, of deliverance from disease, from sin, or from divine wrath: see Matthew 1:21; Mark 6:56; Luke 8:36; Acts 2:40; Romans 5:9 : but σώζειν is a larger and more comprehensive term, including not only deliverance from sin and death, but investment with all the privileges and rewards of the new life in Christ.

The wrath to come (τῆς ὀργῆς τῆς ἐρχομένης)

Lit. the wrath which is coming. The wrath, absolutely, of the wrath of God, as Romans 5:9 Romans 7:19; 1 Thessalonians 2:16. Sometimes for the punishment which wrath inflicts, as Romans 12:4; Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 3:6. See on John 3:36. The phrase wrath to come is found in Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7. Coming does not necessarily imply the thought of speedy or imminent approach, but the general tone of the Epistle points in that direction.

And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from {e} the wrath to come.

(e) This word the is not put here without reason: and by wrath is meant that revenge and punishment with which the Lord will in time judge the world in his terrible wrath.

1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven. The apostles saw the Lord ascend, but he left a promise that he would return, with the time wholly unrevealed. Hence, in preaching the gospel, they made his return to the world very prominent, and perhaps believed themselves in his speedy coming. Until after Jerusalem was destroyed the churches waited, as though the Lord would soon be revealed. We should still wait, watch and pray (Mt 26:24 Mr 13:33 14:38 Lu 21:36). We know not the hour when he may either come (Mt 24:42 Re 3:3), or we be called to him.

1:10 Whom he hath raised from the dead - In proof of his future coming to judgment. Who delivereth us - He redeemed us once; he delivers us continually; and will deliver all that believe from the wrath, the eternal vengeance, which will then come upon the ungodly.

10. This verse distinguishes them from the Jews, as 1Th 1:9 from the idolatrous Gentiles. To wait for the Lord's coming is a sure characteristic of a true believer, and was prominent amidst the graces of the Thessalonians (1Co 1:7, 8). His coming is seldom called his return (Joh 14:3); because the two advents are regarded as different phases of the same coming; and the second coming shall have features altogether new connected with it, so that it will not be a mere repetition of the first, or a mere coming back again.

his Son . raised from the dead-the grand proof of His divine Sonship (Ro 1:4).

delivered-rather as Greek, "who delivereth us." Christ has once for all redeemed us; He is our Deliverer ALWAYS.

wrath to come-(1Th 5:9; Col 3:6).

1:6-10 When careless, ignorant, and immoral persons are turned from their carnal pursuits and connexions, to believe in and obey the Lord Jesus, to live soberly, righteously, and godly, the matter speaks for itself. The believers under the Old Testament waited for the coming of the Messiah, and believers now wait for his second coming. He is yet to come. And God had raised him from the dead, which is a full assurance unto all men that he will come to judgment. He came to purchase salvation, and will, when he comes again, bring salvation with him, full and final deliverance from that wrath which is yet to come. Let all, without delay, flee from the wrath to come, and seek refuge in Christ and his salvation.