21 Let all things be tested; keep to what is good;
My loved ones, do not put your faith in every spirit, but put them to the test, to see if they are from God: because a great number of false prophets have gone out into the world.
And let not your behaviour be like that of this world, but be changed and made new in mind, so that by experience you may have knowledge of the good and pleasing and complete purpose of God.
For the natural man is not able to take in the things of the Spirit of God: for they seem foolish to him, and he is not able to have knowledge of them, because such knowledge comes only through the Spirit. But he who has the Spirit, though judging all things, is himself judged by no one.
Let love be without deceit. Be haters of what is evil; keep your minds fixed on what is good.
Now these were more noble than the Jews of Thessalonica, for they gave serious attention to the word, searching in the holy Writings every day, to see if these things were so.
And what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; when they went down into the open mouth of the earth, with their families and their tents and every living thing which was theirs, before the eyes of all Israel: But your eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord which he has done. So keep all the orders which I give you today, so that you may be strong, and go in and take the land which is to be your heritage; And that your days may be long in the land which the Lord gave by an oath to your fathers and to their seed after them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Testing by experience what is well-pleasing to the Lord;
Only, as far as we have got, let us be guided by the same rule.
For the rest, my brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things have honour, whatever things are upright, whatever things are holy, whatever things are beautiful, whatever things are of value, if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, give thought to these things.
For these are they who go secretly into houses, making prisoners of foolish women, weighted down with sin, turned from the way by their evil desires,
Alexander the copper-worker did me much wrong: the Lord will give him the reward of his works:
I have knowledge of your doings, and of your hard work and long waiting, and that you will not put up with evil men, and have put to the test those who say they are Apostles and are not, and have seen that they are false;
I come quickly: keep that which you have, so that no one may take your crown.
But if there is no one to give the sense, let him keep quiet in the church; and let his words be to himself and to God. And let the prophets give their words, but not more than two or three, and let the others be judges of what they say.
Moses said to them, Let the words which I have said to you today go deep into your hearts, and give orders to your children to do every word of this law. And this is no small thing for you, but it is your life, and through this you may make your days long in the land which you are going over Jordan to take for your heritage.
My son, keep my teaching in your memory, and my rules in your heart:
My son, keep good sense, and do not let wise purpose go from your eyes. So they will be life for your soul, and grace for your neck. Then you will go safely on your way, and your feet will have no cause for slipping. When you take your rest you will have no fear, and on your bed sleep will be sweet to you.
Keep them ever folded in your heart, and have them hanging round your neck. In your walking, it will be your guide; when you are sleeping, it will keep watch over you; when you are awake, it will have talk with you. For the rule is a light, and the teaching a shining light; and the guiding words of training are the way of life.
Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.
Then say to them, Put your faith in the teaching and the witness. ... If they do not say such things. ... For him there is no dawn. ...
Be on the watch for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are cruel wolves. By their fruits you will get knowledge of them. Do men get grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree gives good fruit; but the bad tree gives evil fruit. It is not possible for a good tree to give bad fruit, and a bad tree will not give good fruit. Every tree which does not give good fruit is cut down and put in the fire. So by their fruits you will get knowledge of them.
And turning to the people again, he said to them, Give ear to me all of you, and let my words be clear to you: There is nothing outside the man which, going into him, is able to make him unclean: but the things which come out of the man are those which make the man unclean.
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had faith in him, If you keep my word, then you are truly my disciples;
Be in me at all times as I am in you. As the branch is not able to give fruit of itself, if it is not still on the vine, so you are not able to do so if you are not in me.
Making strong the souls of the disciples, saying to them that they were to keep the faith, and that we have to go through troubles of all sorts to come into the kingdom of God.
For who has knowledge of the things of a man but the spirit of the man which is in him? in the same way, no one has knowledge of the things of God but the Spirit of God.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5
Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 5
The apostle, having spoken in the end of the foregoing chapter concerning the resurrection, and the second coming of Christ, proceeds to speak concerning the uselessness of enquiring after the particular time of Christ's coming, which would be sudden and terrible to the wicked, but comfortable to the saints (v. 1-5). He then exhorts them to the duties of watchfulness, sobriety, and the exercise of faith, love, and hope, as being suitable to their state (v. 6-10). In the next words he exhorts them to several duties they owed to others, or to one another (v. 11-15), afterwards to several other Christian duties of great importance (v. 16-22), and then concludes this epistle (v. 23-28).
1Th 5:1-5
In these words observe,
1Th 5:6-10
On what had been said, the apostle grounds seasonable exhortations to several needful duties.
1Th 5:11-15
In these words the apostle exhorts the Thessalonians to several duties.
1Th 5:16-22
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.
1Th 5:23-28
In these words, which conclude this epistle, observe,