1 Thessalonians 5

1 Thessalonians 5:1

John Chrysostom: “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”

Nothing, as it seems, is so curious, and so fondly prone to pry into things obscure and concealed, as the nature of men. And this is wont to happen to it, when the mind is unsettled and in an imperfect state. Why has he not said that no one knows? why has he not said, that it is not revealed, instead of saying, “Ye have no need that aught be written unto you”? Because in that case he would have grieved them more, but by speaking thus he comforted them. For by the expression, “Ye have no need,” as if it were both superfluous, and inexpedient, he suffers them not to enquire.

For tell me, what would be the advantage? Let us suppose that the end would be after twenty or thirty or a hundred years, what is this to us? Is not the end of his own life the consummation to every individual? Why art thou curious, and travailest about the general end? But the case is the same with us in this, as in other things. For this reason Christ did not tell it, because it was not expedient.

Hear Paul saying, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” Not the general day only, but that of every individual. For the one resembles the other, is also akin to it. For what the one does collectively, that the other does partially. For the period of consummation took its beginning from Adam, and then is the end of the consummation; since even now one would not err in calling it a consummation. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 9

Tertullian: For when they shall say, Peace, 'and All things are safe, ’then sudden destruction shall come upon them." Again, in the second epistle he addresses them with even greater earnestness: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled, either by spirit, or by word,” that is, the word of false prophets, “or by letter,” that is, the letter of false apostles, “as if from us, as that the day of the Lord is at hand. — On the Resurrection of the Flesh

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Augustine of Hippo: So what is this day which the Lord has made? Live good lives, and you will be this day yourselves. The apostle, you see, was not talking about the day which begins with sunrise and ends with sunset, when he said, “Let us walk honorably, as in the day”; where he also said, “For those who get drunk are drunk at night.” Nobody sees people getting drunk at the midday meal; but when this does happen, it is a matter of the night, not of the day which the Lord has made. You see, just as that day is realized in those who live godly, holy and righteous lives, marked by moderation, justice, sobriety. So too on the contrary, for those who live in an ungodly, loose-living, proud and irreligious manner—for that sort of night, the night will undoubtedly be a thief. “The day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.” — SERMONS 229B.1

Cyprian: The apostle says: “The day of the Lord shall so come as a thief in the night. When they shall say, Peace and security, then on them shall come sudden destruction.” [1 Thessalonians 5:2-3] Also in the Acts of the Apostles: “No one can know the times or the seasons which the Father has placed in His own power.” [Acts 1:7] — Treatise 12, Third Book, Section 89

John Chrysostom: Do not place your confidence in your youth, nor think that you have a very fixed term of life, “For the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night.” On this account he has made our end invisible, so that we might demonstrate clearly our diligence and forethought. Do you not see men taken away prematurely day after day? On this account a certain one admonishes, “don’t delay in turning to the Lord, and don’t put things off from day to day,” lest at any time, while you delay, you are destroyed. Let the old man keep this admonition; let the young man heed this advice. Indeed, are you in insecurity, and are you rich, and do you abound in wealth, and does no affliction happen to you? Still hear what Paul says: “when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them.” Affairs change often. We are not masters of our end. Let us be masters of virtue. Our Master Christ is loving. — THE SECOND HOMILY CONCERNING THE POWER OF DEMONS 2

Origen of Alexandria: For as it was in the days of Noah, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as they were in the days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

For those who understand the plain text of the present words, whether they wish to understand it spiritually or simply, it is consistent to say concerning the consummation of this world that “it shall come suddenly,” like one who has already fallen sick beforehand with a sickness fit to make manifest his coming corruption. For this is shown especially from what he says, that the coming of the Son of man will be like the days of Noah; for then all things that were upon the earth suddenly perished. But whoever wishes to say that the consummation of the world will happen gradually will say that likewise it happened in the days of Noah. For with the rain descending for forty days and forty nights, it followed that those first perished who dwelt in the lower parts of the earth, and after them those who dwelt somewhat in the higher parts, and thus last of all those who dwelt in the highest mountains. So too (he says) in the consummation of the world, when the fire has descended, it will indeed begin from the more elevated places and gradually descend to the lower. But Luke, subjoining also the similitude of the fire of Sodom, gives us occasion to understand that the consummation is to come suddenly. But someone will say that by this it is declared that that rain, or that fire, did not happen according to the order of nature, but on account of the abundance of the sins of men.

In two ways, then, is the coming corruption of the world reckoned: in one way according to a natural descent of fire, in another according to the judgment of God. But the Gentiles do not say that those sins were the burning, or the cause of that burning, but that it was the power of fire. The divine discourses, however, teach that all things are held and governed by God, and they do not blame the violence of fire, but proclaim it the will of God — of God who saves upon the earth those who are worthy of salvation in it, but destroys those in whom, on account of the abundance of iniquity, “charity grows cold.” For the comparison with the fire of Sodom teaches most manifestly that the corruption of the world will be sudden. This is clear from what the angel said to Lot: “behold, I have admired your face in this word, that I will not destroy the city of which you have spoken; hasten therefore to be saved there; for I cannot do anything until you go thither.” You see that that fire which was sent upon Sodom was held back by the divine will, until Lot entered into Zoar. So I think it will be also in the consummation (according as Lot too was saved), that then that fire of the consummation will lay hold of the world according to the judgment of God, when the saved righteous shall shine “as the sun in the kingdom of their Father”: then “they will gather the wicked out of the kingdom of Christ and cast them into the furnace of fire.”

For how is it not manifest that the corruption of the world will be sudden, from what he says: they will be eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, which are signs of peace and security? For famines and pestilences will perhaps be some time before the consummation; but around the consummation itself there will be neither famine nor war. And how are eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, planting and building, buying and selling to be understood, unless it is so ordered? But this too makes it manifest, what the Apostle says: “that the day of the Lord shall so come as a thief in the night. When they shall say: peace and security, then sudden destruction shall come upon them, as the pain of childbirth upon her that is with child, and they shall not escape”; for he teaches us that the day of consummation will come upon men suddenly and unexpectedly, when the state of things shall seem to have been turned as it were for the better — from the former famine to abundance, from pestilence and battles to peace and security.

But those who hear the Gospel more deeply and do all things so that the Gospel may be in no part at all veiled to them, do not much care about the general consummation of the age, whether it is to be sudden and general or by parts; but they consider only this, that the consummation of each single person happens without his knowing either the day or the hour of his own departure, and that upon each one of us “the day of the Lord will so come as a thief.” On which account it is needful to watch, whether in the evening (that is, in youth) or at midnight (that is, in the midst of dark human life) or at cockcrow (when one is now older) or in the morning (when one is now in advanced old age), so that when God the Word comes bringing the consummation of the setting-out of this life, he may be found who did not give “sleep to his eyes” nor “slumber to his eyelids,” and who kept the commandment of him who says: “watch at all times.” Yet all are vain, whether those who profess to know the consummation of the world, when it will be, or those who boast that they know the end of their own life, seduced either by the signs of birds or by ventriloquists or by magicians, and thinking to know the day and hour of their own departure. For as it is, no one can know, unless perhaps he be some prophet illumined by the Holy Spirit — like him who prophesied to the king’s wife who wished to know whether her son would rise from his infirmity, and like Elijah who prophesied to Ahaziah, saying what had been determined for him by the Lord: “thus says the Lord: because there was no God in Israel, do you go to seek unto Baal the fly, the god of Ekron? not so; the bed upon which you have gone up, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die.”

These things, even though we have said them in a digression, we have nevertheless introduced as useful, since concerning the consummation of each single person also (that is, concerning the day of his departure) no one can know — although many profess to know such things — except perhaps those who have heard from the prophets. I know also another consummation of the righteous man, who with apostolic advancement can say: “but far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.” For to him to whom the world is crucified, for him in a certain way the consummation of the world has already come; and he who is dead to worldly things, to him (having passed over days not of the Lord) there comes the day of the Lord, on which the coming of the Son of man takes place upon his soul, because he now no longer lives to sin and to the world. — COMMENTARY ON Matthew 56

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Irenaeus: These men, therefore, ought to learn [what really is the state of the case], and go back to the true number of the name, that they be not reckoned among false prophets. But, knowing the sure number declared by Scripture, that is, six hundred sixty and six, let them await, in the first place, the division of the kingdom into ten; then, in the next place, when these kings are reigning, and beginning to set their affairs in order, and advance their kingdom, [let them learn] to acknowledge that he who shall come claiming the kingdom for himself, and shall terrify those men of whom we have been speaking, having a name containing the aforesaid number, is truly the abomination of desolation. This, too, the apostle affirms: “When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them.” And Jeremiah does not merely point out his sudden coming, but he even indicates the tribe from which he shall come, where he says, “We shall hear the voice of his swift horses from Dan; the whole earth shall be moved by the voice of the neighing of his galloping horses: he shall also come and devour the earth, and the fulness thereof, the city also, and they that dwell therein.” This, too, is the reason that this tribe is not reckoned in the Apocalypse along with those which are saved. — Against Heresies Book V

John Chrysostom: And that thou mayest learn by another thing also, that the silence is not a mark of ignorance on His part, see, together with what we have mentioned, how He sets forth another sign also. “But as in the days of Noe they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that the flood came, and took all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” And these things He spake, showing that He should come on a sudden, and unexpectedly, and when the more part were living luxuriously. For Paul too saith this, writing on this wise, “When they shall speak of peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them;” and to show how unexpected, He said, “as travail upon a woman with child.” — HOMILIES ON Matthew 77.2

John Chrysostom: “When they are saying peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in nowise escape.”

Here he has glanced at something which he has also said in his second Epistle. For since they indeed were in affliction, but they that warred on them at ease and in luxury, and then while he comforted them in their present sufferings by this mention of the Resurrection, the others insulted them with arguments taken from their forefathers, and said, When will it happen?

But it may be worth while to ask, If Antichrist comes, and Elias comes, how is it “when they say Peace and safety,” that then a sudden destruction comes upon them? For these things do not permit the day to come upon them unawares, being signs of its coming. But he does not mean this to be the time of Antichrist, and the whole day, because that will be a sign of the coming of Christ, but Himself will not have a sign, but will come suddenly and unexpectedly. For travail, indeed, you say, does not come upon the pregnant woman unexpectedly: for she knows that after nine months the birth will take place. And yet it is very uncertain. For some bring forth at the seventh month, and others at the ninth. And at any rate the day and the hour is uncertain. With respect to this therefore, Paul speaks thus. And the image is exact. For there are not many sure signs of travail; many indeed have brought forth in the high roads, or when out of their houses and abroad, not foreseeing it. And he has not only glanced here at the uncertainty, but also at the bitterness of the pain. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 9

Theodoret of Cyrus: The woman who is pregnant knows that she has a fetus in the womb but does not know when birth will occur. So it is with us as we know that the Lord will come, but we do not teach the time itself with certainty. — INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRST LETTER TO THE THESSALONIANS

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Augustine of Hippo: Therefore, not to know the times is something different from decay of morals and love of vice. For, when the apostle Paul said, “Don’t allow your thinking to be shaken nor be frightened, neither by word nor by epistle as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand,” he obviously did not want them to believe those who thought the coming of the Lord was already at hand, but neither did he want them to be like the wicked servant and say, “My Lord is long in coming,” and deliver themselves over to destruction by pride and riotous behavior. Thus, his desire that they should not listen to false rumors about the imminent approach of the last day was consistent with his wish that they should await the coming of their Lord fully prepared, packed for travel and with lamps burning. He said to them, “But you, brothers, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief, for all you are the children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night nor of darkness.” — Letters 199.1.2

Augustine of Hippo: On the verse: “This is the day which the Lord has made.” What we have sung to our Lord let us put into practice with his help. To be sure, every day has been made by the Lord, but with good reason has it been said of a particular day, “This is the day which the Lord has made.” We read that when he created heaven and earth, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light, and God called the light Day, and the darkness Night.” But there is another day, well established and definitely to be commended by us, concerning which the apostle says, “Let us walk becomingly as in the day.” That day, commonly called “today,” is caused by the rising and setting of the sun. There is still another day by which the word of God shines on the hearts of the faithful and dispels the darkness, not of the eyes, but of evil habits. Let us, therefore, recognize this light; let us rejoice in it; let us pay attention to the apostle when he says, “For we are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of night nor of darkness.” — Sermons 230

Isaac of Nineveh: Now if the good God sees that a man’s heart has not inclined to any of these things as David said, indicating the same, “You have tested my heart, You have visited it in the night, You have tried me by fire, and unrighteousness was not found in me,” then God will help him and deliver him. Why does he say “in the night” and not “in the day”? Because the enemy’s deceptions are a night, as Paul also said, “We are not children of the night but children of the day,” since the Son of God is the Day, but Satan is night. — The First Syriac Epistle of Saint Makarios of Egypt 7

John Chrysostom: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”

Here he speaks of a life that is dark and impure. For it is just as corrupt and wicked men do all things as in the night, escaping the notice of all, and inclosing themselves in darkness. For tell me, does not the adulterer watch for the evening, and the thief for the night? Does not the violator of the tombs carry on all his trade in the night? What then? Does it not overtake them as a thief? Does it not come upon them also uncertainly, but do they know it beforehand? How then does he say, “Ye have no need that aught be written unto you”? He speaks here not with respect to the uncertainty, but with respect to the calamity, that is, it will not come as an evil to them. For it will come uncertainly indeed even to them, but it will involve them in no trouble. “That that Day,” he says, “may not overtake you as a thief.” For in the case of those who are watching and who are in the light, if there should be any entry of a robber, it can do them no harm: so also it is with those who live well. But those who are sleeping he will strip of everything, and go off; that is, those who are trusting in the things of this life. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 9

Tertullian: Nay, but this whole world is the one house of all; in which world it is more the heathen, who is found in darkness, whom the grace of God enlightens, than the Christian, who is already in God’s light. Finally, it is one “straying” which is ascribed to the ewe and the drachma: (and this is an evidence in my favour); for if the parables had been composed with a view to a Christian sinner, after the loss of his faith, a second loss and restoration of them would have been noted. — On Modesty

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Clement of Alexandria: “Let us not then sleep, as do others, but let us watch,” says the Scripture, “and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken, are drunken in the night,” that is, in the darkness of ignorance. “But let us who are of the day be sober. For ye are all children of the light, and children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of the darkness.” But whoever of us is most solicitous for living the true life, and for entertaining noble sentiments, will keep awake for as long time as possible, reserving to himself only what in this respect is conducive to his own health. — The Instructor Book 2

John Chrysostom: “For ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day.”

And how is it possible to be “sons of the day”? Just as it is said, “sons of destruction” and “sons of hell.” Wherefore Christ also said to the Pharisees, “Woe unto you-for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is become so, ye make him a son of hell.” (Matt. xxiii. 15.) And again Paul said, “For which things’ sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience.” (Col. iii. 6.) That is, those who do the works of hell and the works of disobedience. So also sons of God are those who do things pleasing to God; so also sons of day and sons of light, those who do the works of light. “And we are not of the night nor of darkness.” — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 9

Origen of Alexandria: If you wish to see Jesus transfigured before those who went up on the mountain with him, behold with me the Jesus in the Gospels as more simply understood. This is Jesus, as one might say, known “according to the flesh” by those who do not go up through uplifting words and works to the holy mountain of wisdom. Behold him with me as known in his divinity by means of all of the Gospels, beheld in the form of God according to the knowledge that his companions had. For before them Jesus is transfigured, but not to any of those who are below. But when he is transfigured, his face also shines as the sun, so that he may be manifested to the children of light. These have put off the works of darkness and have put on the armor of light and are no longer the children of darkness or night, but have become sons of the day and walk honestly as in the day. Being manifested, he will shine for them not only as the sun, but as the son of righteousness. — COMMENTARY ON Matthew 12.37

Tertullian: But when he urges us not to give place to evil, he does not offer the suggestion that we should take to our heels, he only teaches that passion should be kept under restraint; and if he says that the time must be redeemed, because the days are evil, he wishes us to gain a lengthening of life, not by flight, but by wisdom. Besides, he who bids us shine as sons of light, does not bid us hide away out of sight as sons of darkness. — On Flight in Persecution

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Clement of Alexandria: Wherefore also the Lord enjoins “to watch,” so that our soul may never be perturbed with passion, even in dreams; but also to keep the life of the night pure and stainless, as if spent in the day. For assimilation to God, as far as we can, is preserving the mind in its relation to the same things… Wherefore the mysteries are for the most part celebrated by night, indicating the withdrawal of the soul from the body, which takes place by night. “Let us not then sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that are drunken, are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as an helmet the hope of salvation.” And as to what, again, they say of sleep, the very same things are to be understood of death. For each exhibits the departure of the soul, the one more, the other less… “For blessed are those that have seen the Lord,” according to the apostle; “for it is high time to awake out of sleep. For now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light.” By day and light he designates figuratively the Son, and by the armour of light metaphorically the promises. — The Stromata Book 4

Clement of Alexandria: We must therefore sleep so as to be easily awaked… For there is no use of a sleeping man, as there is not of a dead man. Wherefore we ought often to rise by night and bless God. For blessed are they who watch for Him, and so make themselves like the angels, whom we call “watchers.” But a man asleep is worth nothing, any more than if he were not alive. But he who has the light watches, “and darkness seizes not on him,” nor sleep, since darkness does not. He that is illuminated is therefore awake towards God; and such an one lives… “Let us not then sleep, as do others, but let us watch,” says the Scripture, “and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken, are drunken in the night,” that is, in the darkness of ignorance. “But let us who are of the day be sober. For ye are all children of the light, and children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of the darkness.” — The Instructor Book 2

John Chrysostom: “So then let us not sleep, as do also the rest, 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.”

Here he shows, that to be in the day depends on ourselves. For here indeed, in the case of the present day and night, it does not depend on ourselves. But night comes even against our will, and sleep overtakes us when we do not wish it. But with respect to that night and that sleep, it is not so, but it is in our power always to have it day, it is in our power always to watch. For to shut the eyes of the soul, and to bring on the sleep of wickedness, is not of nature, but of our own choice.

“But let us watch,” he says, “and be sober.” For it is possible to sleep while awake, by doing nothing good. Wherefore he has added, “and be sober.” For even by day, if any one watches, but is not sober, he will fall into numberless dangers, so that sobriety is the intensity of watchfulness. The drunkenness he here speaks of is not that from wine only, but that also which comes of all vices. For riches and the desire of wealth is a drunkenness of the soul, and so carnal lust; and every sin you can name is a drunkenness of the soul. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 9

John Chrysostom: So that you may know that the prayers which are uttered in time of affliction would have the best chance of being heard, hear what the prophet says, “In my affliction I cried to the Lord, and he listened to me.” Therefore, let us stir up our conscience to fervor, let us afflict our soul with the memory of our sins, not so that it is crushed with anxiety but so that we may make it ready to be heard, so that we make it live in sobriety and watchfulness and ready to attain heaven itself. Nothing puts carelessness and negligence to flight the way grief and affliction do. They bring together our thoughts from every side and make our mind turn back to ponder itself. The man who prays in this way, in his affliction, after many a prayer, can bring joy into his own soul. — ON THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE NATURE OF GOD 5.6

Leo the Great: Wherefore, let us honor this sacred day, the day on which the author of our salvation appeared. Whom the wise men revered as an infant in his crib, let us worship as all-powerful in heaven. Just as they offered to the Lord mystical kinds of gifts from their treasures, let us bring forth from our hearts things that are worthy of God. Although he himself bestows all good things, he nevertheless asks for the fruit of our effort. For the kingdom of heaven comes not to those who sleep but to those who work and watch according to the Lord’s command. If we do not render his gifts ineffective, we may deserve to receive what he promised through the very things which he has given. — SERMONS 32.1

Prudentius: The winged messenger of day Sings loud, foretelling dawn’s approach, And Christ in stirring accents calls Our slumbering souls to life with him. “Away,” he cries, “with dull repose, The sleep of death and sinful sloth; With hearts now sober, just and pure, Keep watch, for I am very near.” — HYMNS 1.1-8

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John Chrysostom: “But let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”

But it is not sufficient to watch and be sober, we must also be armed. For if a man watch and is sober, but has not arms, the robbers soon dispatch him. “Putting on the breastplate of faith and love,” he says. He has shown what it is to watch and be sober, to have “the breastplate of faith and love.” Not a common faith, he says, but as nothing can soon pierce through a breastplate, but it is a safe wall to the breast; so do thou also, he says, surround thy soul with faith and love, and none of the fiery darts of the devil can ever be fixed in it. For where the power of the soul is preoccupied with the armor of love, all the devices of those who plot against it are vain and ineffectual.

“And for a helmet the hope of salvation.” For as the helmet guards the vital part in us, surrounding the head and covering it on every side, so also this hope does not suffer the reason to falter, but sets it upright as the head, not permitting anything from without to fall upon it. And whilst nothing falls on it, neither does it slip of itself. For it is not possible that one who is fortified with such arms as these, should ever fall. For “now abideth faith, hope, love.” (1 Cor. xiii. 13) — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 9

Origen of Alexandria: But if we must also examine the statement, “And it was night,” so that it has not been interjected to no purpose by the Evangelist, we must say that the perceptible night at that time was symbolic, an image of the night that was in Judas’s soul when Satan, the darkness that lies over the abyss, entered him. “For God called the darkness night,” of which night, indeed, Paul says we are not children, nor of darkness, when he says, “Therefore, brothers, we are not of the night, nor of darkness,” and, “But let us who are of the day be sober.” — COMMENTARY ON John 32.313

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John Chrysostom: “For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us.”

Thus God has not inclined to this, that He might destroy us, but that He might save us. And whence is it manifest that this is His will? He has given His own Son for us. So does He desire that we should be saved, that He has given His Son, and not merely given, but given Him to death. From these considerations hope is produced. For do not despair of thyself, O man, in going to God, who has not spared even His Son for thee. Faint not at present evils. He who gave His Only-Begotten, that He might save thee and deliver thee from hell, what will He spare henceforth for thy salvation? So that thou oughtest to hope for all things kind. For neither should we fear, if we were going to a judge who was about to judge us, and who had shown so much love for us, as to have sacrificed his son. Let us hope therefore for kind and great things, for we have received the principal thing; let us believe, for we have seen an example; let us love, for it is the extreme of madness for one not to love who has been so treated. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 9

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John Chrysostom: “That, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Wherefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do.”

And again, “whether we wake or sleep”; by sleep there he means one thing, and here another. For here, “whether we sleep” signifies the death of the body; that is, fear not dangers; though we should die, we shall live. Do not despair because thou art in danger. Thou hast a strong security. He would not have given His Son if He had not been inflamed by vehement love for us. So that, though thou shouldest die, thou wilt live; for He Himself also died. Therefore whether we die, or whether we live, we shall live with Him. This is a matter of indifference: it is no concern of mine, whether I live or die; for we shall live with Him. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 9

1 Thessalonians 5:11

John Chrysostom: You see, I wish and pray that you would all hold fast to right order as teachers, that you would not simply be listeners to what is said by us but also transmit it to others, casting your net for those still in error so as to bring them to the way of truth—as Paul says, “Edify one another,” and “With fear and trembling work out your own salvation.” In this way we will have the satisfaction of seeing the church grow in strength, and you will enjoy more abundant favor from above through the great care you show for your members. God, you know, does not wish Christians to be concerned only for themselves but also to edify others, not simply through their teaching but also through their behavior and the way they live. After all, nothing is such an attraction to the way of truth as an upright life—in other words, people pay less attention to what we say than to what we do. — HOMILIES ON Genesis 8.4-5

John Chrysostom: Dost thou see how everywhere he puts the common salvation into the hands of each individual? “Exhorting one another daily” (he says) “while it is called To-day.” Do not then cast all [the burden] on your teachers; do not [cast] all upon them who have the rule over you: ye also (he means) are able to edify one another. Which also he said in writing to the Thessalonians, “Edify one another, even as also ye do.” And again, “Comfort one another with these words.” This we also now exhort you.… If ye be willing, ye will have more success with each other than we can have. For ye both are with one another for a longer time, and ye know more than we of each other’s affairs, and ye are not ignorant of each other’s failings, and ye have more freedom of speech, and love, and intimacy; and these are no small [advantages] for teaching, but great and opportune introductions for it: ye will be more able than we both to reprove and to exhort. And not this only, but because I am but one, whereas ye are many; and ye will be able, however many, to be teachers. — Homily on Hebrews 30

1 Thessalonians 5:12

Clement of Rome: Let us reverence the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was given for us; let us esteem those who have the rule over us; let us honour the aged among us; let us train up the young men in the fear of God; let us direct our wives to that which is good. — Letter to the Corinthians (Clement)

John Chrysostom: “But we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.”

For Christ indeed has subjected them with so strict a necessity, that He says, “The Scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. All things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works.” (Matt. xxiii. 2, 3) And since he had said, “build each other up,” lest they should think that he raised them to the rank of teachers, he has added, See, however, that I gave leave to you also to edify one another, for it is not possible for a teacher to say everything. “Them that labor among you,” he says, “and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.”

And how, he says, is it not absurd? If a man stand up for thee before a man, thou doest anything, thou confessest thyself much indebted; but he stands up for thee before God, and thou dost not own the favor. And how does he stand up for me? thou sayest. Because he prays for thee, because he ministers to thee the spiritual gift that is by Baptism, he visits, he advises and admonishes thee, he comes at midnight if thou callest for him; he is nothing else than the constant subject of thy mouth, and he bears thy injurious speeches. What necessity had he? Has he done well or ill? Thou indeed hast a wife, and livest luxuriously, and choosest a life of commerce. But from this the Priest has hindered himself by his occupation; his life is no other than to be employed about the Church.

“And to esteem them,” he says, “exceeding highly in love for their work’s sake; be at peace with them.” Seest thou how well he is aware that unpleasant feelings arise? He does not merely say “love,” but “very highly,” as children love their fathers. For through them ye were begotten by that eternal generation: through them you have obtained the kingdom: through their hands all things are done, through them the gates of heaven are opened to you. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 10

1 Thessalonians 5:13

Shepherd of Hermas: How is it that ye wish to instruct the elect of the Lord, while ye yourselves have no instruction? Instruct one another therefore, and be at peace among yourselves, that I also may stand joyful before your Father, and give an account of you all to the Lord. — Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 3

1 Thessalonians 5:14

Augustine of Hippo: Of course, even good men can be sick, suffering from that disobedience which is the penalty of a primal disobedience which, therefore, is a wound or weakness in a nature that is good in itself. It is because of this wound that the good who are growing in grace and living by faith during their pilgrimage on earth are given the counsels, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ,” and elsewhere, “We exhort you, brothers, reprove the irregular, comfort the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that no one renders evil for evil to any man.” … It is in this way that citizens of the City of God are given medicine during their pilgrimage on earth while praying for the peace of their heavenly fatherland. And, of course, the Holy Spirit is operative internally to give healing power to the medicine which is applied externally, for, otherwise, no preaching of the truth is of any avail. Even though God makes use of one of his obedient creatures, as when he speaks in human guise to our ears—whether to the ears of the body or to the kind of ears we have in sleep—it is only by his interior grace that he moves and rules our mind. — City of God 15.6

Augustine of Hippo: Hence, as far as concerns us, who are not able to distinguish those who are predestinated from those who are not, we ought on this very account to will all humanity to be saved. Severe rebuke should be medicinally applied to all by us that they neither themselves perish nor may be the means of destroying others. It belongs to God, however, to make that rebuke useful to them whom he himself has foreknown and predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. We do not abstain from admonishing for fear lest by rebuke a person should perish. So why do we not also rebuke for fear that one should rather perish by our withholding admonition? For there is no greater act of compassion on our part than when the blessed apostle says, “Rebuke those that are unruly; comfort the feeble-minded; support the weak; be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil.” — ON REBUKE AND GRACE 16.49

Caesarius of Arles: It was to the laity and to women and not only the clergy that the apostle said, “Reprove the irregular, comfort the fainthearted, support the weak.” Provided that you are willing to rebuke one another in case of sin, the Enemy will be able to take you by surprise only with difficulty or not at all. If he does take you by surprise, the evil which was done is easily amended and corrected. Then is fulfilled in you what was written, “A brother who helps his brother will be exalted,” and again, “he who helps a sinner to be brought back from the misguided way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.” — SERMONS 74.4

John Chrysostom: But if we are to hate ungodly and lawless men, we shall go on to hate also sinners; and thus in regular process thou wilt be broken off from the most even of thy brethren, or rather from all: for there is not one, no, not one, without sin. For if it be our duty to hate the enemies of God, one must not hate the ungodly only, but also sinners: and thus we shall be worse than wild beasts, shunning all, and puffed up with pride; even as that Pharisee. But not thus did Paul command us, but how? “Admonish the disorderly, encourage the faint-hearted, support the weak, be long suffering toward all.” — Homily on 1 Corinthians 33

John Chrysostom: “And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly, encourage the faint-hearted, support the weak, be long suffering toward all.”

Here he addresses those who have rule. Admonish, he says, “the disorderly,” not of imperiousness, he says, nor of self-will rebuke them, but with admonition. “Encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be longsuffering toward all.” For he who is rebuked with harshness, despairing of himself, becomes more bold in contempt. On this account it is necessary by admonition to render the medicine sweet. But who are the disorderly? All those who do what is contrary to the will of God. For this order of the Church is more harmonious than the order of an army; so that the reviler is disorderly, the drunkard is disorderly, and the covetous, and all who sin; for they walk not orderly in their rank, but out of the line, wherefore also they are overthrown.

But there is also another kind of evils, not such as this indeed, but itself also a vice, little mindedness. For this is destructive equally with sloth. He who cannot bear an insult is feeble-minded. He who cannot endure trial is feeble-minded. This is he who is sown upon the rock. There is also another sort, that of weakness. “Support the weak,” he says; now weakness occurs in regard to faith. But observe how he does not permit them to be despised. And elsewhere also in his Epistles he says, “Them that are weak in the faith receive ye.” (Rom. xiv. 1) For in our bodies too we do not suffer the weak member to perish. “Be longsuffering toward all,” he says. Even toward the disorderly? Yes, certainly. For there is no medicine equal to this, especially for the teacher, none so suitable to those who are under rule. It can quite shame and put out of countenance him that is fiercer and more shameless than all men. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 10

Tertullian: Where, then, do you show that they renewed the command to flee from city to city? In fact, it was utterly impossible that they should have laid down anything so utterly opposed to their own examples as a command to flee, while it was just from bonds, or the islands in which, for confessing, not fleeing from the Christian name, they were confined, they wrote their letters to the Churches. Paul bids us support the weak, but most certainly it is not when they flee. — On Flight in Persecution

Theodoret of Cyrus: Let us then bravely bear the ills that befall us. It is in war that heroes are discerned; in conflicts that athletes are crowned; in the surge of the sea that the art of the helmsman is shown; in the fire that the gold is tried. And let us not, I beseech you, have concern for only ourselves, but let us rather look out for the rest, and that much more for the sick than for the whole, for it is an apostolic precept which exclaims, “Comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak.” Let us, then, stretch out our hands to them that lie low, let us tend their wounds and set them at their post to fight the devil. Nothing will so vex him as to see them fighting and smiting again. — LETTERS 78

1 Thessalonians 5:15

Abba Poemen: “What does ‘See that none of you repays evil for evil’ mean?” The old man said … ‘Passions work in four stages—first, in the heart; secondly, in the face; thirdly, in words; and fourthly, it is essential not to render evil for evil in deeds. If you can purify your heart, passion will not come into your expression; but if it comes into your face, take care not to speak; but if you do speak, cut the conversation short in case you render evil for evil.’ " — SAYINGS OF THE FATHERS 34

Desert Fathers: A brother asked Poemen about the words, ‘Do not render evil for evil’ (1 Thess. 5:15). He said to him, ‘The passions work in four stages: first in the heart, then in the face, third in words, fourth in deeds – and it is in deeds that it is essential not to render evil for evil. If you purify your heart, passion will not show in your expression, but if it does, take care not to speak about it; if you do speak, cut the conversation short in case you render evil for evil.’ — The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

John Chrysostom: “See that none render unto any one evil for evil; but alway follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all.”

If we ought not to render evil for evil, much less evil for good; much less, when evil has not been previously done, to render evil. Such an one, you say, is a bad man, and has aggrieved me, and done me much injury. Do you wish to revenge yourself upon him? Do not retaliate. Leave him unpunished. Well, is this the stopping-place? By no means; “But alway follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all.”

This is the higher philosophy, not only not to requite evil with evil, but to render good for evil. For this is truly revenge that brings harm to him and advantage to thyself, or rather great advantage even to him, if he will. And that thou mayest not think that this is said with respect to the faithful, therefore he has said, “both one toward another and toward all.” — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 10

1 Thessalonians 5:16

Athanasius of Alexandria: For no one is going to turn away from sin and start behaving righteously unless he thinks about what he is doing. Not until he has been straightened out by practicing godly behavior will he actually possess the reward of faith: the crown of righteousness that Paul possessed, having fought the good fight. That crown is laid up not just for Paul but for all who are like him in this respect. This sort of meditation and exercise in godliness should be familiar to us, as it was to the saints of old. It should be especially so in the season when the divine word calls upon us to keep the feast. For what, after all, is the feast but continual worship of God, recognition of godliness and unceasing prayer all done from the heart in full agreement with each other? St. Paul, wanting us to be so inclined, urges us, “Always rejoice, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all things.” — FESTAL LETTERS 9

Athanasius of Alexandria: For such meditation and exercise in godliness, being at all times the habit of the saints, is urgent on us at the present time, when the divine word desires us to keep the feast with them if we are in this disposition. For what else is the feast, but the constant worship of God, and the recognition of godliness, and unceasing prayers from the whole heart with agreement? So Paul wishing us to be ever in this disposition, commands, saying, ‘Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks.’ Not therefore separately, but unitedly and collectively, let us all keep the feast together, as the prophet exhorts, saying, ‘O come, let us rejoice in the Lord; let us make a joyful noise unto God our Saviour.’ Who then is so negligent, or who so disobedient to the divine voice, as not to leave everything, and run to the general and common assembly of the feast? which is not in one place only, for not one place alone keeps the feast; but ‘into all the earth their song has gone forth, and to the ends of the world their words.’ And the sacrifice is not offered in one place, but ‘in every nation, incense and a pure sacrifice is offered unto God.’ So when in like manner from all in every place, praise and prayer shall ascend to the gracious and good Father, when the whole Catholic Church which is in every place, with gladness and rejoicing, celebrates together the same worship to God, when all men in common send up a song of praise and say, Amen; how blessed will it not be, my brethren! who will not, at that time, be engaged, praying rightly? — Festal Letter 11

Basil of Caesarea: Then, because he [David] had been delivered from great danger, he sent up this prayer of thanksgiving to God who had rescued him. “I will bless the Lord at all times.” Having escaped death, as if he were setting up norms for his life, he molded his soul to an exact manner of living, so that he ceased at no time from praise but referred the beginning of affairs, great and small, to God. “I will not think,” he says, “that anything was done through my diligence nor happened through spontaneous chance, but, ‘I will bless the Lord at all times,’ not only in prosperity of life, but also in precarious times.” The apostle, learning from this, says, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all things give thanks.” — HOMILIES 16

Basil of Caesarea: Fo paye and psalmody, howeve, as also, indeed, fo some othe duties, evey hou is suitable, that, while ou hands ae busy at thei tasks, we may paise God sometimes with the tongue (when this is possible, o, athe, when it is conducive to edification); o, if not, with the heat…. Thus we acquie a ecollected spiit—when in evey action we beg fom God the success of ou labos and satisfy ou debt of gatitude to him who gave us the powe to do the wok, and when, as has been said, we keep befoe ou minds the aim of pleasing him. If this is not the case, how can thee be consistency in the wods of the apostle bidding us to “pay without ceasing,” with those othe wods, “we woked night and day.” The Long Rules q..

Cassiodorus: “Sing with jubilation to God, all the earth.” The prophet was troubled for the faithful people in case they believe they are to serve the Lord with gloomy anxiety, so he began at once with jubilation, for ministering to the Lord with happiness of mind constitutes the perfect devotion of the just man. As Paul warns us, “Always rejoice: pray without ceasing: in all things give thanks.” — COMMENTARY ON THE Psalms 99.2

John Chrysostom: “Rejoice alway.”

This is said with respect to the temptations that bring in affliction. Hear ye, as many as have fallen into poverty, or into distressing circumstances. For from these joy is engendered. For when we possess such a soul that we take revenge on no one, but do good to all, whence, tell me, will the sting of grief be able to enter into us? For he who so rejoices in suffering evil, as to requite even with benefits him that has done him evil, whence can he afterwards suffer grief? And how, you say, is this possible? It is possible, if we will. Then also he shows the way. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 10

Philoxenus of Mabbug: Those who, together with labours, possess innocency of soul also, become the discoverers of the kingdom which is in them, and in its blessings they fare luxuriously and revel in continual joy, over which sorrow ruleth not, because at all times they rejoice in the gladness which is born of them, even as Paul also said, “Rejoice at all times,” and in another place he also said, “Rejoice in your hope, and endure patiently your tribulations; for from the patient endurance of tribulations the hope concerning the things which are to come increaseth in us.” — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 – On Abstinence

Tertullian: So, too, “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth,” has now grown old, ever since “Let none render evil for evil” grew young. — On Exhortation to Chastity

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Augustine of Hippo: And who observed and noticed the cause of his groaning? “All my desire is before Thee.” For it is not before men who cannot see the heart, but it is before Thee that all my desire is open! Let your desire be before Him; and “the Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee.” For it is thy heart’s desire that is thy prayer; and if thy desire continues uninterrupted, thy prayer continueth also. For not without a meaning did the Apostle say, “Pray without ceasing.” Are we to be “without ceasing” bending the knee, prostrating the body, or lifting up our hands, that he says, “Pray without ceasing”? Or if it is in this sense that we say that we “pray,” this, I believe, we cannot do “without ceasing.” There is another inward kind of prayer without ceasing, which is the desire of the heart. Whatever else you are doing, if you do but long for that Sabbath, you do not cease to pray. If you would never cease to pray, never cease to long after it. The continuance of thy longing is the continuance of thy prayer. — COMMENTARY ON THE Psalms 37.14

Basil of Caesarea: For prayer and psalmody, however, as also, indeed, for some other duties, every hour is suitable, that, while our hands are busy at their tasks, we may praise God sometimes with the tongue (when this is possible, or, rather, when it is conducive to edification); or, if not, with the heart.… Thus we acquire a recollected spirit—when in every action we beg from God the success of our labors and satisfy our debt of gratitude to him who gave us the power to do the work, and when, as has been said, we keep before our minds the aim of pleasing him. If this is not the case, how can there be consistency in the words of the apostle bidding us to “pray without ceasing,” with those other words, “we worked night and day.” — THE LONG RULES Q37. R.

Desert Fathers: Bishop Epiphanius of Cyprus, of holy memory, was told this by the abbot of his monastery in Palestine. ‘By your prayers we have kept our rule; we carefully observe the offices of terce, sext, none and vespers.’ But Epiphanius rebuked him and said, ‘Then you are failing to pray at other times. The true monk ought to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). He should always be singing psalms in his heart.’ — The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

Desert Fathers: Some monks called Euchites, or ‘men of prayer’, once came to Lucius in the ninth region of Alexandria. He asked them, ‘What manual work do you do?’ They said, ‘We do not work with our hands. We obey St Paul’s command and pray without ceasing’ (1 Thess. 5:17). He said to them, ‘Don’t you eat?’ They said, ‘Yes, we do.’ He said to them: ‘When you are eating who prays for you?’ Then he asked them, ‘Don’t you sleep?’ They said, ‘Yes, we do.’ He said, ‘Who prays for you while you are asleep?’ and they could not answer him. Then he said to them, ‘I may be wrong, brothers, but it seems to me that you don’t do what you say. I will show you how I pray without ceasing although I work with my hands. With God’s help, I sit down with a few palm leaves, and plait them, and say, ‘Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great mercy: and according to the multitude of thy mercies do away with mine iniquity’ (Ps. 51:1). He asked them, ‘Is that prayer, or not?’ They said, ‘It’s prayer all right.’ He said, ‘When I spend all day working and praying in my heart, I make about sixteen pence. Two of these I put outside the door, and with the rest I buy food. Whoever finds the two pennies outside the door prays for me while I am eating and sleeping: and so by God’s grace I fulfil the text, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).’ — The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

Desert Fathers: A brother asked one of the hermits, ‘If I happen to over-sleep, and am late for the hour of prayer, I am ashamed that others will hear me praying so late, and so I become reluctant to keep the rule of prayer.’ He said, ‘If ever you oversleep in the morning, get up when you wake, shut the door and the windows, and say your psalms. For it is written, “The day is thine and the night is thine” (Ps. 74:16). God is glorified whatever time it is.’ — The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

Desert Fathers: The brothers told this story: We once visited some hermits, and after the usual prayer we exchanged greetings and sat down. After we had talked with them, we got ready to go, and asked once again for prayers to be said. But one of the hermits said to us, ‘What, haven’t you prayed already?’ We said: ‘Yes, abba, when we came in, we prayed, and since then we have been talking.’ He said, ‘I may be wrong, brothers; but one of you, while he was sitting and talking with you, offered a hundred and three prayers.’ With these words he prayed, and sent us away. — The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

Ignatius of Antioch: Having obtained good proof that thy mind is fixed in God as upon an immoveable rock, I loudly glorify [His name] that I have been thought worthy [to behold] thy blameless face, which may I ever enjoy in God! I entreat thee, by the grace with which thou art clothed, to press forward in thy course, and to exhort all that they may be saved. Maintain thy position with all care, both in the flesh and spirit. Have a regard to preserve unity, than which nothing is better. Bear with all, even as the Lord does with thee. Support all in love, as also thou doest. Give thyself to prayer without ceasing. Implore additional understanding to what thou already hast. Be watchful, possessing a sleepless spirit. Speak to every man separately, as God enables thee. Bear the infirmities of all, as being a perfect athlete [in the Christian life]: where the labour is great, the gain is all the more. — Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp

Jerome: ‘And meditates on his law day and night.’ [Psalms 1:2] The psalmist has already mentioned three things one must not do: follow the Counsel of the wicked; stand in the way of sinners; sit in the company of the insolent. These three things we must not do, but there are also two things that we must do, for it will not be sufficient for us to shun evil unless we seek good. ‘But delights in the law of the Lord.’ The psalm does not say fears the law, but delights in the law. There are many who observe the law through fear, but fear as a motive for action is far from meritorious. ‘But delights in the law of the Lord’ - wholeheartedly he obeys the Lord’s command.

‘And meditates on his law day and night.’ Mere words cannot express adequately what the mind conceives. ‘But delights in the law of the Lord.’ Some one may say: ‘Look, I want to obey the law of God, and so because I want to obey, I am happy.’ But consider the words that follow. It is not enough to want the law of God, but one must meditate on His law day and night. ‘Meditate day and night.’ Someone else may object: ‘This is too much for human nature to endure, for one must walk, and drink, and eat, and sleep, and perform all the other necessities of life. How, then, meditate on the law of God day and night, and especially since the Apostle says: “Pray without ceasing”? [1 Thessalonians 5:17] How can I be praying during the time that I am sleeping?’

Meditation on the law does not consist in reading, but in doing, just as the Apostle says in another place: ‘Whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do all for the glory of God. [1 Cor. 10:31] Even if I merely stretch forth my hand in alms giving, I am meditating on the law of God; if I visit the sick, my feet are meditating on the law of God; if I do what is prescribed, I am praying with my whole body what others are praying with their lips. The Jews, indeed, prayed with their lips, but our prayer is works. — Homily 1, on Psalms 1

John Cassian: When the mind is freed from lust, established in tranquility and does not waver in its intention toward the one supreme good, the monk will fulfill the precept of St. Paul, “Pray without ceasing,” and “In every place lifting up holy hands without wrath and controversy.” By purity of heart the mind is drawn away from earthly feelings and is reformed in the likeness of an angelic spirit. Then, whatever thought the mind receives, whatever it considers, whatever it does, will be a prayer of true purity and sincerity. — CONFERENCES 9.6

John Chrysostom: “Pray without ceasing; In every thing giving thanks: for this is the will of God.”

Always to give thanks, this is a mark of a philosophic soul. Hast thou suffered any evil? But if thou wilt, it is no evil. Give thanks to God, and the evil is changed into good. Say thou also as Job said, “Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.” (Job i. 21) For tell me, what such great thing hast thou suffered? Has disease befallen thee? Yet it is nothing strange. For our body is mortal, and liable to suffer. Has a want of possessions overtaken thee? But these also are things to be acquired, and again to be lost, and that abide here. But is it plots and false accusations of enemies? But it is not we that are injured by these, but they who are the authors of them. “For the soul,” he says, “that sinneth, itself shall also die.” (Ezek. xviii. 4) And he has not sinned who suffers the evil, but he who has done the evil. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 10

John of Dalyatha: Why did Paul say, “Pray and do not grow weary”? As long as he is a servant, he indeed prays; but once born of the Spirit in the world of prayer, he is a son of God, and he has authority over riches, being an heir; thus he does not merely ask. — LETTERS 5.6

Tertullian: Touching times of prayer nothing at all has been prescribed, except clearly “to pray at every time and every place.” — On Prayer

Tertullian: Further: since in the self-same commentary of Luke the third hour is demonstrated as an hour of prayer, about which hour it was that they who had received the initiatory gift of the Holy Spirit were held for drunkards; and the sixth, at which Peter went up on the roof; and the ninth, at which they entered the temple: why should we not understand that, with absolutely perfect indifference, we must pray always, and everywhere, and at every time; yet still that these three hours, as being more marked in things human-(hours) which divide the day, which distinguish businesses, which re-echo in the public ear-have likewise ever been of special solemnity in divine prayers? A persuasion which is sanctioned also by the corroborative fact of Daniel praying thrice in the day; of course, through exception of certain stated hours, no other, moreover, than the more marked and subsequently apostolic (hours)-the third, the sixth, the ninth. — On Fasting

1 Thessalonians 5:18

John Chrysostom: Most opportunely have we all this day sung together, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.” For marvellous, and beyond all expectation, are the things which have happened. A whole city, and so great a population, when just about to be overwhelmed—to sink under the waves, and to be utterly and instantly destroyed—He hath entirely rescued from shipwreck in a single moment of time! Let us give thanks then, not only that God hath calmed the tempest, but that He suffered it to take place; not only that He rescued us from shipwreck, but that He allowed us to fall into such distress; and such an extreme peril to hang over us. Thus also Paul bids us “in every thing give thanks.” But when he says, “In every thing give thanks,” he means not only in our deliverance from evils, but also at the time when we suffer those evils. “For all things work together for good to them that love God.” Let us be thankful to Him for this deliverance from trials; and let us never forget them. — HOMILIES ON THE STATUES 17.1

Tertullian: If equanimity be the contention, you have Lycurgus choosing death by self-starvation, because the Lacons had made some emendation of his laws: the Christian, even when he is condemned, gives thanks. If the comparison be made in regard to trustworthiness, Anaxagoras denied the deposit of his enemies: the Christian is noted for his fidelity even among those who are not of his religion. — The Apology

1 Thessalonians 5:19

Athanasius of Alexandria: We can thus see why Paul, not wanting the grace of the Spirit given to us to grow cold, exhorts us, “Do not quench the Spirit.” The only way we can continue to be partakers of Christ is to cling until the end to the Holy Spirit, who was given to us at the beginning. Paul said, “Do not quench” not because the Spirit is under the power of men but because evil and unthankful men certainly do wish to quench the Spirit. Demonstrating their impurity, they drive the Spirit away by their unholy deeds. — FESTAL LETTERS 4.4

John Chrysostom: For it requires much zeal to stir up the gift of God. As fire requires fuel, so grace requires our alacrity, that it may be ever fervent. “I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, that is in thee by the putting on of my hands,” that is, the grace of the Spirit, which thou hast received, for presiding over the Church, for the working of miracles, and for every service. For this grace it is in our power to kindle or to extinguish; wherefore he elsewhere says, “Quench not the Spirit.” For by sloth and carelessness it is quenched, and by watchfulness and diligence it is kept alive. For it is in thee indeed, but do thou render it more vehement, that is, fill it with confidence, with joy and delight. — HOMILIES ON SECOND TIMOTHY 1

John Chrysostom: A thick mist, a darkness and cloud is spread over all the earth. And, showing this, the Apostle said, “For we were once darkness.” (Eph. v. 8) And again, “Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” Since therefore there is, so to speak, a moonless night, and we walk in that night, God hath given us a bright lamp, having kindled in our souls the grace of the Holy Spirit. But some who have received this light have rendered it more bright and shining, as, for instance, Paul and Peter, and all those Saints; while others have even extinguished it, as the five virgins, as those who have “made shipwreck concerning the faith,” as the fornicator of Corinth, as the Galatians who were perverted.

On this account Paul says, “Quench not the Spirit,” that is, the gift of grace, for it is his custom so to call the gift of the Spirit. But this an impure life extinguishes. For as any one, who has sprinkled both water and dust upon the light of our lamp, extinguishes it, and if he does not this, but only takes out the oil-so it is also with the gift of grace. For if you have cast over it earthly things, and the cares of fluctuating matters, you have quenched the Spirit. And if you have done none of these things, but a temptation coming from some other quarter has vehemently assailed it, as some wind, and if the light be not strong, and it has not much oil, or you have not closed the opening, or have not shut the door, all is undone. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 11

Marcus Eremita: Learn from the apostle that we are the ones who grieve the Spirit, extinguishing him in our hearts. He says, “Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophecy”; and again, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, in whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption.” We introduce these testimonies not as if to suggest that every man who has been baptized and obtained grace is henceforth immutable and no longer in need of repentance, but to say that through baptism, according to Christ’s gift, the complete grace of God is granted to us for the fulfillment of the commandments. Henceforth each one who receives baptism mystically and yet does not fully perform the commandments, is activated by sin in proportion to their failure—the sin not of Adam but of the one who is negligent. — ON BAPTISM, RESPONSE 5

Philoxenus of Mabbug: That is to say, do not grieve him by sin, otherwise his light will be quenched from your soul—a light which, when kindled within you, gives you the possession of a power that is beyond expression; and you will be able to contend “with principalities and powers,” and fight against the evil spirits under heaven, and reject all the world with its pleasures and pains. All are effected by the fervor of the Spirit within us. — Memra on the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

Tertullian: Now, from whom shall I expect (the fulfil-merit of) all this, except from Him whom I have heard give the promise thereof? What “spirit” does he forbid us to “quench,” and what “prophesyings” to “despise? " Not the Creator’s spirit, nor the Creator’s prophesyings, Marcion of course replies. — Against Marcion Book V

1 Thessalonians 5:20

Clement of Alexandria: “Be at peace among yourselves. Now we admonish you, brethren, warn them who are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil to any man. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things: hold fast that which is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” — The Instructor Book 3

John Chrysostom: But there is also another explanation. There were among them many indeed who prophesied truly, but some prophesied falsely. For the devil, of his vile craft, wished through this gift of grace to subvert everything pertaining to the Church. For since both the demon and the Spirit prophesied concerning the future, the one indeed uttering falsehood, and the other truth, and it was not possible from any quarter to receive a proof of one or the other, He gave also the “discernings of spirits.” Since therefore then also among the Thessalonians many were prophesying, glancing at whom he says, “Neither by word, nor by epistle, as from us, as that the day of the Lord is now present” (2 Thess. ii. 2), he says this here.

Seest thou that this is what he means by, “Prove all things”? Because he had said, “Despise not prophesyings,” lest they should think that he opened the pulpit to all, he says, “Prove all things,” that is, such as are really prophecies; “and hold fast that which is good. Abstain from every form of evil”; not from this or that, but from all; that you may by proof distinguish both the true things and the false, and abstain from the latter, and hold fast the former. For thus both the hatred of the one will be vehement and the love of the other arises, when we do all things not carelessly, nor without examination, but with careful investigation. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 11

Shepherd of Hermas: Trust the Lord, ye who doubt, for He is all-powerful, and can turn His anger away from you, and send scourges on the doubters. Woe to those who hear these words, and despise them: better were it for them not to have been born. — Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 4

Tertullian: For he has already quenched and despised the thing which he destroys, and is unable to forbid what he has despised. It is then incumbent on Marcion now to display in his church that spirit of his god which must not be quenched, and the prophesyings which must not be despised. — Against Marcion Book V

1 Thessalonians 5:21

Clement of Alexandria: “For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness; for he is a babe,” and not yet acquainted with the word, according to which he has believed and works, and not able to give a reason in himself. “Prove all things,” the apostle says, “and hold fast that which is good,” speaking to spiritual men, who judge what is said according to truth, whether it seems or truly holds by the truth. — The Stromata Book 1

Dionysius of Alexandria: I indeed gave attention to reading the books and carefully studying the traditions of heretics, to the extent indeed of corrupting my soul with their execrable opinions; yet receiving from them this advantage, that I could refute them in my own mind, and detested them more heartily than ever. And when a certain brother of the order of presbyters sought to deter me, and feared lest I should be involved in the same wicked filthiness, because he said that my mind would be contaminated, and indeed with truth, as I myself perceived, I was strengthened by a vision that was sent me from God. And a word spoken to me, expressly commanded me, saying, Read everything which shall come into thy hands, for thou art fit to do so, who correctest and provest each one; and from them to thee first of all has appeared the cause and the occasion of believing. I received this vision as being what was in accordance with the apostolic word, which thus urges all who are endowed with greater virtue, “Be ye skilful money-changers.” — Containing Epistles, or Fragments of Epistles

Tertullian: And therefore “heresies must needs be in order that they which are approved might be made manifest,” both those who remained stedfast under persecution, and those who did not wander out of their way into heresy. For the apostle does not mean that those persons should be deemed approved who exchange their creed for heresy; although they contrariously interpret his words to their own side, when he says in another passage, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good; " as if, after proving all things amiss, one might not through error make a determined choice of some evil thing. — The Prescription Against Heretics

Tertullian: Herein consists the defence of our opinion, in accordance with Scripture, in accordance with Nature, in accordance with Discipline. Scripture founds the law; Nature joins to attest it; Discipline exacts it. Which of these (three) does a custom founded on (mere) opinion appear in behalf of? or what is the colour of the opposite view? God’s is Scripture; God’s is Nature; God’s is Discipline. Whatever is contrary to these is not God’s. If Scripture is uncertain, Nature is manifest; and concerning Nature’s testimony Scripture cannot be uncertain. If there is a doubt about Nature, Discipline points out what is more sanctioned by God. For nothing is to Him dearer than humility; nothing more acceptable than modesty; nothing more offensive than “glory” and the study of men-pleasing. Let that, accordingly, be to you Scripture, and Nature, and Discipline, which you shall find to have been sanctioned by God; just as you are bidden to “examine all things, and diligently follow whatever is better.” — On the Veiling of Virgins

1 Thessalonians 5:22

Polycarp of Smyrna: I am greatly grieved for Valens, who was once a presbyter among you, because he so little understands the place that was given him [in the Church]. I exhort you, therefore, that ye abstain from covetousness, and that ye be chaste and truthful. “Abstain from every form of evil.” For if a man cannot govern himself in such matters, how shall he enjoin them on others? If a man does not keep himself from covetousness, he shall be defiled by idolatry, and shall be judged as one of the heathen. But who of us are ignorant of the judgment of the Lord? “Do we not know that the saints shall judge the world?” as Paul teaches. But I have neither seen nor heard of any such thing among you, in the midst of whom the blessed Paul laboured, and who are commended in the beginning of his Epistle. For he boasts of you in all those Churches which alone then knew the Lord; but we [of Smyrna] had not yet known Him. I am deeply grieved, therefore, brethren, for him (Valens) and his wife; to whom may the Lord grant true repentance! And be ye then moderate in regard to this matter, and “do not count such as enemies,” but call them back as suffering and straying members, that ye may save your whole body. For by so acting ye shall edify yourselves. — Epistle to the Philippians 11

1 Thessalonians 5:23

Ambrose of Milan: On this subject the Lord says, “When you come into the land to which I bring you and when you eat of the food of the land, you shall present an offering to the Lord. When you separate the firstfruits of your barn floors, you shall also give the firstfruits of your dough to the Lord.” We are a composite of diverse elements mixed together, cold with hot, and moist with dry. This mixture is the source of many pleasures and manifold delights of the flesh. But these are not the firstfruits of this body of ours. Since we are composed of soul and body and spirit, the first place is held by that mixture in which the apostle desires that we find sanctification. “And may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound, blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” — On Cain and Abel, Book 2, Chapter 1

Gregory of Nyssa: This, therefore, is perfection in the Christian life in my judgment, namely, the participation of one’s soul and speech and activities in all of the names by which Christ is signified, so that the perfect holiness, according to the eulogy of Paul, is taken upon oneself in “the whole body and soul and spirit,” continuously safeguarded against being mixed with evil. — ON PERFECTION

Irenaeus: Now God shall be glorified in His handiwork, fitting it so as to be conformable to, and modelled after, His own Son. For by the hands of the Father, that is, by the Son and the Holy Spirit, man, and not [merely] a part of man, was made in the likeness of God. Now the soul and the spirit are certainly a part of the man, but certainly not the man; for the perfect man consists in the commingling and the union of the soul receiving the spirit of the Father, and the admixture of that fleshly nature which was moulded after the image of God. For this reason does the apostle declare, “We speak wisdom among them that are perfect,” terming those persons “perfect” who have received the Spirit of God, and who through the Spirit of God do speak in all languages, as he used Himself also to speak. In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the Church, who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and declare the mysteries of God, whom also the apostle terms “spiritual,” they being spiritual because they partake of the Spirit, and not because their flesh has been stripped off and taken away, and because they have become purely spiritual. For if any one take away the substance of flesh, that is, of the handiwork [of God], and understand that which is purely spiritual, such then would not be a spiritual man but would be the spirit of a man, or the Spirit of God. But when the spirit here blended with the soul is united to [God’s] handiwork, the man is rendered spiritual and perfect because of the outpouring of the Spirit, and this is he who was made in the image and likeness of God. But if the Spirit be wanting to the soul, he who is such is indeed of an animal nature, and being left carnal, shall be an imperfect being, possessing indeed the image [of God] in his formation (in plasmate), but not receiving the similitude through the Spirit; and thus is this being imperfect. Thus also, if any one take away the image and set aside the handiwork, he cannot then understand this as being a man, but as either some part of a man, as I have already said, or as something else than a man. For that flesh which has been moulded is not a perfect man in itself, but the body of a man, and part of a man. Neither is the soul itself, considered apart by itself, the man; but it is the soul of a man, and part of a man. Neither is the spirit a man, for it is called the spirit, and not a man; but the commingling and union of all these constitutes the perfect man. And for this cause does the apostle, explaining himself, make it clear that the saved man is a complete man as well as a spiritual man; saying thus in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians, “Now the God of peace sanctify you perfect (perfectos); and may your spirit, and soul, and body be preserved whole without complaint to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Now what was his object in praying that these three-that is, soul, body, and spirit-might be preserved to the coming of the Lord, unless he was aware of the [future] reintegration and union of the three, and [that they should be heirs of] one and the same salvation? For this cause also he declares that those are “the perfect” who present unto the Lord the three [component parts] without offence. Those, then, are the perfect who have had the Spirit of God remaining in them, and have preserved their souls and bodies blameless, holding fast the faith of God, that is, that faith which is [directed] towards God, and maintaining righteous dealings with respect to their neighbours. — Against Heresies Book V

John Chrysostom: “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Observe the affection of the Teacher. After the admonition he adds a prayer; not only that, but even introduces it in his letter. For we need both counsel and prayer. “Sanctify you wholly,” he says, and may “your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What does he here call the spirit? The gift of grace. For if we depart hence having our lamps bright, we shall enter into the bridechamber. But if they are quenched, it will not be so. For this reason he says “your spirit.” For if that remains pure, the other remains also. “And soul and body,” he says. For neither the one nor the other then admits anything evil. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 11

Methodius of Olympus: Hence it is necessary that the perfect man offer up all, both the things of the soul and those of the flesh, so that he may be complete and not lacking. Therefore also God commands Abraham, — Methodius Discourse V. Thallousa

Origen of Alexandria: In the wicked sin reigns over the soul, being settled as on its own throne in the mortal body, so that the soul obeys its lusts … but in the case of those who have become perfected, the spirit has gained the mastery and put to death the deeds of the body. It imparts to the body of its own life and there arises a concord of the two, body and spirit, on the earth.… But still more blessed is it if the three [i.e., body, soul and spirit] be gathered together in the name of Jesus, that this may be fulfilled, “May God sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” — COMMENTARY ON Matthew 14.3

Origen of Alexandria: From the Holy Scriptures we are taught that man is a composite being. And the Apostle confirms it: “May God sanctify your spirit and soul and body,” and: “may He sanctify you wholly, and may your whole being, spirit and soul and body, be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” … And so our Lord and Savior, desiring the salvation of man, wished … to save the body, just as He wished to save also the soul and the remaining part of man — the spirit. Man would not be saved entirely if he were not taken up entirely. … These three parts were divided at the time of the sufferings. These three parts were reunited at the time of the resurrection. At the time of the sufferings they were divided. In what way? The body in the tomb, the soul in hell, the spirit was given up to the Father. — DIALOGUE WITH HERACLIDES

Tertullian: Come now, you who deny the salvation of the flesh, and who, whenever there occurs the specific mention of body in a case of this sort, interpret it as meaning anything rather than the substance of the flesh, (tell me) how is it that the apostle has given certain distinct names to all (our faculties), and has comprised them all in one prayer for their safety, desiring that our “spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord and Saviour (Jesus) Christ? " Now he has here pro-pounded the soul and the body as two several and distinct things. — Against Marcion Book V

Tertullian: And as if this were not plain enough, it goes on to say: “And may your whole body, and soul, and spirit be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord.” Here you have the entire substance of man destined to salvation, and that at no other time than at the coming of the Lord, which is the key of the resurrection. — On the Resurrection of the Flesh

Tertullian: I believe (He does so) for fear the heads of some should be seen! And oh that in “that day” of Christian exultation, I, most miserable (as I am), may elevate my head, even though below (the level of) your heels! I shall (then) see whether you will rise with (your) ceruse and rouge and saffron, and in all that parade of headgear: whether it will be women thus tricked out whom the angels carry up to meet Christ in the air If these (decorations) are now good, and of God, they will then also present themselves to the rising bodies, and will recognise their several places. But nothing can rise except flesh and spirit sole and pure. Whatever, therefore, does not rise in (the form of) spirit and flesh is condemned, because it is not of God. — On the Apparel of Women Book II

1 Thessalonians 5:24

John Chrysostom: “Faithful is He that calleth you, who will also do it.”

Observe his humility. For, because he had prayed, Think not, he says, that this happens from my prayers, but from the purpose, with which He called you. For if He called you to salvation, and He is true, He will certainly save you, in that He wills it. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 11

1 Thessalonians 5:25

John Chrysostom: “Brethren, pray for us also.”

Strange! what humility is here! But he indeed said this for the sake of humility, but we, not from humility, but for the sake of great benefit, and wishing to gain some great profit from you, say, “Pray for us also.” For although you do not receive any great or wonderful benefit from us, do it nevertheless for the sake of the honor and the title itself. Some one has had children, and even if they had not been benefited by him, nevertheless, because he has been their father, he perhaps sets this before them, saying, “For one day I have not been called father by thee.” On this account we too say, “Pray for us also.” I am not merely saying this, but really desiring your prayers. For if I have become responsible for this presidency over you all, and shall have to render an account, much more ought I to have the benefit of your prayers. On your account my responsibilities are greater, therefore the help also from you should be greater. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 11

1 Thessalonians 5:26

John Chrysostom: “Salute all the brethren with a holy kiss.”

Oh! what fervor! Oh! what mad passion is here! Because being absent he could not greet them with the kiss, he greets them through others, as when we say, Kiss him for me. So also do ye yourselves retain the fire of love. For it does not admit of distances, but even through long intervening ways it extends itself, and is everywhere present. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 11

Tertullian: But when is peace more to be concluded with brethren than when, at the time of some religious observance, our prayer ascends with more acceptability; that they may themselves participate in our observance, and thereby be mollified for transacting with their brother touching. their own peace? What prayer is complete if divorced from the “holy kiss? " Whom does peace impede when rendering service to his Lord? What kind of sacrifice is that from which men depart without peace? Whatever our prayer be, it will not be better than the observance of the precept by which we are bidden to conceal our fasts; for now, by abstinence from the kiss, we are known to be fasting. — On Prayer

1 Thessalonians 5:27

John Chrysostom: “I adjure you by the Lord that this Epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.”

And this command is rather from love, and not so much in the way of teaching; that with them also, he means, I may be conversing. And he does not merely command, but adjures them, and this from a fervent mind, that even though they should despise him, for the sake of the adjuration they may practice what is commanded. For men had a great dread of that appeal, but now that too is trampled under foot. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 11

1 Thessalonians 5:28

John Chrysostom: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”

And he closes the Epistle with a benediction, praying that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with them. For grace is that which we need above all things, both in the present life and in the life to come. — Homily on 1 Thessalonians 11