Fathers

1 Thessalonians 4

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Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more; And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

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What the Fathers say

1 Thessalonians 4:11

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"But we exhort you, brethren, that ye abound more and more, and study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands, even as we charged you: that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and may have need of nothing." He shows of how many evils idleness is the cause, and of how many benefits industry. And this he makes manifest from things which happen among us, as he often does, and that wisely. For by these things the majority are led on more than by spiritual things. …

Homily on 1 Thessalonians 6 ↗

Basil of Caesarea

Any display in cloak or shoes is to be avoided; it is idle ostentation. Cheap things ought to be used for bodily necessity; and nothing ought to be spent beyond what is necessary, or for mere extravagance; this is a misuse of our property. The Christian ought not to seek for honour, or claim precedence. Every one ought to put all others before himself. The Christian ought not to be unruly. …

Letters 22 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

That you are brotherly in love, I know; and we pray about this, that you would advance more in brotherly love and be more generous. Here there can be a stop (a pause in reading the text), and then read from a new beginning: "to live quietly." Or: "and to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own business." By these words he shows that they are lazy, occupy themselves with what they should not, and are restless. …

Commentary on 1 Thessalonians ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

Paul next says: aspire to live quietly. He is correcting the idle. First, he criticises their idleness; secondly, he indicates how they ought to curtail it; and finally, he provides a reason why they ought to curtail it. He says therefore, aspire to live quietly. "...loud and wayward, her feet do not stay at home" (Prov. 7:11). "We were not idle when we were with you, we did not eat any one's bread without paying, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you" (2 Thess. 3:7). …

Commentary on 1 Thessalonians ↗

Bonaventure

First Thessalonians chapter four: We beseech you, brethren, that you endeavor to be quiet and that you work with your hands, as we have commanded you: the Gloss: "Work, which helps you to be quiet. For that evil comes from idleness." From this it is evident that he says this in order to avoid idleness and to remove sloth, which is the bilge of desires and the fuel of sins.

Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 2 ↗