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1 Tessalonicenses 5

Matthew Henry · Citado em PreceptAustin

1 Tessalonicenses 5:17

Henry writes that it was... Not that Paul did nothing else but pray, but he kept up stated times for the solemn performance of that duty, and those very frequent, and observed without fail. Note, The way to rejoice evermore is to pray without ceasing. We should rejoice more if we prayed more. We should keep up stated times for prayer, and continue instant in prayer. We should pray always, and not faint: pray without weariness, and continue in prayer, till we come to that world where prayer shall be swallowed up in praise. The meaning is not that men should do nothing but pray, but that nothing else we do should hinder prayer in its proper season. Prayer will help forward and not hinder all other lawful business, and every good work. (Matthew Henry Unabridged) Henrietta Mears wrote that... Prayer is the keynote of success. Neither a class nor an individual can succeed in Christ without it. Prayer is the breath of the Christian. We are commanded to "pray continually" (1Th 5:17). As natural as breathing is to a natural person, so natural should prayer be to a spiritual person. Does all this describe you? (What the Bible is All About) J

1 Tessalonicenses 5:18

Henry - If we pray without ceasing, we shall not want matter for thanksgiving in every thing. As we must in every thing make our requests known to God by supplications, so we must not omit thanksgiving, Philippians 4:6. We should be thankful in every condition, even in adversity as well as prosperity. It is never so bad with us but it might be worse. If we have ever so much occasion to make our humble complaints to God, we never can have any reason to complain of God, and have always much reason to praise and give thanks: the apostle says, This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us, that we give thanks, seeing God is reconciled to us in Christ Jesus; in him, through him, and for his sake, he allows us to rejoice evermore, and appoints us in every thing to give thanks. It is pleasing to God. I was on the football field at our local high school the other day, where my son was running cross country. As I watched these boys and girls, I was preoccupied with recent problems. I also remembered my cross-country days twenty-five years ago and naturally breathed a prayer of thanksgiving. The prayer was something like, "Lord, thank you so much that I'm not running cross country any more." Then I sort of loosened up a bit and looked around me. The sky was blue; the leaves were yellow; the air was crisp. I began to enjoy the beautiful day. I forgot my problems and quietly thanked God for the beauty of the world around me. My spirits lifted as I began to appreciate the goodness of God, right there in the middle of the football field. —John Yates, "An Attitude of Gratitude," Preaching Today This Thanksgiving I'm thankful... • That there aren't twice as many Congressman and half as many doctors. • That grass doesn't grow through snow, necessitating winter mowing as well as shoveling. • That there are only twenty-four hours available each day for TV programming. • That civil servants aren't less civil. • That teenagers ultimately will have children who will become teenagers. • That I'm not a turkey. • That houses still cost more than cars. • That the space available for messages on T-shirts and bumpers is limited. • That liberated women whose husbands take them for granted don't all scream at the same time. • That snow covers the unraked leaves. • That hugs and kisses don't add weight or cause cancer. • That record players and radios and TV sets and washers and mixers and lights can be turned off. • That no one can turn off the moon and stars. —Christianity Today When our son, Ryan, was 5, he offered the following prayer during our family devotions: "Dear Jesus, sorry for the mess we made in the yard today." After a slight pause, he concluded, "Thank you for the fun we had doing it." —Ellen Decker, Pennsylvania. Today's Christian Woman You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing, and grace before I dip the pen in the ink. —G.K. Chesterton If anyone would tell you the shortest, surest way to happiness and all perfection, he must tell you to make it a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you. For it is certain that whatever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing. —William Law I will thank God for the pleasures given me through my senses, for the glory of the thunder, for the mystery of music, the singing of the birds and the laughter of children. Truly, O Lord, the earth is full of thy riches! —Edward King Life is very sweet to me, and there is no position of power or wealth that could tempt me from the throne God has given me. - D L Moody O Thou who hast given us so much, mercifully grant us one more thing-a grateful heart. —George Herbert My 8-year-old daughter, Christina, didn't have any trouble completing the essay "about something you were thankful for" that her third-grade teacher assigned. Titled "Two People I'm Thankful For," she wrote: "I'm thankful for God and Jesus. I'm thankful for God because he created us. I'm thankful for Jesus because he died for our sins. God and Jesus are always there for us. They're just like any other friend. If you're thankful for pets, you're thankful for God and Jesus because they made them. God and Jesus are pretty neat alright! Are you thankful for anything?" —Joyce Hensley It must be an odd feeling to be thankful to nobody in particular. Christians in public institutions often see this odd thing happening on Thanksgiving Day. Everyone in the institution seems to be thankful "in general." It's very strange. It's a little like being married in general. —Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. I've seen a picture of the pilgrims at the first American Thanksgiving. Do you know half of their number died the first year they were here? They had a hard time, and it was a cold winter. Dangers lurked everywhere, but those pilgrims didn't think of the death of their loved ones and the dangers and the cold weather. They didn't let that obscure the blessings of God. They went together, and they thanked the Lord for the blessings they had received. Sometimes we need to put down our assets alongside our losses. Everyone of us is more blessed than we are hurt. —Charles Allen, It is clear that a sacrifice must consist of praise and thanks, or must at least not be without praise and thanks, if it is to please God. And if it is without praise and thanks, He neither wants nor likes it, as indeed He says (Isaiah 1:11):What is your sacrificing to Me? I do not want your offering of incense. We cannot give God anything; for everything is already His, and all we have comes from Him. We can only give Him praise, thanks, and honor. —Martin Luther In 1636 during the Thirty Years War—one of the worst wars in the history of mankind in terms of the sheer number of deaths, epidemics, the economic results—there was a godly pastor whose name was Martin Rinkert. In a single year, this pastor buried 5,000 people in his parish—about fifteen a day. He lived with the worst that life could do. But if you look in your hymnal, you'll find that in the middle of that time, he wrote a table grace for his children, our thanksgiving hymn: "Now thank we all our God With hearts and hands and voices, Who wondrous things has done, In whom his world rejoices." If I'd spent the year holding 5,000 funerals of the people I served, could I write for my children a song of thanksgiving? It's an unusual thing that in history many who have the least to thank God about thank him the most.—Joel Gregory To thank with all your heart is an art—an art which the Holy Spirit teaches. And you need not worry that the man who can really say "Deo gratias" (to God be thanks) with all his heart will be proud, stubborn, rough, and tough, or will work against God with His gifts. —Martin Luther For many years I reported the news at a Christian radio station. One day at lunchtime, I walked home and sat down at the table with my wife. I bowed my head to say grace and heard myself say, "Good morning, this is Carl Metcalf reporting." —Carl Metcalf, In your prayer, do not hesitate to thank the Lord for all that he gives. This is often difficult since we are not always willing to receive some of the "gifts" which make little sense to us. Yet all is a gift from God. —Chris Aridas in Soundings. Christianity Today, Someone writing in Christianity Today several years ago said, "Shall I thank God at this T hanksgiving? Why was I born at this particular time in the history of the world? Why was I born in a spotless delivery room in an American hospital instead of a steaming shelter in the dank jungle of the Amazon or a mud hut in Africa? Why did I have the privilege of going to school with capable instructors while millions around the world, without a school book, sit or squat on a dirt floor listening to a missionary? "How does it happen that my children are tucked into warm beds at night with clean white sheets while millions of babies in the world will lie in cold rooms, many in their own filth and vomit? Why can I sit down to a warm meal whenever I want to and eat too much when millions will know all of their lives the gnawing pangs of hunger? Do I deserve to share in such wealth? Why me and not other millions? Why was I born in a land I didn't build, in a prosperity that I didn't create and enjoy a freedom that I didn't establish? Why an American sitting comfortably in my own living room this Thanksgiving rather than an Indian squatting in the dark corner of some infested alley in Calcutta, shivering in the cold, or a Cambodian in the rubble of what used to be my home, or a terrified, running Nicaraguan in the jungle? Do I deserve it? By what right do I have it?" —Joel Gregory Andrew

1 Tessalonicenses 5:19

Henry comments on Lev 6:12-note - By this law we are taught to keep up in our minds a constant disposition to all acts of piety and devotion, an habitual affection to divine things, so as to be always ready to every good word and work. We must not only not quench the Spirit, but we must stir up the gift that is in us (2Ti 1:6-note). Though we be not always sacrificing, yet we must keep the fire of holy love always burning and thus we must pray always. The other passage (alluded to by Matthew Henry) that Paul's command recalls to our mind is his instruction to his young disciple Timothy "And for this reason (2Ti 1:5-note) I remind you to kindle afresh (anazopureo in the present tense = keep stirring into full flame, red hot flame) the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands." (2Ti 1:6-note - in 2Ti 1:7 a few versions capitalize Spirit). Warren

1 Tessalonicenses 5:19

Henry writes that we are to "Quench not the Spirit (1Th 5:19), for it is this Spirit of grace and supplication that helpeth our infirmities, that assisteth us in our prayers and thanksgivings. Christians are said to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He worketh as fire, by enlightening, enlivening, and purifying the souls of men. We must be careful not to quench this holy fire. As fire is put out by withdrawing fuel, so we quench the Spirit if we do not stir up our spirits, and all that is within us, to comply with the motions of the good Spirit; and as fire is quenched by pouring water, or putting a great quantity of dirt upon it, so we must be careful not to quench the Holy Spirit by indulging carnal lusts and affections, or minding only earthly things."

1 Tessalonicenses 5:20

Henry: Institutes of the Christian Religion. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, I, ix. 6. Henry, Matthew: Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible : Complete and Unabridged in One Volume. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, c1991, s.v. 1 Thess. 5:20. 7. Albert Barnes, “Ephesians through Philemon” in Barnes Notes, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996 reprint of 1884-1885 edition) s.v. 1Thessalonians 5:20. 8. See CIC issue 63, Antichrists and The Antichrist, HTTP://CICMINISTRY.ORG/COMMENTARY/ISSUE63.HTM for an extended discussion of this matter in 1John 2. 9. This is the essence of “binding and loosing”; see CIC issues 1 and 2 HTTP://CICMINISTRY.ORG/COMMENTARY/ISSUE1.HTM 10. See Gordon Fee, “The First Epistle to the Corinthians” in The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987) 693, 694. 11. Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994 reprint, written in 1835) 390, 391 makes a strong argument for “the faith” being the objective content of the faith once for all delivered to the saints. 12. Ibid. 13. In 1Corinthians 12:10, “discerning of spirits” follows “prophecy.” Comparing that passage to 1John 4:1, we have further evidence that prophecy is to be judged by objective standards. 14. Binding and loosing means “forbidding or permitting” on scriptural basis. See CIC issue # 1 for a detailed explanation of this. 15. John MacArthur, Hard to Believe (Nashville: Nelson, 2003) 89. 16. Martin Luther, (1999, c1966). Vol. 44: Luther's works, vol. 44 : The Christian in Society I (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (Vol. 44, Page 276). Philadelphia: Fortress Press. (Critical Issues Commentary- The Prophetic Calling of Every Believer)

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Henry adds that... Corrupt affections indulged in the heart, and evil practices allowed in the life, will greatly tend to promote fatal errors in the mind; whereas purity of heart, and integrity of life, will dispose men to receive the truth in the love of it. In short, believers should retain everything that passes the test of Scripture. And what does not pass the test is to be rejected along with all other kinds of evil. About fifty years after Paul's letter, in one of the writings of apostolic fathers the Didache (The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) instructed the church to evaluate the character of those who put themselves forward as prophets within the church writing that... not everyone who speaks in a spirit is a prophet, except he have the behavior of the Lord (Did. 11.8 and vv. 9–12). In another place in Didache we read My child, flee from evil of every kind, and from everything resembling it. (Didache 3.1) The charge to examine...carefully both the character and content of prophetic utterances resonates in the stern warning by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount... Beware (present imperative = continually guard against) of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 "So then, you will know them by their fruits. (See notes Matthew 7:15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20) Ben Patterson - The American Banking Association once sponsored a two-week training program to help tellers detect counterfeit bills. The program was unique--never during the two-week training did the tellers even look at a counterfeit bill, not did they listen to any lectures concerning the characteristics of counterfeit bills....All they did for two weeks was handle authentic currency, hour after hour and day after day, until they were so familiar with the true that they could not possibly be fooled by the false." (Ben Patterson, Waiting: InterVarsity Press, 1989) To avoid being pulled into error, keep a firm grip on the truth. Application: Today we have a veritable plethora of "Christianized" literature and music and Paul would echo Jesus' words that we be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves (Mt 10:16), that we be like Bereans (Acts 17:11-note) who daily went to the Scriptures to check out whether Paul was proclaiming Truth! Why is this so critical in these last days when even Christianity has for most part succumbed to the deceptive, numbing, dumbing down intoxications of this futile world system which is passing away? Because ONLY God's pure unadulterated Truth will achieve eternal results (cp Acts 17:12, Col 1:5-note, Col 1:6-note; 1Pe 1:23; 24-note Jn 17:17). John

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Henry - He prays that they may be wholly sanctified, that is, more perfectly, for the best are sanctified but in part while in this world; and therefore we should pray for and press towards complete sanctification. Himself (846) (autos) In the Greek sentence this pronoun is first for emphasis. Paul's emphasis is that it is God Who sanctifies us ("Himself sanctify you"), accomplishing His work in us. We are to cooperate with His work as just emphasized by a series of exhortations and commandments beginning in 1Thessalonians 4. But ultimately Paul wants to make it clear that sanctification is God’s work in us. Our part and God's part is clearly seen in Paul's exhortation to the Philippians to... Work out (present imperative) your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is at work in you, both to will (give you the desire to obey) and to work (energizing that desire) for His good pleasure. (Phil 2:12-note, Phil 2:13-note) Hiebert writes that as the God of Peace it is His "prerogative it is to bestow the well-known Christian peace upon those who have been reconciled to Him through Christ." God of Peace - a frequent phrase in the NT... Romans 15:33 (note) Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Romans 16:20 (note) And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Philippians 4:9 (note) The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you. 1Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 13:20 (note) Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,

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Henry - The kindness and love of God had appeared to them in calling them to the knowledge of His truth, and the faithfulness of God was their security that they should persevere to the end; and therefore, the apostle assures them, God would do what He desired; He would effect what He had promised; He would accomplish all the good pleasure of His goodness towards them. Note, Our fidelity to God depends upon His faithfulness to us. Webster says that Faithful means firm in adherence to whatever one owes allegiance and implies unswerving adherence to a person or thing or to the oath or promise by which a he was contracted. Vincent gives a nice summary (expanded in the discussion that follows) of the meaning of pistos, faithful, writing that it is used (1), of one who shows Himself faithful in the discharge of a duty or the administration of a trust (Mt 24:45). Hence, trustworthy (2Ti 2:2). Of things that can be relied upon (2Ti 2:11). (2), Confiding; trusting; a believer (Gal 3:9; Acts16:1; 2Cor 6:15; 1Ti 5:16) Paul writes that even if we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself. (see note 2 Timothy 2:13) Pistos is used of the Word of God that can be relied upon because... It is a trustworthy (pistos) statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. (2Ti 2:11-note) Pistos with the meaning of trustworthy describes God as the One Who fulfills His promises... Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful (Heb 10:23-note) By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered (means to think about carefully and come to a conclusion) Him faithful Who had promised (announced with certainty as to what He would do) (Heb 11:11-note) God is faithful in fulfilling the purpose for which He called men... Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. (1Th 5:24) God is faithful, through Whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1Cor 1:9), God is faithful to respond with guardianship to the trust men have placed in Him... No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it. (1Cor 10:13-note) Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. (1Pe 4:19-note) The Lord Jesus Christ is faithful as the Scriptures amply testify... But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. (2Thes 3:3) Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (see note Hebrews 2:17) He (the Son) was faithful to Him (the Father) who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. (see note Hebrews 3:2) And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. (see note Revelation 19:11) The Lord Jesus Christ is the faithful witness... and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood (see note Revelation 1:5) And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God says this (whatever He says is clearly trustworthy) (see note Revelation 3:14) God’s and Christ's faithfulness speaks of only of Their essential being (faithful is Who He is), and also of Their active faithfulness toward us, as shown for example in the famous verse If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jn 1:9) The Septuagint (LXX) uses pistos 42 times, Moses using it for example to describe God Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, Who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments." (Dt 7:9) (Comment: Notice that the seal of assurance stamped upon God's covenant because it is backed up by His faithful character.) Spurgeon on God's faithfulness - Grandly did the old Scottish believer, of whom Dr. Brown tells us in his “Horae Subsecivae,” respond to the challenge of her pastor regarding the ground of her confidence. “Janet,” said the minister, “what would you say, if after all He has done for you, God should let you drop into hell?” E’en’s (even as) He likes,” answered Janet. “If He does, He’ll lose mair than I’ll do.” At first sight Janet’s reply looks irreverent, if not something worse. As we contemplate it, however, its sublimity grows upon us. Like the Psalmist she could say, “I on Thy Word rely” (Psalm 119:114, metrical version). If His Word were broken, if His faithfulness should fail, if that foundation could be destroyed, truly He would lose more than His trusting child. But that could never be. “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations.” Well then might Janet encourage herself in the Lord her God, and say, “God hath spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice.” Assurance of victory — I can never conceive that it dispirits the soldier, when he is fighting, to tell him that he must win the victory. This is what Cromwell’s ironsides said when they saw the great general riding along the ranks, “‘Tis he!” they said, “‘tis he!” they felt the victory was sure where Cromwell was, and like thunderbolts they dashed upon their enemies, until as thin clouds before the tempest the foemen flew apace. The certainty of victory gives strength to the arm that wields the sword. To say to the Christian you shall persevere till you get to the journey’s end — will that make him sit down on the next milestone? No; he will climb the mountain, wiping the sweat from his brow; and as he looks upon the plain, he will descend with surer and more cautious footsteps, because he knows he shall reach the journey’s end. God Will speed the ship over the waves into the desired haven; will the conviction of that on the part of the captain make him neglect the vessel? Yes, if he be a fool; but if he be a man in his wits, the very certainty that he shall cross the deep will only strengthen him in time of storm to do what he would not have dreamt of doing if he had been afraid the vessel would be cast away. Brethren, let this doctrine impel us to a holy ardency of watchfulness, and may the Lord bless us and enable us to persevere to the end. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Rolland McCune - The Faithfulness of God - The attribute of God’s faithfulness is defined as His transitive truth; it is His trustworthiness to act or perform in accordance with His promise. If God is true in Himself, He is faithful to others. He does not, and cannot, commit Himself to a proposition or a course of action of which He could ever prove to be incapable for any reason. So it is that when God in eternity past chose believers and brought them to salvation, He is constitutionally unable to abandon them and change His plans for them to ultimately inherit eternal glory. Paul’s words of certainty on this point are, “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1Th 5:24). The context is dealing with the divine guarantee of the present perseverance and progressive sanctification of the saints. God has committed Himself to the believer’s final sanctification at the coming of Christ and to the interim process of image-building, or Christ-formation, in the believer’s experience. His own fidelity to His eternal intentions for the saints will never stop short of full completion, and a real and welcome by-product of this is the saints’ eternal security. (A Systematic Theology of Biblical Christianity) William Hendriksen rightly observes that "Divine faithfulness is a wonderful comfort to those who are loyal. It is a very earnest warning for those who might be inclined to become disloyal." Indeed, God's faithfulness exhibits His holy character as worthy of the love and confidence of man and assures us that He will fulfill all of His promises to bless as well as to justly judge sin. Ray Pritchard asks "How many people do you know who do exactly what they say? Before you answer, let me rephrase the question? How many do you know who do exactly what they say every single time? Now before you answer, let me rephrase it again. How many people do you know who do exactly what they say every single time and do it with such thoroughness and perfection that you never have to worry about anything they say or do? Again, before you answer, let me ask it one more time: How many people do you know who, no matter what the circumstances and no matter how they feel, will always do exactly what they say they will do every single time and do it with the same thoroughness and perfection that you never have to worry about anything they say or do because you know if they say it, they will definitely do it without fail, without change and without excuse?...God's faithfulness means that because he is the truth, everything he says and does is certain. That means he is 100% reliable 100% of the time. He does not fail, forget, falter, change or disappoint. In the words of Lewis Sperry Chafer: He not only advances and confirms that which is true, but in faithfulness abides by his promises, and executes every threat or warning he has made. He says what he means and means what he says and therefore does everything he says he will do. (Read the entire message Great Is Thy Faithfulness by Ray Pritchard) Puritan writer Thomas Manton on God's faithfulness - The Doctrine: That in all ages God ever showed Himself a true God, and faithful in all His promises...God's faithfulness relates to some promise wherein He hath engaged Himself to His people (He 11:11-note)...His truth depends upon his unchangeable nature, but it is confirmed to us by experience (He 6:17, 18-note)... If a promise can be made out to be of God, we have no more reason to doubt of it than of the nature and being of God. Yet, it is confirmed by experience: (Ps 18:30-Spurgeon's note)...Application - Let us be then more firmly persuaded of God's faithfulness that we may depend upon it both for His preserving the church and ourselves in the way of our duty, till we enjoy our final reward. 1. For the preservation of Christ's kingdom, God's faithfulness chiefly appears in the government of His church or spiritual kingdom, and this is a kingdom that cannot be moved when all things else are shaken: (Heb 12:28-note), 'Having received a kingdom that cannot be shaken.' Christ cannot be a head without members, a king without subjects. And we are told, (Matt 16:18), 'That the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.' Many disorders happen, but let us depend upon the faithful God. The world was well guided before we came into it, and other generations have had experience of God's faithfulness, though we complain that we see not our signs, nor any tokens for good. 2. For the preservation of our bodies to the heavenly kingdom. We have many discouragements within and without, but while we persevere in our duty, God will not fail us; his word is as sure as the earth: (2Th 3:3), 'The Lord is faithful, who shall establish and keep you from evil.' God has promised not only to give us our final reward, but to secure and defend His people by the way, that they be not overcome by the evils they meet with in their passage (Read Manton's full sermon on Ps 119:90 - Sermon 95 on - God's Faithfulness from Generation to Generation) Richard L. Strauss on the faithfulness of God - Since God’s faithfulness is part of His essence, it affects everything He says and everything He does. Several specific applications of His faithfulness are made in the New Testament. First of all, He is faithful in assuring our salvation....Secondly, He is faithful in providing for our victory. God wants us to enjoy victory over sin and triumph through trials, but He has not left us on our own to achieve it. He offers us help....In the third place, He is faithful in forgiving our sins. Unfortunately, most of us only use God’s resources for victory intermittently, and as a result we sin. But God’s faithfulness reaches us even then....Finally, God is faithful in sustaining us through suffering. One of the times we are most tempted to doubt God’s faithfulness is when suffering strikes our lives. It often makes no sense to us and we see no reason for it. We may search our lives, and although we find some sins which we have previously overlooked, we still cannot believe we deserve what God has allowed to happen to us. We begin to think that He has forgotten us or really does not care about us....God will not only be faithful in assuring our salvation, providing for our victory, forgiving our sins, and sustaining us through suffering, but He will also be faithful in keeping every promise He has ever made. That is the greatest encouragement we could possibly have. The Bible contains thousands of precious promises from God, and at least one of them will have application to every conceivable situation we can possibly encounter—financial reversal, terminal illness, the loss of a loved one, family tensions, or anything else. A faithful God can be trusted to keep every promise. The writer to the Hebrews encouraged his readers with these words: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (He 10:23-note)." (Great Is Thy Faithfulness) . Forgiveness is rooted in God's faithfulness (1Jn 1:9-note), as is the child of God's certain victory over even the most difficult trials and testing (1Cor 10:13; 1Pe 4:19-note, 1Th 5:24-note). God's faithfulness applies to His... Temporal blessings (1Ti 4:8-note; Ps 84:11; Isa 33:16, Spurgeon) Spiritual blessings (1Co 1:9) Support in temptation (1Cor 10:13-note) Support in persecution (1Pe 4:12, 13-note; Isa 41:10 Spurgeon) Sanctifying discipline (He 12:4-12-note) Direction in difficulties (2Chr 32:22; Ps 32:8) Enabling of His own to persevere (Jer 32:40) Bringing to glory (1Jn 2:25-note). In the Old Testament, God’s faithfulness and covenant love are closely related (Deut 7:9) Related Resources: Study of God's Attribute - Faithfulness What does the Bible say about faithfulness? How can I learn to trust in the faithfulness of God? Torrey Topical Textbook Faithfulness Faithfulness of God, the American Tract Society Faithful Faithfulness Baker Evangelical Dictionary Faithfulness Charles Buck Dictionary Faithfulness of God Faithfulness Easton's Bible Dictionary Faithful Holman Bible Dictionary Faithful Hastings' Dictionary of the NT Faithfulness (2) Faithfulness Vines' Expository Dictionary Faithfulness Webster Dictionary Faithful International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Faithful Sayings Faithful; Faithfulness McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Faithful Calls (2564) (kaleo - see study of called - kletos) refers in context to God's effective call of one unto salvation. The Greek reads literally "the caller", thus emphasizing the person rather than the act. It is God Who saves, so it is God Who keeps. God called us in the first place, and He will preserve us to the end of this age and to the endless ages to come! Frame quotes Chrysostom... “This happens not from my prayers, he says, but from the purpose with which he called you” (Chrysostom). This faithfulness of God has already been manifested when in keeping with His eternal choice (1Th 1:4-note) He called them (1Th 2:12-note) through the preaching of the gospel (2Thes 2:14). But if the Caller is faithful, He may also be relied upon to perform the very thing involved in the call, namely, that for which Paul prayed (that they would be sanctified entirely and preserved complete and without blame). (Ibid)