I Thessalonians - Ferrar Fenton Bible Translation page 1223

1. THESSALONIANS. 4~-18 2-17

18 20 filling up their sins; but their fury will at last come upon themselves. Qin Q4E¤ciinn for ilycm. But we, brothers, having been

separated from you for the space of an hour in person-not in heart have striven very eagerly with great desire to see your face. Indeed, we wished on two occasions to come to you, that is I, Paul; but Satan pre- vented us. For whois our hope, orjoy, or crown of triumph———if you are not in the presence of our Lord jesus, when He will appear? You are certainly our boast and delight. S0, enduring it no longer, we de-

cided to be left alone in Athens; and sent Timothy, our brother and fellow- Iabourer for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so as not to be shaken by these sufferings, to which you are aware that we are exposed. For, indeed, while we were with you we foretold that there would be troubles; and, as you see, they have come. Consequently, without delay I have

sent to learn about your faith, fearing the '1`empter had over·tried you, and that our work had been for nothing. But when Timothy came from you to us, and reported the good news of your faith and love, and that you always retained a pleasant memory of us, wishing to see us, just aswe

7 do you; then we were consoled, brethren, by you, by your faith, for

8 all our hardship and suffering. For now we live, if you stand in the Lord.

9 For what thanks can we render to God for y0u——for all the delight with which we rejoice for you in the pre-

10 sence of our God? Night and ~day earnestly wishing to see your face, and to supply the requirements of

xr your faith, May our God and Father Himself, and our Lord jesus, facili-

r2 tate our journey to you! And may the Lord fill you to overtiowing with love to one another, and to all, as

13 we indeed are to you; to establish your hearts in spotless holiness be- fore our God and Father, at the appearance of our Lord jesus with all His saints. 6911 iluriig nf ¥ifr. that since you learnt by us how you ought to walk and please God--even as also you do walk··—that you may progress further. For you know what commands coming from the Lord jesus we gave you. For this is the intention of the God Who purified yon, that you keep from fornication: that each of you should know how to keep his own vessel‘in purity and honour, not in a passion of lust, like the heathen who know not God; neither outrage nor deceive your brother in this matter: for there is an averaging Lord for all these, as we indeed told and bore witness to you. For God called you not to im- purity, but to purity. Consequently, it is quite certain that the offender outrages not man, but God Who gave you His Holy Spirit. ®xt §r¤tl)2rIg ich:. But concerning brotherly love, you

have no need to be written to; for you yourselves are Divinely instructed to love one another: and, indeed, you practise it to all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we beg you, brethren, to progress still further: and be ambitious of quietude, and to attend to your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we have before taught you; so that you may be well conducted before the outsiders, and have need of nothing. @132 ®¤ming nf the llurh. We desire you not to be ignorant,

brethren, concerning those who sleep; so that you may not grieve, as the rest who are without a hope. For if ‘we believe that jesus died and rose again, thus also God will, by means of jesus, restore with Him those who are asleep. For we say this to you as a message from the Lord,_th_at we, the living, the survivors until the ap- pearance ofthe Lord, will not precede those who sleep. For the Lord Him- self in command, with the voice of {O Il I? an archangel, and with a signal from God, will descend from heaven; and first the dead in Christ will rise again ; then we, the living remnant, shall at the same time be carried up in clouds for an introduction by the Lord into the eternal condition', and then we shall always be with the Lord. _'I`here-

4 Therefore, for therest, brethren, we \ fore console one another with these ask and exhort you in the Lord jesus, truths. r223 16 18