1 Thessalonians 5:6
gTherefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
ἄρα οὖν μὴ καθεύδωμεν ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί, ἀλλὰ γρηγορῶμεν καὶ νήφωμεν.
Textual key: no entry
g:
Matthew 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Matthew 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Matthew 24:42 ¶Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Matthew 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Luke 21:34 ¶And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luke 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Romans 13:11-13:14 11. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Ephesians 5:14-5:17 14. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 15. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16. Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Titus 2:11-2:14 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
2 Timothy 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
Hebrews 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Philippians 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
James 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1 Peter 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
The apostle draws this inference from the foregoing verses in a twofold duty:
1. Negative; Let us not sleep, as do others; sleep is not proper for the children of the day, but of the night. And as the night and darkness are to be taken metaphorically, so the sleep. And though it hath several acceptations in Scripture, yet it is here taken for security. As the natural sleep binds up the senses, and men are not aware of approaching danger, so doth the sleep of the soul: it darkens the mind, stupifies the spiritual sense, that men prepare not for the coming of Christ, nor to avoid the destruction that will then come suddenly upon them. Rom 13:11,12, is a place parallel to this: It is high time to awake out of sleep, & c. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. &c.
2. Positive; Let us watch: watching stands contrary to sleep; the senses are then in exercise, which were bound up by sleep. When the soul is watching, the faculties are in a spiritual exercise to apprehend both our interest and our duty, to take hold of that which is good, and to avoid the evil, the evil of sin and the evil of suffering. But watching here in the text especially refers to the coming of Christ, to prepare for it, that we may not be surprised as others will, and to be in a readiness to be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless, 2Pe 3:14.
sobriety is reckoned to be one branch of temperance, and one of the frnits of the Spirit, Gal 5:23, and one link of the chain of grace, 2Pe 1:6. It hath its name in the Greek, signifying either soundness of mind, or continency of mind; a mind kept or held within its due bounds. It is usually taken for moderation in meats and drinks, setting bounds to the appetite; but it extends to all earthly things, as honour, riches, pleasures, to have our affections to them, our cares about them, our endeavours after them, kept within due bounds; and all this upon the account of Christ’s coming, as a necessary preparation for it: see 1Co 7:29-31 1Pe 4:7. Sobriety and watching are here joined together, and so 1Pe 4:7 5:8. For as intemperance in meats and drinks makes the body dull and sleepy, so without temperance and sobriety the soul will be disenabled to watch.