Note 1 at 1 Th. 4:1: Remember that in the previous verse (1 Th. 3:13) Paul had spoken about the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 13 of this chapter, he continues speaking about the second coming of Christ. However, these verses which are in between (vv. 1-12) are not disconnected from that subject.

Verses 1-12 are speaking of Christian conduct and character in association with the topic of the second coming. This is precisely the point the apostle Peter made in 2 Peter 3:10-12 which says, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"

It is no mistake that Paul exhorts the Thessalonian believers to be holy in the context of speaking of Christ's second coming. It's a great motivation towards holiness to think about the return of Jesus. Everything physical that we become so occupied with will one day be dissolved and only what was done for Christ will remain.

Note 2 at 1 Th. 4:1: Paul is reminding the Thessalonians of what he had previously taught them concerning Christian conduct when he was with them earlier. In other words, he taught them what they had already heard.

It seems that not many people want to hear something they've already heard. People are always looking for something new. There is an insatiable hunger for more and more information. But in the gospel, it's not how much you know, but how well you know what you know.

There is no premium on ignorance, but in God's kingdom, little is much if God is in it. On the other hand, it's possible to have vast knowledge of God's Word without having any true revelation knowledge (see note 1 at Lk. 2:26, p. 56; see note 6 at 1 Cor. 2:16, p. 870). We don't need to get just the surface truth of scriptures, but the profound truths that are locked deep within.

Note 3 at 1 Th. 4:1: Unlike others whom Paul rebuked for their lack of compliance with his instructions, these Thessalonians were doing as Paul had taught them. But he wanted them to abound more and more in these Christian virtues, which they subsequently did. In his second letter to the Thessalonians, he thanked God for their love abounding (2 Th. 1:3).

We never arrive, we just leave. It is always appropriate to be reminded of things that we are already doing so we can continue to develop in those areas.