The Ministry of Mutual Edification

Christian Comfort: The Apostle told the Thessalonians that they should grieve in a manner that was pleasing to the Lord.

And he indicated, that their inabiltiy to do so was due to a lack of knowledge about the intermediate state and status of their loved-ones at the 2nd Coming of Christ. Therefore Paul preceded to provide them with that necessary information.

After having done that that, by delivering both the doctrine and the details of the 2nd Coming, he ends by saying, "and so shall we ever be with the Lord"

A concluding statement that could be interpreted as saying, "Now, you have all the doctrine that you need to dispel your despair re: the status of your loved ones who have died in the Lord."

Then in the final verse in this chapter, he gives a brief, seven word, application of the doctrine that he has just detailed.

"Wherefore, comfort one another with these words" (vs. 18)

This teaches us that there is more to learning the doctrines of the Lord than just the understanding the information. It tells us that, in addition to the information there must also be a implementation of the teaching in our lives. And that implementation, often does not only just relate to us, but it involves demonstrating that doctrine in the lives of others.

In particular here, Paul is teaching us something about the practice of mutual edification among the members of the Body of Christ. He mentions it again a short time later in chapt. 5 “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another..."

From these contextual considerations (and a few others not mentioned in this post) we looked at this brief text.