1 Thessolonians 1: Joy in the Trials

This letter initiates the New Testament documents! Written less than 20 years after Christ’s resurrection. (Some believe Galatians was writtenbefore Acts 15.) Every chapter refers to the Second Coming.

Purpose of the Letter

Writer’s joy at their steadfastness.
Refute certain false charges and slanderous insinuations being circulated.
Personal attacks; assailed motives; self-seeking; cowardice.
Concern over loved ones who have passed on.

Chapter 1: How the Church Spreads the Gospel

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The three of them were together at Corinth; no evidence that the three were ever together again.
It is remarkable how often Paul speaks of bearing up God’s people in prayer! He was a busy guy, yet he found time for prayer.

Silvanus (Roman): god of the woods; woodland. (Luke always calls him Silas; Paul, always Silvanus. (Cf. Acts 18:5, 2 Cor 1:19.) He wasan esteemed member of the Jerusalem council (Acts 15:22); a prophet (15:32); Roman citizen (16:37); in hearty agreement with the Councildecision regarding Gentile believers in Acts 15:22-32; fitting co-worker and preacher (2 Cor 1:19). Amanuensis for 1 Peter (5:12).

Timotheos, “honoring God; 24X (half-Jew; half-Greek). Co-salutation in five of Paul’s epistles.

Ekklesia, called out assembly; called out from their homes to assemble. LXX: assembled people of God. The church is never a building, “The sanctuaries are chewing gum.”

Lord: from YHWH in LXX.

Jesus: Derived from the Latinization of the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Joshua, which is an abbreviation for Jehoshua, “YHWH is salvation” (Mt 1:21).

Christ: Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Meshiach, or Messiah, the anointed one.

“In” God: Not spatial, but positional; a vital, organic union which makes possible the sharing of a common life.

Grace (Greek), chairein, to rejoice, greetings; Peace (Hebrew), shalom, peace, prosperity, well being; prosperity in the widest sense. Grace: free and unmerited favor of God; Peace: result of receiving the grace of God, it’s that precious sense of inner tranquility and well-being from being reconciled to God through Christ.

First three chapters: personal.
Second two chapters: practical.

2.We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.

Thanksgiving: a priority; continual. Give thanks in everything (5:18; 2 Cor 4:15; 9:11ff). “The Spirit of Christ is the oil that feeds the lamp of praise.”

Affection: he tried twice to return (1 Thess 2:17-18).

3. remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father.

3-10] The Grounds of Thanksgiving: virtues; election; results witnessed. 3] These three graces would be featured later in the Corinthian letter:the work of faith, the patience of hope, and the labor of love.

Faith vs. “works”….

Patience (steadfastness): active constancy in the face of difficulties. Hope: future, yet completely certain.

Love (kopos): fatiguing labor to the point of weariness.

Greek words for Love—Storge, Eros, Phileo, Agape: Agapao (v): to be totally given over to (Cf Jn 3:19; et al.). Agape (n): God’s love (Cf 1 Jn4:10).

Faith, love, and hope conjoined: 5:8; 1 Cor 13:13; Gal 5:5f; Col 1:4f; Heb 6:10-12, 10:22-24; 1 Pet 1:21f. Faith rests on the past; love works in the present; hope looks to the future.

Each looks outward:

Faith looks back to a Crucified Savior; Love looks up to a Crowned Savior; Hope looks on to a Coming Savior.

Geometry of Eternity: open hyperbola intersects our linear time right “now.”

The Church is distinguished by these three…faith, hope, and love.

[Characteristic of Paul’s writing: If he finished his sentence, it would have been complete and well designed. But his thoughts continue to verse 5 and beyond. They grow like living things rather than being constrained by rules… sometimes, “Finally, my brethren,” means only a few chapters to go!]

Divine Election

Luke 4:23-29 (?)

4. knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.

Brethren: Born into the relationship. Paul uses this word 60X; 14X in 1 Thess; 7X in 2 Thess = 21.

OT: national election. NT: individual and spiritual (Jn 13:18; 15:16; Acts 9:15; Jas 2:5; 1 Pet 1:10).

Love and election connected: 2 Thess 2:13. Election protects us from thinking of salvation as dependent on human whims and roots it squarely in the will of God. Left to ourselves, we do not wish to leave our state of untroubled sinfulness.

When did God first start dealing with YOU? You are not an afterthought: Eph 1:4. [Wilbur Smith: “I’m glad He chose me then. Now he might change His mind!”]

Knowing…the election of God. How? Their lives (new life) evidenced it (Cf Acts 1:18). To all of Macedonia and Achaia! You, not your words,are your witness.

Church is God centered: Chosen by Him; Rooted in Him; Drawing its life from Him. Exhibiting this life in a faith that works, a love which labors, and a hope which endures.

5. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.

Words + Power: …of the Holy Spirit!

We must never divorce what God has married. Namely, His Word and His Spirit (Eph 6:17). He himself is given to them as the Holy Spirit (1 Thess 4:8); to perform His sanctifying work in their lives (2 Thess 2:13). To ignore or inhibit His manifestations is to “quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19).

The Spirit without the Word is weaponless; The Word without the Spirit is powerless.

Opposition: Riots there (and in Berea). (Acts 17:5, 13.) Affliction “with joy of the Holy Spirit.” How about us? Is it coming?

6. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit.

The authentic Gospel always arouses hostility because it challenges human pride and self-indulgence.

7. so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.

Example: tupon, the mark left by a blow, as when a die strikes an image on a coin; Paul was discouraged when he arrived in Corinth (1 Cor 2:3).

Corporate blessing:

But he had the right perspective: the blessing of God was evident in the work he was doing.

Personal blessing:

It is proof of a healthy Christian life when it becomes an example to others.

8. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.

Macedonia and Achaia were the northern and southern provinces into which the Romans divided the ancient land of the Greeks (Cf. Acts 17:6).

Execheo, derived from echos, a loud noise, trumpet, thunderclap. Their “word of mouth” was more powerful than any media blitz…

9. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.

Serve, then wait.

Turn: a radical change of allegiance. Re: Lystra (Acts 14); Athens (Acts 17); from Thessalonica, Mt. Olympus was about 50 miles south of their city. Turn from idols (God-substitutes). What are yours? Work? Career? Sports? USA?

To serve (as a slave) the living (and active) and true (real, genuine) God. Beginning a new life of service.

Every idolater is a prisoner, held in humiliating bondage. We become like the gods we worship (Ps 135:18).

Salvation does not begin with giving up something, but with receiving

someone.

[Prophetic hope drives one toward personal holiness and evangelism.]

10. and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

“To wait for His Son” (“wait” only here in NT) (Sustained expectation; most frequently mentioned doctrine in New Testament: 1 out of every 13 verses!)

Parousia (mentioned in every chapter of both letters). Resurrection: public declaration that He will complete what He has begun. Prophetic Deliverer from the wrath to come.

“Wrath is the holy revulsion of God against that which is a contradiction of his holiness.”

He brings us completely out of the reach of future judgment.

Verses 9&10 give the fullest account of Christian “conversion” in the New Testament: