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Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians
Now Salonica or Thessalonike, was a bustling sea port city, communication and trade centre. It was at the junction of the Egnation Way, an important route north leading to the Danube. With a population of about 200,000 it was the capital of Macedonia and the largest city of Macedonia.
Paul begins with some wonderful words of encouragement. To maintain a Christian witness faithfully, is probably hard going for you at times and a friend to encourage and support you means a lot to help in your walk with the Lord.
So it was with this church where the Christians, though endeavouring to stay firm, were fighting against the pull of paganism and living by the ‘law’. Paul starts with including Silas and Timothy in his greeting, “To the church of Thessalonica in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you”. The gospel which came to the church here was not just words.
There were three reasons for it’s success. (1) It came with power (2) It came through the Holy Spirit (3) It came with deep conviction. We cannot be effective witnesses if we are not steadfast and sure of our faith. We can have no doubt of Paul’s sincerity. A chosen man given a mission by God, and his Spirit filled life gave him a determination from which suffering and trials would not deter. The first and second letters were written in Corinth, after Paul had received a good report from Timothy, of the church in Thessalonica.
Paul says of them “The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—Your faith in God has become known everywhere” (1:8). This is certainly worthy of Timothy’s good report considering, “You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches (in Judea) suffered from the Jews” (2:14b). Paul wanted to support and encourage the converts from paganism. ‘Grace to cover all my sin’. This shows how great our God is. I have just read of a witch doctor in Haiti where voodoo is still practiced. It’s superstitions are rife and destructive and those who believe this are in deep spiritual darkness. A villager said after a mission witness “We don’t know enough about Jesus yet to leave our voodoo practices to follow Him. If there is a plane, will a Bible teacher come?” Mission Aviation flew medical teams and missionaries in. Many villagers came to Christ, and the witch doctor? He renounced voodoo practices and God gave him victory. I included this story here because although the witch doctor and villagers followed their old ways, this was at first, through ignorance. The Christians in Thessalonica and other places where the gospel had spread, to a large extent knew that a way of release from their old way of living and the rules which controlled them was open to them. There is nothing that God cannot do.
God sent Jesus to be the Saviour of the world; any country, any language. Freedom in Christ is the message of the gospel and this brings a multitude of blessings. Timothy’s report confirms that many lives had changed and that the church was strong and that there was a temptation over which they needed victory. Christians today have this same struggle over numerous problems and the answer is in Jesus alone. ‘There is no other way, to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey’ Paul continues to help the converts from Paganism in the second letter to Thessalonian Christians. With about 6 months between them, the message is similar. The return of Jesus is prominent in this letter.
“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love everyone has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches, we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring”(2ch1:3-4). When our path takes us through trials, faith and trust in God will increase because of them. If persecution comes, perhaps because our life style shows we serve Christ, then God’s grace and power will bring us through. In (1ch 2:10) he tells them people could see them to be living as Christians should, holy, righteous and blameless. This was not a boast made by themselves but by the observation of others. These men gave a testimony showing their desire to show that lives can be changed by their decision to follow Jesus. Can others see a difference in our lives, in a world where lies and cheating and deception are wide spread?
Paul said that “Satan stopped us” from visiting again. He says “What is our hope, joy, crown? Indeed you are our glory and joy”. “In spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with joy, given by the Holy Spirit”(1:6).
Timothy was sent to encourage “so that no one would be unsettled by these trials” ( 1ch 3 : 3). We are given so many opportunities of meeting to hear the preaching of God’s word. We need to ‘hunger and thirst after righteousness’ and listen for God to speak to us as individuals. This is how our faith grows, as we are empowered to face trials. Finding out the treasures in Christ, promised to His followers is a life time learning curve. “We instruct you how to live” Paul tells them. Wow! What a nerve; that is the reaction of many, and they would question the right of anyone to make a statement like that. However, Paul was Christ’s ambassador on a mission for God and that gave him the right.
2 Corinthians 5:19-20 tells us “that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. V21 God made Him who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteous of God”. So the reason for Paul’s instruction ‘How to live’ is for us to show the measure of our love for God by how we live. “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath (anger) but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ”(1ch 5 : 9) “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be determined through the power of God at work in you, to avoid every kind of evil” (1ch 5:22-23). This lifts my Spirit as I read these chapters. The sins committed in this letter, are repeated in our nation by those who do not follow Jesus. Have you ever sung the hymn, ‘O Jesus I have promised to serve you to the end, be thou for ever near me, my master and my friend’?
Sometimes a statement is made to the police and because it is untruthful, a correction is required. If wrongdoing by a Christian means sin has changed our relationship with God, His grace and power is sufficient to cover our sin ,and in this, we are not under the law but under grace.
Paul begins with some wonderful words of encouragement. To maintain a Christian witness faithfully, is probably hard going for you at times and a friend to encourage and support you means a lot to help in your walk with the Lord.
So it was with this church where the Christians, though endeavouring to stay firm, were fighting against the pull of paganism and living by the ‘law’. Paul starts with including Silas and Timothy in his greeting, “To the church of Thessalonica in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you”. The gospel which came to the church here was not just words.
There were three reasons for it’s success. (1) It came with power (2) It came through the Holy Spirit (3) It came with deep conviction. We cannot be effective witnesses if we are not steadfast and sure of our faith. We can have no doubt of Paul’s sincerity. A chosen man given a mission by God, and his Spirit filled life gave him a determination from which suffering and trials would not deter. The first and second letters were written in Corinth, after Paul had received a good report from Timothy, of the church in Thessalonica.
Paul says of them “The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—Your faith in God has become known everywhere” (1:8). This is certainly worthy of Timothy’s good report considering, “You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches (in Judea) suffered from the Jews” (2:14b). Paul wanted to support and encourage the converts from paganism. ‘Grace to cover all my sin’. This shows how great our God is. I have just read of a witch doctor in Haiti where voodoo is still practiced. It’s superstitions are rife and destructive and those who believe this are in deep spiritual darkness. A villager said after a mission witness “We don’t know enough about Jesus yet to leave our voodoo practices to follow Him. If there is a plane, will a Bible teacher come?” Mission Aviation flew medical teams and missionaries in. Many villagers came to Christ, and the witch doctor? He renounced voodoo practices and God gave him victory. I included this story here because although the witch doctor and villagers followed their old ways, this was at first, through ignorance. The Christians in Thessalonica and other places where the gospel had spread, to a large extent knew that a way of release from their old way of living and the rules which controlled them was open to them. There is nothing that God cannot do.
God sent Jesus to be the Saviour of the world; any country, any language. Freedom in Christ is the message of the gospel and this brings a multitude of blessings. Timothy’s report confirms that many lives had changed and that the church was strong and that there was a temptation over which they needed victory. Christians today have this same struggle over numerous problems and the answer is in Jesus alone. ‘There is no other way, to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey’ Paul continues to help the converts from Paganism in the second letter to Thessalonian Christians. With about 6 months between them, the message is similar. The return of Jesus is prominent in this letter.
“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love everyone has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches, we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring”(2ch1:3-4). When our path takes us through trials, faith and trust in God will increase because of them. If persecution comes, perhaps because our life style shows we serve Christ, then God’s grace and power will bring us through. In (1ch 2:10) he tells them people could see them to be living as Christians should, holy, righteous and blameless. This was not a boast made by themselves but by the observation of others. These men gave a testimony showing their desire to show that lives can be changed by their decision to follow Jesus. Can others see a difference in our lives, in a world where lies and cheating and deception are wide spread?
Paul said that “Satan stopped us” from visiting again. He says “What is our hope, joy, crown? Indeed you are our glory and joy”. “In spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with joy, given by the Holy Spirit”(1:6).
Timothy was sent to encourage “so that no one would be unsettled by these trials” ( 1ch 3 : 3). We are given so many opportunities of meeting to hear the preaching of God’s word. We need to ‘hunger and thirst after righteousness’ and listen for God to speak to us as individuals. This is how our faith grows, as we are empowered to face trials. Finding out the treasures in Christ, promised to His followers is a life time learning curve. “We instruct you how to live” Paul tells them. Wow! What a nerve; that is the reaction of many, and they would question the right of anyone to make a statement like that. However, Paul was Christ’s ambassador on a mission for God and that gave him the right.
2 Corinthians 5:19-20 tells us “that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. V21 God made Him who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteous of God”. So the reason for Paul’s instruction ‘How to live’ is for us to show the measure of our love for God by how we live. “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath (anger) but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ”(1ch 5 : 9) “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be determined through the power of God at work in you, to avoid every kind of evil” (1ch 5:22-23). This lifts my Spirit as I read these chapters. The sins committed in this letter, are repeated in our nation by those who do not follow Jesus. Have you ever sung the hymn, ‘O Jesus I have promised to serve you to the end, be thou for ever near me, my master and my friend’?
Sometimes a statement is made to the police and because it is untruthful, a correction is required. If wrongdoing by a Christian means sin has changed our relationship with God, His grace and power is sufficient to cover our sin ,and in this, we are not under the law but under grace.
A most precious time for believers is sharing the Lords supper. (1Colossians 1:17-29)
Matthew. Mark and Luke also record this meaningful time. 1 Col 23-26 The Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed, took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said “this is my body, which is for you, do this in remembrance of me”. In the same way after supper he took the cup saying “This is my blood, do this wherever you drink it, in remembrance of me, For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes”.
1TH4:16 “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet call of God”. Matthew 25:34-41 tells that the king will say to believers “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world”. Then he will say (to unbelievers) “Depart from me you who are cursed, into eternal fire prepared for
the devil and his angels”.
No one knows when Jesus will return in glory. Then Christ’s
kingdom will be a reality.
With God’s grace, I will follow Jesus for the rest of my days. How about you?
Matthew. Mark and Luke also record this meaningful time. 1 Col 23-26 The Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed, took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said “this is my body, which is for you, do this in remembrance of me”. In the same way after supper he took the cup saying “This is my blood, do this wherever you drink it, in remembrance of me, For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes”.
1TH4:16 “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet call of God”. Matthew 25:34-41 tells that the king will say to believers “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world”. Then he will say (to unbelievers) “Depart from me you who are cursed, into eternal fire prepared for
the devil and his angels”.
No one knows when Jesus will return in glory. Then Christ’s
kingdom will be a reality.
With God’s grace, I will follow Jesus for the rest of my days. How about you?
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