I Thessalonians 1:1-10
Good morning! We are starting a
new series of messages today that will carry us until the beginning of
November. We are going to study through
two letters that the apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, conveniently
named 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. These two letters are chock-full of powerful
truths and practical teaching both for the here and now and for looking toward
things yet to come. Today, we’ll take a
look at the background briefly and then go through the first chapter of the
first letter.
Before we do that, let’s take a moment and ask God to speak to us from
His Word:
Father God we need insight on how to live life in the present and we
need to have hope for the future. Thank
You for Your Word which gives us both.
Speak to us now and help us to see from these verses what each of us
needs understand. Thank You for Your
all-sustaining grace in our lives. In
Jesus’ Name, Amen.
The letter begins in a rather familiar way:
Paul, Silas and Timothy, To
the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you. –I Thessalonians 1:1
Let’s take a moment and talk about what has happened in Thessalonica
while we look at a map.
Thessalonica is a seaport city in the northern part of current
Greece. It was strategic both as a
north-south and an east-west conduit for trade and government. It was the largest city in Macedonia with as
many as 100,000 inhabitants and today is still the second largest city in
Greece (behind Athens) with 1 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area.
In chapter 17 of the book of Acts, Paul and Silas (along with Timothy) left
the city of Philippi, passing through a couple of cities, Amphipolis and
Apollonia, and came to Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue (Acts
17:1). Paul reasoned in the synagogue for three Sabbath days (two to three
weeks) (17:2). Acts 17:3 says, “He reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead,
saying ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.’ ” Some of the Jews
believed as did many God-fearing Greeks and several of the prominent women of
Thessalonica (17:4). The unbelieving Jews, though, became jealous. They formed a mob and started a riot. Some of
the believers were harassed, but Paul and Silas were not found. The city officials forced the believers who
had been brought forward to post bond and then let them go. That night, the Thessalonian believers sent
Paul and Silas from Thessalonica to Berea, which is 50 miles further west from
Thessalonica (17:10). Timothy is not mentioned among those who fled, so he may
have remained in Thessalonica before later joining Paul and Silas in Berea (17:14).
Paul flees Berea to Athens due to additional persecution led by some Thessalonians
(17:14). Acts doesn’t tell us how long
Paul was in Berea, but it seems safe to assume it was merely a few days, long
enough for news of his preaching there to reach Thessalonica and the
persecutors to arrive. Paul sends
instructions upon his arrival in Athens for Silas and Timothy to come join him
as soon as possible. From Athens, Timothy
is sent back to Thessalonica (I Thessalonians 3:2) while Paul goes on to
Corinth (Acts 18:1). Silas and Timothy come to Paul in Corinth (I Thessalonians
3:6, Acts 18:5). Paul writes I
Thessalonians and sends it to the church.
About six months after that, he sends II Thessalonians in response to
further information from the church—perhaps writing that second letter upon the
return of Timothy from delivering the first letter to the Thessalonians.
With the possible exception of Galatians, these two letters to the
Thessalonians are the earliest letters of Paul found in Scripture. There are quite a few links found in these
letters to things recorded in Acts or written in other letters. We’ll hear more about those connections in
the coming weeks.
Likely because of the abrupt departure of Paul, Silas, and Timothy from
Thessalonica after a brief time, they felt a special need to reach out to
encourage these new believers. They knew
the Thessalonian believers were already facing significant persecution for
their faith. As a result, the letters
have several purposes: encouragement in facing trials, instruction concerning
godly living, urging the believers to faithfulness in their daily work, and assurance
concerning the future particularly for believers who would die before Christ’s
return. In fact, each chapter in I
Thessalonians ends with a reference to the second coming of Jesus, with chapter
4 giving it major focus.
These points are all things which our hearts and minds need to hear as
well, so even though these words were written for brand new believers in an
early letter from Paul and his companions, we have much to be encouraged by as
well.
Returning our focus to I Thessalonians 1:1, they write “in God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus
spoke repeatedly about the unity between Himself as God’s Son and God the
Father and stated that we too should have such unity with God and with one
another (John 14:21, 17:23). Paul, Silas, and Timothy are writing to the
Thessalonians in the unity which God desires us to have.
The salutation concludes with a familiar phrase “Grace and peace to
you.” That grace and peace comes to us
from God who is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love,
who relents from sending calamity” (Jonah 4:2).
It is His grace, His peace given to us, not as the world gives, not as a
mere wish for peace, but as a tangible reality: the take and eat, take and
drink reality of communion. I have heard
it explained that God gave us communion as a multisensory observance. We can see it, we can smell it, we can feel it,
taste it, hear ourselves chewing and swallowing. We are to do this in remembrance of Him. We are a forgetful people, but God gives us
his reminder, physically significant, God has made peace with us and peace for
us. His grace is real. Grace and peace to you all in Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen? (Amen!)
We always thank God for all
of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your
work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired
by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. –I Thessalonians 1:2-3
We’ll hear more about the Thessalonians and their faith in these
letters from Paul. But I will mention
that they were consistent supporters of Paul and the church. For example, Acts mentions individual
believers from Thessalonica who joined Paul on different journeys facing
persecution with him or sometimes even in his place.
Woven in these verses we find faith hope and love. Paul explains in I Corinthians 13 that these
three make up the most excellent way.
The Thessalonians faith prompted them to action, “work produced by
faith, labor prompted by love.” Their
hope is a secure hope in Jesus which gave them endurance. Paul and his companions have much to be
thankful for in the lives of these saints.
For we know, brothers and
sisters loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you
not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep
conviction. –I Thessalonians 1:4-5
The expression translated “brothers and sisters” is repeated 28 times
in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. Paul wants to give special emphasis to the
unity which exists between all believers.
We believe God and respond to Him in faith. He also has chosen us and loved us. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us” (Romans 5:8). “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). “This is love: not that we
loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for
our sins” (I John 4:10).
God backs up the truth of the good news with power in the Holy Spirit
which brings confidence. This power has
broken down the bondage to idols and legalism that no doubt many of the
Thessalonians had been living in up until then.
You know how we lived among
you for your sake. You became imitators
of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe
suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the
believers in Macedonia and Achaia. –I Thessalonians 1:5-7
Paul and Silas and Timothy lived in a sacrificial way among the
Thessalonians. They were there not only
to tell the Thessalonians the truth but also to show them how to live. The Thessalonians got it, they imitated what
they saw in the lives of Paul and Silas and Timothy and their companions.
They welcomed the message with joy in spite of severe suffering. I think this can only happen by the power of
the Holy Spirit. That is real power, a
power which gives joy in the midst of difficulty. Remember David’s prayer in Psalm 51, “Restore
to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain
me.” Joy comes from God. You won’t find it somewhere else. There is a place in Scripture which says what
the Lord’s dwelling place consists of: I Chronicles 16:27. It consists of two things in that verse. The first is strength. That seems fairly obvious for the God of the
universe. Everything you can see or have
heard of is made by God, then surely His dwelling place is made in strength.
What then is the second attribute of the dwelling place of God? It’s joy.
“Strength and joy are in His dwelling place.” God lives at the corner of strength and
joy. When the people of Israel were
weeping because of their ignorance, disobedience, and suffering, Nehemiah told
them to dry their eyes because the “joy of the Lord was their strength”
(Nehemiah 8:10). Take refuge in the joy
of the Lord. This is what gives strength
and power to endure the challenges and suffering in this life.
The Lord's message rang out
from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia--your faith in God has become known
everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they
themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. –I Thessalonians 1:8-9
At the beginning of the message, I said that Paul wanted to write to
the Thessalonians to encourage and build up these young believers, and I don’t
think that’s wrong. But I think he was
also super encouraged to write to them because they had become an example to
other believers. He wanted them to know
how God was using them to build up His Kingdom.
Is there someone that you should encourage today? Tell folks who have done something well in faith
what have you witnessed in their lives.
It will mean a lot, and no doubt spur them on to continue doing those
things.
There is a kind of Christian imitation which is a good thing. In the previous verses, we saw the
Thessalonians endeavoring to imitate Paul and Silas and Timothy. Then, other believers in Macedonia and Achaia
(north Greece and south Greece) imitated the Thessalonians. Later, we will see that the Thessalonians
through Paul and Silas and Timothy imitated the churches in Judea. The Thessalonians as well as Paul and all believers
imitate the Lord. Look at the good
examples around you, among other believers around the world, and in God
Himself, and imitate those things. And
then, don’t do the things you don’t see them doing. Let them go.
They tell how you turned to
God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from
heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming
wrath. –I Thessalonians 1:9-10
Other people who came to the Thessalonian believers after Paul and Silas
and Timothy have testified to how they have received and lived out the message
of the gospel. In these last verses, we
see a simple and direct explanation of conversion.
The Thessalonians turned away from idols and turned to God. They repented of following anything other
than God.
The Thessalonians served God.
They produced good work because of their faith in God. They labored to do good at love’s prompting.
The Thessalonians waited for Jesus.
They looked to the future with hope.
The story does not end with our physical death. There is a future judgment coming. Jesus is our deliverer, and we wait
expectantly for Him. In Christ, we have
an eternity of joy and peace to look forward to when we put our trust in Jesus
Christ and Him alone. Praise God! Let’s pray …
Lord God, help us to imitate the Thessalonians in turning to You,
serving You, and waiting expectantly for Jesus’ return. Give us eyes to see who we can encourage in
their faithful service to You. Fill each
of these Your saints with joy by Your Holy Spirit. We pray all these things in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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