Please turn in your Bibles this evening to I Thessalonians chapter 1 as we continue our study through the Word of God and we begin this letter that Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica. The city of Thessalonica was located in the Roman province of Macedonia, in the northern part of modern Greece and it was a thriving seaport city with a population of some 200,000 people during Paul’s day. Not only was this city an important seaport city but it also was located on the major land travel route, the Egnatian Way, which connected Rome with the Orient. Today this city still exists with a population of some 300,000 people and it is called Thessaloniki, (formerly Salonika).
Thus, this city had many people coming and going through its gates and of this William Barclay makes this interesting point regarding the strategic location of this city. He tells us:
It is impossible to overstate the importance of the arrival of Christianity in Thessalonica. If Christianity was settled there, it was bound to spread East along the Egnatian Road until all Asia [Minor] was conquered and West until it stormed even the city of Rome. The coming of Christianity to Thessalonica was crucial in the making of it into a world religion.
- William Barclay, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, p. 181
To set the stage for our study this evening, let’s look at the events leading up to Paul going to Thessalonica. If you remember from our Acts study, as Paul was going through the region of Galatia, he first tried to bring the Gospel message to Asia, but the Holy Spirit forbid him. He then came to Mysia desiring to bring the Gospel message north to Bithynia but the Holy Spirit once again forbid Paul from going there. Paul then moved westward to Troas by the Aegean Sea and as he was there we are told, “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.” Acts 16:9-10.
So they crossed the Aegean Sea and came to Philippi where Paul met Lydia and not only did Lydia get saved, but her household, her family as well. As Paul continued sharing the Gospel message in Philippi a demon possessed girl who told people of their future followed Paul and said, “ . . . ‘These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.’” Acts 16:17. And she did this for many days and Paul had enough, God did not need the demonic world to proclaim His truth and so he cast this demon out of this girl and set her free. Great, right? Wrong! She was a slave and her owners were now upset because they took away their business. If she could not tell the future any more, then this slave was of no use to them, they were losing money! So they grab Paul and Silas and bring them before the magistrates or judges and they arrested Paul and Silas, beat them and threw them in prison.
Now as Paul and Silas are in prison, they are singing and praising God and at midnight the earth shook, the prison doors were opened, the chains on these prisoners fell off. Now when the guard saw this, he was ready to kill himself because he thought all the prisoners escaped and he would have to serve out their sentence, each prisoner that escaped and thus, it was better to die then face a fate like that! But none of the prisoners escaped, they were touched by God through Paul and Silas and the guard, upon seeing this and hearing Paul and Silas prior to all this about the true and living God, said,
“ . . . ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’” Acts 16:30. And Paul tells him, “ . . . ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’” Acts 16:31. Not only was this guard saved, but so was his family!
In the morning the magistrates or judges ordered Paul and Silas to be released but Paul wanted these men to come to them and personally let them go, not to do this in secret. You see, Paul and Silas were Roman citizens and what they did to these two men could have brought about serious repercussions both for these magistrates and the city itself from Rome! So they came to Paul and Silas and pleaded with them to leave Philippi and after visiting with Lydia they headed for Thessalonica.
From Philippi to Thessalonica it was about a 100-mile journey along the Egnatian Way. And keep in mind they were just beaten in Philippi and so this must have been a difficulty journey for them, a painful one to make! In Thessalonica Paul spent three Sabbaths preaching in the Synagogue showing that Jesus is the fulfillment of what the Old Testament prophets spoke regarding the Messiah.
The result of his work there is told to us in Acts 17:4-9, “And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, ‘These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king — Jesus.’ And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.”
Because of all the trouble in Thessalonica, they sent Paul and Silas away and they traveled some 50 miles southwestward to Berea where once again they shared Jesus with the people. The results, “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds.” Acts 17:11-13.
Once again Paul was in trouble and the people sent Paul away and he heads south to Athens but Silas and Timothy stay in Berea for a time. In Athens Paul calls for Silas and Timothy to return and while in Athens he has a meeting with the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers and Paul picks up on their many gods, especially the altar to the unknown god and Paul wants them to know this unknown God, Jesus! As Paul concluded, we are told in Acts 17:32-34, “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, ‘We will hear you again on this matter.’ So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.” Not much fruit there in Athens and Paul is going to head down to Corinth, a wicked and immoral city and will spend the next 18 months or 1½ years there sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and establishing the church there!
But what was happening in Thessalonica? Was their faith real? Did the persecution against them weaken their faith? Paul wanted to know and he sent Timothy back to find out and while Timothy is heading to Thessalonica, (I Thessalonians 3:1-2), like I said, Paul goes to Corinth. Now as Timothy returns, (Acts 18:5), we are told, “But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you — therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith. For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God, night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith?” I Thessalonians 3:6-10.
Their faith was strong and we are going to see how that was possible in our study this evening. Now a couple of things before we begin to dig into this letter. First of all Paul wrote this letter from Corinth in around AD 50 or 51. If Galatians was written in AD 50 that means I Thessalonians is either Paul’s first or second letter he wrote that became part of the Bible, God’s Word. Of This G. Campbell Morgan tells us:
This letter is full of interest because it is certainly among the first of those which have been preserved for us from Paul. It was the first he wrote to European Christians, and in it the fundamental things of the Christian life are very clearly set forth.
- G. Campbell Morgan
Secondly, this letter can be divided up as follows. First Paul looks at the church – How it was born – I Thessalonians 1; How it grew – I Thessalonians 2; How it was established – I Thessalonians 3. Then, in chapters 4 and 5 Paul gives us a practical lesson of how the church is to walk - In holiness – I Thessalonians 4:1-8; In love – I Thessalonians 4:9-10; In honesty – I Thessalonians 4:11-12; In hope – I Thessalonians 4:13-18; In light – I Thessalonians 5:1-11; In gratitude – I Thessalonians 5:12-13; and In obedience – I Thessalonians 5:14-28.
So we have a lot of ground to cover in the next few weeks, the thing I want you to keep in mind is that Paul spent less than 1 month in this city teaching them, three Sabbaths, and yet look at the deep things he taught. I think what Paul did goes against what the Seeker-friendly churches are doing today, watering down the Word of God to make it less offensive and make people comfortable while Paul taught them the deep things of God and they grew, they matured in the faith as we see their walk flow from what has taken place in their heart! And their faith was so radical that what took place in their lives spread all over the place! Remember, it was a town that had people coming and going and as people passed through, they took with them what they saw, what they heard, so things spread quickly about their faith in Jesus. With that said, let’s begin reading in I Thessalonians chapter 1, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this evening.
VERSE 1
Paul, Silas or Silvanus and Timothy ministered in Thessalonica on Paul’s second missionary journey, they were a team and Luke the physician was also with them. Now Silas was probably a Hellenistic Jew and Timothy was Paul’s “son in the faith.” Because they all worked together in spreading the Gospel in this city, Paul includes them in his introduction because the people where aware of their love for God and the love they had for the people of Thessalonica.
Again, as is customary in Paul‘s letters he mentions grace and peace. The grace of God that is given to us through Jesus must first be received before we can experience the peace of God in our lives. I know I keep going back to these verses in Romans, but they are important. Paul tells us in Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” We need to make peace with God through Jesus Christ and then we can experience the peace of God in our life as we go through various trials and tribulations, the storms of life that will come!
Paul also shows us the equality of Jesus with the Father, that Jesus is God just as the Father is God. Not two different God’s, we are not polytheistic, but one God manifested in three distinct persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. A great Old Testament verse that shows Jesus is God is in Isaiah 44:6-7, where we read, “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, Since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, Let them show these to them.’” Notice, “Yahweh, the King of Israel” and “His Redeemer, the Yahweh of hosts.” The Father is God and Jesus is God and in the New Testament, Jesus put it this way in John 10:30, “I and My Father are one.”
Then why doesn’t Paul just say that Jesus is God? When you look at the Greek structure of this sentence, he does. On this Heibert tells us: “Paul’s construction, which unites the two under the government of the one preposition in (en), places the two names side by side on a basis of equality. It is a clear witness to his conviction concerning the deity of Jesus Christ.”
When you look at the totality of the Scriptures, to try and deny the deity of Jesus Christ means you have to deny what the Scriptures are clearly teaching, that Jesus is God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, our Immanuel – God with us!
VERSE 2
Keep in mind that Paul spent less than a month with the people of Thessalonica, establishing the church, and when he left he was run out of town! And yet Paul had a deep love for these people and their new found faith in Christ and he thanks God for them and he lifts them up in prayer just as Silas and Timothy were doing! Maybe that is one of the reasons this church stood strong and shinned brightly, they were prayed for!
VERSES 3-4
What does faith produce in our lives? Paul tells us that faith produces work because without it our faith is empty, it is dead. James put it this way in James 2:14-18, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
Paul speaks of AGAPE love and that should cause us to labor. The Greek word that Paul uses for “labor” is KOPOS (kop’-os) and it speaks of toil, pains, it “implies toil that is strenuous and sweat-producing.” We are teaching Christians today that they are kings to be served and not servants to serve, and thus, a few people do the church work. There are more spectators than players and there should be no spectators in the body of Christ! But not in Thessalonica, they had a love that caused them to labor, to work hard for the Lord, ministering to the body of Christ. If your labor is not done out of love, then it won’t last, you will stop, drop out, do nothing because you are doing it for the wrong reasons!
Why does hope produce patience or long-suffering endurance in us? Because our hope is in the Lord, that He will see us through the most difficult of times and in the end, He will bring us home to glory!
The Scriptures clearly teach that God chooses us, Divine Election! In Ephesians 1:4-6 Paul tells us, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” Jesus said in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” So then we don’t have a choice, we don’t have free will? Not exactly. Jesus said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And in Revelation 3:20 Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
So what is the answer, Divine Election or Free Will? Yes! I may not fully understand it, be able to comprehend it with my finite mind, but it is what the Bible teaches and thus we must believe it by faith that we are chosen by God and we have a free will to receive Him into our lives. Then how do you know if you are elected or not? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you are and if you reject Him, then you are not! The believers in Thessalonica where elected by God and now Paul is going to show us how this was manifested in their lives, that their faith was real!
VERSE 5
One of the problems in the church today is that people look at God’s Word as mere words. Folks, when Paul tells us in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” we need to believe it! And it is not only the Word of God but also the Word of God illuminated by the Spirit of God to our hearts and to our lives. It is God’s Word applied to our daily life. Thus, we have assurance; we have confidence to live what we believe. Can you imagine sharing your faith with someone and not having assurance, that would be crazy. Imagine buying a car and asking the salesman if the car is safe, that the safety record is good. And he comes back and tells you, “Well, it’s really a nice car. The color looks good and it has a CD player with 6 speakers, the sound is great!” What does that tell you? Don’t buy the car! Folks, believe God’s Word is powerful, it is living, it can change lives as the Holy Spirit open’s God’s Word up to us and have the assurance to share your faith with others!
It is as Paul said in I Corinthians 2:1-5, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
VERSE 6
Think of the things and the people you followed before you were saved and now look at what you are following since you have become a Christian, people who love the Lord, things that will build you up, not tear you down, at least that is what you should be doing! Remember what Paul said in Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” May we do that as the Thessalonian believers were doing.
We don’t like to talk about suffering, pressure upon us like grapes being squeezed in a press, but it is a reality. Peter tells us in I Peter 2:21, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.” Paul and Silas, before they came to Thessalonica were beaten up and thrown into prison for their faith and the Thessalonians saw the marks on their body for their faith in Christ, their faith was real! Folks, mere human joy will die under intense pressure, but the joy of the Holy Spirit will see it grow as Paul said in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”
What happened as these Thessalonian believers lived out their faith, as people saw that it was real? Let’s read on and see.
VERSE 7
Only followers of Jesus for a short time, the people saw their faith was real and they were examples, they encouraged other believers and word spread through the province of Macedonia or Northern Greece where Thessalonica, Philippi and Berea were located. Also to the province of Achaia or Southern Greece where Athens and Corinth were located. Again, with the seaport and the Roman road, the Egnatian Way, word was able to spread quickly and for good, not of any wrong they were doing! What an example they were and may we do no less. May we be an example to others of the faith we have in Jesus!
VERSES 8-10
What was all the buzz about? The changed lives, the transformed lives of these believers in Thessalonica and it was so radical that their faith spread out past Macedonia and Achaia. It was not just empty words but changed lives that made the difference, it was Jesus! They turned away from idols and they turned to Jesus, 180-degree turn to the living God! Of this Clarke tells us:
The mere preaching of the Gospel has done much to convince and convert sinners; but the lives of the sincere followers of Christ, as illustrative of the truth of these doctrines, have done much more.
- Clarke
Also, Spurgeon tells us:
Everybody asked, “Why, what happened to these Thessalonians? These people have broken their idols: they worship the one God; they trust in Jesus. They are no longer drunken, dishonest, impure, contentious.” Everybody talked of what had taken place among these converted people. Oh, for conversions, plentiful, clear, singular, and manifest; that so the word of God may sound out! Our converts are our best advertisements and arguments.
- Spurgeon
What were the believers in Thessalonica waiting for? The return of Jesus. Is this the Rapture or the Second Coming? I tend to see them looking for the Lord’s return in the Rapture, prior to God pouring out His wrath on a Christ rejecting world. Paul tells us in Titus 2:13, “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Why are so many Christians hopeless regarding this world? Because they are focused on this world and it is hopeless but we are not to focus ourselves on this world but upon the Lord and His return, He is coming back and He will restore this world to what it was like in the Garden of Eden as righteousness fills this land! Thus, we look forward to His return!
As I begin to close tonight let me share with you this regarding Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica. As young as this church was, they knew about how to live and they knew of eschatology or end times, the return of the Lord and they were waiting for Him! And as you read through this letter, you will find that every chapter ends with a reference to the Lord’s return:
It is as Spurgeon said, “Oh! This is a high mark of grace, when the Christian expects
his Lord to come, and lives like one that expects him every moment. If you and I knew to-night that the Lord would come before this service was over, in what state of heart should we sit in these pews? In the state of heart we ought to be.” May we be ready for His return, it is getting closer every day!