1 Thessalonians 2:13 - 3:10

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
​Series: 1 Thessalonians (Acts)

Rusty's Notes

• We left off last week with Paul validating himself…

 
RECEPTION AND OPPOSITION TO THE MESSAGE
1 Thessalonians 2
13 This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the word of God, which also works effectively in you who believe.

• Paul was praising the Thessalonians for their spiritual wisdom.
• They recognized and accepted the gospel as a word from God himself, not the product of debatable human wisdom.
• The fact that this word “is at work in you who believe” serves as further validation both of the truth of the gospel and of the Thessalonian faith.
• The present tense participle “believe” shifts the focus of the verse from the event of the Thessalonians’ conversion to the present state of their faith.[1]

14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, since you have also suffered the same things from people of your own country,

• The gospel was worth suffering for.
• Persecution started in Jerusalem, spread through Israel and now has made its way to Mecedonia.

just as they did from the Jews 15 who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us.

• This is the only instance in which Paul charged “the Jews” with the death of Jesus (cf. 1 Cor 2:8).
• “the Jews” is used as a reference not to the people as a whole nor even to those who remained Jews religiously but to those Jews who actively opposed the spread of the gospel.[2]
• Was Paul giving evidence of “religious bigotry” when he accused the Jews of killing Jesus Christ and persecuting the Christians? No, he was simply stating a fact of history.
• Nowhere does the Bible accuse all Jews of what a few Jews did in Jerusalem and Judea when Christ was crucified and the church founded.
• The Romans also participated in the trial and death of Christ, and, for that matter, it was our sins that sent Him to the cross (Isa. 53:6).
• There is no place in the Christian faith for anti-Semitism.
• The first Christians were Jews, as was Paul, the greatest Christian missionary.
• Paul himself loved his fellow Jews and sought to help them (Acts 24:17; Rom. 9:1–5).
• Why, then, did the leaders of Israel officially reject Jesus Christ and persecute His followers? They were only repeating the sins of their fathers.
• Their ancestors had persecuted the prophets long before Jesus came to earth (Matt. 5:10–12).[3]

They displease God and are hostile to everyone,

• Paul encouraged the suffering Christians by assuring them that their experiences were not new or isolated.
• Others had suffered before them and were even then suffering with them.[4]

16 by keeping us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. As a result, they are constantly filling up their sins to the limit, and wrath has overtaken them at last.

• Paul was feeling a little bit sensitive to the criticism, apparently from those outside the church, that “If Paul were really genuine, if he was really sincere, how come he hasn’t come back? How come he hasn’t returned? He’s kind of taken your money and your attention, and he’s left the scene.”
• So our passage comes logically where it does, after 2:1–16, because Paul moves from the past defense to, now, a present defense.[5]

 
PAUL’S DESIRE TO SEE THEM

• Don’t give up on me (Paul)

17 But as for us, brothers and sisters, after we were forced to leave you for a short time (in person, not in heart),

• The Greek term used here, aporphanizō, describes separation between people.
• It was often used in the context of parent-child relationships in which it could describe either children who had been orphaned by their parents or parents who had lost their children.
• Here Paul depicts himself as a father cut off from his children—the Thessalonian believers (compare v. 11).[6]
• Paul is the orphan from the Church at Thessalonica.
• And this is another powerful picture or powerful metaphor that Paul makes.
• If you think about a young boy or girl who loses their parents, they can’t see them, and they often start crying.
• And this is the emotion that Paul is trying to evoke by this metaphor.
• Paul says, “You know, I’m like a little child. I’ve been torn away; I have been orphaned from you, and I’m grieving this separation.”[7]

we greatly desired and made every effort to return and see you face to face.

• Zoom Meetings don’t cut it during a pandemic.
• I hugged someone yesterday and you could feel the emotion between the two of us. I even heard an emotional gasp from the spouse who wasn’t hugging others. There was an obvious absence there.

18 So we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us.

• Military metaphor – “blocked” – dug out in the road.
• Later uses term “the Lord make a way.”

19 For who is our hope or joy or crown of boasting in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 Indeed you are our glory and joy![8]

• If you said to someone, “I love you,” that would be one way of expressing your love.
• But what if you said, “I really, really, really, really, really love you”?
• And that’s kind of what Paul does in this paragraph.
• He goes over the top; he uses excessively emotive language in order to drive home this truth and to make sure there’s no doubt in his readers’ minds at all about his genuine love for them.[9]

 
ANXIETY IN ATHENS
1 Thessalonians 3

• Don’t give up on the faith

1 Therefore, when we could no longer stand it, we thought it was better to be left alone in Athens. 2 And we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ,

• Did Paul really need to explain who Timothy was?
• Were there multiple Timothys?
• No! He was affirming the authority of Timothy among the church.

to strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith, 3 so that no one will be shaken by these afflictions.

• The Greek word thlipsis is not referring to the bad things [that] happen to all people, that come from living in a fallen world.
• And what that involved in the ancient world was not [getting] thrown into jail or thrown to the lions or in the arena; instead, it’s more accurate to think about ridicule, ostracization, [or] maybe spontaneous acts of violence.
• But that kind of social harassment [is] the key concept that these early Christians were experiencing.
• And it was not because their pagan neighbors were upset that they worshiped Jesus.
• No, it was the fact that they worshiped only Jesus.
• It was the exclusivity of the Christian faith that got them into trouble. So Christians, by not participating in the pagan practices of that day, often wounded public sensibilities, and it led them to being charged [with] being atheists.[10]
• Much like today. If you say, “Jesus is my sole focus.”, you will be called out for not taking a stand on one of the many social agendas that is happening in our world right now.
• Paul was literally encouraging the Church to continue their practice of focusing on their faith in Jesus alone.
• Focus, focus, focus… don’t be distracted by all that is going on around you.
• It is your faith in Jesus that is going to allow you to love and serve others… not your words… not your posts… not your selfish motives… not your agenda… your faith alone in Jesus… Stay focused.

For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this.
4 In fact, when we were with you, we told you in advance that we were going to experience affliction, and as you know, it happened.

• Paul is saying that his reader should not be surprised or discouraged by the suffering, since they already know that these things are a normal part of the Christian life.
• Paul was encouraging the Thessalonians in the midst of their suffering [and] to make sure that they remain strong in their faith is to remind them of something he said many times, and that is that it is normal for followers of Jesus Christ to experience this pushback.[11]

5 For this reason, when I could no longer stand it,

• Repeated verse 1.
• “no longer stand it” – watertight – leaking out of a vessel.
• Paul loved the Church at Thessalonica so much that it was cracking and leaking… like a ship or a bowl.

I also sent him to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter had tempted you and that our labor might be for nothing.
 
ENCOURAGED BY TIMOTHY

• God hasn’t given up on you
• Just like the two troubles in paragraphs one and two ultimately stem from Satan’s evil supernatural power—verses 2:18 in the first unit and 3:5 in the second—so, also, the solution to the two troubles is God’s good supernatural grace.[12]

6 But now Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news about your faith and love.

• Timothy has just returned as Paul pens this letter.
• Paul is encouraging them about “their faith”

He reported that you always have good memories of us and that you long to see us, as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and affliction, we were encouraged about you through your faith.

• Faith & love were, and still are, the distinctive characteristics of those who are true members of the community of the redeemed (Gal. 5:6; Eph. 1:15; Col. 1:4–5; 1 Tim. 1:14; Phlm. 5; Rev. 2:19).[13]

8 For now we live, if you stand firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God for you in return for all the joy we experience before our God because of you, 10 as we pray very earnestly night and day to see you face to face and to complete what is lacking in your faith?[14]

• There is something about seeing a person face to face.
• About touching them… hugging them… having conversation without restrictions of letter writing, social networking or seeing them through a screen.
• We always long for the reunion… my sister and niece are flying to Indy on Saturday.
• We are taking 66 people to camp next Sunday.
• We get to reunite at Pinheads on July 12th…
• In the mean time…
• How can we thank God?

[1] Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, p. 88). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, pp. 90–91). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 169). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 169). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (1 Th 2:17). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Th 2:13–20). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[9] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[10] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[11] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[12] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[13] Green, G. L. (2002). The letters to the Thessalonians (p. 167). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.
[14] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Th 3:1–10). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.