Acts 18:1-11 & 2 Thessalonians 1

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
Series: 2 Thessalonians (Acts)

Rusty's Notes

• We left off last week with Paul sending his 1st letter to the Church at Thessalonica… signed, sealed & delivered in 51 AD.
• Paul is in Corinth and we pick back up at Acts 18:1-3 (review from 05/31)

Acts 18
1 After this, he left Athens and went to Corinth,

• Corinth was approximately fifty miles from Athens and almost due west. (Show map)
• Corinth, with its 200,000 people, would not be the easiest city in which to start a church, and yet that’s where Paul went after leaving Athens.
• Corinth’s reputation for wickedness was known all over the Roman Empire. (Rom. 1:18–32 was written in Corinth!)
• Thanks to its location, the city was a center for both trade and travel. Money and vice, along with strange philosophies and new religions, came to Corinth and found a home there.
• Corinth was one of the two most important cities Paul visited. The other was Ephesus.

2 where he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them, 3 and since they were of the same occupation, tentmakers by trade, he stayed with them and worked.

• Jewish rabbis did not accept money from their students but earned their way by practicing a trade.
• Priscilla and Aquila are Jews who have been expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius.
• They, like Paul, are tentmakers. Because the Isthmian games are being held in Corinth at this time, there is a great need for temporary shelter. Thus the three tentmakers get plenty of business.
• Every pastor and missionary thanks God for people like Aquila and Priscilla, people with hands, hearts, and homes dedicated to the work of the Lord.
• Paul lived and worked with Aquila and Priscilla, but on the Sabbath days witnessed boldly in the synagogue.

4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

• After all, that was why he had come to Corinth. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia (Acts 17:14–15; 18:5), they brought financial aid (2 Cor. 11:9), and this enabled Paul to devote his full time to the preaching of the Gospel.[1]

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself to preaching the word and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. 6 When they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his clothes and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

• “Blaspheme” - to speak against someone in such a way as to harm or injure his or her reputation (occurring in relation to persons as well as to divine beings)[2]
• Ezekiel 3:18-19 - 18 If I say to the wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him—you don’t speak out to warn him about his wicked way in order to save his life—that wicked person will die for his iniquity. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood. 19 But if you warn a wicked person and he does not turn from his wickedness or his wicked way, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have rescued yourself.[3]
• Whenever God is blessing a ministry, you can expect increased opposition as well as increased opportunities.[4]

7 So he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

• A Roman citizen named Gaius Titius Justus is brought to Christ as well.
• Gaius is a well-to-do God-fearer with a large home that is located next door to the synagogue.
• The home holds about 50-60 people. Gaius opens up his home for Paul to minister in and for the believers to gather.
• Next door to the synagogue is indication they he had not completely given up on the Jews.

8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole household. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.

• Crispus (the synagogue ruler) and his household are also converted and baptized along with some others. (Paul only baptizes Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas. They, along with Priscilla and Aquila, baptize the other converts.)
• As is his custom when he plants a church, Paul grounds the Corinthians on nothing but Christ and His cross.
• He declares to them that they are called into the fellowship of God’s Son, and he brings them into that very experience.
• He also tells them stories of the perseverance of other churches, including the church in Thessalonica.
• The Body of Jesus Christ is now present in Corinth, expressing God’s nature in the city.
• While a number of the believers are of high standing, most are uneducated and poor. (This is true for all the churches that Paul plants.)

9 The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”

• It is just like our Lord to speak to us when we need Him the most.
• His tender “Fear not!” can calm the storm in our hearts regardless of the circumstances around us.
• This is the way He assured Abraham (Gen. 15:1), Isaac (Gen. 26:24), and Jacob (Gen. 46:3), as well as Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 20:15–17), Daniel (Dan. 10:12, 19), Mary (Luke 1:30), and Peter (Luke 5:10).
• The next time you feel alone and defeated, meditate on Hebrews 13:5 and Isaiah 41:10 and 43:1–7, and claim by faith the presence of the Lord. He is with you![5]
• Isaiah 43:1-7 - 1 Now this is what the Lord says--

the one who created you, Jacob,
and the one who formed you, Israel--
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name; you are mine.

• When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you
and the rivers will not overwhelm you,
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be scorched
and the flame will not burn you.

• For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior.
I have given Egypt as a ransom for you,
Cush and Seba in your place.

• Because you are precious in my sight

and honored, and I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you
and nations instead of your life.

• Do not fear, for I am with you;

I will bring your descendants from the east,
and gather you from the west.

• I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’

and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’
Bring my sons from far away,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth--

• everyone who bears my name

and is created for my glory.
I have formed them; indeed, I have made them.”[6]
11 He stayed there a year and a half, teaching the word of God among them. [7]

• As a token of thanksgiving to God for His promise of protection, Paul lets his hair grow long as part of a voluntary Nazarite vow.
• Spring 52
• While Paul is laboring in Corinth, he gets word that the Thessalonican believers misunderstood what he wrote about the Lord’s second coming in his first letter.
• The church mistakenly believes that the Day of the Lord’s wrath is at hand.
• As a result, many are disturbed in spirit.
• Some quit their jobs in anticipation of the Lord’s coming and are living off the other believers who work for a living.
• Having too much time on their hands, these individuals are acting as “busybodies” in the lives of others.
• It travels back to Paul via their Neighborhood Facebook group.

 
PAUL WRITES 2 THESSALONIANS
Year: A.D. 52
From: Corinth
To: The church in Thessalonica (which is about 10 months old)
Provocation: Paul comforts the church in its affliction and assures the believers that God will bring vengeance on those who do the afflicting.

• He corrects their misunderstanding about the Day of the Lord and Christ’s return, and clarifies what he taught concerning it when he was first with them.
• He ends the letter by correcting those brothers who have quit their jobs and instructs the church to not associate with them as long as they are living undisciplined lives.
• Paul ends by encouraging the whole church to not become weary in well-doing.
• 2 Thessalonians is the Cliff Notes of 1 Thessalonians:
• 4 themes: 1) Paul’s integrity 2) Persecution 3) Proper moral conduct 4) Coming of the Lord

 
2 THESSALONIANS
GREETING
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy:

• Paul says who the letter is from first to show authority.
• If it was to royalty/king then their name would most likely be mentioned first.

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

• “Our” is inclusive of Paul’s audience saying they believe in the same God.

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

• Grace first, peace second
• Peace – “Shalom”

 
THANKSGIVING
3 We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, since your faith is flourishing and the love each one of you has for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, we ourselves boast about you among God’s churches—about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions that you are enduring.

• That was the commendation.

5 It is clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment that you will be counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also are suffering, 6 since it is just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels, 8 when he takes vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious strength 10 on that day when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed.

• That was the comfort… even though it covers judgment

11 In view of this, we always pray for you that our God will make you worthy of his calling, and by his power fulfill your every desire to do good and your work produced by faith, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.[8]

• That was the challenge… keep walking in the Spirit.
• Paul expresses his pastoral role to the Church.
• “Brothers and sisters”
• Encouraging them in their faith.
• Discipling them in their faith. Explaining things.
• We pray for you.
• Paul exhorts the Church
• Your faith is flourishing and you are encouraging one another.
• To do good works that are produced by faith.
• Paul mentions this as an encouragement but also a desire for them to continue.
• Affirming their positive strengths.
• Paul foreshadows his letter

V 5-10 – deal with the judgment of God

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 475). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 433). New York: United Bible Societies.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Eze 3:18–19). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 475). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 476). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Is 43:1–7). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ac 18:1–11). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (2 Th). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.