• We left off last week with Paul encouraging the Church through persecution they were experiencing.

 
PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH
1 Thessalonians 3
11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.

• At least four times Paul has told them this.
• Military reference from 2:18 – our way has been blocked (by satan/evil one)
• May the Lord clear the way/path so we can get to you.

12 And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just as we do for you. 13 May he make your hearts blameless (strengthen) in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Amen.[1]

• That verbal phrase “strengthen your hearts” provides a link to what Paul has said earlier in 3:2.
• There Paul talks about how he sent Timothy to the persecuted church in Thessalonica in order [to do] exactly the same thing, “to strengthen [your hearts].”
• So this is a way in which the second prayer anticipates this discussion that Paul is going to have, not love for God and/or Jesus, although that surely was part of the parcel, but here he’s concentrating about the love that the Thessalonians ought to have for one another, and that’s found in the second prayer.
• A second theme in the prayer is this concern for holiness.
• A third topic or concern in the prayer which looks ahead is a reference to what is a temporal reference to the coming of the Lord Jesus “with all his holy ones.”
• May he make your hearts blameless (strengthen) in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
• He has already made our hearts blameless through his blood.
• He is referring to us learning how to live out of the holiness.
• May we be strengthened in the understanding of our holiness and choose to live out of that strength.

 

• Well, we’re at that middle point. We’ve finished our careful study of the first half of the body of the letter, and now Paul, with the help of his transitional prayers, has nicely echoed and concluded the concerns of the first half, but he’s also prepared us well to anticipate the discussion he’s going to have now in the second half of the letter.[2]

 

• Do you believe that we live in a sex saturated world? (TV, movies, internet, etc)
• Do you think it is the worst it ever has been right now?
• Your perspective is maybe 2-4 generations old.
• This letter was written to the Gentiles. The ones who worshipped so many different gods.
• These pagan gods were sexual in their characteristics.
• Man-made gods… why wouldn’t they be sexual?
• Understand the culture during that time:
• We can see that, first of all, in marriage in that time.
• Marriage back then was not a choice but most often an arranged marriage between a man in his twenties and a girl barely in her teens.
• And given the arrangement of the marriage and given the difference in age, it was actually expected that the husband would have a sexual partner who was different than his wife;
• and evidence that that indeed happened, and happened widely, can be seen in grave inscriptions.
• Prostitution is something that you and I wouldn’t want in any way to be associated with, but in the ancient world it really wasn’t a big deal at all.
• In fact, there were many leading and important citizens, people of the upper class, who made money off of men and women in prostitution, and there was no sense of shame or embarrassment about that at all.[3]
• Cicero gave this statement in response to the habits of men who were engaging in the services of affairs with prostitutes. He wrote:

“If anyone thinks that young men should be forbidden to have affairs even with prostitutes, he is very strict indeed … for his view is contrary not only to the law of the present age but even with the habits of our ancestors and what they used to consider allowable. For when was this not a common practice? When was it blamed? When was it forbidden? When, in fact, did that which was lawful become that which was not lawful?

• Cato is a Stoic philosopher who lived a little bit before the time of Paul, and he gave this advice to men. He said, [in effect,] “Men, in order to satisfy your sexual desire, don’t do that with another man’s wife. Make use of a prostitute instead.” That was his practical advice about how men should handle their sexual desires.
• So it’s not surprising that this predominantly Gentile church, who were still relatively new in their faith, would need further instruction from Paul about, well, what [it means] to turn from idols and to serve the living and true God [and how they can] more faithfully live lives in which they do indeed serve that living and true God.
• In English we have this expression “old habits die hard.” So, again, to newbie Christians—to believers who are young in the faith; to Christians who are experiencing pushback and opposition—the apostle Paul is concerned that these Jesus followers might revert back to their former inappropriate behavior.
• And so there is a need—and Timothy informed Paul about this need—to encourage and to equip the Thessalonian Christians to [be holy] in their sexual conduct.[4]
• So the second half of the letter is going to share with the Thessalonians how they can do just that.[5]

THE CALL TO SANCTIFICATION
1 Thessalonians
4 Additionally then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received instruction from us on how you should live and please God—as you are doing—do this even more. 2 For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is God’s will, your sanctification:

• Paul says this: “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.”
• We could equally translate it, “It is God’s will that you should be holy.”
• The words “sanctified” and “holy” are two different English words for the one Greek word that lies behind them both (hagiasmos), and this is a key word occurring four times in the paragraph, holding this paragraph together and revealing its primary theme.
• It’s a passage about being holy—and, especially, holy with regard to your sexual conduct.[6]​

that you keep away from sexual immorality,

• The first of the three commands is the shortest and the most general, and it goes like this. He says, in verse 3b, “You should avoid sexual immorality.” The verb that Paul uses here (“avoid”) is actually a rather strong one in the original Greek language, and it has the idea of not just avoiding something but keeping away from.
• You know, there is a strong sense of “don’t come anywhere near.”
• The word porneia is typically understood as referring to any form of sexual misconduct.
• this first command is quite countercultural. And the challenge is also for us today[7]

4 that each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not with lustful passions, like the Gentiles, who don’t know God.

• Paul is talking about how each person should learn to control their own vessel; that is, they should control their own body; that is, they should control their own sexual desires.[8]
• He says here, in the second command of verses 4 and 5, “that each of you should learn to control.”
• Now, I am not naïve. I recognize how there are other things that are influenced by our genetic makeup that are not easy to control.
• For instance, some of us are prone to anger; we fly off the handle just like that. It’s not easy to fix, but yet we are still called upon to correct our behavior. Some of us struggle with food; somehow we’re wired in a way that we react to food differently than other people do.
• Yet we are still called upon—it may not be easy, but we’re still called upon—to, well, to learn to develop control.
• And in a similar way, Paul says that when it comes to our sexual desires, even though we’ve been created with these desires, we have to learn how to control them.
• And how do we control them? For the second time in the passage, he talks about the word “holy,” that we control our body in a way that is holy and honorable, “not in passionate lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.”[9]
• The same thing comes up with another important Old Testament text from Lev 20:23–26. God says this to His covenant people:
• “Do not follow the practices of the nations whom I am driving out before you.… I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from all the nations.… And you will be holy to me, because I, the Lord your God, am holy, the one who separated you from all the nations to be mine.”
• Again, I hope you heard the connection between the two references to “holy” and the words “separated” and “separated” because, again, we are getting this idea that the meaning, the concept of the word holy and holiness, is the idea of being unique, being set apart, being distinctive, being separate.[10]

6 This means one must not transgress against and take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you.

• The third command says that to be holy in our sexual conduct means you act in a way in which you don’t bring harm to others.
• Paul says, “The Lord will punish people for all such sins.”
• Now, he adds, at the beginning, the little word “because,” which is omitted in most translations, but it’s important because it shows that this statement is meant to give a justification for the commands that come before it.
• Why should the Thessalonians, and why should we, be holy in our sexual conduct?
• And the first reason has to do with the Lord Jesus Christ and something that He is going to do in the future, Paul says, “because …”; and a more literal rending of the verse is “because an avenger is the Lord concerning all these things.”
• The first reason, for being holy in one’s sexual conduct has to do with the future return of Jesus.[11]

7 For God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness.

• He’s saying, “You guys who live in a sex-saturated society, God’s will is that you be holy; that you be separate; that you be set apart; that you be distinct; that you be, well, peculiar when it comes to not only attitudes toward sex but also practices toward sex.”
• And if you’re keeping track, and I am, this is now the third of four occasions within the paragraph of verses 3–8 where Paul uses this keyword and key concept of “holy” because the big theme of the whole passage is the challenge and the call for the Christians not only of the ancient world but us today to live what kind of life with regard to our sexual conducts?
• To live a holy life. And Paul reminds us that God has called us—God has appointed us—to live just that way.[12]

8 Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

• Paul doesn’t really write “God gives you his Holy Spirit”; he writes, “God gives you his Spirit who is holy.”
• Is there a difference between the two? Yes, there is.
• The second reading puts an emphasis on the character of the Spirit that God gives.
• Paul is stressing that God is giving not any old spirit to us His people; He is giving us a Holy Spirit.
• So the reason we can live a holy life is because we have the Holy Spirit living within us.
• Now, Paul is not teaching this, but this verse reveals his indebtedness to the Old Testament. Paul is a thoroughly trained Jew who knows the Old Testament inside out. And here he is reflecting—again, not teaching, but he is reflecting—in his statement beliefs and convictions that the Jewish people had about the future, about how one day God would pour out His Spirit.
• So, if we imagine an Old Testament perspective for a moment, we say, “O God, how we love your law. Out of all the people in the earth, we are the only ones with whom you’ve entered into a covenant relationship.
• We are the only ones to whom you have revealed your will. But although we’re glad for the law, we are struggling with the attempt to obey it fully, so we are appreciative of the sacrifices, which don’t pay for our sins but give us an opportunity to express our true penitence for our failures and our true gratitude for your grace in our lives.”
• We nevertheless are looking to the future, a future time that Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel talked about, a time when God would, well, enter into a new kind of relationship with us His people, a new covenant; and part of that new covenant is that God will pour out His Spirit. And we want that Spirit. Why? Not just because we have the Spirit for the Spirit’s sake. No, the Spirit will empower us to do and to be what God has always called us to do and be, and that is—already, at Mount Sinai—“a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
• So God’s will for His people doesn’t change. He has always called His covenant people to be holy as He is holy.
•  The key to living such lives of holiness is the present and ongoing presence of God’s Spirit.
• So here, as elsewhere in Paul’s letters, the Holy Spirit is the power that enables believers to live holy lives.
• What Paul is promising the Thessalonians, and what God’s Word is promising us here in this third cause is that we who are members of God’s people [have] been given the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, which ultimately is a gift of power, power to overcome sin and to live the holy life that God has always called His people to live.
• So how can we be holy in our sexual conduct?

Well, we can’t do it on our strength, [and] we can’t do it by our own abilities, but we can do it with the present empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. That’s the good news of the gospel that Paul shares with the Thessalonians, and that is also good news for you and me.[13]


[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Th 3:1–13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[8] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[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] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

• 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.

• We left off last week with Paul’s introduction (opening) and verses of Thanksgiving for the Church at Thessalonica.

 
PAUL’S CONDUCT
1 THESSALONIANS 2

• In 2:1–12, Paul is defending his past character during his three-plus Sabbaths in that church.

1 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our visit with you was not without result.

• Paul emphasized the fact that the readers themselves must testify to his character.
• “You know” is emphatic in the Greek text.
• If Paul was combating critics, he did so by calling on the Thessalonians as defense witnesses.[1]
• He’s reminding them of what was done and also looking for confirmation.
• “Yes, right?”

2 On the contrary, after we had previously suffered and were treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, we were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel of God to you in spite of great opposition.

• They were beaten Philippi and ran out of town.
• But then God gave them boldness/courage to come to Thessalonica and teach the same message.
• Tell me today, that Pastors aren’t told what to preach/talk about on Sunday mornings.
• Paul said he came to speak the Good News instead of what everyone else is instructing him to do.

3 For our exhortation didn’t come from error or impurity or an intent to deceive.

• Even in Paul’s days, there were people who preached a message with the intent of making money.

4 Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please people, but rather God, who examines our hearts.

• A person obligated to speak for one who can judge the heart would be foolish to change the message in order to please the hearers.
• Such an act would comprise a breach of trust.
• Thus it was impossible in the mind of the apostle to be a person pleaser and a God pleaser at the same time[2]
• A steward owns nothing, but possesses and uses everything that belongs to his master.[3]
• Are you a good steward of your resources, time and physical body?

5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives—God is our witness--

• Paul didn’t put on a show or manipulate emotions to share the Gospel.
• There were no fancy presentations.
• There was no salesmanship occurring.
• Material support in return for spiritual or philosophical instruction was common both in the church and in the Hellenistic world in general.
• It was not considered improper.
• In this context the term indicates more than simple financial support.
• It refers to the weight of authority that might put a demand for financial support or a demand for respect.[4]

6 and we didn’t seek glory from people, either from you or from others.

• What is the problem that Paul is trying to address?”
• And the answer is [that] he’s trying to react and correct criticisms about his character from opponents.
• Paul’s opponents were both the Jews & the Gentiles.
• He was teaching and people were converting from Judaism and the pagan gods.
• You probably have had that experience where someone you know is in the room and they get a phone call, and you hear one half of the conversation.
• But even though you don’t hear the other half, it’s not difficult, usually, for you to reconstruct what the other person is saying.
• And something similar like that is true for us when we read Paul’s letters.
• We are hearing one half of the conversation, Paul’s half, but from what Paul says we can pretty easily and pretty confidently reconstruct what the other half is, what other people were saying to which Paul is now responding.[5]

 

• Paul, in our passage, gives the Christians in Thessalonica three pictures, three family pictures: a picture of an infant, a picture of a mother, and a picture of a father.
• And Paul gives them these three pictures in order to help the Thessalonians think about Paul in the right way.
• Paul is concerned about this issue because he knows of the intimate connection between the messenger and the message.
• The intimate link between the messenger and the message.
• In other words, if there are any questions about the character of the messenger, that automatically can raise in people’s minds questions about the character, the integrity, of the message.[6]
• Trust – If you don’t trust your pastor, you need to find one you can.
• The same thing Paul is teaching is what I am teaching.
• Trust the Father. But how can we teach you to trust the Father if you can’t even trust us?
• One of my biggest issues, is integrity.
• Some say that is a pride issue.
• Let me be the 1st to say, I’m not perfect in my behavior.
• But when it comes to my integrity, you might have just pushed one of my buttons.
• I want to be able to live my life (even though I still do acts of the flesh) so that it will publicly prove my integrity.
• I am not interested in putting on a show.
• I am interested in people connecting with me and trusting me.
• It is through the connection and trust that they will listen to the message of Jesus Christ.
• If I can’t connect with people and build their trust, then I am nothing but a clanging gong.
• I don’t see it as a “pride issue” but a necessity for the Gospel to be heard by the community.

7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle (infant) among you,

• The idea of innocence also comes from an ancient author of Paul’s day.
• Philo, the important Jewish writer, said this: “It is impossible for the greatest liar to invent a charge against infants”—same word that Paul uses—“as they are wholly innocent.”
• So this quote from Philo is important to show that in the ancient world the word that Paul uses--nēpios or “infant” or “baby”—was associated with the idea of innocence.[7]

as a nurse (mother/ wet nurse) nurtures her own children. 8 We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers.

• Interesting how Paul refers to himself as a nursing mom.
• One that connects intimately with their children no matter what they do.
• Mothers have a tendency to look the child in the eye during nursing and there is a connection there that a Dad will never have.
• The sacrifice of a nursing mother is that she is available both day and night.
• The nursing mother eats the food and transforms it into milk for the baby.
• The mature Christian feeds on the Word of God and then shares its nourishment with the younger believers so they can grow.
• This metaphor Paul uses about his ministry is to help them understand how much he deeply loves them.
• So, although effective ministry demands that pastors and church leaders act in a professional way, ministry must never become a profession.[8]

11 As you know, like a father with his own children, 12 we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to live worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.[9]

• There is no question that, in the ancient world, parents—and especially fathers—were authoritative powerful figures.
• That has changed in our society because we get Homer Simpson, Tim the Toolman Taylor, Al Bundy and Phil Dunfy.
• In other words, it’s important to see that Paul is not misusing his authoritative fatherly role; instead, Paul says the purpose of [his] being a father to [them was to help them] live lives that are “worthy of God.”
• What does it mean to “walk worthy of God”?
• Walk by the Spirit
• Having my integrity with Cory & Chloe is more important than having it with you.
• They have to trust me if I am going to have intimate conversations with them.
• I used to come at them with emotions… it just turned them away.
• So there are clear structures put on the authority and the purpose of that authoritative role that Paul, as a spiritual father, has.
• Pastors do not wait to discover how the rest of the congregation feels about a particular issue before they venture their own opinion; but instead, they, in an appropriate way, move ahead in articulating a vision for the future.
• That means that church leaders don’t quickly retract statements or change their opinion at the first sign that people don’t like what they say.
• In other words, they are not afraid to run the risk of saying things that are biblical and that are relevant and true but are also potentially unpopular.
• These three same family metaphors are true and appropriate not just for those in leadership position but for all members of the church.[10]

[1] Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, p. 70). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, pp. 73–74). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 163). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, p. 76). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[5] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[8] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[9] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Th 2:1–12). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[10] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

• We left off last week with Paul in Corinth.
• Silas and Timothy rejoined him there.
• Timothy has given him a direct report of all that has occurred in Thessaloniki since Paul’s departure.
• Paul sits down to write this letter to the Church at Thessalonica.
• The Church in Thessalonica was close to perfect as you could get in comparison to the other churches Paul writes letters to.
• “If you find the perfect church, don’t join it because you will make it imperfect.” Statement based upon behavior.
  
  

1 THESSALONIANS
GREETING
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy:

• First and Second Thessalonians are the only two of his letters in which Paul did not add some elaboration to his name and/or to the names of his cosenders.[1]

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

• Paul uses the word church which is transcribed ekklesia in Greek.
• The word church means “a called-out people.”
• Whenever you read about a call in the Bible, it indicates divine election—God is calling out a people from this world.[2]
• The Jews were God’s chosen people (called out) in the Old Covenant.
• Ekklēsia is also a synonym for “synagogue” (synagōgē) and was occasionally used of Jewish assemblies in the Septuagint.[3]
• Yes, Paul was intentional in using “ekklesia” because he was making the point of "oneness" in Christ.
• There had to be Jews who were upset that he was including the Gentiles.
• There had to be Gentiles who didn't want to be associated with the Jews.
• But those who were focused on Paul's message of Good News were rejoicing in the "oneness".

Grace to you and peace.

• Grace precedes peace, because peace is the result of grace.
• When God’s grace comes to you, then grace will come from you and you will have peace.

 
THANKSGIVING

• This “thanksgiving” section is a commendation and exhortation.
• It is the “coming attractions” for the body of the letter.

2 We always thank God for all of you, making mention of you constantly in our prayers.

• Paul could not call them, social network, visit them.
• He could not be with them.
• His only option was to think about them and pray for them.

3 We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

• Faith, hope and love.
• Timothy has shared how they have modeled their faith to Paul.
• Works were produced by faith
• Labor was motivated by love
• Endurance was inspired by hope
• All three were based upon “in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
• Jesus does this through the Church.

4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,

• Elect, chosen because they are “in Christ”.

5 because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance.

• It was not because we spoke eloquently.
• But you could clearly see God working in us and through us.
• Power = “dynamite”
• The assurance of the converts, if that is what Paul had in mind, might have been demonstrated by their willingness to endure persecution even after Paul was run out of the city[4]

You know how we lived among you for your benefit, 6 and you yourselves became imitators of us and of the Lord

• We patterned for you what it was like to live your life by another power.
• There was no New Testament at that time.
• It was Paul, Silas & Timothy’s spoken word as well as the Spirit living and working through them.
• You are talking about Paul, the killer of Christians.
• See how the Lord transformed him.
• If Paul, the man who killed Christians, can have a heart change, then so can you.

when, in spite of severe persecution,

• The Gospel was in opposition of idolatry.
• Christians got blamed for everything.

you welcomed the message with joy from the Holy Spirit.

• You had faith, hope and love from the Holy Spirit.

7 As a result, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

• Paul is commending here with also the implication that they should continue on doing these things.
• People are talking about you all over the world.

8 For the word of the Lord rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place that your faith in God has gone out.

• This is the ripple effect.
• It was evident. They couldn’t hold back
• It was like this loudspeaker.
• Not only in their words but their life actions.

Therefore, we don’t need to say anything, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception we had from you: how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

• This leads us to believe that the majority of the believers in Thessalonica were Gentiles because they turned from their idols/gods.

10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.[5]

• Paul teases them with the resurrection and what is to come.
• He will answer their questions in chapters 4-5.

 
What every church should be is what every Christian should be: elect (born again), exemplary (imitating the right people), enthusiastic (sharing the Gospel with others), and expectant (daily looking for Jesus Christ to return).[6]

[1] Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, p. 47). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 159). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, p. 50). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[4] Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, p. 59). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (1 Th). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 163). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.