| Home | Our Hope | |
| Bible Study |
|
June 6, 2010 |
| Praise For The Worthy | ||
"The New Testament epistles have, as a rule, some specific quality or characteristic by which they are known. Romans is the epistle of gospel truth; Corinthians of the Church; Galatians of grace; Ephesians of the highest Christian life; Philippians of the sweetest Christian life; Colossians of the Christ life, etc.
"The letters to the Thessalonians are the advent epistles. The one theme that runs throughout the two letters like a sort of golden thread and appears in every chapter in connection with some important and practical doctrine, is the blessed hope of the Lord's coming. So prominently did this subject occupy the preaching of Paul during his visit to Thessalonica, that when his enemies brought charges against him before the rulers of the city, they made this the point of their accusation, that 'these that have turned the world upside down have come hither also...and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another King, one Jesus.' It is evident from this that the general impression received from his preaching in Thessalonica was that the Christ to whom he bore witness was a real King, and was coming again to establish a kingdom on the earth. Otherwise there would have been no possible ground for jealousy on the part of Caesar's friends.
"The fact that the letters to the Thessalonians were Paul's earliest epistles, and that this subject occupies so prominent a place in them, makes it very plain that the doctrine of the Lord's coming is not an advanced truth that can only be understood by deeply spiritual Christians. It is one of the primary doctrines of the Gospel, and is part of the very essence of the Gospel of the Kingdom."1
But as in his other epistles Paul begins with a greeting and a remembrance of the things the church is doing.
1Paul, Silas and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.
2We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.
Except for "2 Corinthians and Galatians, which are letters of severe correction"2, this opening is similar to the openings of Paul's other epistles. To the Romans he says 'I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all'; to the Ephesians he says '[that he did] not cease giving thanks for [them]'; to the Philippians he says 'I thank my God in all my remembrance of you'.
"A reading of the Pauline epistles makes clear that Paul assigned a high place to thanksgiving in the Christian life."3
"Thanksgiving is the capacity to appreciate God's goodness to us - even the disagreeable things that happen to us. We come to realize that everything that God allows to come into our lives, He does for our good. The regularly recurring nature of the thanksgiving is implied in the use of the present tense of the verb. It was their practice to give thanks to God 'continually, never skipping a single day.'"4
It's easy to give thanks for the good things that come into our lives. But just as it is instinctual to try to solve our own problems instead of turning to God, it is instinctual to see the difficult times only as a trial rather than a blessing.
Do you see all that comes into your life whether sad or glad, no matter how you feel, as allowed by an omnipotent God who is in control?
3We continually 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.
Like a proud father, Paul continually remembers, in the presence of God, the things the Thessalonians have done. And he lists them.
"Your work produced by faith. The reference is probably to acts of duty, holiness, and benevolence, which proved that they exercised faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Works of faith are those to which faith prompts, and which show that there is faith in the heart.
"Your labor produced by love. Showing that you are actuated by love. Such would be all their kindness toward the poor, the oppressed, and the afflicted; and all their acts which showed that they loved the souls of men.
"Your endurance inspired by hope. Patience in your trials, showing that you have such a hope of future blessedness as to sustain you in your afflictions. It was the hope of heaven through the Lord Jesus that gave them patience. 'The phrases here are Hebraisms [a feature of the Hebrew language or culture], meaning active faith, and laborious love, and patient hope, and might have been so translated.' Doddridge."5
The Aramaic NT gives the closing to this verse a little better.
3And we recall before God The Father the works of your faith, the labor of your love and patience of your hope, which are in Our Lord [Jesus] The Messiah.
Here we see clearly that all three, their faith, love, and hope, all come from Jesus. Paul could have expanded the sentence into three sentences to make it very clear.
Therefore Paul's point is that he knows they are in the Messiah because their actions show the Messiah.
4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.
Paul recalls that the evangelism to the Thessalonians was presented not only through the words that were spoken, but also through power, the Holy Spirit, and conviction. "The Holy Spirit is at the heart of the Gospel's power. The Gospel promises God's spirit to all who receive Christ. And the power of God's Spirit is evident in those who bring the message. By referring to power and to the Holy Spirit, Paul may be reminding the [Thessalonians] that they had witnessed miracles performed through the Spirit's power when Paul and his associates were in their city."6
Stepping back from the methods that were used to present the gospel to the Thessalonians, we can see the greater point that Paul is making.
For we know, […] that he has chosen you, because [the presentation was] with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.
The power of God was shown to the Thessalonians because God had chosen them.
You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
Having started the previous sentence with "We know", Paul starts this one with "You know". The Thessalonians watched and saw that Paul, Silas, Timothy, and perhaps others, lived the life they preached. By seeing the Christian life lived, the Thessalonians learned to imitate that life, and make it their own. And the Thessalonians continued on in that way in spite of the suffering and persecution that drove Paul and the others out of the city.
"Having a godly role model can be very helpful, especially
for Christians who are young in the faith. The trouble with all human models,
however, is that they have flaws and sooner or later will disappoint us.
"How can we avoid being disillusioned by the spiritual examples we admire? The
secret is to imitate them but not idolize them. Paul saw himself as a copy to
be followed only to the extent that he reflected the original. Therefore he wrote, "Imitate me, just as I also imitate
Christ." It's good to follow godly examples, but our worship must be reserved
for Christ alone."7
7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
Notice the interesting turn here. The ones who modeled themselves after Paul, who modeled himself after Jesus, are now the models for others.
8The 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, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
The Thessalonians have been busy. Macedonia and Achaia are not cities like Thessalonica. They are two provinces which cover a large part of Greece. As Paul travels to cities in these areas he hears all these good things about the Thessalonian church, their faith and works and how they no longer serve false gods. Therefore Paul finds that he does not need to say anything more about the Thessalonians in these cities.
10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead - Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Paul closes the greeting with what will be a theme of the letter - the return of Jesus, the Son of God, to Earth to rescue the believers from the coming wrath.
In addition to being the greeting for a larger message, these verses praise the Thessalonians for the many great things that they have done and are doing, despite hardships, and the commitment this shows.
If the work of God's people is never an effort to earn God's favor or to pay back God for what he has done, what motivates the Christians best efforts for God's kingdom?
The Thessalonians had become outcasts in their own country and were persecuted for that. "the pagans of Thessalonica were severely persecuting the Christians - threatening them, and taking away their property - so these early Christians, perhaps only three or four weeks old in the Lord, were called upon to endure hard things for the cause of Christ"8 If our country turns against Christians, are we prepared to:
1 A.B. Simpson. Christ in the Bible - Thessalonians. quoted from http://www.preceptaustin.org/1_thessalonians_11-4.htm#1:1
2 http://www.preceptaustin.org/1_thessalonians_11-4.htm#1:1
3 http://www.preceptaustin.org/1_thessalonians_11-4.htm#1:1
4 http://www.preceptaustin.org/1_thessalonians_11-4.htm#1:1
5 http://www.studylight.org/com/bnn/view.cgi?book=1th&chapter=001
6 NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, Christian Commitment in Today's World, Unit 1, Lesson 1
7 http://www.preceptaustin.org/1_thessalonians_11-4.htm#1:1
8 Ray C. Stedman http://www.pbc.org/files/messages/3232/0253.html