September
28th 1
Thessalonians 1
A. Prologue Greetings from – Paul, Silvanus &
Timothy
1:
Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the
Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus
Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the
Lord Jesus Christ.
B.
The Christians Patience Thanksgiving for your faith
2:
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in
our prayers; 3: Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and
labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the
sight of God and our Father; 4: Knowing, brethren beloved, your
election of God. 5: For our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as
ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. 6: And ye
became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in
much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: 7: So that ye were
ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. 8: For from
you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and
Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread
abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. 9: For they
themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and
how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10:
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
This
letter of Paul to the Thessalonians is one of the earliest, if not
the first letter he wrote, that is recorded in scripture. Paul had
been in Thessalonica only for a few weeks and they had heard Paul say
that the coming kingdom was near. But in the mean while some
believers had died and they didn’t know whether they might miss out
on the coming kingdom. So they wrote to Paul asking him to clear up
their questions. So Paul writes this letter in part to explain what
will happen to those who have died as believers. Paul begins this
letter including his co-workers Silas and Timothy and his customary
greeting. (Both of these men were with him (and Luke) on his second
missionary journey when the church was founded) Then he begins by
telling them, that whenever he thinks of the believers at
Thessalonica he always thanks God. And he always makes mention of
them in his prayers. He says l am constantly reminded of your
faithful work for God, your loving service and you patient assurance
in Gods future blessing. Paul says, God has chosen you to serve him
like this. Then he reminds them that the Gospel that he brought to
them was not just words and speeches but it was a wonderful
demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And our
preaching was not expressed in any doubt but was full of confidence
in God. And you became our disciples in the Lord because you received
the gospel in the middle of great troubles but full of joy in the
Holy Spirit. Then Paul goes on to say, you became great examples to
all the christians of Greece because from you the gospel rang out
clear and true in the whole area were your faith to God became known.
And because of this we did not need to go and preach there. Your
hearers tell us how successful our ministry was and how that you
turned away from idolatry to serve the living true God and to wait
for his Son from heaven, who he raised from the dead – Jesus. Who
delivered us from the wrath to come.
- Why is Paul writing this letter?
- How does he describe their Christian lives and witness?
- How does he describe the coming of his gospel to Thessalonica?
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