2 THESSALONIANS 1: 1-3
A FLOURISHING FAITH [INTRODUCTION]
Today we begin the second letter to the Thessalonians. This letter was written just months after the first letter. In that letter Paul wrote about Jesus’ return to encourage them and to answer two questions about it. 1st, What will happen to those that die before Jesus returns? 2nd, When will Jesus return?
It appears that they needed a good bit more instruction concerning the Second Return of Christ, so most of this second letter pertains to the subject of Jesus’ return.
The Christian faith has always been characterized by a strong and focused sense of future, with belief in the Second Coming of Jesus as its most distinctive element. From the day Jesus ascended into heaven His followers have lived in expectancy of His return. He promised He would return for His people. Centuries later, we continue to believe it and wait for it. For Christ’s return is our most important belief concerning the future.
Then as now there is much misunderstanding and misuse of the Return of the Lord. Some even tried to justify their idleness on the fact that they were waiting for Christ to return. Others were suffering persecution and needed the assurance and hope that a correct belief in the return of Christ provides.
Let’s introduce the book of 2 Thessalonians by using an outline to take us through the first three verses.
I. THE WRITING OF 2 THESSALONICIANS.
This epistle begins by naming the same three men mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 1:1. “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy,” Though Paul mentioned his beloved coworkers Silvanus and Timothy in his greeting, Paul was the sole author (under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit) for he spoke of himself in the singular (2 Thes. 2:5; 3:17). But Silas and Timothy joined him in sending the epistle (Paul frequently used “we”: 1:3-4, 11-12, etc.).
As they had been together when the church was founded (Acts 17:4; 16:1–3), “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy” were still together when this letter was written. They had been in Corinth for some time, since they were there when 1 Thessalonians was written several months earlier (1 Thess. 1:1).] Paul wrote this letter of behalf of all three of them.
[They are not referred to in the Bible as being together thereafter, though it is certainly possible they were. Since 1 Thessalonians was written from Corinth, and since the topics treated in the second epistle seem to grow out of situations alluded to in the first epistle and reflect a very similar situation in the Thessalonian church, Corinth seems the logical site of composition.
The letter gives evidence that Paul had recently heard news about conditions in the church. Probably this information came to him from the messenger who delivered 1 Thessalonians and returned to Corinth. Some of the news was good: the Thessalonians were continuing to grow and to remain faithful to Christ in spite of persecution. But some was bad: false teaching concerning the day of the Lord had entered the church and was causing confusion and leading some of the Christians to quit their jobs in expectation of the Lord’s return.]
In view of these reports Paul felt constrained to write this epistle. He commended his children in the faith for their growth, corrected their doctrinal error about the day of the Lord, and warned of its consequences. [Walvoord, John & Zuck, Roy: The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983 p. 713.]
[The Date of Writing] Therefore it appears that 2 Thessalonians was written quite soon after 1 Thessalonians, perhaps within 12 months. This would place THE DATE OF WRITING in the early a.d. 50s and would make this epistle the third of Paul’s canonical writings (assuming Galatians was his first).
Why a second letter? Probably because the first letter did not accomplish everything Paul had hoped. No new subjects are introduced in this letter. Some were teaching that the parousia had already happened, and even claiming that such teaching had come from Paul himself. The loafers and busybodies continued their inactivity and destructive behavior, in spite of what Paul had written.
It’s possible that Timothy and/or Silas had delivered the first letter, stayed there a short time, and returned to Paul in Corinth with more good news and bad news. So Paul writes again in response to both. [Demarest, Gary W. The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol 32 : 1, 2 Thessalonians / 1, 2 Timothy / Titus. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1984, S. 105].
Let me give a little background about Silas and Timothy in relation to the apostle Paul. Silvanus, known in Acts as Silas, was Paul's faithful partner in ministry. Like the apostle, he was a Jew who held Roman citizenship (Acts 16:37). Also like Paul he had both a Jewish (Aramaic) name, Silas, and a Roman name, Silvanus. That he was chosen to take the decision of the Jerusalem council to the believers in Antioch (Acts 15:27) confirms his status as one of the “leading men among the brethren” (Acts 15:22). Acts 15:32 notes that he was a prophet, ergo a preacher of the gospel. He became Paul's missionary partner after the apostle split with Barnabas over John Mark (Acts 15:40), and was with Paul in the Philippian jail, where he witnessed the jailer's dramatic conversion after the earthquake (Acts 16:19–34). He ministered with Paul in many other places, including Berea (Acts 17:10) and Corinth (Acts 18:5; 2 Cor. 1:19). Later, he became Peter's co-worker and likely carried 1 Peter to its readers (1 Peter 5:12).
Timothy was Paul's protege and beloved son in the faith (2 Tim. 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:18). A native of Lystra, a city in Asia Minor, Timothy was the son and grandson of believing Jewish women (2 Tim. 1:5) but had a Gentile father (Acts 16:1). Paul met Timothy on his second missionary journey and was impressed enough with him to add him to his missionary team (Acts 16:1–3). Though Timothy was younger than either Paul or Silas (1 Tim. 4:12), he quickly became Paul's most valuable assistant. So great was Paul's trust in Timothy as a faithful reflection of the apostle that he frequently served as his envoy and representative (1 Thess. 3:2; Acts 19:22; 1 Cor. 4:17; 16:10; Phil. 2:19–4; 1 Tim. 1:3). Paul wrote two inspired epistles to him and mentioned him in eight others. [MacArthur, John. MacArthur NT Com. 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Moody Press. Chicago. 2002. Pp. 222-3]
II. THE CITY OF THESSALONICA
As verse 1 continues we are informed that the letter is written to same assembly of Christians received 1 Thessalonians. “To the church of the Thessalonians”
Thessalonica was the largest and most important city in the Roman province of Macedonia (the northern part of modern Greece). Thessalonica was a thriving seaport. Spreading up the slopes of the hills overlooking the harbor, it had a cosmopolitan population of about a quarter of a million people, including native Greeks, Romans, sailors, travelers, tradesmen, and businessmen. The Jewish presence in Thessalonica was significant and influential (Acts 17:1).
Perhaps Thessalonica's greatest asset was its location on the Egnatian Way, the major east-west highway of the Roman Empire, which ran from what is now Albania to Byzantium (Constantinople; Istanbul). Thessalonica's main street was part of that great highway linking Rome with the eastern regions of the empire. This major route helped it become a a busy center of trade and commerce. Noting the importance of Thessalonica's strategic location on the Egnatian Way to the spread of the gospel, William Barclay writes,
“It is impossible to overstress the importance of the arrival of Christianity in Thessalonica. If Christianity was settled there, it was bound to spread East along the Egnatian Road until all Asia [Minor] was conquered and West until it stormed even the city of Rome. The coming of Christianity to Thessalonica was crucial in the making of it into a world religion.” [The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. Rev. ed. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster, 1975, p.181.]
Thessalonica was founded about 315 B.C. by Cassander, one of Alexander the Great's generals, who became king of Macedonia after the latter's death. [He named the new settlement, built on the site of an older town named Therme (presumably because of nearby hot springs), after his wife, the half-sister of Alexander the Great.] When the Romans conquered Macedonia (168 B.C.) and divided it into four republics, they made Thessalonica the capital of one of them and all of Macedonia became a Roman province (148 B.C.). [The city back Antony and Octavian in their successful campaign against Brutus and Cassius. As a reward, it was made a free city in 42 B.C. As such, although it was the seat of the Roman governor, the city was not occupied by Roman troops. It remained largely a Greek city, unlike Philippi, which was heavily influenced by Roman laws and customs. As a free city, Thessalonica also enjoyed freedom from certain taxes. But most important, the city was granted a large measure of self-government; its people chose their own magistrates, known as politarchs (“city authorities”; Acts 17:6).]
Thessalonica is one of the few cities visited by Paul that has existed continuously from his day to modern times. Today Thessalonica (Thessaloniki) remains one of Greece's most important cities, with a population of nearly 400,000.
Paul and his companions founded the church on his second missionary journey (Acts 17:1–9). Their success in evangelizing the city (Acts 17:4) enraged the unbelieving Jews, and the ensuing uproar forced the missionary team to leave (Acts 17:10, 14). After stops in Berea and Athens, Paul eventually made his way to Corinth where he stayed for a year and a half in the home of fellow Jewish tent makers Aquilla and Pricilla. And from there he would write 1 & 2 Thessalonians.
The Thessalonian church certainly had little to commend it. It had no buildings [the earliest known church building dates from the third century A.D.], programs, performers, or publications. It was not a large or wealthy church [most early Christians were from the lower social classes; 1 Cor. 1:26]; the congregation lacked social and political influence [Christians were despised outcasts in Roman society]; nor did they have a famous pastor [the names of the elders are not even mentioned]. They could not offer prospective converts the comfortable, entertaining, non-threatening environment of a modern “user-friendly” church but merely “persecutions and afflictions” (1:4). But they were part of God’s forever family, and that was more than enough for them.
III. THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH.
Verse 1 describes “the church” as being “in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The letter immediately states the fatherhood of our God. What does the word Father imply? When you think of a Father, what comes to mind? I think that Father implies care and sustaining, protection and provision, love and discipline. So, to be in the Father would mean to be in His care and under His protection. All the things that a father should do for his children God the Father does for His churches.
The other designation is Lord: we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. What does the word Lord imply? It implies authority, leadership, and ownership. So, to be in the Lord would mean that we are under His charge, under His authority and in His possession. We belong to Him!
So, Paul greets the church in such a way as to remind them that they are a family in the care of a Father and that they are servants in the charge of their Lord.
As in so many places in the New Testament, Jesus Christ is placed on equal level with God the Father. God is the Father of Christians individually, a revelation given first by Jesus Christ (Mt. 6:9). A church is an assembly of individuals who are in Christ by faith in His atoning death and are therefore the children of God.
The key word in emphasizes the believers' eternal life with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul's simple greeting identifies the church as a regenerate church. [It is the same greeting the apostle used in his first letter except for the addition of the personal possessive pronoun our, which emphasizes that God is the Father of believers [1 Thess. 1:3; 3:11, 13; Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3, 4; Eph. 1:2; Phil. 1:2; 4:20; Col. 1:2; 2 Thess. 2:16; Philem. 3]. [Though Paul frequently speaks of believers as being in Christ, only here and in the first verse of the first letter does he describe them as being in God the Father. It is, however, an appropriate reminder of the Father's care for a church undergoing severe persecution.]
The truth that Christians are in personal, spiritual, and eternal union with God is unique to Christianity. Other religions do not speak of themselves as being in their god. But the Bible teaches that those who put their faith in Christ “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), sharing eternal life with God through faith and identification with His Son. “I have been crucified with Christ; Paul wrote, “and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20; cf. John 14:23; Rom. 6:11; 8:1; 12:5; 16:7, 9, 10; 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:17; 15:22; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 1:1–3; 2:10; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2; 3:3; 2 Peter 1:4).
Out of that living union flows grace and peace. Verse 2 pronounces a blessing upon the reader or listener. “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The readers are recipients of God’s grace and peace, and he prays that they experience these blessings in fullest measure. The source of grace and peace is God and Christ. These blessings provide God’s answer for man’s great need. “Grace” is “God’s riches at Christ’s expense.” It is God’s unmerited favor which He freely bestows on all who accept Jesus Christ’s substitutionary work for them on the cross by faith. God gives man the opposite of what he deserves. He offers blessing instead of judgment. This blessing is the grace of God.
Peace is the wholeness which grace brings. “Peace” is the cessation of hostility which has resulted from Christ’s death. God and people can be reconciled because the debt of human sin has been paid by Christ. Christians have peace with God through the death of Christ. They also experience the peace of God as a result of Christ’s continuing work in their life.
Christians can be at peace even in the midst of trials and persecution. This was Paul’s desire for the Thessalonians. Both grace and peace are gifts of God that come to believers through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace sum up the gospel. Grace is God's unmerited favor to the sinner, and peace is the result of that favor. It is no wonder that they appear in the greetings of all of Paul's epistles.
The connection of the Lord Jesus Christ directly with God the Father clearly affirms Christ's deity and full equality with the Father. If that were not true, Paul would have needed to explain how believers could be spiritually united with both Christ and the Father. He would also have needed to explain how Jesus, along with the Father, could be the source of grace and peace if He is not God.
IV. A MATURING CHURCH, 3.
The opening verses of this epistle list several reasons for Paul's gratefulness toward this church. In verse 3 is affirming encouragement is prayed for the Thessalonians’ spiritual growth. “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater.”
What a great church! Paul thanked God continually for the Thessalonians. Their spiritual lives called forth great thankfulness to God from Paul. Not only was thankfulness call forth, Paul said that we ought or are obligated or bound to express thanks to God for them. Why is it our duty to express thanks to God? Two reasons are mentioned in the verse: their faith was flourishing & their love for each other was abounding.
Notice that the issues in the church did not keep Paul from being immensely thankful for the strong spiritual character of the church. It was, in reality, a church for which to be grateful.
These are two reasons that you should consider and by which you ought to test yourselves. Why were they under obligation to thank God? Because first these disciples were growing in their faith, and second because of their continuing love for one another.
Let look at these two spiritual growth characteristics for a moment. The first is a flourishing faith (3b). The phrase “growing more and more” means, “to increase above ordinary degree.” It can also mean “super growing” or “grows exceedingly” (huperauxano) and depicts a tree that shoots up rapidly and bears fruit before anyone expects it to. The initial seed of faith that sprouted when they first became Christians had been fertilized in the church and now was exploding with growth.
They had a great zeal for Christ that would see them through some dark moments. Their lives had been changed for sure, so much so that they were gaining a reputation throughout the region for their faithfulness. They were willing to work and do what needed to be done to continue to win more and more people to Christ, and they had great reason to, for they truly believed that they would see the return of Christ during their lifetime.
By the way, we have been guilty of making faith a “static” concept where we focus on putting our faith in Christ as a one-time decision. While this is certainly essential to becoming a Christian, our faith should always be growing more and more. Faith will always grow as you come to know more and more about the one in whom you have placed your faith.
Overflowing love (3c) is the second spiritual growth characteristics praised. Look at the last part of verse 3: “…and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing…” Genuine Christian love is spread through our heart by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). This is agape love, a self-sacrificial service that will even put the needs of others before our own. The word Paul uses here for “increasing” means “superabundantly” and paints the picture of a river overflowing its banks. Most of us have some boundaries in our minds of how far we will go in loving someone. Overflowing love is love that goes beyond those barriers. True love is that which seeks the will of God in the life of the loved one.
IN CLOSING...
God the Father desires us to have a deep abiding relationship with Him. Out of that relationship with the Lord comes a growing faith and love. Thus a flourishing faith in Jesus and an overflowing love for other people are presented here as two vital signs of spiritual life. Just as a living body has a healthy blood pressure, temperature, pulse and respiration rate, so a spiritually alive person will have a healthy faith and love. Faith in Jesus accompanied by Christ-like love for people is an infallible sign of spiritual life.
So a flourishing faith in Jesus and a grwoing love for other people are two vital signs for spiritual life. Do you see these signs of life in yourself?
Let me ask you – are you growing in the Lord? What is the evidence of it? Can it be said of you that you are growing exceedingly in your faith in God? Can others see it in your life? What about your love for other people? Do you wrestle with it? Do you endure under trial or do you run? These are all questions that deserve an honest answer before the Lord.
A mother cradles a TINY CHILD in her arms, showing the child to a friend she hasn't seen in years. "Your baby is lovely," the friend says. "Baby!" the mother replies indignantly. “I'll have you know my boy is 14 years old!" Upon seeing her friend's astonished look, she explains, "Johnny is happy the way he is; so he's decided not to grow!"
Preposterous? Certainly. We know that physical growth is natural for all of us. But this passage reminds us of another principle: God expects Christians to grow spiritually.
Paul commended the believers in Thessalonica for continuing to expand their faith in God and their love for each other. What was their secret? They would be satisfied with nothing less than a growing relationship with their Heavenly Father.
Have you quit growing spiritually? Are you still a baby in Christ? Follow the example of the Thessalonians. Let your faith continue to grow in the Lord.
[Express your desire to grow in your faith in God as we pray.]
Paul rejoiced over the church’s growing faith and love. Would he rejoice over our? Over yours? Come and find grace and peace... as the Spirit leads...You come...
There is something very satisfying about working systematically through a whole book of the Bible so that you have a grasp of the whole message and how the different parts fit together to make the main points. A deep and joyful confidence comes into the mind of a believer whose knowledge of Scripture is not second hand and piecemeal but instead is textually based and orderly. I hope that you will continue to read these letters and be familiar with their teachings so you might make better application of them, and as we all do so, may God be pleased with our willingness to study and know Him.
