The Liberty Bell changed the world on July 8, 1776, with the Liberty Bell ringing out from the tower of Independence Hall summoning the citizens of Philadelphia to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. It speaks of the rights and freedoms valued by the people.
The Liberty Bell gained iconic importance when abolitionists in their efforts to put an end to slavery throughout America adopted it as a symbol. The Bible verse on the bell is: "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof," (Leviticus 25:10).
(Reference https://www.ushistory.org/libertybell/)
The Thessalonian church was like a liberty Bell for Paul, Silas, and Timothy. The testimony of faith, hope and love in Jesus Christ rang out to the whole of Greece. Let it ring! Let people throughout the land know that Jesus is the Christ.
Intro and Background vs 1
1Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
Right from the beginning we find Paul along with Silas and Timothy are writing to the church at Thessalonica. Acts chapter 17 talks about how the three of them were there in Thessalonica. It says they were there for three sabbaths and there is some evidence they were there for more than three weeks because in Paul's letter to the Philippian church he states they sent him aid more than once while he was at Thessalonica (Philippians 4:16).
That is why some think he was there more than three weeks. So, they may have been three weeks with the Jews preaching in the synagogue and then some more time with the gentiles. Acts 17 never mentions the ministry to the gentiles, but this letter says that they had turned from idols to God (1 Thessalonians 1:9). So, this seems like the Thessalonian letter is directed toward gentiles who became believers in Christ.
We have some facts from, Acts 17 and the Philippian letter, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians and any more information than that we have to do our best to recreate what happened in Thessalonica making assumptions from what we think probably happened, beyond what is directly mentioned in Scripture.
After Paul and Timothy and Silas got the Macedonian call in Troas, they first went to Philippi. There was a lot of fruit there but also a lot of persecution and Paul and Silas were in jail overnight there and from Philippi they went to Thessalonica. At Thessalonica there was quite an uprising and they left at night for Berea.
While they were in Berea the people that were causing the stir found out about it went to Berea and caused a stir. Some who had responded favorably to Paul's message escorted him out of Berea to Athens.
When Paul was in Athens he gave the Mars hill sermon. He had told those who brought him to Athens for Timothy and Silas to come to him as quickly as possible. When Paul left Athens after his Mars hill sermon with the Greek philosophers he went to Corinth, and this is where Paul is writing from and the letters coming it says from Paul and Silas and Timothy.
So, Silas and Timothy had been in Berea. Silas and Timothy joined Paul in Athens. Then Paul and Silas stayed at Athens while Timothy went back to Thessalonica and then they all went to Corinth. (1 Thessalonians 3:2).
Now at the time of this writing Timothy brought the word back to Paul that the believers in Thessalonica were spiritually vibrant. There testimony in Christ was strong and ringing out. He's gotten word from Timothy those things are going well in Thessalonica so it's not long after he's been to Thessalonica, he's in Corinth and Paul's writing this letter to the Thessalonians
Thank God and Pray vs 2-3
2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We 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.
Paul, Silas and Timothy were continually praying for the church at Thessalonica. They had received a lot of resistance in Thessalonica, but they had a lot to be thankful for. They were thankful for the faith, hope and love of the Thessalonians. Each of these our Lord Jesus Christ. produced in them something to be thankful for:
Faith: Your work produced by faith.
Hope: Your endurance inspired by hope.
Love: Your labor prompted by love.
One of my friends mentioned to me that he and his wife pray every day for me and my wife. That made such an impact on me. I was so encouraged. This is not the only time that someone, not even a relative, told me they prayed for me every day. It encourages me so much because even with difficulties I know I am covered in prayer.
It seems like the prayers of Paul, Silas and Timothy for the Thessalonians only increased. If you read the next letter that Paul along with Silas and Timothy wrote them you see even more commitment to prayer. They were already praying constantly, day and night, but look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. There is a more fervent commitment to pray for the church at Thessalonica. This verse again from Paul along with Silas and Timothy,
“we ought always to thank God for you brothers and sisters” (2 Thessalonians 1:3).
And again, verse eleven, Paul, Silas and Timothy constantly pray for you that God will make you worthy of his calling and bring about his desires.
With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. (2 Thessalonians 1:11).
Paul, Silas and Timothy were a year and a half in Corinth, and they prayed constantly for the brothers and sisters of Thessalonica. It just seemed their commitment to pray for them grew stronger and stronger through time.
We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:12).
There is no doubt through their entire lives Paul, Silas and Timothy were committed to pray for the Thessalonians. These leaders had work all over Asia. It is like a mother with ten children. They are going to pray for them all constantly, weather few children or many. That is how Paul, Timothy and Silas were with the churches they started. They were going to pray for all of them constantly and fervently even though there were so many.
It became a reciprocal prayer response. We pray for you and also you pray for us. They prayed continually for the church at Thessalonica and requested they do the same for them.
“Finally brothers, pray for us that the Word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men.” (2 Thessalonians 3:1).
Who do we pray for? We need to pray constantly for the brothers and the sisters where we have invested in the work. How do we pray for them? Pray for all we have worked with to be an example in Christ. That faith hope and love would produce the same fruit as in Thessalonica.
An Example (Vs. 4-8)
4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece—throughout both Macedonia and Achaia. 8 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia
This group of brothers and sisters at Thessalonica are chosen by God. God has a purpose for them. This is the conviction of Paul and he lets them know to encourage them. First of all the way the gospel came with Power. Paul along with Silas and Timothy brought the gospel to them with conviction and the power of the Holy Spirit. You know how we lived among you and we saw that same conviction. The same power of the Holy Spirit took hold of the believers there. They imitated the same convictions and as a result the news of it spread through the region and even to the next region beyond that. Now this church is a model. It was a model of how they lived out their faith in the midst of persecution.
A good testimony is like salt. It creates a thirst. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. You want to make the horse drink? Put salt in his oats. Salt creates a thirst. All over Greece they new the testimony of the Thessalonians.
That everyone knew how they lived for Christ was thrilling for Paul to hear because that would mean others would thirst for the living water of Jesus Christ. Paul had been in Prison in Philippi, ran from a dangerous mob in Thessalonica and Berea. He suffered a lot for the gospel to be in that region. Now it took root in Thessalonica and the believers there were suffering for Christ but in the midst of this serving as an example for serving Christ.
In the song if I had a hammer, there is one line that reads, “If I had a bell, I'd ring out love between My brothers and my sisters all over this land.” For Paul, Silas and Timothy, the Thessalonian believers have become a bell that ring out faith in Christ all over the land. The Thessalonian believers were his Liberty Bell.
The 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, being an example so that it can be reproduced.
Paul along with Silas and Timothy lived as an example before the Thessalonians. The Thessalonians were an example to all the believers in Greece—throughout both Macedonia and Achaia. The believers in Greece now an example to others. This is the multiplication principal, multi-generational reproduction process that Paul taught Timothy. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2:2)
Your Hope in Christ (Vs. 9-10)
9 for 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, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
For the believers at Thessalonica, they have been through persecution. All the persecution they received is worth it because they are an example through the region, throughout Greece. It is also worth it because they have a hope. A hope in Jesus Christ. Their eternal destiny has been changed.
There is a T-shirt slogan that says. Normal is not coming back, Jesus is. Our hope is not in a period where our problems are gone. Our hope is in Jesus and walking with him through whatever comes. Our hope is a future with Christ. Our hope is heaven and spending eternity with God because of redemption in Jesus. Our hope is the resurrection of Jesus. It was this hope that inspired their endurance.
We are waiting for the return of Christ. God raised Jesus from the dead. This is our future hope. We have hope because when God raised Jesus from the dead death lost its sting. We now have hope that even in our earthly death we have eternal life. We have hope of one day soon being in the presence of God in heaven. We have hope that the return of Christ is glorious victory for the Christian.
Conclusion
All of us must join the Thessalonian believers as an example of faith, hope and love. We need to be prayer intercessors like Paul, Silas and Timothy. We need to persevere in prayer for those we have invested in spiritually.
We must be an example like Paul, Timothy and Silas who led the Thessalonians to faith who became a model for the surrounding area so that it can be reproduced. We must share the gospel with conviction and the power of the Holy Spirit.
As believers we are to have a testimony that rings out like the Thessalonian believers. We have turned from worthless things to Jesus. Our lives become a testimony when we continue our walk with Christ with patient endurance. That is when our faith rings out.
