MESSAGE 2 - 1 THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 2 - PAUL RECOUNTS HIS TIME IN THESSALONICA AND SATAN’S OPPOSITION
THE PERSONAL RECALL
{{1Thessalonians 2:1-2 “You yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.”}}
“Once bitten, twice shy,” is a well-known statement that could have been applied to Paul at that time, but it did not! As he reminded the Thessalonians, Paul and Silas had suffered and had been mistreated in Philippi as these verses record - {{Acts 16:19-24 “When her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.” The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them, and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods, and when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely, and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks.”}}
After that treatment, you would understand if Paul was reluctant to be so bold in the gospel, but that would be cowardice and the Holy Spirit does not stand for cowardice. In boldness, motivated by the boldness of God, Paul pushed on with the enthusiasm only God can give. Much opposition is what Paul endured everywhere he went.
ENTRUSTED WITH THE GOSPEL
{{1Thessalonians 2:3 “for our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit, 1Thess 2:4 but just as we have been approved by God to be Entrusted with the Gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men but God who examines our hearts. 1Thess 2:5 We never came with flattering speech as you know, nor with a pretext for greed - God is witness - 1Thess 2:6 nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority, 1Thess 2:7 but we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.”}}
To be entrusted with responsibility is not a light thing. It can mean hardship and opposition. Paul calls it opposition in verse 2, where he also uses the words suffering and mistreatment, but it is also known as persecution. Christians must endure hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Christian jellyfish – a total contradiction. Paul had much hardship and here he reminded them of Philippi.
In the olden days in Australia the postmen were entrusted with the mail and rode horses and travelled by coaches to deliver her majesty’s mail (Queen Victoria). It took them through dangers of bushrangers and flooded streams but the mail had to get through. The USA had a similar scheme of its own.
To be entrusted with mail by the King of Kings means nothing less. We are entrusted with the gospel but so many throw that entrustment in the sorting room at the back, and forget about it. Many Christians act as if they are unworthy of belonging to Christ.
Entrustment means the following – full commitment (no part time Christians); endurance (run with patience the race before you); boldness (speak out and not fear man); and determination (Looking unto Jesus the Author of our faith).
** In verse 3 – the calling is honest and open (no deceit). It is a pure calling with no ulterior motives.
** In verse 4 – all actions of the ambassador of the gospel, are open to God’s examination. It is like you are continually giving account to God. There is a day of accountability before the Judgement Seat of Christ, but this one mentioned by Paul, is a continual one. It is like a daily reckoning.
** In verse 5 – God’s servant is not to be a man-pleaser (flattering words – don’t rock the boat, be flexible, tolerate devious opinions). This is the sorry state of too many churches. They have become politically correct, even adopting the WOKE agenda.
ALL motives must be pure, especially with regards to greed and materialism. Ministers in churches today are able to make ministry a “career move” and use worldly means and worldly principles. It is not a calling from God and there is no sense of being entrusted with the gospel.
** In verse 6 – not seeking vainglory or praise. Sinners saved by grace. Not thinking of yourself as someone important in your robes or position. As an apostle, Paul had the honour, but he did not lean on it at all. I always come back to the apostle John – “I who am your brother.”
** In verse 7 – the one entrusted must be gentle, caring, compassionate, tender, and all other similar words. This will only happen when the Holy Spirit has control over His minister, over you.
GIVING AND NOT DEMANDING AND WALKING TO PLEASE GOD ALL THE TIME
{{1Thessalonians 2:8 “Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives because you had become very dear to us. 1Thess 2:9 You recall, brethren, our labour and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 1Thess 2:10 You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers, 1Thess 2:11 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, 1Thess 2:12 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”}}
In verse 8, giving gives all. In Paul’s case he gave all he could of the gospel, but also he gave all of his own life, his time and even his own provision as he shares in the next verse. Woe unto him if he did not preach the gospel, but day and night he witnessed and preached among all men, that all men might hear. How many Christians hold back and give miserly of their own time and effort to the cause of Christ. Some think they are doing God a service even to attend one meeting a week.
He uses the expression “having a fond affection of you”. This is so basic. If there is no love for the unsaved then there is no work; there will be no result. Then when the unsaved become saved, there is such a love of the brethren, that we love one another in Christ, with sincerity not false smiles or feigned affection. In that verse Paul says, “you became very dear to us”. So it must be!
In verse 9 – twin labours. Today some people in ministry almost demand their rights. I suppose that comes with being a career minister. God has declared the principle in ancient Israel where those who minister fully in God’s work, like the Levitical priests, and the prophets like Elijah, have the right to be supported by those who are being ministered to. It was known as “not muzzling the ox that trod out the grain.” Paul, however left a supreme example – he would never be the slightest burden on anyone and in Thessalonica he worked at tent making day and night while proclaiming and teaching the gospel day and night. The two went hand in hand. He laboured hard in both the physical and the spiritual.
I know these days such a thing is not practical in most cases, but proper stewardship cuts both ways. I need not say more here. Let a man serving the Lord consider these things.
In verse 10 we encounter the terms “devout, upright, blameless”. They are the three words Paul uses for his time among the Thessalonians describing his behaviour there. He set that wonderful example. Even if you are not called to a special ministry, you must also live that way towards your fellow believers. The bible would be clear that you have that obligation to unbelievers as well. Don’t fall into the trap of applying the bible to others and not to yourself.
In verses 11 and 12 we see the heart of Paul as he gives the best he can to these believers. His giving is imploring, pleading, and entreating so they might walk in a manner worthy of the God who called them into His own kingdom and glory. Now please understand this. Of all that Paul could have done for the church in Thessalonica, of all he could possibly have given them, this is the greatest. It is getting beside them as it were, to implore them to walk worthily before God. This is the essence of the Christian.
What does it mean to walk in a worthy manner? This is a big area but it means to walk a life of surrender to the Lord so you please God. When that is right, it means their walk, and your walk will encompass some of these things –
1. A desire to honour God all the time.
2. Not to walk in sin.
3. Not to live a careless life, that is, a life that outsiders find not consistent even with what they expect a Christian life to be. That means swearing, going to questionable places, engaging in questionable habits.
4. To walk with a desire to know God, to want to spend time with God, to want to read the bible more, to want to know the bible’s teachings, to want to see the work of the Lord advance.
5. To walk in obedience being surrendered as a slave to the Lord wishing to serve the Master. I think that also means being ready to give an account at any time of your progress. The Lord is coming for His Church any time now so be ready, not ashamed at His coming.
6. Not living a selfish and rebellious life or doing your own thing with disregard for the feelings of others. People who do that are not surrendered to the Lord but to their own impulses.
We looked at just a few things then, but Paul goes on to anchor what God gave him, with these words “called them into His own kingdom and glory”. You see, it is where our feet are placed that determines our walk. God placed our feet in His kingdom, and God called us in His glory. A poor walk as a Christian means you have a poor understanding of where your feet are. It means you have no appreciation of the work that the Lord did for you. Do you appreciate His suffering and work of reconciliation? Do you appreciate that He was separated from the Father that you might never be separated? Do you really appreciate what it means to be a disciple?
THE THESSALONIAN RESPONSE
{{1Thessalonians 2:13 “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you ACCEPTED it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe, 1Thess 2:14 for you, brethren, became IMITATORS of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also ENDURED the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews.”}}
Paul tells them (and us) that their response was threefold from the time they heard the preached word in Acts 17. Not only did they respond in that way, but they have been consistent in the time of Paul’s absence from them, and Paul is expressing his great delight and thanking God for their lives and attitudes.
Paul’s thanks to God is constant in verse 13 for the way these people received the message. They accepted it as God’s words to them and not as any invention of man. In other words, the Holy Spirit was confirming the word to them with great power. It is a joy when the Holy Spirit confirms His word when you hear and read. It creates a joy and a boldness. The Thessalonians heard the word and believed, with the power for conversion. We likewise also hear and believe, but we read and listen, and God’s word has the changing power in us.
Their lives and attitudes changed for they became recipients of the new nature and began to produce fruits corresponding to that new nature. In particular, Paul draws attention to imitation. What they were imitating, is the same response to conflict, that churches in Judea were undergoing. Judean churches were being persecuted by the Jews, while the Thessalonian church was being persecuted by the Greeks in that town. It was the same hardship and conflict for both of them, and they had learnt endurance.
What is endurance in suffering? Does it mean grumbling, but putting up with it? Some Christians don’t get beyond the grumbling stage. I think it is best understood by two events from Scripture. The first is what happened to Paul and Silas just before they came to Thessalonica. They arrived in Thessalonica bearing the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ in their bodies, for at Philippi, the magistrates ordered them to be beaten with rods and they received many blows. Then they were cast into prison and their feet held tight in the stocks. What did Paul and Silas do? No grumbling, but singing praise hymns; no cursing, but praying. Through persecution, they were able to witness. They praised their Saviour.
The second event happened to the apostles – we don’t know to how many, or to whom. In Acts 5 they were thrown into prison and a debate arose among the Jewish leaders about them and Gamaliel cautioned the leaders to be careful what they do, but nevertheless, the leaders had the disciples flogged then threatened them about speaking in the name of Jesus. After that, they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for the name of their Lord.
Now in BOTH these examples, endurance in suffering meant rejoicing with praise in spite of what happened, because they were identifying with their own Saviour in suffering. Paul qualifies this to the Corinthians – {{1Corinthians 4:9-12 “for, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are distinguished, but we are without honour. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless, and we toil, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless. When we are persecuted, we endure. In this country, we can not even start to imagine what torture, and vileness, and suffering, and death our fellow Christians are facing in many parts of the world at the hands of satanic men. Make no mistake as these things are coming soon to us. Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world, and Christians in Australia, the United States and many other nations are already suffering injustices.
OPPOSITION TO, AND HATE OF THE FAITH
Paul details the opposition they are receiving from the Jews – {{1Thessalonians 2:15-16 who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins, but wrath has come upon them to the utmost,”}} and penalty that will come to them to the utmost. The Thessalonians suffered opposition that saw them restricted (and Paul) restricted. Today in our nation, the opposition to the faith is clearly evident with laws preventing Christians from speaking to young women about abortion and from expressing a view on homosexuality. In Australia, some football teams are making the players acknowledge homosexuality, but Christians can not and they are overlooked or dismissed. We will know opposition more and more.
God knows all and these wicked men are heaping up penalty for themselves which will crash down on them at the great white throne for all eternity,
PAUL’S DEEP DESIRE FOR HIS CONVERTS
{{1Thessalonians 2:17 “We, brethren, having been bereft of you for a short while - in person, not in spirit - were all the more eager with great desire to see your face, 1Thess 2:18 for we wanted to come to you - I, Paul, more than once - and yet Satan thwarted us, 1Thess 2:19 for who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? 1Thess 2:20 You are our glory and joy.”}}
He shares with them his great desire to come back to meet them, but Satan kept thwarting him (resisting and stopping). It is interesting that God did not override this but it is not a subject for today, except to say this – it is not easy at times for us to understand if the path before us, is Satan’s attack or the directive will of God. I know this requires wisdom and soul-searching.
Paul then speaks out as he shares his feelings for the Thessalonians – {{1Thessalonians 2:19 “for who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? 1Thess 2:20 You are our glory and joy.”}} He concludes with the joy these believers give to him both at the time of writing, and in the future at the coming of the Lord.
Paul knew such hard suffering but God allowed him to have such joy at every recall of those saved in Christ.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
