By: Dale Weckbacher
1 Thessalonians 1:2-4
2 We
give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly[a] mentioning you in our
prayers, 3 remembering before our God and
Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of
hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we
know, brothers[b] loved by
God, that he has chosen you,
(ESV)
Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians is believed to be
the first letter written by the Apostle Paul.
The church in Thessalonica was a struggling yet vigorous church made up
of new Christians. This letter provides
both a look at the heart of the Apostle Paul towards these new believers and
also provides a look at the struggles present in the early church. As we witness an increase in persecution in
the church, even in countries with religious liberty like the United States, I
believe this epistle provides guidance for us to live victoriously in these
troubling times. (1)
Even though we have a tendency to view early Christians as
always victorious serving Christ with great vigor, these early Christians also
had severe problems like the church has today.
We can therefore learn not only how to live victoriously in troubling
times through the study of 1 Thessalonians but we can also learn how these
early Christians were able to overcome the severe problems they faced. (1)
Acts 17:1-10 tells us of the tumultuous founding of the
church in Thessalonica. After only three
Sabbaths of teaching in the synagogue in Thessalonica, Paul was able to
convince some of the Jews in the city along with a great many of devout Greeks
and even some of the city’s leading women that Jesus was the Christ (Acts17:1-4). While Paul’s custom was to
remain in a city to help firmly establish the new believers in that city, his
quick exit from Thessalonica (Acts 17:10) probably left him with some fear these
new believers might fall from the faith.
This epistle is in response to the report of Timothy after visiting the
church in Thessalonica at Paul’s request.
As was his custom, Paul begins this letter by thanking God
for them and reminding them that he mentions them constantly in his
prayers. He then commends them for their
faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ (1Thessalonians 1:2-3). He continues by
reminding them they are chosen by God because the gospel came to them not only
in word but also in the power of the Holy Spirit with great conviction (1Thessalonians 1:5).
Paul continues by commending them for their imitation of
both himself and those that accompanied him and their imitation of the Lord (1Thessalonians 1:6). He commends their
receiving of the word through great affliction, perhaps a reference to the
circumstances surrounding the founding of the Church as recorded in Acts17:1-10, and informs them that their receipt of the word through great affliction
had become an inspiration to believers in Macedonia and Achaia (1 Thessalonians1:7). In fact, word of their holding on
to their faith through great affliction had gone beyond Macedonia and Achaia
and spread everywhere (1 Thessalonians 1:8-9).
1 Thessalonians 1:10 concludes the first chapter with a word of
encouragement reminding these new Christians that Jesus would return to deliver
his people from the wrath to come.
As the church today faces troubling times once again, we
must not allow these troubling times to cause us to drift away from or faith
but to instead draw closer to God as the church in Thessalonica did. Over the course of the next few Wednesday
postings, we will be looking at the struggles the believers in Thessalonica
endured and most importantly, how they were able to victoriously overcome these
struggles. My hope is that we in the
church today will learn to apply these principles in our own lives and in our
churches so we can be a beacon of hope in a lost and dying world.
Next Wednesday we will look at the heart of the Apostle Paul
towards the new believers in Thessalonica.
1. Stedman, Ray C. 1 Thessalonians: Hope for a
Hopeless World. www.raystedman.org. [Online] Ray Stedman.org Authentic Christianity.
[Cited: September 17, 2016.]
http://www.raystedman.org/bible-overview/adventuring/1-thessalonians-hope-for-a-hopeless-world.
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