1 Thessalonians 2

Last time I spoke we went through 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. In that chapter we discussed how Paul had served the people in Thessalonica for a short time on one of his mission trips and was eventually kicked out of town because of what he was preaching. But there was a church that was established and this was a letter from Paul to them.

Paul talked about how he, Silas, and Timothy acted while they were with them. He cared for them and presented the Word of God accurately to them. He was not there for his own gain. And Paul is going to get into a little more of that in this second chapter and defend himself. Because some people thought he was there in a selfish way and was looking for his own gain. But that was obviously not true.

The other thing Paul talked about in this first chapter was about how great those in Thessalonica responded to the Word of God, how they’re lives have been changed, and how people all over the region were noticing. Their lives became a great ministry for God.

— context

there was a lot of different religions in this time of the roman empire. And most of them were guided by greed and seeking for their own gain. And Thessalonica sat on one of the major roads of the roman empire going through Macedonia. Because of this it was a pretty popular area and if you were wanting to present your religion to a group of people, that would be a great place to go.

Now let’s get into chapter 2:

1 Thessalonians 2:1–3 (NLT)

1 You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure. 2 You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition. 3 So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.

At the start here you see Paul is defending himself and the others with him. And this will happen through verse 12. It doesn’t say exactly why he’s defending himself, but it’s likely for two reasons.

As mentioned beforehand, there were many people trying to convince others to follow their religion. But they did not have pure motives. So he’s saying look at the way we came in and behaved around you compared to the others who were trying to take your money.

There was likely people, who did not follow Paul or any of these other religions, that would say “hey, Paul is just like those other guys. Out for his own gain and wants to deceive and manipulate you.” After all Paul was there for a short time, and then had to leave town and hadn’t been back.

But with Paul leaving town so quickly, you have to remember his life was being threatened. There was a reason why he had to leave.

Now let’s get into this first verse where he says “our visit to you was not a failure”. The Greek word for failure here can be interpreted as empty or vain. So what he means is we came with good motives. Unlike the others. And besides the way he acted around them, he has some pretty solid proof he wasn’t there for himself.

Verse 2:

“You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there”

We went over the book of Philippians a little while back. And here Paul is referring to that mission trip he had in Philippi. Where he was beaten and eventually thrown in prison for proclaiming the Good News. He’s telling those in Thessalonica, remember the marks I had on my body, the way I suffered in Philippi. We had great opposition there in Philippi as we did also in Thessalonica. But we preached the Good News boldly anyways. He gives the glory to God for giving them courage to declare the Good News. That is definitely not a sign of someone preaching with any deceit and trying to manipulate people for their own gain.

1 Thessalonians 2:4–6 (NLT)

4 For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. 5 Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know. And God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money! 6 As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else.

These verses transition to build contrast from what some may have claimed them to be, to what they really were doing. They came with one mission in mind, present the Gospel. It didn’t matter about pleasing people. They were messengers approved by God and entrusted to spread the Good News. He said “Our purpose is to please God, not people.” And how true that is for all of us to live by.

Verse 5 is probably a situation that every parent has experienced with a kid in at least in their teenage years.

Have you ever had someone be abnormally nice to you, beyond just good nice behavior. Like they’re really going the extra mile in what they do and how they complement you. You probably asked them “What is it you’re wanting?”

Flattery can often be an attempt to persuade people. And that’s probably something the others from false religions would do. Be all buddy-buddy with them and try get them for all their worth and then run out of town.

This is what Paul is referring to here, he says we did not flatter you. It’s good to be kind, but sometimes the truth is hard to say. It doesn’t always feel “nice”. But done in the right way, out of love, is good and needs to be said. And that’s the way Paul and the others with him would have preached. It wasn’t watered down. It was the truth.

So he’s saying if I was trying to get something from you, I would have buttered you up with some flattery when I was with you, but I didn’t. All I did was present the Good News so you might receive Christ and turn your life around.

Paul and the others with him were not there for any human praise or to make buddies. They wanted Christ to be praised.

1 Thessalonians 2:7–12 NLT

7 As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children. 8 We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too. 9 Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you. 10 You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers. 11 And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. 12 We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.

Verses 7-12 creates the contrast of what they had the right to ask of those in Thessalonica, but opted to ask for nothing and provide for themselves.

As an apostle, Paul had the right to demand for respect and require them to provide for his needs. Food, shelter, money, Paul had the right to ask that of them.

But he didn’t. And he presents the picture of a mother feeding and caring for her own children. A mother taking care of an infant gives everything, supplying food, energy, time, love. A good mother provides everything her child needs, and of course since it’s an infant, in this example, she does so knowing she gets nothing from the child in return. All she does is give. So here Paul’s saying as an Apostle we had the right to ask for material things from you, but even then, we opted not to and to only give.

They spent their time with them sharing their lives with them, teaching them the Good News, and then to make sure they’re material needs were met, they worked night and day to earn a living. They had to work hard, because they didn’t want to be of any burden to those that they were teaching the Good News to. And as they taught them the Gospel, they encouraged them and urged them to change their lives to live a godly life. They instructed them and cared for them as if they were their own children.

As these new Christians in Thessalonica learned and accepted the Gospel, Paul urged them to change their lives around. The character that we live out is important. God forgives all. But the way we live doesn’t only impact our lives, but it can impact how others receive the message of the Gospel when we share.

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1 Thessalonians 2:13–16 NLT

13 Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe. 14 And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God’s churches in Judea who, because of their belief in Christ Jesus, suffered from their own people, the Jews. 15 For some of the Jews killed the prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us, too. They fail to please God and work against all humanity 16 as they try to keep us from preaching the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last.

Here we transition to the section of thankfulness. In chapter 1 Paul talked about how thankful he was that those in Thessalonica changed their lives and were examples to those throughout the region.

Here he gives thanks for how they responded to persecution. They persevered through it. And how could they persevere, even as young Christians. Well it’s based on verse 13. They heard the Good News, and they accepted what Paul and them said as the Word of God. People all over will claim the Bible isn’t a good source anymore because it was written by people thousands of years ago. I don’t think those people believe that the Bible is the very Word of God, but rather general opinions from mankind. When those in Thessalonica heard what they had to say they didn’t think well Paul is really knowledgeable on all this and I think the logic is sound. What he presented they believed to be the very Word of God and they accepted it and clinged to it.

And as it reads at the end of verse 13, the Word continues to work in you who believe. God worked through them to help them persevere. To help them grow. Because of God they went from young christian converts to warriors fighting for the Gospel. This persecution was probably from both Jews and Gentiles. In the book of Acts you can read about the different situations of persecution that happened. Especially the one Paul references here about the churches in Judea led by the Jews.

Some Jews persecuted the prophets that pointed to Christ, they persecuted Christ himself, and now they were persecuting those who turned to Christ. It wasn’t that these Jews hated gentiles, they hated anything to do with Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 2:17–20 NLT

17 Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again. 18 We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us. 19 After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you! 20 Yes, you are our pride and joy.

In closing you see here that Paul wanted to ensure to them that the reason they had not traveled back yet to see them was not because they didn’t want to. It says Satan prevented them. Now, there could be multiple reasons why they couldn’t travel back, but were not given the detail. When I read this, I thought of what we went through towards the end of the book of Daniel as we talked about the spiritual warfare going on in the spiritual realm. I imagine at the time there was a lot going on in the spiritual realm, and for whatever reason Satan was able to prevent them from visiting those in Thessalonica. But Satan’s attempt to keep them away from those in Thessalonica at that time leads us to this letter that not only did they receive encouragement from, but now all Christians can read and study and be encouraged by.

Paul and his companions desperately wanted to see them. The churches that Paul worked with were his pride and joy. You see it many times in his different letters. These believers were his pride and joy as he put in the work to spread the Gospel.

As we go through this letter and read about how Paul encouraged those in Thessalonica and how God worked through them, changing their lives, growing in Christ, and helping them persevere through persecution. It’s also what is asked of us and all the ways that God helped them, God will also help us. God worked through those people thousands of years ago and he wants to work through all of us now. And we’ve all been commissioned to go and spread the Good News and work towards being more Christ-like in our behavior.

And we can do this by the power of God who lives in us.