To the Thessalonians
Notes
Transcript
Call To Worship
Call To Worship
A Psalm of David.
Yahweh is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.
First Reading
First Reading
For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unrighteously.
For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this finds favor with God.
For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps,
who did no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;
who being reviled, was not reviling in return; while suffering, He was uttering no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.
Who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that having died to sin, we might live to righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.
For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Second Reading
Second Reading
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.
“But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.
“To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
“When he brings all his own out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
“A stranger they will never follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
“All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Intro:
Intro:
AG:
TS: Today, we begin looking at Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians.
According to the most likely general Pauline chronology, then, 1 Thessalonians will have been written in A.D. 50, early in Paul’s stay in Corinth and perhaps four to six months after his ministry in Thessalonica.33
D. A. Carson; Douglas J. Moo
He wrote to encourage them and further teach the basics of Christian life.
RS: Even though this, and every letter were written to a specific people, the teachings apply to us all.
Today, we look at 1 verse as we introduce the letter to the Thessalonians
Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
The People
The People
Paul sent the letter and included his two companions in this greeting: “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy”
Paul
Formerly known as Saul of Tarsus
Converted by Jesus Himself on the road to Damascus and commissioned to be the apostle to the gentiles.
Discipled by Jesus
For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
But when God, who had set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased
to reveal His Son in me so that I might proclaim Him as good news among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
This is the basis of his authority.
Much of his missionary endeavors where to gentiles.
He started in a synagogue, if one was present.
He would be expelled with converts and then focus on gentiles
Planted 14 churches as recorded in the NT. Many think there are far more after the time beyond the end of the record in Acts.
He recorded his own autobiography in some of his letters:
Hardships
For we are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,
although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:
circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;
as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Background
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s seed? So am I.
Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, in beatings without number, in frequent danger of death.
Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one.
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked—a night and a day I have spent in the deep.
I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the desolate places, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brothers.
I have been in labor and hardship, in many sleepless nights, in starvation and thirst, often hungry, in cold and without enough clothing.
Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.
Who is weak without my being weak? Who is made to stumble without my burning concern?
If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness.
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me,
and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands.
Timothy
One of Paul’s frequent and most notable companions
MacArthur Study Bible NASB (Commentary)
Paul’s most notable disciple (Php 2:17–23)
But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
And you also, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be in good spirits when I learn of your circumstances.
For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned about your circumstances.
For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.
But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father.
Therefore I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I evaluate my own circumstances,
Paul had high praise for Timothy.
kindred spirit
genuinely concerned
proven worth
Timothy traveled with Paul on the second and third missionary journeys and stayed near Paul during his first Roman imprisonment (Php 1:1; Col 1:1; Phm 1).
Later he served in Ephesus (1Ti 1:3) as pastor and spent some time in prison (Heb 13:23).
Paul’s letters to Timothy are known as pastoral epistles and form much of what we understand about pastoral ministry
Silas
Key Details About Silas:
Role and Background:
Silas was a Hellenistic Jew and a Roman citizen. He was considered a leader among the brethren in Jerusalem and a prophet.
Missionary Partnership:
After Paul and Barnabas separated, Paul chose Silas to accompany him on his second missionary journey (Acts 15:40-41).
But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.
And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
They traveled through Syria, Cilicia, and eventually to Macedonia.
Imprisonment in Philippi:
In Philippi, Silas and Paul were beaten and imprisoned for casting a spirit out of a slave girl. Around midnight, while praying and singing hymns, an earthquake shook the prison, allowing them to escape, which led to the conversion of their jailer.
Known as Silvanus: In Paul's letters (1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Corinthians 1:19) and in 1 Peter 5:12, he is referred to as Silvanus.
Collaboration with Other Apostles:
Silas also served as a scribe or assistant to Peter, helping to deliver 1 Peter to churches in Asia Minor. GotQuestions.org +7
Silas is regarded as a "faithful brother" (1 Peter 5:12) who was essential in the expansion of the early church
Through Silvanus, our faithful brother as I regard him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and bearing witness that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!
Church of the Thessalonians
The assembly of believers in Thessalonica
Paul addressed the believers who were working together as the church.
Thankfully, at that time, there was 1 church! Divisions hadn’t led to spits.
Let’s explore the recipients more by discussing….
The Place
The Place
MacArthur Study Bible NASB (Background and Setting)
Thessalonica (modern Salonica) lies near the ancient site of Therma on the Thermaic Gulf at the northern reaches of the Aegean Sea.
Thessalonica
This city became the capital of Macedonia (ca. 168 B.C.) and enjoyed the status of a “free city” which was ruled by its own citizenry (Ac 17:6) under the Roman Empire.
Like most places in the Roman Empire, it demanded allegiance to the Roman emperor. Rome offered peace and security, but it came at a high price. Its citizens had to pledge their ultimate allegiance to this government. They could worship other gods, but they also had to worship the emperor.
Thessalonian Believers refused to do that.
Because it was located on the main east-west highway, Via Egnatia, Thessalonica served as the hub of political and commercial activity in Macedonia, and became known as “the mother of all Macedonia.”
The population in Paul’s day reached 200,000 people.
Paul had originally traveled 100 mi. from Philippi via Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica on his second missionary journey (A.D. 50; Ac 16:1–18:22).
As his custom was upon arrival, he sought out the synagogue in which to teach the local Jews the gospel (Ac 17:1, 2).
And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
explaining and setting before them that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is that Christ.”
And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a great multitude of the God-fearing Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
Because of their effective ministry, the Jews had Paul’s team evicted from the city (Ac 17:5–10
But the Jews, becoming jealous, taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, and forming a mob, set the city in an uproar. And attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the assembly.
And when they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also;
and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
And they disturbed the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.
And when they had received the bond from Jason and the others, they released them.
And the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
Later, Timothy was dispatched back to Thessalonica (3:2).
Apparently, Silas afterwards traveled from Athens to Philippi while Paul journeyed on alone to Corinth (Ac 18:1).
It was after Timothy and Silvanus rejoined Paul in Corinth (Ac 18:5), that he wrote 1 Thessalonians in response to Timothy’s good report of the church.
The Purpose
The Purpose
Reason for Writing
Ultimately, his supreme concern for the flock.
This led him to
1. Comfort the young church
Paul had been forced to depart after only a brief stay. They needed encouragement to continue to grow in the faith in spite of opposition.
He offered that in this letter
2. Clarify Basics of Christian Living
He gave them more instructions than he had been able to while with them.
He wanted to spur them on to righteousness and spiritual growth.
3. Correct error about prophesy
There was misunderstanding about the rapture and resurrection.
During much of Jesus’ ministry He taught about the Kingdom.
That led people to have high hopes of iberation from Rome and freedom that would come under Jesus’ rule
As time when on, people were confused. They worried they had missed it and questioned what would happen to those who has passed away in the mean time.
Themes:
4 major themes are woven together in 1 Thessalonians:
1) an apologetic theme
with the historical correlation between Acts and 1 Thessalonians;
Paul defends the faith against attacks
2) an ecclesiastical theme
with the portrayal of a healthy, growing church;
This will challenge us to examine our church as we see what Paul teaches
3) a pastoral theme
with the example of shepherding activities and attitudes;
Paul, Timothy, and Silas all serve as examples of pastoral ministry.
That isn’t just for pastors!
We all have a role to play in serving each other
4) an eschatological theme
with the focus on future events as the church’s hope;
The Peacemaker
The Peacemaker
MacArthur Study Bible NASB (Commentary)
The Thessalonians were the church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
They were under God’s authority and HIS sovereignty are the basis of Paul’s inspiration and instructions in this letter.
Since Paul’s initial converts were Jewish, he made it unmistakably clear that this “church” was not a Jewish assembly, but rather one which gathered in the name of Jesus, the Son of God (Ac 17:2, 3), who is both Lord God and Messiah.
explaining and setting before them that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is that Christ.”
This emphasis on the equality between God and the Lord Jesus is a part of the introduction in all Paul’s epistles (cf. 1Jn 2:23).
Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
Key Applications:
This reminds us our own identity in God
Ware reminded that their our identity and security are "in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ". This provides comfort and stability amidst cultural shifts and personal trials.
This reminds us of God’s grace and peace
Paul’s common greeting is a frequent reminder to us that our faith is rooted in the unmerited favor of God and brings peace in our lives.
Peace between us and God
Peace within ourselves
Peace with each other.
Conc
Conc
