Ready and Waiting

Intro:

This morning we are going to start a new series. I’ve entitled it as the “Ready and Waiting” Series and we will be doing an in depth study through 1&2 Thessalonians. Throughout these two letters, the Apostle Paul focuses in on the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Christ.

Even though we do not know exactly when these events will happen, at this point in our lives, we are closer than anyone has ever been before… and tomorrow, if the Lord continues to tarry, we will be even closer.

“Keep Waiting”

By Warner Pidgeon

There’s a story from the 1800’s of a young couple, William & Elizabeth, madly in love, and engaged to be married. Elizabeth enjoys planning for their future. William on the other hand knows that it’s only a matter of time before he is called away to sea to fight various enemies in far-off lands. Indeed, he tries to prepare Elizabeth for the distinct possibility that one day he will have to leave - but Elizabeth doesn’t really take too much notice. However, one day the call comes. William is to set sail on Saturday, and so he prepares to leave.

Elizabeth is distraught, but William makes her a promise. He says, “I promise I will come back for you. And when I do, we will be married.” And so William goes to war, and Elizabeth is left to wait for his return, knowing that it will be many, many months before William returns, if indeed he returns at all. The months pass, and there is no sign of William’s ship. News finally reaches Elizabeth that William’s ship was lost in a storm, and there is no further news of William. The battle had been won, and the ship was on its way home, only to sink on the return journey.

Elizabeth remembers William’s promise to return but as time passes, her life moves on, and ten years later she meets someone else and is married.

Meanwhile, William was not dead, but rather like Robinson Crusoe, he was alone on an island. Food was a plenty, and he was able to prosper on the island which was something approaching paradise - and William made plans that he and Elizabeth would one day live there. One problem, no one knew he was there. So he waited, and he waited, looking for the day when he would fulfil his promise to Elizabeth.

Finally, some 23 years later, the Island was discovered. William was able to return, and to seek out Elizabeth for an emotional reunion. He returns, as promised, but much later than expected. Of course, Elizabeth’s life has moved on, and so, as William gathers up his extended family, his brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces to emigrate to the island paradise, Elizabeth is left behind to regret not waiting for William’s promise to be fulfilled.

Our waiting for Jesus is a bit like Elizabeth’s waiting for William. Jesus has promised that he will return. He has been to war against the enemy of our Souls, and he has won the battle. But Jesus has not been shipwrecked, contrary to the negative voices which seek to discourage us. Jesus will return, and for those of us who have faith in Him, He will take us to be with Him in paradise.

We need to be “Ready and Waiting” for our Lord’s return… and hopefully through this study we can see exactly what that looks like.

Meat:

Background

As always, by way of introduction of a new book. I like to give the background of the book that we will be going through. And so this morning, that is exactly what we are going to look at… and the first part of the background that we are going to look at is…

1. The Author

Look at 1 Thessalonians 1:1 … (Read)

There are 3 Names listed: Paul, Silvanus (or Silas) and Timothy.

- Paul was the Apostle, the leader of this group of men.

- There is a good chance that Silvanus (or Silas) was a type of secretary for Paul. Silas may have acted as Paul’s scribe and wrote the letters as Paul instructed him to do so. He was Paul’s primary associate on the second missionary journey.

Timothy, of course, was a young man Paul led to faith in Jesus Christ, probably during Paul’s visit to Asia Minor on his first missionary journey. Paul had taken him under his wing, trained him for Pastoral Ministry and sent him to Thessalonica… “1 Thessalonians 3:1-2 ​1 Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, 2 and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith,”

It would seem that after spending some time encouraging (my guess is, preaching and teaching) Timothy, returned to Paul and Silas to give a report and that is what prompted the writing of these letters…

“1 Thessalonians 3:6

6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you—”

But which one actually wrote the letters???… Our answer is found in Chapter 2:18… “ 18 Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us.”...

So who wrote the letter???

1.1 Paul

Though Paul was the single inspired author, most of the first person plural pronouns (we, us, our) refer to all three. Paul commonly used such editorial plurals because the letters came with the full support of his companions… They were all in agreement with what Paul was saying.

I believe that Paul was in Corinth when he wrote these letters… Even though chapter 3:1-2, which we just read a moment ago, says “​1. Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, 2 and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith,”

This would indicate that it was written in Athens, but if we look at Acts 18:1… it says…

Acts 18:1

Acts 18:1 NKJV

1 After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth.

and then v.5 says…

Acts 18:5

Acts 18:5 ESV

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

Macedonia is where you will find the city of Thessalonica, which we will talk about in a few minutes...

Some of you may be wondering why it is so important to know exactly where it was written from… I believe that it helps us to better understand the time at which it was written and gives us a better understanding of the circumstances that the writer (Paul) was in at the time that he wrote the letter...

Scholars figure that Paul wrote this letter while he was in Corinth around the year 52AD… This means that Paul, at this time, had been a

1.2 Christian for 15 Years

and a...

1.3 Missionary for 10 Years

Even though this was, most likely, only his second “Inspired” letter, he was no novice… Charles Ryrie, in his commentary of 1 & 2 Thessalonians says “His (Paul’s) Theology was fully developed in his mind and tested in his ministry before he wrote these letters”...

The second part of the background that I wanted to look at was...

2. The City

Thessalonica or, as it is known today, “Salonica… Is one of the few Greek cities that has been continuously occupied... from the Hellenistic era to the present day.

Thessalonica was...

2.1 Under Roman Rule

J. Vernon McGee, said “Rome had a somewhat different policy with their captured people from what many other nations have had. For example, it seems that we try to Americanize all the people throughout the world, as if that would be the ideal.

Rome was much wiser than that. She did not attempt to directly change the culture, the habits, the customs, or the language of the people whom she conquered. Instead, she would set up colonies which were arranged geographically in strategic spots throughout the empire.

A city which was a Roman colony would gradually adopt Roman laws and customs and ways. In the local department stores you would see the latest things they were wearing in Rome itself. Thus these colonies were very much like a little Rome. Thessalonica was such a Roman colony, and it was an important city in the life of the Roman Empire.”

In fact, Thessalonica functioned as one of the most important cities in the empire, having both a huge harbor and a prime location along a major trade route…

Thessalonica served as the hub of political and commercial activity in Macedonia, and became known as “the mother of all Macedonia.”

As a prominent city along the trade route, Thessalonica, at the time these letters were written, was estimated to have a (Slide) Population of roughly 200,000 people...

2.2 Population - 200,000

Most of the inhabitants were native Greeks, but many Romans lived there as well… Along with different Orientals and Jews, that most likely populated the city. Wherever commerce flourished in the ancient world one would find Oriental and Jewish businessmen.

With the diversity of people groups in the city, came a diversity of religions as well. But Thessalonica was...

2.3 Predominantly Pagan Worship

Thessalonica was a typical pagan city with numerous cults … Paul makes some indirect references to them in the letters, in 1:9 he says that they have “turned to God from idols”; in 5:5 he says… “we are not of night nor of the darkness,” which is a possible reference to the cult of Serapis, that involved nighttime initiations and had occult associations…

According to Reginald E. Witt and his study of “The Egyptian Cults in Ancient Macedonia”… “Nearly seventy inscriptions related to the worship of Egyptian gods have been discovered in the city”… of Thessalonica.

Seeing the spiritual state that this city was in… The Apostle Paul knew that he had to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with these people and show them that Salvation comes through the light of Christ and not through the darkness of these other Pagan gods…

Which leads us to our final background area this morning… which is…

3. The Church

In Acts 16:9 we find where Paul recieved the call to go to Thessalonica… “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and pleaded with him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” 

Turn in your Bibles to Acts 17:1-10 (Read)…

The Church in Thessalonica was...

3.1 Established during Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey

He traveled to Thessalonica after his eventful visit to Philippi. Philippi was where he and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison for sharing the Gospel. While in prison, they prayed and sang to the Lord and He sent an earthquake that caused all of the prisoners chains to be loosed and cell doors to be opened. That gave them opportunity to minister to the Philippian jailor and when he inquired about how he could be saved, Paul answered “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,...” and the jailor gave his life to Christ… After Paul and Silas met one last time with the other believers in Philippi, they traveled to Thessalonica.

We are told, here in Acts 17:1, that they “Passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia...” and many people ask why they wouldn’t stop and minister there… Warren Wiersbe says “They bypassed Amphipolis and Apollonia, not because they had no burden for the people in those cities, but because Paul’s policy was to minister in the large cities and then have the believers reach out into the smaller towns nearby.”

I also want you to notice that this church was made up of…

3.2 A Diverse Group of People

vv.2-4 “2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few (Not a few, but many) of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.”

Paul’s main commission was to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, but he always started in the Synagogues preaching to the Jews. You see, Paul, before his salvation, was a devout Jew… and as a devout Jew, he thought that he was doing the right thing by persecuting Christians. That all changed on the road to damascus…

But he knows the mindset of the devout Jews in the Synagogues. He knows what they believe, he knows that they also need to hear the Gospel and he knows, if they will truly listen, that they too would see that “Jesus, is the Christ”.

V.3 says that he was “Explaining and demonstrating…” Other versions may say that “he reasoned with them”… this holds the idea that he may have had a question and answer session… or maybe even a debate session with some of the Jewish leaders… giving evidence how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament, of the coming Messiah.

And according to v.4, some of those Devout Jews “were persuaded”… along with “a great multitude of devout Greeks (or Pagan worshipers) and many of the leading women...”. It is speculated that these “Leading Women” may have been the wives of some of the higher ranking officials of the city…

But I want you to see that there was diversity… and even through diversity, these folks were able to find unity... Unity in a Savior, Jesus Christ.

And Finally this morning, I want you to see that this Brand new Church…

3.3 Suffered Persecution Right Away

Look at vv. 5-9

“5 But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. 7 Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.” 8 And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. 9 So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.”

Do you realize what happened here??... does any of this sound familiar??

The unbelieving Jews were not happy that Paul was able to persuade so many people. They were not happy that these folks had left the Synagogue… What do they do??? They take some of the evil men from the marketplace… My guess is, that these “evil men” will do whatever you pay them to do… and they start a riot, they form a mob… and they set out to BLAME IT on Paul and Silas…

Come on folks… this has got to be ringing a bell… There is nothing new under the sun, Satan is still using his same tactics today, he just has different vessels and different tools…

When they couldn’t find Paul and Silas, they grabbed one of the new converts, Jason, and took him before the city counsel… This is where the blame game comes to play… The Jews that were upset said “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too...” Basically, you this rioting mob behind us? It is the fault of Paul and Silas, they have upset these people and this guy, Jason, not only helped them, but he is hiding them somewhere...

So they started a riot, blamed it on the people they disagreed with (in this case Paul and Silas) and what made the problem go away…?? v.9 “So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.”… They fined Jason and the other believers for a riot that the Jews started and let them go…

And that folks, is how the Church of Thessalonica was started...

v.10 says “10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.”… To start the process over again...

When Paul and Silas left Thessalonica, they proceeded about 40 miles west to Berea. There they ministered for a short time until the hostile Thessalonian Jews, hearing of Paul’s preaching in Berea, tracked down the missionaries and incited the Berean Jews to expel Paul from their city.

Paul then made his way south to Athens while Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. Paul sent a message to these two companions as soon as he reached Athens, asking them to join him, which they did. Knowing the persecutions of the new Thessalonian converts concerned Paul so much, that he sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to check on the church’s welfare. Timothy rejoined Paul at the next stop, Corinth, with encouraging news and possibly some questions that the Thessalonian believers had… and that is what led Paul to write these 2 letters.

Closing:

As we go through these letters we will cover some doctrinal areas including some concerning the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ… Which I believe, along with the Doctrinal statement of PBC, to be two separate events, with the Rapture of the Church happening before the tribulation period and then we return with Christ to bring the tribulation period to a close…

Again, the words of Warren Wiersbe “Paul did not write these letters to stir up a debate. His desire was that these letters bless our lives and our churches. The doctrine of the Lord’s return is not a toy to play with or a weapon to fight with, but a tool to build with. Believers may disagree on some of the fine points of Bible prophecy, but we all believe that Jesus Christ is coming again to reward believers and judge the lost. And we must all live in the light of His coming.”

It is my hope and prayer that we are all Ready and Waiting for His return… and that this study will give us a better understanding of what that looks like…

Prayer…