=Paul visited Thessalonica around 49-50 A.D. on
his 2nd missionary journey,.
Thessalonica was a center of travel,
commerce and
communication.
Thessalonica boasted a harbor filled with ships from throughout the Roman
Empire
and it was the main highway from Rome to the East passed through the
city.
How did Paul get there?
Paul's 1st
trip led him to Philippi (Acts 16:
16) …. There a Slave girl who had a spirit was predicting the future/ and earning her owners a great fortune. .. v17. 7 She followed Paul and the rest of us,
shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God,(AE) who are telling
you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally,
Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the
name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the
spirit left her.(AF)19 When her owners
realized that their hope of making money(AG) was gone, they
seized Paul and Silas(AH) and dragged(AI) them into the
marketplace to face the authorities.
V 22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the
magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.(AM) 23 After they had been severely flogged, they
were thrown into prison, and the jailer(AN) was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When
he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet
in the stocks.(AO)
After a series of events, they were
released from prison and headed to Thessalonica.
Acts 17:1. they came to Thessalonica,(A) where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was his custom,
Paul went into the synagogue,(B) and on three Sabbath(C) days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,(D) 3 explaining and
proving that the Messiah had to suffer(E) and rise from the dead.(F) “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the
Messiah,”(G) he said. 4 Some of the Jews
were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas,(H) as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and
quite a few prominent women.5 But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some
bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the
city.(I) They rushed to Jason’s(J) house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring
them out to the crowd.[a] 6 But when they did
not find them, they dragged(K) Jason and some other believers(L) before the city officials, shouting: “These men who
have caused trouble all over the world(M) have now come here…. Acts 17: 10As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas(Q) away to Berea.
The wounds on Paul's back from his beating in Philippi (Acts 16:23-24) may still have been hurting when he arrived in
Thessalonica. He was treated roughly
there, too (Acts
17:5),
eventually having to leave town under cover of darkness (Acts 17:10).
But some great things happened first! After Paul
preached Jesus as the Messiah to the Jews for three Sabbaths, many people
believed (Acts
16:2-4). Paul
may have stayed several more months in Thessalonica, ministering among the
Gentiles., Paul planted a church there and felt a deep love for the
Thessalonian believers. So his letter to the church in Thessalonica was written
soon after he have been run out of that town. Quickly, false teachers crept
into the church and tried to convince the people that Jesus had already
returned and there was no resurrection from the dead. Paul encourages
them and tells them the gospel is true and the believer can endure any
circumstance based on this hope.
1Thessalonians 2 7 Instead, we were
like young children[a] among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children,(
P) 8 so we cared for
you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only
the gospel of God(Q) but our lives as well. …. Another way to word it… .1Thessalonians 2:8 Having so
fond an 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..
Look at this verse in detail
Impart-(metadidomi)
means to share with someone else what one has,
to transferring something to another. It is
the giving of something by which the giver retains one part and the receiver
another ..it is more than “to give.” It means to give from
oneself.
Lives-psuche is here the seat of
affection and will … Psuche denotes their inner being,
their entire personality. (The meaning is not simply we were willing to give
(lay down) our lives for you but we were
willing to give ourselves to
you, to put ourselves at your disposal, without reservation. (No
faking it…. Revealing struggles and victories… hurts and helps).
Very
Dear to us) Homeiromai means to long for someone
passionately and earnestly, and, being linked to a mother’s love, is intended
here to express a deep and compelling affection.
We need to impart into each other lives. We need to make great efforts to
get to know each other and not put up artificial barriers (i.e. I am only
friends with other moms with preschoolers, moms with teens, single moms, etc). Paul and Timothy were VERY different, but
Paul noted he had NO ONE like him (Philp 2: 20).
This is a call to be vulnerable. You might have church friends hurt you or let you down. Does that mean you are off the hook? No, we must be vulnerable. C. S Lewis said this: To love at all is to be
vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If
you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even
an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all
entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But
in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be
broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to
be vulnerable.”
Are you vulnerable with the people in your life-
- Do you impart your faith to others
Do you share your lives with others
- Can you
think of someone who is that for you
Can you think of someone that you are that for them
That’s the goal...
the call of these verses.. When we love God and see all He has done for us, our
lives will change.
Just like when we marry, we set all others aside, when we
commit to God’s calling, we set all other idols aside and put to action what he
has called us to do… we don’t continue to live as if we are single.
Be Brave…be vulnerable.
1 Thess 2: 9 9 For you remember,
brothers and sisters, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we
might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.10 You
are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and
blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; 11 as
you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged[b] every one of you,
as a father does his own children, 12 that
you would walk worthy of God who
calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
V
11- exhorted/ parakaleō- ,
means literally to call one alongside, to
instruct by exhortation, entreaty, comfort, to call
someone to oneself, to call for, to summon. to instruct
by exhortation, entreaty,Parakaleo can include
the idea of giving help or aid but the primary sense in the NT is to urge
someone to take some action. The
word conveys the idea of
comfort, of exhortation and always at the root there is the
idea of enabling a person to meet some difficult situation with confidence
Comforted – paramytheomai
- to encourage, console
Charged- martyreō "to affirm that one has seen or heard or experienced
something, or that (so in the N. T.) he knows it because taught by divine
revelation or inspiration"
Father/ pater- nourisher,
protector, upholder
V 12- walk/ peripateō to make one's way, progress; to make due use of opportunities
Encouragement and Comfort should be
daily goals of the church body. Send a text, a note, make a call..make a
connection to help people walk in the LORD.
1Thessalonians 3:2-3 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in
spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you
in your faith, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. 4 For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction and so it came to pass, as you know .
V2- strengthen/stērizō
to
set fast, i.e. (literally) to turn resolutely in a certain direction, comfort 1Thessalonians
3:2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith (NASB: Lockman).. Strengthen (4741)(sterizo from histemi = to stand) means to make firm or solid, to set fast, to
fix firmly in a place, to establish (make firm or stable), to cause to be
inwardly firm or committed, to strengthen. The basic idea is that of
stabilizing something by providing a support or buttress (a projecting
structure of masonry or wood for supporting or giving stability to a wall or
building), so that it will not totter. The word implies fixedness
Encourage-
parakaleō-. means literally to call one alongside
God is serious about us encouraging
one another, for HE says it over and over in His word.
encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by
sin's deceitfulness.
(Heb 3:13)
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in
fact you are doing.
(1 Thes 5:11)
I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make
you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each
other's faith.
(Rom 1:11-12)
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke
and encourage—with great patience
and careful instruction.
(2 Tim 4:2)
When he [Barnabas] arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was
glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all
their hearts.
(Acts 11:23)
Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and
strengthen the brothers.
(Acts 15:32)
After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house,
where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.
(Acts 16:40)
...Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said
good-by and set out for Macedonia. He traveled through that area, speaking many words
of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece...
(Acts 20:1-2)
...everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening,
encouragement and comfort...
For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and
encouraged.
(1 Cor 14:3, 31)
Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you
everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am
sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and
that he may encourage you.
(Eph 6:22)
1Thessalonians 3:2-3 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in
spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you
in your faith, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. 4 For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction and so it came to pass, as you know
We can’t be
surprised by affliction, but we must have a plan of action… have a plan to
reach out to others, and look for people in the church you can strengthen and
encourage.
What is
affliction?
V3 affliction) (thlibo- wear away, rub, break in
pieces; thlibo is from the root thlao = squash, crush) (Related word thlipsis- literally
means to press, squeeze, crush, squash). Thlibo used literally pictures putting pressure upon or pressing
in upon or pressing hard upon a person as when when Jesus was forced to get in
the boat to keep from crowding
Him (Mark
3:9). While some uses of thlibo refers to physical affliction, other uses are figurative
and refer to emotional or spiritual affliction (e.g., "conflicts without,
fears within" in 2Cor 7:5) in Paul’s letters, thlibo refers to
the hardships he and his fellow workers experienced
2
Corinthians 1: 3 All praise to God, the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in
all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will
be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we
suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 6 Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for
your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will
certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. 7 We are confident
that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God
gives us.
We use our affliction to encourage
others in their affliction.
V3Faith (4102) (pistis) is synonymous
with trust or belief and is the conviction of the truth, trust in man's relationship to God and divine
things. .. is the conviction that God exists and is the Creator and Ruler of
all things well as the Provider and Bestower of eternal salvation through
Christ. Saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person
for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God. This definition
emphasizes that saving faith is not just a belief in facts but personal trust
in Jesus to save me… The definition emphasizes personal trust in Christ, not
just belief in facts about Christ. Because saving faith in Scripture involves
this personal trust, the word “trust” is a better word to use in contemporary
culture than the word “faith” or “belief.” The reason is that we can “believe”
something to be true with no personal commitment or dependence involved in it.
·
God often places us in the Desert so that we MUST rely on Him alone…/
What has God placed in your life that you MfUST trust in Him?
Love (26)(agape) describes their unconditional, sacrificial
love, the same love that God is (1Jn
4:8,16) and that God shows (Jn
3:16, 1Jn
4:9). It follows
that this quality of supernatural, divine love is only made possible by the
indwelling and enabling of the Holy Spirit (Gal
5:22-note;). The only way the Thessalonians could
demonstrate to Timothy a love like Christ was by yielding to His Spirit and
allowing Him to live His life through them and that same applies to us today. Agape love does
not depend on the world’s behavior.
1Thessalonians
3: 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— 7 therefore, brethren,
in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith. 8 For now we live, if you
stand fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanks can
we render to God for you, for all the joy with
which we rejoice for your sake before our God, 10 night
and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is
lacking in your faith?11 Now may our God and Father
Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. 12 And
may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as
we do to you,
V 9 Joy (5479) (chara) is a feeling of inner
gladness, delight or rejoicing. Joy then is the deep-down sense of well-being that abides in the heart of
the person who knows all is well between himself and the Lord. It is not an
experience that comes from favorable circumstances
V 9 - Rejoice (5463)(chairo) means to be "cheer" full or full of
cheer, to be delighted, to be calmly happy or to be well-off in one's emotional
status.
V12 Love- agape. Agape is selfless, sacrificial,
unconditional love, the highest of the four types of love. Agape perfectly describes the kind of
love Jesus Christ has for his Father and for his followers.
Background for 2 thessalonians Some
believers said if Jesus was coming back at any moment, why work hard fulfilling
life’s calling on earth? They wanted to
just be idle. Paul told them to hard work in a value and a behavior that is
right so get back to work.
2 thessalonians 3: 1-5 As for other matters, brothers and sisters,(A) pray for us(B) that the message of the Lord(C) may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was
with you.(D) 2 And pray that we
may be delivered from wicked and evil people,(E) for not everyone has faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful,(F) and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.(G) 4 We have confidence(H) in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to
do the things we command. 5 May the Lord direct
your hearts(I) into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.
V3- faithful pistos- worthy of trust; that can, be relied on
Strengthen- stērizō to
set fast, i.e. (literally) to turn resolutely in a certain direction,
Heart- kardia- the soul or
mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires,
appetites, affections, purposes, endeavours
Love- agape v4 Perseverance- hypomonē- steadfastness, constancy, endurance
persecution- diōgmos- hostility and ill-treatment due to
Christ
trials- thlipsis- a pressing, pressing together,
pressure
How do we make it through being pressed?
By encouraging one another, by
strengthening one another, By comforting one another, by displaying love to one
another a
nd By KNOWING His unfailing love.
Psalm
13:5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart
rejoices in your salvation
Psalm
33:18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who
fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love
Psalm
36:7 How
priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of
your wings.
Psalm
52:8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in
the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.
Psalm
90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing
love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Psalm
94:18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your
unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
un·fail·ing
1. not failing; not giving way; not falling short of expectation; completely dependable: an unfailing friend.
2. inexhaustible; endless:
unfailing resources; unfailing good humor.
I don't say
trust in His love flippantly. For 11 years, my youngest child has been
dealing with a tumor by his spine, ..
a
tumor that is eroding his spine. Next
month my son has his 5th surgery where his entire back will be
opened to remove
as much of a tumor as the surgeons can. It stinks to see
your child hurt. It stinks to not be able to fix it.
It stinks to
have to deal with NF and his questions about his future.
We must focus on His unfailing love! Remind those in your circle of His unfailing
love.
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