Posts
Now we are down to the last two weeks of this series- the two books on Thessalonica. And to understand this particular church, we must go first to its founding:
Act 17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
Act 17:2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
Act 17:3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ."
Act 17:4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
Act 17:5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.
Act 17:6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,
Act 17:7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus."
Act 17:8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.
Act 17:9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
A small number of Jews, and a greater number of Greeks, listened to Paul and were converted, but they were almost submerged in a sea of those who didn't, driven by jealousy, by the disruption of their positions and ways of life, and willing to compromise themselves with paid thugs and the government of pagans to win their point. Seems politics has never changed.
But it wasn't just the Judaizers who were against them:
1Th 2:14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews...
This was worrying Paul; despite what was happening to him in Athens, he was more concerned with the state of affairs in Thessalonica, since he had had to escape by night from the Jews there (Acts 17:10). But despite facing one of the most violent reactions thus far to his preaching, those who believed, inspired by the risks Paul took, held on the tighter to the faith... unlike last week's lesson in Laodicea, who relied on their plenty instead of God, and became lukewarm.
Satan's main assault here targeted two areas- sexual immorality (4:1-8), and fear of the future (4:13- 5:4). On the first, he gave them no new warning or teaching, but perhaps a new angle to look at it...
1Th 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification, for you to abstain from fornication,
1Th 4:4 each one of you to know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor
1Th 4:5 (not in the passion of lust, even as the nations who do not know God),
1Th 4:6 not to go beyond and defraud his brother in this matter (because the Lord is the avenger concerning all these, as we also have forewarned you and testified).
1Th 4:7 For God has not called us to uncleanness, but in sanctification.
Both "go beyond" and "defraud" carry the idea of "overreaching"- that the various sexual sins committed around them were 'stepping into their brothers' territory', and for a church that had just been praised for brotherly love...
1Th 4:9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another...
...this would be a much greater sin.
On the second, it became a question of , "What happens to so-and-so who died?" Here is where Paul teaches us our ultimate confidence...
1Th 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
Here, Paul would unwrap the mystery of the Rapture- that event that critics continue to falsely claim "Isn't in the Bible", and some modern churches choose not to stress in order to keep their flocks in a more worldly-minded frame.
1Th 4:15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
And where did Paul learn this mystery?
Gal 1:11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.
Gal 1:12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Gal 1:15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
Gal 1:16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
Gal 1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Paul finishes this first letter off with a sort of "Ten Commandments", but these weren't the 'don'ts' of the Law, but the 'dos' of grace:
- Esteem your pastors
-Be patient with all
-Pursue good for all
-Rejoice in all things
-Pray without ceasing
-Give thanks in all things
-Don't quench the Spirit
-Put solid preaching ahead of flamboyant gifts
-Test all things, keeping the good
- Abstain from EVERY evil.
Next time, we'll see how they did.
A good read
ReplyDelete