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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Paul, Silas, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.
We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
1 Thessalonians 1:1-3, 5b-10
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Today, we begin a new study, moving from Paul’s letter to the Colossians to his first letter to the church in Thessalonica, the capital city in Macedonia and a major hub for commerce and trade.
It’s believed that this epistle was one of the first that Paul wrote, somewhere around AD 51 or 52. He was in Corinth at the time of the writing, just having departed Thessalonica during his second missionary journey thus his memories of his time with the Thessalonian Christians were fresh in his mind as Timothy brought him a report from the church. Here’s the account of Paul’s visit to Thessalonica from chapter 17 of the Book of Acts:
When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.
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. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”
When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.
As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea (Vv. 1-10).
You’ll want to keep these verses in mind as we move through this letter but for today, we begin to look at the introduction in chapter 1 of First Thessalonians. Look again at Paul’s opening here:
Paul, Silas, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.
We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
1 Thessalonians 1:1-3, 5b-10
You may remember that at the start of Paul’s second missionary journey, there was a disagreement between him and Barnabas, his fellow gospel messenger from the first missionary trip.
Barnabas wanted to bring his cousin, Mark, on the second journey but Paul was against it because Mark had deserted them during the first missionary trip. Barnabas was so set on Mark going that he split company with Paul and went on his own way with his cousin while Paul chose Silas as his new partner on the second trip. This is how we get to Silas being included with Paul in the opening verse.
As for Timothy, Paul met him and brought him on his Gospel team while passing through Lystra (Acts 16:1). After leaving Thessalonica and going to Berea, Paul experienced threats to his life and was ushered away to Athens, leaving Silas and Timothy behind in Macedonia with instructions to “join him as soon as possible” (Acts 17:10-15). That reunion happened in Corinth (Acts 18:1-5).
And so, Paul writes on behalf of himself, Silas, and Timothy as he greets their brothers and sisters in Christ in Thessalonica with wonderful words of remembrance and appreciation.
We all want that, right?
It’s a blessing to us when we receive a call or correspondence from someone who lets us know they have us in their thoughts and that they appreciate us for who we are.
Just this morning, I received an email like that from someone at my former church. It was completely unsolicited and simply said that my wife and I were missed as they hoped we were doing well. What an uplifting expression of selfless love that was, a selfless love that reflects the character of a selfless Jesus.
This was the same character we find Paul exhibiting as he lets the Thessalonian Christians know that he, Silas, and Timothy “thank God” for them and “continually mention” them in prayer. What a wonderful way to share appreciation for the fledgling church in Thessalonica and I can’t help but think it was a great encouragement for the believers there.
Paul continues to lavish words of support on the Jesus followers by sharing the memories that he and the others had of the church’s work, a work that was “produced by faith” and a “labor prompted by love” as the believers persevered with “endurance” that was “inspired by” their “hope in...Jesus Christ”.
Have you ever been told that you are an inspiration for someone?
It’s an incredible compliment and often times a surprise as we don’t always set out to intentionally inspire but it happens organically through the way we live. In my own life, I want to inspire others but I don’t want the glory. Rather, I want Jesus to inspire others through the ministry work I do and I think that’s the greatest form of inspiration we can present and provide.
As Paul continues in chapter one, he begins to highlight specific remembrances he had of his time with the church as he, Silas, and Timothy “lived among” them for their sake. These memories included:
1. How the Thessalonian Christian “became imitators” of the missionaries “and of the Lord” as they “welcomed the message” brought to them “in the midst of severe suffering”, doing so “with the joy given by the Holy Spirit”.
2. How the Thessalonian Christians “became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia” as their “faith in God” and the “Lord’s message rang out from” them, “not only in Macedonia and Achaia” but “everywhere”.
What example had the Thessalonian Christians set for others?
Paul remembered how they had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath”.
In other words, the believers in the church in Thessalonica chose Christ over the world and salvation over the sin of idolatry. And for this, commendation and praise were definitely in order.
Put yourself in the place of the readers of this letter, the Christians in Thessalonica. You are a new church who has just received the Gospel and are trying to get established while in the midst of more established, idolatrous religious systems.
How would you feel while reading these opening words from Paul, Silas, and Timothy?
It had to be uplifting for them and a great encouragement to stand firm for the cause of Christ, continuing to influence their region for the cause of the Gospel.
The scriptures today are showing us the power embedded in words of remembrance and appreciation for others.
Who can you extend this power to today?
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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