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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Thessalonians 2:1

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For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain:

1. For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you ] entering in (R.V.), same word as in ch. 1Th 1:9; see note. And the “For” of this verse is parallel to the “for” of ch. 1Th 1:9: what “ they themselves (other people, strangers in different places) report of us” is confirmed by what “ you yourselves know” of the successful entrance the Gospel had won at Thessalonica. Both these fors, and all that the Apostle has written since 1Th 2:4 of ch. 1, go to sustain his assurance of God’s loving “choice” of the Thessalonian believers. We must not allow the artificial division of chapter and verse to break the thread of the writer’s thoughts.

The appeal made to the recollections and experience of the readers is characteristic of these letters, see 1Th 2:2 ; 1Th 2:5 ; 1Th 2:10-11; ch. 1Th 1:5, &c.; and comp. Introd. p. 35.

Concerning the “entrance” of the missionaries amongst them the Thessalonians know better than anyone else, that it hath not been found vain (R. V.). The Greek perfect tense (see note on ch. 1Th 1:8) implies a settled result: not merely did the coming of Christ’s servants produce a striking impression at the time; their work has proved thoroughly successful. Its fruit is permanent.

Vain is lit. empty, void of substance and power. So the apostles’ “labour” would “turn out,” if “the Tempter” should destroy the Thessalonians’ faith (ch. 1Th 3:5); so his “preaching” and his hearers’ “faith” at Corinth, if Christ’s resurrection were not a fact (1Co 15:14). “Not empty” echoes the “power” and “much fulness” of ch. 1Th 1:5.

This verse might be rendered somewhat more freely in English idiom: For you know of yourselves, brethren, that our coming amongst you has not proved vain.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

section ii

The Apostle’s Conduct at Thessalonica. Ch. 1Th 2:1-12

Analysis. The ministry of Paul and his colleagues at Thessalonica had been unmistakably genuine, 1Th 2:1. This appeared (1) by their boldness in the conflict amid which their work began, 1Th 2:2; (2) by their sincerity and freedom from personal ambition, 1Th 2:3-6; (3) by their gentleness and tender affection toward the Thessalonians, 1Th 2:7-8; (4) by their extreme and self-denying labours, 1Th 2:9; (5) by the purity of their life, 1Th 2:10; and (6) by the fidelity and high spiritual aim of their teaching, 1Th 2:11-12. Four words resume the whole: courage, purity, love, fidelity. Here is a mirror for ministers of Christ, and an ideal for all His servants. The service of Christ called into exercise in Paul and his companions the highest and finest qualities of mainly character. And this is still the case, especially on missionary fields of labour, where similar dangers are encountered and the same powers of leadership required.

This section is of the nature of a self-defence, called forth (see Introd. pp. 23, 24) by the calumnies of St Paul’s enemies at Thessalonica. But there blends with his self-defence the lofty strain of thanksgiving in which the letter commenced, and which breaks forth again distinctly in 1Th 2:13 and Is pursued to the end of ch. 3; so that this paragraph grows naturally out of the last.

The Apostle continues to identify Silas and Timothy with himself writing in the plural,

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you – notes, 1Th 1:9. Paul appeals to themselves for proof that they had not come among them as impostors. They had had a full opportunity to see them, and to know what influenced them. Paul frequently appeals to his own life, and to what they, among whom he labored, knew of it, as a full refutation of the slanderous accusations of his enemies; compare notes, 1Co 4:10-16; 1Co 9:19-27; 2Co 6:3-10. Every minister of the gospel ought so to live as to be able, when slanderously attacked, to make such an appeal to his people.

That it was not in vain – kene This word means:

(1)Empty, vain, fruitless, or without success;

(2)That in which there is no truth or reality – false, fallacious; Eph 5:6; Col 2:8.

Here it seems, from the connection 1Th 2:3-5, to be used in the latter sense, as denoting that they were not deceivers. The object does not appear to be so much to show that their ministry was successful, as to meet a charge of their adversaries that they were impostors. Paul tells them that from their own observation they knew that this was not so.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

1Th 2:1-2

For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain

Essential elements of success in preaching: Boldness

Outsiders testified of the success of the gospel; and the apostles could confidently appeal to the converts in confirmation of the report.

For yourselves, etc. Dr. Lillie observes: Pauls entrance was no easy, random, careless matter–not at all an affair of rhetoric or ostentation–no holiday diversion or intellectual pastime; but a fact of the utmost gravity for him and for that renowned city–a crisis, an epoch in the history of both. We trace in their ministerial endeavours four essential elements that are ever found in all successful preaching–boldness, sincerity, gentleness, moral consistency. Consider, first, their boldness.

I. This boldness manifested in the earnest declaration of the truth. We are bold in our God, etc.

1. Bold in their conception of the Divine origin and vast scope of the gospel, and its adaptation to the wants of man, they were not less hold in its faithful proclamation. Their deep conviction of the supreme authority of the truth gave them unusual courage. We see the same spirit in Paul, when his fearless words roused the ire of Festus, shook the conscience of the thoughtless Felix, or swayed the heart of Agrippa. We see it in Elijah as he rebuked the sins of the wicked Ahab or threw the baffled priests of Baal into maddening hysteria–himself the while unmoved and confident. We see it conspicuously in Him whose burning words assailed every wrong, and who denounced the leaders of a corrupt Church as serpents! generation of vipers!

2. With much contention–amid much conflict and danger. This kind of preaching provoked opposition, and involved them in great inward struggles. The faithful messenger of God fears not the most violent assault from without: but the thought of the fatal issues to those who obstinately reject and fight against the gospel fills him with agonizing concern.

II. This boldness no suffering could daunt. Even after that we had suffered before, etc. They had come fresh from a city where they had been cruelly outraged. But their sufferings only deepened their love for the gospel, and inflamed the passion to make it known. A German professor has lately made experiments with chalcedony, and other quartzose minerals, and he has demonstrated that when such stones are ground on large and rapidly revolving wheels, they exhibit a brilliant phosphorescent glow throughout their entire mass. So is it with the resolute worker. The more he is ground under the strong wheel of suffering and persecution, the more intensely will his character glow.

III. This boldness was Divinely inspired. In our God. It was not presumption or bravado; but tire calm, grand heroism of a profound faith in God. The prophet Jeremiah, in a moment of despondency, decided to speak no more in the name of the Lord; but when he could say, The Lord is with me as a mighty terrible One, his courage returned, and he obeyed implicitly the Divine mandate–Thou shalt go, etc. Similarly commissioned, Paul once exclaimed, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Endowed with the like spirit Luther uttered his noble protest at the Diet of Worms–Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise; God help me! Lessons:

1. Boldness is indispensable in attacking the evils of the age–not in the mass, but in detail.

2. Boldness acquired only by studious and prayerful familiarity with God and His message. (G. Barlow.)

The true pulpit

I. Its sublime courage. We were bold in our God. True pulpit courage must not be con founded with that audacity, impudence, self-assurance, which, alas! is so prevalent. It is courage in God, and springs from–

1. Love for Gods character. Love is the soul of courage. Strong love absorbs all selfish fears and makes the soul heroic. Paul loved his God so strongly that he lost all selfish feelings in the passion.

2. Confidence in Gods gospel. Paul knew that the gospel he had received and that he preached was not of men, but of God. No infidel argument could shake his faith in this. It was to him a subject beyond question and debate, settled amongst the immoveable facts of his own consciousness. Boldness in God is what the pulpit wants now. Some preachers speak as if they were bold in their theology, in their sect, in their own capacities; but Paul was bold in God. He felt himself to be nothing.

II. Its transcendent theme. The glad tidings.

1. That God loves all men, although they are sinners. Nature shows that God loves all men as creatures; but the gospel alone reveals His love to sinners (Joh 3:16).

2. That Gods love for sinners is so great that He gave His only begotten Son. This is Gods gospel; and what a transcendent theme for the preacher! This Paul preached: not theology, science, philosophy, metaphysical theories. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

True courage

is cool and calm. The bravest of men have least of a brutal bullying insolence, and in the very time of danger are found the most serene and free. Rage, we know, can make a coward forget himself, and fight. But what is done in fury or anger can never be placed to the account of courage. (Shaftesbury.)

Ministerial boldness

Archbishop Whately once said, when a friend asked him whether he did not feel nervous about preaching, that he dared not; for nervousness implied thoughts of oneself, when we ought only to be thinking of Gods message. (J. Hutchinson, D. D.)

A minister without boldness

is like a smooth file, a knife without an edge, a sentinel that is afraid to let off his gun. If men will be bold to sin, ministers must be bold to reprove. (W. Gurnal.)

Influence of character

The daily influence of Christ-like ministers streams into the character of their people as the imponderable sunlight enters into the solid substance of vegetation. (Boston Review.)

Christian devotion

Rev. Mr. Johnson, a Baptist missionary in China, relates this fact of a native convert who, when trying to persuade his countrymen to give up their idols and believe in Christ, was ridiculed and scorned, and at last pelted with mud and stones till his face was red with the blood that flowed from the cuts in his temples. Mr. Johnson meeting him said, You have had bad treatment today. He smilingly replied, They may kill me if they will love Jesus.

A courageous preacher

Mr. Moody tells us that there was a celebrated preacher in one of the Southern States of America, who went to a place where they told him if he dared to speak they would rotten-egg him. But he went right on. He said he wanted to tell them a story. A man in Texas went to town and sold a drove of cattle; he put the money in his saddlebags, got on his horse and started for home, his dog with him. He got tired after awhile, and laid down under a tree and went to sleep, laying the saddlebags by him. After awhile he awoke, took up the bags, got on his horse and rode off. But his dog kept barking and running back, and would not go along with him and keep quiet. So he finally, in his anger, took out his revolver and shot the dog, and rode on. But the more he thought about what he had done, the more he was troubled. He turned his horse and rode back, and found that the dog had dragged himself along until he had reached the tree where he had slept. There he was, dying; but by his side was his masters bundle of money, which he had dropped and was going off without, and which his faithful dog had lost his life in trying to save. Now, said the minister, I am here like that dog, to tell you of the treasure you are losing. Rotten-egg me if you want to. But they didnt; they heard him gladly.

Not in vain

A young man was engaged in teaching a class of rather wild lads in a Sabbath school: He thought that he was not qualified to make any impression upon them, and got much discouraged. By the inducements of his fellow teachers and superintendent, he was prevailed upon to keep at the work for years, till at last he absolutely refused to continue it longer. Many years afterward an eminent missionary wrote home: Is that gentleman who taught in the Sabbath school still living? If he is, please let him know that there is at least one living who dates his conversion to Christ from the lessons received in his class. So you see that, although the teacher gave up his work because he saw no fruit, yet the seed sown was not lost; one soul, if not more, was saved, and used as Gods means for saving many others.

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER II.

The apostle sets forth how the Gospel was brought and preached

to the Thessalonians, in consequence of his being persecuted at

Philippi, 1, 2.

The manner in which the apostles preached, the matter of their

doctrine, and the tenor of their lives, 3-11.

He exhorts them to walk worthy of God, 12.

And commends them for the manner in which they received the

Gospel, 13.

How they suffered from their own countrymen, as the first

believers did from the Jews, who endeavoured to prevent the

apostles from preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, 14-16.

St. Paul’s apology for his absence from them; and his earnest

desire to see them, founded on his great affection for them,

17-20.

NOTES ON CHAP. II.

Verse 1. Our entrance in unto you] His first coming to preach the Gospel was particularly owned of the Lord, many of them having been converted under his ministry. This consideration gave him a right to deliver all the following exhortations.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

For yourselves; autoi, which some read, they themselves, &c.; and then the words refer to the believers in Macedonia and Achaia, mentioned before, 1Th 1:9,10. Or, if we read, ye yourselves, he appeals to their own experience and knowledge.

Know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain; kenh, was not vain, or empty, without fruit; our very first preaching had great success. Though the gospel is always either the savour of life unto life, or of death unto death, yet if no good fruit spring from a mans ministry, it may be said to be vain; as the prophet complains: I have laboured in vain, Isa 49:4. Or, as some, our preaching was not about things vain and unprofitable.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. Forconfirming 1Th1:9. He discusses the manner of his fellow missionaries’preaching among them (1Th 1:5,and former part of 1Th 2:9) at1Th 2:1-12; and theThessalonians’ reception of the word (compare 1Th 1:6;1Th 1:7, and latter part of 1Th2:9) at 1Th 2:13-16.

yourselvesNot only dostrangers report it, but you know it to be true [ALFORD]”yourselves.”

not in vainGreek,“not vain,” that is, it was full of “power” (1Th1:5). The Greek for “was,” expresses rather”hath been and is,” implying the permanent andcontinuing character of his preaching.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you,…. The apostle having observed in 1Th 1:9 that those persons to whom the report of the Gospel being preached at Thessalonica, and the success of it there was made, showed everywhere both what manner of entrance he and his fellow ministers had in that place, and the conversion of many souls there; he enlarges upon the latter, and here reassumes the former, and appeals to the Thessalonians themselves, who must know full well, and better than others, what an entrance it was; and which is to be understood not merely of a corporeal entrance into their city and synagogue, but of their coming among them, by the preaching of the Gospel, as the ministers of the word and ambassadors of Christ:

that it was not in vain; it was not a vain show with outward pomp and splendour, as the public entrances of ambassadors into cities usually are; but with great meanness, poverty, reproach, and persecution, having been lately beaten and ill used at Philippi; nor was it with great swelling words of vanity, with the enticing words of man’s wisdom, to tickle the ear, please the fancy, and work upon the passions of natural men, in which manner the false teachers came: but the apostle came not with deceit and guile, with flattering words or a cloak of covetousness, or with a view to vain glory and worldly advantage; nor was the message they came with, from the King of kings, a vain, light, empty, and trifling one; but solid and substantial, and of the greatest importance; the doctrine they taught was not comparable to chaff and wind; it was not corrupt philosophy and vain deceit, the traditions and commandments of men, but sound doctrine, the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus Christ: nor was it fruitless and without effect; the word did not return void and empty; but was powerful and efficacious to the conversion of many souls. Christ was with them both to assist them in their ministry, and to bless it to the salvation of men; nor was their coming to Thessalonica an human scheme, a rash enterprise, engaged in on their own heads, on a slight and empty foundation; but upon good and solid grounds, by divine direction and counsel; see Ac 16:9.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Primitive Ministers.

A. D. 51.

1 For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain: 2 But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. 3 For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: 4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. 5 For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness; God is witness: 6 Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.

Here we have an account of Paul’s manner of preaching, and his comfortable reflection upon his entrance in among the Thessalonians. As he had the testimony of his own conscience witnessing to his integrity, so he could appeal to the Thessalonians how faithful he, and Silas, and Timotheus, his helpers in the work of the Lord, had discharged their office: You yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you. Note, It is a great comfort to a minister to have his own conscience and the consciences of others witnessing for him that he set out well, with good designs and from good principles; and that his preaching was not in vain, or, as some read it, was not fain. The apostle here comforts himself either in the success of his ministry, that it was not fruitless or in vain (according to our translation), or as others think, reflecting upon the sincerity of his preaching, that it was not vain and empty, or deceitful and treacherous. The subject-matter of the apostle’s preaching was not vain and idle speculations about useless niceties and foolish questions, but sound and solid truth, such as was most likely to profit his hearers. A good example this is, to be imitated by all the ministers of the gospel. Much less was the apostle’s preaching vain or deceitful. He could say to these Thessalonians what he told the Corinthians (2 Cor. iv. 2): We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully. He had no sinister or worldly design in his preaching, which he puts them in mind to have been,

I. With courage and resolution: We were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God, v. 2. The apostle was inspired with a holy boldness, nor was he discouraged at the afflictions he met with, or the opposition that was made against him. He had met with ill usage at Philippi, as these Thessalonians well knew. There it was that he and Silas were shamefully treated, being put in the stocks; yet no sooner were they set at liberty than they went to Thessalonica, and preached the gospel with as much boldness as ever. Note, Suffering in a good cause should rather sharpen than blunt the edge of holy resolution. The gospel of Christ, at its first setting out in the world, met with much opposition; and those who preached it preached it with contention, with great agony, which denoted either the apostles’ striving in their preaching or their striving against the opposition they met with. This was Paul’s comfort; he was neither daunted in his work, nor driven from it.

II. With great simplicity and godly sincerity: Our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile, v. 3. This, no doubt, was matter of the greatest comfort to the apostle–the consciousness of his own sincerity; and was one reason of his success. It was the sincere and uncorrupted gospel that he preached and exhorted them to believe and obey. His design was not to set up a faction, to draw men over to a party, but to promote pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father. The gospel he preached was without deceit, it was true and faithful; it was not fallacious, nor a cunningly-devised fable. Nor was it of uncleanness. His gospel was pure and holy, worthy of its holy author, tending to discountenance all manner of impurity. The word of God is pure. There should be no corrupt mixtures therewith; and, as the matter of the apostle’s exhortation was thus true and pure, the manner of his speaking was without guile. He did not pretend one thing and intend another. He believed, and therefore he spoke. He had no sinister and secular aims and views, but was in reality what he seemed to be. The apostle not only asserts his sincerity, but subjoins the reasons and evidences thereof. The reasons are contained, v. 4.

1. They were stewards, put in trust with the gospel: and it is required of a steward that he be faithful. The gospel which Paul preached was not his own, but the gospel of God. Note, Ministers have a great favour shown them, and honour put upon them, and trust committed to them. They must not dare to corrupt the word of God: they must diligently make use of what is entrusted with them, so as God hath allowed and commanded, knowing they shall be called to an account, when they must be no longer stewards.

2. Their design was to please God and not men. God is a God of truth, and requires truth in the inward parts; and, if sincerity be wanting, all that we do cannot please God. The gospel of Christ is not accommodated to the fain fancies and lusts of men, to gratify their appetites and passions; but, on the contrary, it was designed for the mortifying of their corrupt affections, and delivering them from the power of fancy, that they might be brought under the power of faith. If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ, Gal. i. 10.

3. They acted under the consideration of God’s omniscience, as in the sight of him who tries our hearts. This is indeed the great motive to sincerity, to consider that God not only seeth all that we do, but knoweth our thoughts afar off, and searcheth the heart. He is well acquainted with all our aims and designs, as well as our actions. And it is from this God who trieth our hearts that we must receive our reward. The evidences of the apostle’s sincerity follow; and they are these:– (1.) He avoided flattery: Neither at any time used we flattering words, as you know, v. 5. He and his fellow-labourers preached Christ and him crucified, and did not aim to gain an interest in men’s affections for themselves, by glorying, and fawning and wheedling them. No, he was far from this; nor did he flatter men in their sins; nor tell them, if they would be of his party, they might live as they listed. He did not flatter them with fain hopes, nor indulge them in any evil work or way, promising them life, and so daubing with untempered mortar. (2.) He avoided covetousness. He did not make the ministry a cloak, or a covering, for covetousness, as God was witness, v. 5. His design was not to enrich himself by preaching the gospel; so far from this, he did not stipulate with them for bread. He was not like the false apostles, who, through covetousness, with feigned words made merchandise of the people, 2 Pet. ii. 3. (3.) He avoided ambition and vain-glory: Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you nor yet of others, v. 6. They expected neither people’s purses nor their caps, neither to be enriched by them nor caressed, and adored, and called Rabbi by them. This apostle exhorts the Galatians (ch. v. 26) not to be desirous of vain glory; his ambition was to obtain that honour which comes from God, John v. 44. He tells them that they might have used greater authority as apostles, and expected greater esteem, and demanded maintenance, which is meant by the phrase of being burdensome, because perhaps some would have thought this too great a burden for them to bear.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

For yourselves know ( ). This explanatory takes up in verses 1-12 the allusion in 1:9 about the “report” concerning the entrance (, way in, , ),

unto you ( ). Note repeated article to sharpen the point. This proleptic accusative is common enough. It is expanded by the epexegetic use of the clause

that it hath not been found vain ( ). Literally,

that it has not become empty . Second perfect active (completed state) of . Every pastor watches wistfully to see what will be the outcome of his work. Bengel says: Non inanis, sed plena virtutis. Cf. 1:5. is hollow, empty, while is fruitless, ineffective. In 1Cor 15:14; 1Cor 15:17 Paul speaks of ( empty the preaching ) and ( vain the faith ). One easily leads to the other.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Was not in vain [ ] . More accurately, hath not proved vain. Kenh is empty. Mataia, also rendered vain, is fruitless.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

The Model Servant and His Reward

1) “For yourselves, brethren know” (autoi gar oidate adelphoi) “Because brethren, ye yourselves know,” perceive or recognize, that our Mission to you was a success, as its results still show.

2) “Our entrance in unto you” (ten eisodon hemon ten pros humas) “our entrance or approach to you all; Paul’s approach in mission work was always in humility, sacrifice, and the power of the spirit, as expressed 1Co 2:1-5; 1Co 9:16; 1Co 9:19-27.

3) “That it was not in vain” (hoti ou kene gegonen) “That it has not been in vain,” empty or fruitless. The labors of a true witness, a true laborer, always brings forth some fruit, whether it be seen or unseen by the laborer, Psa 126:5-6; Isa 55:10-11; 1Co 3:8; 1Co 15:58.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

He now, leaving out of view the testimony of other Churches, reminds the Thessalonians of what they had themselves experienced, (520) and explains at large in what way he, and in like manner the two others, his associates, had conducted themselves among them, inasmuch as this was of the greatest importance for confirming their faith. For it is with this view that he declares his integrity — that the Thessalonians may perceive that they had been called to the faith, not so much by a mortal man, as by God himself. He says, therefore, that his entering in unto them had not been vain, as ambitious persons manifest much show, while they have nothing of solidity; for he employs the word vain here as contrasted with efficacious

He proves this by two arguments. The first is, that he had suffered persecution and ignominy at Philippi; the second is, that there was a great conflict prepared at Thessalonica. We know that the minds of men are weakened, nay, are altogether broken down by means of ignominy and persecutions. It was therefore an evidence of a Divine work that Paul, after having been subjected to evils of various kinds and to ignominy, did, as if in a perfectly sound state, shew no hesitation in making an attempt upon a large and opulent city, with the view of subjecting the inhabitants of it to Christ. In this entering in, nothing is seen that savors of vain ostentation. In the second department the same Divine power is beheld, for he does not discharge his duty with applause and favor, but required to maintain a keen conflict. In the mean time he stood firm and undaunted, from which it appears that he was held up (521) by the hand of God; for this is what he means when he says that he was emboldened. And, unquestionably, if all these circumstances are carefully considered, it cannot be denied that God there magnificently displayed his power. As to the history, it is to be found in the sixteenth and seventeenth chapters of the Acts. [Act 16:12.]

(520) “ Veuës et esprouuez;” — “Seen and experienced.”

(521) “ Soustenu et fortifié;” — “Sustained and strengthened.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

SOME SATISFACTORY MODELS

1Th 1:1-4

THE Church at Thessalonica originated in the face of furious opposition. The report of it, as recorded in the seventeenth chapter of the Book of Acts, shows that Paul evinced great courage in entering in to the Jewish synagogue and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead.

The fruit of this preaching was a certain number of Jewish converts and a larger number of Greek, and of the chief women not a few.

But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

The consequence was that Paul and Silas, in order to end the uproar and create greater safety for the new believers, departed by night and went in turn to Berea and Athens and on to Corinth.

It is easy to understand how the Apostles heart would be ill at ease until he had heard how the uproar turned out, and knew the safety of his Christian brethren.

To that end he had sent Timothy from Athens to bring him a report; and now, to encourage the little body of believers, he writes this First Letter, probably in the year A. D. 54.

It had, as Scofield suggests, a threefold object: to confirm the new believers in the fundamental truths of Scripture, to exhort them to holy living, and especially to comfort them concerning some believers who had fallen asleep. Inasmuch as the time since his departure was short, in all probability, these believers had been put to sleep by the opposition.

The somewhat natural division of this First Epistle we shall attempt to follow in this discourse, and consequently talk to you on a Model Salvation, a Model Servant, and a Model Sanctification. However, we shall follow this outline of the Book with discussions devoted to the great Biblical doctrines of the Return, the Resurrection, and the Rapture, which are introduced into the fourth chapter.

Since framing the outline for this sermon we have discovered that Dr. Scofield, in the Scofield Bible, presents a similar, in fact, an almost identical, outline of the same.

We call attention first to

A MODEL SALVATION

His salutation completed (1Th 1:1-3), he addresses himself to this subject of salvation in the remainder of the chapter. What he has to say might be considered under the following suggestions: salvation as evidenced in consecration, as it existed in the form of ensamples, and as it sounded out the saving word.

It was evidenced in true consecration.

Our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

Paul was one of those preachers who needed not to make a defense of his own conduct, and required not from others a recommendation of character. His unselfishness in service, his consistency of conduct, his evident character, had all been as an open book, and friend and foe alike had seen in him, and heard from him, nothing that demanded explanation or required defense.

On the other hand, his very consecration to the cause which he had but recently espoused was in clear evidence of his sincerity in action. Robert Morrison, that great missionary, at the call of whose name the pulse of the Church of God is quickened, gives us an insight into his very soul in this circumstance. After his conversion he raised the question, Lord, where shall I serve? And he tells us how it was answered. I learn from Thy Word that it is Thy holy pleasure that the Gospel should be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. Thou hast given commandment to Thy servants unto the end of the world to preach the Gospel to every creature promising them Thy presence. When I view the field, O Lord, my Master, I perceive that by far the greater part is entirely without laborers, or at best has but here and there one or two, whilst there are thousands crowded up in one corner. My desire is, O Lord, to engage where laborers are most wanted.

That was the spirit that sent him to the heathen land and made him a burning and a shining light against its blackness of darkness. And that is the spirit of conquest, wherever found in the Church.

Pauls salvation effected in him an ensample.

Ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.

So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.

Herein is a twofold instance of ensample: to them, first, Paul had become an example, and second, they, in turn, became ensamples to all that were in all Macedonia and Achaia.

The business of the world is carried on largely by samples. The great factories of earth sell their products through samples; fruits of the earth are sold after the same manner, by samples. It is no wonder that Christianity is judged by samples. The overwhelming majority of men do not read the Prophets or the Apostles. The Letters of Paul are largely left, as it were, in unbroken envelopes. But they do read you, and they read me. We are the living epistles * * known and read of all men. If it were possible today to say of the church-members, as Paul said of the Thessalonian Christians, Ye were ensamples to all that believe, what spiritual power would be engendered thereby! Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth (Rom 14:22).

Chauncey M. Depew, writing of his personal experience when he was in his ninety-first year, in the form of a Holiday Greeting to the World, said among other things, The essence of happiness in this world, and salvation in the next, is to live in Christ, to absorb His spirit, His love, His all-embracing humanity.

That spirit will, if truly entertained, never fail. The woman, who gave birth to John Chrysostom and brought him up in the ways of truthfulness and piety, excited from a heathens lips these words, as he looked upon her and thought of her life, Oh, what wonderful women these Christians have.

The mother of Gregory, that spiritual giant of the fourth century, was seldom seen, we are told, except as she attended worship, or carried baskets of food or clothing to the poor, or went visiting the sick; while the Godly mother of Bernard is said to have trained him, giving him utterly to God, and in the eagerness of her impassioned devotion, to have inspired him with the highest spirit of service. You have all heard that story, that doubtless had a truthful origin, of how a Sunday School teacher put to her class the question, What is your favorite version of the Bible? One answered, The King James, Another, The American Revision, a third, Moffats New Testament. One lad, whose Christian mother justified his remark, said, I like my mothers version best; she lives it! The best exposition of sacred Scripture is a holy life.

Paul was a power with his converts in proportion as he could truthfully say to them, Be ye followers of me and the Macedonian Christians were effective with their unregenerate neighbors in proportion as they were ensamples to all that believe.

But, as faith without works is dead so Christianity demands more than a holy life. It demands an aggressive ministry; and I find a third point in this model salvation that requires emphasis:

It sounded out the saving word.

The Apostle says,

From you sounded out the Word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.

For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye 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, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come (1Th 1:8-10).

It will be remembered that this was the chief characteristic of the Apostolic Church. When Saul of Tarsus raged in his persecution against the people of Christ, he succeeded in scattering the Church, not in silencing it. In fact, his opposition accomplished1 exactly the opposite result, for

They that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the Word.

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

And there was great joy in that city.

Later this same Philip bore the word of testimony in the presence of the treasurer of the Ethiopians, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen, and preached unto him Jesus, and his baptism followed; and doubtless a church for Northern Africa was born out of that witness.

The greatest single need of the Church of God today is that of witnessing. In the language of the Word, the last affirmation of the ascended Christ was, Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Would God that every man of us, and every woman member of the Church militant might be able to say with Catherine Hankey:

I love to tell the story Of unseen things above,Of Jesus and His glory,Of Jesus and His love.I love to tell the story,Because I know tis true;It satisfies my longings As nothing else can do.

I love to tell the story:Tis pleasant to repeat,What seems, each time I tell it,More wonderfully sweet.I love to tell the story:For some have never heard The message of salvation From Gods own holy Word.

I love to tell the story;For those who know it bestSeem hungering and thirsting.To hear it like the rest.And when, in scenes of Glory,I sing the new, new song,Twill be the old, old story That I have loved so long!

I love to tell the story;Twill be my theme in Glory,To tell the old, old story Of Jesus and His love.

But we pass to the second point in our study:

A MODEL SERVANT

Here we speak of Paul himself, and you will find in the Epistle a defense of our claim.

First of all, He was a courageous servant. This is evidenced in the statement,

For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain:

But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the Gospel of God with much contention.

For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:

But as we were allowed of God to be put m trust with the Gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness.

Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the Apostles of Christ.

But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the Gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us (1Th 2:1-8).

It is impossible to follow the Apostle Paul through the assiduous labors recorded in Acts, or trace his steps, as those are revealed in these Epistles, without marveling at the courage of the man. He does not ask, as did Caleb in the Old Testament, for the hardest task to be assigned to any servant of God; but, like the true warrior, takes his way to the very spot where the fight is thickest, and there exposes his person to any danger incidental to victory. There can be little question that the martyrs of all the ages have been inspired and enheartened by the Pauline example. When he faced the block without fear, saying, as he drew nigh to that decapitation, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His Appearing, he was clearing the path for martyrs who should follow, and was exhibiting a spirit of courage that would sustain them in kindred ordeals.

There is an echo of Paul in the experience of Latimer and Ridley. When you remember that their faith had been subjected to every conceivable indignity, made to endure every suffering that was possible to leave them life, including an attempt to freeze them to death in the tower of London, where they spent a winter without fire, and how at last they were led forth to be not only thawed out by the flame, but consumed in the same, joyfully they went, and the old man Latimer, cheerfully encouraged his friend by saying, Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light by the grace of God such a candle in England as I trust shall never be put out.

One of the most popular hymns of modern times is known as Stand up, Stand up for Jesus. The hymn was written by Rev. George Duffield, a Presbyterian minister. It originated after this manner: one Sunday a young Episcopalian clergyman preached to five thousand men in Jaynes Hall, Philadelphia. His text was Exo 10:11. The sermon was said to be one of the most wonderful of modern times. All Philadelphia was deeply stirred by a very great revival. The preacher, young Dudley A. Tyng, threw himself into the work with great heartiness. He was one of the noblest, bravest, manliest of men. The following Wednesday, after preaching the great sermon, he left his study for a moments rest, going out to his barn. There was a mule at work there in the power machine, shelling corn. He paused to stroke the mules neck, when the sleeve of his silken gown caught in the cogs of the machine and his arm was literally torn out by the roots. Just before he died, his father at his bedside asked him if he had any message to send to the men in the great noon-day prayer-meeting and to the ministers associated in that work. Tell them, he said, to stand up for Jesus!

On the Sunday following his death, Rev. George Duffield preached from Eph 6:14 and read the verses of the hymn as he had written them the day before. The Superintendent of the Sunday School had them printed. Later a Baptist newspaper, publishing the same, music was found for the words, and the Church has joined heartily in the music ever since because of the inspiring sentiment that the words contain:

Stand up! stand up for Jesus!Ye soldiers of the Cross;Lift high His royal banner,It must not suffer loss.From victory unto victory His army shall He lead,Till every foe is vanquished,And Christ is Lord indeed.

Stand up! stand up for Jesus!Stand in His strength alone;The arm of flesh will fail you;Ye dare not trust your own;Put on the Gospel armor,And, watching unto prayer,Where duty calls or danger,Be never wanting there.

Stand up! stand up for Jesus!The strife will not be long;This day the noise of battle,The next the victors song.To him that overcometh,A crown of life shall be;He with the King of Glory Shall reign eternally.

The greatest needs of the Church of God, in this hour, is the courage to be a Christian.

He was a conscientious servant.

For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the Gospel of God.

Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:

As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children,

That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto His Kingdom and glory (1Th 2:9-12).

This language strangely contrasts a certain course of conduct characterizing these latter days. There is an enormous amount of complaint on the part of evangelists because so little work now opens for them. The failure of evangelism is not wholly due to the apostate condition of the Church. The professionalist may blame himself for much of it. His methods have broken the entire system down and have produced with the sanest and most spiritual of church people a certain antipathy to the whole procedure. In America, at least, evangelism has been commercialized, and because one man with the enormous backing of the churches of great cities was able, by the adoption of rather questionable methods, to secure enormous sums for a meeting of a few weeks, hundreds of others grew equally ambitious and commenced to ape in the matter and carry about with them a great company of salaried assistants, women workers, boy specialists, pianist, chorister, soloists, tabernacle men, book table women, and demand of those who sought their services what was known as an expense account of travel, entertainment and advertising, that together with the offering required at the end, would exceed a century outlay on the part of the early Christian church. In addition to this unscriptural and indefensible charge many of these professionals have exercised a ministry that has been fruitless so far as any definite results were concerned.

Two men, who have been much in the ascendant in recent years in America so far as crowds were concerned, one of them from over seas and the other native to the soil, are men, who though they address thousands through the co-operative endeavor of the churches that call them, have never been known to hold a meeting anywhere that added any considerable number of people to the churches thus engaged and burdened. The unfortunate result is that evangelism itself is discredited and faithful evangelists are finding it even more difficult to secure work than the faithless, since their methods are uniformly less spectacular and consequently less popular with the jazz-loving age.

In all this we are not attempting at all to say that all evangelists ought to labor as Paul and his companions did, night and day without charge to anybody, for we believe that the Church of God is often guilty of withholding more than is meet and suffering spiritual poverty as a result. But we are saying that the show of the spirit of sacrifice on the part of evangelists, and above all, a blameless behavior among them that believe, together with a ministry of exhortation and comfort and warning would result in a worthy walk on the part of them called unto the Kingdom and glory of Christ.

He was a commissioned servant.

For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:

Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own Prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:

Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.

But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.

Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His Coming?

For ye are our glory and joy (1Th 2:13-20).

Paul here affirms afresh that he had originated no Gospel, but had passed on to them that which he had received, even the Word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe. He reminded them that their experience was like others, the experience of suffering, and still more like that of their Lord and His Prophets, who had been killed, and now His Apostles who were suffering persecution. And yet, the great Apostle reminds them that these things are all forgotten in the joy and rejoicing over them as trophies through the Gospel.

Possibly one secret of Pauls power was his consciousness of a commission from the Lord associated as it was with His promised presence. We believe that there is such a thing as a daily commission and a daily direction of the Spirit. Each morning brings us new duties; each day makes its new demands, and both duties and demands require new guidance. But we have a sure promise from the ascended Lord, When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you. It is doubtful if Paul ever spent a day without the sense of Divine presence. Therein is the secret of the Apostles power, and therein is the measure of any spiritual success enjoyed by the present disciples of the Church of Jesus Christ. But our future study brings us to

A MODEL SANCTIFICATION

Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;

And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the Gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to Comfort you concerning your faith;

That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.

For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.

For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.

But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:

Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you, in all our affliction and distress, by your faith:

For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.

For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;

Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?

Now God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.

And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:

To the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.

For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:

That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter; because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.

For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us His holy Spirit.

But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you; for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more:

And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to Work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.

For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive, and remain unto the Coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words (1Th 3:1 to 1Th 4:18).

This sanctification voices itself in a steadfastness in obedience to the holy will and in an adequate objective.

Their steadfastness was the Apostles comfort.

Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;

And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the Gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith;

That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.

For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.

For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.

But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you;

Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you, in all our affliction and distress, by your faith:

For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.

For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;

Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?

Now God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you (1Th 3:1-11).

It would be easy to go into history and bring abundant and beautiful illustrations of steadfastness both in the faith and in the service. Savonarola would be a fine subject for such an illustration. Knox and Calvin could scarcely be equalled. Their indomitable wills and their determined conduct would not only illustrate but embellish the whole discussion. But the average man might feel a fear of failure when such outstanding examples were set before him and secretly say in his own soul, I am not made of the same kind of stuff, and can never attain to the heights of faith or reveal the rock-ribbed stability of such exceptional and outstanding souls!

I bring you, therefore, an illustration from common life, one that will show the way to the humblest among us. It comes from The Treasury, and is related in the following words:

There is no use in keeping the church open any longer. You may as well give me the key, said the missionary in Madras, as he stopped at the door of a little house of God in a village where natives had once professed Christianity, but had declined in interest and quit attendance, returning to their idols. The woman to whom he addressed these words was poor in purse but steadfast in spirit, and she objected. The missionary added as he looked on her sorrowful face, There is a place of Christian worship in the village there, only three miles off, and those who want really to serve God can walk that distance!

Oh, sir, she pled most earnestly, do not take the key away. I at least will go to the church daily; I will sweep it. I will trim its lamp and keep it burning; and I will go on praying. Some day God may hear and a blessing may come.

So the missionary said, Oh, well, keep the key then, and went his way. Some years afterward he returned to that same village and to his surprise he found the church crowded with repentant sinners. A great harvest of souls had been reaped and the steadfastness of this Godly woman was the secret of the whole success.

Their sanctification was the will of God.

And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: