‘Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be to you, and peace.’

This was a typical form of greeting by a letter writer of the day, indicating the author’s name, the recipient’s name, a reference to a deity and a hope for their well-being. It is noteworthy that Paul does not see it as necessary to refer here to his Apostleship (contrast Gal 1:1. He does mention it in passing in 1Th 2:6). Instead he wrote confident of a warm reception from the church because of what he had heard about them.

He included Silas (his Latin name Silvanus) and Timothy in his greeting. Silas they knew from his being a companion of Paul in the founding of the church (Act 17:1-10 compare Act 15:40). Timothy also was clearly known to them, and had probably been with Silas and Paul in their ministry there, but not prominent.

‘The church of the Thessalonians.’ Compare ‘the churches of Galatia’ (Gal 1:2) and contrast ‘the church of God which is at Corinth’ (1Co 1:2; 2Co 1:1), and the later ‘to the saints at –’ (Eph 1:1; Php 1:1; Col 1:1. See also Rom 1:1). In this there is a growing awareness of the universal church as seen as one whole, composed of all those set apart for Himself (‘saints’) by God.

The difference in the use of ‘church’ is one of emphasis only. Each church in a city (Rom 16:4; Rom 16:16; Rom 16:23; 1Co 1:2 and often), and the local branches within that church (Phm 1:2; 1Co 11:18), as well as the universal church (1Co 10:32; 1Co 12:28; Eph 1:22; Eph 3:10; Eph 3:21; Eph 5:23-32), can be called ‘the church’. Thus reference can be made to ‘the churches’ and to ‘the church’, and the latter often wider in meaning than the former. In all cases it refers to a group of believers, whether local, city-wide or worldwide.

‘Church’ (ekklesia) was used in LXX to translate ‘the assembly’ of Israel, the gathering together of His people to Sinai to receive the covenant (Deu 4:10; Deu 18:16) and to the Tabernacle (Deu 9:10; Deu 23:1-3; Deu 23:8; Deu 31:30) and the Temple ( 1Ki 8:14 ; 1Ki 8:22; 1Ki 8:55; 1Ki 8:65) and in response to the covenant (Jdg 20:2; Jdg 21:5; Jdg 21:8; 1Sa 17:47). In a religious context it thus indicated ‘the people of God gathered for worship and response to the covenant’. This was the sense in which Jesus used it (Mat 16:18). The more general ‘congregation’ of Israel was translated as ‘synagogue’.

‘In God the Father.’ Every Christian dwells ‘in God’ (1Jn 4:15), and our lives are ‘hid with Christ in God’ (Col 3:3). The thought is of being enveloped in the love, mercy and care of a gracious God, and of seeking to walk as those who are His, and is in contrast with those who are ‘in the world’ (Eph 2:12; 2Pe 1:4; compare 1Jn 2:15-16; 1Jn 4:3-4), who walk as the world walks.

Christians are ‘in the world’ (Joh 17:11-12) but only as strangers and pilgrims (Heb 11:13; 1Pe 2:13). They are not ‘of the world’ (Joh 15:19). And this is because they are now ‘in God the Father’.

There is in this phrase a recognition of ‘the Father’, in contrast with ‘our Father’, which is more personal (2Th 1:1). Jesus constantly spoke of ‘the Father’ in this distinctive way (Mat 28:19; Mar 13:32; Luk 10:22; Joh 4:21; Joh 4:23; Joh 5:19-45; Joh 6:27-57; Joh 8:16-29; Joh 10:15; Joh 10:36-38 constantly). He is the prototype and perfect exemplar of all fatherhoods (Eph 3:14-15), the one ‘of Whom are all things’ (1Co 8:6), the One Who raised Christ from the dead, and is thus the Source of all future life (Gal 1:1), the One whose foreknowing results in the gathering of His elect (1Pe 1:2), the source of all Light (Jas 1:17). And His people are ‘in Him’.

‘And the Lord Jesus Christ.’ This linking of our Lord Jesus Christ with ‘the Father’ using a single preposition, as being the One in Whom we are, (‘in God — and the Lord’ and not ‘in God — and in the Lord’) is a clear declaration of His equality with the Father. No other could have been so combined. It indicates that we must give full significance to the title ‘the Lord’ as meaning ‘Yahweh’ (the name of God in the Old Testament), which to the Jew was the name above every name, which is represented in LXX (the Greek Old Testament) as ‘Lord’ (kurios). Compare Php 2:11 where this is clearly indicated, and see Mat 28:19.

‘In Christ’ is one of Paul’s favourite descriptions. Christ is the body and we are members of that body (1Co 12:12-14), Christ is the vine and we are the branches of the vine (Joh 15:1-6), because we are in Him we are declared righteous in God’s sight (Rom 3:24), in Christ we are accepted as holy in God’s sight (1Co 1:2), in Christ the veil on our hearts is done away (2Co 3:14), in Him we are created unto good works (Eph 2:10), in Him we have been made alive, and raised and seated with Him in the spiritual realm (Eph 2:5-6), there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Rom 8:1). Thus when we enter into Christ He is made to us wisdom from God, even righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1Co 1:30). How much more the blessing then to be both ‘in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’.

‘The Lord Jesus Christ.’ The title ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’ contains three elements. Firstly He is Lord (kurios), the One Whose Name is above every name, Yahweh Himself (Php 2:9). To the Jew and to Paul the Name above every name was Yahweh and in the Greek Old Testament Yahweh is represented by kurios. He is also elsewhere the great ‘I am’ (Joh 8:58, compare Exo 3:14), another name for Yahweh (which means ‘the One Who is’), and thus ‘the Word’, Who existed in the beginning, through Whom God created the worlds (Joh 1:1-3; Heb 1:1-3; Psa 33:6; Psa 33:9), the Lord of all.

Secondly He is ‘Jesus’. He became flesh and dwelt among us (Joh 1:14). He was truly man and yet in His manhood epitomised all that man was meant to be. He hungered as a man (Mat 4:2). He grew thirsty as a man (Joh 4:7; Joh 19:28). He suffered as a man. And His death was the death of a man, and yet it was of more than a man, for He was ‘the Lord’. He was ‘the Christ (Messiah)’. And the name Jesus means ‘Yahweh is salvation’.

Thirdly He is ‘the Christ, the Messiah.’ By His death and resurrection He is declared to be ‘both Lord and Christ’ (Act 2:36). He is the expected King Messiah, the One appointed to eternal Rule (2Pe 1:11; compare Psa 145:13; Dan 4:3; Dan 4:34; Dan 7:14), the One Who both sits on His own throne and also uniquely shares His Father’s throne (Rev 3:21), the One before Whom every knee shall bow (Php 2:10).

And because of this He is the powerful One (Rom 1:4). He is the One worthy of worship and honour. He is the Lord of glory.

‘Grace to you, and peace.’ ‘Grace to you.’ Nothing can be more desirable than to have God looking on us in active love and favour without our deserving, and this is what is signified by grace. Thus Paul wants the Thessalonians to know that he desires for them only that they enjoy the experience of the grace of God.

‘And peace.’ Peace results from grace, but this kind of peace is also God’s gift, flowing from Him to us. Once we know that we are right with God, and experience His graciousness towards us, we have peace with God (Rom 5:1) and enjoy such peace, prosperity and success of spirit that our hearts can only overflow. For however things may seem to smile on us, if God is not pleased with us, we cannot fully know peace. The very foundation then of peace in our hearts is the favour of God, by which we enjoy true and genuine prosperity of spirit through the work of His Spirit, and find the peace of God which passes all understanding guarding our thoughts and hearts (Php 4:7). And this is what Paul wished for, and prayed for, for the Thessalonians.

‘Grace to you’ represented a general greeting in the Gentile world, and ‘peace to you’ in the Jewish world. The combination thus emphasised the unity of the church, both Jew and Gentile, as one. It was seemingly a regular combination in the Christian church ( 2Pe 1:2 ; 2Jn 1:3; Rev 1:4).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Salutation – This passage of Scripture is called the salutation and is found in all thirteen of Paul’s New Testament epistles and is used as an introduction to his letters. Paul wrote his salutations as a signature of authenticity (2Th 3:17) just like we place our signature today at the end of a document. He may have written entire epistles as indicated in Phm 1:19. However, there are indications in six of his epistles that Paul used an amanuensis to write most of his letters (see Rom 16:22, 1Co 16:21, Gal 6:11, Col 4:18, 2Th 3:17, Phm 1:19).

2Th 3:17, “The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.”

In 1Th 1:1 Paul greets the believers in Thessalonica by presenting himself along with his two co-workers, Silas and Timothy, who played a key role in founding this church.

1Th 1:1  Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Th 1:1 “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus” Comments (1) – Silvanus ( ) (G4610) was the Roman name of one of Paul’s close traveling companions. Although Paul and Peter use this Roman name when referring to him in their epistles, we also know him in the book of Acts by his Jewish name Silas. His first appearance in Scriptures takes place in Acts 15 during the Jerusalem council where he is identified as a leader (Act 15:22) in the Jerusalem church, and a prophet (Act 15:32). He was chosen along with Judas Barsabas to accompany Paul and Barnabas back to the church in Antioch in order to place into effect some guidelines for Gentile Christians. He moved about with Paul during his second missionary journey and is last identified with Paul in Act 18:5 where he and Timothy meet Paul in Corinth. Paul will refer to him in his two epistles to the church at Thessalonica (1Th 1:1, 2Th 1:1) and in his second epistle to the Corinthians (2Co 1:19). We also find his name mentioned as “faithful brother” and bearer of Peter’s first epistle (1Pe 5:12).

Comments (2) – Why would Paul list his two co-workers in the opening of this epistle and not in other epistles? Because it was Paul and Silas (Silvanus) and Timothy who first came to Thessalonica as a missionary team and planted a church there. The theme of this epistle is an exhortation to work together until Jesus Christ comes back. Paul had taken Silas (Act 15:40) with him on his second missionary journey and they had picked up Timothy in Derbe and Lystra just before entering into Macedonia (Act 16:1-3). Most scholars believe that Luke had joined them at Troas and stayed behind at Philippi when these three departed from Thessalonica. Silas is probably mentioned first because of his seniority in the ministry and because of his age; for Silas had joined Paul as a seasoned leader in the church of Antioch (Act 15:22).

The fact that this letter opens with three co-workers serves as a personal testimony that supported Paul’s commands to these believers to labour together. It stands in contrast to Paul’s opening in his epistle to the Galatians where he speaks only of himself and of his divine calling and authority as an apostle to the Gentiles. In his letter to the churches in Galatia, it was necessary for Paul to defend his authority in Christ as being above the teachings of the Judaizers.

Comments (3) – To those churches and individuals in which Paul displayed his apostleship over them in order to give correction and doctrine, he introduces himself as “an apostle of Jesus Christ” ( Rom 1:1 , 1Co 1:1, 2Co 1:1, Gal 1:1, Eph 1:1, Col 1:1, 1Ti 1:1, 2Ti 1:1 and Tit 1:1). To the Philippians Paul describes himself as a “servant.” This is because within the context of this epistle Paul will give examples of himself (Php 1:12-20), of Jesus Christ (Php 2:1-11), of Timothy (Php 2:19-24) and of Epaphroditus (Php 2:25-30) as servants who laid aside their own wills and in order that to fulfill the will of those in authority over them. For this is the message and theme of Paul’s epistle to the Philippians. To Philemon Paul declares himself as a “prisoner of Jesus Christ,” because his message to Philemon was about a slave, or prisoner, who was serving Philemon. In his two letters to the church of Thessalonica Paul defers the use of a title in order to equate himself as co-workers with Silas and Timothy. He will refer to his apostleship in 1Th 2:6, but he will be mindful to use it in the plural form as a co-worker with Silas and Timothy. This is because he emphasizes their need to labour together until Jesus returns.

1Th 1:1 “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ” Comments (The Pauline Greeting) – Scholars discuss the meaning of Paul’s epistolary greetings from two different angles, either an historical approach or a theological approach.

(1) The Historical Approach The historical approach evaluates the history behind the use of the words “grace” and “peace” in traditional greetings, with this duet of words limited in antiquity to New Testament literature. J. Vernon McGee says the word “grace” in Paul’s greetings was a formal greeting used in Greek letters of his day, while the word “peace” was the customary Jewish greeting. [61] More specifically, John Grassmick says the Greek word was a common greeting in classical Greek epistles (note this use in Act 15:23; Act 23:26, Jas 1:1), so that was a “word play” Paul used in conjunction with the Hebrew greeting “peace.” [62] Thus, Paul would be respectfully addressing both Greeks and Jews in the early Church. However, Paul uses these same two words in his epistles to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, which weakens the idea that Paul intended to make such a distinction between two ethnic groups when using “grace” and “peace.” Perhaps this greeting became customary for Paul and lost its distinctive elements.

[61] J. Vernon McGee, The Epistle to the Romans, in Thru the Bible With J. Vernon McGee (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Pub., 1998), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), comments on Romans 1:1.

[62] John D. Grassmick, “Epistolary Genre,” in Interpreting the New Testament Text, eds. Darrell L. Bock and Buist M. Fanning (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2006), 232.

(2) The Theological Approach – Another view is proposed by James Denny, who explains the relationship of these two words as a cause and effect. He says that grace is God’s unmerited favor upon mankind, and the peace is the result of receiving His grace and forgiveness of sins. [63] In a similar statement, Charles Simeon says the phrase “‘grace and peace’ comprehended all the blessings of the Gospel.” [64]

[63] James Denney, The Epistles to the Thessalonians, in The Expositor’s Bible, eds. William R. Nicoll and Oscar L. Joseph (New York: Hodder and Stoughton, n.d.), 15-16.

[64] Charles Simeon, 2 Peter, in Horae Homileticae, vol. 20: James to Jude (London: Holdsworth and Ball, 1833), 285.

Comments (The Pauline Blessing) – In a similar way that the early apostles were instructed by Jesus to let their peace come upon the home of their host (Mat 10:13), so did Paul the apostle open every one of his thirteen New Testament epistles with a blessing of God’s peace and grace upon his readers. Mat 10:13 shows that you can bless a house by speaking God’s peace upon it.

Mat 10:13, “And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.”

This practice of speaking blessings upon God’s children may have its roots in the Priestly blessing of Num 6:22-27, where God instructed Moses to have the priests speak a blessing upon the children of Israel. We see in Rth 2:4 that this blessing became a part of the Jewish culture when greeting people. Boaz blessed his workers in the field and his reapers replied with a blessing.

Rth 2:4, “And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.”

We also see this practiced by the king in 2Sa 15:20 where David says, “mercy and truth be with thee.”

2Sa 15:20, “Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee.”

So, this word of blessing was a part of the Hebrew and Jewish culture. This provides us the background as to why Paul was speaking a blessing upon the church at Thessalonica, especially that God would grant them more of His grace and abiding peace that they would have otherwise not known. In faith, we too, can receive this same blessing into our lives. Paul actually pronounces and invokes a blessing of divine grace and peace upon his readers with these words, “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” I do not believe this blessing is unconditional, but rather conditional. In other words, it is based upon the response of his hearers. The more they obey these divine truths laid forth in this epistle, the more God’s grace and peace is multiplied in their lives. We recall how the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, with six tribes standing upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people and six tribes upon Mount Ebal to curse the disobedient (Deu 27:11-26). Thus, the blessings and curses of Deu 28:1-68 were placed upon the land. All who obeyed the Law received these blessings, and all who disobeyed received this list of curses. In the same way, Paul invokes a blessing into the body of Christ for all who will hearken unto the divine truths of this epistle.

We see this obligation of the recipients in the translation by Beck of 2Pe 1:2, “As you know God and our Lord Jesus, may you enjoy more and more of His love and peace. ”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Introduction and Thanksgiving.

v. 1. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you and peace from God, our father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

v. 2. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;

v. 3. remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

v. 4. knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

In this, probably the first letter written by St. Paul to any congregation, we find all the characteristics which give to his epistles the vigor and the charm that unfailingly impress the reader. Since his apostolic authority at this time had in no way been questioned or assailed, he opens his letter with the simplest form of salutation: Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus to the congregation of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It was Paul’s letter, dictated by him in his capacity as teacher of this second Macedonian congregation. And yet, so little of pride is found in him that he joins the names of Silvanus, or Silas, and Timothy, his two assistants in the work at Thessalonica, to his own, not as coauthors, but as fellow laborers. Silas was a Jewish Christian, originally one of the leaders and a prophet of the congregation at Jerusalem, Act 15:22. He had been one of the bearers of the resolutions which had been passed by the great church assembly in Jerusalem, to be delivered to the congregation at Antioch and to be brought to the attention of the Gentile Christians everywhere. After the altercation with Barnabas, Paul chose this man as his companion on the second missionary journey, Act 15:32. He was not bound by Judaistic scruples, but realized the necessity of entering upon the work among the Gentiles with all aggressiveness. He was at Paul’s side in work and suffering, before magistrates, in prison, in prayer, in miraculous deliverance, in flight, Act 16:19; Act 17:4; Act 18:5. Later we find him mentioned as a faithful brother, 1Pe 5:12, and an assistant of Peter in the work in Asia Minor. Timothy had been, ever since the second missionary journey, a faithful assistant and fellow-laborer of the apostle, whom the latter loved both as a brother and as a son in faith. No man was so near and dear to the great missionary of the Gentiles as Timothy.

Paul addressed his letter to the church, or congregation, of the Thessalonians, not merely to the officers, the presbyters and deacons, but to all the members. There were no hierarchical distinctions in those days, neither did men think of restricting the study of the Word of God to the preachers or priests. The entire congregation, all the true believers in Christ in the city, were in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This profound and stately expression does not denote merely a fellowship with God and the Savior Jesus Christ, but it emphasizes that the entire life of the believers is in God, that their entire sphere, their whole state of existence, is in the Lord, Rom 16:11; Joh 15:4; 1Jn 2:5; 1Jn 5:20. The fact that the Christians are in Christ and in God, the two persons of the Godhead being one in essence, makes them new creatures, separates them from the world and consecrates them to the Lord. The apostolic salutation to this congregation of consecrated believers is brief, but comprehensive: Grace to you and peace. He wishes that the kindness, the favor, the mercy of God may be theirs for the sake of Christ, and that thus they might enter into the right relation with God once more, a relation which had been torn asunder by the Fall. He that is the possessor of the grace of God through Jesus Christ will also be sure of the peace with God in Jesus Christ,

The first thought which Paul voices, as in most of his other letters, is one of thanksgiving to God: We give thanks to God always on behalf of all of you, making mention of you in our prayers without ceasing. See Php_1:3-4 ; Col 1:3. To the apostle the great works of God for man’s salvation, as they appear in the church at Thessalonica, seem ever anew great and worthy of praise and adoration. At the same time he wants every single one of his readers to understand that he is included in this prayer of thanksgiving, that the spiritual welfare of every single Christian engages his attention. He remembers them all in his prayer of thanksgiving, and that without ceasing, regularly. It had become habitual with the apostle to recall the state of every congregation and to lay the needs of every congregation before the Lord in prayer, never omitting the words of thanksgiving for all the spiritual favors of the past and for the many which would surely come through the Gospel in the future.

In this attitude Paul was strengthened by his knowledge of the spiritual condition of the brethren at Thessalonica: Remembering your work of faith and your labor of love and your patience of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ before God and our Father. Neither distance nor new interests made any difference in the love of the apostle, because he could not forget the faith, the love, and the hope of the Thessalonians, the three cardinal Christian virtues. Their faith in Jesus Christ, by which they had themselves firmly grasped their redemption, did not remain idle and dead, but became manifest in a course of action with all vigor and strength, as should ever be the case. Genuine faith always gives evidence of its existence in good works. Paul remembers also their toil of love, their strenuous, devoted, fatiguing labor. Faith has laid hold of the grace of God in Christ and breaks forth in action: love guides this action in the paths of unselfishness, it seeks ways and opportunities of serving the neighbor, of coming to his assistance, even if that course should demand some measure of real sacrifice. And so, finally, Paul can speak of their patience of hope, their unwearied constancy in suffering and affliction. Patience is the inseparable companion of hope, for it is only in view of the future glory that we Christians are able to bear the suffering of this present time, Rom 8:18; 2Co 4:17-18; Heb 11:26. This hope is based upon Christ, who is its object. He has given to His Christians the promise of eternal salvation, and His return in glory will result in our entering upon the inheritance of the saints in glory. Therefore the hope of the Christians persists in spite of delay and discouraging hardships. They hold it before God and their Father; sure of their adoption, of their sonship in Jesus Christ, they are looking forward to the inheritance promised to them by the gracious will of the Father.

By the side of his remembrance of the Christian virtues as they were practiced in the midst of the Thessalonians, which prompted him to raise his voice in thanksgiving to God, the apostle places another reason: Knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election. He has the knowledge, the firm assurance, impressed upon him by the condition of affairs at Thessalonica, that these Christians, whom he designates as the beloved of God, are also the elect of God. Their faith and the evidences of their faith are to him a proof of their having been elected by God unto eternal salvation; the election of God has manifested itself in bringing about the change in their hearts which showed itself in their Christian virtues. That is the great comfort of every believer: the fact that he knows Jesus to be his Savior, the fact that God has wrought faith in his heart, is to him a guarantee of his election unto eternal life.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

CONTENTS.Paul, after the address and salutation, testifies that he renders constant thanks to God for the Thessalonians, calling to remembrance their faith, love, and hope, being assured of their election. He expresses his joy in their cordial reception of the gospel and the Christian character which they exhibited, being examples to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia. He mentions the favorable report which he had of their conversion to God from idols, and of their waiting for the advent of Christ.

1Th 1:1

Paul. He does not call himself “an apostle,” not because the Thessalonians were newly converted (Chrysostom), or from tenderness to Silvanus who was not an apostle (Estius), or because his apostolic authority was not yet recognized (Jowett), or because he had merely commenced his apostolic labors (Wordsworth); but because his apostleship had never been called in question by the Thessalonians. For the same reason he omits this title in the Epistle to the Philippians; whereas he strongly insists upon it in his Epistles to the Corinthians and Galatians, because among them there were many opposed to his authority. And Silvanus. The same as the Silas of the Acts. He is mentioned as a chief man among the brethren, and a prophet or inspired teacher (Act 15:22, Act 15:32). His Latin name renders it probable that he was a Hellenistic Jew, and, like Paul, he was a Roman citizen (Act 16:37). He was sent with Judas Barsabas from Jerusalem, to convey the apostolic decrees to Antioch; and he accompanied Paul instead of Barnabas on his second missionary journey (Act 15:40). He suffered imprisonment with Paul at Philippi; and was engaged with him in preaching the gospel in Thessalonica, Beraea, and Corinth. His ministry at Corinth is honorably mentioned by Paul in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians (2Co 1:9). After this there is no more mention of Silvanus in the Acts, and it is doubtful whether he was the Silvanus by whom the First Epistle of Peter was conveyed to the Churches of Asia (1Pe 5:12). Ancient tradition, erroneously supposing that Silas and Silvanus were different persons, makes Silas the Bishop of Corinth, and Silvanus the Bishop of Thessalonica. And Timotheus. The well-known disciple of Paul. He was a native of Lystra, having a Greek father and a Jewish mother (Act 16:1). He joined Paul and Silas on their second missionary journey at Lystra, and was with them in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth. He was with Paul on his third missionary journey, and was sent by him on a mission to Macedonia and Corinth (Act 19:22; 1Co 16:10), and accompanied him into Asia on his last journey to Jerusalem (Act 20:4). He was also with Paul during his first Roman imprisonment, when he wrote the Epistles to the Philippians and Colossians (Php 1:1; Col 1:1). Afterwards he resided at Ephesus (1Ti 1:3); from which he was recalled to Rome by Paul shortly before his martyrdom (2Ti 4:21). The last mention of Timothy is in the Epistle to the Hebrews: “Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you” (Heb 13:23). According to ecclesiastical tradition, he became Bishop of Ephesus, and there suffered martyrdom. Silvanus and Timotheus are associated with Paul in his address to the Thessalonians, not to give weight and authority to his Epistle, but because they assisted him in the planting of the Church at Thessalonica, and were now with him at Corinth, when he was writing this Epistle. Silvanus is placed first, because he was the older and had been longer with the apostle, and, as is evident from the Acts, was at this time the more important of the two (Act 16:19; Act 17:4). By being included in the address, they are represented as joint authors of the Epistle with Paul, although they were only so in name. It is possible that Paul employed one of them as his amanuensis in writing the Epistle. Unto the Church. The word “Church” denotes a select assembly; here, Christians selected from the world. It does not denote in the New Testament, as with us, a building, but the congregation. In Paul’s later Epistles, those addressed are called, not the Church, but saints. Of the Thessalonians. In other Epistles the address is to the city, as Rome, Philippi, Colosse; here it is to the inhabitants. The Church of the Thessalonians was chiefly composed of converted Gentiles, with a small number of converted Jews (see Introduction). Which is; to be omitted, as not being in the original. In God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. The characteristic peculiarity of the Church: they are in God and Christ, that is, in fellowship with them, united to them. “In God the Father” characterizes them as not being heathens; “in the Lord Jesus Christ” characterizes them as not being Jews. Grace be unto you, and peace. The usual apostolic benediction. “Grace” is the Greek and” peace” is the Jewish form of salutation. The Greeks commenced their epistles with wishing grace for those to whom they wrote; and the usual form of salutation among the Jews was Shalom or “peace;” the apostle combines them, thus intimating that both Greeks and Jews are one in Christ Jesus. In the Pastoral Epistles and in the Second Epistle of John the form is “Grace, mercy, and peace” (2Jn 1:3.), and in the Epistle of Jude it is “Mercy, peace, and love” (Jud 1:2). From God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. These words are wanting in some important manuscripts, and are omitted in the R.V. The preponderance, however, of external authority is in their favor.

1Th 1:2

We. Many expositors (Cony-beare, Koch, Jowett) suppose that the plural is here used for the singular; as Paul elsewhere does in other parts of this Epistle. Thus: “Wherefore we would come unto you, even I Paul, once and again” (1Th 2:18); “Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone” (1Th 3:1). In these verses the pronoun “we” is evidently restricted to Paul. Still, however, Silvanus and Timotheus being mentioned directly before, it is most natural to include them here. Give thanks to God always for you all. All Paul’s Epistles, with the solitary exception of the Epistle to the Galatians, commence with an expression of thanksgiving. Making mention of you in our prayers; whilst we are engaged in prayer for you. Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians took the form of thanksgiving.

1Th 1:3

Remembering without ceasing. Some attach the words, “without ceasing,” or “unceasingly,” to the previous clause; “making mention of you unceasingly in our prayers” (so Alford). Your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope. These expressions are not to be weakened, as if they were a mere Hebraism for active faith, laborious love, and patient hope. We have here the three cardinal virtuesfaith, love, and hope (1Co 13:13). Elsewhere these graces are combined. Thus again in this Epistle: “Putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1Th 5:8); and in the Epistle to the Colossians: “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven” (Col 1:4, Col 1:5). By the “work of faith” is not meant faith itself as the work of God (Joh 6:29), but that faith which is energetic, which is active and living, productive of good works. By the “labor, or toil, of love” is not meant that love which is devoted to God, but that love which manifests itself in acts of kindness toward our fellow-Christians and toward the human race. And by the “patience of hope” is meant that constancy which remains unconquered by trials and persecutions. There is a climax here; faith manifests itself by its worksits active exertion; love by its toilsits works of self-denial; and hope by its patienceits endurance amid trials and discouragements. “Remembering, the apostle would say, your faith, hope, and love: a faith that had its outward effect on your lives; a love that spent itself in the service of others; and a hope that was no mere transient feeling, but was content to wait for the things unseen, when Christ should be revealed” (Jowett). In our Lord Jesus Christ. These words do not refer to all three virtues (Hohnann), but only to the last, specifying its object, namely, that it is hope in the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is hope s highest expectation, because at the advent the kingdom of Christ will come in its glory. In the sight of (or rather, before) God and our Father. These words are to be conjoined with “remembering:” “remembering unceasingly before God and our Father your work of faith,” etc. According to the English idiom, the conjunction “and” is dropped”God our Father.”

1Th 1:4

Knowing; that is, not the Thessalonians themselves, but we, Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus; knowing, being well assured of. Brethren beloved, your election of God; or rather, as it is in the margin and in the R.V., Knowing brethren, beloved of God, your election. By election is meant that act of free grace by which God destines individuals to become believers in Christ. Thus the Thessalonian converts were chosen or elected by God from among their heathen countrymen to become Christians. The ultimate reason of their Christianity was their election of God.

1Th 1:5

For; or rather, how that (R.V.); or, because; assigning the reasons for Paul’s confidence in their election; and these reasons were two: first, the powerful entrance which the gospel had among them; and secondly, the joyful reception which was given to it by the Thessalonians. Our gospel; that is, the gospel which was preached by us. Came not unto you in word only. The gospel came in word, for this was a necessary pre-requisite, but “not in word only,” that is, it was not a bare publication or communication in human words. But in power. Some restrict the epithets which here follow to the teachers, as denoting the mode in which they preached the gospel; but it is better to refer them both to the teachers and the taught. By “power” is not meant miracles, but, in contrast to “word,” the power with which Paul and his companions preached, and the impression which the gospel made on the hearers. And in the Holy Ghost. Here also the reference is, not to miraculous gifts, but to the influences of the Spirit accompanying the preaching of the gospel; such was the efficacy of Paul’s preaching that it proved itself to be accompanied by the operation of the Holy Ghost in the conversion of his hearers. There is here an ascent: the gospel came in power, and, what is more, it came in the Holy Ghost. And in much assurance. By “assurance” here is meant the confidence with which Paul and his fellow-workers preached the gospel to the Thessalonians, and the fullness of conviction with which the Thessalonians received it. As ye know. An appeal to their knowledge that what he now states is true. What manner of men we were among you. Alluding to the blamelessness of their behavior when in Thessalonica. For your sake; namely, that we sought not our own profit or advantage, but your spiritual good.

1Th 1:6

Now follows the second reason assigned by Paul for his confidence in their election. And ye became followers (or, imitators) of us, and of the Lord; of Christ. By becoming imitators of the apostle, they became imitators of Christ. “Be ye followers of me,” writes St. Paul to the Corinthians, “even as I also am of Christ” (1Co 11:1). The point of imitation did not consist in their cordial reception of the gospel, for that could not apply to Christ; but in their joyful endurance of suffering. Having received the word in much affliction. We learn from the Acts that the unbelieving Jews stirred up the heathen rabble, and raised a persecution against Paul and his associates, in consequence of which they had to depart from Thessalonica (Act 17:4-10). It would appear that, after the apostle had left the city, the persecution, far from abating, rather increased, and the Gentile inhabitants united with the unbelieving Jews against the Christians; the Thessalonian converts suffered from their own countrymen as well as from the Jews (1Th 2:14). With joy of the Holy Ghost; that is, not merely spiritual joy, or joy in the Holy Ghost, but joy which proceeds from the Holy Ghostjoy which is produced by him, of which he is the Author.

1Th 1:7

So that ye were ensamples. The word here rendered “ensamples” literally signifies “types.” It is used to denote a form or figure (Act 7:43), a model or likeness (Act 7:44), a mark or impression (Joh 20:25). Hence, in a metaphorical sense, it came to signify an example, a pattern for imitation. “Now these things are our examples” (1Co 10:6). To all that believeto all believersin Macedonia and Achaia. These are the two provinces into which ancient Greece was divided by the Romans, each of which was governed by a proconsul Macedonia was the northern portion, including Macedonia proper, Epirus and Illyricum; at first it was divided into four districts, but afterwards united into one province, of which Thessalonica was constituted the capital. Achaia was the southern portion of ancient Greece, including the Peloponnesus, Attica, Boeotia, etc., and, until recently, was nearly of the same dimensions with the modern kingdom of Greece; its capital was Corinth.

1Th 1:8

For; or, because the proof of tiffs praise conferred on the Thessalonians. From you sounded out. Resounded like the sound of a trumpet. Comp. Rom 10:18, “Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world.” The word of the Lord. This does not intimate that the Thessalonians by their missionary activity disseminated the gospel, but that from them locally the-gospel had spread. Not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad. There is a slight difficulty in the construction. The sentence is complete without the addition, “your faith to God-ward is spread abroad,” and, therefore, we must consider these words as equivalent to “from you sounded out the word of the Lord.” When the apostle says that “the faith of the Thessalonians is spread abroad in every place,” the meaning is that the report of their joyful reception of the gospel had excited universal attention. There is here a certain use of the figure hyperbole. The words, “in every place,” are not to be taken in their full literal sense, but are merely a strong expression for the wide diffusion of the faith of the Thessalonians. Paul uses similar hyperboles in other places, as when he speaks of the faith of the Romans being spoken of throughout the whole world (Rom 1:5), and of the gospel having come into all the world (Col 1:6). This wide diffusion of the Faith of the Thessalonians, notwithstanding the recent date of their conversion, may be accounted for when we consider that Thessalonica and Corinth were two great commercial cities, from and to which there was a constant coming and going, so that reports might easily be transmitted by merchants and strangers. It has also been suggested that Aquila and Priscilla, who had lately come from Rome (Act 18:2), must in their journey have passed through Thessalonica, and would bring with them to Corinth such a report of the faith of the Thessalonians (Wieseler). So that we need not to speak anything; that is, of your faith, as this is already so well known and applauded.

1Th 1:9

For they themselves; that is, the reporters, those in Macedonia, Achaia, and every other place. Show of us; or, report concerning us (R.V.) in regard to our preaching or entrance among you. Instead of questions being asked of us by them, as would naturally be expected, they of their own accord give information. What manner of entering in we had among you. “Entering” here evidently refers, not merely to the outward entrance, the mere preaching of the gospel among the Thessalonians; but to the access, the internal entrance, which the gospel found into their hearts; that is, with what power and fullness of the Holy Ghost we preached the gospel unto you, and with what joy and confidence and contempt of danger ye received it. And how ye turned to God from idols. This, as already remarked, is one of the proofs that the Church of Thessalonica was chiefly composed of Gentile converts, though, of course, not to the exclusion of the Jewish element (Act 17:4). To serve the living and true God. Two epithets there employed in contrast to the idols of the heathen: “living,“ in opposition to dead idols, which were nothing in the world; “true,” not in the sense of veracious, but of real in opposition to the imaginary gods of the heathen.

1Th 1:10

And to wait. The faith of the Thessalonians took the form of hope or expectation for the coming of the Lord; an element of Christian feeling, perhaps, not so prominent in the present day. For his Son from heaven; referring to the second advent. Christ on his departure from this world went to heaven, where he resides, making intercession for us, but from thence he will come to judge the quick and the dead. In the primitive Church the advent of Christ was not regarded as at a distance, but as an event which might at any moment occur. Whom he raised from the dead; with emphasis placed before “Jesus,” because his resurrection from the dead was the open declaration, the public inauguration, of his Divine sonship (Rom 1:4). Even Jesus which delivered us. The participle is present; not past, “who delivered us,” namely, by his death; nor future, “who shall deliver us,” at the judgment; but present,” who delivers us;” the deliverance is going onit commenced with Iris death, but will not be completed until his advent. Or the word may be used as a substantive, “Jesus, our Deliverer.” From the wrath; or righteous indignation of God; here punishment as the effect of wrath. “The wrath of God is, in its deepest ground, love; love itself becomes a consuming fire to whatever is opposed to the nature of goodness” (Koch). To come; literally, which is coming, the coming wrath, denoting its absolute certainty. This coming wrath will take place at the advent of Christ, when he appears, not only for the salvation of his people, but for the destruction of his enemies.

HOMILETICS

1Th 1:1, 1Th 1:2

The character of Christians.

1. They are converted; they turn to God from idols. As the heathen turned from material idols, so do believers from spiritual idols. A change is effected in their disposition; their chief affection is now fixed on God and Christ; they serve the living and true God.

2. They wait for the Lord Jesus Christ; they expect salvation from him, and look forward to his second craning.

3. They live a holy life; they possess the three cardinal virtues, and prove that they do so by their outward manifestations.

1Th 1:3

The three cardinal virtues

faith, love, and hope.

1. Their order. Faith is the commencement of the spiritual life, love its progress and continuance, and hope its completion; faith is the foundation, love the structure, and hope the top-stone of God’s spiritual temple in the soul.

2. Their manifestations. Faith is seen by its works; love, by its self-denying exertions; and hope, by its patience and endurance.

3. Their reference to time. Faith refers to the past, love to the present, and hope to the future.

1Th 1:5

The entrance of the gospel.

1. Negatively. “Not in word only.” The preaching of the gospel will only add to our condemnation if we do not by faith accept it; not nominal, but real Christianity is the chief matter; the entrance must not be external, but internal.

2. Positively. “In power,” arresting us in our worldly career; “in the Holy Ghost,” being the Agent of our conversion; “in much assurance,” so that we know from experience its truth and efficacy.

1Th 1:6

The imitation of Christ.

Christ not only died as a Sacrifice, but lived as an Example. He is the great Example whom we must imitate, the Pattern of the new creation, the Original of which all believers are copies. Especially we must imitate him in his patient endurance of suffering. The cross is ever the Christian’s motto; and we can only enter into heaven through tribulation.

1Th 1:6

The union of affliction with joy.

The Thessalonians “received the word with much affliction and joy of the Holy Ghost.” Christianity makes no stoical demands. Spiritual joy does not exclude, but even includes, sorrow. “Sorrowing, yet always rejoicing,” is the Christian’s condition. To glory in tribulation is the Christian’s experience. “In the spiritual world joy and sorrow are not two, but one.”

1Th 1:7

The example of Christians.

It was greatly to the praise of the Thessalonians that they were examples to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

1. Consistent believers are living evidences of the truth of Christianity. By the purity of their conduct, by their unselfishness, by their patience in suffering, they prove that there is something real and living in Christianity.

2. Inconsistent believers are obstacles in the way of the gospel. They confirm the worldly in their worldliness, as if Christianity were a mere pretence, and thus give occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme.

1Th 1:10 – The expectation of the advent.

Believers are here described as waiting for the Son of God from heaven. Certainty of the fact of the advent; Christ shall come from heaven. Uncertainty of the time of the advent; “Of that day knoweth no man, not even the angels who are in heaven.” It would appear that the early Christians believed that Christ might come at any time, even in their days; the first advent, being so recent, excited within them the expectation of the immediateness of the second. Hence the doctrine of the second advent occupied a much more prominent place in the thoughts of the primitive Christians than it does in ours. It was to them a living power; believers then lived in constant expectation of the coming of the Lord; whereas the teaching of the present day has in a measure passed from it; its uncertainty, instead of exciting us to holiness and watchfulness, is too often abused as an encouragement to sloth and security.

HOMILIES BY T. CROSKERY

1Th 1:1 – Address and salutation.

At a point almost midway between the apostle’s call and his martyrdom he penned this first of his thirteen Epistles, which was, perhaps, the earliest book of New Testament Scripture, and addressed to one of the primary centers of European Christianity.

I. THE AUTHORS OF THE SALUTATION. “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy.” Simply Paul, without official adjunct of any sort, for there was no one in the Thessalonian Church to challenge his apostleship or his relationship to Christ. He associates Silvanus and Timothy with himself in the salutation as they were associated with him in the original foundation of the Church; Silvanus being placed next to himself, because he was of older standing and greater weight in the Church than Timothy, a comparatively young evangelist.

II. THE CHURCH TO WHICH THE SALUTATION WAS ADDRESSED. “To the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

1. Its situation. Thessalonica was the capital of all Macedonia, and is still the second city of European Turkey. Important then as now by its commerce; important by its place on the great road which connected Rome with its Asiatic dependencies; but more important in the eye of the apostle as a grand center of missionary operations both by laud and sea, and with a mingled population of Jews and Gentiles.

2. Its true character as a Church. It was “the Church of the Thessalonians”a regularly organized community of Christians, mostly Gentiles, having the root and ground of its spiritual existence in union with the Father and the Son. They were “in the fellowship of the Father and the Son,” because they were “dwelling in God, and God in them,” and “they were in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.” The one fellowship implies the other; for Jesus said, “No man cometh unto the Father but by me;” yet it is also true that it is “God who calls us into the fellowship of the Son” (1Co 1:9). This double fellowship is secured by the bond of the Holy Spirit. As enjoyed by the Thessalonians it implied:

(1) Their devotion to the truth; for only “as abiding in the doctrine of Christ” they would have “both the Father and the Son” (2Jn 1:9; 1Jn 2:24). There is no fellowship but in the truth. To be in darkness is to be out of fellowship (1Jn 1:6).

(2) Their unity. “Even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” (Joh 17:21).

(3) Their love to one another. “If we love one another God abideth in us” (1Jn 4:12).

(4) Their boldness in the day of judgment (1Jn 2:28).

(5) Their ultimate perfection. “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one” (Joh 17:21-23). Behold thus the high dignity and blessed privilege of the Church at Thessalonica.

III. THE SALUTATION. “Grace and peace be unto you.” (See homiletical hints on Gal 1:5; Col 1:2.)T.C.

1Th 1:2, 1Th 1:3 – Heartfelt thanksgiving for spiritual prosperity.

The apostle begins by a full and earnest expression of thanksgiving such as is characteristic of all his Epistles except that to the Galatians.

I. THE GROUND OF THANKSGIVING. “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” We consider here:

1. The graces of the Christian life. We have here, in the first Epistle ever written by the apostle, his favorite trilogy of Christian principles.

(1) The three graces are fundamental. As the three principal colors of the rainbowred, yellow, and blue, representing respectively heat, light, and purifying powersupply in their combination all the other colors, so, by a sort of moral analysis, it can be shown that faith, hope, and love lie at the foundation, or enter into the composition, of all other Christian graces whatever.

(2) They are three inseparable graces. Faith always works by love, and love is inseparable from hope, for “hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost” (Rom 5:5). Faith is the necessary root, as hope and love are its unfailing fruits. As faith works by love, it is also the substance of things hoped for.

(3) They are at once the defense and the adornment of Christian life. “Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation” (1Th 5:8).

(4) They are the abiding principles of Christian life: “Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three” (1Co 13:13). They do not die with death; for in eternity the Church will ‘be made perfect in love, as it will ever continue to trust in the Lord, and hope for new developments of truth and new disclosures of blessedness.

2. The practical aspect of these graces as forces in the life of the Church. There is a climax in the exhibition of the three graces. The apostle does not say, “the work of faith, the work of love, the work of hope,” but ascends from work to labor, and from labor to endurance. There is a work that is a refreshing exercise of our energies, but it involves no exhaustion or fatigue; but when work has deepened into labor we become conscious of the limitation of our strength, and then we have to call in the new principle of endurance, or “patience,” if we are to carry it to a triumphant result.

(1) The work of faith points to a work springing out of faith; for faith is the most active of all the principles which influence human conduct. Their faith was, therefore, a fruitful faith.

(2) The labor of love suggests the sacrifices which we are ready to make for the objects of our love. It was not “love in word or in tongue,” but “in deed and in truth” (1Jn 3:18).

(3) The patience of hope suggests the severity of present afflictions, which are borne with constancy and perseverance because the sufferers arc cheered by hope. But it is “hope in our Lord Jesus Christ;” that is, hope of his second advent; for the Thessalonians had a constant and overwhelming sense of the nearness of his coming, which in some cases broke in upon the continuity of their daily duties.

II. THE OCCASION, CIRCUMSTANCES, AND FREQUENCY OF THE APOSTLE‘S THANKSGIVING. “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.”

1. It was in his prayers for them that he expressed his thanksgiving. “Even in the sight of God and our Father.” The care of all the Churches was upon him daily (2Co 11:28), and under such a burden he “bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is happy for Christians to be remembered in the prayers of saints, to be borne upon their hearts, to be borne up before God in intercessory prayer (Rom 1:9; Eph 1:16). His thanksgivings were as constant as his prayers.

2. Tile thanksgivings were addressed to God because the spiritual prosperity at Thessalonica was due neither to the converts themselves nor to the preachers of the gospel. We must ever speak of the grace of God, and exalt it in our praises.

3. The thanksgiving was all the more hearty and full because it had regard to the prosperity of the entire community. “All of you,” because they were an eminent seal Of his apostleship, a blessed effect of his ministry among them.T.C.

1Th 1:4-6 – Their election and its fruits another ground of thanksgiving.

The apostle, Jew as he was, addresses these Gentiles as his brethren, and represents them as the objects of Divine love. “Knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election.”

I. THERE IS AN ELECTION ACCORDING: TO GRACE.

1. The election referred to here was not an election to external privilege or ecclesiastical relationship; for that might have had a very uncertain issue, and would not have been the subject of such abounding thankfulness as he expresses in this passage.

2. It was not even the call to obtain glory, which they had received through his gospel (2Th 2:13, 2Th 2:14); for the election only realized itself in that call, Scripture always distinguishing the order of election and calling. “Whom he did predestinate, them he also called” (Rom 8:30).

3. Much less is the election to be identified with regeneration, conversion, or faith. These were its effects.

4. It was an election to eternal life, involving all the various processes of his grace. (Rom 11:5.)

(1) It is an election in Christ (Eph 1:4).

(2) It is irrespective of merit (Rom 9:11).

(3) It is through faith and the sanctification of the Spirit (2Th 2:13).

(4) It is to eternal glory (Rom 9:23).

II. THE KNOWLEDGE OF THIS ELECTION IS A POSSIBLE AND AN ACTUAL EXPERIENCE. The apostle’s knowledge was not derived from special revelation, neither was it the mere credulity of a kindly charity, “hoping all things” in the absence of evidence. It had a double groundone subjective and the other objective; one based upon the apostle’s conscious experience in preaching the gospel, the other upon their practical and hearty reception of the truth.

1. The subjective evidence. “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.”

(1) It did come in word, for it was conveyed to the Thessalonians in human speech, albeit not “in the enticing words of man’s wisdom,” but it passed beyond the word. It did not merely sound in the ear nor touch the understanding.

(2) But it came in poweron the part of the preachers with an overwhelming force and persuasiveness, so that “the faith of the people should not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God” (1Co 2:5). There was a conscious abounding energy which carried them beyond themselves, with an overmastering conviction that they would prevail.

(3) It came also “in the Holy Ghost,” or, as the apostle elsewhere phrases it, “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1Co 2:4). The Word would otherwise have been a dead letter and a killing letter, but the Spirit gave it life. The power of the gospel, therefore, was due to the efficient operation of the Spirit.

(4) It came also “in much assurance,” not on the part of the Thessalonians, but on the part of the preachers of the gospel, who were fully convinced of its truth, and had thorough confidence in its power.

(5) This subjective evidence was confirmed by their own recollection of the three preachers of the gospel”As ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.” The Thessalonians would have a very vivid recollection both of the preaching and the preachers. The three brethren were conspicuous by their holiness, their zeal, and their interest in the welfare of the Thessalonians. This was no self-flattery, for it was confirmed by the knowledge of their converts.

2. The objective evidence of their election. “And ye became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.” Their ready imitation of the apostle and his colleagueswhich was, in truth, an imitation of Christ, so far as they were connected with him in his life and truthwas a practical proof of the sincerity of their conversion. The imitation was manifest in the spirit and circumstances of their reception of the truth.

(1) The truth was received “in much affliction.” The history of their conversion confirms this statement (Act 17:5, Act 17:9). But the persecution continued after the departure of the apostle. The gospel had its drawbacks, but the Thessalonians were steadfast in their allegiance to the truth.

(2) Yet it was received “with joy of the Holy Ghost;” that is, the joy that springs from his presence in the soul. They were thus imitating that apostle who “took pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake” (2Co 12:9, 2Co 12:10). The joy in question is

(a) a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22);

(b) it is essentially connected with the kingdom of God as part of its blessedness (Rom 14:17);

(c) it is capable of increase through the very presence of affliction (Act 5:41);

(d) it is the strength of the believer”The joy of the Lord shall be your strength” (Neh 8:10);

(e) its advent marks a distinct change in the world’s history;

(f) it ought to be constant (Php 4:4);

(g) it is maintained through abiding in Christ (Joh 15:10, Joh 15:11).T.C.

1Th 1:7, 1Th 1:8 – The profound impression made by the conversion of the Thessalonians.

Having become imitators of the apostles and of our Lord, they soon became examples for the imitation of other Churches. Their conversion lifted them up into a sudden and distinct visibility in two directions.

I. THE GOSPEL WAS TITUS CARRIED THROUGH NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN GREECE LIKE THE RINGING SOUND OF A TRUMPET. “For from you hath sounded out the Word of the Lord in Macedonia and Achaia.” These two divisions of Greece, included in the Roman empire, received the report of the gospel, which went forth like a joyful sound, proclaiming with no uncertainty liberty to the captives.

1. A work of grace in one place quickly leads to a work of grace in other places. The tale of wonder is repeated with solemn surprise, gratitude, and expectation.

2. Churches already in existence were stirred and stimulated by the visible work of grace at Thessalonica.

II. THE REPORT OF THEIR FAITH RECEIVED A WIDE PUBLICITY EVERYWHERE, EVEN OUTSIDE THE LIMITS OF GREECE. This was not wonderful, for the city was, as Cicero says, in the very bosom of the Roman empire, a center of business and influence which touched its furthest limits. Their faith must have had the solid stamp of reality to produce such a widespread sensation. It must have been practical and self-mantles-tattoo, for they did not hide it in their own breasts, but declared it by words and deeds. There was, therefore, no necessity for the apostle speaking about it”so that we need not to speak anything.”T.C.

1Th 1:9, 1Th 1:10 – The nature of the impression made upon the world by the spectacle of Thessalonian piety.

It was a truly providential foresight that led the apostles at the beginning of the gospel to plant it first in the great cities of the world. Thus it first appeared at Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, Thessalonica, Rome, and Corinth.

I. THE WORLD WAS FIRST IMPRESSED BY THE RAPID AND IMMEDIATE SUCCESS OF THE APOSTLES. “For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you.” The world seemed to appreciate the boldness, the sincerity, the uprightness of the preachers, as elements of their success; for there was no dexterous flattery, there was no spirit of self-seeking, there was no guileful strategy, in the proclamation of the gospel.

II. THE WORLD WAS STILL MORE DEEPLY IMPRESSED BY THE BLESSED EFFECTS OF THE APOSTLES‘ PREACHING, “And how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”

1. It was a conversion from idolatry, Immediately and at once they received converting grace, under the influence of which they turned to the Lord from their dead and fictitious deities.

(1) Idolatry is apostasy from God. These Thessalonians” had changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things” (Rom 1:23). They had been “joined to their idols” for ages (Hos 4:17). They had been hitherto walking just like other Gentiles, in all moral blindness and carnality of heart (Eph 4:17, Eph 4:18).

(2) Their conversion was a repudiation of idolatry. It was not mere proselytism. It was the bursting asunder of ties which had an immense social as well as religious weight in pagan life.

(3) It was a thorough consecration to the service of the living and true God. As their God was true God and living God, having life in himself and a true and faithful relation to his worshippers, they could give him the living service of faith, obedience, and dependence.

2. Another effect of the apostles‘ preaching was their expectation of our Lord‘s coming. The doctrine of the advent occupies the foreground in the thoughts of the Thessalonians, as in the two Epistles addressed to them. As faith underlies the service of the true God, so hope underlies the expectation of the Lord’s coming. “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to conic.”

(1) This implies the belief that Jesus is in heaven, to reign, to plead, to prepare a place for us.

(2) It implies the belief that he will return from heaven. The Thessalonians may have believed that he would return in that age, but all Christians live in the “blessed hope” of his second coming.

(3) This waiting attitude implied the recognition of a certain connection between Christ’s resurrection and our deliverance from the wrath to come. They were not waiting for a dead man lying in a Jewish grave, but for One raised from the dead, and living in the power of an endless life. His resurrection implied the completion of his atoning work, as the work of atonement supplies the ground for our continuous deliverance from the wrath that is coming. There is a wrath coming upon disobedient sinners, but there is a way of deliverance provided in the Word of Jesus Christ ratified by his resurrection from the dead.T.C.

HOMILIES BY B.C. CAFFIN

1Th 1:1 – The address.

I. THE WRITER.

1. He uses no title. He does not style himself apostle. He asserted his apostolic authority when it was necessary to do so; for the sake of others, as in his Epistles to the Corinthians and Galatians. Now it was not necessary; the Macedonian Churches regarded him with affection and reverence. He simply gives his name, his new namePaul. He had laid aside his old name with all its associations. It recalled the memory of the famous king, Saul the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. It recalled to the apostle the memories of his own old unconverted life, his self-satisfied Pharisaism, his persecution of the Church, especially that one saddest day of his life, when he consented to the death of the first martyr of the Lord, the holy Stephen. He had laid aside his old name, and with it his old modes of thought, his old life. Paul was, we may say, his Christian name; we do not read of it before the beginning of his first missionary journey; it was consecrated now by constant, untiring, self-sacrificing labor. It was known wherever Christ was preached as the name of the great missionary, the apostle of the Gentiles, the first of the noble band of Christian missionaries, who had left his home and all that once he loved to devote himself, heart and soul, to the mission work with all its hardships, all its dangers. Many holy men have trodden in his steps; but it was Paul who first set the high example, who kindled the sacred enthusiasm which has led so many saints in every age to fulfill the Lord’s command, to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Paul is a Latin name; it means “little.” St. Augustine in one place suggests that St. Paul may have chosen it to mark himself as “the least of the apostles.” There are other possible reasons for the change, and it may be thought that St. Paul would have shrunk from what might seem almost like a parade of humility. But at least we may find a lesson here. God exalteth the humble. Paul is a famous name. Others have borne itsome distinguished Romans; but it was reserved for the apostle to make the name honored and beloved throughout the civilized world. The Paulus who conquered Macedonia for Rome is far less famous now than the Paul who won the Macedonian Churches for Christ.

2. He associates others with himself. Paul is the spiritual father of the Thessalonian Christians; he is the writer of the Epistle, not Silvanus or Timotheus (see 2Th 3:17). But they had labored with him in Thessalonica; Silvanus certainly, Timotheus in all probability; they had shared his dangers there; they were well known to the Thessalonians. So he joins their names with his own, recognizing their brotherly fellowship, their faithful co-operation, and shrinking, it may be, kern putting himself into unnecessary prominence. He seeks not honor ion himself; he has no literary ambition; his one aim is the salvation of his converts, the glory of God.

(1) Silvanus, or, in the shortened form of the name, Silas. tic, like St. Paul, was a Roman citizen, and bore a Latin name. It was, in the Latin mythology, the name of the sylvan god, who was supposed to protect the sheep, and save them from wolves. When he became a Christian, that name might perhaps serve to remind him of the great duty of tending the flock for which the good Shepherd died. He had leech a leader in the Church at Jerusalem; he was a prophet (Act 15:32), that is, he had the gift of spiritual, inspired eloquence; he used it to exhort and confirm the brethren. He accompanied St. Paul in his first missionary journey; he worked with him, he suffered with him. In the dungeon at Philippi, his feet made fast in the stocks, he prayed and sang praises unto God. His presence and sympathy had cheered St. Paul in his dangers. Companionship in affliction had bound them very close to one another. When working together at Thessalonica they must have still felt the effects of the many stripes which they had received at Philippi. It was natural that St. Paul should mention Silas in writing to the Thessalonians. We may notice here that he furnishes one of the links which couple together the two apostles whose differences (Gal 2:11-21) have been so much magnified by heretics of old, by unbelievers now. St. Paul loved Silvanus; St. Peter counted him a faithful brother (l Peter 5:12).

(2) Timotheus, St. Paul’s dearest companion, his own son in the faith, bound to him with the closest ties of tender, personal affection. He stands first among the noble company of holy, loving fellow-workers whom St. Paul had drawn around himself. He was known to the Thessalonians; his name, indeed, does not appear in the record of St. Paul’s visit to Thessalonica in the Acts of the Apostles. But we know that he was sent there afterwards to establish and to comfort the Thessalonian Christians concerning their faith (1Th 3:2). Doubtless he was chosen for that work because of the Christian zeal, the loving, gentle sympathy which marked his beautiful character. He fulfilled his mission, and brought back to the apostle good tidings of the faith and charity of the Thessalonians. He greets them now.

II. THE CHURCH.

1. The foundation of the Thessalonian Church. St. Paul had been shamefully treated at Philippi; he had not lost courage. He came to Thessalonica; he went, as he was wont, to the synagogue. There he preached for three sabbath days; he “reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.” He showed (as our Lord himself had shown to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus) that it was necessary that the Messiah should suffer, and should rise again from the dead; he showed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ. All true preaching must be full of Scripture; all true preaching must be full of Christ. St. Paul’s words were greatly blessed. Some Jews believed, a great multitude of Greek proselytes, many ladies of rank. Those three sabbaths had been wonderfully fruitful; a Church was formed at Thessalonica.

2. The word “Church.” This is the earliest of St. Paul’s extant Epistles; it may be (possibly the Epistle of St. James was written earlier) the earliest of all the writings of the New Testament. Then, if we were to read the New Testament in chronological order, we should meet here with the word “Church” for the first time. St. Jas 2:2 uses the word “synagogue,” not “Church.” Our Lord, of course, used it earlier. He founded the Church. He had said, “On this rock wilt I build my Church;” and again, “Tell it to the Church.” But the date of St. Matthew’s Gospel is probably later than that of this Epistle. The Greek word means simply an assembly, a congregation, as the word “synagogue” means a meeting. It is derived from a verb which means to call out or summon, and is regularly used in classical Greek of the assemblies of citizens summoned by the magistrate in the Greek commonwealths for legislative or other political purposes (comp. Act 19:39); sometimes of other assemblies, as of the crowd of artisans collected by Demetrius (Act 19:32, Act 19:41). It is used of the congregation of Israel in Act 7:38; Heb 2:12; and sometimes in the Septuagint. The New Testament has taken the word and filled it with a new and holy meaning. It is the assembly which Christ hath chosen to himself out of the worldthe flock of Christ. The visible Church of Christ is “a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ’s ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same.” The great day of Pentecost was the true birthday of the Church; the gift of the Holy Ghost then sent down from heaven knit together the disciples into one body, the mystical body of Christ. St. Luke gives us, in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, a description of the Church at that time. “Then they that gladly received the Word were baptized and they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Thus the notes of the Church, according to Holy Scripture, are baptism, fellowship with the apostles, the doctrine of the apostles, the holy communion, public worship. The Church is also one, for it is one body in Christ, united into one fellowship by the indwelling of the one Spirit. It is holy, because it is being sanctified by the Holy Ghost; all its members are dedicated to God in holy baptism; they are all pledged by that dedication to follow after holiness of heart and life. It is catholic, because it is not confined to one nation, like the synagogue, but universal, world-wide, open to all who receive the Word of God. It is apostolic, because it is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone; and because it continues in the doctrine and fellowship of the apostles. It is the bride of Christ. “Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that he might present it unto himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

3. The Church of the Thessalonians. Now there was a branch of the one Church at Thessalonica.

(1) It was the second Church founded in Europe. The first was at Philippi, a small place, though a Roman colony. Thessalonica was a populous city, the metropolis of Macedonia. God plants his Church everywhere. It embraces all who will accept the gospelpoor and rich, ignorant and learned; it meets the deepest needs of all places alikethe quiet country and the stirring city.

(2) It was already organized. It had its ministers (1Th 5:12, 1Th 5:13), and its assemblies for public worship (1Th 5:27). Short as St. Paul’s visit was, he had, it seems, ordained elders there, as he was wont to do in every Church (Act 14:23), and had provided for the regular meetings of the brethren.

(3) It was in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. This was its essential characteristic. As Chrysostom says, “There were many e)kklhsi&ai, many assemblies both Jewish and Greek. St. Paul writes to that assembly, that congregation, which was in God. It is a high exaltation, above all other possible dignities, to be in God.” Thessalonica formerly lay in wickedness, in the evil one (1Jn 5:19), in the sphere of his activity. Now, the Church there was in God. The presence of God was the very atmosphere in which the Church lived and moved. It lay in the everlasting arms, encircled with his embrace, guarded by his love. The words imply a close intimate union, an exceeding great depth of love and tenderness, a very great and profound truth, which does not admit of formal definition, and cannot be adequately expressed in language; but it is realized, in a greater or less degree, in the inner life of those true members of the Church who abide in that invisible, but most holy and most blessed, union with the Lord. God had breathed into the Church of the Thessalonians the breath of lifethat new life, that eternal life, which consists in the personal knowledge of God. That life is in his Son. Christ is the Life. “He that hath the Son hath life.” The Thessalonian Church was in the Lord Jesus Christ, as it was in God. “We are in him that is true,” says St. John, “even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” The Church is in Christ, then surely Christ is God. The Church cannot be said to be in any creature; in St. Paul, for instance, or in any other of the holiest saints of God. Such an assertion would be unmeaning, blasphemous. Then in the first verse of the first of St. Paul’s Epistles (the least dogmatic, some say, of all his Epistles, possibly the earliest of the New Testament writings), he distinctly teaches the great doctrine of the divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “In Christ,” “in the Lord,” is a constant formula of St. Paul’s; he is never weary of repeating it, never weary of enforcing the great truth that the Christian lives in Christ. Here he asserts the same thing of the Church as a whole. It is in Christ, living in his life, holy in his holiness, strong in his strength, glorious (Joh 17:22) in his glory; the glory of his presence now, the glory of eternal life with him henceforth in heaven. The Church is “in Christ;” its members must strive to realize the blessedness of that holy fellowship in their own individual souls. Outward membership will not avail for our salvation, unless we abide in living spiritual communion with the Lord.

III. THE SALUTATION.

1. Grace. It is one of those words which the Holy Spirit has taken from common use and filled with a sweet and sacred meaning.

(1) It is the gracious favor of God which rests upon all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That favor is essentially free, spontaneous, flowing out of that eternal love which is intimately one with the very being of God. “God is love.” It is given in and through the Lord Jesus; it is “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

(2) It is the gratitude, the spirit of joyful thankfulness, which should be the happy temper of those who believe in the grace of God.

(3) It sometimes (as in Col 4:6) expresses the sweetness, the winning beauty, the dignified gracefulness of the true Christian character. The grace of God produces thankfulness, and gives grace and beauty to the life.

2. Peace. It was the first greeting of the risen Lord to his apostles, “Peace be unto you.” It became the apostolic greeting. The Macedonian Churches had little outward peace; they were early called to suffer. They needed that blessed peace which God alone can give. (See homiletics on Php 1:2 and Php 4:7.)

LESSONS.

1. Imitate St. Paul in his humility. Notice every feature, every manifestation of that great grace; it is hard to learn.

2. The Church, as a whole, is in God; in his guardianship, in his encircling love. We must strive and pray to realize that loving presence individually, to be in God ourselves.

3. Pray that grace and peace may rest on all who bear the Name of Christ.B.C.C.

1Th 1:2-6 – The apostle’s thanksgiving.

I. ITS CHARACTER.

1. It is shared with his companions. “We give thanks.” The three friends prayed and gave thanks together. It is true that the plural number is characteristic of these Epistles to the Thessalonians; the singular is avoided, it seems, from motives of modesty. But here, immediately after the mention of the three names, it is natural to regard the thanksgiving as proceeding from all. It is a true Christian feeling that draws friends together for religious exercises. The faith, the love, of the one kindles, strengthens, the like graces in the other. The tide of prayer and praise from many hearts flows in deeper, fuller volume towards the throne. And we know that where two or three are gathered together in his Name, there is he in the midst of them.

2. It is constant. “We give thanks to God always.“ Thanksgiving is the joy of the redeemed in heaven; it is the outpouring of the Christian heart upon earth. The nearer we can approach to perpetual thanksgiving, the nearer we draw to heaven. “Sursum corda!””Lift up your hearts!” is an exhortation which we daily need. May God give us grace to answer daily, hourly, “We lift them up unto the Lord.”

3. It is for all. The true shepherd knows his sheep; he loves them all, he prays for all. He does not divide them into parties. The closer his own walk with God, the more he is enabled to keep himself apart from and above party divisions. But the infant Thessalonian Church seems to have enjoyed the blessing of unity. It was not, like Corinth, distracted by strife and party feeling.

4. It accompanied prayer. Thanksgiving and prayer ever go together. The man who prays earnestly must give thanks, for prayer brings him into the sense of God’s most gracious presence; and with that presence cometh joyjoy in the Lord. True prayer must involve intercession, for in answer to prayer the Holy Spirit is given; and the first, the chief of the fruits of the Spirit is love. St. Paul is a remarkable example of perseverance in intercessory prayer.

II. ITS GROUNDS.

1. His remembrance of their spiritual state. He was working hard at Corinth; in the midst of his labor, with all its new interests, he remembered without ceasing the Christians of Thessalonica. The care of all the Churches was already beginning to press upon him. He was unwearied in his labors, in his supplications, in his constant thoughtfulness for all the Churches which he had founded, for all the converts whom he had brought to Christ. Mark the extent, the comprehensiveness of his love for souls.

2. His description of that state. The Thessalonian Christians already exhibited the three chief Christian graces.

(1) Faith, and that not a dead faith, but a faith that was ever working through love. St. Paul remembered their work of faith. Faith is itself a work, the work of God. “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” It is itself a work, and it must work in the soul, for it is an active principle. It cannot exist without working. Its working may not always express itself in outward action; it will do so when possible; but it will be always working in the inner sphere of the heart, producing self-purification, self-consecration, spiritual self-sacrifice. Each step towards holiness is a work of faith, hidden, it may be, from the eyes of men, but seen by him who searcheth the heart. The Thessalonians had shown their faith by their works.

(2) Love, the greatest of the three, manifests itself in labor. The word is a strong one; “toil,” perhaps, is a better rendering. Toil is not painful when it is prompted by love. True Christian love must lead the believer to toil for the gospel’s sake, for the souls and bodies of those whom Jesus loved. The abundance of the Christian’s labors is the measure of his love. “I labored more abundantly than they all” (says St. Paul, 1Co 15:10): “yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

(3) Hope. The object of the Christian’s hope is the Saviorour “Lord Jesus Christ, which is our Hope.” We hope for himfor his gracious presence revealed in fuller measure now, for the blissful vision of his glorious beauty hereafter. That hope is patient. The husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth; the Christian waits patiently for Christ. It works patience in the soul. He can endure the troubles of life who is blessed with the lively hope of the inheritance reserved in heaven. The Thessalonians showed in their lives the presence of this lively hope. All this the apostle remembered without ceasing before God in his prayers and meditations.

3. His confidence in God‘s election; Himself “a vessel of election” (Act 9:15), he felt sure that the same gracious choice had rested on the Thessalonian Christians. God had “chosen them to salvation,” he tells them in the Second Epistle. St. Paul loves to dwell on the great truth of God’s election.

4. The evidence of that election. St. Paul finds it:

(1) In the lives of the Thessalonians. Archbishop Leighton beautifully says, “If men can read the characters of God’s image in their own souls, these are the counterpart of the golden characters of his love in which their names are written in the book of life. He that loves God may be sure that he was first loved of God; and he that chooses God for his delight and portion may conclude confidently that God hath chosen him to be one of those that shall enjoy him and be happy in him for ever; for that our love of him is but the return and repercussion of the beams of his love shining upon us.” The Thessalonians received the Word; they showed the martyr spirit; they were content to suffer as Christians for the gospel’s sake. They had joy amid tearsthat holy joy which the presence of the blessed Spirit can give even in the midst of afflictions. They were learning in their own experience the meaning of that seeming contradiction, “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” They imitated the holy life of St. Paul, the holiest life of the Lord Jesus Christ. By this patient continuance in well-doing they were making their calling and election sure.

(2) In the energy and success of his own preaching among them. He had brought them the gospel, the glad tidings of great joy. He had delivered his message with power, with the strength of deep conviction. The Holy Ghost was with him, teaching him what to speak, filling him with a Divine fervor and enthusiasm. His words were more than mere sounds; they were a message full of intense meaninga message from God. The Thessalonians had felt the power of his preaching; they were his witnesses. This energy was not his own; it came from God; it proved that God was with him; it was a sure evidence that God was blessing the apostle’s work; it was given for the sake of the Thessalonians; it surely meant that God had chosen them to be his own.

Learn:

1. To take delight in the spiritual progress, in the, faith, hope, love of our fellow-Christians.

2. To thank God for it.

3. To refer all that seems good in us to God’s electing grace.

4. To look for the evidence of that election in holiness of life.B.C.C.

1Th 1:7-10 – The happy results of the conversion of the Thessalonians.

I. THEY BECAME AN EXAMPLE TO OTHERS.

1. True piety tends to propagate itself. The Thessalonians had not long embraced Christianity. But they had learned much; they had given their hearts to God. The Macedonian Churches gave St. Paul, from the first, deep and unmingled satisfaction. Thessalonica was the metropolis of Macedonia, the seat of government, and of trade. It became a center of spiritual life. All believers throughout Macedonia and Achaia looked to the Thessalonians. St. Paul was now at Corinth, the chief city of Achaia. The Lord had much people in that city; but there were grave evils at Corinth, many causes for anxiety and distress. St. Paul must have told the Corinthians often of the simple faith and obedience of the Macedonians. So the Thessalonians became an example to the converts whose lot was cast among the sensual temptations anti the intellectual restlessness of the famous Peloponnesian town. The lives of good men are very precious; they are a living proof of the power of God’s grace; they arc facts which can be seen and tested; facts from which the reality of the forces which are working in the unseen sphere of God’s spiritual agency can be inferred with as much certainty as the laws of nature from the facts of observation and experiment.

2. The Word of God is living and powerful. The Thessalonians had received it; it was in their hearts and on their lips. As the starry heavens with their silent witness declare the glory of God, so it is with the stars that are in the right hand of the Son of God (Rev 1:20); their sound goeth forth into all the earth. That heavenly melody was issuing now from Thessalonica. “It hath sounded forth,” St. Paul says, like a clear, thrilling trumpet-strain. It hath sounded, and still it sounds, reaching far and wide with its penetrating tones. The conversion of the Thessalonians was known not only in the neighboring regions of Greece. The glad news had brought joy wherever the gospel had reached. It was not necessary for the apostle to praise the faith of the Thessalonians; men knew it., talked of it among themselves, reported it to the great missionary himself.

II. THE TESTIMONY THAT WAS BORNE TO THE FAITH OF THE THESSALONIANS. Christians talked:

1. Of the wonderful success of St. Paul‘s preaching. Those three weeks had been a time of marvelous fruitfulness. It was but an entrance, the time was so short; but what an entrance!so full of power, so manifestly under the Divine guidance. The three menSilas, of whom we know so little; Timotheus, shy and timid; Paul, of whom it was said in Corinth that his bodily presence was weak, and his speech contemptible,they had done wonders in Thessalonica. God was with them plainly; there could be no other explanation of such strange unexampled energy.

2. Of the change wrought in the Thessalonians. They turned from idol-worship. The Thessalonian Church was mainly Gentile; there were a few Jews among them, but the Jews as a body bitterly persecuted the infant Church. The gospel was glad tidings indeed to thoughtful Gentiles. The Jews had great and precious truths, though their teachers had well-nigh hidden them under a mass of traditions and idle forms. But what was there in the heathenism of the day on which a thinking man could rest his soul? There were temples everywhere, but what man who felt the yearnings of the human soul for righteousness and God could in his heart reverence the deities who were worshipped there? So the Thessalonians turned from their idols:

(1) To serve the living and true God. The Gentiles did not serve their gods. It could not be. They admired the temples and the statues as works of art; they regarded their religion as of some political importance, a part of statecraft. But now the converts were ready to serve God, for they began to know him. Their idols were dead things; the God whom Paul preached was living, loving, and powerful; they felt his power in their hearts, nay, he was the Life; all life (they knew now) came from him, and was his gift. Their idols were false gods, there was no truth in them; they were images of that which was not; for an idol, as St. Paul taught them, was “nothing in the world.” The Thessalonians could see the snowy top of Olympus; the stories of the gods who dwelt there were but idle tales. St. Paul had taught them of the great Creator who is very God, living and true; nay, the one only Source of real life and being, He is the very God, the self-existing One, I AM THAT I AM. There is none other.

(2) To wait for his Son from heaven. Hope is the key-note of this Epistle, as joy and faith are of the Epistles to the Philippians and the Romans. St. Paul had taught his converts not only to believe in God the Father who made us, but also in God the Son who redeemed us. He taught them the great truths of the Resurrection and Ascension, the blessed doctrine of the atonement. Some of the Thessalonians, perhaps, had tried to grapple with the dark mysteries of life, sin and misery. St. Paul pointed them to Jesus. “Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.” There is wrath coming in its awfulness; but there is a DelivererOne who is delivering us now, who is daily delivering us from the power of sin, as we draw nearer and nearer to him; who will deliver us from the punishment of sin, if by the gracious help of the blessed Spirit we abide in him. And this Deliverer is Jesus.

LESSONS.

1. The holy lives of Christian people help the blessed work of saving souls; holy lives are more persuasive than holy words. Let each Christian strive to do his part.

2. We are not in heathen darkness; God has given us the light of his gospel. Let us be thankful, and show our thankfulness in our lives.

3. Wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus; all our hopes are in him.B.C.C.

HOMILIES BY R. FINLAYSON

1Th 1:1 – Introduction.

This Epistle has the distinction of being the first in time of all Paul’s Epistles. The leading thought, to which there is reference toward the close of each of the five chapters into which the Epistle has been divided, is the second coming of our Lord. The first three chapters are personal, setting forth the apostle’s connection with the Thessalonians, and interest in them as a Church. In the remaining two chapters he addresses them in view of their condition as a Church, and especially in view of anxiety connected with the second coming. Pleased with the progress they were making, he writes to them in a quiet, practical, prevailingly consolatory strain.

I. THE WRITERS. “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy.” Paul comes first, as preeminently the writer. It can be made out that the matter and style are characteristically Pauline. It speaks to his humility that he does not claim it as his own, that he does not put forward his official position, but associates two brethren with him as joint-writers. These, Silvanus (to be identified with Silas) and Timothy (less prominent at the time), assisted at the founding of the Thessalonian Church. Timothy had just returned from a visit of inquiry to Thessalonica. He therefore claims them as adding the weight of their influence with the Thessalonians to his own. And their place as joint-writers is accorded to them throughout. Only in three places, for a special reason in each case, does he make use of the singular number.

II. COMMUNITY ADDRESSED. “Unto the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Thessalonicaso named by Cassander in honor of his wife, who was a sister of Alexander the Greatwas well situated for commerce “on the inner bend of the Thermaic gulfhalf-way between the Adriatic and the Hellesponton the sea-margin of a vast plain watered by several rivers,” the chief of these being the Axius and Haliacmon. Under the Romans it became a large, wealthy, and populous city; and was chosen as the Macedonian capital. Its importance has been well kept, up to the present day. Saloniki (slightly altered from Thessalonica) ranks next to Constantinople in European Turkey, with a population of seventy thousand. Paul visited Thessalonica in his second missionary tour, after the rough handling he had received in the other Macedonian city of Philippi. The Jews, being more numerous here than at Philippi, had a synagogue; and in this, Paul, for three sabbath days, reasoned with them from the Scriptures, opening and alleging that it behooved the Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead, and that this Jesus is the Christ. The result was so far favorable. Some Jews were persuaded, and consorted with Paul and Silas; of the Gentile proselytes attached to the Jewish synagogue, a great multitude, and, among these, not a few chief women. But there was also what was unfavorable. The Jews as a body, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and raised a tumult against the Christian preachers, which ended in their departing by night for Beraea. Paul and his assistants had a very short time in which to found a Church in Thessalonica. For three sabbath days Paul reasoned in the Jewish synagogue. We may allow a little longer time for the ripening of Jewish opposition. Short as the time was, they had settled down to supporting themselves by laboring with their own hands. Short as the time was, the Philippian Christians, in their eagerness, had managed once and again to send unto Paul’s necessity. What would render the formation of a Christian Church at Thessalonica easier was the number of Gentile proselytes who embraced Christianity. These had received training in monotheistic ideas, and had already the elements of a godly character. But, beyond this, many Gentile idolaters must have been brought in; for the entering in of Paul and his companions was signalized as a turning of the majority of them from idols unto the living and the true God. Under the conditions of time and manual labor and Jewish fanaticism, the founding of the Thessalonian Church was a most marvelous work. So short time with them, Paul wrote to them when he got to Corinth, after Visiting Beraea and Athens, about the close of the year 52. The Thessalonians are addressed as a Church, i.e. in their corporate capacity, with corporate responsibilities and privileges, not as saints, i.e. in respect of the consecration of the members-individually. They are addressed as a Church in God the Father, i.e. as having all the position of sons. They are also addressed as a Church in the Lord Jesus Christ, i.e. as a Christian family where the sons are all saved men placed under the superintendence of him who has the position of Lord, and distributes to their need.

III. GREETING. “Grace to you and peace.“ This did not necessarily exclude favor and peace from men, from these persecuting Jews. But whether it had that sweep or not, it certainly meant the Divine treatment of them, not according to merit, but according to infinite mercifulness, and the consequent freeing of them from all disturbing influences. It is what we should invoke for all our friends.R.F.

1Th 1:2-10 – Manifestation of interest.

I. HOW THEY THANKED GOD FOR THE THESSALONIANS. “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.” The three Christian preachers away at Corinth, and in the midst of their engagements there, were interested in their Thessalonian converts. They were so interested as to act as priests for them. This they did at the throne of grace, praying for them by name, in view of their special needs as a Church. This they would also do unitedly, praying to all the more purpose that they united their prayers; for a threefold cord is not easily broken. Noah, Daniel, and Job in a land may not counteract all wickedness; but Paul, Silas, and Timothy, agreeing as touching what they asked for a progressing Church like Thessalonica, would certainly mean valuable help to them from heaven. Praying, they gave thanks always. This designation of time is not to be understood with the utmost strictness. It is prescribed in Exodus that Aaron should bear the judgment of the children of Israel (the Urim and Thummim) upon his heart before the Lord continually, i.e. whenever he went into the holy place to discharge the pontifical functions. So the meaning here is that, whenever these men of God went into the presence of God to discharge the priestly function of prayer for the Thessalonians, their hearts were filled with gratitude for them, which they poured forth in thanksgiving. They gave thanks to God, who had made the Thessalonians a Church, who had blessed them hitherto, and upon whom they depended for future blessing. They gave thanks to God for them all. They did not know of any (and their information was recent) who were bringing dishonor on the Thessalonian society. They were all with one heart helping forward the common Christian good.

II. UPON WHAT THEY PROCEEDED IN THANKING GOD FOR THE THESSALONIANS. “Remembering without ceasing.” They proceeded in their thanksgivings upon what they remembered of the Thessalonians. The impression produced at the time had not been effaced by fresh scenes, new engagements, the lapse of time. By thinking of them and hearing from them their impression of them had not ceased to be lively. This impression concerned the three Christian gracesfaith, love, hope. In 1Co 13:1-13. love is placed last, the object being to exalt it, in its permanent value, over the other two Here, as also in the fifth chapter and in Col 1:1-29., and virtually in Tit 2:1-15., the natural order is followed, faith manifesting itself in love (Gal 5:6), and hope rising out of love (Rom 5:5). Hope is also properly held to come last, as the link between the present and the future. What the Christian pioneers remembered was the practical outcome of each grace.

1. “Your work of faith.“ In the eleventh of the Hebrews we read of special works which were produced by faith. But the work, in its totality, which each man produces, is the life which be lives before the world. And he who believes that there is the eye of the holy, heart-searching God upon him; that he is here to carry out the Divine behests; that according as he does or does not carry out these behests does he lie under the Divine approval or disapproval; that there is a judgment coming which shall prove each man’s work of what sort it is;such a man will surely produce a work very different from him who habitually looks only to the seen and the temporal. The adoption of faith as the principle of their lives meant to the Thessalonians the abandonment of many vices, and the cultivation of sincerity, humility, purity, temperance, and other Christian excellences.

2. “And labor of love.“ The word translated” labor “approaches the meaning of painful effort. We are not merely to wish well to others and to rejoice in their good;that implies no laboriousness of love. But we are to burden ourselves with the wants of others, and to undertake labors on behalf of the sick, on behalf of the poor, on behalf of the oppressed, on behalf of the ignorant, on behalf of the erring. The Thessalonian Christians were full of these labors; their Church life had become one labor of love, a putting forth of painful effort for each other, without thought of reward, with only the desire to please the Master. It was a labor of purest, freest love, that the Master himself undertook on behalf of those whom he was not ashamed to call his brethren.

3. “And patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.“ Hope was the characteristic grace of the Thessalonians. It was hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, which is more exactly defined in the Epistle as hope with regard to his coming. It was a hope which burned in them with, extraordinary intensity. So eager were they as to the time of its realization that there was a likelihood of impatience being engendered by delay. When the Thessalonians are remembered here for the patience of their hope, we are to understand the brave way in which they maintained the conflict with sin within, and especially with persecution without. It is the hope of victory that sustains the soldier under all the hardships of the march and the dangers of the battle-field. So it was the hope of the infinite compensation that there would be at the confine of Christ that sustained them under the disadvantages of their position. What to them were all that their enemies might inflict on them, when any day Christ might come among them for their deliverance? They could say with their teacher,” For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed to us-ward.” Additional circumstance. “Before our God and Father.” This points to the solemnity and also the joy of the remembrance. It was in prayer that it took place. It was there before the God of Paul and Silas and Timothy, the Heart-searching One, who could testily that it was no formal remembrance, but was marked by sincerity. It was also before their Father, who, as Infinite Benevolence, regarded it with pleasure.

III. THERE IS NOTED THE FACT OF THE ELECTION OF THE THESSALONIANS. “Knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election.” Paul, for himself and his helpers, addresses them as brethren. What they had in common was that they were beloved of God. What marked them as objects of Divine love was their election. This is a word of deep and gracious import, which is more opened up in other places in Scripture. What marked ancient Israel was that they were the election. In succession to ancient Israel, Christians were the election. Among others these Thessalonian Christians had most of them been elected out of heathenism, elected to all the privileges of the new covenant. They owed this their position not to their own merits. It was no doings of their own that brought Christ into the world. It was by circumstances over which they had no control that the gospel was preached to them in Thessalonica. It was not in their own strength that they believed. It was Divine love, then, that gave them their position among the election, and to Divine love was to be all the praise.

IV. PAUL AND SILAS‘ HELPERS CAME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR ELECTION BY CONSIDERATION OF DIVINE ASSISTANCE VOUCHSAFED IN PREACHING TO THEM. “How that our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy’ Ghost, and in much assurance; even as ye know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you for your sake.” The gospel is the glad tidings of salvation to all men. It could only be called their gospel inasmuch as they used it instrumentally in the conversion of souls. It was Christ who was the great Subject of it. “Neither is there salvation in any other.” These three agreed as to the purport of the gospel. It was not different from the gospel as preached by Peter or any other Christian teacher. In dealing with the Jews in Thessalonica, as we learn from the Acts of the Apostles, the gospel proper was accompanied with the producing of proof from the Old Testament Scriptures that the Messiah was to suffer and to rise from the dead; and the fitting into it of other proof that the historical Jesus, who had lately been on the earth, met all the requirements of their Scriptures. But to Jews and Gentiles alike it was the free offer of salvation, based on the great facts of the death and resurrection of God’s Son in our nature. This gospel had come to them in Thessalonica; it had providentially been directed their way. It had come to them in word, in the Word preached, and that was a great point gained. “For how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” But it had not come in word only, but also in power. They felt power descending on them in the delivery of their message. This was nothing else than the assistance of the Holy Ghost. And it was accompanied with the deep assurance that their message was taking effect. The Thessalonians themselves had the proof of their being men who were divinely assisted toward them. And, as this Divine assistance was granted in their interest, it pointed to their being in the number of the elect.

V. PAUL AND HIS HELPERS CAME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ELECTION OF THE THESSALONIANS BY CONSIDERATION OF THEIR POWER OF IMITATION. “And ye became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.” There is a point of difference. They preached the Word, or ratherfor a new aspect is brought upthe Lord in them. It was the Lord’s message they delivered; they were the instruments of the Lord in its delivery. It was, therefore, the Lord as well as they, and more than they, in the preaching. On the other hand, the Thessalonians received the Word. This is not inconsistent with what is said in the Acts of the Apostles in connection with Beraea: “Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.” For the meaning there is that the Beraean Jews were a nobler class than the Thessalonian Jews, which is no reflection on the Thessalonian Christians, who, with few exceptions, were Gentiles. The testimony of this Epistle is that they were a Church peculiarly receptive of the Word. Allowing for this difference which the sense requires, the imitation is to be restricted to the associated circumstances and spirit. “In much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.” It was the Word that gave rise to much affliction. And it is not to be wondered at that, when the light comes into conflict with darkness, this should be the result to those who are associated with the light. In much affliction the three subordinates and the great Superintendent in them drew joy from the Word preached. “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,” said the greatest of the three. In the same affliction the Thessalonians were imitators, in drawing joy from the Word received. They were not crushed under the affliction, but, imbibing the comfort of the Word, they rose triumphant over it. In both cases the joy, which was not to be thought of as earthly, proceeded from the Holy Ghost dwelling within. This was the second thing that pointed to their election.

VI. THE THESSALONIANS WERE SO GOOD IMITATORS AS TO BECOME AN ENSAMPLE TO OTHERS. “So that ye became an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.” These were the two Roman divisions of Greece. It is implied that the circumstances of the Grecian Churches were similar. To believe was, more or less, to be opposed, to be afflicted. The Thessalonians were an encouragement to the other Churches. Philippians, Bermans, Athenians, Corinthians, might all take heart from the manner in which the Thessalonians triumphed over their affliction.

VII. THERE WAS A WIDESPREAD REPORT REGARDING THESSALONICA WHICH WAS VERY SERVICEABLE. “For from you hath sounded forth the Word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything.” This shows how the Thessalonians could be an ensample to so many. There was the condition of publicity. In the language which is used, prominence is given to the Word, and it is characterized, not now as “our gospel,” but as “the Word of the Lord.” From them at Thessalonica the Word of the Lord had sounded forth. The Word of the Lord sounds forth, not merely when we preach it, but also when, as these Thessalonians did, we receive it and allow it to have influence upon our lives. From them at Thessalonica there had been a notable sounding forth. The image employed is that of a trumpet, filling with its clear sound all the surrounding places. Hill and valley, hamlet and homestead, arc waked with it. So the gospel-trumpet had been sounded at Thessalonica, and the result is represented as the filling of all Greece with the clear sound of the gospel. Its wakeful sound had reached the important places, not only in Macedonia, but in Achaia. There is suggested by this what the Church has to do for the world; it has to sound the gospel-trumpet, so that, without any hyperbole, the whole world shall he filled with the clear sound of the gospel. The sounding forth from Thessalonica had reached even to places beyond Greece. And, in giving expression to this, Paul, as he sometimes does, gives a different turn to the sentence. We should have expected it to run so as to be complete: “Not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in places beyond.” He, however, lays hold on what the Word had notably done for the Thessalonians, viz. made them monotheists, given them faith to God-ward, and the sentence is made to run: “But in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth.” “The currency of the reports was probably much promoted by the commercial intercourse between Thessalonica and other cities, both in Greece and elsewhere. Wieseler suggests that Aquila and Priscilla, who had lately come from Rome to Corinth (Act 18:2), might have mentioned to the apostle the prevalence of the report even in that more distant city. If this be so, the justice and truth of the apostle’s hyperbole is still more apparent; to be known in Rome was to be known everywhere.” This may be true, but still it is to be borne in mind that the sounding forth to distant places is rather ascribed to the vigor with which the gospel-trumpet bad been sounded at Thessalonica. By the going forth of their faith there was great service done. In preaching the gospel in new places, it was Paul’s custom to hold up what it bad done for other places. With regard to Thessalonica, he was placed in an exceptional position. In Beraea, in Athens, in Corinth, wherever he went, he needed not to labor in language to create an impression of what the gospel had done for Thessalonica. He needed not to say anything, the work being already done for him.

VIII. THE TWO POINTS TO WHICH THE REPORT REFERRED.

1. The entering in of Paul and his helpers. “For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you.” This has already been particularized. It was their gospel coming unto the Thessalonians, not in word only, but also in power, and the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. It was that attested by the Thessalonians. It was the Lord in them preaching the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost. Now it is generalized”what manner of entering in we had unto you.” They did not need to enter upon that; the people themselves in the various places came forward with their acknowledgments. This was important to the three ministers; it was a seal to their ministry, it was added influence in the proclamation of the gospel. A minister may well aspire to have such a record.

2. The response of the Thessalonians. “And how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead.” This is an expansion of the previous words,” your faith to God-ward.” They had been idolaters. This is to be understood of the Thessalonian Church as a whole, which points to its composition. They turned unto God from idols. There is marked their conversion to monotheism. They turned from idols “to serve a living and true God.” The old translation is better here: “to serve the living and true God.” Idols are dead; their living touch upon the soul can never be felt. They turned from dead idols to the living God, the God in whom we live and move and have our being, who giveth to all life and breath and all things. Idols are false and vain, they can do no good to their votaries. They turned from false and vain idols to the true God, who cannot deceive his worshippers, who comforts and cheers them, who is the Rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Turning from idols, they made their life a service of this living and true Godnot a dead, make-believe service, but characterized, from its object, by life and truth, a waiting on him to carry out his behests. There is marked their conversion to Christianity. They turned from idols to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead. They laid hold on the great Christian fact, that God gave up his Son to die for man. They also laid hold on the other great Christian fact, that God raised him from the dead and raised him to heaven. They further believed, on Divine authority, that God’s Son was to come from heaven. Round this their life as a Church very much revolved; they were fascinated by its influence. They waited for his Son from heaven; they lived in daily expectation of his coming. While we are not curious about the time of Christ’s coming, let us not lose the influence of the fact of Christ’s coming. Let us consider whether we are prepared for his coming. Let us be dead to the charms of the world, dead also to its opposition. Let us take comfort, under present troubles, from this coming (Joh 14:1-3). Let us joyfully anticipate the coming (1Pe 1:8). We may well learn from the Thessalonians to give this subject greater prevalence in our thoughts. Let us, like them, be found in the attitude of expectancy. Christ’s last message to man is this: “Yea, I come quickly.” And the reply which we are expected to make is this: “Amen: come, Lord Jesus.” “Even Jesus, which delivereth us from the wrath to come.” This is the first of the three references to the wrath of God in this First Epistle to the Thessalonians. It is an element that is more largely prevalent in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians. It was natural that, writing so much to the Thessalonians about the second coming, he should introduce the future wrath. The full expression in this place, “the wrath to come,” had already been used by one who could preach the terrors of the Law. When the Baptist saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, “Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Paul, standing after the great Messianic manifestation, could say more definitely and mildly, “Even Jesus, which delivereth us from the wrath to come.”

(1) The reality of the wrath. By the wrath of God we are to understand the disposition which leads him to inflict punishment for sin. It cannot be said of God that he is wrathful, or that wrath is the predominant feature in his character. For “he delighteth in mercy;” but “judgment is his strange work.” When men put themselves in opposition to God, while he is displeased, he is also grieved. We read of the grieving of the Spirit; of Christ, while looking round on his audience with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts. Even when God, from necessities of government, may have to remove the reprobate from his presence, there is not wanting the tone of indignant rebuke, “Cast ye out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth.” But with this righteous indignation there is no mingling of malice, but only a feeling of infinite reluctance to resort to such a measure with any of his creatures. It is supposed to be derogatory to the Divine character that there should be wrath in the heart of God at all. But how is he to regard sin? Is sin to be committed under his government, and no notice to be taken of it, especially when it is of the very nature of sin to strike at the Divine government? Such an idea would certainly be repudiated in connection with human government. Or are we to suppose that he can become accustomed to the sight of sin, so as not to heed this sin or that sin in the great multitude that are committed every day upon this earth? But God can never see sin to he other than it really is. It stands out before him in all its details and in all its vileness, as that which interferes with his government, thwarts his holy ends among men. And as he has taught us to flash out in anger against wrong-doing, so we must believe that his own soul flashes out in anger against wrong done to his government. But we must exclude from the Divine out-flashing such inequality as attaches to human outflashing. The Thrice-holy One never knows the perturbing influence of passion; sin is not felt mere keenly at the first, and less keenly when time has exerted its swayit is ever unchanged before his mind. He continues unsatisfied, and the fire burns within him against it, until it is removed out of his sight. So far from wrath being derogatory to God, it must enter into a right conception of the Divine character. It is necessary to the consistency of the Divine character. To favor the following of a certain course, and yet to view with indifference the following of an opposite course, is simply characterlessness. According to the ardor with which we regard one course must we burn against its opposite. We must think of God as infinitely favoring righteousness; and he would not be true to himself if his feelings did not infinitely burn against iniquity. According as he is attracted to the pole of holiness, so powerfully must he be repelled from the opposite pole of sin. Even under the New Testament economy it is said that “our God is a consuming fire.” More prominence is given to this in the Old Testament, but it is a necessary conception of God, that, as he is consumed with zeal for the cause of truth and love, so he is a consuming fire to all that is opposed to it. There is a certain course which he favorswhich he puts forward as obligatory. He gives us every encouragement to follow this course; it is the consuming desire of his heart to see it followed by us. This may be said. to he the course of humble dependence upon him. If we follow this course, he is pleased, and- he marks his pleasure, by making our humility return in liberty and happiness upon ourselves. But if we willfully assert our independence and follow our own course, then God will make our willfulness recoil in bondage and misery upon our own souls. Wrath is even necessary to our rising to a proper conception of the Divine compassion. We miss what the Divine compassion is, unless we first apprehend ourselves as objects of the Divine wrath. “That heathen antiquity had no idea of God’s love is attributable to the fact that it had no living conviction of the world being under God’s wrath. Plato and Aristotle rise only to the bare representation of God as being a jealous God; and men who in our day speak of dispassionate love rise no higher than they.”

(2) The time to which the wrath is referred. The wrath to come is the disposition of wrath in its future manifestation. It is in the next world that it is to come to its full manifestation. Even now God manifests his displeasure against sin. The Flood was an early and signal instance of God’s wrath burning against a wicked world. And the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was another signal instance of God’s wrath burning against wicked communities. But under the present order of things God does not ordinarily deal with man in unmixed wrath. He has ends of redemption in view. And, though he does give experience of judgment that men may not be forgetful of him, still he mingles mercy with judgment. And usually he gives us to experience far more mercy than judgment, that thereby he may commend redemption to us. He exercises wonderful forbearance toward us, that thereby he may win us over to himself. Thus it is that meantime there is no adequate impression given of the punitive justice of God. We do not see punishment following always upon sin. We do not see punishment proportioned to sin. The more hardened in sin men are, the more may they escape present punishment. It does not yet appear what God’s displeasure against sinners is, any more than it yet appears what his love to his people is. There are hindrances which prevent a full manifestation in both cases. In the next world these hindrances will be removed, and then it will be seen clearly how God views every one who through a period of grace continues to oppose himself to Divine love. The sins of this life, unforgiven, will cry unto God; and his wrath, no longer restrained, will go forth. There are things for which, it is said in the Epistle to the Ephesians, the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience. There is a certain open defiance and forgetfulness of God (encouraging to ungodliness) which in a special manner attracts the Divine judgment. But it is true of a sinful life as a whole, that what there is in it of resistance to God draws down on it, when the time comes, the Divine wrath. This is to be at the day of judgment, which is called “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” Then there will be a righteous summing-up of the life lived on earth as a whole; and the wrath that descends will exactly indicate what. God’s estimate of the life is. That there will be retribution, and retribution exactly proportioned to each life, some being punished with few stripes and others with many stripes, is most certain. We cannot define with exactness the manner and contents of the retribution. The language employed in Scripture is sufficiently fitted to create alarm: “But unto them that are factious and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that worketh evil.” What is at first the assertion of independence toward God, will become, retributively, hindrance and bondage in complete subjugation and environment by God. What is, in its working, excitement and self-gratification, will become, retributively, in the distraction of the mind, in the upbraidings of conscience, a feeling of anguish. There is thus before the life of sin a dark future. “There remaineth a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries.” And the life of sin is not to be judged by what it is at present in its license and excitements and restraint of judgment, but is to be judged by what it is to come to. It is in the next world that the nothingness and wretchedness of a life of sin will be fully evidenced. And what a powerful deterrent is this to continuing our resistance to Divine grace!

(3) The Deliverer from the wrath to come. This is the gracious side which is now presented in the gospel. We must think of the wrath to come, in order that we may properly conceive of the Deliverer. He is appropriately called Jesus. “Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for it is he that shall save his people from their sins.” Here it is saving from the wrath of God on account of their sins. We read of heroes of antiquity who were renowned for delivering countries from the monsters with which they were infested. The New Testament tells of One who delivers from the evil most to be feared of manthe wrath to come. It is not to be understood that Jesus did deliver (on the cross) or will deliver (at the last day), but rather that it is his office to deliver. This is the great part which he performs for men; it belongs to Jesus to deliver from the wrath to come. This office entailed on the Holder of it infinite self-abnegation. “The Son of God… even Jesus.” And, as the Son of God, he had to begin by laying aside his Divine glory, not counting it a prize to be clutched at by him. Anti he came down into our nature, that he might receive into himself the wrath due to our sin. He became the great vessel of wrath. What should have been poured into us was poured into him. Thus the Deliverer is the greatest of all sufferers. He is one who has marks of mysterious sorrow and anguish upon his nature. And that shows how far it is from being according to the heart of God to make men miserable, to send wrath upon them. He interposes between the sinner and the results of his sin in this great Deliverer sent forth from his own bosom. He says, “Save from going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom.” Rather does he inflict wrath upon his Son than inflict it on us. So far as his doing is concerned, he has removed the wrath to comehe has made it non-existent. Is that not proof, the most conclusive, that wrath is most abhorrent to him, that in his heart of hearts he wishes us to escape from wrath, wishes to make us all happy?

(4) Our relation to the Deliverer. It is said here, “which delivereth us from the wrath to come.” And the context shows that the reference is to believers. All are welcome to come into a saving relation to Christ; but, as a matter of fact, all do not come. In Thessalonica there were many to whom the gospel of deliverance came, who, in their idolatrous life, thought it an idle tale. There were some who, tired of their idolatrous life, welcomed the thought of deliverance, and gave a ready ear to the apostle when he told them of Jesus “which delivereth from the wrath to come.” And there are many still in our more enlightened times who treat wrath and deliverance from it as an intrusion. The great work which Jesus accomplished has no interest to them. They like to go on in their own self-pleasing way, heedless of the issues. There are others, and these are the believers, who are unsatisfied in a life merely in the present. They are anxious to know how they are to meet the eternal issues. And feeling unable to do this themselves, as guilty before God, they shelter themselves in Jesus, “which delivereth from the wrath to come.” Taking him as their Representative, entering into the full benefit of his deliverance, the future is relieved to them, and, for the first time, they breathe freely as in the atmosphere of heaven. Out of Christ the wrath to come is still a reality, and a reality which has been made more dreadful to those who refuse to escape from it. In Christ let us take the comfort of our position, let us dismiss our fear of future wrath; and let us remember him to whom we owe our escape, and let us prove our gratitude by a life of loyalty to our Deliverer.R.F.

HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY

1Th 1:3 – Works of grace.

In writing to the Corinthians St. Paul singles out three Christian graces for supreme honorfaith, hope, and love. Here he selects the same three graces, but not simply to praise them for their own inherent merits. They are now regarded in their energetic operation, as powers and influences; and the fruits of their activity are the subjects of the apostle’s thankful recognition. He makes mention in prayer of the work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope.

I. CHRISTIAN GRACES ARE ACTIVE POWERS. They are beautiful in themselves, but they are not to exist solely for their own beauty. Flowers are lovely, but the object of the existence of flowers is not that they may dream through the summer hours in their loveliness, and then fade and wither and die. They serve an important end in the economy of plants by preparing fruit and seeds.

1. The active operation of Christian grace glorifies God. While dwelling only in the depths of the soul, quiescent and secret, they do not show forth the glory of God. “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit” (Joh 15:8).

2. The active operation of the Christian graces is a means of benefiting our fellow-men. Faith, love, and hope are not given to us for our own enjoyment only. They are aids for our mission in lifethe mission of serving God by serving mankind. We must let them have their perfect work, that this mission may be fulfilled.

3. The active operation of the Christian graces is a proof of their vital health. “Faith apart from works is barren” (Jas 2:20). By the fruits they bear we know how far we have the graces within us.

II. CHRISTIAN GRACES HAVE THEIR SEPARATE SPHERES OF ENERGY.

1. Faith has its work. When we both believe and actively trust in the helps of the Unseen, we are encouraged to use them, and when we yield ourselves in faith to the will and law of the Unseen, we learn to obey the authority above us. Hence the work of faith. This is characterized by decisionit is no wavering, hesitating, intermittent activityby calmness and by energy.

2. Love has its labor. Labor is harder than work. It implies great effort, toil, and trouble. Love goes beyond faith and undertakes greater tasks. But with love “all toil is sweet.” An enthusiasm amounting to passion characterizes this activity and distinguishes it from the sober work of faith. Love to God and love to man are necessary for the hardest work. It was not mere faith, it was love, that inspired the awful toils and sacrifices of Christ.

3. Hope has its patience. This is the passive fruit of Divine grace. It is not therefore the less important, nor does it therefore show the less energy. We need strength for endurance as much as strength for action. Christian hope manifests its energy by unflinching perseverance in spite of present crosses and distresses.

III. CHRISTIAN GRACES MUST CO–OPERATE FOR THE RIPENING OF THE FULL CHRISTIAN LIFE. St. Paul rejoices that all three of the primary graces were in active operation in the Thessalonian Church. Characters are too often one-sided. Faith is hard if love is wanting. Love is weak and wild if it is not supported and guided by faith. Hope is an idle dream without these two graces, and they are sad and gloomy if they are not cheered by hope. As the cord is far stronger than the separate strands, faith, hope, and love united produce energies many times greater than the results of their individual efficacy. The perfect Christian character is the character that is developed into rich fruitfulness on all sides. All the colors in the bow must blend to produce the pure white of saintliness.W.F.A.

1Th 1:5 – The dynamic gospel.

If we may illustrate spiritual truths by describing them in the terminology of physical science, we may say that the great mistake which the Church, as well as the world, has been making over and over again is that of treating the gospel statically instead of dynamicallyas a settled creed to be embraced in its rigid form rather than as a power to be submitted to in its progressive influence. But it is evident that the apostles cared not one straw for their preaching except in so far as it was the vehicle of Divine energy. They taught the truth, not as professors of metaphysics in a college, but as workmen who were bringing a new force to bear on the reconstruction of society.

I. IT IS VAIN TO RECEIVE THE GOSPEL IN WORD ONLY.

1. It may be published. A heathen country may open its ports to missionaries. Bible societies may circulate the Scriptures through every country and hamlet. Preachers may never cease to expound it. And all this will be as nothing for the spiritual welfare of people who will not hear, understand, believe, and submit to the truth.

2. It may be heard. Crowds may flock to the churches. Attentive congregations may hang upon the lips of popular preachers. And still no good may be done while the truth is not understood, believed, and obeyed.

3. It may be understood. The meaning of the language used may be intelligible enough. People may give themselves the trouble of thinking out the subjects presented to them by the preachers. Still all is vain if the gospel is not believed and submitted to.

4. It may be believed. The truth may not be doubted. We may have a certain conviction of it, and yet even this may count for nothing without the faith that accepts the influences and follows the directions of the gospel. There is a world of difference between believing the gospel and believing in Christ; at least, in the only way in which this is of practical importance, viz. as a trustful acceptance of his grace and a loyal devotion to his will. So long as we come short of this we may have the gospel, but it will be “words, words, words”the letter that killeth, not the spirit that quickeneth.

II. THE GOSPEL MAY BE RECEIVED IN POWER. This very statement seems to strike some people who have long been familiar with the words of the gospel as a new revelation, as itself a fresh gospel. But we have to learn the power as well as the truth of the gospel if it is to be of any real good to us.

1. The operation of the power of the gospel consists in changing the hearts and lives of men. The gospel does not simply promise future salvation. It effects present regeneration. The new birth is the essential beginning of redemption, Nothing but a Power, vast, overwhelming, penetrating, and omnipotent, can make new creatures of old, stubborn profligates and hypocrites, men of the world, and self-righteous Pharisees.

2. The secret of the power of the gospel is in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The new man is “born of the Spirit” (Joh 3:5). Christ is “the Power of God,” because he baptizes with the Holy Spirit (Mat 3:11). Christ expressly connected the power of apostolic preaching with the gift of the Holy Spirit: “Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (Act 1:8). Preachers need this to give force to their words, and hearers to receive the truth effectually.

3. The sign of the power of the gospel will be much assurance. The faith which grows out of experiencing this power will be much stronger, more vivid, and more joyous than that of first believing the truth of the gospel.W.F.A.

1Th 1:6 – Affliction with joy.

The Christians of Thessalonica had no sooner accepted the gospel than they were attacked with swift, sharp persecution; and it is to be remarked that, while in other places the apostles were often assailed and the converts spared, here the full force of the assault fell on the infant Church (Act 17:5-10). St. Paul frequently refers to the sufferings that so quickly tested the faith of this brave Christian community at the very commencement of its new life (1Th 2:14; 1Th 3:2 – 5). But in spite of persecution a peculiar joy seems to have possessed the Church at Thessalonica. The Epistles to the Thessalonians are to be distinguished for hearty congratulations and a spirit of gladness. Here is an apparent paradox, which, however, when regarded from a higher standpoint, resolves itself into a spiritual harmony.

I. AN EARTHLY PARADOX. St. Paul was much inclined to the use of startling paradoxes. His vigorous mind seemed to delight in facing them. Thus his style is rugged with great contrasting ideas.

1. The gospel does not prevent affliction. To the Thessalonians it was the means of bringing suffering. Christians often suffer more of earthly trouble, rather than less, than others (Heb 12:8). Though the gospel is good news, and though it brings gladness to the soul, it may be ushered in with storms and sufferings in the outer life. This might be expected, seeing that it is in conflict with the prince of this world.

2. Affliction does not prevent the experience of the joy of the gospel. In spite of much affliction, the Thessalonians had joy. The world sees only the outside. Hence its common verdict that religion must be melancholy. It can see the flaming fagots; it cannot see the exultant heart of the martyr. It is a great truth to know that, when God does not remove trouble, he may give us such gladness of heart as shall entirely counteract it. Surely it is better to rejoice in tribulation than to be sad in prosperity.

II. THE SPIRITUAL HARMONY.

1. The affliction is external, while the Joy is internal The two belong to different spheres. It would be impossible for one and the same person to be in temporal prosperity and adversity at the same moment, or to be at once m spiritual sunshine and under spiritual clouds. But it may well be that, while the earthly sun is shrouded in gloom, the heavenly sun is shining in full splendor.

2. The affliction comes from earthly causes, the joy from heavenly. Men persecute, the Holy Spirit inspires joy. Here are different sources of experience, and accordingly the experiences differ.

3. The affliction rather helps the spiritual joy than otherwise. It prevents men from looking to external things for comfort. It enables them to see that true joy must be inward and spiritual.

In conclusion, observe that affliction is no reason for the rejection of the gospel, since this is not therefore the less true, and it claims to be received on its truth, not on our pleasure, and also because the joy it brings will not be lessened by any external trouble.W.F.A.

1Th 1:8 – How the Word is sounded forth.

I. THE NEED OF SOUNDING FORTH THE GOSPEL. This is a fine expression, “sounded forth;” not merely whispered in the ear, but proclaimed far and wide, with a fullness, a richness, and a power that command attention. Such is the proclamation that the royal message of the gospel deserves.

1. The gospel comes from God. It is not like the composition of an obscure man. If God. opens his mouth, surely his words must be worthy of publishing in trumpet-notes.

2. The gospel is for all men. It is not a secret doctrine for the cultured few. All the world needs it, all the world has a right to have it. Therefore it should spread over wide territories and penetrate to remote districts. The alarm-bell must be resonant, the bugle-call must be clear and piercing, the shepherd’s voice must be high and full that the wandering sheep may hear it and return to the fold.

3. The gospel is conflicted by other voices. Men are preoccupied. The din of the world renders them deaf to the message from heaven. The world will not lie in solemn stillness to hear the angels sing. The sound of the gospel must go forth so that deaf ears shall be unstopped, and walls of prejudice fall flat like those of old Jericho at the trumpet-notes of Israel’s priests.

II. THE METHOD OF SOUNDING FORTH THE GOSPEL.

1. It must be sounded by living men. A written gospel is not enough. Soul must stir soul.

2. It must be sounded in the conduct of Christians. It would seem that St. Paul was thinking rather of the influence of the heroic endurance of the Thessalonians and of their spiritual prosperity than of the missionary labors of evangelists sent out by them, for he writes of how they became an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia, and how in every place their faith to God-ward was gone forth. The loudest, clearest, most eloquent, most unanswerable proclamation of the gospel is the unconscious testimony of Christian living.

3. It may be sounded forth with redoubled energy from the midst of affliction. The troubles endured by the Thessalonians tested and revealed their faith, and so led to the fuller proclamation of the gospel. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Men never preach Christ so perfectly as when they die for him. The torch that kindled Latimer’s fagots at Oxford kindled a glorious fire of reformation throughout England.

4. It can be sounded forth with greatest effect from central positions. Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia. What happened there was not done in a corner. Christian testimony witnessed at this great center would spread far and wide. It is our duty to establish Christian influences in prominent places. While not boasting of our own doings, and not letting our left hand know what our right hand doeth, we should still not hide our candle under a bushel, but so let our light shine before men that we may glorify our Father which is in heaven, and remember that, if a city which is set on a hill cannot be hid, it is most important that the light of the gospel should shine from such a place.W.F.A.

1Th 1:9, 1Th 1:10 – The great change.

The Thessalonians were converted heathens. To them the blessedness of the gospel would be largely measured by its contrast with the darkness of paganism. In Christendom the language descriptive of the acceptance of the spiritual blessings of the gospel would, of course, be different. But little else than the language; anti with the essential, spiritual signification of it, even this would scarcely need altering. St. Paul regards the great change in two aspects, present and future.

I. THE PRESENT ASPECT OF THE GREAT CHANGE. “Ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God.”

1. It is emancipation from an evil service and enlistment in a good service. In the old condition a man is a servant, of idols, of sin, of passion, of the world, of Satan. He thinks himself free, but he is really a miserable slave. In the changed condition the Christian is freed from this thraldom. But he is not the leas a servant. He no longer serves in hard bondage. Love is his chain, and free devotion his service. Still he serves.

2. It is the giving up of death and falsehood and the acceptance of truth and life.

(1) The idol is lifeless. All worldly, sinful living is a devotion to lifeless gods, to mere material things that perish in the using. The Christian serves a living God, who can give vital grace, accept loving devotion, and commune with his people.

(2) The idol is false. Idolatry is a lie. All earthly things when exalted into gods become unreal and only mock their devotees. God is real, and he only can be rightly served in spirit and in truth. We come to reality, to fact, to truth, when we come to God.

II. THE FUTURE ASPECT OF THE GREAT CHANGE.

1. It consists in a tutoring from wrath. Whether we anticipate it with fear, or delude ourselves in the dream of evading it, or simply ignore it with stolid indifference, the fact remains that for all of us, while in ore’ sins, there is a certain looking for of judgment. If we are children of sin we must be children of wrath. It is no small blessing to be able to face the future and to see that reasonably and righteously all the horror of Divine wrath is gone in the free pardon of sin. It is like turning one’s face from the lowering thundercloud to the silver light of sunrise.

2. It leads on to an anticipation of the coming glory of Christ. All the early Christians were much occupied with this anticipation, but none more so than the Thessalonians. The hope of the Parousia is an ever-recurrent theme in the two Epistles of St. Paul to this Church. His own mind must also have been very full of it when he wrote these letters. In their immediate expectation-at least, as far as a visible appearance and triumph of Christ was concernedthe first Christians were disappointed. But the great promises still cheer us as we wait for the glory that is reserved in the future. The Christian conversion thus not merely results in a deliverance from wrath; it inspires a grand hope and promises a rich glory in the days to come.W.F.A.

HOMILIES BY W.F. ADNENEY

Col 4:2

Steadfastness in prayer.

I. IT IS GREATLY NEEDED. The seven deacons were chosen partly in order that the apostles might not be hindered by temporal affairs from continuing steadfastly in prayer (Act 6:4). St. Paul exhorts the Roman Christians to this same steadfastness (Rom 12:12). It is requisite on many accounts.

1. There are never wanting subjects that claim our prayers.

2. When we are least inclined to pray we are in most need of prayer.

3. Only constant prayer can be profoundly spiritual. It is the ever-flowing stream that wears the deep water course. The bird that soars high must be much on the wing.

4. Steadfastness in prayer is rewarded by Divine responses; e.g. Abraham’s intercession for Sodom, the parable of the importunate widow, etc.

II. IT IS A SIGN OF SPIRITUAL HEALTH. After the ascension of their Lord the early Christians continued steadfastly in prayer (Act 1:14); so did the converts of the day of Pentecost (Act 2:42).

1. It shows a spiritual tone of mind. We may pray in special need without this, and we may pray at set seasons of devotion without it. But to live in an atmosphere of prayer, to pray because it is natural to us to talk with God, because we love communion with him, because prayer is our vital breath, and so to pray without ceasing from inward devotion rather than from external prompting,all this is a sign of true spirituality.

2. It shows spiritual vigour. Such prayer is no mere listless droning of empty phrases, no sudden burst of temporary ejaculations. It implies a strong, deep energy of devotion.

III. IT IS DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN. It is easy to cry out to God in great extremities. Prayerless men pray under such circumstances. It is easy, too, to pray when we are in a mood of devotion. The difficulty is to continue steadfastly in prayer. The hindrances are numerous.

1. Lack of interesting subjects of prayer. There may be nothing that touches us as a great want or strongly appeals to our sympathies at some seasons like the dire needs and touching claims that inspire our petitions at other times.

2. External distractions. The pressure of business, the din of the world’s affairs, uncongenial society, even too absorbing Church work, especially in this age of rich activity and meagre contemplation, check prayer.

3. Internal hindrances. We are not always in the mood for prayer. Sometimes —

“Hosannas languish on our lips.
And our devotion dies.”

This may result from physical weariness. The spirit may be willing though the flesh is weak. We should then turn aside and rest awhile from the tiring work of the world. But it may result from sin. Sin is the greatest hindrance to prayer.

IV. IT MAY BE MAINTAINED BY THE GRACE OF GOD.

1. It is not to be revived in weakness by greater assiduity in formal devotion. It is a fatal mistake to confound long prayers with steadfast prayers, and to suppose that spending more time in saying prayers will strengthen our enfeebled spirit of prayer. It will have the opposite effect. Nothing hinders true prayer so much as continuing the form of devotion without the power.

2. The secret is to seek the reviving Spirit of God. If prayer is growing faint, there may still be energy for uttering the petition, “My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy Word” (Psa 119:25). All true prayer is an inspiration. The deepest prayer comes from the striving of God’s Spirit within us. “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26).W.F.A.

Col 4:5(first clause)

The wisdom of the Church in its relations to the world.
I. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS WISDOM. The Church needs wisdom. Christians must be wise as serpents as well as harmless as doves. We are to blame for lack of wisdom as well as for lack of other graces, for this is a gift of God (Jas 1:5).

1. This wisdom is practical. It concerns itself with behaviour rather than with speculation.

2. It must be pure. There must not be the slightest unfaithfulness to Christ, tampering with truth, or casuistic deviation from the highest principles.

II. THE OCCASIONS FOR THIS WISDOM. It was most necessary in the apostolic age, when the Christians existed only as small communities scattered about among adverse populations. But it is always more or less called for.

1. For lawful self protection. If persecuted in one city the servant of Christ was to flee to another, lie was not to court opposition. Martyrdom is only a glory when it comes in the path of duty, and never when men go out of that path to seek it. Then it degenerates into little better than suicide.

2. To conquer opponents. The Church has a mission to the world, and she will fail in this mission if she cannot win her enemies over to her own side. For Christ’s sake, and for the good of men who need his gospel, this wisdom must be observed in conciliating foes that they may themselves be brought into the Church.

III. THE MANNER OF EXERCISING THIS WISDOM.

1. In understanding those who are without. We often provoke opposition because we do not study the weaknesses and prejudices of others. On the other hand, Christians have shown a needless scorn for the good in others. True charity will take note of all that is admirable, and think of whatsoever things are worthy in the world outside the Church.

2. In an attractive exhibition of the blessings of Christianity. Souls are not saved by rating and scolding men. The world must be drawn, not driven, to Christ. A morose Church will only repel an unsympathetic world. Wisdom towards them that are without will forbid the scandal of quarrelling among Christians.W.F.A.

Col 4:6

Salt.

Our speech is to be “seasoned with salt.” The context shows that this advice is given especially in regard to the conversation of Christian people with men of the world. It is part of the “wisdom towards them that are without.” Instead of offensive fault finding, haughty self assertion, or morose indifference, our speech is to be courteous”with grace;” and pleasant”seasoned” Salt stands for wit in Greek references to it as seasoning speech. But with St. Paul it seems rather to mean a pleasant, kindly, interesting characteristic of speech.

I. SPEECH SHOULD BE COURTEOUS. “Be courteous” is advice that comes to us from the sturdy fisherman (1Pe 3:8). If we cannot agree with another there is no reason why we should treat him unkindly. If we must even oppose him, still we can do it with consideration and gentleness of manner. In general intercourse it is well that an affability of behaviour should characterize the Christian. How courteous Christ was with all classes! St. Paul is a model of the true Christian gentleman. The essence of courtesy is sympathy for others in small things. It is hollow if we manifest hostility or selfishness in large things. The courtesy of a Chesterfield has a flavour of hypocrisy about it because it is based on selfishness. Still, if we are sympathetic in serious matters we may be much misunderstood, and we may really give much pain by a needless brusqueness of manner.

II. SPEECH SHOULD BE INTERESTING. Salt is seasoning. It gives pungency. Something similar should be found in our conversation. Dulness is an offence. It is an infliction of intolerable weariness on the listener. On the part of the speaker it shows either want of interest in his subject (in which case he should let it alone), or want of interest in his hearer (which is a direct result of lack of sympathy). Moreover, the Christian is called to be frequently bearing testimony for his Master. He weakens that testimony by giving it in an uninteresting manner, lie should study his words. But, better than that, he should have his theme so much at heart as to speak with the eloquence of enthusiasm.

III. SPEECH SHOULD BE PURE. Salt is antiseptic. The Christian should not only avoid unwholesome topics and styles of speech; he should bring into conversation a positive, purifying influence. This does not mean that he should be always quoting texts and set religious phrases, or always dragging in religious subjects out of place and season. He degrades them, provokes his hearers, and stultifies himself by so doing. But he should seek to elevate the tone of conversation, to guide it from unworthy subjects and to infuse into it a pure tone. There are Christ-like men whose very presence in a room seems to rebuke evil talk and to breathe a higher atmosphere into the conversation. How purifying was the conversation of Christ!W.F.A.

Col 4:16

A friendly exchange.

I. SCRIPTURE IS INTENDED FOR GENERAL READING. The two Epistles are to be read in the Churches. They are not to be reserved for the bishops, the more initiated or the more advanced Christians. All members of the two Churches, young and old, slaves and freemen, illiterate and cultured, imperfect and spiritual minded, are to hear the two Epistles. Now, these Epistles contain about the most advanced doctrine of all writings of the Bible. They approach nearest to what is analogous to the inner Gnostic doctrines of all Scripture teaching. If, therefore, any portions of Revelation should be reserved for the few, it would be these. If these are for public perusal, surely the simpler Gospels and psalms must be also public property. The Bible is a book for the people. It is free to all. No man has a right to bar access to the tree of life on the plea that the ignorant do not know how to help themselves from it and must have its knits doled out by official guardians. The greatest philosopher may find unfathomable depths in Scripture; but a little child may also read clear truths therein. If it be said that the ignorant will misunderstand, the reply isThey will gain more truth on the whole, in spite of misunderstanding, by free access to the Bible than when only led to it by others. God can take care of his own truth; the Bible was written for the people, and the people have a right to their own. No guardians of Scripture who are to measure it out to others at their discretion were ever appointed by Christ or by his apostles.

II. THE SCRIPTURE THAT IS USEFUL TO ONE CHURCH WILL BE USEFUL TO ANOTHER. The two letters were written with special regard to the peculiar circumstances of the two Churches. Yet they were to be exchanged, Much more, then, should Christians who have not had any private Epistle of their own benefit by the public Scriptures. Special wants are not primary wants. The great need of revelation is common to all. The fundamental truths of the gospel are needed by and offered to all. The highest glories of revelation are for all.

III. OUR READING OF SCRIPTURE SHOULD NOT BE CONFINED TO ISOLATED FRAGMENTS. A Church which had been honoured by receiving an apostolic Epistle written expressly for itself would be tempted to depreciate other apostolic writings, or at least to consider that for its own use its own Epistle was of paramount if not of exclusive importance. It would be in danger of making its one Epistle its own New Testament, to the disregard of all the rest. But the advice of St. Paul shows that such an action would be a mistake.

1. Our reading of Scripture should be wide and varied. We must beware of confining our attention to favourite portions. By doing so we get one-sided views of truth, and probably, even if unconsciously, select what seems to support our own notions to the neglect of what would modify them. We may most need to read those Scriptures in which we feel least interest.

2. Scripture balances and interprets Scripture. The doctrine of the Christ which is the leading theme of the Epistle to the Colossians is closely related to the doctrine of the Church which is the central subject of the so-called Epistle to the Ephesians (that, probably, referred to by St. Paul as the Epistle to the Laodiceans).

IV. THERE SHOULD BE INTERCOMMUNION BETWEEN CHRISTIAN CONGREGATIONS. There is too much corporate selfishness in the Church. We should be the better for more ecclesiastical altruism, or rather communism.

1. This is most to be looked for between neighbours. Laodicea was near to Colossae.

2. And it should be cultivated between the prominent and the obscure. Laodicea was an important city, Colossae a small town. Yet the Churches in the two places were to show brotherly sympathy on equal terms and to be mutually helpful to one another. While the strong should help the weak, the weak should beware of selfishness and do their best to serve the strong.W.F.A.

Col 4:18

“Remember my bonds.”

St. Paul’s occasional references to his bonds are never thrust forward in the spirit of the histrionic martyr and never expressed in a murmuring tone, but they evince the irksome restraints under which he laboured, and they give a certain pathos to his entreaties. To be always chained to a soldier, possibly one of rude and coarse manners, must have been peculiarly distressing to a man of sensitive, refined disposition like St. Paul. Feeling the burden of his bonds, the apostle prays his readers to remember them.

I. REMEMBER THEM IN SYMPATHY. It is something to know that friends are feeling with us, when they can do nothing directly to remove the cause of trouble. The lowliest may help the greatest by his sympathy. An apostle seeks the sympathy of obscure Christians. Christ looked for the support of his disciples’ sympathy in the hour of his greatest agony, and had the last drop of his bitter cup in the failing of that sympathy (Mat 26:40).

II. REMEMBER THEM IN PRAYER. When we cannot work for our brother’s release from trouble, we may pray. With all the power of Rome at his back, Nero cannot prevent the feeble Christians from having recourse to the mighty weapon of prayer. Let us beware of a selfish narrowness of sympathy in prayer. There are always many calls for prayers of intercession. Very touching is the ancient prayer that has come down to us from the dark ages of persecution, and is presented in the so-called ‘Divine Liturgy of St. James:’ “Remember, O Lord, Christians sailing, travelling, sojourning in strange lauds; our fathers and brethren, who are in bonds, prison, captivity, and exile; who are m mines, and under torture, and m bitter slavery.

III. REMEMBER THEM IN GRATITUDE. St. Paul was suffering for the gospel. The real cause of his imprisonment was the persecution of the Jews, who were more bitter to his liberal version of Christianity than to the more Judaistic Christianity of the other apostles. Thus he described himself, “I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles” (Eph 3:1). Therefore his bonds merit our grateful memory; and the sufferings of the champions of Christian liberty merit similar reverent and grateful recollections. It is well that these memories should be handed down from father to son, that the stories of the heroes of Christendom through whose toils and sufferings we now enjoy so many privileges should be taught to our children.

IV. REMEMBER THEM IN REVERENCE FOR ST. PAUL‘S AUTHORITY. His bonds lend weight to his words. They prove his sincerity. They are a reason for listening to his entreaties. By his sufferings he entreats us to walk worthily of our Christian calling. So the greater sufferings of a greater Friend give force to his persuasion when he bids us follow him.W.F.A.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

1Th 1:1 . It is a mark of the very early composition of the Epistle, and consequently of its authenticity, that Paul does not call himself . For it was very natural that Paul, in regard to the first Christian churches to whom he wrote, whom he had recently left, and who had attached themselves with devoted love to him and his preaching, did not feel constrained to indicate himself more definitely by an official title, as the simple mention of his name must have been perfectly sufficient. It was otherwise in his later life. With reference to the Galatians and Corinthians, in consequence of the actual opposition to his apostolic authority in these churches, Paul felt himself constrained to vindicate his full official dignity at the commencement of his Epistles. And so the addition , occasioned at first by imperative circumstances, became at a later period a usual designation, especially to those churches which were personally unknown to the apostle (Epistles to Rom. Col. Eph.), among whom, even without any existing opposition, such a designation was necessary in reference to the future. An exception was only natural where, as with the Philippians and with Philemon, the closest and most tried love and attachment united the apostle with the recipients of his Epistles. The supposition of Chrysostom, whom Oecumenius and Theophylact follow, is accordingly to be rejected, that the apostolic title was suppressed , for then it ought not to be found in the Epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians. Further, the view of Zwingli, Estius, Pelt, and others is to be rejected, that Paul omitted his apostolic title out of modesty , as the same title could not be assigned to Silvanus (and Timotheus); for, not to mention that this reason is founded on a distorted view of the Pauline character, and that the two companions of the apostle would hardly lay claim to his apostolic rank, such a supposition is contradicted by 2Co 1:1 ; Col 1:1 .

] Both are associated with Paul in the address, not to testify their agreement in the contents of the Epistle, and thereby to confer on it so much greater authority (Zanchius, Hunnius, Piscator, Pelt), or to testify that the contents were communicated to the apostle by the Holy Ghost (Macknight), but simply because they had assisted the apostle in preaching the gospel at Thessalonica. The simple mention of their names, without any addition, was sufficient on account of their being personally known. By being included in the address, they are represented as joint-authors of the Epistle, although they were so only in name. It is possible, but not certain, that Paul dictated the Epistle to one of them. (According to Berthold, they translated the letter conceived in Aramaic into Greek, and shared in the work.)

Silvanus (as in 2Co 1:19 ) is placed before Timotheus, not perhaps because Timotheus was the amanuensis, and from modesty placed his name last (Zanchius), but because Silvanus was older and had been longer with Paul.

is to be closely united with : to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ , that is, whose being, whose characteristic peculiarity, consists in fellowship with God the Father (by which they are distinguished from heathen ) and with the Lord Jesus Christ (by which they are distinguished from the Jewish ). Erroneously, Grotius: quae exstitit, id agente Deo Patre et Christo. The article is neither to be repeated before , nor is to be supplied (Olshausen, de Wette, and Bloomfield erroneously supply by itself, without the article; this could not be the construction, as it would contain a causal statement), because the words are blended together in the unity of the idea of the Christian church (see Winer’s Grammar , p. 128 [E. T. 170]). Schott arbitrarily refers . . . to , to be supplied before ; for . takes the place of the usual Greek salutation . Hofmann’s view ( Die h. Schrift neuen Testaments zusammenhngend untersucht , Part I. Nrdl. 1862) amounts to the same as Schott’s, when he finds in . . . “a Christian extension of the usual epistolary address,” importing that it is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ that the writers address themselves by letter to the churches. Still more arbitrarily Ambrosiaster (not Theophylact) and Koppe, who erase the concluding words: . . . (see critical note), have placed a point after , and united with . For (1) the thought: ( ) . . ., instead of . . ., is entirely un-Pauline; (2) the placing of . . . first in so calm a writing as the address of the Epistle, and without any special reason, is inconceivable; (3) 2Th 1:1-2 contradicts the idea.

] See Meyer on Rom 1:7 . As a Christian transformation of the heathen form of salutation, the words, grammatically considered, should properly be conjoined with the preceding in a single sentence: ( sc. ).

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

1Th 1:1

Salutation

1Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus [Timothy],1 unto the church2 of the Thessalonians which Isaiah 3 in God the Father and in4 the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you [Grace unto you, ],5 and peace (from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ).6

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus [Timothy].On Paul, see the Acts of the Apostles, and the Introduction to the Epistle to the Romans.Silvanus. He is called in the Acts Silas; by Paul and Peter, Silvanus. A distinguished leader (; comp. Lechler at Act 15:22) and prophet of the church of Jerusalem, he was chosen by the Apostolic Council as one of the bearers of its decrees to Antioch, where he then remained for a longer period in friendly intercourse with the Gentile Christians, exhorting them and confirming them in the faith (Act 15:22; Act 15:27; Act 15:32 sq.). Even though Act 15:34 be not genuine, yet that choice and this sojourn are sufficient to show, that Silas was one of the Jewish Christians who, like Stephen, had from the beginning a freer, open sense for Gentile Christianity and Paulinism. In recognition of this Large-heartedness Paul chose him for his attendant on his second missionary journey (Act 15:40), during which the church at Thessalonica was founded (see Introduction), and so we find him by his side in work and suffering, before magistrates, in stripes, in prison, in prayer, in miraculous deliverance, in flight, Act 16:19; Act 16:25; Act 16:29; Act 17:4; Act 17:10; Act 17:14 sq.; Act 18:5. He accordingly appears in the inscriptions of the two Epistles to the Thessalonians, and 2Co 1:19. Subsequently Silvanus is simply mentioned by Peter as bearer of his First Epistle to Asia Minor, where he was already known, ever since Pauls second missionary journey, as a faithful brother (1Pe 5:12; comp. Fronmller in loc.). Silvanus, from his original position at Jerusalem in friendly relations to Peter, and then a companion of Paul, is a man of whom it must be thought a peculiarly natural thing, that he again appears by the side of Peter, when the latter addressed himself to the at least to some extent Pauline churches of Asia Minor. He belongs to those men of second rank in the apostolic period, in whom the oneness of the Pauline spirit with that of the first Apostles, and the credibility, of late so severely assailed, of the book of Acts, are in an artless way historically represented. According to the tradition of the ancient Church, Silvanus should have been the first Bishop of Thessalonica, but Silaswhom it distinguishes from SilvanusBishop of Corinth (see Winer, biblisches Real-wrterbuch, 3d ed., II. p. 459, Art. Silas). As this distinction is certainly erroneous, since Silas is merely a contraction, such as frequently occurs in proper names, for Silvanus, as for , in German Niklas for Nikolaus, &c, and since in the Acts we find Silas, and in Pauls Epistles Silvanus, associated with Paul and Timothy at Thessalonica and Corinth, so the whole tradition admits of easy explanation as an arbitrary inference from the New Testament data, Silas appearing for the last time at Corinth, Act 18:5, and Silvanus in the forefront of the Thessalonian Epistles.On Timothy, who had in like manner attended the Apostle during the founding of the Thessalonian church, see the Introduction to 1 Tim. Everywhere Paul speaks of Timothy with paternal tenderness, and bears the highest testimony to his character. Not only does he mention him generally as a brother (2Co 1:1; Col 1:1; Phm 1:1; 1Th 3:2), not only as a servant of God and his own fellow-laborer in the gospel of Christ (1Th 3:2; Rom 16:21; 1Co 16:10), a servant of Jesus Christ, like himself (Php 1:1), but he calls him his faithful and beloved, his genuine child in the Lord (1Co 4:17; 1Ti 1:2; 1Ti 1:18 [ ]; 2Ti 1:2), and writes to the Philippians (Php 2:19 sqq.) of their knowing the proof of him, that, as a child the father,7 he has served with him in the gospel; indeed he says expressly (Php 1:20) that he hasso at least during the first Roman imprisonment, when he wrote thisno one likeminded, who will so sincerely and disinterestedly care for the church. Thus in the glorious circle of apostolic men that surrounded Paul Timothy takes the first place. No one, says F. Ranke, has the Apostle embraced with more cordial and fatherly affection than Timothyone of the loveliest and most refreshing sights of the apostolic age.It is undoubtedly as being the older man that Silvanus is here and 2Co 1:19 placed before Timothy,8 whose youth is still spoken of in the Epistles written to him at a much later date (1Ti 4:12; 2Ti 2:22). It is worthy of note and agrees with what has just been said, that in the narrative of travel in the Acts (Acts 16, 17) Timothy, after the mention of his being added to the company, is not again immediately named, whereas Silas is mentioned frequently along with Paul. First on occasion of the separation from Paul is Timothy afterwards named along with and after Silas (Act 17:14 sq.; Act 18:5).The Apostle names, and his practice is similar in other places also (comp., besides the inscriptions of 2 Thess., 2 Cor., Phil., Col., and Philemon, in which Timothy in like manner appears, 1Co 1:1 Paul and Sosthenes, and Gal 1:1-2 Paul and all the brethren that are with me), Silvanus and Timothy as joint authors,[9] as virtually joined with him in getting up the Epistle, though he alone is the writer, and dictates the Epistle perhaps only to one of them. As they have preached the Lord together orally (comp. 2Co 1:19), so should also the written word go forth from all the three. The three men who had become dear to the church must again appear before her mental vision united as in the beginning; she must recognize their fair, lasting concord one with another, and know that she has received the same gospel, not merely from an individual, but from the mouth of two and three witnesses (Mat 18:16; Mat 18:20), and is borne on more than one heart (comp. 1Th 1:2 : we give thanks). Therefore also Paul does not need to describe Silvanus and Timothy more closely; they are held still in fresh, living remembrance by the church.For just the same reason also he does not designate himself more fully as an Apostle, &c. As already remarked by Calvin, he needs not to come before the Thessalonians with official authority, but merely to recall his person to their memory, as he lived and wrought among them in the power of the Spirit. In this brief, free self-designation Lnemann finds with reason a mark of the earlier composition and authenticity of our Epistles. At a later period, indeed, Paul does not in the inscriptions of his Epistles call himself an Apostle in cases, where he can count on faithful, unimpaired love and recognition on the part of a church or an individual; yet even there the inscriptions are fuller, as Php 1:1; Phm 1:1. But after that his apostolic authority was assailed, from the time of the Epistle to the Galatians, his general custom was to append his official to his personal name, and then frequently he makes use of that for longer or shorter additions corresponding to the actual contents of the letter, so that no inscription is in all respects the same as another. Even in Thessalonica, it is true, attempts to create distrust were not wanting; but these affected not his apostolic authority as such, but his entire person. This freedom of the Apostle in his self-designations is characteristic and instructive. As he directs his letters, not to the office-bearers, but to the church, so, unless there be a necessity for it, he does not himself come forth in his official authority. He has no stiff official style, but here too he proportions every thing to the circumstances and exigencies of the particular case. Accordingly, he here distinguishes himself by no addition from Silvanus and Timotheus, but simply takes the precedence of them, and thereby at the same time designates himself as properly the author of the Epistle. Certainly in this is shown also the humility of the Apostle, and so far the remark is not incorrect, that Paul omitted his apostolic title out of modesty, whether towards the Thessalonians (Chrysostom, &c.), or towards Silvanus and Timothy Zwingli, Pott, &c.). Only we are not to find here the proper motive of the omission (comp. Col 1:1). The humility is all the more genuine, that it comes out thus silently and unconstrained.

2. To the church.Paul writes not to the presbyters, teachers, &c., but to the churches; where he names the office-bearers, it is by way of supplementary appendage (Php 1:1).[10] In the most solemn manner he requires, 1Th 5:27, that all the brethren should read the Epistle. To deny the reading of Holy Scripture to the laity, therefore, is to contravene its original destination. In his earlier Epistles (to the Thessalonians, Galatians, and Corinthians) Paul writes or ; in the later ones (Romans, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians) , &c, which indeed is added in those to the Corinthians.[11]

3. In God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.These words are to be closely joined with , as if they were preceded by or , as in the opening of 1 and 2 Cor., where it is said, only in reverse order: (comp. 1Th 2:14). The addition attached by means of the preposition forms here, in fact (comp. Winer, p. 123), with the substantive but one main idea, and is to be connected with it merely by the voice. This happens with special frequency in the case of the Pauline formula: , to which our expression is nearly allied (comp., in particular, Php 1:1 : , also Col 1:2). Thus the want of the article intimates that it belongs to the idea of the Church, to be in God and Christ. Est hc nota veluti approbatio ver et legitim ecclesi (Calvin). In this very brevity of the expression is something great and profound. It denotes not merely fellowship with God (Bengel, Lnemann), but a real, essential being in God and Christ (Rom 16:11; Joh 15:4; Joh 17:21 sqq.; 1Jn 2:5 sq.; 1Jn 5:20). It is a high dignity, to which nothing is equal, when one is in God (Chrysostom). Whereas Thessalonica previously lay with the whole world in the wicked one ( masc., 1Jn 5:19; comp. 1:18; opposed to 1:20)whereas in that place there were only Jews, who had no part in Christ, and Gentiles, who had none also in Godthere is at this time a church there, that is in God the Father, and in Christ Jesus. Here is a miracle of God, over which the Apostle gives Him glory and thanks; as always at the beginning of his Epistles, when he turns his eye on the churches, so also here, 1Th 1:2.

4. Grace unto you [German: Grace be with you.J. L.], and peace. The old epistolary style combines in the inscription what with us is distributed into the address, salutation, subscription, and direction. The Pauline benediction is ; only in the Epistles to Timothy (and perhaps Tit 1:4) , , ; the first form also in 1 and 2 Peter, the latter in 2 John; Judges 2 : . reminds us of the Greek salutation (comp. Act 23:26), which occurs also in the apostolic circular (Act 15:23; Jam 1:1); , of the Hebrew (likewise Arabic, see Winer, Realwrterbuch: Hflichkeit) form of salutation and benediction, (Gen 43:23; Jdg 19:20; 1Ch 12:18; Exo 18:7; Jdg 18:15 1Sa 10:4; 1Sa 25:5-6). As James in a lively manner connects, 1Th 1:2, with the , so Paul has given it a turn of yet deeper Christian import in while, the had already by the Saviour or His return from death been brought to a Christian maturity and depth (Joh 20:19; Joh 20:21; Joh 20:26; comp. also Luk 10:5-6), especially in connection with His farewell discourse, in which He had promised, as the fruit of His victory over the world, and so as a distinctive family legacy in opposition to the world, to bequeathe His peace to His own (Joh 14:27; Joh 16:33). By their juxtaposition both words are raised completely out of their Gentile and Jewish outward significance, as referring almost solely to the natural life and welfare, into the fulness of the peculiar salvation and blessing of Christians. A notable instance of the way in which the New Testament dialect was formed. is, first of all, favor generally, kindness, especially towards inferiors, the in self-manifestation (just as righteousness is holiness in self-manifestation), and in this sense it is used also of the child Jesus, Luk 2:40 : . But in a more special sense denotes (opposed to , , , Rom 4:4; Rom 6:14 sq.; Rom 11:6) the exhibition of the Divine love as free and undeserved in regard to such, as have not merely no legal claim to it, but have according to law deserved the opposite (Rom 3:23-24; Eph 2:3-5). This is the New Testament saving grace, which in Christ Jesus has appeared to sinners (Tit 2:11; Joh 1:17). It is not merely the principle of the redemption accomplished once for all, but it continues also to be the sustaining ground, the nourishing power of the new-spiritual life with its manifold gifts in Christians (comp. Act 23:11 [no doubt a misprint for Act 11:23]; Act 6:8; Eph 4:7), and so is ever afresh inwardly sealed and communicated to them from God in Christ through the Holy Ghost (comp. Rom 5:5; Joh 1:16). In this sense, according to which grace is thus not simply a sentiment, but at the same time a Divine self-communication, Paul desires for his readers ever fresh grace from God and Christ. need not be taken, with De Wette, Meyer, &c., against the Greek and New Testament usage, as=salvation, but with most since Chrysostom, who on this point as a Greek has a special voice, as=peace. This is the immediate effect of grace in the heart of man, the restoration, after the distraction and discord of the life of sin, of the harmony of the inner life, with its pure enjoyment, resting on the fact that the oppression and curse of sin are removed from the conscience, and man knows that in Christ he is brought again into his true relation to God, the filial relation (Rom 5:1), and is thereby comforted and strengthened against the oppositions and vexations of the world (Joh 16:33). The enhancement of this peace, when it pours its quickening and elevating influence into the experience, is joy (, Rom 14:17; Php 4:4; Joh 15:11; Joh 16:22; Joh 16:24; Joh 17:13; 1Jn 1:4; 1Pe 1:8a fundamental idea of the New Testament, too much neglected by us in life and doctrine). Peace being the feeling of convalescence and healthfulness of the new life, the home-feeling of the returned prodigal, it impels the man of itself to abide in the healthful life-element of home; it has a power to keep the heart and mind, the whole mechanism of the inner life, in Christ Jesus (Php 4:7), and is therefore suitable in every relation as a chief benediction for Christians.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Of the natural world these two things are true: In God we live, move, and are [Luthers version: sind=.J. L.], all things harmoniously existing in the Logos (Act 17:25-28; Col 1:17); and: The whole world lieth in the wicked one (1Jn 5:19). The original Divine powers of creation and the superadded powers of the prince of this world, life and death, intermingle therein in a mysterious manner. Through Christ this mixture is dissolved, and the separation, the great judgment of the world, is effected, whereby the Satanic element is cast out, and the world brought back again to its original ground of life (Joh 12:31; Col 1:20). It is in His own person first of all, the person of the Son of man who has entered through death into His glory, that the worlds judgment is fulfilled, that which is of the devil is rightfully abolished, and humanity introduced anew to God. Whosoever would again live wholly in God must be in Him. But this new being and life unites itself to the world first inwardly in the spirit. As therefore all creatures in respect of their natural existence, that is, so far as they live generally in the world of death and corruption, live, move, and are in God and immediately in the Logos, drawing continually from His omnipresent, all-pervading energy the breath of life, so Christians, in respect of their inner, pneumatic, incorruptible existence, are and live first of all in Jesus Christ, the glorified, who being the Lord is also the Spirit[12] as God (2Co 3:17), and so the Head and all-pervading life-principle of the Church born of His Spirit (Col 1:18; Col 2:6-7; Eph 1:22 sq.; Eph 2:21 sq.), the element in which Christians live, as the branches in the vine (Joh 15:4 sqq.), so that all they do is done in Christ Jesus (Col 3:17 and the phrase, occurring more than a hundred times with Paul, or ). Because in Christ, they are then also, in this higher sense of the spiritual, eternal life, in God (1Co 3:23; 1Co 11:3; Joh 14:20). Thus in the Church is a beginning made towards the attainment of the great, Divine purpose in the world, again organically to comprehend the whole in Christ and in God (Eph 1:10; 1Co 15:28).[Webster and Wilkinson: The full significancy of this important preposition , in its N. T. use with , , , , can only be understood by realizing the all-pervading doctrine of the Holy Ghost.J. L.]

2. It is of doctrinal significance, that denotes as well the universal, as the individual or local, church. The distinction between congregation and church [Gemeinde und Kirche] does not exist in the New Testament usage. Not merely a philological exactness, but one of Luthers genial instincts must be recognized in his having preserved this identity of expression, and everywhere in the New Testament translated by Gemeinde [congregation]. Spirit is, according to Oetingers word, where every part can again become a whole. The same is true also of the place of the Spirits manifestation, the Church. The Apostles, anxious as they were for the order of single churches (Act 14:23; Tit 1:5), made no arrangement before their departure for securing the external unity of the Church, which till then had rested in their persons. From this fact, which has not yet been sufficiently considered, we perceive two things: 1. That the Church can be one in the Spirit, even where there is a separation of outward communions; 2. that we should make moderate account of the Church as an institution. The New Testament has no word for churchly.13

3. Nothing speaks more strongly for the Divinity of Christ than the practice, which pervades the whole style of Scripture, of joining Christ with God, and ascribing to Him strictly Divine operations. Olshausen on Rom 1:7. There is everywhere in the New Testament, even in the Synoptical Gospels, a multitude of indirect evidences for the Divinity of Christ, modes of speech which can only on this supposition be understood in their full, natural sense. Christologies which recognize in the Redeemer merely the sinless, supernaturally begotten, eternally ordained central Man (Schleiermacher, Rothe, Schenkel), have in them important elements of truth, but do not ascend to the biblical height. In the inscriptions of the Pauline Epistles Father and Son are joined together as , with and without , and (again with and without ) . Now it might be supposed, especially on account of the common to both, that and answer to one another, the former expression derived from the family, the latter from the state and kingdom; or the former from the filial relation, the latter from that of a servant (comp. Mal 1:6 and the frequent ). But both the verbal arrangement and the decisive passage 1Co 8:5-6 (comp. 1Co 12:5-6; Eph 4:5-6) show that the correspondence is rather between and , and . And this reminds us that the LXX put for (in conformity with the oral [14]) and for (comp. also Joh 20:28 and 2Jn 1:3, where to is still added, with a specific relation to the , ). Thus the appellation also becomes a witness for Christs Divinity, as Nitzsch has particularly pointed out. (Cfr. his article on the essential trinity of God, Studien und Kritiken, 1841, p. 322 sqq., and System der christl. Lehre, 5th ed., p. 145, 189.) The peculiarity of the designation of Christ as is, that therein the Divine essence (= ) and the historical, official position and operation ( , Rom 14:9, Lord and King of the kingdom of God, on which account is easily subjoined) are combined in one. The latter signification evolves itself in the Gospels by various steps and deepening shades of meaning from the dialect of common life, where as applied to Jesus is scarcely any longer an ordinary word of courtesy, but, as in the sphere of revelation generally, every nomen again becomes omen, a reverential address to One whose essential superiority is recognized, as well as his possession of a miraculous power (Joh 4:11; Joh 4:15; Joh 4:19; Mat 8:2; Mat 8:6; Mat 8:8; Mat 8:21; Mat 8:25; Mat 17:4; Mat 20:30-31; Mat 22:43-45; Mat 25:37; Mat 25:44; Mat 27:10; Joh 6:68; Joh 9:36; Joh 9:38; Joh 13:6; Joh 13:13 sq.; Joh 20:13; Joh 20:28; Joh 21:7; comp. Act 2:36; Act 10:36), whereas on the other hand the deeper, Jehovistic-Messianic usage of the Apostles, especially of Paul, is found employed at the very beginning, among the links of connection with the Old Testament, by the angel Gabriel (Luk 1:16-17, and so accordingly Luk 1:43; Luk 1:76; comp. also Mat 7:21-22; Act 7:59; Act 9:13-14). In the Book of Acts the expressions and are used interchangeably (Act 4:31; Act 6:2; Act 6:7; Act 8:14; Act 17:13, &c.; Act 8:25; Act 13:48 sq.; Act 15:35 sq.; Act 19:10; Act 19:20). In this higher use of the word it is clearly implied, that Christ attained His central position as Lord and Head of the Church, of humanity, of the world, only by means of His Divinity. But certainly there is in it also an expression of the distinctive character of His Divinity, to wit, of subordination rightly understoodthe Father being the Supreme God over all, and so also the God of Christ (Eph 1:17; Joh 20:17; Rev 3:12), but the Son God as manifested, mediating, standing on the pinnacle of the world (Eph 4:5-6; 1Co 12:5-6). God, Lord, Spirit, are the trinitarian expressions of Paul; Father, Son, Spirit, those of the Evangelists, of the Lord, and of John.That God, the Most High, is our Father, who loves us, and to whom we should draw near with filial confidence, and that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Jehovah, who as Man draws near to us as Saviourthis truth meets the readers of Pauls Epistles at the very outset, full of grace and peace.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Paul and his friends a model of Christian fellowship: 1. Generally of brethren with one another; 2. of teachers with one another (Paul and Silas, comp. Act 16:17); 3. of teachers and scholars (Paul and Timothy). The brotherly fellowship of teachers laboring in a church, as a main condition of blessed working: 1. The personal fellowship of spirit; 2. the fellowship of doctrine; 3. that of prayer and intercession (comp. 1Th 1:2 and 2Th 1:3; 2Th 1:11).Christian brotherhood and Christian friend ship, their oneness and their difference, shown in the relation of Paul to his fellow-laborers and especially to Timothy.Rieger: In the kingdom of Christ even the most highly-gifted person does not choose to be so alone, nor alone to perform everything, but gladly seizes occasion to support his own witness to the truth, and mode of acting therein, by the consent of others. In this way likewise a man can really well commend himself to the consciences of others, when they perceive in him a willingness to let others also stand beside him as his equals.

Believers should regard themselves as those who are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Comp. Tersteegens: All-pervading Air, wherein we ever move, of all things principle and life, &c. [Comp. Act 17:28.J. L.]Roos: Civil societies have their ground in an external force and a temporary expediency; a Christian church has its everlasting ground in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is acknowledged and adored in common.Diedrich: Nowadays in most countries one knows only of churches on a merely natural foundation.The great joy, which the Apostle always proclaims to his readers at the beginning of his Epistles, that God is our Father and Jesus Christ our Divine Lord.

The two vital points [Herzpunkte] of Christianity: 1. In the heart of God, and from Him, grace; 2. in the heart of man, and from him in the church, peace.Thomas Aquinas: principium omnis boni, finale bonorum omnium.Phil. Matth. Hahn: We have daily need of fresh emanations of grace and peace from the highest source. 1. The emanations of Gods grace are innumerable: forgiveness of sins; the witness of the Spirit, that we are the children of God; light and life-power from the word. 2. Every new effluence of grace gives also new peace within the heart, since in full assurance of the Holy Ghost we know that we have not to fear Gods wrath on account of our former sins, and that the impending day of wrath will not consume us (see on Col 1:2; Eph 1:2).

[Anselm, cited by Pelt and Afford: Gratia et pax a Deo sit vobis, ut, qui humana gratia et sculari pace privati estis, apud Deum gratiam et pacem habeatis.J. L.]

Footnotes:

[1][The English form, Timothy, occurs seven times in our Authorized Version.J. L.]

[2][, German: Gemeinde, congregation. But see Dr. Schaffs note 4 on Mat 16:18.J. L.]

[3][The English supplement, which is, might better have been omitted.J. L.]

[4][The repetition of the in is also superfluous.J. L.]

[5][See the Auth. Vers. at 2Th 1:2; Rom 1:7; Phm 1:3. Koch: By the omission of the verb the expression gains fn strength and emphasis.German, after Luther: sei mit euch.J. L.]

[6]The words are wanting in important manuscripts [B. F. G.], versions [Vulgate, Syriac, &c.], and all the [ancient] commentaries, and are therefore bracketed by Bengel and Lachmann, and cancelled by Tischendorf,* Pott, De Wette, Lnemann, and others [Alford, Ellicott, Amer. Bible Union], though defended by Schott, Olshausen, Koch, Reiche, and others. It is an obvious conjecture, that the words were brought here from the opening of the other Pauline Epistles, and in favor of this view is the brevity by which the inscription of this earliest of the Epistles is on the whole distinguished. In the precisely similar opening of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians the words in question are also found, and are there undoubtedly genuine. We let them stand here likewise [in brackets], in accordance with the principle which we intend to follow also in other cases, that for homiletic treatment a various reading only then comes to be of decisive importance, when the authorities are so weighty that a universal, or at least nearly universal, agreement prevails among the critics in regard to it. [In this case, moreover, the common reading is sustained by the Codex Sinaiticus, A. D. E., and other uncials.J. L.]

[7][According to Luthers more exact rendering of Php 2:22.J. L.]

[8][Ellicott: as being probably the older man, and certainly the older associate of St. Paul. Alford urges rather the personal and official eminence of Silas.J. L.]

[9][By no means. Paul is the Bole author, and would be understood see 1Th 2:18; 1Th 3:1-2; 1Th 3:5-6; 2Th 2:5; 2Th 3:17. Comp. 1 Cor., Phil., and Philem., in each of which Epistles the Apostle associates a companion with himself in the salutation, and then immediately proceeds throughout in the first person singular. Comp, also the Epistle to the Galatians, where it can scarcely be supposed that the writer meant to ascribe joint authorship to an the brethren of 1Th 1:2.J. L.]

[10][After citing various explanations of the special mention of the bishops and deacons in Php 1:1, Eadie adds: The opinion of Wiesinger is at least as probable, that the real reason is to be found in the circumstances of the church, and that there was a tendency to undue assumption on the part of some individuals, which needed such an effective check as was implied in the special acknowledgment of those who bore office in it.J. L.]

[11][Ellicott: The variation is slightly noticeable; it does not however seem to point to gradually altered views with regard to the attributes of the church (Jowett), but merely to the present comparative paucity of numbers (compare Chrysost.), and their aggregation in a single assembly. And the same considerations may perhaps account for the fact that only in these two earliest Epistles does Paul address the church as composed of persons belonging to the city, and not as established in the city itself. Comp. Col 4:16.J. L.]

[12][Hodge: Not one and the same person, but one and the same Being, in the Same sense in which our Lord says: I and the Father are one. It is an identity of essence and of power.J. L.]

[13][German: dass man von der Kirche als Institution mssiglich halten soll. Das Neue Testament hat kein Wort fr kirchlich. Nor has the N. T. any word for evangelical, trinitarian, &c.; The logic of this second inference, from which I beg leave to express my dissent, is quite as feeble, as its spirit would seem to be at variance with that of the N. T. throughout. It is surely of the Church as an institution that Christ speaks in Mat 16:18; Mat 18:17; and Paul, for example, in Eph 4:4-13; 1Ti 3:15; &c. Nor is there any good reason why we should shrink from acknowledging, that whatever plausibility there may be in this sort of indifferentism, which is indeed common enough, in regard to the outward constitution of the Church, is derived, not at all from the N. T., but from the historical, and, alas, still seemingly helpless, confusions of Christendom.J. L.]

[14][Substituted by the Jews in the reading of the Scriptures for .J. L.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

The Apostle opens his Epistle with his usual Salutations. He tells the Thessalonians, how earnest his Prayers were for the Church. And he teacheth them to observe the Marks of their Election, by the blessed Effects of it.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

(1) Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2) We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; (3) Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

It is worthy observation, the great humbleness of Paul’s mind. Though so eminently distinguished by the Lord, as an Apostle; he fails not to take into union with himself, the faithful brethren. Oh! how sweet is it to behold the testimonies of grace manifested in the affections of the Lord’s people!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Three Great Christian Graces

1Th 1:3

Notice the characteristics which the Apostle attached to these three graces when he says practically that faith is a work, love is a labour, hope an enduring patience.

I. First of all with regard to work as a characteristic feature of faith. In the work of salvation there are two parties concerned God and man, Giver and receiver, a Saviour and saved. (1) Faith has work as its distinctive feature, because it is not solely belief, not an abstract proposition of truth, but a personal trust in a living person. (2) Work must be the characteristic feature of all true faith, inasmuch as from its very nature it involves a hearty compliance with the will of Him who is the object of it.

II. What holds true of the great Christian grace of faith holds equally time of love. ‘Your labour of love,’ says the Apostle that is, your love of which labour is the characteristic feature, although it is more than a labour. This love has (1) Christ for its object, and (2) our fellowmen. The love of man for man must be rooted in the love of man for God first.

III. Lastly, says the Apostle, ‘Your patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ’. In the grammatical Greek it means that Christ is the great object of the Christian’s hope. The grand characteristic of this hope is here said to be patience. The word in Greek is very strong implying bravery, manliness, facing dangers, the discharge of difficult and painful duties with a calm mind; bearing up under trial and discouragements; constancy in faith under the most adverse circumstances.

J. Macgregor, Scottish Review, vol. IV. p. 105.

References. I. 3. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Thessalonians, p. 155. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ii. p. 258. I. 4. Ibid. vol. vii. p. 12; ibid. (7th Series), vol. v. p. 58. I. 4-6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. li. No. 2920.

Power Manifested

1Th 1:5

The Gospel can come to members of the Church in word only.

I. To the Church at Thessalonica it came in.

(a) Power i.e. with a compelling and urging force;

(b) The Holy Ghost i.e. the hearts were receptive and willing to receive Him; (c) With much assurance much trust, confidence, and faith.

II. Power Manifested.

(a) They became followers (ver. 6), Greek mimics or imitators of the Lord.

(b) Ensamples (ver. 7) i.e. bearing the impression of the Lord. Ill. The die used in the Royal Mint for stamping the coins and medals leaves an impression. The Gospel, when received in power, causes all our actions and words to bear the impression of Christ.

(c) Sounded out the word (ver. 8), or as Greek echoed forth. As they received, so they gave forth.

(d) Turned from idols (ver. 9) to serve the living God. Christian England is full of idolatry. Here is one of the results when the Gospel comes in power.

References. I. 6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xi. No. 648. Expositor (6th Series), vol. iii. p. 415; ibid. vol. xi. p. 46. I. 6, 7. Ibid. (4th Series), vol. ii. p. 262. I. 7. Ibid. (5th Series), vol. vi. p. 382. I. 8. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxv. No. 2076. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Thessalonians, p. 164. I. 9. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ii. p. 257. I. 9, 10. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx. No. 1806. Expositor (4th Series), vol. i. p. 23; ibid. vol. ii. pp. 258, 259; ibid. vol. vii. p. 15; ibid. vol. x. p. 98. I. 10. Ibid. (5th Series), vol. viii. p. 146; ibid. vol. ix. p. 94. I. 14, 15. Ibid. vol. iv. p. 369. II. 2. John Watson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. p. 228. II. 2-9. Expositor (4th Series), vol. vii. p. 14. II. 3. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. xi. p. 363. II. 6. Ibid. vol. viii. p. 74. II. 6, 9. Ibid. (5th Series), vol. x. p. 196. II. 7. Ibid. (7th Series), vol. vi. p. 226. II. 11, 12. H. W. Webb-Peploe, The Record, vol. xxvii. p. 798. II. 12. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Thessalonians, p. 170. II. 13. W. Sanday, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lii. p. 193. Expositor (5th Series), vol. viii. p. 404. II. 13, 14. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiii. No. 1979. II. 15. Expositor (5th Series), vol. x. p. 354. II. 16. Ibid. (4th Series), vol. i. p. 23; ibid. (6th Series), vol. xii. p. 108; ibid. (7th Series), vol. vi. p. 486.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

The Pauline Spirit

1Th 1

“Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians” ( 1Th 1:1 ). Who were Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus? They do not say. In writing to other churches, Paul puts in generally a descriptive clause. “Paul, called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ,” he writes in his first letter to the Corinthians; “Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,” in his second letter; “Paul, an Apostle (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead),” he says to the Galatians; and now, writing to the Thessalonians, he says, “Paul, and Silvanus and Timotheus” they are nobodies, so far as that descriptive clause is concerned “unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Why did he not say “Paul, an Apostle)”? Some say, because speaking in the threefold name, he omitted his own designation, out of courtesy to his two colleagues in the letter. But that cannot be so. Paul was an Apostle even when he did not openly and avowedly testify to his official status. There comes a time in a great man’s life when he need not tell who he is or what he is; his look is his commendation, his voice is an unquestioned certificate in music. Who knows how much of the letter Paul wrote or dictated himself? This Epistle has luckily escaped a great deal of hostile criticism. It has been almost universally, if not wholly, avowed to be the letter of Paul. But in Paul’s day letters were curiously written; if they were written thus in our day they would be called forgeries. We must go back to the atmosphere if we would understand the incidental circumstance. If you or I now wrote a letter and said it was by Lord Tennyson, we should be charged with lying: it would not be so in the olden times. If ever anything was written in the Pauline spirit and with the Pauline purpose, the writer would not hesitate to call it an epistle of Paul; if any man could write in Tennyson’s music, he would not be afraid to write openly upon his page that the poetry was by the great poet himself. The morality of one age is absolutely unknown in another age. We must not condemn men, therefore, by our parochial standards; there may be men quite as true and simple-hearted as ourselves, who are doing things in their own age and their own country, that would absolutely shock our modern and moderate piety.

The letter is interesting as showing the Pauline spirit. The letter is full of the shepherdly heart. Emerson has invented a word which expresses the enthusiasm of this noble Paul; he says that some men are charged with “over-soul,” the word being a compound word, yet one. They have more soul than body, more spirit than flesh, more enthusiasm than cold logic; their soul flows over, they abound in soul. Other men have hardly any soul. Yet there is a notion that souls are like so many visible presences of equal stature and equal value, and are all spoken of as immortal souls. Ignorance is not discriminating. Ignorance can be dogmatic and positive, where large fine wisdom shades its eyes and says that it cannot see. It is a grand thing to be ignorant! it gives a man magnificent fearlessness, for he has taken no measure, formed no true conception; and, supposing himself to speak loudly enough, loudness is wisdom. This letter flows over with soul, with love, with tenderness; and it is wonderful how Paul every now and then stands right up above Silvanus and Timotheus, so that you need not ask which is which. It hardly suits Paul to write in the plural number; it holds him in too much. Paul never writes a letter of his own and calls himself “we.” How shortsighted of the Apostle! He was no editor. Paul always called himself “I”; but his egotism was so rugged and noble, so massive and majestic, that nobody would care to criticise it in a hostile spirit. He had a right to do and to act in all things just as he did. Sometimes he separated himself from the others, as in chapter 1Th 2:18 , “Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul.” Mark how marvellously the plural and the singular are combined here, and how suddenly the Apostle remembers that the other two had nothing to do with it, that it was his own great lion heart that said he would go and see them; but the devil loomed upon him like an infinite cloud, and frightened him for a moment.

“Grace unto you, and peace.” Have peace. It is more golden than gold. Do not live with wolves. If, in your business, you have worries and cares and bitings and devourings, get out of them. A crust with peace is better than a thousand chariots with the tooth of care gnawing the heart. Peace is heaven. Probably this was the very first apostolic letter Paul ever wrote; it is interesting therefore to see how he begins his correspondence.

It the third verse he uses words that cover all other words of beauty and music, and that make one of his chapters the brightest star in all the heaven of his eloquence: “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope.” Pause there a moment; speak the main words slowly “faith,” “love,” “hope.” Why, he was as great at the beginning as he was at the end. If he was born out of due season, he was born all at once, the Minerva of the Church, fully clothed and armed at every point as he leaped forth to do God’s will. “Now abideth faith, hope, love” ( 1Co 13:13 ); these are the very terms we have in the first letter. Read the other words that qualify these “work,” “labour,” “patience”; read them now as they would be uttered by Paul himself your faithful work, your loving labour, your patient hope or hopeful patience. Not a word about propositions, dogmas, tenets, creeds; it is all working, labouring, suffering, waiting; all believing, loving, hoping. This Church is significantly described in the first verse as being “in God.” There can be no Church out of God; there can be assembly, brotherhood, institutionalism, but not Church in the truest and deepest sense of the word: the relation of the godly is godly; the connection of the spiritual is spiritual: we are akin in heart more than we can ever be akin in blood. So out of this larger relation there shall come faith, hope, love; work, labour, patience; all the sweet retinue of virtue and grace.

“Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.” That word “election” has killed many souls. But the souls have been killed through ignorance. Paul does not use the term “election” in relation to the final state of the soul in this world or any other world. No man is elected to be destroyed. You take the fatherhood out of God, you take the crown off the majesty of God, when you suppose that he could fore-ordain or elect any soul to wander in darkness. If he did I should abandon his altar and hate him. This word “election” is always used in relation to the temporal, and the immediate, and the superficial, always in the sense of setting in a certain direction, investing with certain responsibilities, and giving chance of certain destinies. I will tell you what is elected to hell, and that is wickedness. Not personality, but character, is sentenced to everlasting burning. When you think that you are elected not to be saved, you are thinking far too much about yourself, you are in a morbid condition; you should get out into the fresh air, you should half-drown yourself in the salt sea, you should do anything that would shock you into a new consciousness. There is nothing more disagreeable and unprofitable than for a man to be continually considering whether he is elected or reprobated; he has nothing to do with such terms in the significance which he is then attaching to them. He has to put his confidence in the God of love, and rest there, and when the issue eventuates there will be no wilderness, no sea, no pain, no night, no death, nothing but sweet, radiant, musical, immortal heaven.

“For our gospel came not unto you in word only ” which is a possibility. The gospel may be turned into a mere aspect of eloquence. There may be men so cunning and skilful in the use of words as to invest the gospel with peculiar charm as a rhetorical argument or conception of things. Even worship may be degraded into a kind of entertainment; even adoration may be lost in ritualism. So the gospel may be a word only, a form; and in this aspect it may be charged with peril to the soul. There are men who do not know the gospel except they hear a certain number of words. If they hear the same words in the same tone and at the same time by the same man, they think that they have heard the gospel. The gospel can go into all kinds of words; it has taken up all the languages of the earth. All lands in their own tongues have heard the wonderful works of God: “Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene,” all tongues, all men, may hear or have heard the gospel of God. There is a gospel of science, there is a gospel of rationalism, there is a gospel of Providence; all the minor gospels lead up to the major. Seize what gospel you can. If you can understand nobody but your mother, she shall be to you a priestess of God. Hold on somewhere.

How then did the Gospel come to the dwellers in Thessalonica? “in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.” We are not to understand by “the Holy Ghost” in this connection the third Person in the Trinity; in the Greek the article is omitted: we are to understand, “in” passion, enthusiasm, earnestness, over-soul, so that we bubbled and boiled up and were filled with holy frenzy as the sacred music poured its eloquence over our hearts. They were a mad Church, mad divinely. The Bereans were in a sense more respectable; they always went to church with a Bible in their hand. Some people go to church thus to-day. They think it would not be going to church if they did not take the Bible with them. The Bereans were “more noble” than those of Thessalonica, in the sense that they were more careful. They tested even the Apostles; they said to them, Stop: what is the chapter and what is the verse (as we should now say) you are quoting from? what is the name of the prophet you are now citing? They would go home and dig into this matter and compare passage with passage, and doctrine with doctrine, to find out for themselves what the gospel is, and what it means, and what it requires. You must provide for people of all sorts. There are people who must walk to every place: why should we oppose them? There are men who really could not go from one city to another except they went the way they always went and in the chariot they always did; or they must walk the whole distance, because they always walked it So be it. As long as they get there what does it matter? especially as nobody is waiting for them, either in one city or in another. Other persons must do everything enthusiastically. Paul praises the Thessalonians that they, received the word “in power” and in holy enthusiasm, so that every man burned, glowed, and spake with his tongue. There must be all sorts of men to make up humanity.

“Ye became followers of us,” literally, Ye became imitators of us: you watched us, and what we did you did. This is called imitation. There is a base imitation, and there is an imitation that is worthy; there is an imitation in form, and there is an imitation in spirit. The Chinese labourer, or artisan, or mechanician copies the letter; if you were to write him a copy which he had to duplicate, and you put in a wrong letter and struck it out, he would put in that very letter and strike it out the same way. It would never occur to the Chinese genius to correct a mistake; whatever you do, the Chinese must do exactly as he has seen it done. That is a slavish imitation. But there is another imitation that takes its range from the spirit, and tone, and purpose of the life, and then comes that reduplication which is approved in heaven.

Did these people, then, live a merely excited life? Was it enthusiasm of the lowest kind? This question is answered definitely in 1Th 1:7 “So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia,” They themselves were imitated. There is an imitation that terminates in itself, and there is an imitation that sets other people to work so that the imitation goes on and on unceasingly, and the whole world is doing the same thing to the same end. Did the Thessalonians keep the gospel to themselves as we do, making it quite a piece of synagogue property? Did they share their hymn-book with anybody? Or did they corner themselves in some sweet green place, and say, Other people may do and go as they please, this is our angle, and we mean to flatter one another into heaven? Certainly not: what they did is defined in 1Th 1:8 “For 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.” They were an evangelising Church, they were a missionary Church; they said, What is good for us is good for everybody; we must not keep this music at home: commit it to the winds of heaven that everywhere this music may work its miracle of reconciliation. So that the apostles had no need to speak anything about the Thessalonians; wherever they went the Thessalonians were praised; people told the story to the apostles, instead of waiting for the apostles to tell the story to them. Over all Roman Greece these people made their influence felt. Where does our influence begin? how does it operate? where does it end? Does every man consider himself to be but a medium through which the gospel is to sound to some other man? If so, then every man in the Church will be a preacher, every woman will be an apostle of Jesus Christ, every child will tell in his own simplicity of the love of God.

Were the Thessalonians really converted? Apparently so, according to 1Th 1:9 , in which the Apostle describes them as “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” There is hope of people who worship idols: there is no hope of people who worship themselves. Only get a man anywhere, whether he be black, white, red, yellow, what colour you please, if he is only looking to something outside of him you may convert him; he has got the right idea, he is looking beyond; that is evangelical, that is the beginning of the kingdom of heaven in the man’s soul: but find a man who is turning within himself, and writing highly paid leading articles from out of his own consciousness, and you will never convert him. It must be difficult to convert any man who is a writer of leading articles; he worships within the sanctuary of his own consciousness, he says, How great I am! what a wonderful being is this! what would the universe be and do without me? I wonder that the universe can get through one night whilst I am sleeping! That man can never be converted; there is nothing to convert. The Thessalonians were worshipping idols, and who ever worships stock or stone, bird of the air, or star of heaven, has something in him that the missionary can appeal to; he says, I know what you are seeking, this is the Christ of God.

“Your faith to God-ward is spread abroad.” The word “faith” in this connection does not mean creed; it means trust, confidence, their outgoing after God; they lived, and moved, and had their being in God: they would be content with nothing less, they would not have God shut up in words or creeds, or forms; he was larger than heaven, because he made the heavens. They served the living and true God, and they waited for God’s Son from heaven. Observe these words to “serve,” to “wait.” Is there anything more in Christian philosophy and Christian action? He waits best who serves best. When a man is serving the living and true God, he is not calculating on a slate when the Lord Jesus may possibly come according to the arithmetic of the prophet Daniel. Once let a man get a slate, and begin to calculate what he finds in Daniel, and he will break all his appointments, he will forget all his arrangements, he will lose all control over his own affairs, and he will go steadily down into bankruptcy. Let a man keep working, and Christ will keep coming. To work! there is no time, no tediousness. Let the soul burn with a purpose, and, oh, stop the clock! it is flying; the man is busy, and time seems to mock his poor slow action. Give a man nothing to do, and he says, I am puzzled; it is only so much after twelve; I thought it must have been nearer one. The clock is hard upon laziness. Approach a company of men who are supposed to be working on a building or in a field, and in proportion as they are interested in their work they will let you pass; but in proportion as they are lazy, and want to get out of it, they will trouble you to tell them what time it is. What have they to do with the clock? The workman has nothing to do with the clock; the shepherd has nothing to do with the watch, let him watch by the sun; the preacher has nothing to do with the clock, let him serve until real hunger tells him that nature, too, has her necessity. Thus we are to live serving, waiting; waiting, serving: but in all things having faith, hope, love; these are the boundaries of the Christian universe.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

Chapter 1

1 Saint Paul certifieth them of the good opinion which he had of their faith, love, and patience: 11 and therewithal useth divers reasons for the comforting of them in persecution, whereof the chiefest is taken from the righteous judgment of God.

1. Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus [there is no Apostolic title given in this salutation, which would certainly have been assumed by a forger] unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

2. Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. We are bound [morally obliged] to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

4. So that we ourselves [spontaneously, on our own account (cf. 1Th 1:9 .)] glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

5. Which is a manifest token [in apposition with what precedes. Their faith and patience was the token] of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

6. Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you:

7. And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels [Gr. “the Angels of his power”],

8. In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

9. Who [“inasmuch as they”] shall be punished with everlasting destruction [shall suffer as punishment eternal destruction] from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

10. When he shall come to be glorified in his saints [all them that believe], and to be admired [the word is used in the archaic sense of being “wondered at”; not as the feeling of joyful appreciation with which we contemplate beautiful objects] in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day [the day referred to in “when he shall come” at the beginning of the verse].

11. Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would [vouchsafe] count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power [“that our God may count you worthy of the calling, and fulfil all good pleasure of Divine goodness, and faith’s work in power.”]

12. That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Note. The annotations are taken from The Speaker’s Commentary. (London: John Murray.)

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

VII

EXPOSITION

1Th 1:1-3:13 .

We shall follow a full and extended analysis that takes cognizance of everything in this letter. In that analysis the first thing that we consider is the salutation: “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.” It was customary in ancient times for a salutation to introduce two matters. The Romans particularly had that habit.

In this salutation the first question is, Who saluted? The answer is, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, who co-labored in the establishment of this church. The next question is, Whom saluted? “The church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Note (speaking of the Greek word ekklesia , which is rendered “church”) that there were three ecclesias in Thessalonica at one time: First, the Jewish synagogue; second, the Greek ecclesia that civil body which managed the affairs of the city. To these two that are already there a new ecclesia comes, a new congregation having a new business, giving a new atmosphere, and that is the church or ecclesia of God the Father. But when it adds “and the Lord Jesus Christ,” that separates it from the Jewish church. That also separated it from that civil business body, the Greek ecclesia .

Is this the first letter ever written to a Christian church of which we have any knowledge? Before answering, read Act 15 . James’s letter precedes it in order of time, but it was not addressed to a church.

The next item in the letter is the salutation proper, “Grace and peace.” If one will pass rapidly over the letters of Paul, he will find that he followed the Oriental custom of salutations. Nearly all the time he brought in “grace and peace” and sometimes added “mercy.” It is interesting to take the beginning of all his letters and see how in writing them he salutes them in that way. It was the grace of God that secured their salvation, and through their justification they found peace with God.

The next division is the thanksgiving. That commences at 1Th 1:2-10 a most marvelous thanksgiving: “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.” Here it would be interesting to take up the letters of Paul and notice his custom, right after the salutation, of putting in a thanksgiving if he had anything to be thankful for. Trace that through his letters and see if he does not, as here, in wishing grace and peace to the people to whom he writes, first seek out the ground of thankfulness that he has toward God concerning them. There was one letter that he wrote in which he omitted the thanksgiving the letter to the churches of the Galatians. They had taken the back track to such a fearful degree that Paul, when he wrote to them, left out the thanksgiving.

Notice in the second place the extent and broadness of his thanksgiving here. It exceeds any that we find anywhere else: “We give thanks unto God always for you ail,” all the way and all the time. When he wrote a letter to the Corinthians and put in his thanksgiving he could not give thanks for everyone of them, for one of them had been guilty of an awful sin, and of others of them he said that, even weeping, he must say that they were enemies of Christ.

Paul says to these Thessalonians, “Every time I pray for you I thank God for you; and second, every time I remember three things about you, your work of faith, your labor of love, your patience of hope, I also thank God for you.” Notice Paul’s trinity of Christian graces faith, hope, and love. He brings that out in his letter to the Colossians and again in 1Co 13:13 : “But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” Here compare the three heathen graces, which may be found in Anthon’s “Classical Dictionary,” with the three Christian graces, and tell wherein the Christian graces are superior to the heathen graces.

Notice the work of faith, Greek ergon , the labor of love, kopos , and the endurance of hope, hupomone . I am inclined to think that these Thessalonians through their faith had done some miraculous work that we do not know anything about. When we read Hebrews II we see the great work that faith did, and each one has a particular work: “By faith Enoch was translated . . . by faith Abraham . . . by faith Noah . . . by faith Rahab . . . ,” etc. Each one performed some mighty exploit, an ergon , or work “the work of faith.” This being singular, ergon , I am inclined to think that there was some explicit exploit rendered by these Thessalonians to which Paul refers when he says, “Every time I remember your work of faith I am thankful.” Just what the particular work was I do not know. It was a work of faith in the Roman amphitheater when the brave Christian woman preferred to be cast to the wild beasts rather than abjure her faith. These Thessalonians were very much persecuted after they had professed the Christian religion, and there may have been some signal incident of persecution. Anyhow, faith that does not work is not worth a cent. These are the three things that every time Paul thought of the Thessalonians he was thankful about.

Now we come to a new topic, beginning with 1Th 4:4 : “Knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election, how that our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance; even as you know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you for your sake. And ye became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit; so that ye became an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to Godward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come.”

“I am thankful,” says Paul (mentioning three reasons why he is thankful), “every time I pray; every time I remember the three things; every time I know that you are elected, I am thankful.”

Let us consider somewhat the matter of election. It is something that may be known. He says he knew it. Once I helped to ordain a man for whom I conducted the examination. I asked the questions just as fast as I could fire the shots at him: “What does election mean?” “To choose.” “Who chooses?” “God.” “When?” “Before the foundation of the world.” “Unto what?” “Salvation.” “In whom?” “In Christ.”

“Was this election based on foreseen repentance and faith, or did repentance and faith result from the election?”

This was the thing that Paul was discussing: “I am thankful, brethren, because I know you are elected. You are chosen of God unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth in Jesus Christ.”

That being the doctrine of election, -that God chose those people in eternity, yet Paul here in time could find out. So what are the tokens or signs that one is elected? These tokens are of two kinds: signs to Paul, the preacher, and signs in them, or the evidence that they are the elect. When he saw these signs he knew they were elect. How important that thing is for us. Our articles of faith say it is our privilege and duty to ascertain whether we are elected. We ought to find out whether we have been chosen of God. There is a way to find out: “How that our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance.”

I heard a man once quote that to show that these Thessalonians had assurance because they had faith. He is not talking about their assurance but his assurance that he (Paul) preached not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance. From this he argued: “I come to a place to preach. Do I find that I can preach there? Do I feel drawn to preach there? Am I impressed in my heart that the Lord has a people to call out? Does it impress me so that when I go to preach I feel that the power of the Holy Spirit is with me? If I can feel these things, that is a token that somebody there belongs to the elect.”

But that does not locate the elect. It shows that they are there, but not which ones. But these are the signs in them: “Ye received this word which I preached, not as from men, but as God’s word, or the manner in which you listened to me; second, your conversion: ‘Ye turned unto God from idols to serve the living and true God.’ “

Notice next: “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come.” In other words, “When I see how you heard me, from what you turned, to what you turned, that patient waiting for the risen Lord, that you had faith in him, the patience of hope hope which takes cognizance of the second coming of Christ, your waiting under great afflictions, I know that you are elect.”

Another token is, “You became imitators of the church of Judea in suffering affliction and persecution. If when you were persecuted you had fallen away and said, If being a Christian is to walk this hot road I will turn back and seek the shade,’ ” then, he would have known that they were not the elect, but since they heard his preaching as the word of God, turned from idols and patiently waited for the coming of the Lord, who was to deliver from the wrath to come, and since while waiting they followed the footsteps of Christians elsewhere, imitating these Christians in bearing up patiently under the persecutions to which they were subjected, he had that assurance. For instance, Jason whom they arrested and took before the magistrate and put under bond to keep the peace, they would have put to death if they had had the power. “Jason, does this prejudice you against the religion you profess?” John Bunyan tells how Christian and Pliable came to the Slough of Despond, and they both fell in the mire, and Pliable began to say, “Is this the great road you are talking about to the great country you are going to? I am going back to the country I came from.” As we look at him we know that he was not elect. But if this other man, though sinking in the Slough of Despond, finally pulls out, covered with dirt, yet with his face toward the heavenly city, that is a token that he is elect.

Still another token: “So that ye became an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.” That is, they became an example in all Greece and Peloponnesus. “For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to Godward is gone forth.” When we want to consider the question of election, here we have it.

God does not permit us to climb a ladder and go into his secret archives and turn the pages and see if a man’s name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. But he does permit us to know whether we are elect or whether anybody else is elect.

When this knowledge comes to the missionary that the men to whom he preaches are elect, then he is thankful, as Paul says, “knowing your election.”

We come now to the next ‘item in the full analysis. The fifth general head is, “The Reminder of the Past.” What is it he reminds them of? See 1Th 2:1-2 : “For yourselves, brethren, know our entering in unto you, that it hath not been found vain; but having suffered before and been shamefully treated, as ye know, at Philippi, we waxed bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God in much conflict.” In other words, “Now, you know when I got there from Philippi, so bruised from those stripes received from the lictor’s rod, and weak from imprisonment, brethren, ye remember how boldly I came to you and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was not scared. I was not discouraged on account of receiving punishment at the hands of the lictors in Philippi. I had no idea of turning back.”

Here are some negative things to which he wants to call our attention, and what a pity that every preacher could not say this: “For our exhortation is not of error [he brought them no heresy], nor of uncleanness, nor in guile; . . . not as pleasing men, . . . for neither at any time were we found using words of flattery, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness, God is witness; nor seeking glory of men.” Let us get these “nots.” He is reminding them of things when he was with them before, calling their attention to his manner of entering in and preaching to them; that wherever he went and preached, he didn’t preach a heresy; that he didn’t go in uncleanness as the teachers of the heathen did, using their influence over their disciples to bring them to shame; not in guile; not to make money; not, indeed to please. “I am not seeking your pleasure, nor flattering you.” How hard it is to keep a preacher, when he sits down by some member of his church, from saying a few flattering words. Paul calls their attention to the fact that when he preached among them he did not use flattery.

Let us see what he did: “But we were gentle in the midst of you, as when a nurse cherisheth her own children; how gentle she is!” Paul says, “I was not rough, affectionately desirous of you.” “I was with you in affection.” “Willing not only to impart the gospel to you, but my own soul. For ye remember, brethren, our labor and travail, that we might not be a burden to you, working every day and night.” They were heathen; it was missionary ground, and they knew nothing about the principles of missionary support. If he had demanded a salary of these heathen, he never would have gotten them. That is why we have to pay a missionary a salary. They are going where there are no churches and where the very mention of compensation turns the people away that we want to convert.

Notice again: “Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and righteously and unblamably we behaved ourselves toward you that believe; as ye know how we dealt with each one of you, as a father with his own children.”

When I get to reading Paul, it digs me up by the roots, so that I feel like I have never done the right kind of preaching and did not have the right kind of spirit.

The next thing is his impeachment of the Jews, 1Th 2:14 : “For ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even -as they did of the Jews; who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove out us, and please not God, and are ‘contrary to all men; forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always; but the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.” That is a fearful indictment against his people, and every word of it is true.

From 1Th 2:17 on to the end of 1Th 3 , he reminds them of the things since he left them. He goes on to show that since he left them he had continually desired to come back, and twice tried to come back, but Satan hindered him, and in order that something might be added to their faith, he was willing to be left alone at Athens in order that Timothy might go back and supply what was lacking in their faith. So on through 1Th 3 .

QUESTIONS

1. What is the salutation of this letter, verbatim, who saluted, and whom saluted?

2. What are the three ecclesias at Thessalonica, and what the distinguishing characteristics of each?

3. Was this the first New Testament letter written to a church?

4. What two things does Paul, according to Oriental custom, introduce in this salutation, and why?

5. What was Paul’s habit as to what followed the salutation of his letters, and what notable exception?

6. Show the extent and broadness of this thanksgiving, and how Paul was limited in some other thanksgivings in his letters.

7. What Paul’s trinity of Christian graces, and wherein are they superior to the heathen graces?

8. What did Paul remember in the Thessalonians which furnished a ground of thanksgiving, and what the meaning and application of these things?

9. What is election, who elects, when, unto what, in whom, and what the relation of election to repentance and faith?

10. Show how Paul knew of their election of God, (1) from signs in him, and (2) from signs in them.

11. What is the literal meaning of conversion, and what illustration of it in this letter?

12. What are the characteristics of Paul’s preaching while at Thessalonica, and what the characteristics of their reception of his preaching?

13. What claim does Paul make for his life among them?

14. Describe the terrible indictment Paul brings against his own people in 1Th 2:14-16 .

15. Give an analysis of 1Th 2:17-3:13 , pointing out its principal teachings.

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ver. 1. Paul and Sylvanus ] Otherwise called Silas, Act 15:40 , as Jehoshuah the high priest is called Joshua, Ezr 3:2 ; Ezr 5:2 . It is not therefore unlawful to abbreviate names.

Unto the church of the Thessalonians ] Thessalonica, the chief city of Macedonia, is now known by the name of Salonicks, and is under the Turk. For the plantation of a church here, see Act 17:1-9 . See Trapp on “ Act 17:1 “ &c. There are 30 churches of Christians in it this day, and but three of Mahometans.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1 .] ADDRESS AND GREETING. The Apostle names Silvanus and Timotheus with himself, as having with him founded the church at Thessalonica, see Act 16:1 ; Act 17:14 . Silvanus is placed before Timotheus, then a youth (Act 16:1 f., see further in Prolegg, to 1 Tim. i. 3, 4), as being one (Act 15:22 ; Act 15:32 ; Act 18:5 ), and a (ib. Act 15:32 , see also 2Co 1:19 ; 1Pe 5:12 ). He does not name himself an Apostle , probably for (an amplification of) the reason given by De Wette, because his Apostleship needed not any substantiation to the Thessalonians. For the same reason he omits the designation in the Epistle to the Philippians. This last fact precludes the reasons given, by Pelt, al., ‘ id ei tum non jam moris fuisse ,’ by Chrys., , . , by Estius, Pelt (altern.), and Zwingl., out of modesty , not to distinguish himself from Silvanus and Timotheus, by Jowett, “probably the name ‘Apostle,’ which in its general sense was used of many, was gradually, and at no definite period, applied to him with the same special meaning as to the Apostles at Jerusalem.”

] So in 2 Thess., Gal., Corr., in the other Epistles, viz. Rom., Eph., Col., Phil., more generally, e.g., , . This is most probably accounted for by the circumstances of the various Epistles. We may notice that the gen. plur. of the persons constituting the church occurs only in the addresses of these two Epistles. We may render ‘of Thessalonians,’ or ‘of the Thessalonians:’ better the former.

] The construction need not be filled up by or , as Chr., al.: nor with Schott, by understanding , which would be unnecessary, seeing that the apostolic greeting follows. The words form a (“ tertiary ,” Ellic.) predication respecting , or , which requires no supplementing. See Winer, edn, 6, 20. 2.

marks them as not being heathens, . , as not being Jews. So De W. after Chrys.: but perhaps the already marks them as Christians.

The , as usual, denotes communion and participation in , as the element of spiritual life.

. ] “Gratia et pax a Deo sit vobis, ut, qui humana gratia et sculari pace privati estis, apud Deum gratiam et pacem habeatis.” Anselm (in Pelt).

The words which follow in the rec. are not yet added in this his first Epistle. Afterwards they became a common formula with him.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

1Th 1:1 . Greeting . As any trouble at Thessalonica had arisen over Paul’s character more than his authority, or rather as his authority had been struck through his character, he does not introduce his own apostolic rank or that of his colleagues (1Th 2:6 ) in the forefront of this letter, which is intimate and unofficial throughout. Silvanus is put before Timothy as an older man and colleague, and also as Paul’s special coadjutor in the local mission. Acts never mentions Timothy in the Macedonian mission till Act 17:14 , where he appears beside Silvanus. This does not mean (Bleek) that Timothy took no part in the work at Thessalonica; his intimate relations with the church forbid this supposition. Probably he is left unnoticed as being a junior subordinate, till the time comes when he can act as an useful agent of his leaders. . a pagan term appropriated by Christianity. An implicit contrast lies in the following words (so in 1Th 2:14 ): there were at Thessalonica and elsewhere ( cf. Chrysostom and Orig., Cels . III. xxix. xxx.) which had not their basis and being . The latter phrase is a suggestive and characteristic periphrasis for “Christian,” and the omission of the before , as of before , is enough to show that the seven words form a unity instead of a double antithesis to “pagan” and “Jewish” respectively. , a new (= dominus) for people like the Thessalonians who were hitherto familiar with the title as applied to Claudius ( cf. Wilcken’s Griechische Ostraka , 1899, s.v.) the emperor, or to the God of the Jews ( cf. Knowling’s Witness of the Epistles , 260 f.). See the ample discussion in Kattenbusch, das Apost. Symbol , ii. 596 f., with his note (pp. 691 f.) on . The hope and help of God implied that Christians must hold together, under their . “No Christian could have fought his way through the great dark night of idolatry and immorality as an isolated unit; the community was here the necessary condition for all permanent life” (Wernle, Beginnings of Christianity , i. 189).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

1 Thessalonians Chapter 1

The coming of the Lord characterises both these Epistles, which are the capital seat of that great truth. Of early date in the writings of the apostle, they bespeak simplicity, freshness and vigour in the saints addressed. They warmly, overflowingly, answer to their hearts, in kindred tones, but so as to lead on and deepen them. Hence the informal manner, not didactic but practically interweaving that blessed hope with every topic, with every duty, with all sources or motives of joy and sorrow so as to imbue the inner man and outer ways of all the saints day by day.

Those of Thessalonica, it appears from Act 17:6 , Act 17:7 , had from the first received strong impressions of the kingdom. But they needed instruction on that large and fruitful theme, which, like every other revealed truth, affords ample room not only for unintelligent mistake but also for baneful error. Both in time wrought among these saints; and as the first epistle supplied that which sprang from mere ignorance, the latter corrected what was unequivocally false and mischievous. In the two epistles the presence or coming of the Lord is carefully distinguished from the day of the Lord, their true characters set out distinctly, and their due relation to one another explained. The need for this is as urgent now as then; for though the error was then both recent and active, it is shown to be grounded in a certain preparedness of the heart for it, inasmuch as to this day there is the same propensity to stray similarly, and the same difficulty in appropriating the revelation of God. The commentators ancient and modern are dull in seizing the different sides of the truth as the Spirit has given them, and though it is only in our own day that the chief mistranslation (2Th 2:2 ) has been set right, on all sides the truth which should have been cleared by the correction seems as little understood as ever. The course of things in Christendom, as in the old world before it assumed that new shape, indisposes the minds of those bound up with its interests to receive what is here taught. The coming of the Lord as a living and constant hope detaches the heart from every thing as an object on earth: for He is coming, we know not how soon, but we do know, to receive us to Himself on high. As is the Heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly and as this is the character in which Christ and the Christian stand correlatively, the hope exactly corresponds. It is independent of earthly events and is not a question of times or seasons. At a moment purposely unrevealed, that those who are His own might be truly and intelligently and always looking for Him, He will come for them that they may be with Him in His Father’s house.

The day of the Lord, on the other hand, connects itself with earthly associations of a solemn kind, of which prophecy in the Old and the New Testaments alike speak; and this also has its suited place in these epistles. It is indeed eminently adapted, as it is meant, to deal with the conscience; for that day will deal with the pride of man and the power of the world, with earthly religion and with lawlessness in every form. Further, it is a test in one sense for the affections, whether we do really love His appearing who will put down evil and establish all in order according to God.

But we turn to the apostle’s words in their order and detail.

“Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus to the assembly of Thessalonians in God [the] Father and [the] Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace.” (ver. 1.)

Such is the inscription, with its own marked and beautifully suited peculiarities. On the one hand there is the marked absence of relative or indeed of any official place in the address of the apostle or the association of his companions, who are graciously introduced like himself without form. On the other hand the Thessalonian assembly is said, here and in the opening of the second epistle, to be “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” which is predicated of none other. What can harmonise so well with new-born saints, just delivered from the gods many and the lords many of heathenism, and brought into the conscious relationship of babes that know the Father? To us, Christians, there is but one God the Father, of Whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom are all things and we by Him. But what an expression of tenderness and near relationship thus to speak of the assembly of Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! How sweet for them to be thus addressed as even corporately set in the fellowship of such love and light! But such is the principle in the manifestation of the divine ways of grace. So even in the comforting ways of the Jewish prophet it is written, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” Those who are most needy receive special care and consolation.

For the infant assembly so characterised it was enough to say the brief but pregnant words, “Grace to you and peace.” To others a fuller form was becoming, here needless because of what went before.

“We thank God always for you all, making mention at our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labour of love and patience of hope of our Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, your election; because our gospel came not unto you in word only but also in power and in [the] Holy Spirit and in much assurance; even as ye know what we were among you for your sake. And ye became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with joy of [the] Holy Spirit; so that ye became a pattern to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you hath sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith that is toward God hath gone out, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves report concerning us what sort of entrance we had unto you, and how ye turned unto God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to await his Son from the heavens, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus that delivered us from the coming wrath.” (vers. 2-10.)

The joy of the labourer’s heart bursts forth in constant thanksgiving to God for them all, and this not vaguely but with special mention on the occasion of prayer. It answered to their joy who had so lately been brought out of darkness into the marvellous light of God; but it had the deep character of rising to the Blesser from the blessing, as the blessing itself savoured of communion with that source of blessing. So had Paul wrought with God in Thessalonica, not merely with some of the Jews who were persuaded and who consorted with him and Silas (or Silvanus), but especially with a great multitude of the devout Greeks: a mighty and permanent work in no long time. Do we know such thanksgiving to God? Do we make like personal mention on like occasion? Do we unceasingly remember the fruit of the Spirit’s blessing in the saints? We know what it is to pray for saints in sorrow, shame, danger, need: are we drawn out in joy before God at the working of His grace in those He has saved and gathered to the name of Jesus? Have not our hearts been straitened by the low and shattered and isolated circumstances of the once united saints? We are quick in putting out, cutting off, withdrawing, avoiding, and every form of repulsion; slow and powerless in the grace that sees and enjoys grace in others, that wins, helps, welcomes, and restores. Not so the apostle and his companions. Doubtless great grace is needed to appreciate little grace. It is Christ-like.

Granted, that here among the Thessalonians, especially when the first epistle was written, there was as much power of life as there was simplicity with lack of knowledge. The three great spiritual elements, of which we often hear in the New Testament and notably in the apostle’s writings, were manifest and in the fervent vigour of the Holy Spirit: not only faith, but the “work of faith,” not love only but “labour of love,” and hope of our Lord Jesus Christ in its patience or enduring constancy. And as Christ is the object of faith which exercises the heart and fixes it on things unseen, so does His grace call forth love, and the hope cheers along the way, and so much the more when all is in the light of God, “before our God and Father.” He is our Father, and if babes we know Him as such (1Jn 2:13 ); but He is God, and in our life, in our ways, we are before Him, and would serve him acceptably with reverence and godly fear. He, before whom the new life in Christ is thus exercised by motives which have their spring and power in Christ, is the God who chose the Thessalonians in His grace to be His children beloved by Him, as thus attested to the consciences and affection of those that serve Him, “Knowing, brethren beloved by God, your election.” What practical proof of our election can there be to others but in the manifested power of the life we have in Christ, maintained as it can only be by seeking to have in everything a conscience without offence toward God and men? To gather evidence for ourselves out of it is mere self-righteousness, as well as the unbelief that slights God’s testimony to Christ and His work, the effete theology of Christendom hastening on to divine judgment.

But God has ever wrought blessing by the revelation of Himself. Hence it is of faith that it may be according to grace, as the law works wrath; for where no law is, neither is there transgression. But the glad tidings as preached by Paul and those with him, “our gospel,” is the full testimony of what is in Christ for the lost. This had been brought home to the Thessalonians in the energy of the Holy Ghost. “Because our gospel came not unto you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance; even as ye know what we were among you for your sake.” (ver. 5.) This young but devoted, persecuted yet happy, assembly was the living testimony to God and His Christ. The gospel had come not in word only but in power, and as it was in the Holy Spirit not fleshly display, so was it in much assurance. The word was spoken with all boldness and certainty by men whose ways were its bright and genuine reflection in love. This produced corresponding effects in those who received it. For Paul and his companions were not like such as seem incapable of appreciating the glory of Christ in the gospel as in the church; who are never weary of crying up one part of the truth to the disparagement of another, as if all did not centre in our Lord: short-sighted and mischievous souls, who overlook the simplest elements of truth in self-admiration, and a broker-like pressure on others of the value of their own wares. If all were teachers where were the evangelists? If there were none to awaken souls, where the sheep to be fed and tended.

The Thessalonians too bore the impress of the power which wrought on their hearts and consciences. “And ye became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with joy of the Holy Spirit; so that ye became a pattern to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.” (vers. 6, 7.) They suffered bitterly for the truth which filled their hearts with joy; so Paul dying daily while he lived; so the Lord Who died as no other, yet lived the perfect ensample and fulness of joy in God His Father with utter rejection here below.

How different those in Thessalonica from their brethren in Corinth who soon followed, who slighted the weightier matters of practical grace as they gloried in the showier displays of sign-gifts and external power. And what a difference in the moral testimony! Never do we hear of the Corinthians as a pattern to any that believed in Macedonia or in Achaia. Yet did the apostle’s heart yearn in love over his later children in the faith, untoward and unruly as they were, that God’s unspeakable gift of grace might produce suited if late fruit in them also.

Nor was this all: the world was full of strange tidings and this beyond all Greece where the believers were impressed with the zeal and moral power of the Thessalonian assembly. “For from you hath sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith that is toward God hath gone out, so that we have no need to say anything.” (ver. 8). Men were talking everywhere of the singular change and fact in that important entrept of trade which lay in the direct line between the West and the East. That a body of people should have abandoned their false gods, and be filled with the knowledge of the one true God in a joy which no sufferings could chill (as distinct from the Jews as from the heathen, and yet more distinguished in an all absorbing life of faith, love, hope, never so seen there before) could not but strike minds so acute, speculative, and communicative as the Greek. The sound of it rang out like a trumpet’s in all directions, not about miracles or tongues, but their faith Godward: surely a fine, admirable, and gracious testimony had gone out in the midst of idolaters. For it was wholly in contrast with the hard proud legalism of the Jews, as decidedly as with the dark and indecent follies of the Gentile world. Indeed the effect was such that the apostle declares “we have no need to say anything.” Why preach that which the very world in a certain way preached? Preaching has for its aim to make known the unknown God and His Son, to rouse the slumberers, to gain the ear of the careless for God’s good news. Here men’s lips were full of this truly new thing in Thessalonica; and from this active centre of commerce the report went out everywhere of a Macedonian assembly that renounced Zeus, Hera, Artemis, Apollo, and all the rest, without adopting circumcision or the institutions of Moses.

Nor was there anything vague or pretentious, but the sobriety of grace and truth. “For they themselves report concerning us what sort of entrance we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols to serve a living and true God and to await his Son from the heavens whom he raised from the dead Jesus that delivered us from the coming wrath.” (vers. 9, 10.) It is a grand object of Satan to combine the world with God, to allow the flesh while pretending to the Spirit, and thus really to fall under his own delusions while professing Christ. The reverse of all this Babylonish confusion is seen in the sort of entrance the apostle had among the Thessalonians, and the complete break made for their souls from all that is opposed to God known in light and love. They turned unto God from their idols instead of christening them and mocking Him; they served not forms or doctrines or institutions, but a living and true God; and they awaited His Son from the heavens, not as an awful and dreaded Judge, but as their Deliverer from the coming wrath, whom He raised from the dead, the pledge of their justification and the pattern of the new life of which they lived to God in the faith of Him.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Th 1:1

1Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

1Th 1:1 “Paul” Saul of Tarsus is first called Paul in Act 13:9. It is probable that most Jews of the “diaspora” had a Hebrew name and a Greek name. If so, then Saul’s parents gave him this name but why, then, does “Paul” suddenly appear in Acts 13? Possibly (1) others began to call him by this name or (2) he began to refer to himself by the term “little” or “least.” The Greek name Paulos meant “little.” Several theories have been advanced about the origin of his Greek name:

1. the second century tradition that Paul was short, fat, bald, bow-legged, bushy eye-browed, and had protruding eyes is a possible source of the name, deriving from a non-canonical book from Thessalonica called Paul and Thekla

2. passages where Paul calls himself the “the least of the saints” because he persecuted the Church as in Act 9:1-2 (cf. 1Co 15:9; Eph 3:8; 1Ti 1:15)

Some have seen this “leastness” as the origin of the self-chosen title. However, in a book like Galatians, where he emphasized his independence and equality with the Jerusalem Twelve, this is somewhat unlikely (cf. 2 Cor. 11:5; 12:11; 15:10).

Notice there is no defense of Paul’s apostleship in this introduction to the Thessalonian church. Of all of Paul’s churches Thessalonica and Philippi were the most supportive.

“Silvanus” This was his Roman name. He, like Paul, was a Roman citizen (cf. Act 16:37). Luke always calls him “Silas.” He was a gifted prophet and a respected member of the Jerusalem church like Barnabas (cf. Act 15:22; Act 15:27; Act 15:32; 1Pe 5:12). He replaced Barnabas as Paul’s companion on the second and third missionary journeys.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SILAS/SILVANUS

“Timothy” He was Paul’s convert from Lystra on his first missionary journey. Timothy became Paul’s team member on the second journey (cf. Act 16:1-3) replacing John Mark. For a fuller description cf. Introduction B. 3.

“the Thessalonians” Act 17:1-9 describes Paul’s encounter with these people.

“church” Ekklesia means “called out ones.” It originally meant a town assembly in Greek society (cf. Act 19:32). The Greek translation of the OT, the Septuagint, uses it to translate the Hebrew qahal, meaning “congregation” (cf. Exo 12:6; Exo 16:3; Lev 4:13; Num 14:5; Num 20:6; Deu 5:22; Deu 9:10; Deu 10:4; Deu 18:16). The early church considered themselves the Messianic congregation of Israel. See Special Topic at Gal 1:2.

“in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” God and Jesus are combined in a syntactical way by using one preposition to identify them both (cf. 1Th 3:11; 2Th 1:2; 2Th 1:12; 2Th 2:16). This is one technique used by the NT authors to theologically assert the Deity of Christ. Another was to attribute OT titles and functions of YHWH to Jesus of Nazareth. See Special Topic following.

SPECIAL TOPIC: FATHER

“the Lord” God revealed His covenant name to Moses in Exo 3:14YHWH. The Jews later became afraid to pronounce this holy name, lest they take it in vain and break one of the Ten Commandments (cf. Exo 20:7; Deu 5:11). Therefore, they substituted another word when they read the Scriptures, Adon, which meant, “husband, owner, master, lord.” This is the source of the English translation of YHWH: Lord.

Often when the NT authors called Jesus “Lord” (kurios), they were asserting the Deity of Jesus. This affirmation became the early church’s baptismal creedal statement, “Jesus is Lord” (cf. Rom 10:9-13; Php 2:6-11).

“Jesus” This name means “YHWH saves” (cf. Mat 1:21), equivalent to the OT name “Joshua.” “Jesus” is derived from the Hebrew word for salvation (hosea) suffixed to the covenant name for God (YHWH).

“Christ” This is a translation of the Hebrew term for “Anointed One” (mashiach). This refers to the special empowering and equipping by the Spirit for YHWH’s assigned task. It is the Hebrew term for God’s Special, Promised, Coming One, “Messiah” (cf. Luk 2:11; Luk 2:26; Luk 3:15; Luk 4:41; Luk 9:20; Luk 22:67; Luk 23:2; Luk 23:35; Luk 23:39; Luk 24:26; Luk 24:46).

“Grace” Paul changed the secular greeting charein (greetings) to charis (grace), making it uniquely Christian and theologically primary. Grace always precedes peace.

“peace” This reflects the Hebrew greeting shalom. The phrase “grace and peace” was possibly intended to combine traditional Greek and Hebrew greetings.

The King James Version adds a typical Pauline phrase “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” from 2Th 1:1 after “peace.” This phrase does not appear in the Greek uncial manuscripts B, F, or G. It does appear in the ancient uncial manuscripts and A. A slightly modified form appears in manuscript D. It may be a scribal gloss from 2Th 1:2. The UBS4 gives the shorter text without the additional phrase an “A”rating (certain).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Paul. In all his other Epistles, except Philemon, 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon, apostolos is added. He was held in terms of tender regard and affection by the converts at Philippi and Thessalonica, and there was no need to assert his authority.

Silvanus. Same as Silas. A leader of the church at Jerusalem (Act 15:22), and a prophet (1Th 1:32), he accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey, and took part in the founding of the churches of Macedonia. Act 15:40 — 1Th 18:18.

Timotheus. See 2Co 1:1.

unto = to.

church. App-186.

Thessalonians. This and the Second Epistle are the only ones addressed in this form. Romans, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians are addressed to “saints”. The two Epistles to the Corinthians to “the church of God at Corinth”, and Galatians to the “churches of Galatia”.

God. App-98.

Father. App-98.

Lord. App-98.

Jesus Christ. App-98.

Grace. App-184. Compare Rom 1:7.

from. App-104. This last clause is omitted in most texts.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

1.] ADDRESS AND GREETING. The Apostle names Silvanus and Timotheus with himself, as having with him founded the church at Thessalonica, see Act 16:1; Act 17:14. Silvanus is placed before Timotheus, then a youth (Act 16:1 f., see further in Prolegg, to 1 Tim. i. 3, 4), as being one (Act 15:22; Act 15:32; Act 18:5), and a (ib. Act 15:32, see also 2Co 1:19; 1Pe 5:12). He does not name himself an Apostle, probably for (an amplification of) the reason given by De Wette,-because his Apostleship needed not any substantiation to the Thessalonians. For the same reason he omits the designation in the Epistle to the Philippians. This last fact precludes the reasons given,-by Pelt, al., id ei tum non jam moris fuisse, by Chrys.,- , . ,-by Estius, Pelt (altern.), and Zwingl., out of modesty, not to distinguish himself from Silvanus and Timotheus,-by Jowett, probably the name Apostle, which in its general sense was used of many, was gradually, and at no definite period, applied to him with the same special meaning as to the Apostles at Jerusalem.

] So in 2 Thess., Gal., Corr., in the other Epistles, viz. Rom., Eph., Col., Phil., more generally, e.g.,- , . This is most probably accounted for by the circumstances of the various Epistles. We may notice that the gen. plur. of the persons constituting the church occurs only in the addresses of these two Epistles. We may render of Thessalonians, or of the Thessalonians: better the former.

] The construction need not be filled up by or , as Chr., al.: nor with Schott, by understanding , which would be unnecessary, seeing that the apostolic greeting follows. The words form a (tertiary, Ellic.) predication respecting , or , which requires no supplementing. See Winer, edn, 6, 20. 2.

marks them as not being heathens,-. , as not being Jews. So De W. after Chrys.: but perhaps the already marks them as Christians.

The , as usual, denotes communion and participation in, as the element of spiritual life.

. ] Gratia et pax a Deo sit vobis, ut, qui humana gratia et sculari pace privati estis, apud Deum gratiam et pacem habeatis. Anselm (in Pelt).

The words which follow in the rec. are not yet added in this his first Epistle. Afterwards they became a common formula with him.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Let’s turn to first Thessalonians. Paul, the apostle, on his second missionary journey had taken Silas with him, who was commended by the church in Jerusalem as one of the leaders. When they got to Derbe, Timothy joined their evangelistic team. As they journeyed on, they came to Troas and Paul’s desire was to go to Bithynia, but the spirit forbade him.

And there, in Troas, as Paul was sick, he had a vision. And there was a man of Macedonia calling him to come and help. And so Paul immediately got a ship, crossed the Aegean and came to Macedonian, the area of Philippi, at which point Luke joined Paul’s team. Whether or not Luke was the man that Paul saw in his vision, we do not know. It is quite possible that it was Luke that Paul saw. Nonetheless, they came to Philippi and they began to share Jesus Christ there in Philippi by the river with ladies who would go there for prayer. And a lady who was a merchant, whose name was Lydia, was converted along with many others.

There was a young girl in the area of Philippi who was possessed by evil spirits and Paul, through the power of Jesus Christ, freed her. And this caused a ruckus among those men that were controlling this young girl and actually profiting by her divination, a gift that she had through the demon powers. And so they created an uproar; they had Paul and his company arrested. They were beaten and thrown into the dungeon of the prison. At midnight, an earthquake opened the doors and the Philippine jailer, when he awoke finding the doors open, was ready to commit suicide when Paul stopped him and he came trembling and said, “What must I do to be saved?” And Paul shared the gospel with him. He took Paul home; Paul shared the gospel with his family.

And then the magistrates of the city found out that Paul was a Roman citizen, as was Silas, and so they said, “Hey, tell your friends to just get out of town.” And Paul said, “Look, they beat us publicly, they made a big public display of the whole thing; let them come down themselves and deliver us.” You know. So, Paul forced the issue and they came down, asked Paul to leave Philippi.

So, Paul with Silas, Timothy and Luke began to follow the Roman highway south from Philippi. They came through Amphipolis. They pass through Apollonia and they came to Thessalonica, which was a principle Roman city, and is an important city today. In modern Greece, Salonica is the same as the Thessalonica of the Bible. It was here where Paul went into the synagogue, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures proving that Jesus was the Messiah. And many of the Jews believed; some of them did not.

Those who did not believe stirred up a ruckus against Paul, and Paul escaped from the city of Thessalonica and went on down to Berea. And there, they again shared until certain of Jews, who had created the problems of Thessalonica, came to Berea, and so Paul went on to Athens. Later, Luke and Silvanus, who is also Silas, and Timothy joined Paul and they journeyed to Corinth, but Paul was concerned about the believers in Thessalonica. So Paul asked Timothy to go back to Thessalonica to find out how the believers were doing.

Now, from the record it would appear that Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica was a very short ministry, as short as possible, just four weeks. As they mentioned that three weeks ministering each Sabbath day, for three Sabbath days in the synagogue, and then the trouble that was created. And so it would appear that Paul’s time there among them was extremely short. When Paul and his company came to them, they were probably still pretty-well blood . . . well, not bloody, but swollen and bruised from the beatings that they had received in Philippi. Their clothes probably ripped, they probably looked pretty much a mess, but yet, Paul speaks about its coming to them in afflictions. And so, the marks of the beatings still upon him, still very obvious there on his body when he first came to Thessalonica.

Timothy came back to Thessalonica to find the welfare of the church, found it in good health, found them really going on in the Lord, and returned to Corinth to share with Paul how that the church was prospering and going on in the Lord. And so Paul then wrote this letter, which is probably the first letter that Paul wrote to the churches. He wrote from Corinth back to Thessalonica this first epistle, as he seeks to correct some of the misconception that had arisen.

Now, the interesting thing to me is that from the gist of this letter of Paul, one of the most important truths that Paul had emphasized in that very short ministry was that of the coming again of Jesus Christ. And all the way through the first epistle, he is making mention of that hope of the coming of Jesus Christ. And of course, next week in our lesson, as we get to chapters four and five, we’ll be dealing with Paul’s teaching on the rapture of the church, and all, as he is writing to the Thessalonians concerning the things that he had been teaching them and some of the misunderstandings that had arisen from his teaching. But I am amazed at what a tremendous foundation Paul was able to lay in the word of God in the hearts of these people in such a short time, as is evidenced by this epistle.

So, with that kind of a background, the year’s about fifty-three, fifty-four. Paul is on his second missionary journey; he’s just arrived in Corinth, has begun his ministry there, which will continue for one year and six months, as the Lord spoke to him in Corinth and said, “Stick here, Paul. I’ve got a lot of people that are gonna believe on Me in this place.” And so, he is sent back now to Thessalonica, he has heard from Timothy the welfare of the church, and he immediately writes them this letter.

Paul, and Silvanus, [another name for Silas] and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ ( 1Th 1:1 ):

The church in God, the church in Jesus Christ. And presently Paul is going to be talking about the power of the Holy Spirit with which the message came to them in much assurance. So again, the Father, the Son, the Spirit in which the church was established.

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ ( 1Th 1:1 ).

Notice how often Paul is relating God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ together. If Jesus was not God, such a relationship and relating their names together constantly would be blasphemy. Some people say, “But why doesn’t he also include the Holy Spirit?” Well, you remember that Paul’s epistles are actually inspired by the Holy Spirit and Jesus said, “When the Holy Spirit is come, He will not testify of Himself, but He will testify of Me.” And so, it is sufficient that in the inspiring of this writing by the Holy Spirit that there is joined those two persons of the Godhead: the Father and the Son.

Paul’s “grace and peace unto you” are typical Pauline greetings. The grace and peace, the Siamese twins of the New Testament, they’re always coupled together; wherever you find one, you’ll find the other. And they are always in that order: grace and peace, because you cannot experience the peace of God until you understand and have received the grace of God. The understanding of the grace of God is essential to knowing the peace of God in your heart and life.

For years I had peace with God, but I did not have the peace of God, because I did not know the grace of God. I related to God in a legal way. My righteousness was predicated upon my good efforts, my devotional time, my prayer life, and my study of the word. I had a legal relationship with God.

Then I came to an understanding of the grace of God, and I came into a loving relationship with God. And when I did, I suddenly experienced the peace of God, something I’d never known in my Christian life. And what a blessing it was to know the peace of God within my heart, as I now rest where God rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And so, the gospel came to me with much assurance, only after I experienced the grace of God. Up until that time, the gospel . . . I had no assurance in the gospel. I didn’t really know if I was saved or not from one week to the next, but the much assurance came with the grace.

So…

We give thanks unto God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers ( 1Th 1:2 );

And again, how Paul does refer to his prayer life in each of his epistles. Paul was a man of prayer. As we look at the men that God has used in the New Testament, those men that were used mightily of God, we find that there are certain things that are endemic to all of them. And one is that they were men of prayer. If you want God to really use your life, it is necessary that you be in close communion with God. And prayer, of course, is that means by which we remain in close touch with him.

Prayer is not a monologue, though so often we make it such, but prayer should always be a dialogue. In fact, as the years have past, I have spent more time in the listening side of prayer than I have the talking side of prayer. When I first started my communication with God, I did all the talking, very little listening. But as years went by and my relationship with God grew, I did less talking and more listening, for I am convinced that what God has to say to me is much more important than anything I’d have to say to Him. And so I’ve learned to listen to God, and I’ve sought to listen before I speak, in order that God might speak to my heart what is His purpose, His will, His desire in a particular matter, so that I may make that my prayer. Paul, a man of prayer, and thus God used him; making mention of you in our prayers.

Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope ( 1Th 1:3 )

Again, as in Galatians, as in Ephesians, and as in the Corinthian epistles, Paul links these three: faith, hope, love. Remember in first Corinthians thirteen? “And now abide these three: faith, hope, love.” And so, he is constantly relating these three things.

First of all, they had the work of faith. If you have true faith, there is that work that is the natural result of faith. And if the faith does not affect your actions, then it is not a true faith. A person with true faith, that faith will affect what they do. It has an effect upon their actions, upon their works; it is producing a work in their life. And so the work of faith. Faith is not a work, but faith does produce a certain result in us: the work of faith.

The labor of love. Now, the word labor, as we pointed out to you last Thursday night as we studied this word in the message of Jesus to the church of Ephesus in Revelation two, the word means to labor to the point of weariness or exhaustion. And only can bring that kind of labor.

And how many times do we see this exemplified in a mother going around the house laboring to the point of exhaustion, especially when the children are little and there are all those responsibilities? And yet, it’s a labor of love, because you look at those beautiful little faces, and you don’t really think, “Oh my, I’m so tired and all. That dirty little face, just throw it in bed, you know, and let it go.” But you can’t help but just go in and get the warm wash rag and the towel and come and wash the hands and wash the face and kiss the cheek, though you are as tired as can be because all that you’ve done all day long, but that’s the labor of love.

And how glorious when our love for God is such that we don’t really consider the weariness of our own bodies. But as Paul, the love of Christ just constrains me, and that labor of love . . . and again, that’s the only motive that God will really accept. Remember, that was the problem of the church in Ephesus: they were laboring, but without love, and that’s what the Lord really spoke to them about. And He said, “Unless you begin to love, unless you return to that first love, I’m gonna take the candlestick and move it out of its place.” And so, the only labor that God really accepts from us is the labor of love. For though I give my body to be burned, sell all I have, and bestow on the poor, if I have not love . . . profits mean nothing. The labor of love.

And then the…

Patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father ( 1Th 1:3 );

So that patience, learning to wait upon God. Boy, what a time I have with that. I don’t know why that should be so difficult, and yet, to me, it’s one of the most difficult things in my Christian experience, to wait upon God. I, so often, am giving God time limits. “Lord, I’ll give you till Saturday to work this thing out, and if you don’t do something by Saturday, then I’m gonna have to step in and do something myself.” But to just wait upon God; you see, to wait upon God takes great faith. I have to believe that God is in control and that God is working, though I may not see it.

How many problems have been created because we didn’t wait upon God? How many times with Abraham do we move to take things into our own hands, knowing what God has purposed, knowing what God has planned? God has not done it in the timeframe that I feel He ought to do it, and so Lord, we know you wanna do it, but obviously you can’t do it without our help and so we’re gonna help you out, Lord. And oh my, what problems we create when we step in to help God out. But that’s been the problem, I think, through the century, is patience of hope; just waiting upon God, waiting upon His time, waiting on Him to work in His time, knowing that He is going to work, confident that God is gonna work.

Now, there are many exhortations to patience. “You have need of patience,” we are told in Hebrews, “that after you have done the will of God you might obtain the promise.” We are told that those of the Old Testament who through faith and patience inherited the promises of God. And then James exhorts us to patience into the coming . . . waiting for the coming of the Lord. Establish your souls, be patient, for the Lord is waiting for the complete fruit of harvest. So, they were patient in their hope, laboring in love. They were…had the works of faith. And all of this, after just one month of Paul’s ministry to them.

Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God ( 1Th 1:4 ).

Now, this is a doctrine that we usually don’t teach new believers. We usually wait until a person is pretty-well founded in the scriptures before we broach this theological problem of divine election. But Paul saw it necessary to teach divine election unto these new believers in Thessalonica. He speaks of them knowing the fact that they were elected by God.

People have problems with divine election. They have a problem with God making choices. However, we surely do appreciate the fact that God has given to us the capacity of choice. I was glad that the Lord allowed me to choose the one I was to spend the rest of my live with as a companion. He just didn’t throw anybody at me and say, “Here, take that.” But He allowed me the choice, and He also allowed her the choice when I gave it to her. So that we’re not forced into the company of someone with whom we might be completely incompatible or someone that we really have no real attraction to.

Now, if God has given to us the choice of those whom we are going to have as our companions or associates, why shouldn’t God have the right to choose those He wanted to be with? And indeed He has. Now, that doesn’t trouble me at all. It thrills me that He chose me. And so knowing that God has elected. Jesus said to his disciples, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you and ordained that you should be my disciples, that you should bring forth fruit that your fruit should remain. That whatsoever you should ask the Father in my name He may give it to you” ( Joh 15:16 ). “I’ve chosen you,” He said.

So the scripture does teach divine election. It never teaches divine election apart from the foreknowledge of God. Whom He did foreknow, He did also predestinate, that they shall be conformed in the image of His Son. And so Paul taught the doctrine of divine election to the church in just a month’s time.

For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance ( 1Th 1:5 );

I think that that’s probably the weakness of the gospel today. Is that so many times we are proclaiming the gospel in word only, and it lacks the power and the work of the Holy Spirit and that assurance with it. Paul, you remember, went from here to Corinth. Later, when he wrote to the Corinthians, he said to them, “And my preaching was not with the enticing words of man’s wisdom, but with the demonstration of the spirit and power.” We need more of that kind of preaching which is a demonstration of the power of God.

And so…

[The word came] unto you not in the word only, the gospel came not in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake ( 1Th 1:5 ).

So, what manner of men we were for your sakes, men ministering through the power of the Spirit.

And you became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit ( 1Th 1:6 ):

And so, again Paul here makes mention of the fact of his probably physical appearance: the beating that he had received at Philippi, and yet they received the word in the joy of the Holy Spirit.

So that ye were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak anything ( 1Th 1:7-8 ).

Marvelous. The church here could not be more than six months old and yet, from them already the word of the Lord was sounding out to all of the area around them. Their faith toward God was spread abroad, the reputation of their believers there.

For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you ( 1Th 1:9 ),

So, just their . . . it shows with what power the Holy Spirit was working in Paul and those companions of Paul as they came to this church. It was really miraculous that this church should be so effective, and yet so young. And it can only be attributed to the fact of the power of the Holy Spirit in the church.

What a mistake we make today when we try to relegate this power of the spirit only to the Biblical days. What a mistake we make today when we place such and emphasis upon the enticing words of man’s wisdom and seeking to establish people in the faith by just fancy speeches, clever talk. We need the dynamic of Spirit that the word of God might not come not just in word only, but in the power and the demonstration of the spirit of God. Because of that,

[they] turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God ( 1Th 1:9 );

In Greece, they had many idols. Paul, when he came to Athens, he’d found his spirit just torn as he looked at this metropolis and saw this city that was wholly given over to idolatry. It just really ripped him up inside to see the idolatry there in Athens. So he, though he was really trying to, you know, cool things down, he just had . . . I mean his reception in Europe wasn’t with a lot of fanfare. They didn’t have the band out to greet him and banners waving “welcome” you know. But in Philippi, he was beaten and kicked out of town. Came to Thessalonica where he had to leave town, and the people where he was staying got arrested and had to post bail, just because they kept Paul. Came to Berea and he had to leave Berea because of the riots that ensued in his ministry there. So they said, “Hey, look, we’ll stay and help establish the church here in Berea. You, Paul, go on down and get an R&R in Athens, you know. Sort of lay low for a while. Tough sledding here in Greece.”

So Paul went down to Athens, and seeing a city wholly given over to idolatry, he couldn’t just kick back and lie still. His heart was burning, and so he started sharing with the Athenians. They said, “Come on up to Mars hill and we’re gonna, you know, give ya your audience up there. You can speak to all of us and share this new religion.” For the Athenians spent their whole lives just, you know, arguing and wanting to hear some new thing. So they gave Paul his day there on Mars hill. And as he begun his speech to them, he said, “I perceive that you are very religious people because as I’ve been going through your city down here I’ve noticed all of the gods that you have.” And he said, “I came across one little altar and it was inscribed ‘to the unknown god’. I’d like to tell you about that God.”

In Greece, they had deified all of the emotions of man: the god of love, the god of hate, the god of fear, the god of peace, the god of joy. They deified everything. Some fella thought, “Well, we may have missed one and we don’t want him to be angry with us so let’s build an altar to the unknown god so he won’t feel neglected, you know.” But they worshipped Aphrodite, they worshipped Narcissus, they worshiped Bacus, they worshiped Zeus, all the various idols. But these people had turned from the idols to worship the true and the living God.

We usually think of idolatry as something of a past history of man or something that is only found in primitive cultures. Not so. We can even find idols in churches: images, statuaries, though it has been specifically forbidden in the scriptures, yet it does exist. When a person begins to worship an idol or a relic, it is a sign that that person has lost the consciousness of God and the presence of God. God, oftentimes, works through instruments. God worked through the cross to bring our salvation, but then to take splinters of the cross and begin to venerate splinters of the cross show that the people have lost the truth behind the cross.

God used the brass serpent in the wilderness to bring healing to Israel from the bites of these poisonous snakes. But there came a time in the history of Israel when Hezekiah was king that they were worshipping this brass snake. They had kept it. It had become a religious relic and people were coming and worshipping this brass snake. So that Hezekiah broke the thing and he said, “Nahushcan” It’s just of a thing of brass; it’s not God. But the worship of it indicated that loss of consciousness of God within their life, but also a deep desire to experience God again.

Now, the idols that they had made to these various passions, or the various emotions, or various concepts were more honest than people today. For we still have these as idols within our hearts, many times, though we may not have made some little form that we set on a table and put little flowers around and kneel before each morning and light candles before each night. But we can be burning incense in our hearts. There are those today who are worshipping Narcissus. There are those today who are worshipping Aphrodite, those today who are worshipping Bacus, Zeus; they just don’t have idols, except within their heart.

Now they have turned from these idols to the true and the living 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 1:10 ).

Now, it is interesting to me that at the end of each of the first four chapters Paul makes reference to the coming again of Jesus Christ; an important part to a person’s faith and belief system. For it is really the hope that sustains us. And so, the patience of hope and here he broadens out of it, “as they were waiting for God’s Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

How much doctrine is involved in that little statement right there? The central message of the New Testament, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead by God the Father, and the coming again of Jesus Christ to deliver us from the wrath to come. Now we are waiting for Jesus to deliver us from the wrath to come. That wrath to come could be a reference to the eternal punishment that God is going to visit upon those who have rejected Him, but it also could very well refer to the wrath to come during the great tribulation period. And as we go further in Thessalonians, we’ll find that God has not appointed us unto wrath. Jesus is going to deliver us from the wrath to come.

During the period of the Great Tribulation when the sixth seal is opened and these cataclysmic judgments are taking place in the universe, awesome fearful things happening. “And the kings of the earth and the chief captains and all will be hiding, calling unto the rocks and unto the mountains, fall on us and hide us from the face of the Lamb, for the day of His wrath has come and who shall be able to stand?” ( Rev 6:15-17 )

The wrath to come. There is coming the wrath of God upon this earth in the Great Tribulation, and I do not believe that it would be proper scriptural exposition to not include that in the deliverance of the Lord for His saints. I believe that it is an all-inclusive deliverance from the wrath to come, the Great Tribulation, as well as the future judgment of the unbeliever. More about that as we move into Revelation on Thursday nights, and more about that as we move into Thessalonians next Sunday night.

“

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

1Th 1:1. Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is very full of Christ. His heart is full of love to God our Father, and, therefore, it is that twice over in as many lines he mentions both names. He uses no vain repetitions, as the heathen do; but his inmost soul is taken up with communion with the Father and with the Son; and so in one single verse he twice gives us their names.

1Th 1:2-4. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

Paul had a very high opinion of the Church in Thessalonica, and no doubt it deserved it. See how he speaks of it with such confidence. Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. Their character was such that he felt sure that he saw the mark of Gods elect about them, and he speaks most positively of them perhaps more positively than he does of any other church. Well, there were three grand signs. There was the work of faith, the labour of love, and the patience of hope; and where we see three works of the Spirit we may be fully persuaded that electing love is there.

1Th 1:5. For 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 never had a happier time in preaching, it would seem, than when he preached to these Thessalonians. He felt a power resting upon him. He spoke the gospel with great positiveness and assurance, and consequently the people received it in power, and the assurance of the hearer made the assurance of the speaker. It is a great mercy when it is so.

1Th 1:6. And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

Ah! dear friends, we read of one that he was more honourable than his brethren because his mother bore him with sorrow. And so when faith is born in the heart in the midst of affliction, it is a very precious faith. It is faith indeed. Having received the Word in much affliction with joy. I seem to see that joy of theirs floating, like Noahs ark, above the floods of their affliction. It seems to be a contradiction that we can be in affliction and yet be full of joy. But many a believer will tell you that there is no contradiction in it. He knows what it is to be sorrowful, and yet to be always rejoicing.

1Th 1:7. So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.

Brethren, let us not only be Christians, but let us be samples of Christians. They are sure to pick out the best for a sample. Oh! that we might be such that, if God himself were to select Christians to show what they are like, he might select us to be samples.

1Th 1:8-10. For 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 anything. For they themselves show 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.

Paul here states that all the churches abroad knew what a wonderful time he had had with the Thessalonians, and with what alacrity they had received the gospel, and how they had turned away from their idols in thorough earnest to become worshippers of the living God. This was a great comfort to Paul, and he speaks about them here with great joy.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

1Th 1:1. , Paul) Paul, in this epistle, which was the first of all that he wrote, uses neither the title of an apostle, nor any other, because he writes most familiarly to the godly Thessalonians, who did not require a preface regarding his apostolic authority, ch. 1Th 2:6.

The divisions of the epistle are as follows:-

I.The Inscription, 1Th 1:1

II.In the course of the discussion, he celebrates (makes honourable mention of) the grace of God towards the Thessalonians, 1Th 1:2, et seqq.; adding a notice of the sincerity of himself and his colleagues, 1Th 2:1; and of the obedience of the Thessalonians, 1Th 2:13-14

III.He then declares

1.His desire, 1Th 2:17

2.His solicitude, 1Th 3:1

3.His joy, with his prayer, 1Thes 6, 7, 10, 11

IV.He exhorts them to progress,

1.In holiness, 1Th 4:1-2

2.In brotherly love, combined with prudence, 1Th 4:9-12

V.He teaches and exhorts them,

1.Concerning them that are asleep, 1Th 4:13-14

2.Concerning the times, 1Th 5:1-2

VI.He adds miscellaneous exhortations, 1Th 5:12-13

1Th 5:14-15; with prayer and consolation, 1Th 5:23-24

VII.Conclusion, 1Th 5:25-28

There is a kind of unmingled sweetness in this epistle, which, by a reader not accustomed to the expression of sweet affections, is less relished than the others, that act upon the palate with a certain degree of harshness. The expectation of the coming of Christ among the Thessalonians was unclouded. So exalted was their condition, and so clear of impediments and encumbrances (unencumbered) was the state of Christianity among them, that they were able hourly to look for the Lord Jesus. The epistles to them were written before the others; afterwards various evils crept into the churches.-, of the Thessalonians) Jac. Mehrningius says, In the memory of our fathers, there were two Greeks, first among the Moravian brethren, afterwards in Belgium, who asserted, that even now both of St. Pauls epistles to the Thessalonians are well preserved by them in autograph.-Hist. baptismi, A. 1647, Germanice edita, p. 739.-, in) Union with God is indicated.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

1Th 1:1

Paul,-There was no need to add apostle to the name of Paul in writing to a church with which his relations were so familiar and cordial.

and Silvanus,-Silvanus is the Silas of Acts of Apostles. Paul first met him when he went to Jerusalem from Antioch to seek a settlement of the question of circumcising the Gentile Christians. He was sent with Paul to communicate the decision of the apostles and elders. (Act 15:19; Act 15:25; Act 15:29.) When Paul declined to take John Mark with him on his second missionary journey, and parted with Barnabas, he chose Silas as his companion, and the two were beaten and imprisoned together at Philippi. (Act 16:19-29.) He was with Paul during the riot at Thessalonica (Act 17:4), and was sent away with him to Berea, remaining there after Paul had been obliged to depart, and joined him again in Corinth (Act 18:5). In that city he was an esteemed coworker with Paul. (2Co 1:19.)

and Timothy,-Timothy was the well-known companion and assistant of Paul. The terms which he applies to him-my beloved and faithful child in the Lord (1Co 4:17), my true child in faith (1Ti 1:2)-indicate not only Pauls love for him, but also that he had been the means of his conversion. At any rate, it is clear that, when on his first missionary journey, Paul visited Lystra, and Timothys mother and grandmother were led to Christ, and that Timothy was then old enough to be instructed in the way of the Lord. He became a disciple of Christ and a companion of Paul. He was gifted of the Spirit. (1Ti 4:14; 2Ti 1:6.) When these and other teachers were with Paul, he usually associated them with himself in writing to the churches. They were both with him when the work of the Lord was begun in Thessalonica.

unto the church of the Thessalonians-This is the local description. The only New Testament parallel is the church of the Laodiceans. (Col 4:16.)

in-[This word is frequently used by Paul to express intimacy of union, and is not readily explained by any simpler term. Here it introduces the spiritual relation and may be paraphrased thus: in relationship with God as Father and with Jesus Christ as Lord.] They were baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Hence, were in these divine persons.

God the Father-[Gods everlasting power and divinity is manifest in creation (Rom 1:20); his Fatherhood is subject of revelation (Mat 11:27; Joh 17:25); it is not universal (Mat 13:38; Joh 8:23-44); but is asserted only in relation to those who have been born anew (Joh 1:12-13; Gal 3:26; 1Jn 3:1; 1Jn 5:1). Being our Father God looks to his children for honor (Mal 1:6) and confidence (Mat 6:25; Mat 6:34), while he deals with them in pity (Psa 103:13-14) and in love (Joh 16:27).]

and the Lord-[Christ himself assumed this title. (Mat 7:21-22; Mat 9:38.) His purpose did not become clear to the disciples until after his resurrection from the dead, and the revelation of his deity consequent therein. Thomas, when he realized the significance of the presence of a mortal wound in the body of a living man, immediately joined with it the absolute title of Deity, saying: My Lord and my God. (Joh 20:28.) In Peters sermon on the day of Pentecost he said, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified (Act 2:36); and in the house of Cornelius he said, He is Lord of all (10:36). And Jude speaks of some denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ, and in the next verse applies the term Lord to God. (Jud 1:4-5.) The title Lord as given to the Savior in its full significance rests upon the resurrection (Act 2:36; Rom 10:9; Rom 14:9), and is realized only in the Holy Spirit (1Co 12:3). While he is still rejected alike by Jew and Gentile, angels (Mat 28:6) and saints (Rom 10:9) acknowledge him in it, but in the day of his manifested glory every tongue in the universe shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Php 2:11). Those who acknowledge him as Lord now are his servants (Eph 6:6-7), and to them he looks for obedience (Luk 6:46; Rom 6:16), and on that condition graciously admits them to his friendship (Joh 15:14-15).]

Jesus-[This name was given to the Son of God while he dwelt on earth in the flesh as his personal name in obedience to the command of the angel to Joseph, the husband of his mother, Mary, shortly before he was born. (Mat 1:21.) By this name he was generally known throughout the gospel narrative. While he was on earth in the flesh, no one of his disciples is recorded as having addressed him by his personal name; but it is plain that the custom was common among believers in the apostolic age that they confessed with the mouth Jesus as Lord (Rom 10:9), and it is, therefore, the pattern for Christians till time shall cease.]

Christ:-[In the Epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude, men who had companied with the Lord in the days of his flesh, Jesus Christ is the invariable form of the name and title, for this was the order of their experience; as Jesus they knew him first, that he was the Messiah they learned finally in his resurrection. But Paul came to know him first in the glory of heaven (Act 9:1-6), and his experience being thus the reverse of theirs, the reverse order, Christ Jesus. In Pauls Epistles the order is in harmony with the context. Thus Christ Jesus describes the exalted one who emptied himself (Php 2:5-7) and testifies of his pre-existence; Jesus Christ describes the despised and rejected one who was afterwards glorified (Php 2:11) and testifies to his resurrection. Christ Jesus suggests his grace; Jesus Christ his glory.”]

Grace to you and peace.-Pauls usual salutation is extended to them. Grace properly means favor and includes those blessings that are applicable to Christians in common, denoting an ardent prayer that all the mercies and favors of God for time and eternity might be conferred upon them.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

This letter was intended as a message of comfort and instruction to those who were in the midst of persecution. In writing, the apostle associated himself with Silas and Timothy. He commenced by referring to the great truth of the Church’s safe position as being “in God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ”; and then declared the foundation facts of Christian character. They are, first, the “work of faith,” by which the apostle referred to the belief through which believers entered into relationship with Jesus Christ; second, the “labour of love,” referring to the whole activity of life after belief; and, third, “the patience of hope,” referring to the strength issuing from the expectation of the return of the Lord.

The Gospel had come to them “in power and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance.” The result was that they “became imitators,” and “an example.” As a result, the Word of the Lord had sounded forth far and near. This result followed from the fact that the Gospel was, indeed, in power. There is a vital connection between the description of their discipleship and their activity. The “work of faith” consisted in turning “unto God from idols,” the “patience of hope” in waiting “for His Son from heaven.” Throughout the letter these great facts are recognized, and illustrated, and applied.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS

I. SUPERSCRIPTION (1:1)

Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the assembly of Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace.

1. The superscription, which is to be distinguished from the address written on the outside or on the cover of the folded letter (Deissmann, Light, 148), comprises, as in contemporary letters, the name of the writer in the nominative, the people addressed in the dative, and the greeting. Although it is the shortest of extant Pauline superscriptions, it contains the essential points of the more developed forms, not simply the names of writers and recipients but also the divine names God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the characteristically Pauline grace and peace. The Holy Spirit is mentioned in no superscription and in but one benediction (2Co 13:13).

The inscription (BAK, et al.), like the inscriptions and subscriptions in most mss. and like the introductions () in some mss., is editorial and seems to presuppose a corpus Paulinum with some such title as For elaborations of this briefest form of inscription (e. g. in DGF with a prefixed ; in P with a prefixed , or in G with a prefixed and an added ). see von Soden, Schriften des N. T. I, 294 ff. For the influence of contemporary literature upon the general form and many phrases of the Pauline and other N. T. letters, see Deissmann, BS. 187 ff., EB. II, 1323 ff., and Light; Rendel Harris, Exp5 VIII, 161 ff., 401 ff.; Robinson, Ephesians, 275 ff.; Mill. 121 ff.; and Moff. Introd. 44 ff. Useful selections from contemporary letters may be found in Lietzmann, Griechische Papyri, 1905; Witkowski, Epistulae graecae privatae, 1906; and Mill. Selections from the Greek Papyri, 1910.

Since Silvanus and Timothy were with Paul in Thessalonica when the church was established and with him in Corinth when both our letters were written (Act 18:5; cf. 2Co 1:19), it is natural to find the three names associated in the superscription. Paul takes precedence as he is the leading spirit and the letter is his in a peculiar sense; Silvanus, the Silas of Acts, comes next; and Timothy, who was not only a helper but a preacher (2Co 1:19), as youngest comes last. While the letter is Pauls, the exceptionally frequent appearance of we where it is natural to think primarily not of an epistolary plural but of Paul and his companions suggests an intimacy of association in writing which is not true of 1 Cor. where Sosthenes is joined with Paul in the superscription, nor of 2 Cor. Col. Phile. Phil. where Timothy is joined with Paul.

It is generally admitted that we may be used in various senses including that of the epistolary plural (cf. not only Paul (1Co 9:11 and 9:15), but also Polybius, Josephus, and the papyri); but it is observed with force by Mill. (131-132) that owing to the special circumstances under which the two epistles were written, we shall do well to give its full weight to this normal use of the plural in them, and to think of it as including St. Pauls two companions along with himself wherever on other grounds this is possible; cf. Zahn, Introd. I 209 ff. On the other hand, Dob. thinks that thought the associated authors may be in mind they have no prerogatives whatever (67-68); see Dick, Der schriftstellerische Plural bei Paulus, 1900.

The form (DG; cf. B in 1Pe 5:12) is regular in the papyri (Mill.); cf. P. Oxy. 335 (c. 85 a.d.) where sells the sixth part of a house in the Jewish quarter. Our Silvanus is a Jew and a Roman citizen (Act 16:37); cf. Schmiedel, EB 4514 ff. Timothy was of mixed Gentile and Jewish blood; whether a Roman citizen or not is unknown; cf. Moff. EB 5074 ff.

The designation does not appear in the superscription of the Macedonian letters and Philemon; it appears in that of Gal 1:2 Cor. addressed to communities in which Judaists attacked Pauls apostleship (Php 3:2 ff. refers to unbelieving Jews as Lipsius, McGiffert, and most recently Dob. (117) insist); in that of Rom., a community not founded by him and not sharing his distinctive views, to which he is presenting his gospel; and in that of Col. Eph., churches founded by his converts whose Christianity he vouches for.

. There is but one Christian group in Thessalonica; it is small numerically, unless (Act 17:4) is to be pressed, but intense in faith (v. 8; cf. Rom 1:8, Col 1:6, Col 1:23); and it assembles perhaps in the house of Jason.

The numerical strength of the church in the house of Prisca and Aquila (1Co 16:19, Rom 16:5) is computed by Gregory (Canon and Text of the N. T. 524) to be at least fifty. Whether the church in Thess. that Paul addressed was as large as that is quite unknown.

No good reasons have been adduced to show why we have here and in II 1:1 (cf. Col 4:16) the nomen gentilicium instead of the name of the place (Gal 1:2, 1Co 1:2, 2Co 1:1). The view of von Soden (SK 1885, 274) that Paul under the influence of the fresh impression of his success thinks of the inhabitants as already as a whole in touch with the church, is unlikely in the light of the similar in Col 4:16. Equally obscure is the fact that I, II, Gal 1:2 Cor. Phile. are addressed to the church or churches (cf. Php 1:1 ) while Rom. Col. Eph. are addressed to the saints and brethren.

. This phrase, found only here and (with after ) in II 1:1 and to be attached closely to the preceding as in 2:14, specifies the Christian character of the in contrast with the civic assembly of the Gentiles and the theocratic assembly of the Jews (Chrys.). The omission of after , which on the analogy of Gal 1:22 might have been retained, serves to accentuate the closeness of the attachment. Both the phrase as a whole and its component parts (II 1:1) and . (II 1:1, 3:12) are peculiar to our letters.

The , however, is the of the characteristic Pauline phrases (2:14, 5:18 and often in Paul), (4:16 and often in Paul), (3:8, 5:12, II 3:4 and often in Paul), (4:1, Rom 14:14, Eph 1:15, Php 2:19), (1Co 15:31, Rom 6:23, Rom 8:39, Eph 3:11, but not in I, II), (v. 5; Rom 8:9, Rom 9:1, etc.), and (2:2; Col 3:3, Eph 3:9, but not Rom 2:17, Rom 5:11). The relation of the human and divine indicated by is local and realistic; the human is in the atmosphere of the divine. There is presupposed the indwelling of God (1Co 14:25, 2Co 6:16), Christ (Rom 8:10), or the Spirit (Rom 8:9, Rom 8:11) as an energising (cf. 1Co 12:16, Php 2:13) power both ethical and permanent. Hence when a man is in Christ or the Spirit, terms interchangeable as regards the operations, or in God, or when a man is possessed by them ( Rom 8:19, 1Co 7:40), he is as such under the control of a divine power that makes for newness of life (cf. Rom 15:13, Rom 15:19). The divine air which the human breathes is charged, so to speak, with ethical energy.

The new in these phrases with is neither the realism of the relation nor the grammatical form (cf. Hab 3:18; Eze 11:24, Eze 37:1) but the combination of with , a combination due to Pauls experience of Christ as Spirit and Lord. For influences on Pauls conception, see Gunkel (Die Wirkungen des Geistes, 1888, 100 ff.); Deissmann (Die neutestamentliche Formel in Christo Jesu, 1892); Volz (Der Geist Gottes, 1910, 198 ff.); Reitzenstein (Die hellenistischen Mysterienreligionen, 1910) and a critique of the same in Schweitzers Geschichte der Paulinischen Forschung, 1911, 141-184, especially 170 ff.; Deissmanns Paulus, 1911, 87 ff.; and Percy Gardners Religious Experience of St. Paul, 1911. An analogy to Pauls phrase is found in (Mar 1:23) and (Mar 3:30); the man is in the demon because the demon is in the man as an energising (cf. II 2:7, Eph 2:2; also II 2:9, 11) force; (Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 35224).

. The omission of the articles indicates that the phrase had long been fixed for Paul (cf. also II 1:2 (BD) Gal 1:1, Gal 1:3 (BD) Eph 6:23, Php 2:11). The name Father, inherited by the Master (cf. Bousset, Relig 432 ff.) and put into the central place in his teaching, is confirmed as primary in Pauls redemptive experience. It is striking that this name occurs in passages giving fervent expression to his religious life, and that it is joined usually with the name Christ, e. g. in the superscriptions, thanksgivings (1:3, 2Co 1:3, Col 1:3, Col 3:17, Eph 1:3, Eph 5:20), prayers (3:11, 13, II 2:16, Rom 15:6, Eph 6:23), and the like (1Co 8:6, 15:24, 28, 2Co 11:31, Rom 6:4, Eph 2:18, Eph 4:6). It is probable that as Paul insists that no man can say but in the Holy Spirit (1Co 12:3), so he would insist that no man can say (Gal 4:6, Rom 8:15) but in the same Spirit. At all events, Pauls specifically Christian name of the God of both Jews and Gentiles (Rom 3:29) is God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Father.

. . In these words both the primitive (Act 2:36) and the Pauline convictions about Jesus are summed up: he is Messiah and Lord. The Lordship of Jesus (1Co 12:3, Rom 10:9), Jesus Christ (1Co 8:6, Rom 13:14, Php 2:11), Christ Jesus (2Co 4:5, Col 2:6) is the essence of the Pauline experience; it receives conspicuous emphasis in the second epistle (see on II 2:13). While both and have already become proper names, the Messianic connotation of is not lost (cf. Rom 9:5, 2Co 5:10, Php 1:15, Eph 1:10, etc.). It is Jesus the Messiah who is Lord.

On the divine names in I, II, see Mill. 135-140. Dob., (60-61) explains the placing of before (e. g. 2:14, 5:18), to which SH 3ff.) call attention, as due to the ambiguity of the casus obliqui of ; for apart from Rom 8:34, 2Co 4:5, Col 2:6, the order . appears only in the formul and , while Paul writes continually . and .

. This phrase, common to all the ten Pauline superscriptions, bears, like the phrase , the stamp of Pauls experience. It is likewise the shortest Pauline prscript. , used here in its widest sense, is the favour of God by which he acquits all sinners, Jews and Gentiles, solely on the principle of faith and grants them freedom from the power of sin and newness of the life in Christ or the Spirit. is the spiritual prosperity enjoyed by the recipients of the divine favour. What is expressed in all the other letters of Paul (except Col 1:2 which adds only from God our Father), namely, that grace and peace come from God the (our) Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, is already implied in There is, however, no reason either here or in Col. for attaching to the clause with

In coining, as he apparently does coin, this form of greeting, Paul is less influenced by current epistolary phrases than by his conviction that the blessings of the promised Messianic kingdom (Isa 9:5, Psa 72:3) are realised only through the grace of God in Christ.

It is generally assumed (cf. Fritzsche on Rom 1:7 or Zahn on Gal 1:3) that the Pauline greeting is suggested both by the Semitic and the Greek.

The influence of the Aramaic in (Ezr 4:17, Ezr 5:7, Dan. 3:31 (98), 6:26; see BDB sub may have been felt (cf. also Apoc. Bar. 78:2 where Syriac suggests ); but it is doubtful (Robinson, Ephesians, 141) whether has anything to do with (Jam 1:1.Act 15:23, Act 23:26), for in some papyri at least (Witk., 22 ff. . or ), is the greeting and the thanksgiving. On the other hand, cf. 2 Mal 1:1 (Nestle, Exp. Times, 1911, vol. XXIII, 94).

The word is rare in the Prophets and Psalms but frequent in the Wisdom literature. Pauls usage has affected Luke and First Peter. The Johannist prefers to or (Since in later Gk. the optative tends to disappear) is to be supplied, in accordance with Semitic (Dan. 3:98 Lxx 1Pe 1:2, etc.), not Greek (which demands sc. ) usage. The position of serves to distinguish both and (Bl 80:2). It is doubtless pedantry to reflect on the fact that the readers as Christians possess already that grace, that hence only an increase of the same could be desired for them (Dob.). Most editors omit with BGF Orig. Pesh, Arm, f g r, Vulg the usual clause with The insertion of the same by ADKLP, et al., is more explicable than its omission.

II. THANKSGIVING (1:2-3:10)

In the thanksgiving (1:2-3:10; cf. 1:2, 2:13, 3:9) and closely related prayer (3:11-13) covering the major portion of the letter, Paul reviews his attitude to the church during his visit (1:2-2:16) and during the interval between his enforced departure and the writing of I (2:17-3:10). Though he praises without stint the faith and love of his converts, hardly mentioning the imperfections that exist (3:8, 10), and though his words pulsate with warmest affection, yet a tone of self-defence is heard throughout. The constant appeal to the knowledge or memory of the readers as regards his behaviour (1:5, 2:1-12), the references to oral reports which concern not only them but him (1:9), the insistence on the fact that the writers desired-Paul himself repeatedly-to return (2:17-20), the statement that the writers, Paul especially, had determined to send Timothy (3:1-5), and finally the prayer that the writers may return (3:11)-all serve to intimate that Paul is defending both his conduct during the visit and his failure to return against the allegations, not of the converts, not of Judaizers (for there are none in Thessalonica), not of the Gentile persecutors (2:14), for they are not attacked, but, as the ominous outburst (2:15-16) suggests, of the Jews.

It may be conjectured that the Jews, after Pauls departure, were maligning his conduct and misconstruing his failure to return. Indeed they may well have been the real instigators of Gentile persecutions. Though it is unlikely that the converts actually distrusted Paul (3:6), it is not improbable that they were wrought up and worried by the representations of the Jews, especially since Paul did not return. Whether he had heard of the matter before he despatched Timothy is uncertain but altogether probable. That the self-defence arises purely from a suspicion of Paul without any basis of fact (Dob. 106-107) is unlikely. In the light of 2:15-16, the Jews not the Gentiles (cf. Zahn, Introd. I, 217-218) are the accusers.

(1) Visit and Welcome (1:2-10)

Paul thanks God, as he bears in mind the spiritual excellence of the readers, for their election, the certainty of which is inferred from the presence of the Spirit controlling not only the converts who welcomed the gospel in spite of persecutions (vv. 6-10; cf. 2:13-16), but also the preachers themselves (vv. 5, 9a; cf. 2:1-12).

2We thank God always for you all, making mention of you when we pray, 3bearing in mind continually your work resulting from faith, and your activity prompted by love, and your endurance sanctioned by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, 4because we know, brothers beloved by God, that you have been chosen, 5from the fact that the gospel we preach did not come to you with words only but also with power, and in the Holy Spirit and much conviction,-as you know the kind of men we became to you for your sake; 6and (from the fact that) you became imitators of us and of the Lord, welcoming the Word in the midst of great persecution with the joy that the Holy Spirit gives, 7so that you became a model community to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia: 8for starting from you the Word of the Lord has sounded out not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place your faith in God has gone out, so that we need not utter a word about you, 9for they themselves are reporting about us what kind of visit we paid you, and (about you) how you turned to God leaving behind those idols of yours, for the purpose of serving the living and genuine God 10and of awaiting his Son who comes down out of the heavens, whom he raised from the dead,-Jesus who delivers us from the judgment that is coming.

The epistolary arrangement of I ( 1:1; 1:2-3:10; 3:11-13; 4:1-5:22; 5:25; 5:26; 5:28) may be compared with BGU, 423 (saec. ii, a.d., quoted by Robinson, op. cit. 276): , , , , , Some of the phrases in v. 2 ff. may be compared with P. Lond. 42 (saec. ii, b.c., quoted by Deiss. BS 209 ff.): ; with BGU, 632 (saec. ii, a.d., quoted by Robinson, op. cit. 276): ; and with 1 Mac. 12:11.

As in the papyri, so also in Pauls letters, there is freedom in the use both of the general epistolary outline and of the separate phrases. In Paul, the simplest thanksgiving is II 1:3, Rom 1:3. This is expanded in I 1:4, Col 1:4, Phm 1:5 by a causal participle without ; in 1Co 1:4 by clauses with and ; in Php 1:3 ff. with two clauses with and a causal participle. In Phil. and our letter, the thanksgiving is full, while Gal. has no thanksgiving. In 2 Cor. and Eph., the O. T. takes the place of

From Pauls usage we may assume that is to be taken not with but with (hence a comma after ), as the simpler form (1Co 1:4, Rom 1:8) suggests; that is parallel to and an expansion of as (Rom 1:10; contrast Phm 1:4, Eph 1:16) indicates; and that is a causal participle depending on , while depends not on the latter but on the former. Doubtful is the reference of and ; v. infra.

2. . Thankfulness is not only felt but is expressed to God, and that too always and for all; in saying Paul is thinking not of their imperfections (3:10) but of their faith and love and personal affection (3:6).

Inasmuch as Paul always uses the article in the phrase , is not significant in this case. Born (69) presses the article to mean the one God in contrast to the pagan gods. But quite apart from the lack of definiteness in the use of the article (Bl 46:6), it is to be noted that is more frequent than in Paul; in I the proportion is about three to one, in Romans slightly greater; and in Col. all but two of the twenty-three cases have the article; cf. I 4:6 with Gal 4:9-Both (except Rom 1:10) and (except Phm 1:4) follow in the initial thanksgivings of Paul. , a late word, is rare in the Lxx (Sap. 11:21, 19:18) but common in Paul (3:6, 5:16, II 1:11, etc.). occurs a score or more times in the Gk. Bib. (cf. 2Co 4:11, 2Co 6:10); but once (2Pe 1:15).-For , we have in Php 1:3, Col 1:3 (v. l.); the distinction between them is fading away (Moult I, 105).

This participial clause defines (cf. Phm 1:4). = (Col 1:3); = in the time of. Each time that they are engaged in prayer, the writers mention the names of the converts (contrast v. 3 and 3:6) and give thanks for them.

While both and (cf. Job 14:13, Psa 110:4, Isa 32:10) are classic, epistolary usage favours the latter construction. is to be supplied. Its omission is due both here and Eph 1:16 to the () ; its retention by CDG, et al., is influenced by Rom 1:10, Phm 1:4 (cf. I 3:6, Php 1:3 and papyri). instead of (Rom 1:10, Eph 1:16, Phm 1:4) is natural, since Silvanus and Timothy are associated with Paul in the thanksgiving.-The distinction between (Dan. Lxx 18, 20; Ign. Mag. 14:1 Trall. 13:1 with ; cf. Paul in Rom 15:30, Col 4:12) and is probably slight; cf. 1 Mac. 12:11.

3. . Bearing in mind continually. This participial clause, parallel to the defining temporal clause , suggests the immediate ground of the thanksgiving, while the third parallel gives the ultimate ground (Find.). The never-failing memory of the spiritual excellence of the converts prompts the expression of thanks at every season of prayer.

Whether is to be taken with (Chrys., Dob., Dibelius, et al.) or with (Ephraem, Pesh, Vulg, and G (which capitalises ) Wohl., Mill., Moff., et al.) cannot be determined. In view of the freedom of epistolary usage, the analogy of 1 Mac. 12:11, Rom 1:10 P. Lond. 42 ( ) is not decisive. is used with (Rom 1:9; cf. 1 Mac. 12:12), (2:13), and (5:17; cf. Ign. Eph. 10:1; Hermas Sim. IX 11:7; and Polyc. 4:3 ).-Since with gen. (Gal 2:10, Col 4:18) refers to the thought not to its expression in prayer before God, it is better to take not with the distant but with the adjacent (Lft., Mill., Dob.), as indeed the position of the clause and the analogy of 3:13 make probable (but see Lillie, ad loc.).

. The genitives are somewhat bewildering and the interpretations are various. The most favoured solution is that which joins with , , , and which explains , , and as subjective genitives, and as an objective genitive qualifying . The stress is laid not on faith alone but on the work that results from faith; not on love alone but on the toilsome activity prompted by love; not on endurance alone but on the endurance that is inspired by the hope in Christ. The three phrases , , and may be the coinage of Paul; at least they are not found elsewhere in the Gk. Bib. (except II 1:11 ; Heb 6:10 reads not but simply ), or in the Apostolic Fathers.

Lillie notes that Olshausen and Steiger (1832 on 1Pe 1:2) connect with all three gen. , and , a view to which Dob. inclines. But love to God (Rom 8:28, 1Co 2:9, 1Co 8:3) or Christ (1Co 16:22, Eph 6:24) is rare in Paul compared with the love of God or Christ for men. On the name . (5:9, 23, 28, II 2:1, 14, 16, 3:18), see below on 2:19.

. The work of faith is the activity that faith inspires, that is, love in all its manifestations (as in II 1:11).- . The toilsome activity prompted by love. In this unique phrase, minted from the situation, it is uncertain whether Paul has in mind manual labour necessary to support missionary propaganda, or the laborious missionary effort as such (3:5), or both. Love is not to be restricted to .- . The endurance inspired by hope. This unique phrase differs from (4 Mac. 17:4) in that the emphasis is upon endurance. Hope, whose object is Christ (Col 1:27), is the confident expectation of spiritual prosperity after death, the hope of salvation (5:8), the good hope (II 2:16) originating in Christ, a hope that those who are not in Christ do not share (4:13).

(II 1:4, 3:5) is frequent in 4 Mac. (e. g. 15:30) in the sense of In 1 Clem. 5:7 Paul himself is In II 3:5 the only adequate endurance is that inspired by Christ.

. Hope in Christ suggests the day of the Lord when all men must appear before God. For the unbeliever, it is a day of destruction (1:10, 5:3, II 1:9), but for the believer, a day of salvation (1:10, 3:13, 5:9), the fruition of hope. The Judge here is not Christ (2Co 5:10) but God (Rom 14:10), and that too the God and Father of us Christians. As in 2:19, 3:13, is attached loosely to the immediately preceding words.

(Rom 6:4, Eph 2:18, Eph 3:14, Col 1:2 v. l.), (Gal 4:6, Rom 8:15), (Col 1:12 () 3:17), (1Co 8:6, Col 1:12 FG), (1Co 15:24, Eph 5:20), . (Rom 15:6, 2Co 1:3, Eph 1:3, Col 1:3 (A; BCDG omit ) 2Co 11:31 D) do not occur in I, II. We have, however, (1:1, II 1:2 (BD) Gal 1:1, Gal 1:3 (BD) Eph 6:23, Php 2:11), (II 1:1, Gal 1:3 (A) Rom 1:7, 1Co 1:3, 2Co 1:2, Col 1:2, Eph 1:2, Php 1:2, Phm 1:3), and (1:3, 3:11, 13, Gal 1:4, Php 4:20). Unique is II 2:16 whether we read (BD) or (G). Paul does not use or (Sir. 23:4).

4. = . The causal participle (cf. Php 1:6, Col 1:3, Phm 1:4) introduces the ultimate ground of the thanksgiving, namely, the election of the readers. Of this election Paul is assured both from the fact that ( v. 5) the gospel which he preached, the gospel through which God calls men unto salvation (II 2:14), came home to them with the power of the Spirit, and from the fact that (sc. before v. 6) the same Spirit operated in the believers, as could be plainly inferred from the welcome they gave to the Word and its messengers in spite of great persecution. It is significant both that here, as Calvin observes, Paul infers the pretemporal election of the readers from the fruits of the Spirit, and that it is taken for granted that the readers understand what means, an evidence that this idea formed an integral part of the gospel of God proclaimed in Thessalonica.

. The frequency of in I is indicative of Pauls love for his converts. This affectionate address is strengthened by beloved by God, a phrase which like beloved by the Lord (II 2:13) is unique in the N. T., though equivalent in sense to (Rom 1:7). The connection of this phrase with makes plain that election proceeds from the love of God (cf. Isa 41:8-9 where is parallel to ).

Moses in Sir. 45:1 is ; Israel in Baruch 3:37 is . (i. e. our God); and Solomon in Neh 13:26 is cf. Ep. to Diogn. 4:4 where and appear together and Ign. Trall. init. of the holy church . . More frequently we have in this phrase, as in II 2:13, ; for example, Benjamin in Deu 33:12 and Issachar in Test. xii Iss. 1:1 are . ; and Samuel in Sir. 46:13 is . See further Col 3:12, 1Co 15:58, etc.- (Rom 7:4, Rom 7:15:14, 1Co 1:11, 1Co 11:33, 1Co 14:39, Php 3:1), (1Co 15:58, Php 4:1), (Rom 12:19, 2Co 7:1, 2Co 12:19, Php 4:1), (1Co 10:14, Php 2:12), do not occur in I, II as forms of address. The simple of address occurs about 20 times in 1Cor., 14 in 1 Thess., 10 in Rom., 9 in Gal., 7 in 2 Thess., 6 in Phil., 3 in 2 Cor. and twice in Phile. (). But no one of these addresses appears in Col. or Eph. On the Christian use of cf. Harnack, Mission, 2 I, 340 ff.; on the pagan use, Deiss. BS 82 f. and Witk., 38, note 1. It is doubtful whether before is to be retained (ACKP) or omitted (BDGL; cf. Weiss., 72).

. The election of you, that is, that you have been chosen, namely, by God, as always in Paul. The eternal choice of God, the divine purpose which has worked on the principle of selection (SH ad Rom 9:11), includes, according to II 2:14, not only the salvation of the readers but also the means by which or the state in which salvation is realised.

The words (1Co 1:27 ff. Eph 1:4), (Rom. 16:33), (Rom 8:33, Col 3:12), and (Rom 9:11, Rom 9:11:5, Rom 9:7, Rom 9:28) are rare in Paul. does not occur in the Lxx For its use in Ps. Sol., see the edition of Ryle and James, 1891, 95 f. (II 1:11), (2:12, 4:7, 5:24) is the historical calling mediated by the preaching of the gospel (II 2:14).

5. . We infer your election from the fact that ( = because as in II 3:7, Rom 8:27, 1Co 2:14) the Spirit was in us who preached (v. 5) and in you who welcomed the Word (vv. 6-10). By saying our gospel came instead of we came with the gospel (2Co 10:14), Paul puts the emphasis more upon the message as the means of realising Gods call than upon the bearers of the message. The presence of the Spirit is the central fact in Pauls experience and the test of its validity. Hence such passages as Gal 3:2, 1Co 12:2, Rom 8:15 and the inevitable 2Co 13:13.

That = quia (Vulg) is the usual view. = (that) (because), as in Rom 5:4-5, Rom 8:28-29, Php 4:15-16. An alternative interpretation takes as an object clause further explaining Since, however, of the original purpose of God is not exactly the equivalent of the clause, is held to mean the manner of your election and how that (Lft., Mill.). In support of this view, 2:1, 1Co 16:15, 2Co 12:3-4 should not be adduced, or Rom 11:3 where is resumed by On the other hand, 1Co 1:26, especially if be not supplied, might be considered a parallel, although is not But this alternative view is not exegetically satisfactory (Ell.).-The passive = is frequent in Lxx; in the N. T. it is found chiefly in Paul, Heb. Mt. Of the score or more instances in Paul, eight appear in 1:5-2:14; cf. Bl 20:1.

In Lxx, or with accus. or with dat. are frequent as also for nominative (I 3:5; cf. 2:1), but otherwise is rare. It is used with persons (Eze 23:10, Eze 23:2 Mac. 12:5) or things (3 Reg. 13:33; Jdg 17:8 A where B has ). On = , cf. 1Co 2:1, 1Co 2:3 and the prophetic phrase () In Paul, we expect with persons either (1Co 2:3, 1Co 16:10 and here ADG) or (so below AC with ); here and Gal 3:14 may be equivalent to the dative (I 4:8; cf. Bl 39:5; 2:9 where has dative as in 1Co 9:27), or to For the interchange of and with , cf. Luk 1:44, Act 10:13, Act 26:6, Act 13:32. = with (2Co 2:1) or clothed with (1Co 4:21); cf. Moult I, 61.

. Our gospel (II 2:14, 2Co 4:3; cf. Rom 2:16, Rom 16:25) is the gospel with which Paul and his associates have been intrusted (2:4) and which they preach (Gal 2:2). The author of the gospel is God ( 2:2, 8, 9, Rom 1:1, Rom 1:15:16, 2Co 11:7) or Christ ( 3:2, Gal 1:7, 1Co 9:12, 2Co 2:12, 2Co 9:13, 2Co 10:14, Rom 15:19, Php 1:27; Rom 1:9). The gospel ( 2:4 and frequently in Paul) represents Pauls convictions about Christianity, the good news of the grace of God unto salvation proclaimed in the prophets and realised in Christ (Rom 1:2) by whose death and resurrection the Messianic promise is mediated to all believers. Only such elements of this comprehensive gospel are explicitly treated in a given letter as the specific need requires (cf. Dob. 81 f.). Hence, for the purpose of determining the content of the gospel, what is said implicitly may be more important than what is accentuated. For example, the gospel preached in Thessalonica had to do not simply with faith in the living and true God and ethical consecration to him, not simply with the Parousia and Judgment, but also with Gods election and calling, the significance of the death of Christ (5:9), the new life in Christ or the Spirit, and the attendant spiritual gifts (5:19 ff).

On the origin and meaning of , see Zahn (Introd. II, 377-379), Mill. (141-144), Dob. (86), and Harnack, Verfassung und Recht, 1910, 199 ff. (also in English). The use of to designate the good news unto salvation may have originated in Palestinian Christianity. In the Lxx (and Test. xii, Ps. Sol.), the singular does not occur. A papyrus of the third century (a.d.) seems to read (Deiss. Light, 371). = good tidings is rendered in Lxx by (2 Reg. 18:20, 27, 4 Reg. 7:9 and (according to Harnack but not Swete) 2 Reg. 18:25); while = reward for good tidings (see BDB) is translated by the plural (2 Reg. 4:10, 18:22). For the plural = good news in the Priene inscription, see Deiss. (op. cit. 371).

In Pauls usage, the genitive in is subjective, pointing to the fact that God, (Php 2:13) in Paul, inspires the message preached (cf. I 2:13); it is that the missionaries speak the gospel of God (2:2). Similarly the genitive in is subjective (Zahn; Harnack, 217-218, against Dob.). The indwelling Christ speaks in Paul (2Co 13:3) and reveals the gospel (Gal 1:12). Such a view of the genitive does not preclude references to the content of the gospel (2Co 4:4, Eph 1:13, Eph 6:15) or the employment of (1Co 1:23, etc.) or (Gal 1:16), for when Paul preaches Christ he preaches not only Christ but the plan of salvation conceived by God, promised by the prophets, and realised in the death and resurrection of Christ (Harnack, op. cit. 235).

Like but with a distinctively O. T. flavour is the rarer (1:6, Gal 6:6, Col 4:3), (2:13, 1Co 14:36, 2Co 2:17, 2Co 4:2, Php 1:14, Col 1:25) and (1:8, II 3:1 = Col 3:16); cf. Harnack (op. cit. 245 f.). This word is the word which God or Christ in Paul speaks, a divine not a human oracle (2:13) which comes to Paul as it came to the prophets (cf. Rom 9:6). The content of the word is occasionally specified as truth (2Co 6:7, Col 1:5, Eph 1:13), life (Php 2:16), the cross (1Co 1:18), or reconciliation (2Co 5:19).-The gospel is also the proclamation ( 1Co 1:21; 1Co 2:4; 1Co 15:14) which Jesus Christ inspires (Rom 16:25); or the testimony ( ) which God (1Co 2:1) or Christ (1Co 1:6) inspires and which Paul and his associates proclaim (II 1:10; cf. 1:8).-On the Pauline gospel, see further J. Weiss, Das lteste Evangelium, 1903, 33 ff., and J. L. Schultze, Das Evangelium im ersten Thess. 1907.

. The stress is laid on the manner of the coming of the gospel: clothed not only with a form of words but also, and significantly, with power, that is, with a reality back of the form, and that too a divine reality as the added explains.

Unlike the Corinthians, the Thessalonians did not object to Pauls style, for we have not (1Co 2:3 f. 4:19-20 where and are mutually exclusive) but . refers not to the results of power, the charismata in general, or those specifically associated with (2Co 12:12)-in which case we should expect (but cf. II 2:9) or an added phrase (Rom 15:19 )- but to the power itself, as the contrast with and the explanatory indicate.- with as with and is ultimately local; to be clothed with the Spirit is to be in the Spirit. There is no reference to glossolalia in Furthermore is not a hendiadys, though the operation of the Spirit is in its essence (1Co 2:5 of God; 1Co 5:4, 2Co 12:9 of Christ; 1Co 2:4, Rom 15:13, Rom 15:19 of the Spirit; cf. II 1:11).

. Closely connected with (omit before with B and resulting from the indwelling of the Spirit, is the inward assurance, certa multa persuasio (Beza), of the missionaries (cf. 2:2 ).

is rare in Gk. Bib. (Col 2:2, Heb 6:11, Heb 6:10:22; cf. I Clem. 42:3); the verb is less rare (e. g. Ecc 8:11, Rom 4:21 I Clem. 42:3; and in papyri; cf. Deiss. Light, 82 f.). Of the meanings fulness or conviction, the latter is more appropriate here; see Hammond on Luk 1:1 and Lft. on Col 2:2. The phrase () happens to occur in the N. T. only in Paul, the adjective preceding (2:2, 17, Rom 9:22) or following (1:5, 6, 1Co 2:3, 2Co 6:4) the noun.

. As you know what sort of men ( = quales; cf. 2Co 12:20) we became in your eyes for your sakes. The connection appears to be: We preached the gospel in the power of the Spirit and in full persuasion of its divine reality. That means that we preached not for our own selfish interests, as the Jews insinuate, but solely for your advantage, as you know. The theme of self-defence here struck is elaborated in 2:1-12 where the appeal to the knowledge of the readers in confirmation of Pauls statements becomes frequent.

(2:2, 5, 3:4), (2:1, 3:3; 5:2, II 3:7), (2:11), (4:2, II 2:6), (2:9; II 2:5), (2:5, 10) occur chiefly in the thanksgiving (1:2-3:10), especially 2:1-12. (13 times in I) is later Gk. for which Paul does not use; cf. (2:11, 3:6, 12, 4:5).-The reading (AC) has been assumed with WH.; (BDG) is preferred by Tisch Zim Weiss, Dob. In Rom 10:20, AC read , with Isa 65:1, while BD insert in each instance. The interprets the simple dative; 2:10 is a good parallel, but 2:5 is quite different, and 2:7 has as we should expect after The simple is a dative of reference (2:10), expressing neither advantage nor disadvantage, and importing scarcely more than before.-On cf. 1Co 4:6, 2Co 4:15, 2Co 8:9, Php 1:24.

6. The sentence is getting to be independent, but (v. 5) is still in control: and from the fact that you became, etc. The proof of election is the presence of the Spirit not only in the preachers ( ) but also in the hearers who welcomed the word ( ) with joy in the midst of great persecution. To be sure, Paul mentions first not the welcome but the imitation. But the two things are inseparable, if we take as a participle not of antecedent action, when you had welcomed, but of identical action, in that you welcomed. . Imitators of us and above all of the Lord (ipsius Domini, Ambst). Pauls consciousness of his own integrity (1Co 4:4), due to the power of Christ in him (Gal 2:20), permitted him to teach by example (1Co 11:1) as well as by precept. As an example not simply of endurance but of joy in persecutions, he could point to himself and especially to Christ. Some knowledge of the life of Jesus on the part of the readers is here presupposed (cf. Gal 3:1). . The inward joy which is the accompaniment () of external persecution, and which is cogent proof of election, is an enthusiastic happiness (Php 1:25) due to the new operating in the believers, the power of the Spirit (Gal 5:22, Rom 14:17) or Christ (Php 3:1, Php 3:4:4, Php 3:10).

Although alone is the point of comparison in 2:14, and although Paul, who frequently refers to the sufferings of Christ (2Co 5:1, Php 3:10, Rom 8:17), does not elsewhere refer to Christs joy in suffering, yet Chrys. is right in finding the point of comparison here in The context alone here as elsewhere ( II 3:7, 9, 1Co 4:16, 1Co 11:1, Php 3:17, Php 4:9, Gal 4:12) determines the scope of imitation. = ; external persecution (Act 17:5 ff. and the like) is meant (3:3, 7, II 1:4, 6; cf. 2Co 1:8), not distress of mind (2Co 2:4).- as the contrast with (2:13) shows, means not simply receive, but receive willingly, welcome. The phrase (only here and 2:13 in Paul) is used by Luke (Luk 8:13, Act 8:14, Act 11:1 and especially 17:11) but not by Lxx; it is equivalent to (2Co 11:4).- is not (A) but Christ, as always in I, II (Mill. 135-140).-B inserts before conforming to v. 5-On of accompaniment, cf. 3:13, 5:28, II 1:7, 3:12. 16, 18.-On joy in suffering, cf. 2Co 6:10, 2Co 13:9 and especially 7:4, 8:2.

7. . The actual result of their imitation of Christ and Paul is that the Thessalonians became themselves an example to all the Christians in Macedonia and in Achaia, the two provinces constituting Greece since 142 b.c. In the matter of how one ought to welcome the gospel, the taught have become the teachers. Knowledge of their progress came to Paul not only from Timothys report (3:6) but also from other news that kept coming to him in Corinth ( v. 10).

In the mainly Pauline phrases (Rom 3:22, Rom 3:4:11; cf. Rom 1:16, Rom 10:4, Act 13:39), (2:10, 13; Eph 1:19, 1Pe 2:7), and (Gal 3:22, 1Co 1:21, 1Co 1:14:22; Joh 6:47), the present tense is timeless. Paul does not use the aorist (cf. Mar 16:17, Act 2:44, Act 4:32, Heb 4:3) in these expressions except in II 1:10.-The reading is necessary in Rom 5:14, Rom 6:17 and certain in II 3:9, Php 3:17. is secure in 1Co 10:6. On the analogy of II 3:9, Php 3:17, Php 3:4 Mac. 6:19 is here to be read with BD. (AC) may be due to

8-10. The general drift of these verses is clear, but some of the details are obscure. The statement (v. 7) that the readers have become a pattern to all the Christians in Greece may well have surprised the Thessalonians. But the explanation (vv. 8 f.) must have been a greater surprise, for it is added that news of the gospel as proclaimed in Thessalonica and of the Christianity of the readers has spread not only in Greece (v. 7) but everywhere, as if v. 7 had ended with The point of vv. 8 f. is not that Paul himself is everywhere extolling the readers, as he probably did (II 1:4), for (v. 8) and (v. 9) are designedly contrasted; not that the readers are boasting at home and abroad of their spiritual life, even if they might have boasted of the gospel, for ; but that other people, believers everywhere, whose names are not given, keep telling Paul in Corinth both about the visit he paid and about the conversion of the Thessalonians. These reports make unnecessary any words from Paul.

Difficulty arises only when we try to make Paul more definite than he is. He does not say who carried the news everywhere, but says only that the gospel which he preached has sounded out and the faith of the converts has gone out. He does not specify the indirect objects of and nor does he define It may perhaps be conjectured that means the believers everywhere, that is, some of them. In this case, the are probably not those who bring the news to Greece and other parts from Thessalonica, but those who make reports to Paul. The indirect object of may be the that of , Paul and his associates. rather than here suggests oral reports. To be sure, (v. 9 B, et al.) is the easier reading, but prepares better for Paul writes from the standpoint of Corinth where the reports keep coming in; hence not or , as if Bera or Athens were in mind, but the progressive present

8. This verse, formally considered, is without asyndeton, unless recourse is had to the unnecessary expedient of placing a colon after or The obscurity lies in the fact (1) that v. 8 () explains not solely, as we should expect, why the readers became a model to all Christians in Greece, but also why they became a pattern to all believers everywhere; and in the fact (2) that after , where the sentence might naturally end, a second and, in the argument, a more important subject is introduced, which is not synonymous with and a second predicate which is prose for Materially considered, this verse is concerned not with the method by which the news of the gospel and of the faith of the readers is brought everywhere, whether by Paul, by travelling Thessalonians, or by other Macedonians (cf. 4:10), but with the fact that the word of the Lord and their faith have actually spread, a fact that makes it unnecessary for Paul himself to say anything about this model community.

It is hardly worth while tampering with an innocent anacoluthon (see Lillie for a conspectus of attempts) whether by conjecturing = after and translating in every place into which your faith has gone forth; or by putting a colon after (Ln., Born, Wohl., et. al.), a procedure which introduces a formal asyndeton and hints that the parallel subjects are synonymous. Simpler is it to let the balanced sentence remain untouched (Lft., Schmiedel, et al.), in which case explains only (v. 7) and explains (v. 7).-In there is a covert allusion to Paul as a preacher in the Spirit and in much conviction (v. 5), and in a clear reference to the welcome which the converts gave (v. 6). Each of these points recurs in vv. 9-10 and 2:1-12, 13-16. In passing, be it observed that vv. 2-10 form a single sentence; hence after (v. 7) a colon is to be placed and also after (v. 8).

. Starting from you, the word of the Lord (the word that Christ inspires) has sounded forth. The parallel and the similar (1Co 14:36) suggests that (which might = ; cf. Bl 403) is here local, marking the Thess. as the simple terminus a quo of the (Ell.).

Whether implies the sound either of a trumpet (Chrys.) or of thunder (Lft.) is uncertain; it may mean simply has spread. The word itself is rare in the Gk. Bib. (active in Joe 3:14, Sir. 40:13, middle in 3 Mal 3:2 (Ven.) and here); cf. Luk 4:37 with 4:14 Before , is retained by CD, et al., a reading perhaps conformed to v. 7 (Weiss); cf. Act 19:21 where B omit and AD retain before If with B, et al. is omitted, then Greece as a whole is contrasted with the rest of the world.-The with and (cf. Luk 7:17) may be interpreted with the older grammarians to mean not only the arrival of the report, but its permanence after its arrival (Ln.), as, inded, the perfects of resultant action likewise suggest. Recent grammarians (Bl 411 and Mill.) are inclined not to press the point, in view of the frequency in later Gk. of for -After () , Paul adds except here and Php 2:12; but to insert here with KL is to fail to observe that the omission is purposed, for includes Macedonia and Achaia (Bl .77:13).- is a pardonable hyperbole (1Co 1:2, 2Co 2:14; cf. Rom 1:8, Col 1:6). As Paul is not speaking with geographical accuracy, it is unnecessary to assume that since he left Thessalonica he went beyond Greece or that he has Galatia or Rome in mind.

. The repetition of the article serves to make clear the object toward which their faith is turned and also to suggest a contrast (Ell.) between their present attitude to God and their past pagan attitude to idols. The phrase is rare in the Greek Bible (4 Mac. 15:24 () 16:22) but frequent in Philo (cf. Hatch, Essays, 86 f.).

With and Paul uses (Col 2:5, Phm 1:5 v. l.), (Col 1:4, Gal 3:26, Eph 1:15), (Rom 4:5) and (Phm 1:5 v. l.). (3:2, 5, 6, 7, 10, II 1:3, 4) is frequent in Paul (Rom 1:8, Rom 1:12, etc.) and elsewhere (Jam 1:3, etc.). , a rare word in Paul, is used with (Rom 10:18) and (2Co 8:17).

has to do strictly with the utterance as such, with the content of the utterance (SH on Rom 3:19), as when we say: he speaks well but says nothing.

On with accus., cf. 2:2, Php 1:14, Rom 15:18 (). Observe the parallelism of in vv. 7-8, 8-9. On cf. 1Co 1:7, 2Co 3:7. The common with infin. only here and 4:9, 5:1 in Paul. The reading (B, et al.) for is probably conformation to after

9. There is no need for us missionaries () to speak, for they themselves, that is, such believers from Greece and elsewhere as happen to be in Corinth ( in contrast with ) keep reporting ( is a progressive present) to us, first of all and somewhat unexpectedly, about us ( ) namely, what kind of a visit we paid you, and then about you, how you turned, etc. It is unnecessary to remark that Pauls version of the report need not be literal. As he writes, he has in mind the insinuations of the Jews (v. 5, 2:1-12); hence is put first.

is constructio ad sensum as Gal 2:2. (1Co 14:25) is frequent in Lxx and Luke; is to be understood. The reading (B) misses the point of contrast between visit and welcome. adnuntiatis (r), which Rendel Harris prefers, is due to the supposed difficulty in (Dob.).-The indirect interrogative (Gal 2:6, 1Co 3:13), which is rare in Gk. Bib., expresses like (v. 5) the quality of the visit.- in Lxx is used both of the action (Mal 3:2) and of the place (Eze 42:9). appears to be unique in Gk. Bib. (cf. 2:1); the reference is not to a door opening into their hearts (cf. Marc. Aur. 5:19 and Hermas Sim. IX, 12:6), for that is excluded by 2:1; nor to the favourable reception (which even P. Oxy. 32 peto a te ut habeat introitum ad te does not of necessity suggest), for the welcome is not mentioned until (cf. 2:1-12 the visit; 2:13 ff. the welcome); but simply to the act of entering (Act 13:24, Heb 10:19, 2Pe 1:11). = visit (Php 1:26, Php 1:3 Mal 3:17); cf. also , (Act 16:40, Act 28:30).

. And about you they report how you turned to God, etc. introduces a second object clause parallel to In keeping with v. 8, faith in God is singled out as the primary characteristic of the readers, but the idea is expressed not, as we might expect, with but, since Gentile rather than Jewish converts are in mind, with a phrase perhaps suggested by the contrast with idols, In facing God, they turned their backs on idols. These are looked upon as dead (1Co 12:2) and false, not being what they purport to be. While the idol in itself is nothing (1Co 10:19), communion with it brings the worshipper under the power of the gods and demons who are conceived as present at the ritual act, or as resident in the idol, or, to the popular mind, as identified with the idol (1Co 10:20). Unlike these dead and false idols, God is living and genuine, what he purports to be (contrast 1Co 8:5, Gal 4:8).

describes the fact (Rth 2:11, Act 11:13) rather than the manner (Sap. 6:22 ), that is, tends to become (Bl 70:2). The in is directive as in Gal 4:9 rare in Paul, is frequent in Lxx In the phrase . (). the Lxx uses both which Luke prefers, and (Luk 17:4, Act 9:40, 2Co 3:16). The article in need not be pressed as Gal 4:8 indicates.- (Rom 2:22, 1Co 8:4, etc.) in the Lxx renders a variety of Hebrew words both proper and opprobrious. For the meaning of these words and for the forms of idolatry mentioned in the Bible, see G. F. Moore, EB 2146 ff. The polemic against images begins with the prophets of the eighth century. With the prophets of the seventh century begins the contemptuous identification of the gods of the heathen with their idols, and in the sixth the trenchant satire upon the folly of making gods of gold and silver, of wood and stone, which runs on through the later Psalms, Wisdom, Baruch, the Jewish Sibyllines, etc., to be taken up again by Christian apologists (op. cit. 2158). See further Bousset, Relig. 350 ff. and Wendland, Die hellenistische-rmische Kultur, 142.- (Rom 9:26 = Hos 1:10, 2Co 3:3, etc.) is common in Gk. Bib. (Isa 37:4, Isa 37:17, etc.); = genuine (Trench, Synonyms, 12 27) appears only here in Paul as a description of God (cf. Joh 17:3, 1Jn 5:20, 2Ch 15:3, 2Ch 15:3 Mal 2:11, 6:18). The total phrase seems to be unique in Gk. Bib. ( Heb 9:14 (AP) is a scribal reminiscence of our passage).

10. . The positive turning to God, faith toward him, has a twofold purpose, religious consecration to him, a (Rom 6:22) demanding righteousness of life (cf. 4:3 ff.); and a hope, hitherto unknown (4:13), which awaits Gods Son who comes ( ) or comes down ( 4:16) out of the heavens, to finish his work as rescuer, by freeing believers from the impending judgment.

On the infin. of purpose with , cf. Rev 1:12 Sap. 19:2, Ecc 2:20. Like the Galatians (Gal 4:8 f.), the readers have exchanged a slavery to idols for a slavery to God. Usually Paul speaks of a slavery to Christ ( Rom 12:11, Rom 14:18, Rom 16:18, etc.; Gal 1:10, Rom 1:1, etc.). (Psa 2:11, Psa 99:2, Sir. 2:1, etc.) like () is a common phrase in the Lxx On the meaning of in Paul, see Zahn on Rom 1:1 (in Zahns Kommentar).

(classical, Lxx) appears only here in N. T. Paul does not use at all (Gen 49:18, Act 1:4) or transitively (Isa 8:17, Isa 8:2 Mac. 7:30, Act 20:5, Act 20:23), choosing the stronger (1Co 11:33, 1Co 16:11) and (Gal 5:5, Rom 8:19 ff. 1Co 1:7, Php 3:20). The nearness of the thing expected is suggested by the very idea of waiting (cf. Isa 59:11).

The faith of the readers had to do not only with God but with his Son who is to come down out of the heavens, the Messiah of the apocalyptic hope. Specifically Christian is the phrase, explanatory of , which intimates not only that the Messiah had lived and died but also that he is now, as , (cf. Rom 4:24, Rom 10:9, Eph 1:20). Likewise specifically Christian is the name Jesus; to Paul as to the Christians before him is and (see on 1:1). In the explanatory words (a timeless participle), the function of Jesus as Messiah is stated negatively as that of deliverance or rescue from the judgment which though future is not far distant.

This is the only mention of Jesus as Son in our letter; the designation does not occur at all in II, Phil. Phil. For , cf. Gal 1:16, Gal 1:4:4, Gal 1:6, Rom 1:3, Rom 1:9, Rom 1:5:10, Rom 1:8:29; Rom 8:3 () 8:32 () 1Co 1:9 (+ . . ); for cf. Gal 2:20, 2Co 1:19, Rom 1:4, Eph 4:13; 1Co 15:28; (Col 1:13).- is rare in Paul compared with the gospels; the singular (11 times) and the plural (10 times) appear to be used interchangeably (cf. 2Co 5:1-2). Paul may have shared the conception of seven heavens (Slav. En. 8:1 ff. 20:1 ff.; cf. 2Co 12:2 ff.). (Mar 1:11 = Mat 3:17, Psa 148:1 Sap. 9:10) occurs only here in Paul, who prefers (Gal 1:8, 1Co 15:47, 2Co 5:2) or (4:16, II 1:10).-Paul prefers to (4:14, 16, Eph 5:14) but () to (Mat 27:53). The phrase is not found in Lxx (but cf. Sir. 48:5). The reading (AC) is more usual in Paul than (BD; cf. Col 1:18, Eph 5:14); see Weiss, 76.-. is frequent in Psalms and Isaiah. Paul uses of things (Rom 7:24, 2Co 1:10, Col 1:13) and of persons (II 3:2, Rom 15:31) with , a point overlooked by CDG which read here. For the historical name () , cf. 4:14, Gal 6:17, Rom 3:26, Rom 3:8:11, 1Co 12:3, 2Co 4:5 ff. 2Co 4:11:4, Php 2:10, Eph 4:21, and Mill. 135.

From the wrath which is coming. This phrase seems to occur only here in the Gk. Bib. , however, is used in a similar way in 5:2, Col 3:6 = Eph 5:6 (cf. 2:16 and Rom 1:17 f.). The choice of rather than (Mat 3:7 = Luk 3:7; cf. Ign. Eph. 11:1) may have been determined by the fact that Paul purposes to express not so much the certainty (which the attributive participle present might indicate, GMT. 826) as the nearness of the judgment. Nearness involves certainty but certainty does not necessarily involve nearness. () (2:16, 5:9, Rom 3:5, Rom 5:9, Rom 9:22, Rom 13:4) is () () (Rom 1:18, Col 3:6, Eph 5:6), (4 Mac. 9:32) as expressed in punishment and is equivalent to (in Paul only II 1:5), the eschatological judgment, as (Rom 2:5) indicates.

The term is Jewish; cf. especially Sir. 5:7. On the phrase , cf. Zep 1:15; on , cf. Zep 1:18, Zep 2:3, Eze 7:19 (A). On the idea of the day of judgment in the O. T. see Briggs, Messianic Prophecy, 1886, 487 ff. In Paul () and are often contrasted with (e. g. 2:16, 5:9, Rom 2:5 ff. Rom 2:5:9).

(e a p r). Cod. Sinaiticus, saec. iv, now at St. Petersburg. Edited by Tischendorf, its discoverer, in 1862. Photographic reproduction by H. and K. Lake, Oxford, 1911. Contains I and II complete.

B B (e a p r). Cod. Vaticanus, saec. iv, now in the Vatican Library. Photographic reproduction by Cozza-Luzi, Rome, 1889, and by the Milan firm of Hoepli, 1904. Contains I and II complete.

A A (e a p r). Cod. Alexandrinus, saec. v, now in the British Museum. Edited by Woide in 1786. Facsimile by E. M. Thompson, 1879. Contains I and II complete.

K K (a p). Cod. Mosquensis, saec. ix, now at Moscow. Collated by Matthaei, 1782. Contains I and II complete.

D D (p). Cod. Claromontanus, saec. vi, Graeco-Latin, now in the National library at Paris. Edited by Tischendorf in 1852. Contains I and II complete.

G G (p). Cod. Boernerianus, saec. ix, now in the Royal Library at Dresden. It is closely related to F, according to some the archetype of F (Souter). Edited by Matthaei, 1791. Im Lichtdruck nachgebildet, Leipzig (Hiersemann), 1909. Contains I and II complete.

F F (p). Cod. Augiensis, saec. ix, Graeco-Latin, now in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. An exact transcript by Scrivener, 1859. Contains I and II complete.

P P (a p r). Cod. Porphyrianus, saec. ix, now at St. Petersburg. Edited by Tischendorf (1865). Contains I and II except I 3:5 – 4:17.

EB The Encyclopdia Biblica (London, 1899-1903; ed. J. S. Black and T. K. Cheyne).

Exp The Expositor (London; ed. W. R. Nicoll).

Mill George Milligan.

Moff James Moffatt.

Dob Ernst von Dobschtz,

SK Studien und Kritiken.

Chrys Chrysostom.

Bousset, W. Bousset, Die Religion des Judentums im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter (19062).

SH Comm. on Romans in ICC. by W. Sanday an A. C. Headlam.

BDB Brown, Driver, Briggs, Heb.-Eng. Lexicon.

Witk St. Witkowski, Epistul Privat Grc (1906).

Exp. Times The Expository Times (Edinburgh; ed. J. Hastings).

Lxx The Old Testament in Greek (ed. H. B. Swete, 1887-94).

Bl F. Blass, Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch (1896, 19022).

Pesh Syriac Vulgate.

Arm Armenian version.

Vulg Vulgate.

L L (a p). Cod. Angelicus, saec. ix, now in the Angelican Library at Rome. Collated among others by Tischendorf (1843) and Tregelles (1845). Contains I and II complete.

Deiss. A. Deissmann, Bibelstudien (1895).

Born Bornemann.

Moult James Hope Moulton, A Grammar of N. T. Greek, I (1906).

C C (e a p r). Cod. Ephraemi Rescriptus, saec. v, now in the National Library at Paris. The N. T. fragments were edited by Tischendorf in 1843. Contains I 1:2 -2:8 .

Find G. G. Findlay.

Wohl Wohlenberg.

Lft Lightfoot.

Lillie John Lillie, Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians, Translated from the Greek, with Notes (1856).

Ell Ellicott.

Deiss. A. Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East (1910) = Licht vom Osten (19093).

Weiss B. Weiss in TU. XIV, 3 (1896).

WH The New Testament in the Original Greek (1881; I, Text, II, Introduction and Appendix).

Tisch Tischendorf.

Zim F. Zimmer, Der Text der Thessalonicherbriefe (1893).

Ambst Ambrosiaster.

Ln Lnemann.

Hatch, E. Hatch, Essays in Biblical Greek (1889).

r r saec. vii, a fragment now in Munich containing Php 4:11-23 and 1Th 1:1-10, discovered and edited by Ziegler, Italafragmente der Paulinishcen Briefe, 1876.

Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament

Imitators and Examples

1Th 1:1-10

This chapter abounds in thanksgiving; and the Apostle recites the many beautiful and hopeful traits of character and behavior by which the members of this Christian community had endeared themselves to him. Notice his favorite grouping of faith, hope, and love. We are taught to crave for these in our own soul-garden, and to rejoice to find them blossoming in others. Too often the gospel comes only in word; let us seek the other three accompaniments of 1Th 1:5. What a blessed thing it would be if our church life were so full of the Spirit of Christ that the ministers would not need to say anything! By whose preaching, a lad was asked, were you converted? By no ones preaching, was the reply, but by my Aunt Marys living.

There are three memorable steps indicated in 1Th 1:9-10. Turn unto God: serve Him as true and living: wait for the coming of the Son of man. The last phrase strikes the keynote of this Epistle. The Church is encouraged to stand expectant at the oriel window. Behind her is the night from which she has been delivered, and on the bosom of the dawn shines the morning star.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Of all the letters that Paul wrote under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Thessalonian Epistles are the earliest that the Lord in His grace has preserved for the edification of the church. Evidently they were written from Corinth after persecution drove Paul from Berea. At his request, Timothy and Silas had remained behind and gone on to Thessalonica. Then they had come to Corinth to report to Paul on the condition of the young church.

According to Lukes account in the book of Acts, Paul had preached the gospel on three successive sabbaths in the Jewish synagogue at Thessalonica. How much longer he remained in the city we are not told, but it could not have been very long. The results of his short visit were remarkable. Quite a group were brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of these converts were Jews, but the majority were apparently Gentiles who had been taught to see the folly of idolatry and led to put their trust in the living God as revealed in His Son.

Paul was deeply concerned about these young converts. They seemed to be like sheep without a shepherd, although of course he realized that the great Shepherd was ever watching over them. Paul told us he had no rest in his spirit while he waited for news about them because he feared that Satan might take advantage of those so recently brought to Christ. However, the report of Timothy and Silas was most encouraging and led to the writing of Pauls first letter to the Thessalonians.

Note that the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is referred to in some way in every chapter of this Epistle. Although the letter was addressed to babes in Christ, the apostle realized the importance of giving them clear instruction regarding this great theme.

Today we are often told that Christians need not give much thought to the doctrine of the second advent. Many ministers have no clear convictions regarding it and never preach on it at all. In the classrooms of theological seminaries this doctrine often becomes just a theme for academic discussion. But to Paul the second advent was a tremendously important and exceedingly practical truth that needed to be emphasized because of its bearing on the hearts and lives of Gods beloved people.

First Thessalonians 1, which tells how the gospel was received in Thessalonica, closes with a picture of a group of happy believers earnestly serving God while waiting expectantly for the return of Jesus Christ.

Apostolic Salutation (1Th 1:1)

Note that Pauls fellow laborers, Silvanus, and Timotheus, are linked with him in this greeting to the young converts.

The expression the church which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ is peculiar to the Thessalonian letters. Of course it refers to the same church that is elsewhere spoken of as the body of Christ, but here the emphasis is on the new relationship into which these young Christians had come. They were now linked in infinite grace with God the Father; they were His children. They owed their new position in the family of God to the Lord Jesus Christ, who had given Himself for them.

When Paul said, Grace be unto you, and peace, he was not speaking of the grace that saves from judgment, but the grace that sustains from day to day. Neither was he speaking of peace with God; his readers had already made their peace with God. Paul was referring to the peace of God, which is the abiding portion of all who trust in the loving Father and seek to walk in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pauls Prayers (1Th 1:2-4)

In 1Th 1:2 Paul referred to his prayers for his readers. It is remarkable how often the apostle spoke of bearing up Gods people in prayer. He was a man of intense activity: preaching, visiting from house to house, often working at tentmaking for his daily bread. Yet he found time to intercede with God on behalf of all the churches that he had been used of the Lord to found. He also remembered in prayer many Christians he had not even met, as in the case of the Colossians.

In 1Th 1:3 Paul linked the three graces about which he would later write in the Corinthian Epistle: faith, hope, and love. In Thessalonians the order is different and he spoke not simply of these graces themselves, but of the spiritual realities connected with them: the work of faith, the labour of love, the patience of hope.

Faith, we are told elsewhere, worketh by love (Gal 5:6). James insisted that faith without works is dead (Jam 2:20). The young Thessalonian converts showed their faith by their work.

Love, to be real, must be self-sacrificing. Therefore we read of the labour of love. It is one thing to talk about loving our brothers, loving Israel, loving lost souls; but our love is not genuine unless we are willing to labor earnestly for the blessing of those for whom we profess to have this deep concern.

The hope of the believer is the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We may long for the day when trials and tribulation will be ended and Christ will take us to be with Himself, but we are not to be impatient as we await that glad consummation. Christ Himself, seated on the throne of God, is the epitome of patience. The husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain (Jam 5:7). Thus Paul spoke of the patience of hope.

During all the centuries since Christ ascended to Heaven, as we count time on earth, He has waited patiently for the end of the churchs testimony. Then the Lord will descend in the air to call His own to be with Him, and the change that the poet has expressed will be true of all believers:

He and I in that bright glory

One deep joy shall share:

Mine, to be forever with Him,

His, that I am there!

(Gerhard Tersteegen)

In 1Th 1:4 we learn that Paul prayed knowing your election of God. How did he know this? Had he been permitted to look into eternitys books where his readers names had been written before the foundation of the world? Had God revealed to him His divine sovereign decrees? Not at all! Paul saw in the lives of the Thessalonian believers so much evidence of the new birth that he had no question concerning their election. Paul knew that the fruit of the Spirit which he saw was not a natural gift, but the outflowing of the new life in the power of the Holy Ghost. Such evidence convinces others of our election also.

Pauls Ministry (1Th 1:5-10)

In 1Th 1:5-10 the apostle summarized the effects of his ministry among the Thessalonians. He began by saying in verse 5, Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. The gospel of course must come in word. It is the business of the servants of Christ to proclaim the word of the truth of the gospel to a lost world. As 1Co 1:21 tells us, It pleased God by the foolishness [simplicity] of preaching to save them that believe. But the mere statement of gospel truth, apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, is not likely to produce results like those that were seen in Thessalonica.

It is true that God in His sovereignty may use His own Word, no matter who proclaims it, or even if it is only read; He has often done so. His general method, however, is to empower devoted men to set forth the Word with clarity and in the energy of the Holy Spirit. Then the results are assured. The Lord Jesus told His disciples, Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me (Act 1:8). Another rendering of the verse reads, Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me. The importance of speaking in the power of the Holy Spirit should never be ignored. To mistake human eloquence or oratory for preaching in the power of the Spirit of God is a great mistake. Someone has well said that preaching is eloquence touched with fire.

In the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul and his companions proclaimed the gospel as they went from place to place. The result of their proclamation was that people were led to trust in Christ and also received much assurance. It is a lamentable fact that a great deal of what passes for gospel preaching today would never give assurance of salvation to anyone. Sermons that are theologically correct but make no true application to the needs of the hearers, are clear as crystal, but cold as ice, as someone has said. When the Word is preached in simplicity and in the energy of the Holy Spirit, those who believe the gospel receive the full assurance of faith.

Paul added some exceedingly significant words to 1Th 1:5: Ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. He and his companions were careful to walk before God in holiness of life and in righteousness toward their fellow men. A holy minister is a tremendous weapon in the hands of God for the pulling down of the strongholds of sin.

Ralph Waldo Emerson complained, What you arethunders so that I cannot hear what you say. What a shame that this has often been true of ministers of Christ! Integrity of life, devotedness of heart, and holiness of spirit should characterize the proclaimers of the gospel of grace.

The self-denying ways of Paul and his companions made a deep impression on the Thessalonians, for he wrote in verse 6, Ye became followers [imitators] of us, and of the Lord. It may seem strange that he spoke here of himself before he spoke of the Lord, but we need to remember that these new believers had never heard of the Lord-and probably never would have heard of Him if Paul had not gone to them. It was what these converts had seen in Paul and his companions that had led them to be interested in the things of the Lord. Then, having trusted in Christ, they took His servants as role models and, in imitating them, were really following the Lord.

The Thessalonians had received the word in much affliction, with joy. This sounds paradoxical and indeed it is; but the Christian may be sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing (2Co 6:10). The affliction to which the apostle referred may have been twofold. There was of course deep contrition as the Thessalonians recognized their sinfulness and mourned over their years of ungodliness and idolatry. Then too they knew that to decide for Christ would in many instances mean separation from loved ones, grievous misunderstandings, and even bitter persecution. But they were prepared for all this. They had counted the cost and decided that Christ would mean far more to them than temporal comfort or worldly prosperity, so they joyfully received the message that told them of sins forgiven and the hope of Heaven.

So great was the change in their lives that others soon noticed it. They were examples, we are told in 1Th 1:7, to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. Thessalonica was one of the chief cities of Macedonia; Achaia was the neighboring province. To one city after another the word went forth of what had happened in Thessalonica, where Paul had labored so earnestly. They who had been converted through his preaching became preachers themselves. No one needed to question the reality of their conversion; their lives made it evident that they were in touch with God.

The Thessalonians had experienced real conversion. 1Th 1:9 tells us that they had turned to God, and in turning to God they had turned from idols. The words are in a different order in Act 14:15. There in speaking to the men of Lystra, Paul said, [We] preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God. The two passages are not contradictory; both suggest that conversion rests on true repentance. To repent is to change ones mind-that is, to reverse ones attitude. And so the Thessalonians who had been idolaters turned to the true and living God. They were through with idolatry. Today when men trust in Christ and bow before God in repentance, they turn from the things of a godless world and yield themselves to the One who died to redeem them.

Following the conversion of the Thessalonians, they had a new attitude: they were motivated to serve and wait (these two words from 1Th 1:9-10 cover the whole Christian life). They sought to serve the living and true God while they waited for His Son from Heaven. We are sometimes told that focusing on the second coming of the Lord has a tendency to throttle Christian activity. It is said that people with such a focus can become dreamers who are sidetracked with prophetic questions and are no longer interested in living for God and seeking to win others for Christ. Frankly my own experience teaches me that the contrary is true. My observation is that the more this blessed truth grips a mans soul, the more concerned he is about serving God and winning others to Christ. This was true of the young Thessalonian believers. They lived day by day in the expectation of Christs return. They looked for Him-the risen and ascended One-to come back again as their Deliverer from the wrath to come.

The wrath referred to here, I think, is not eternal judgment. From that wrath, believers have already been delivered. Paul was referring to the wrath that will come upon the world. Evidently the apostle had intimated to the Thessalonians that such a time of trouble is coming, but he had also told them that Jesus will come to snatch His own away before this wrath is let loose.

The Lord has promised to come for His own before the trumpets of this wrath begin to sound and the judgments of the great tribulation fall upon the world. His coming for His own is still the hope of His saints.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

1Th 1:1

I. Thessalonica was a populous and wealthy city of Macedonia. As an important seaport it was the meeting place of Greek and Roman merchandise, and consequently the centre of widespread and commanding influence. Paul had twice attempted to revisit his Thessalonian friends, but he had failed. He had been prevented from personally seeing them. He therefore sent Timothy to make inquiries and report as to their general condition. Timothy brought back a favourable report of their Christian progress and steadfastness, and of their strong, ardent attachment to Paul. On receipt of these welcome tidings, the Apostle now writes them in words which reveal the thankfulness and the yearning love of his heart. But as there were certain unfavourable features in the report-neglect of daily duty because of erroneous views about the second coming: ignorant anxiety lest friends who had died should have no share in the gladness and glory of that advent, wrong views about spiritual gifts as in the Church at Corinth; danger of falling back into the mire of heathen profligacy; proneness to faint in view of the persecutions at the hand of their countrymen. The Apostle has also to use words of reproof, correction, and encouragement. These, intertwined with many reminiscences of his personal intercourse with them, are the sum and substance of an Epistle fraught with many similar counsels to us, “upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

II. Paul’s associating others with himself as he does in the text is a striking instance of the humility and tenderness of his heart. It is also a lesson of the fellowship of brethren one with another, of the brotherly kindness of one teacher towards another, and, last of all, of a teacher’s familiar relation towards his scholar, his son in the faith.

The Church of the Thessalonians is described as being in God the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we have the distinctive characteristic mark of a true church. There were heathen assemblies in the city, numerous and powerful. But the only true church was the Christian community. It had its hidden spiritual life with Christ in God.

J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 1.

1Th 1:1-3

I. Here we have the apostolic greeting in its most usual form-grace and peace-a blending of the ordinary Greek and Hebrew modes of salutation, “the union of Asiatic repose and European alacrity,” which by apostolic use has become invested with a significance infinitely higher than that which was implied in the ordinary civilities of social life. These formulae of friendly intercourse familiar to the ancient world were like some precious antique vase, prized for their beauty more than for their use. They had become empty of significance, or, at all events, entirely empty of blessing. But now they are lifted up into a higher service, consecrated to the noblest purpose,-henceforth brimful of holiest meaning-filled with the very water of life.

II. But this grace and peace is from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It comes from God the Father as the Primal Source of all good, and it comes from Christ Jesus as the Mediating Source. Peace is the sign and seal of Christ’s kingdom. Its subjects call God Father, because they have first called Christ Jesus Lord.

III. The apostolic thanksgiving suggests an example which it must be ours to imitate. Constant giving of thanks to God, that is a priestly function which every believer must discharge; that offering must be laid on the altar of every renewed heart. Not at times only are we to thank God on behalf both of ourselves and others, but evermore. One of the old Puritans has said: “Grace (i.e., gratitude) is like a ring without end, and the diamond of this ring is constancy.”

And as far the apostolic graces, faith and love and hope, have their several manifestations in work, toil, and patience, these suggest to us our duty and our dignity, till at length patience has her perfect work.

J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 13.

References: 1Th 1:3.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxi., p. 115; Homilist, 4th series, vol. i., p. 46. 1Th 1:4.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 199.

1Th 1:4-6

I. The Apostle shows in these verses on what grounds his knowledge rested-his conviction of the Thessalonians’ election-the fact and mode of their being chosen for privilege and duty. He was fully persuaded of it, both on subjective and on objective grounds. The power and assurance with which he and his fellow-labourers preached in Thessalonica, on the one hand, and the eagerness and joyfulness with which the inhabitants of the city listened, on the other, these were to him evidences of divine grace working both in speaker and hearers, proofs of God’s having marked them out above others for His favour and service. The presence and energy of the Holy Spirit were recognised by him. Such was his sacred enthusiasm, that he felt his own words to be far more than the mere utterance of one earnest human spirit struggling to impress others; to be indeed nothing less than the urgent words of the Spirit Himself, the Spirit of all truth, witnessing through him, in behalf of Christ and His salvation.

II. The other evidence adduced for Paul’s knowledge of the election of the Thessalonian Church is their selection for privilege and duty. The first was subjective, the freedom, and fulness, and power in the Holy Ghost with which he felt he had preached to them. The other is objective, the eager, joyful readiness with which they had received his preaching. Their having been chosen of God is shown by their having themselves chosen God’s Gospel as offered to them. “Much suffering,” indeed, in itself proves nothing in regard to Christian character and attainment. But much suffering with joy in the Holy Ghost does. The believer knows that the via dolorosa which he has to tread is a path of true joy when he recognises his Saviour’s steps in it. Melanchthon used to write in his students’ note-books “Kreutzesweg Lichtweg-the path of the cross the path of light”; and it was a favourite saying of Luther’s, “If Christ wore a crown of thorns, why should His followers experience only a crown of roses?” The stream of Christian life has two currents, distinct yet united, of tribulation and joy, ever wending its course, troubled and calm to the ocean of eternity beyond.

J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 25.

References: 1Th 1:5.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xi., No. 648; E. White, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 344; Homilist, 2nd series, vol. vii., p. 102.

1Th 1:7-10

I. The Thessalonian converts, having received the Gospel so heartily and held it so firmly, and having shown the influence which it exerted over their hearts and lives by their joy in the Holy Ghost, became ensamples to all that believed in Macedonia and Achaia. Collectively, for the word is in the singular, they became a pattern to others. Thessalonica was, as far as its Christian inhabitants were concerned, “a city set on an hill.” A noble dignity, a sacred duty, a constant danger, all this is implied in such a coveted post of honour.

II. From some form or other of manifold idolatry every new man in Christ Jesus turns to God as the one blissful centre of his renewed life. Hence the Apostle proceeds to define the purpose of this conversion, or turning to God. It is twofold. It is (1) to serve the living and true God, and (2) to wait for his Son from heaven. The one clause distinguishes the Thessalonian Church from the heathen; the other from the Jews. But they do more. They represent the universal Christian life in its two most common aspects-service and expectation. It is a life of ceaseless action because it is also a life of patient waiting. It is a life of much affliction in the service of God, because it is also a life of joy in the Holy Ghost, joyful looking forward to the coming of the Son of God from heaven, bringing His reward with Him. It is this hope which, on the one hand, gives strength for service and perseverance in it, and it is the faithful engaging in this service which, on the other hand, justifies and consecrates this hope. Service without its accompanying hope would merge into dry and formal routine. Hope without its service, its ministry, and love, would pass into indolent sentiment, or into restless, hysterical excitement. While the faithful at Thessalonica did not in any way lose sight of the Saviour’s incarnation, and death, and resurrection, the “much affliction” of their present lot led them to live much in the future, to long and look for His coming again as the “just and gentle Monarch, to terminate the evil and diadem the right.”

J. Hutchison, Lectures on Thessalonians, p. 38.

References: 1Th 1:8.-J. Owen, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 273. 1Th 1:9, 1Th 1:10.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx. No. 1806.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

Analysis and Annotations

THE CHURCH OF THE THESSALONIANS

AND ITS BLESSED CONDITION

CHAPTER 1

1. Greetings and thanksgiving 1Th 1:1-4)

2. The gospel and its blessed fruits 1Th 1:5-7)

3. The blessed condition of the Church 1Th 1:8-10)

1Th 1:1-4

Paul, Silvanus and Timotheus were known to the Thessalonians, for they had been with them, and were the instruments of God used in bringing the gospel to them. He does not speak of himself as an apostle. In nine of his Epistles, Paul uses his title as apostle. In Romans and Titus, he calls himself also a servant of Jesus Christ and of God. In Philippians, he speaks of himself and of Timothy as servants of Christ Jesus. In the Epistle to Philemon, he also omits his apostleship, because this Epistle was a private letter. He asserts his apostolic title and authority in the strongest way, when he addresses the Galatians and the Corinthians, because these churches were troubled with false teachers who impeached his apostolic calling. As this trouble did not exist in Thessalonica, he does not call to their remembrance that he is an apostle. He did not parade his title, and only mentions it when the truth he preached and which he had received from the Lord was questioned.

He addressed the church in Thessalonica as the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. The church in Thessalonica is the only one addressed in this manner. The church is looked upon as the family of God, as the children of God, and God their Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. They were the happy children of God and in simplicity of faith knew Him as their Father. What a transformation had taken place in these Thessalonians! They were idolators, worshipping idols; through believing the gospel, they were born again and now enjoyed the blessed relationship to God as Father. There is no other way into the family of God than the way by which these heathen had been brought there. We are sons of God by faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:26). And John, in addressing the family of God wrote I write unto you, little children (those born again), because ye have known the Father (1Jn 2:13). The apostle, who had declared the gospel unto them, thanked God always for them, and with his fellow laborers made mention of them in prayer. The life which they possessed manifested itself in faith, love and hope. These are the principles which form our character as Christians. Theirs was a work of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and the Father, labor undertaken by love; all their labor in service flowed from love, and they endured because they possessed hope, waiting for Him. The objects of faith, love and hope are the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father.

1Th 1:5-7

The apostle mentions next the gospel and what it had wrought among them. Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance. Paul, Silvanus and Timothy had preached to them the good news of a free and full salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel message came to them in power. He made the word effective in their souls and quickened them so that the great change took place by which they passed from death unto life; thus believing, the Holy Spirit was received by them, giving them full assurance. Here we have the divine order of salvation; the message of the gospel heard and believed; the Spirit of God manifesting His power in the conversion and the sealing of those who believed, and the consequence: the full assurance of the truth in all its blessed power and reality. But the gospel was not only preached by these messengers among the Thessalonians; the chosen instruments also witnessed to that gospel by their life and walk–As ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sakes. They were living and blessed witnesses of the power of the gospel which they proclaimed. Their holy walk, their self-denial, their peace and quietness had its blessed effect on the Thessalonian believers, for they became imitators of the apostles. Inasmuch as the messengers followed closely the Lord Jesus Christ, the Thessalonians, being imitators of them, became thus imitators of the Lord, having received the Word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit. And then in turn they became patterns to all that believed in Macedonia and Achaia. In these simple statements, we have a blessed manifestation of the real power of the gospel.

1Th 1:8-10

There was no need for Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to say anything about these Thessalonian Christians. It was not necessary to speak to others of what God had wrought in Thessalonica or to declare the genuineness of these new converts. The Thessalonian believers gave such a strong and full testimony that it was wholly unnecessary for the laborers to say anything about them. The word of the Lord was sounded forth by them with no uncertain sound. They were true lights in the world-darkness and were holding forth the word of life. Their faith toward God became widely known in every place. Throughout that region it became known through their witness of what the gospel is and what the gospel produces in the hearts and lives of those who believe.

And what was their testimony? It is stated in the last two verses of this chapter. For they, themselves, report concerning us what manner of entrance 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 among the dead, Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come. In these words we have the great essentials of true Christianity. The first is true conversion. They had turned to God from idols, not, as it is sometimes quoted, from idols to God; the power of God, in believing the gospel had turned them away from idolatry. They were now serving no longer dumb idols, but the true and living God. In this service they manifested the genuineness of their conversion. And there was another prominent characteristic: they waited for His Son from heaven, Jesus, whom God had raised from among the dead. They looked earnestly for Him, in whom they had believed, who had died for them and of whom they knew He had been raised from among the dead, being now, at the right hand of God. According to His own promise to come again, they were patiently waiting for His coming from heaven, though they were ignorant of the manner of His coming. How He will come again, and what is connected with this great event, they learned fully from the two Epistles they received from the inspired pen of the apostle. To wait for the coming of the Lord is a vital characteristic of true Christianity; it is a part of the gospel. A sad testimony it is to the superficial knowledge of the gospel when men say and teach that the belief in the second coming of Christ is unessential and of no practical value. It is most essential and of the greatest value to the true believer. It presents the gloryside of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He who died for our sins, who is the glorified Man, the firstborn among many brethren, has promised to have all His own with Him to be like Him and to share His glory. This is the true object of the believers expectation and hope. He has delivered us from the wrath to come. Therefore the Thessalonians, and all true believers as well, can wait without fear for that blessed event, for they know they are sheltered by Him from the wrath to come. Before this wrath comes He will take His own into His presence. He is our deliverer from the wrath to come.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Silvanus: Act 15:27, Act 15:32, Act 15:34, Act 15:40, Act 16:19, Act 16:25, Act 16:29, Act 17:4, Act 17:15, Act 18:5, Silas, 2Co 1:19, 2Th 1:1, 1Pe 5:12

Timotheus: Act 16:1-3, Act 17:14, Act 17:15, Act 18:5, Act 19:22, Act 20:4, 2Co 1:1, Phi 1:1, Col 1:1, 1Ti 1:2, 2Ti 1:2, Heb 13:23

unto the: 1Co 1:2, Gal 1:2

Thessalonians: Act 17:1-9, Act 17:11, Act 17:13

in God: Gal 1:22, 2Th 1:1, 1Jo 1:3, Jud 1:1

Grace: Rom 1:7, Eph 1:2

Reciprocal: Mat 18:20 – two Luk 11:2 – Our Act 15:22 – Silas Rom 16:21 – Timotheus 2Co 1:2 – General Gal 1:3 – General Col 3:17 – God 1Th 2:14 – are

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THEY WERE NOT formally incorporated as a church. Had some ceremony been usual the sudden and violent ending of Pauls work in their midst would have precluded it. No, they became the church, that is, the called-out-ones, of God by the very act of God in calling them out of the world through the Gospel. The Apostle can own them, young converts though they were, as an assembly of God, gathered in the happy knowledge of God as Father, and in subjection to Jesus as their Lord. To know the Father is the characteristic feature of the babe in Christ, according to 1Jn 2:13. To acknowledge Jesus as Lord is the way into salvation, according to Rom 10:9, Rom 10:10.

Paul looked back with much thankfulness to his brief sojourn in their midst, and now absent from them he remembered them continually in prayer. From verse 1Th 1:3 to the end of the chapter he recounts that which he had seen in them of the working of the power of God, and thus there is furnished for us a striking picture of the wonderful effects produced in character and in life when men are soundly converted.

It is worthy of note that the first place is given to the character that was produced IN them, a character summed up in three words, faith, hope, love. Character however can only be discerned by us as it expresses itself in our actions and ways, hence their work and labour and patience (or endurance) are referred to. Their work of faith was evident to all, in keeping with that which James writes in his epistle, I will shew thee my faith by my works. Note that both here and in Jam 2:1-26 the works spoken of are the works of faith, whereas in Rom 4:1-25, a chapter erroneously supposed by many to be in conflict with James, the works spoken of are the works of the law-an entirely different thing.

If faith comes to light in its works, love is expressed in labour. It is characteristic of love to labour unsparingly for the good of its object, as we all know. Hope too, expresses itself in patient endurance. Only when men become hopeless do they readily give up: they endure as long as hope is like a star shining before their eyes.

These things were clear and distinct in the Thessalonian believers, and led Paul to the confident conclusion that they were amongst the elect of God. It was not that, when he stood up in the synagogue at Thessalonica those three Sabbath days, he could have put a mark on the back of each who would believe before he began to preach, as having private access to the Lambs book of life and knowing in advance the names of those who were chosen of God. Pauls knowledge was arrived at from the opposite direction. Knowing the powerful way in which the Gospel reached them and the results produced in them by the Spirit of God he had no doubt in his conclusion that they were chosen of God.

In this connection notice the opening words of the Apostle in his first epistle to the Corinthians. In their case he can only thank God that grace had visited them by Christ and that they were a gifted people. The possession of gift does not however of necessity mean that its possessor is a true believer, as witness the case of Judas Iscariot. Hence the searching words of warning he utters in the latter part of his ninth and the opening of his tenth chapter. To them he spoke of being a castaway, because of the element of doubt there was in his mind as to some of them, in spite of their gifts. The Thessalonians were in happy contrast to this.

There are things that accompany salvation (Heb 6:9), and the labour of love is specified directly after as one of them. In our passage three things are mentioned and the labour of love is one of them. No gifts may be manifested, but if these things are present we can be sure that salvation is possessed, and that the people in question are the elect of God.

If verse 1Th 1:3 gives us the fruit produced in these believers and verse 1Th 1:4 the Apostles confidence on beholding this fruit, verse 1Th 1:5 indicated the way in which the fruit was produced. Firstly, the Gospel reached them in word: it was boldly preached by Paul. Secondly, his preaching was supported by his devoted and holy life. Thirdly, and largely as a consequence, the Gospel came in power and in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wrought mightily through the Word. The Apostle alludes in much detail to what manner of man he was amongst them in his second chapter.

The Gospel also came to them in much assurance. This is very significant when we turn back to Act 17:1-34 and note that the particular form that Pauls preaching took in their city was that of reasoning with them out of the Scriptures; showing them that when the true Christ of God appeared He must die and rise again, and that these predictions had been so perfectly fulfilled in Jesus that the conclusion was irresistible-Jesus is the Christ! In other words, amongst these people he had very specially based his gospel proclamation and appeal upon THE WORD OF GOD; hence the MUCH ASSURANCE in the converts.

Let us take good note of this. If an Apostle, able himself to give forth inspired utterances, appealed to the Scriptures with such solid and lasting result, we, who have only the Scripture to appeal to, may well make it the basis of all we preach. Preach the Word, is the great word for us. There is no assurance outside it. The preacher may persuade us that things are as he states, upon the strength of his personal assurances. The converts may tell us that they have every assurance because of the happy feelings that they experience. But there is as little real assurance in the one as in the other. We can only really be assured of anything as we have the Word of God for it.

In verses 1Th 1:6-8 we find what the Gospel made of these who received it. We saw in the first place the three-fold character it produced in them. Now we see the three-fold character it stamped UPON them. They had been made into followers… of the Lord, ensamples [or patterns] to all that believe, and they sounded out, like trumpeters or heralds, thus advertizing the Word of the Lord.

Paul himself was a pattern man (see, 1Ti 1:16), hence he could rightly ask believers to follow him. Even so, it was only because of the fact that he followed Christ; so that it was indeed the Lord whom they followed. In this connection it is recorded that, though they now followed with joy begotten of the Holy Spirit, they had first known the power of the Word piercing into the conscience and producing repentance toward God with its accompanying affliction of heart. It is ever thus. The deeper the work of repentance the brighter the joy and the more sincere the discipleship of the convert. Let those who preach the Word aim at a deep work in heart and conscience rather than at showy and superficial results and they will not fail of their reward in the day of Christ.

Following the Lord comes first; it was because of their discipleship that they became examples to their fellow-believers in surrounding provinces. Paul could point to them and say, That is the kind of thing that the grace of God produces where it is received as the fruit of a deep work of repentance towards God. This is indicated by the words, so that, at the beginning of verse 7. The little word for which opens verse 1Th 1:8 shows us that what follows is also connected with this matter. Their evangelistic fervour also made them an example to others. They not only received the Word to their own blessing but they sounded it forth to others, so much so that their faith in God became notorious not only in the nearer districts but further afield. The whole work of God was so effectually advertized by its wonderful effects in these people that there was no need for the Apostle himself to say a word.

Nothing so effectually advertizes the Gospel as the transformed lives of those who have received it. This fact has been often noted by careful observers, but here we find that Scripture itself recognizes it. Conversely nothing so effectually stultifies the proclamation of the Gospel as breakdown and sin on the part of those who profess to have believed it. In the light of this, and of the sad conditions prevailing in the Christianized nations, can we wonder that the evangelist in these lands finds himself confronted by hard and difficult conditions today? May God give help to each one of us so that our lives may tell in favour of the Gospel and not against it.

In the closing verses we find a third thing. Not now the character wrought in them, nor the features stamped upon them, but that which was being done BY them. Their conversion was in view of service to God and patient waiting for Christ.

Ye turned to God from idols. Here we have a Scriptural definition of conversion, which is not only a turning, but a turning to God and consequently from idols. Idols are not only the ugly images venerated and feared by the heathen, but also anything, whether elegant or ugly, which usurps in the heart of man that place of supremacy and dominance which belongs of right to God alone. Idols are before the face of every fallen sinner, charming his heart, and God is behind his back. Conversion takes place and lo, God is before his face and idols are behind his back!

Converted to God our lives are to be now spent in His service. Has it ever occurred to you what an extraordinary favour it is, and what a tribute to the power of the Gospel, that we should be permitted to serve Him at all? An earnest worker in a slum district notices very definite signs of repentance in one of the worst occupants of a thieves kitchen one Sunday evening. He very greatly rejoices, though with trembling. Yes, but how would he feel if early on Monday morning the poor thing arrived on his doorstep and with many tears avowed her thankfulness for the blessing received and announced her desire to express her gratitude by entering his service-cooking his meals and dusting his house? Stamped upon her he sees disease, dirt, degradation and, until yesterday, drink. What would he say? What would you say?

We have not overdrawn the picture. What we were morally and spiritually just answered to the case supposed. And yet we have been brought into the service of the thrice-holy God as redeemed and born again. But then how mighty must be the moral renovation which the Gospel effects! And even so, remembering that we still have the flesh in us and are consequently very liable to sin, how great a favour it is that we should be taken into the high and holy service of God. We are actually permitted to serve His interests, His purposes and plans made before the world began. If we realized this there would be no desire to shirk His work. We should eagerly and joyfully run to fulfil it.

While we serve we wait. We are saved in hope of the fulness of blessing which is yet to be introduced. We are not left to await death, which is our departure to be with Christ, but to await His coming for us. We await Gods Son from the heavens. This is as far as the Apostle goes for the moment: when we reach 1Th 4:1-18 we shall find disclosed what is involved in this statement.

However we will not anticipate; for the moment we will only note that it is Gods Son who is coming, that He is coming from the heavens where now He is seated, and that His name is Jesus, whom we know as our Deliverer from the coming wrath. The verb is not in the past tense- delivered-as in our Authorised Version. It is rather, Jesus, who delivers us or Jesus, our Deliverer. The point is that Jesus who is coming from heaven will deliver us from the wrath that is coming.

Again and again in both Testaments the word wrath is used to denote the heavy judgments of God which are coming upon this earth. We do not for one moment deny that in several New Testament passages the meaning of the word is enlarged to take in the penal judgment of God which stretches out into and embraces eternity. Still the main use of the word is as we have indicated, as may be seen if the book of Revelation be attentively read. Men and nations are heaping up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath, and the opened eye can see that day of wrath approaching with silent and stealthy tread.

What a joy it is for the believer to know that though wrath is coming Jesus also is coming, and coming as Deliverer! Before wrath swoops like an eagle upon its prey Jesus will come and we shall be delivered out of the very spot where the wrath is going to fall. For the details of this wonderful event we must wait. Meanwhile we can rejoice that the event itself is a glorious certainty and fast approaching.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

The Model Church

1Th 1:1-10

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

On this earth we may expect to find no church model in all things. Even the Twelve had a traitor, and yet they were nourished and taught by the Lord Himself.

The church which is before us today, was, however, spoken of with these words, “So that ye were ensamples (models) to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.”

It would do us all good, if in our minds we might take our journey over to Thessalonica and move along with Paul, the evangelist, as he enters into that city for the first time to give forth the word of salvation.

He wrote to the Thessalonians, saying, “For they themselves shew of us, what manner of entering in we had unto you.” Let us study for a few moments something of the “entering in” and then when we have finished, we will show what manner of saints the Thessalonians became.

1. Paul entered reasoning unto them out of the Scriptures. “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus; and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism” (Act 19:1-3).

The message of Paul to the Thessalonians was argumentative, establishing the facts relative to Christ’s suffering, resurrection and kingship. (Read in connection, Act 17:7.) He opened up unto them the Scriptures; he preached unto them Christ.

2. Paul’s entering in was accompanied by much persecution. Act 17:4-7 describes scenes of tremendous opposition. Certain lewd fellows of the baser sort turned the whole city into an uproar. They even assaulted the house of Jason and dragged him and certain brethren before the rulers because they had housed Paul.

3. Paul’s entering in was accompanied with the manifestation of the Spirit’s power upon his message. Of this the Apostle wrote: “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For 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” (1Th 1:1-5).

The fact that persecution arose in no sense stayed the power of God, as He wrought among the people.

4. Paul’s entering in led certain noble souls to Christ. In 1Th 2:1 are these words,-“For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain.” Among the converts were some noted in Act 17:4, as follows: And some of them “believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few” (Act 17:4).

5. Paul’s entering in was followed by affectionate and laborious service on his behalf. “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. 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” (1Th 2:8-9).

No man ever labored more faithfully and more sacrificingly than did this mighty evangelist. And none ever labored with less emphasis upon money.

6. Paul’s entering in was with all holiness of behavior. “Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe” (1Th 2:10).

There was no corrupt speeches and no carnal methods with Paul.

7. Paul’s entering in was with all compassion, “even as a father.” “As ye know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children” (1Th 2:11).

Soon, however, Paul’s ministry had to close for the time. The persecution made it necessary for Paul to slip away by night. However, he remained faithful in his love and prayers for the ones left behind, and he lived in anticipation that they should be his “joy and crown of rejoicing at the Coming of the Lord.”

With these words before us, we will be ready to hear and appreciate, perhaps the better, the words concerning the Church at Thessalonica as a model church.

I. THESSALONICA AN ENSAMPLE IN THEIR FAITH IN THE WORD (1Th 2:13)

There is so much said today against the Bible as the in-errant, God-given Word of God, that it is most refreshing to read that the Thessalonians received the Word as it was, in truth, the Word of God.

There is so much said today about the Holy Scriptures being filled with the best writings, of ancient storytellers, that it is again refreshing to read that the Thessalonians received the Word of God, not as the word of men.

The Thessalonians believed that the Word of God wrought effectually in those who believed. For this cause it was, indeed, the Word of God.

The Word wrought in saving power; it wrought in the cleansing of the life; it wrought in building up of the saints; it wrought in the revealing of things to come: it wrought, and it wrought effectually.

The Church in Thessalonica had no hesitancy in exalting the Word of God, as high as the Name of God. To them the Word was authoritative and final. The word was given for the obedience of faith. It was received as the Sword of the Spirit. It was acknowledged as the fire and the hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces.

We need to pattern after the Thessalonians in reference to God’s Word. We need to recognize that the Word is for ever settled in Heaven. We need to enthrone the Word, as Truth. We need to build upon the Word, as an impregnable rock.

Christ, in ages past, was called “The Word”; Christ, in His earth-life, was called “The Word made flesh”; Christ, when He comes again, will be named, “The Word of God.”

“Holy Bible all Divine,

Precious treasure, thou art mine.”

II. THESSALONICA AN ENSAMPLE IN THE WAY THEY RECEIVED THE WORD (1Th 1:6)

It was not an easy thing for the people of Thessalonica to receive the Word of God, for there were lewd fellows who turned the whole city into an uproar against Paul and all who consorted to him. Even Jason was, with certain brethren, dragged before the rulers for giving entertainment to Paul.

In Berea, Paul had a better reception, because they, as a people (not as a church), were more noble than those of Thessalonica. The populace in Berea searched the Scriptures to see whether Paul’s message was true to the Scriptures. The populace in Thessalonica were like the populace who stoned Stephen-given to putting their fingers in their ears, and refusing even to give audience to the Truth.

This condition in the city made the ones who truly believed the more praiseworthy. They received the Word in much affliction, and yet they received it in the joy of the Holy Ghost.

Let us learn a lesson here. Sinners need not come moaning and groaning to confess Christ. Why not come with joy to drink water out of the wells of salvation? At Pentecost it was they who gladly received the Word who were baptized.

The ungodly may well moan over their sins, but they should shout with joy over the good news of redemption. Isaiah of old gave this testimony: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” Then that, “Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace.”

The Thessalonians received the Word in affliction. Persecution did not keep them from their good confession. They believed and were ready to pay for their faith with their lives.

God give us more saints of this cast!

“Oh, wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!

Our only salvation is there;

It carries conviction down deep in the heart,

And shows us ourselves as we are.

It tells of a Saviour, and points to the Cross,

Where pardon we now may secure;

For we know that when time and the world pass away,

God’s Word shall for ever endure.

Oh, wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!

The hope of our friends in the past;

Its truth where so firmly they anchored their trust,

Through ages eternal shall last.”

III. THESSALONICA AN ENSAMPLE IN EVANGELISM (1Th 1:8)

Our verse says, “For from you sounded out the Word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to Godward is spread abroad.”

A church that moves under God’s blessing will be busy in carrying or sending the Gospel to others.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “We are come as far as to you also in preaching the Gospel of Christ.” Then Paul added, “Having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, to preach the Gospel in the regions beyond you.”

The church that is not missionary will be a dwindling, dying church. As the church presses its way in evangelistic endeavor to others lying beyond its bounds it becomes enlarged in its efforts at home; and God begins to add abundant blessings.

The rule, “Give and it shall be given unto you,” applies in evangelism and missionary endeavor as well as in financial gifts.

It is so easy to hold back our testimony to the lost who lie beyond our own doors, thereby impoverishing ourselves.

“God so loved the world,” shall we love less? Christ said, “Let us go into the next cities also, for therefore am I sent.” Shall we seek to preach in one city alone?

The church at Thessalonica sounded forth the Gospel in Macedonia and Achaia. It was of this, in particular, that the Holy Spirit bore witness, “So that ye were ensamples” (models).

If we are interested in others, we are patterned after the heart of Christ. He left Heaven and came to earth to seek and to save that which was lost. God enable us to do as our Lord did.

“Seeking the lost, yes, kindly entreating

Wanderers on the mountain astray;

‘Come unto Me,’ His message repeating,

Words of the Master speaking today.

Going afar upon the mountain,

Bringing the wanderer back again, back again

Into the fold of our Redeemer,

Jesus, the Lamb for sinners slain.

Seeking the lost, and pointing to Jesus,

Souls that are weak, and hearts that are sore;

Leading them forth in ways of salvation,

Showing the path to life evermore.

Thus would we go on missions of mercy,

Following Christ from day to day;

Cheering the faint, and raising the fallen,

Pointing the lost to Jesus the Way.”

IV. THESSALONICA AN ENSAMPLE IN THEIR OBEDIENCE OF FAITH (1Th 1:9-10)

Three things are said about the Thessalonica saints. These three things express what we are calling the obedience of faith. That is they express what their faith led them to do.

1. They turned from their idols. When Paul entered into Thessalonica he preached three Sabbath days opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and have been raised from the dead, and that Jesus was Christ.

We have sometimes thought that the first Sabbath Paul preached that Jesus Christ must have suffered. It was under the power of that message that the Thessalonians turned from their idols. They saw their sins laid on Christ; and they left their sins.

When they had seen Him, what had they to do any more with idols? He was their all-sufficiency and their Saviour from sin. They had no cause to look for salvation to gods of wood, or iron, or stone who see not, neither do they hear or know.

2. They served the True and the Living God. This second step in the faith of the Thessalonians followed their hearing Paul on Christ risen again. They realized at once that the God of Paul was not linked to idolatry and to religious forms dead to all vitality and life. Christianity as Paul preached it, and as they accepted, centered in a risen and ascended Lord, seated at the Father’s right hand.

No wonder they worshiped and served a Living God and a True God. The resurrection played a most important part in their faith. The God they knew was not a God buried and entombed, but a God alive from the dead, holding the keys of death and hell.

3. They waited for God’s Son from Heaven. Paul preached that Jesus was the Christ; he preached that there was another king than Caesar, one Jesus. They believed in this Christ and waited for Him to come down the skies.

As we close this part of our theme, we would suggest that every model church, and that every model Christian, believe in a threefold testimony concerning Christ-Christ Crucified, Christ Risen, and Christ Coming Again.

“He dies! He dies!’ the lowly Man of Sorrows,

On whom were laid our many griefs and woes;

Our sins He bore, beneath God’s awful billows,

And He hath triumphed over all our foes.

He lives! He lives! what glorious consolation!

Exalted at His Father’s own right hand;

He pleads for us, and by His intercession,

Enables all His saints by grace to stand.

He comes! He comes! Oh, blest anticipation!’

In keeping with His true and faithful word;

To call us to our heavenly consummation-

Caught up, to be ‘for ever with the Lord.'”

V. THESSALONICA AN ENSAMPLE IN THEIR FAITHFULNESS TO THE FAITH (1Th 3:5-6)

Paul had been torn away from Thessalonica by the persecution that befell them there. He knew that they had made a good confession; yet he longed to know of their faith, and whether they had remained true, lest the tempter might have beset them by the way. For this cause Timotheus was sent to inquire of their lot.

When Timotheus returned and brought good tidings of their faith and love, and showed unto Paul that they had always remembered him, the Apostle was greatly rejoiced. Paul even went so far as to say, “For now we live, if we stand fast in the Lord!”

We tarry a moment to express Paul’s tender solicitude. When he first entered Thessalonica, he moved among them “as gentle as a nurse.” He was not only willing to impart unto them the Gospel of God, but his own soul also, because they were dear unto him. Now that he was away from them, he the more abundantly desired to see their face, with a great desire.

Thus it was when Timothy returned with the news of their faithfulness to the faith, Paul was overjoyed before God. His only desire was that he might see them again, and perfect in them anything that was lacking in their faith.

The model church of today cannot be one which is lax in doctrine. It is all right to be ardent, and filled with fervor, and fire, and service; but this is not enough. Fire and vigor should be displayed along lines of Bible truth.

Paul once described the wrestlers in the games, and he said that they should strive lawfully. So should we “rightly divide the truth,” and work according to the faith once delivered, lest we be brought into the condemnation of the adversary.

“Firmly stand for God, in the world’s mad strife,

Though the bleak winds roar, and the waves beat high;

‘Tis the Rock alone giveth strength and life,

When the hosts of sin are nigh.

Firmly stand for right, with a motive pure,

With a true heart bold, and a faith e’er strong;

‘Tis the Rock alone giveth triumph sure,

O’er the world’s array of wrong.

Firmly stand for Truth! it will serve you best;

Though it waiteth long, it is sure at last;

‘Tis the Rock alone giveth peace and rest

When the storms of life are past.”

VI. THESSALONICA AN ENSAMPLE IN HOLY LIVING AND SERVICE (1Th 1:3)

In our verse Paul is remembering the Thessalonians in their work of faith, their labor of love and their patience of hope. Throughout the Epistle he speaks time and again of his prayer for them concerning their godly walk and service. He charged them even as a father charges his children, that they should walk worthy of God who had called them unto His kingdom and glory.

Paul prayed that their love might increase and abound one toward another, and toward all men, to the end that God might establish their hearts unblameable in holiness.

The appeal of Paul was that the saints might bring their walk up to a par with their confession. For said he, “This is the will of God, even your sanctification * * that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.” Paul also exhorted them “as touching brotherly love.” He urged them to be quiet, and to attend to their own business. He pled with them to walk honestly toward those who were without. They were taught to abstain from all appearance of evil.

We are sure that the saints in Thessalonica heeded these pleas from the one who taught them the ways of God, because he wrote of them: “We have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.”

Every church modeled after this church, will find itself a separated people laboring in love and serving one another with pure hearts and faithful lives. We believe that the greatest need of the church today is purity in the daily walk. To be sure, the apostasy from the faith is a great bane and sorrow to us all, but the laxity in Christian living is even more a grief.

VII. THESSALONICA AN ENSAMPLE IN LOOKING FOR THE LORD’S RETURN (1Th 5:1-2)

There is something strikingly beautiful in the two Epistles which Paul wrote to the saints at Thessalonica-something which is not found in any other part of the Bible.

In each chapter of both Epistles there is something definitely spoken relative to the Lord’s Return. Let me show this to you:

In the First Epistle

1Th 1:10-They are found “waiting for His Son from Heaven.”

1Th 2:19-They are declared to be Paul’s joy in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at His Coming.

1Th 3:13-They are urged to stablish their hearts “unblameable in holiness, * * at the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.”

1Th 4:13-18-They are told to comfort their hearts concerning their dead, because, “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.”

1Th 5:10-After they are told of the times and seasons of the Lord’s Return, they are told that they shall “live together with Him.”

In the Second Epistle:

2Th 1:7-10-They are told that they will rest with Christ, when the Lord is revealed in flaming fire taking vengeance upon the ungodly; * * “when He shall come to be glorified in His saints.”

2Th 2:14-After the Lord’s Coming is discussed in its relationship to the destruction of the antichrist, they are told that they are called “to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2Th 3:5-They are instructed thus: “And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.”

Whatever else may be said, this model church was a church fully instructed in and awake to, the blessed hope of the Lord’s Return. May God grant that our churches may all pattern themselves after the same model!

“He is coming, surely coming,

For His promise cannot fail;

And the scoffers shall behold Him,

And before Him they shall quail!

He is coming, quickly coming!

But” His Coming we shall greet;

We have waited for His Advent,

And have listened for His feet.”

AN ILLUSTRATION

Let each of us weigh well our lives in the light of God’s message concerning the model church.

Here is what a Christian said he dreamed:

I sat down in an armchair, wearied with my work. My toil had been severe and protracted. Many were seeking Christ, and many had found Him. As for myself, I was joyous in my work. My brethren were united. My sermons and exhortations were evidently telling on my hearers. My church was crowded.

Tired with my work, I soon lost myself in a sort of half-forgetful state.

Suddenly a stranger entered the room, without any preliminary “tap,” or “Come in.” He carried about his person measures, chemical agents, and implements, which gave him a very strange appearance.

The stranger came toward me, and extending his hand, said, “How is your zeal?” I supposed that the query was to be for my health, but was pleased to hear his final words; for I was quite well pleased with my zeal, and doubted not the stranger would smile when he should know its proportions.

Instantly I conceived of it as physical quantity, and putting my hand into my bosom, brought it forth and presented it to him for inspection.

He took it, and, placing it in his scale weighed it carefully. I heard him say, “One hundred pounds!” I could scarce suppress an audible note of satisfaction: but I caught his earnest look as he noted down the weight; and I saw at once that he had drawn no final conclusion, but was intent on pushing his investigation. He broke the mass to atoms, put it into his crucible, and put the crucible into the fire. When the mass was fused, he took it out, and set it to cool. It congealed in cooling, and when turned out on the hearth, exhibited a series of layers or strata; which all, at the touch of the hammer, fell apart, and were severally tested and weighed, the stranger making minute notes as the process went on.

When he had finished, he presented the notes to me, and gave me a look of mingled sorrow and compassion, as without a word, except, “May God save you!” he left the room.

The “notes” read as follows:-

Analysis of the zeal of Junius, a Candidate for a Crown of Glory Weight in mass, or total weight, 100 lbs

Of This, on Analysis, There Proves To Be,-

Bigotry10parts

Personal ambition23″”Wood,

Love of praise19″Hay,

Pride of denomination15″and

Pride of talent14″Stubble”

Love of authority12″

Love to God4″Pure

Love to Man3″Zeal.

100

I had become troubled at the peculiar manner of the stranger, and especially at his parting look and words, but when I looked at the figures, my heart sank as lead within me.

I made a mental effort to dispute the correctness of the record. But I was startled into a more honest mood by an audible sigh from the stranger (who had paused in the hall). I cried out, “Lord, save me!” and knelt down at my chair, with the paper in my hand and my eyes fixed upon it. At once, it became a mirror, and I saw my heart reflected in it. The record was true! I saw it, I felt it, I confessed it, I deplored it, and I besought God to save me from myself with many tears; with a loud cry of anguish, I awoke.

I had once prayed to be saved from hell, but prayer to be saved from myself now was immeasurably more fervent; nor did I rest or pause till the refining fire came down and went through my heart, searching, proving, melting, burning, filling all its chambers with light, and hallowing my whole heart to God.

When the toils of my pilgrimage shall be at an end, I shall kneel in Heaven, at the foot of the Divine Alchemist, and bless him for the revelations of that day.

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

1Th 1:1. The planting of the church in Thessalonica is recorded in Acts 17 th chapter, and soon afterward Paul wrote this epistle to it. According to Thayer, Silvanus is another form of the name for Silas, who was chosen to travel with Paul in his second journey (Act 15:40). When they reached Lystra they met a disciple by the name of Timotheus (same as Timothy), and Paul took him along on this journey. These brethren were with Paul and joined their salutations to his as he composed this epistle to the church of the Thessalonians. God and Christ are not the same person, but they are one in spirit and purpose, and no relation can be had with either that ignores the other; hence the church is said to be in them both. In their specific relations to the church, God is the Father and Christ is the ruler, that being the meaning of Lord; this is in agreement with Mat 28:18 and 1Co 15:24-25.

1Th 1:1 G3972 PAUL G2532 AND G4610 SILVANUS G2532 AND G5095 TIMOTHY, G3588 TO THE G1577 ASSEMBLY G2331 OF THESSALONIANS G1722 IN G2316 GOD “THE” G3962 FATHER G2532 AND “THE” G2962 LORD G2424 JESUS G5547 CHRIST. G5485 GRACE G5213 TO YOU G2532 AND G1515 PEACE G575 FROM G2316 GOD G3962 G2257 OUR FATHER G2532 AND “THE” G2962 LORD G2424 JESUS G5547 CHRIST.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Salutation

1Th 1:1. The omission of the official title Apostle can scarcely be accounted for by supposing that Paul had not yet assumed it, but is due to the affection subsisting between him and his Thessalonian converts, which did not require that he should urge his apostolic authority; comp. also Php 1:1.

Silvanus is the Silas of Acts 15-18, the companion of Paul on his second missionary journey, during which the church of Thessalonica was founded. Timothy had also accompanied the apostle on that journey, though, owing to his extreme youth, his name does not so conspicuously appear in the narrative.

In God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. At this early period the Church needed some such distinguishing appellation. The former predicate in God the Father, distinguishes it from the Gentile assemblies; the latter, in the Lord Jesus Christ, from the Jewish congregation.In indicates living union and fellowship.

Grace unto you, and peace. A Christian adaptation and blending of the ordinary Greek and Hebrew salutation. Paul wishes them a participation in Gods undeserved favour, the grace that has brought salvation to men (Tit 2:11; Joh 1:17); and in that peace which the Lord bequeathed to His followers, the restored harmony with God and conscience, the equanimity and confidence of Gods children, the convalescence and healthfulness of the new life. Grace the source; peace, the end of all good (Aquinas).

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Division 1. (1Th 1:1-10.)

The Word in power introducing to the true and living God, the Father, and putting under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As this epistle is the first of those written by the apostle, at least of those in the wisdom of God come down to us, so it is in regard to doctrine the simplest. There is, in fact, little formal statement of doctrine at all. Though these underlie the whole, there is no mention of eternal life, of new birth, nor even of relationship of children to the Father. There is no difficulty in finding all this in it, but it must be by the aid of other scriptures.

1. Paul joins with himself, after his manner, those who had labored with him in the work among those he is addressing. He addresses the Thessalonians, as has been before remarked, in a different way from any other assembly. He does not speak of them as the assembly of God in Thessalonica, but as the assembly of Thessalonians, rather a company, one may say, than a body; and “in God the Father,” a company of children who have received life from Him. Thus to the Athenians the apostle had declared that “in Him we live, and move, and have our being;” and adds in quotation from one of their own poets, “For we are also His offspring.” There is certainly a great difference between what the apostle states as true of all men, and what he here clearly ascribes to a Christian assembly as such. For however Paul might make use of man’s place in creation to rebuke the folly and degradation of idolatry, he certainly would be one of the last to forget or ignore the fact that sin had come in and caused him to forfeit his natural right to claim this place so that when the Jews would have done so with the Lord, He answered, “If God were your Father, ye would love Me.” But these very words show that for the Thessalonians this original right had been recovered.

Yet we must make no mistake. The original place is but the feeble image of what is now the Christian’s. The salvation of God has not simply set us back where we were before. Had it been our own work, that might indeed have been all that could be thought of; but it is the work of Christ, with all the value of His Person, His sufferings and death attaching to it. As the fruit of this, a new creation starts into being, and Christ as the last Adam has all things put into His hands, to renew after another and more glorious fashion all the promise of the first Paradise in the “paradise of God.”

Thus appended to “in God the Father” we have here “in the Lord Jesus Christ;” for this is how a way into the family of God has been regained for us, -we are “alive unto God in Christ Jesus.” As we were in Adam by virtue of the life received from him, so are we in the new Adam by a life we have received; only a life so much higher, as Christ is higher than our first father, and we are born of the Spirit, so as to be partakers of the divine nature, Christ becoming the “First-born among many brethren.”

This prepares the way for what the apostle goes on with satisfaction of heart to dwell upon, the result in these Thessalonians of the new life they have received. The faith and love and hope manifested in them were its evidence; for which he continually thanked God. These things were not merely a profession, but living realities. Their work was a work of faith: its motives were in the unseen, in heaven where God dwelt, not unknown, but known in Christ, all being in the light of that light. Nor was it a cold illumination: love found here its objects, and made this work an energetic “labor.” Hope yet was needed; for love itself would cease to labor, if once it were clear that there could be no result; and with the Thessalonians hope gave persistence to their labor of love. All was recognized and accepted with that Divine Father, before whom they acted (Mat 6:1; Mat 6:6; Mat 6:18); and the apostle realized in it their election in the love of Him who is love. Their life thus bore witness for them, but of a grace through which they had received life. All was of God, who of His own good pleasure had begotten them to Himself.

2. The apostle recalls to their minds bow these things had been wrought in them. It was the gospel which had been the fruitful seed of this bountiful harvest, -a seed having life in it: a gospel, or “good news,” the testimony to His love from whom it came, winning the heart that believed the message; for “we love Him who first loved us,” says the apostle (1Jn 4:19). Man has turned his back on God, having lent his ear to the devil; and the voice of recall must be a gospel that shall undo the work of Satan, while at the same time it reveals man to himself, and so humbles him in repentance before God. The Cross does both things. If it was the Son of God who hung there, for what did He hang? Was there no need for it? Nay, “the Son of man

must be lifted up.” This is at once the remedy provided for man, and his conviction as one needing such a remedy. And who, one might ask, can resist the tender appeal of such an argument? If the Son of God is to endure the penalty, can it be more than absolute righteousness requires? Can it be a harsh estimate on the part of Him who gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sins? Thus expiation and reconciliation are found together in the Cross: God is not against, but for us, in an infinite love, the only measure of which is an infinite sacrifice. Shall we not henceforth listen believingly, obediently, to Him whose whole heart has been told out in a way no human heart could have conceived, and which now surpasses human power to comprehend it as it is?

Yet even the gospel cannot work its way with man by all its competence to meet his spiritual need, nor by its display of divine goodness: “Our gospel,” says the apostle, “came not unto you in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance.” Power there is not to change men’s hearts apart from the work of the Spirit of God; but thus also is the divine work, spite of the inherent weakness of him who might be the subject of it, stable through all trial, and above all adverse influences. Father, Son, and Spirit are all, indeed, thus united to effect the salvation of the poor and sinful sons of men, though only faith may be able to realize, under the veil of the natural, the Presence of Him to whom all nature is obedient.

In making known His gospel God is pleased to use, not the tongues of angels, but those of men, recipients themselves of the same grace; who can give testimony with their lives as with their lips. Upon this the apostle lays great emphasis: “even as ye know what sort of persons we were among you for your sakes.” This had had its part in making the Thessalonians what they were: “and ye became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit.” Thus the work makes known the workman; while it is just as true that the more the workman is with God, the less of himself there will be in it. “Ye are our epistle,” says the apostle to the Corinthians, “forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us; written, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tables of stone, but on fleshy tables of the heart” (2Co 3:2-3). And this is what makes the “imitation” of such workmen to be safe and right; for there is this qualification always in it, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ;” as here -“imitators of us and of the Lord.” How good to be able to have a well-grounded confidence that these two things are one! The effect is manifest: “read and known of all men,” is said of the Corinthians; and here the report went all abroad of these who had turned to God from idols, -to serve the living and true God. But beyond this, such was the freshness among these Thessalonians that they “became patterns to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.”

3. Thus the word of the Lord is published all around; the new life emphasizes the new doctrine from which it proceeded. “Blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation,” they shone as “lights in the world, holding forth the word of life.” The life and the word of life give fittingly their evidence together, and not otherwise; though Christ is the “Faithful Witness” when His people fail. The Thessalonians did not fail, but spoke out in such a way that those who had labored among them had no need to say anything with regard to their work. That which they were saying was sufficiently surprising: not only that there was one living and true God, in contrast with the idol-nothings of heathenism, and true service loyally given to Him, but that also the Son of God was coming in the clouds of heaven to inflict judgment for the sins of men. For Him they waited, but not in fear, though they themselves were sinners. On the contrary, they looked for Him with joy and thankfulness, as One who had come on earth to deliver them from the wrath to come, which all must meet who have not taken refuge in Him. Redemption, salvation became in this way the key-words of a new song, which those who knew it could sing in the midst of whatever difficulties, and in the face of whatever enemies.

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

REMINISCENT

For the story of the founding of this church by Paul, examine Acts 17. We call the first section of the epistle the reminiscent part, because the apostle is referring to what had taken place in Thessalonica at that time.

It opens with the usual salutation 1Th 1:1, in which Silas and Timothy are named with Paul, not as co-writers, but co-workers with him when in that city, and so known to the church.

The thanksgiving follows, 1Th 1:2-4, in which is mentioned a triad of graces (1Th 1:3) that had been produced in these young Christians, testifying assuredly to their election of God (1Th 1:4).

Next comes a testimony to the church of the deepest interest (1Th 1:5-10). Through receiving the Word of God in the Holy Ghost, they had become imitators of Paul and of the Lord (1Th 1:6) to such an extent that all the saints throughout Greece were reaping a blessing from their lives (1Th 1:7).

Travelers passing from them to other parts, were carrying the news of what God had done for them, so that Pauls own witness was made unnecessary (1Th 1:8). It was an evidence of his ministry among them as the result of which they had turned to God from idols (a work of faith); to serve the living and true God (a labor of love); and to wait for His Son from heaven (patience of hope). The explanation of it all is found in 1Th 1:5.

The testimony to the church leads to a testimony about himself (1Th 2:1-16), not for his own praise, but the magnifying of the grace of God in him. In verse 5 of the previous chapter, he had shown that the wonderful result of the gospel among them was explained by the power of the Holy Ghost, with which it had been preached; and this power, in turn, was explained by the manner of men we were among you for your sake. Again, in 1Th 1:9, he referred to the manner of entering in we had unto you, while in chapter 2, he expatiates upon it. In other words, the manner of man he had been was expressed: (1) by courage and devotion (compare 1Th 2:1-2 with the story in Acts 16); (2) by faithfulness and impartiality. His preaching had not been of deceit (error), uncleanness, guile, flattery, covetousness, or vainglory. The gospel had been committed to him by God, as a sacred trust; and since to God he must give account of his stewardship, he ministered it not to please men but God, which trieth our hearts (1Th 2:3-6). (3) by kindness and affection. His gentleness was like that of a mother nursing her children (see RV). His affection was shown in the self- denying labor of tent-making in which he engaged to earn his living, that he might not be chargeable to them for his support (1Th 2:7-9). (4) in holiness and consistency of life (1Th 2:10-12). No wonder therefore that they received his message as the Word of God and not the word of men (1Th 2:13); nor that it should have effectually wrought in them as it did in the churches of God in Judea (1Th 2:14-16).

QUESTIONS

1. Have you read Acts 16-17 in connection with this lesson?

2. Why is this lesson called Reminiscent?

3. Why are Silas and Timothy named?

4. What triad of graces was seen in these young Christians?

5. How do you explain 1:7?

6. What is the theme of chapter 2?

7. How was Pauls Christian character exhibited among the Thessalonians?

8. What was the result?

Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary

St. Paul begins this epistle, as he does the rest, with a very kind and gracious salutation; in which we have observable, the persons saluting, the parties saluted, and the salutation itself.

Note, 1. The persons saluting, Paul, Silvanus and Timotheus: Paul only was the inspired writer of this epistle, the other two were his associates and assistants, instruments with him in converting the Thessalonians to Christianity, and whom they had a deservedly great affection for: he joins them therefore with himself, as asserters and approvers of the truth contained in this his epistle, that so he might procure the greater respect to the doctrines it contained ; he therefore names them with himself, Paul, Silvanus, or Silas, as he is called, Acts 17, and Timotheus:

But why not Paul an apostle, or Paul a servant of Jesus Christ, as in other epistles, but bare Paul only?

Ans. Because his apostleship was not at all questioned by them; the Thessalonians had a seal of it in their hearts; and there were no false apostles among them to deny his apostleship, as the Galatians and other churches had.

The prudent and faithful ministers of Christ know both how and when to use those titles of honour and respect which God hath given them, and also when it is convenient to forbear the assuming of them.

Note, 2. The persons saluted, The church of the Thessalonians. Thessalonica was the metropolis, or mother city of Macedonia, where a Christian church was planted by the ministry of St. Paul and Silas, but with great opposition from the Jews, who forced Paul to fly to Berea for his own safety, Acts 17, and Jason, with others that entertained him, had like to have been sacrificed in their own houses; yet there, in despite of the devil’s rage, and persecutor’s malice, doth God erect a glorious church, a Christian church, in honour of his son, who purchased it with his blood.

Learn hence, that when and where God will gather to himself a church, no opposition, either of men or devils, shall be sufficient to hinder it; as Rome itself, nay, in the court of Nero, under the very nose of that bloody tyrant, was a church collected, Php 4:22. No wonder the devil struggles, when his kingdom totters; it follows, which (church) is in God the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, established in the knowledge, faith, worship, and obedience of God the Father; they were Gentiles, called off from their dumb idols, to serve the living and true God, and were distinguished from all other societies and communions whatsoever; they were in God the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, they enjoyed a blessed union with Jesus Christ by faith, and a sweet communion and fellowship both with Father and Son, by the bond of the Spirit.

Behold the high dignity and glorious privilege of the Christian church, to be thus knit and united both to the Father and the Son, by the agency of the Holy Spirit! To the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Note, 3. The salutation itself, Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Where observe, 1. The option signifies, first, the gracious favour of God towards us; and, next, all the gifts of grace, all benefits and blessings issuing forth and flowing from thence: peace, usually signifies in the scripture language, all manner of outward prosperity and happiness.

2. The author and fountain from whence these blessings flow.

1. From God the Father:

2. From the Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ; intimating, that whatever spiritual grace or temporal blessing we now receive from God, is from him, not barely as a Creator, but as a Father, a gracious Father in Christ, in whom he pours out the immensity of his love upon us, and through whom he conveys all kinds of blessings unto us.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Greetings

Paul, Silvanus, which is the Roman name of Silas, and Timothy were together in Corinth at the time this book was written ( Act 18:1-5 ). All three may have been together when the gospel was first introduced to Thessalonica. Certainly, Timothy knew the brethren since Paul had sent him to check on their status ( 1Th 3:1-6 ).

This letter is addressed to the church, or called out which would be the local body of God’s people, of the Thessalonians ( Eph 1:22-23 ). To be in the church is to be in God and Christ. Thus, we have an intimate relationship with the eternal Father and his Son who is both master and king. The closeness of the Father and Son can be seen, in part, because Christians are said to be in both of them. Also, Paul’s desire for the church at Thessalonica was that those two divine persons would bestow their favor and peace of mind upon the brethren.

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

1Th 1:1. Paul, &c. In this epistle St. Paul neither uses the title of an apostle, nor any other, as writing to pious and simple-hearted men with the utmost familiarity; and Silvanus, (also called Silas,) and Timotheus St. Paul joins these two faithful fellow-labourers with himself in this epistle, because they had been with him at Thessalonica, and were well known to and much loved by the believers there; to the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father The one living and true God, in whom they have believed, whose children they are become, and whom they acknowledge and worship as their God and Father, thereby distinguishing themselves from the idolatrous heathen; and in the Lord Jesus Christ Whom they also believe in, adore, and serve, as the Son of the Father, and their Redeemer and Saviour, thereby distinguishing themselves from Jews. The expression also implies that they had union and communion with God and Christ.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. [In this salutation Silas and Timothy are united with Paul because they had aided Paul in founding the church at Thessalonica. The account of the founding of this church will be found in Acts 17. Silas is mentioned before Timothy because he is older, both in years and in service. Compare Act 15:22; Act 15:32; Act 15:40 with Act 16:1-3 . Silvanus is the full name, and Silas the abbreviation. The name is Roman, and Silas was a Roman citizen (Act 16:37). Silas was now at Corinth with Paul, and Paul mentions his services there (2Co 1:19). Much of the opening part of this letter embraces Silas and Timothy in its thought, but in 1Th 2:18 Paul distinguishes himself from them, and from that time on the letter is wholly his. Neither in this Epistle nor in that to the Philippians does Paul speak of himself as an apostle. In other Epistles he affirms his apostleship because, in the case of the Epistle to the Romans, he wrote to strangers, and in other cases his apostleship had been challenged. As to Thessalonica, see the Introduction. The church is spoken of as being in God and in Christ because in this respect it differs from all other organizations. It is its privilege to dwell in fellowship with God, so that it may be, as it were, ensphered and encircled by him. Grace was the Greek and peace the Hebrew salutation; Paul here combines them. Grace indicates the favor of God and all the gifts which flow from it, while peace represents tranquility and prosperity, either inward or outward.]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

1 Thessalonians Chapter 1

The apostle, in declaring (as was his custom) that which he felt respecting them-the aspect in which they appeared to his heart and mind, speaks neither of gifts, as to the Corinthians, nor of the grand features of an exaltation that embraced the Lord and all saints, as to the Ephesians and even to the Colossians (with the addition of that which their state required); nor of the brotherly affection and fellowship of love which the Philippians had manifested in their connection with himself; nor of a faith that existed apart from his labors, and in communion with which he hoped to refresh himself, adding to it that which his abundant gifts enabled him to impart to them, as he writes to the Romans whom he had not yet seen.

Here it is the life itself of the Christian in its first fresh impressions, in its intrinsic qualities, as it developed itself by the energy of the Holy Ghost on earth, the life of God here below in them, which he remembers in his prayers with so much satisfaction and joy. Three great principles, he tells the Corinthians (l Cor.13) form the basis, and ever abide as the foundation of this life-faith, hope, and love. Now these three were the powerful and divine motives of the life of the Thessalonians. This life was not merely a habit; it flowed, in its outward activities, from immediate communion with its source. These activities were quickened and maintained by divine life, and by keeping the eye constantly fixed upon the object of faith. There was work, and labour, and endurance. There were the same in Ephesus, as we see it in Rev 2:1-29. But here it was a work of faith, labour undertaken by love, endurance fed by hope. Faith, hope, and love are, we have seen, the springs of Christianity in this world. The work, the labour, the endurance continued at Ephesus, but ceased to be characterised by these great and mighty principles. The habit continued, but the communion was wanting They had forsaken their first love.

The first to the Thessalonians is the expression of the living power in which the assembly is planted: Ephesus, in Rev 2:1-29, of its first departure from that state.

May our work be a work of faith, drawing its strength, its existence even, from our communion with God our Father! May it be, each moment, the fruit of the realisation of that which is invisible, of the life which lives in the certainty, the immutable certainty, of the word! May it thus bear the impress of the grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ, and be a testimony to it.

May our labour in service be the fruit of love, not performed merely as duty and obligation, although it was this, if we know that it is before us to be done!

May the patience that we must have, in order to go through this wilderness, be, not the necessity we feel because the path is before us, but an endurance sustained by the hope that belongs to our view of Jesus by faith, and that is waiting for Him!

These principles, faith, hope, and love, form our character as Christians: [1] but it cannot, and ought not to, be formed in us without having objects. Accordingly the Spirit presents them here. They have a twofold character. The heart rests by faith on Jesus, waits for Him, counts upon Him, links itself with Him in its walk. He has walked here below, He represents us in heaven, He watches over us as the good Shepherd. He loves His own; He nourishes and cherishes them: our faith and our hope keep Him always in view. The conscience is before God our Father; it is not in the spirit of fear: there is no uncertainty as to our relationship. We are the children of a Father who lovesus perfectly; but we are before God. His light has authority and power in the conscience: we walk in the sense that His eye is upon us, in love but upon us. And light makes everything manifest. It judges all that might weaken the sweet and peaceful realisation of the presence of God, and our communion with Jesus, and our confidence in Him, the intimacy of the intercourse between our souls and the Lord. These two principles are of all importance for abiding peace, for the progress of our souls. Without them the soul flags. The one sustains confidence, the other keeps us in the light with a good conscience. Without the latter, faith (not to say more) loses its liveliness; without the former, the conscience be comes legal, and we lose spiritual strength, light and ardour.

The apostle reminds them also of the means used by God to produce this condition, that is, the gospel, the word, brought in power and in much assurance to the soul by the Holy Ghost. The word had power in their heart-came to it as the word of God; the Spirit Himself revealed Himself in it, giving the consciousness of His presence; and the consequence of this was the full assurance of the truth in all its power, in all its reality. The apostles life, his whole conduct, confirmed the testimony which he bore-formed a part of it. Accordingly (it is always the case) the fruit of his labors answered in character to him who laboured; the Christianity of the Thessalonians resembled that of Paul. It was like the walk of the Lord Himself whom Paul followed so closely. It was in much affliction, for the enemy could not bear so plain a testimony, and God granted this grace to such a testimony, and with joy of the Holy Ghost.

Happy testimony to the power of the Spirit working in the heart! When this is so, everything becomes testimony to others. They see that there is in Christians a power of which they are ignorant, motives which they have not experienced, a joy which they may scoff at but which they do not possess; a conduct which strikes them, and which they admire, although they do not follow it; a patience which shews the impotence of the enemy in striving against a power that endures everything, and that rejoices in spite of all his efforts. What can we do with those who allow themselves to be killed without becoming less joyful, nay, whom it makes more so; who are above all our motives when left to themselves, and who, if oppressed, possess their souls in perfect joy in spite of all our opposition; and who are unconquered by torments, finding in these only an occasion for bearing a stronger testimony that Christians are beyond our power? At peace, life is all of it a testimony; death even in torture, is still more so. Such is the Christian, where Christianity exists in its true power, in its normal condition according to God-the word (of the gospel) and the presence of the Spirit, reproduced in the life, in a world estranged from God.

Thus it was with the Thessalonians; and the world, in spite of itself, became an additional witness to the power of the gospel. An ensample to believers in other places, they were the subject of report and conversation to the world, which was never weary of discussing this phenomenon, so new and so strange, of people who had given up all that governed the human heart, all to which it was subject, and worshiped one only living and true God, to whom even the natural conscience bore testimony. The gods of the heathen were the gods of the passions, not of the conscience. And this gave a living reality, an actuality, to the position of Christians and to their religion. They waited for His Son from heaven.

Happy indeed were those Christians whose walk and whole existence made of the world itself a witness for the truth, who were so distinct in their confession, so consistent in their life, that an apostle did not need to speak of that which he had preached, of that which he had been among them. The world spoke of it for him and for them.

A few words on the testimony itself, which, simple as it may be, is of great importance,and contains principles of great moral depth. It forms the basis of the whole life, and of all the Christian affections also, that are unfolded in the Epistle, which, besides this development, contains only a special revelation of the circumstances and the order of the coming of Christ to call His people to Himself, and of the difference between that event and the day of the Lord to judge the world, although this latter follows on the former.

That which the apostle points out, as the testimony borne by the faithful walk of the Thessalonians, contained three principal subjects: 1st, they had forsaken their idols to serve the living and true God; 2nd, they were waiting for His Son from heaven, whom He had raised from among the dead; 3rd, the Son was a safeguard from the wrath which was to be revealed.

An immense fact-simple but of vast import-characterises Christianity. It gives us a positive object; and this object is nothing less. than God Himself. Human nature may discover the folly of that which is false. We scorn false gods and graven images; but we cannot get beyond ourselves, we cannot reveal anything to ourselves. One of the most renowned names of antiquity is pleased to tell us, that all would go well if men followed nature (it is manifest that they could not rise above it); and, in fact, he would be in the right if man were not fallen. But to require man to follow nature is a proof that he is fallen, that he has degraded himself below the normal state of that nature. He does not follow it in the walk that suits its constitution. All is in disorder. Self-will carries him away, and acts in his passions. Man has forsaken God, and has lost the power and centre of attraction that kept him in his place and everything in his own nature in its place. Man cannot recover himself, he cannot direct himself; for, apart from God, there is nothing but self-will that guides man. There are many objects that furnish occasion for the acting of the passions and the will; but there is no object which, as a centre, gives him a regular, constant, and durable moral position in relationship with that object, so that his character should bear its stamp and value. Man must either have a moral centre, capable of forming him as a moral being, by attracting him to itself and filling his affections, so that he shall be the reflex of that object; or he must act in self-will, and then he is the sport of his passions; or, which is the necessary consequence, he is the slave of any object that takes possession of his will. A creature, who is a moral being, cannot subsist without an object. To be self-sufficing is the characteristic of God.

The equilibrium which subsisted in the unconsciousness of good and evil is lost. Man no longer walks as man, having nothing in his mind outside his normal condition, outside that which he possessed; not having a will, or, which comes to the same thing, having a will that desired nothing more than it possessed, but that gratefully enjoyed all that was, already appropriated to its nature, and especially the companionship of a being like himself, a help who had his own nature, and who answered to his heart-blessing God for everything.

Now man wills. While he has lost that which formed the sphere of his enjoyment, there is in him an activity which seeks, which is become unable to rest without aiming at, something farther; which has already, as will, thrown itself into a sphere that it does not fill, in which it lacks intelligence to apprehend all that is there and power to realise even that which it desires. Man, and all that has been his, no longer suffices man as enjoyment. He still needs an object. This object will either be above or below the man. If it be below, he degrades himself below himself; and it is this indeed which has taken place. He no longer lives according even to nature (as he to whom I have alluded says), a state which the apostle has described in the beginning of the Epistle to the Romans with all the horrors of the plain truth. If this object be above himself and below God, there is still nothing to govern his nature, nothing that puts him morally in his place. A good being could not take this place to exclude God from it. If a bad object gains it, he becomes to the man, a god, who shuts out the true God, and degrades man in his highest relationship-the worst of all degradations. This too has taken place. And since these beings are but creatures, they only can govern man by that which exists, and by that which acts upon him. This is to say, they are the gods of his passions. They degrade the idea of the Divinity: they degrade the practical life of humanity into slavery to the passions (which are never satisfied, and which invent evil when they are surfeited with excess in that which is natural to them) and are thus left without resource. Such in fact was the condition of man under Paganism.

Man, and above all, man having knowledge of good and evil, should have God for his object; and as an object that his heart can entertain with pleasure, and on which his affections can be exercised: other wise he is lost. The gospel-Christianity-has given him this, God, who fills all things, who is the source of, in whom is centered, all blessing, all good-God, who is all love, who has all power, who embraces everything in His knowledge, because everything (except the forsaking of Himself) is but the fruit of His mind and will-God has revealed Himself in Christ to man, in order that his heart, occupied with with Him, with perfect confidence in His goodness, may know Him, may enjoy His presence, and reflect His character.

The sin and misery of man have but lent occasion to an infinitely more complete development of what this God is, and of the perfection of His nature, in love, in wisdom, and in power. But we are here considering only the fact, that He has given Himself to man for an object. Nevertheless, although the misery of man has but given room for a much more admirable revelation of God, yet God Himself must have an object worthy of Himself to be the subject of His purposes, and in order to unfold all His affections. This object is the glory of His Son-His Son Himself. A being of an inferior nature could not have been this to Him, although God can glorify Himself in His grace to such and one. The object of the affections, and the affections that are exercised with regard to it, are necessarily correlative. Thus God has displayed His sovereign and immense grace with regard to that which was the most wretched, the most unworthy, the most necessitous; and He has displayed all the majesty of His being, all the excellence of His nature, in connection with an object in whom He could find all His delight, and exhibit all that He is in the glory of His nature. But it is as man-marvelous truth in the eternal counsels of God!-that this object of God the Fathers delight has taken His place in this glorious revelation by which God makes Himself known to His creatures. God has ordained and prepared man for this, Thus the heart that is taught by the Spirit knows God as revealed in this immense grace, in the love that comes down from the throne of God to the ruin and misery of the sinner; he finds himself, in Christ, in the knowledge and in the enjoyment of the love which God has for the object of His eternal delight, who also is worthy of being so; of the communications by which He testifies that love (Joh 17:7-8); and, finally, of the glory which is its public demonstration before the universe. This latter part of our ineffable blessedness is the subject of Christs communications at the end of Johns Gospel. (Chaps 14, 16, and, in particular 17) [2] From the moment that the sinner is converted and believes the gospel, and (to complete his state, I must add) is sealed with the Holy Ghost, now that the blessed Lord has wrought redemption, he is introduced -as to the principle of his life-into this position, into these relationships with God. He is perhaps but a child; but the Father whom he knows, the love into which he has entered, the Saviour on whom his eyes are opened, are the same whom he will enjoy when he shall know as he is known. He is a Christian; he is turned from idols to God, and to wait for His Son from heaven.

We may observe, that the subject here is not the power which converts, nor the source of life. Of these other passages speak clearly. Here it is the character of the life in its manifestation. Now this depends on its objects. Life is exercised and unfolded in connection with its objects, and thus characterises itself. The source from which it flows makes it capable of enjoying it; but an intrinsic life which has no object on which it depends is not the life of a creature. Such life as that is the prerogative of God. This shews the folly of those who would have a subjective life, as they say, without its having a positively objective character; for this subjective state depends on the object with which it is occupied. It is the characteristic of God to be the source of His own thoughts without an object-to be, and to be self-sufficing (because He is perfection, and the centre and source of everything), and to create objects unto Himself, if He would have any without Himself. In a word, although receiving a life from God which is capable of enjoying Him, the moral character of man cannot be formed in him without an object that imparts it to him.

Now God has given Himself to us for an object, and has revealed Himself in Christ. If we occupy ourselves with God in Himself (supposing always that He had thus revealed Himself), the subject is too vast. It is an infinite joy; but in that which is simply infinite there is something wanting to a creature, although it is his highest prerogative to enjoy it. It is necessary to him on the one hand, in order that he may be in his place, and that God may have His place in regard to him, and on the other hand that which exalts him so admirably. It must be so; and it is the privilege given unto us, and given unto us in a priceless intimacy, for we are children, and we dwell in God, and God in us; but with this in itself there is a certain weight upon the heart in the sense of God alone. We read of a far more exceeding and abundant weight [3] of glory. It must be so: His majesty must be maintained when we think of Him as God, His authority over the conscience. The heart-God has so formed it-needs something which will not lower its affections, but which may have the character of companion and friend, at least to which it has access in that character.

It is this which we have in Christ, our precious Saviour. He is an object near to us. He is not ashamed to call us brethren. He has called us friends; all that He has heard from His Father He has made known to us. Is He then a means of our eyes being turned away from God ? On the contrary, it is in Him that God is manifested, in Him that even the angels see God. It is He who, being in the bosom of the Father, reveals to us His God and Father in this sweet relationship, and as He knows Him Himself. And not only this, but He is in the Father, and the Father in Him, so that He who has seen Him has seen the Father. He reveals God to us, instead of turning us away from Him. In grace He has already revealed Him, and we wait for the revelation of glory in Him. Already also on the earth, from the moment that He was born, the angels celebrated the good pleasure of God in man, for the object of His eternal delight had become a man. And now He has accomplished the work which makes possible the introduction of others, of sinners, into the enjoyment with Himself of this favour of God. Once enemies, we are reconciled to God by the death of His Son.

It is thus that God has reconciled us to Himself. By faith thus knowing God, we turn from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven. The living and true God is the object of our joyful service. His Son, whom we know, who knows us, who will have us to be where He is, who has identified us with His own glory and His glory with us, He who is a glorified man for ever and firstborn among many brethren, is the object of our expectation. We expect Him from heaven, for our hopes are there, and there the seat of our joy.

We have the infinity of a God of love, the intimacy and the glory of Him who has taken part in all our infirmities, and, without sin, has borne all our sins. What a portion is ours!

But there was another side of the truth. Creatures are responsible; and, however great His love and His patience, God cannot allow evil nor contempt of His authority: if He did, all would be confusion and misery. God Himself would lose His place. There is a judgment; there is wrath to come. We were responsible; we have failed. How then shall we enjoy God and the Son in the way that I have spoken of?

Here comes in the application of the third truth of which the apostle speaks: Which delivered us from the wrath to come. The work of Christ has perfectly sheltered us from this wrath; He took our place in responsibility on the cross to put away sin for us by the sacrifice of Himself.

These then are the three great elements of Christian life. We serve the living and the true God, having forsaken our idols outward or inward. We expect Jesus for glory; for this sight of God makes us feel what this world is, and we know Jesus. As to our sins and our conscience, we are perfectly cleansed; we fear nothing. The life and walk of the Thessalonians was a testimony to these truths.

Footnotes for 1 Thessalonians Chapter 1

1: They are found oftener in Pauls writings than is thought; as 1Th 5:8 and Col 1:4-5. In 2Th 1:3 we have faith and love, but he has to clear up their thoughts as to hope.

2: Compare Pro 8:30-31, and Luk 2:14, where read, good pleasure in men. It is beautiful to see the angels unjealously celebrating it. Love downwards in grace is great according to the misery and unworthiness of the object; upwards as the affection of the soul according to the worthiness; see both in Christ, Eph 5:2 In both in Christ self is wholly given up. He gave, not sought, Himself. The law takes self as measure as to the neighbor, and supposes him on the same footing. There is no love downwards.

3: Weight and glory are the same word in Hebrew- Cabod.

Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament

1. To the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. How plain, explicit, and unmistakable is the New Testament! And what a contrast with the Churchism of the present day, in which we find dancers, card-players, theatergoers, horserace-goers, circus-goers, extortioners, swindlers, whisky-drinkers, and other sins too dark to mention! Common sense teaches the most stupid Bible-reader that none of these characters can possibly be members of Gods Church, the Ecclesia, who, responsive to the call of the Holy Ghost, have come out of the world, and separated themselves unto God. Here we see that all the members of the Thessalonian Church are in God the Father and Jesus Christ. Nothing but the genuine regeneration of the Holy Ghost can put the soul in God the Father and Jesus Christ. Yet we have preachers who stultify themselves by the assumption that these Thessalonians were not converted (in order to get rid of the second work of grace). O that they could only salute their own Churches in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

1Th 1:1. Paul and Silvanus. The latter is so denominated in other passages of scripture, that being the name by which he was known to the gentiles. 2Co 1:19, 2Th 1:1. By another apostle he is honourably distinguished as a faithful brother. 1Pe 5:12. The name of Silvanus appears in the Vulgate bible, but Jerome, when writing against the Pelagians, calls him Silas, his Hebraical name. He probably was equal to Paul in years, being reputed one of the seventy disciples. Silas was at Iconium before the arrival of Paul. Act 15:34; Act 15:40.

Timotheus, to whom the Holy Ghost was given by the imposition of Pauls hands, is also joined with the name of Paul, being both holy men, and divinely inspired. Silas, first named in Act 15:22, is described as one of the chief men among the brethren in Judea. See also on Act 16:1-3.

Paul addresses this epistle to the church of the Thessalonians; but he afterwards varies his form, and calls the churches, brethren, and saints, and beloved of God, and sanctified, and the faithful in Christ Jesus. He opens the epistle by effusions of his soul, in grace, and peace from God our Father; by which we understand all the love of God in Christ Jesus, and the whole plenitude of benediction flowing through him as the fountain of life, in ceaseless streams of peace and joy. The soul of Paul, full of grace, bursts at once in all these happy forms of words, to console and edify the flock.

1Th 1:2-3. We give thanks to God always for you all. None of the churches gave the apostle greater joy than those in Thessalonica and Macedonia. Their number being great, and their work of faith abundant in all the forms of charity; their labour of love, seeking the souls of men, not surpassed even in Jerusalem; and their patience of hope, sustaining the outrages of wicked and unreasonable men, made them lovely even in the sight of God the Father.

1Th 1:4. Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God, by all these full proofs of your regeneration. The jews have now nothing to boast over you, concerning the peculiar grace of Abrahams covenant, for you were equally included in the promise, that all the gentile nations of the earth should be blessed in Christ, the promised Seed, the Son, the Lord of all. In conformity to all the promises made to the gentiles, you have been called with a high and holy calling.

1Th 1:5. Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power. The arguments were demonstrative, the unction was divine. How should it be otherwise. Hoary idolatry was enrooted in their hearts, a religion which suited their passions, and often by its feasts, urged them to the foulest of crimes. The priests in all their temples roused the people to avenge the insults offered to their gods; and the jews, more inveterate still, persisted in pursuing the apostles with violence and outrage. How should so great a work be wrought by a few strangers, without money and without friends, unless seals and tokens of the divine presence had attended their ministry. The success was without example; the word of the Lord had free course; it ran, and was glorified.

The gospel came to them in the Holy Ghost, who in his divine subsistence or person illuminated the mind, warmed the heart, and perfected the conversion of sinners to God. He came with all the glory and power promised by the prophets.

The gospel also came to them in much assurance; yea, with the full assurance of faith, and full assurance of hope, as is the association of the word in Heb 6:11; Heb 10:22. The gospel, like a torrent obstructed by a bank, broke down all opposition. It opened the ancient scriptures in a luminous manner. It was made the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believed. They at once turned from dumb idols to serve the living and the true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven.

1Th 1:6. Ye became followers of us, and [imitators] of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction. This storm of persecution, though nowhere recorded, it would seem, was severe, and commentators generally infer from chap. 1Th 4:13, that some of the brethren had been massacred or martyred; yet they had sustained the tempest, and suffered with joy. The piety which allured them to follow the Lamb, enabled them to suffer for his sake.

1Th 1:7-8. So that ye were ensamples, and models, to all from you sounded out the word of the Lord, like the trumpet of jubilee, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. While Paul was at Corinth his expansive soul could not be confined within the walls of a city, he had made excursions into Achaia. In these later times we have not adequate ideas of the glory of the gospel in its early progress. Men by multitudes embraced the faith, and the word ran like fire among the stubble.

1Th 1:9. Ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God. The antithesis enlivens the expression, idols made with hands contrasted with the living God. Zanchius, a Swiss divine, here quotes Tacitus, who affirms that the gods, such as the local Jupiters, Neptune and others, could not create and endow the living beings of the earth with life. The learned among the gentiles certainly derived much light, either from the sibyls, or from the holy scriptures, translated by the LXX, and carried everywhere by the jews in their dispersion among all nations.

1Th 1:10. To wait for his Son from heaven. Sweet hope, the aggregate of every other hope. Then the tempests shall roar no more: we shall see him who died and rose again, who will redeem us from death, and deliver us from the wrath to come.

REFLECTIONS.

The holy apostles join here in many places with Paul, giving thanks to God for the riches of grace conferred on the saints, in begetting them again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. What grace, what love, what honour is consequent upon conversion! Heaven withholds no joy in the day of our espousals.

The piety of the Thessalonians, and of the younger churches of Macedonia, was distinguished by three characteristics. Their faith, simple, pure, and lively: doubts and fears were to them unknown. They believed the gospel, because they had felt its power, and enjoyed its comfort and support. And being assured of these, they believed every other promise of the Lord, as little children believe their fathers words. They know that a father will neither lie nor deceive them.

The piety of those Grecians was equally distinguished by the labour of love. Being enlightened and happy themselves, they sought to make others happy, to pluck them as brands from the burning, and save them from the darkness of the age. Their labours of love extended to the outward necessities of men, being themselves often opulent, and some of them noble; for love makes all one. Their patience, and all their passive graces in the time of trial, shone with a lustre equal to their active virtues. They wept for the loss of their brethren, but they fainted not when called to drink of their Saviours cup. If their sufferings abounded for Christ, their consolations abounded also by Christ.

Seeing the arm of the Lord revealed in the conversion of multitudes, and in defiance of earth and hell, a work incredible, and beyond the stretch of conjecture, tended so much the more to encrease and confirm their faith. What, a crucified Redeemer preached to the gentiles, believed on in the world; temples forsaken, demons despised, and churches rise; a nation born in a day, and almost without human aid! Surely, this must be the finger of God. It must be the developement of Gods electing love, of his purposes and promises from the foundation of the world, to make the gentiles fellow-heirs with the jews of the grace of the gospel. Displays of grace and mercy so divine must be the surest pledge of the promises of the Saviours second advent, which shall equally be fulfilled, and with more abundant manifestations of his glory.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1Th 1:1-10. Thanksgiving for the Past.As in all his epistles except Gal., Paul commences with a paragraph of congratulation, singling out for special praise the work of faith, the labour of love, and the patience of hope exhibited by the Thessalonians, and describing them as a model Church.

1Th 1:1. Silvanus: the Silas of Acts. He and Timothy were the constant companions of Paul during the second missionary journey.

1Th 1:3. work of faith, etc.: note the combination of the three great Pauline wordsfaith, hope, and love (cf. 1Co 13:13). This sentence is a kind of hall-mark setting the stamp of genuineness upon the epistle. Note also the combination of works and faith in the phrase work of faith (cf. Gal 5:6).labour of love: toil of love.patience of hope: the endurance or the constancy of hope; the hope that never fails or flags.

1Th 1:6. having received . . . in affliction: a reference to the persecution organised by certain vile fellows of the rabble (Act 17:5-9*).

1Th 1:7. an ensample: a model. The phrase model Church is applied only to Thessalonica.

1Th 1:8. sounded forth: reverberated. No details have been preserved with regard to this missionary activity.

1Th 1:9. from idols: this phrase indicates that the Church was mainly composed of Gentiles who had been converted from paganism.

1Th 1:10. The two principal items of their faith are: (a) to serve a living and true God, (b) to wait for the Parousia of Christ.the wrath to come: the impending judgment which is to fall on the world at the Parousia.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Only in the two epistles to the Thessalonians does Paul include the names of his two co-workers, Silas and Timothy, in his addressing them. Also only in these does he refrain from designating himself in any way: as “an apostle,” or “a servant,” or “a prisoner.” Therefore he is not here giving an authoritative communication of the mind of God (as an apostle), nor is he presented as a pattern of Christianity (as a servant; cf. Philippians), nor is he appealing to godly feelings and sympathies (as a prisoner; cf. Philemon), but as one on the same level with them, he takes delight in their faith, love, and hope, and encourages them in this. It is most salutary that just as three men are associated in writing, so the epistle contains many groups of three characteristics, three being the number of substantiality (as three dimensions form a solid), the number of the eternal Trinity. How precious then is the character of substantial, solid, enduring truth here presented. Consistently with this character of divine energy is the meaning of the name Thessalonica – “victory over falsity” – for intellect or education does not accomplish this, but the power of God in the soul.

Another expression used only in these two epistles is that of his addressing the assembly: “the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Does it not show tender affection for a company of newly converted children of God the Father, united to His beloved Son? Thus the apostle nourishes and nurtures that new life, though not simply as individuals, but as an assembly in proper local character. Of course this does not set aside the unity of the assembly world-wide which is so clearly taught in Corinthians and Ephesians, but the emphasis here is on local aspects of testimony and order. The salutation is as in other epistles, “Grace to you and peace,from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ”: grace the active favor of God in abundance of supply; peace the tranquility begotten by submission to and communion with Himself.

In verse 2 let us mark well the apostle’s habit of expressing his thankfulness for all saints in the writing of his epistles. We may remember to pray for the saints, yet may easily neglect this wholesome practice of thanking God for them, which to the apostle was of first importance. Thanksgiving first with prayer following is the wise and godly order.

In verse 3 is a basic, threefold character of Christianity, exemplified beautifully in this newly converted company. Though often referred to, it is worthy of repetition that the address to the Ephesian assembly in Rev 2:2 commends their works, labor, and patience, but that they are not there coupled with faith, love, and hope. Work may go on even after faith has begun to wax feeble; that is, the work may not be the living product of faith but of habit, or of a sense of responsibility. Labor may continue while love is not its real power. Patience may become more or less habitual, not continuing as the fresh, sweet result of the expectant hope of the coming of the Lord. Let us constantly cultivate not only the outward fruits of faith, love, and hope, but rather these blessed motives themselves.

Faith both sees God and sees myself as manifested before God. It is no mere dormant acknowledgment of His truth, but a living, active power that “works.” But love is more powerful still. It “labors.” It may bear long and forbear, continuing to serve even when rebuffed, refused, despised. The apostle would continue to “spend and be spent” even though, as he said, “the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved” (2Co 12:15).

This is labor energized by unfeigned love, love begotten by the pure love of God received and known in the soul. Hope centered in the Person of Christ, assured that His coming is near and that He alone will answer all the problems of every circumstance, is that which gives calm, joyful endurance and constancy in everything. All of these things will maintain a sweet, refreshing fullness when the proper motives are active. But they are “in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.” The Lord Himself is the Living Object of these things, and the sense of all being opened and naked in the sight of God the Father is another matter of deepest encouragement.

“Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.” There was no shadow of doubt as to the reality of the work of God in the Thessalonians. The fruits they bore were proof to the apostle that they were elect of God.

Verse 5. Words by themselves may be empty and vain if not backed up by that which bears evidence of reality. But here again we find three dimensions of substantial, real value: “in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.” The power here is the “dynamite” of the gospel, an energy that produced decisive results. Moreover the Spirit of God was the living source of that power: supreme, divine, holy. “Much assurance” was the inevitable accompaniment of this. No doubtfulness, fears, apprehensions could remain in such anatmosphere. The apostle left no such impression with souls that one could be actually saved by God and then lost again. His gospel was one of certainty and “much assurance,” and such was its effect upon the Thessalonians.

The character and conduct of these three servants of the Lord was also such as to beget such results. Their words were backed up by such action as to show that the truth they preached had effect in their own lives.

Verse 6. Being “followers of us” was no mere sectarian following of men, but rather their conduct followed that of the godly example of these men who were themselves so formed by following the Lord. It is the practical effect upon their ways of which he is speaking, not the acknowledgment of leadership. They had received the Word from those who suffered for it, and they themselves found the same affliction, but sweetened by “joy of the Holy Ghost.” It was no mere servile adherence to popular leaders, but pure joy in suffering along with those who had suffered for the Lord’s sake. In this simple, godly way they became a model of true testimony to all Macedonia and Achaia, though young indeed in the faith.

Macedonia and Achaia were two provinces in Greece, and in these the news of the faith and witness of the Thessalonians had soon become well known. But it was not confined here, for “also in every place” (no doubt wherever Christianity had come) this refreshing knowledge had spread, speaking with good effect to believers everywhere, so that the apostle and his co-workers had no need to tell of the results of their work in Thessalonica.

In every direction was reported the amazing change in these souls, their turning to God from idols – idols so many and so firmly entrenched in the life of the populace that there could be no mere natural explanation for such a change. But it was “to God” they had turned, not to another religion. Living faith produced positive action. The negative turning from idols certainly accompanied this, but it was secondary. And the initial turning is followed by “serving the living and true God,” a good, solid effect in consistent life. Moreover, it awakened proper thoughts and feelings as to the future and expectant waiting for the Son of God from heaven. Observe how these three grand characteristics are the working of faith, love and hope, in that order. If wrath is coming He is our Deliverer. Rather than in condemning He has put all His power (as well as grace) into our deliverance.

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 1

Silvanus, Silas. He was with Timothy, the companion of Paul, in preaching the gospel at Thessalonica, and had since joined him at Corinth (Acts 17:14,18:5.)

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

1. The Fruits of the Gospel (1 Thess. 1).

In the parable of the Sower (Mar 5:20), the Lord instructed His disciples that where the good seed fell upon good ground fruit would result. In this opening chapter some of the beautiful fruit of the Gospel manifests itself in the changed lives of young converts. To understand the Epistle it is necessary to recall the gospel preached to these Thessalonians, as recorded in Act 17:19. From this we gather that, during the Apostle’s visit to Thessalonica, he preached to both Jews and Gentiles. Four things marked his preaching. (1) He presented to them Jesus, the Saviour; not merely doctrines, but a living Person (the Saviour). (2) He alleged that this Person (Jesus) had died and risen again. (3) He not only preached the facts of death and resurrection, but the necessity of these great facts. Christ “must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead.” (4) He fell back on Scripture as his sole and sufficient authority. As a result of this preaching “some” of the Jews, and “a great multitude” of the Gentiles, believed. Moreover they proved the reality of their faith by publicly identifying themselves with the Lord’s servants, for we read, they “consorted with Paul and Silas.” They did not keep their faith to themselves. They made no attempt to escape reproach by remaining secret disciples! They believed in Jesus, and boldly confessed their faith. The result was they had at once to face persecution. The Jews who believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows and set the whole city in an uproar. Envy led to the first murder, when Cain killed his brother: and envy led to the greatest murder when the Jews crucified their Messiah. Pilate “knew that for envy they had delivered Him.” If men moved by envy will commit murder, we need not be surprised that respectable Jews stooped to use lewd base fellows to carry out their ends. Thus we learn the character of the seed sown, the fruits produced, and the opposition called forth. The Apostle writes his Epistle to encourage these young converts in persecution, and delights to dwell upon the beautiful fruit of the gospel so manifested.

The Apostle associates with himself those who had laboured with him. In his salutation he views these believers relative to God the Father, and to Jesus Christ as Lord, rather than as members of the Body of which Christ is the Head. He encourages them by assuring them that he constantly gives thanks to God for them, and remembers them in his prayers. Moreover he recognises the fruits of the Spirit in them. In calling attention to these happy christian qualities, the Apostle is not flattering them, but gladly recognising in them the evidence of a real work of God. He notes their work, labour, and endurance; but not as marks of true conversion. Men of the world are often famed for great philanthropic works, immense toil, and much perseverance in carrying out their works. In the case of the Thessalonians the Apostle can link with these other qualities essentially christian: viz., “work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope”: the three great elements of christian life that bring the soul into relation with Divine Persons, thus giving the marks of a truly converted soul. As evidence of reality, the writer of the Hebrews Epistle, refers to these three qualities. He had been speaking solemnly of those who made a profession of Christianity, but afterwards apostatised. But, of these Christians he can say, “Beloved we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation,” viz “labour of love”; “the full assurance of hope” and “faith and patience” (Heb 6:9-12).

Moreover, the reality of their “faith,” “love,” and “hope,” is proved by these beautiful qualities being “in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Faith, love, and hope, each require an object. In Christianity that supreme object is a living Person – the Lord Jesus Christ. Every true activity in the christian life is the outcome of faith which draws all its strength, wisdom, and needed grace, from One who is unseen, and therefore only available for faith. True christian toil springs from love for our Lord Jesus Christ and is not carried out as a legal duty. The endurance is not dull resignation to stern necessity, but sustained by hope that waits for our Lord Jesus Christ. Further, the life of faith, love, and hope, is lived “in the sight of God our Father.” It is a life of holy fear lived before God, and not simply before man to obtain a religious place, or before the saints to gain a reputation for devotedness. These young believers became “ensamples to all that believe,” and their faith to God was spread abroad; but their witness before man was the outcome of a life lived before God. They consciously lived and walked “before our God and Father.” “We may indeed zealously contend for a name; but the question before God is as to power and full fruits of grace in the measure of that which has been received; and if the soul does not come up to that, it is a dreadful thing for it to be resting on a religious reputation, while the works are not perfect before God” (J.N.D.).

Further, these evidences of a work of God in their souls assured the Apostle that they were beloved of God and the subjects of His electing grace. Not only has grace met all our responsibilities, but, by the sovereign mercy of God believers were elected, before the foundation of the world, to obtain salvation with eternal glory (2Ti 2:10). If we are elected to eternal glory, we are set apart by the work of the Spirit from this present world. No position of dignity and honour which this world can offer, will have any attraction on realising that. These beautiful fruits had been produced in lives by the gospel that came to them not “in word only, but also in power” by the preaching in the Holy Ghost. Thus there was much assurance. Alas! there may be much correct gospel preaching, but too often “in word only.” The power and work of the Holy Spirit are wanting. What will give power to the preaching and leave the Holy Spirit free to work is the consistent life of the preacher. So the Apostle can say, “Ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.” His life confirmed his preaching and thus became part of the testimony that he bore with his lips.

The result of testimony in power manifests itself in two ways. (1) It led those who received the testimony, not only into the blessing of salvation, but to imitate the Apostle, and therefore the Lord (N. Tn.). Being blessed they became representatives of the One by whom they were saved. (2) This testimony in power aroused the hatred of those by whom it was rejected. This malice expressed itself in persecuting the believers. Nevertheless these believers were sustained in joy by the Holy Spirit. The devil may stir up persecution, but the power of the Spirit is greater than all the power of the enemy. Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, is sustained in triumph in the midst of his martyr sufferings. The martyr whose sufferings only call forth praise to the Lord renders an arresting testimony to the power of God before the world! Thus the joy of these young persecuted converts became an ensample to believers and a testimony to the world around, for, in every place, their faith towards God had become a matter of wonder. Their testimony had a threefold character. (a) the word of the Lord was sounded out from them. (b) their changed manner of life proved the reality of their conversion, and was a witness to the truth of their preaching, for they gave up all their old idolatrous practices, and turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Scripture, not only recognises the actual images of the heathen as idols, but also anything that comes in as an object between the soul and God: e.g., “Little children keep yourselves from idols” (1Jn 5:21). How often the believer’s life and service may be hindered by allowing some earthly pursuit, which in itself may be harmless, to become an object between the soul and God. (3) They turned from the world, and its delusions, to wait for the Son of God from heaven. All their expectations were in Him. Being converted they did not vainly attempt to put the world right, and make it better and brighter. To deal with the evil, and bring in the blessing, they quietly waited for God’s Son from heaven. They did so in peace and calmness, knowing that Jesus had delivered them from wrath through His death, and that God had declared His satisfaction with the work of Christ and the believer’s justification from sins and judgment, by raising Christ from the dead.

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

I. SALUTATION AND GREETING 1:1

Paul wrote this first sentence to identify himself, his companions, and his addressees, and to convey a formal word of greeting.

At the time he wrote this epistle, Silas and Timothy were with Paul. "Silvanus" was the Roman form of his name, which Paul preferred over "Silas." Luke used "Silas" (Act 15:22; et al.). No one knows if this Silvanus is the same man whom Peter mentioned in 1Pe 5:12. Silas and Timothy were Paul’s primary associates on his second missionary journey during which the church at Thessalonica came into existence (Act 15:40). We know more about Timothy’s background than we do about Silas’. Paul may have led Timothy to faith in Christ on the first missionary journey (1Ti 1:2; Acts 13-14). Timothy had recently returned to Paul in Corinth when Paul wrote this letter. He had come from Thessalonica bearing news of conditions in the church there (1Th 3:1-2; 1Th 3:6). The Thessalonians knew all three men personally.

First and 2 Thessalonians are the only Pauline Epistles in which Paul did not elaborate on his name or the names of his fellow writers. This probably implies that his relationship with the Thessalonians was good and stable. [Note: D. Michael Martin, 1, 2 Thessalonians, p. 47.]

The "church" (Greek ekklesia) is a group of people, Jews and Gentiles equally, whom God has called out of the mass of humanity for a life separated unto Himself. The Greek word refers to many different types of assemblies (social, political, and religious), and in the Septuagint it is a synonym for "synagogue." This term became useful to Paul in gaining access to the Gentile world as well as in separating from the Jewish world.

Paul accorded Jesus Christ equality with God the Father. By calling Jesus Christ "Lord," Paul conveyed the idea, to both Jews and Gentiles, that Jesus is God; both groups would have understood this implication. [Note: Leon Morris, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians, p. 48.] God is not only the strong, loving, security-bestowing Father, but He is also the sovereign Lord His people must obey.

"Grace" was a common Greek salutation that meant "greeting" or "rejoice." "Peace" is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew "shalom" meaning "favor," "well-being," and "prosperity in the widest sense," especially prosperity in spiritual matters. Paul used both words when he greeted the recipients of his epistles. God’s grace is the basis for and leads to our peace.

The absence of any reference to Paul’s apostleship in any of his inspired writings to the Macedonian churches, namely, those in Thessalonica and Philippi, is noteworthy. He mentioned his apostleship in all his other epistles and sometimes had to defend it vigorously (e.g., in 2 Corinthians). Evidently the Macedonian churches never questioned Paul’s apostleship as did the churches elsewhere (e.g., in Galatia and Corinth).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 1

THE CHURCH OF THE THESSALONIANS

1Th 1:1 (R.V.)

THESSALONICA, now called Saloniki, was in the first century of our era a large and flourishing city. It was situated at the northeastern corner of the Thermaic gulf, on the line of the great Egnatian road, which formed the main connection by land between Italy and the East. It was an important commercial centre, with a mixed population of Greeks, Romans, and Jews. The Jews, who at the present day amount to some twenty thousand, were numerous enough to have a synagogue of their own; and we can infer from the Book of Acts {Act 17:4} that it was frequented by many of the better spirits among the Gentiles also. Unconsciously, and as the event too often proved, unwillingly, the Dispersion was preparing the way of the Lord.

To this city the Apostle Paul came, attended by Silas and Timothy, in the course of his second missionary journey. He had just left Philippi, dearest to his heart of all his churches; for there, more than anywhere else, the sufferings of Christ had abounded in him, and his consolations also had been abundant in Christ. He came to Thessalonica with the marks of the lictors rods upon his body; but to him they were the marks of Jesus; not warnings to change his path, but tokens that the Lord was taking him into fellowship with Himself, and binding him more strictly to His service. He came with the memory of his converts kindness warm upon his heart; conscious that, amid whatever disappointments, a welcome awaited the gospel, which admitted its messenger into the joy of his Lord. We need not wonder, then, that the Apostle kept to his custom, and in spite of the malignity of the Jews, made his way, when Sabbath came, to the synagogue of Thessalonica.

His evangelistic ministry is very briefly described by St. Luke. For three Sabbath days he addressed himself to his fellow countrymen. He took the Scriptures into his hand, -that is, of course, the Old Testament Scriptures, -and opening the mysterious casket, as the picturesque words in Acts describe his method, he brought out and set before his auditors, as its inmost and essential secret, the wonderful idea that the Christ whom they all expected, the Messiah of God, must die and rise again from the dead. That was not what ordinary Jewish readers found in the law, the prophets, or the psalms; but, once persuaded that this interpretation was true, it was not difficult to believe that the Jesus whom Paul preached was the Christ for whom they all hoped. Luke tells us that some were persuaded; but they cannot have been many: his account agrees with the representation of the Epistle {1Th 1:9} that the church at Thessalonica was mainly Gentile. Of the “chief women not a few,” who were among the first converts, we know nothing; the exhortations in both Epistles make it plain that what Paul left at Thessalonica was what we should call a working class congregation. The jealousy of the Jews, who resorted to the device which had already proved successful at Philippi, compelled Paul and his friends to leave the city prematurely. The mission, indeed, had probably lasted longer than most readers infer from Act 17:1-34. Paul had had time to make his character and conduct impressive to the church, and to deal with each one of them as a father with his own children; {1Th 2:11} he had wrought night and day with his own hands for a livelihood; {2Th 3:8} he had twice received help from the Philippians. {Php 4:15-16} But although this implies a stay of some duration, much remained to be done; and the natural anxiety of the Apostle, as he thought of his inexperienced disciples, was intensified by the reflection that he had left them exposed to the malignity of his and their enemies. What means that malignity employed-what violence and what calumny-the Epistle itself enables us to see; meantime, it is sufficient to say that the pressure of these things upon the Apostles spirit was the occasion of his writing this letter. He had tried in vain to get back to Thessalonica; he had condemned himself to solitude in a strange city that he might send Timothy to them; he must hear whether they stand fast in their Christian calling. On his return from this mission Timothy joined Paul in Corinth with a report, cheering on the whole, yet not without its graver side, concerning the Thessalonian believers: and the first Epistle is the apostolic message in these circumstances. It is, in all probability, the earliest of the New Testament writings; it is certainly the earliest extant of Pauls; if we except the decree in Act 15:1-41, it is the earliest piece of Christian writing in existence.

The names mentioned in the address are all well known-Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. The three are united in the greeting, and are sometimes, apparently, included in the “we” or “us” of the Epistle; but they are not joint authors of it. It is the Epistle of Paul, who includes them in the salutation out of courtesy, as in the First to the Corinthians he includes Sosthenes, and in Galatians “all the brethren that are with me”; a courtesy the more binding on this occasion that Silas and Timothy had shared with him his missionary work in Thessalonica. In First and Second Thessalonians only, of all his letters, the Apostle adds nothing to his name to indicate the character in which he writes; he neither calls himself an apostle, nor a servant of Jesus Christ. The Thessalonians knew him simply for what he was; his apostolic dignity was yet unassailed by false brethren; the simple name was enough. Silas comes before Timothy as an older man, and a fellow labourer of longer standing. In the Book of Acts he is described as a prophet, and as one of the chief men among the brethren; he had been associated with Paul all through this journey; and though we know very little of him, the fact that he was chosen one of the bearers of the apostolic decree, and that he afterwards attached himself to Paul, justifies the inference that he heartily sympathised with the evangelising of the heathen. Timothy was apparently one of Pauls own converts. Carefully instructed in childhood by a pious mother and grandmother, he had been won to the faith of Christ during the first tour of the Apostle in Asia Minor. He was naturally timid, but kept the faith in spite of the persecutions which then awaited it; and when Paul returned, he found that the steadfastness and other graces of his spiritual son had won an honourable name in the local churches. He determined to take him with him, apparently in the character of an evangelist; but before he was ordained by the presbyters, Paul circumcised him, remembering his Jewish descent on the mothers side, and desirous of facilitating his access to the synagogue, in which the work of gospel preaching usually began. Of all the Apostles assistants he was the most faithful and affectionate. He had the true pastoral spirit, devoid of selfishness, and caring naturally and unfeignedly for the souls of Php 2:20 f. Such were the three who sent their Christian greetings in this Epistle. The greetings are addressed “to the church of (the) Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” No such address had ever been written or read before, for the community to which it was directed was a new thing in the world. The word translated “church” was certainly familiar enough to all who knew Greek: it was the name given to the citizens of a Greek town assembled for public business; it is the name given in the Greek Bible either to the children of Israel as the congregation of Jehovah, or to any gathering of them for a special purpose; but here it obtains a new significance. The church of the Thessalonians is a church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the common relation of its members to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ which constitutes them a church in the sense of the Apostle: in contradistinction from all other associations or societies, they form a Christian community.

The Jews who met from Sabbath to Sabbath in the synagogue were a church; they were one in the acknowledgment of the Living God, and in their observance of His law; God, as revealed in the Old Testament and in the polity of Israel, was the element or atmosphere of their spiritual life. The citizens of Thessalonica, who met in the theatre to discuss their political interests, were a “church”; they were one in recognising the same constitution and the same ends of civic life; it was in that constitution, in the pursuit of those ends, that they found the atmosphere in which they lived. Paul in this Epistle greets a community distinct from either of these. It is not civic, but religious; though religious, it is neither pagan nor Jewish; it is an original creation, new in its bond of union, in the law by which it lives, in the objects at which it aims; a church in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.

This newness and originality of Christianity could not fail to impress those who first received it. The gospel made an immeasurable difference to them, a difference almost equally great whether they had been Jews or heathen before; and they were intensely conscious of the gulf which separated their new life from the old. In another epistle Paul describes the condition of Gentiles not yet evangelised, “Once,” he says, “you were apart from. Christ, without God, in the world.” The world-the great system of things and interests separated from God-was the sphere and element of their life. The gospel found them there, and translated them. When they received it, they ceased to be in the world; they were no longer apart from Christ, and without God: they were in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing could be more revolutionary in those days than to become a Christian: old things passed away; all things became new; all things were determined by the new relation to God and His Son. The difference between the Christian and the non-Christian was as unmistakable and as clear to the Christian mind as the difference between the shipwrecked sailor who has reached the shore and him who is still fighting a hopeless fight with wind and waves. In a country which has long been Christian, that difference tends, to sense at least, and to imagination, to disappear. We are not vividly impressed with the distinction between those who claim to be Christians and those who do not; we do not see a radical unlikeness, and we are sometimes disposed to deny it. We may even feel that we are bound to deny it, were it only in justice to God. He has made all men for Himself; He is the Father of all; He is near to all, even when they are blind to Him; the pressure of His hand is felt and in a measure responded to by all, even when they do not recognise it; to say that any one is , or , or that he is not in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ, seems really to deny both God and man.

Yet what is at issue here is really a question of fact; and among those who have been in contact with the facts, among those, above all, who have had experience of the critical fact-who once were not Christians and now are – there will not be two opinions about it. The difference between the Christian and the non-Christian, though historical accidents have made it less visible, or rather, less conspicuous than it once was, is still as real and as vast as, ever. The higher nature of man, intellectual and spiritual, must always have an element in which it lives, an atmosphere surrounding if, principles to guide it, ends to stimulate its action; and it may find all these in either of two places. It may find them in the world-that is, in that sphere of things from which God, so far as mans will and intent goes, is excluded; or it may find them in God Himself and in His Son. It is no objection to this division to say that God cannot be excluded from His own world, that He is always at work there whether acknowledged or not; for the acknowledgment is the essential point; without it, though God is near to man, man is still far from God. Nothing could be a more hopeless symptom in character than the benevolent is this truth; it takes away every motive to evangelise the non-Christian, or to work out the originality and the Christian life itself. Now, as in the apostolic age, there are persons who are Christians and persons who are not; and, however alike their lives may be on the surface, they are radically apart. Their centre is different; the element in which they move is different; the nutriment of thought, the fountain of motives, the standard of purity are different; they are related to each other as life in God, and life without God; life in Christ, and life apart from Christ; and in proportion to their sincerity is their mutual antagonism.

In Thessalonica the Christian life was original enough to have formed a new society. In those days, and in the Roman Empire, there was not much room for the social instincts to expand. Unions of all kinds were suspected by the governments, and discouraged, as probable centres of political disaffection. Local self-government ceased to be interesting when all important interests were withdrawn from its control; and even had it been otherwise, there was no part in it possible for that great mass of population from which the Church was so largely recruited, namely, the slaves. Any power that could bring men together, that could touch them deeply, and give them a common interest that engaged their hearts and bound them to each other, met the greatest want of the time, and was sure of a welcome.

Such a power was the gospel preached by Paul. It formed little communities of men and women wherever it was proclaimed; communities in which there was no law but that of love, in which heart opened to heart as nowhere else in all the world, in which there were fervour and hope and freedom and brotherly kindness, and all that makes life good and dear. We feel this very strongly in reading the New Testament, and it is one of the points on which, unhappily, we have drifted away from the primitive model. The Christian congregation is not now, in point of fact, the type of a sociable community. Too often it is oppressed with constraint and formality. Take any particular member of any particular congregation; and his social circle, the company of friends in which he expands most freely and happily, will possibly have no connection with those he sits beside in the church. The power of the faith to bring men into real unity with each other is not lessened; we see this wherever the gospel breaks ground in a heathen country, or wherever the frigidity of the church drives two or three fervent souls to form a secret society of their own; but the temperature of faith itself is lowered; we are not really living, with any intensity of life, in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. If we were, we would be drawn closer to each other; our hearts would touch and overflow; the place where we meet in the name of Jesus would be the most radiant and sociable place we know.

Nothing could better illustrate the reality of that new character which Christianity confers than the fact that men can be addressed as Christians. Nothing, either, could better illustrate the confusion of mind that exists in this matter, or the insincerity of much profession, than the fact that so many members of churches would hesitate before taking the liberty so to address a brother. We have all written letters, and on all sorts of occasions; we have addressed men as lawyers, or doctors, or men of business; we have sent or accepted invitations to gatherings where nothing would have astonished us more than the unaffected naming of the name of God; did we ever write to anybody because he was a Christian, and because we were Christians? Of all the relations in which we stand to others, is that which is established by “our common Christianity,” by our common life in Jesus Christ, the only one which is so crazy and precarious that it can never be really used for anything? Here we see the Apostle look back from Corinth to Thessalonica, and his one interest in the poor people whom he remembers so affectionately is that they are Christians. The one thing in which he wishes to help them is their Christian life. He does not care much whether they are well or ill off in respect of this worlds goods; but he is anxious to supply what is lacking in their faith. {1Th 3:10}

How real a thing the Christian life was to him! what a substantial interest, whether in himself or in others, engrossing all his thought, absorbing all his love and devotion. To many of us it is the one topic for silence; to him it was the one theme of thought and speech. He wrote about it, as he spoke about it, as though there were no other interest for man; and letters like those of Thomas Erskine show that still, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. The full soul overflows, unaffected, unforced; Christian fellowship, as soon as Christian life is real, is restored to its true place.

Paul, Silas, and Timothy wish the church of the Thessalonians grace and peace. This is the greeting in all the Apostles letters; it is not varied except by the addition of “mercy” in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus. In form it seems to combine the salutations current among the Greeks and the Jews ( and ), but in import it has all the originality the Christian faith. In the second Epistle it runs, “Grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Grace is the love of God, spontaneous, beautiful, unearned, at work in Jesus Christ for the salvation of sinful men; peace is the effect and fruit in man of the reception of grace. It is easy to narrow unduly the significance of peace; those expositors do so who suppose in this passage a reference to the persecution which the Thessalonian Christians had to bear, and understand the Apostle to wish them deliverance from it. The Apostle has something far more comprehensive in his mind. The peace, which Christ is; the peace with God which we have when we are reconciled to Him by the death of His Son; the soul health which comes when grace makes our hearts to their very depths right with God, and frightens away care and fear; this “perfect soundness” spiritually is all summed up in the word. It carries in it the fulness of the blessing of Christ. The order of the words is significant; there is no peace without grace; and there is no grace apart from fellowship with God in Christ. The history of the Church has been written by some who practically put Paul in Christs place; and by others who imagine that the doctrine of the person of Christ only attained by slow degrees, and in the post-apostolic age, its traditional importance; but here, in the oldest extant monument of the Christian faith, and in the very first line of it, the Church is defined as existing in the Lord Jesus Christ; and in that single expression, in which the Son stands side by side with the Father, as the life of all believing souls, we have the final refutation of such perverse thoughts. By the grace of God, incarnate in Jesus Christ, the Christian is what he is; he lives and moves and has his being there; apart from Christ, he is not. Here, then, is our hope. Conscious of our own sins, and of the shortcomings of the Christian community of which we are members, let us have recourse to Him whose grace is sufficient for us. Let us abide in Christ, and in all things grow up into Him. God alone is good; Christ alone is the Pattern and the Inspiration of the Christian character; only in the Father and the Son can the new life and the new fellowship come to their perfection.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary