“Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to 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, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father…” 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3.
This letter written and sent from Corinth to the church at Thessalonica, a port city in Macedonia, is either the first or second of Paul’s writings.
The book of Galatians was written by Paul anywhere from 49 A.D. to 55 A.D. depending on which theory you accept. The Thessalonian letters were written 50 or 51 A.D. it is unknown which is first.
The book of James is the first book written in the New Testament, circa 45 to 50 A.D. and the gospel of Mark comes in fourth after Thessalonians, having been written in the 50s A.D.
Thessalonica was the second city (after Philippi) that was preached to in Europe by Paul, Silas, and Timothy on the second missionary journey.
After having great success, Paul was driven out of the city by envious Jews who stirred up the multitudes.
This was the second of three cities that he was driven from by an angry populace.
Philippi, Thessalonica, and afterward Berea; all three received him gladly. All three drove him out by the hands of an angry mob.
The last two cities were inflamed by venomous Jews, to see what happened in Philippi and Thessalonica read Acts 16:11-40 and Acts 17:1-14.
Some have accused the church of anti-Semitism, and rightfully so in many cases, but I think that the anger directed at the Jews by the very early church was due to the continual harassment of Christians.
Still, it is the responsibility of the Christian to reach out to anyone, in all ethnic groups, simply because Christ died for their sake.
“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” Matthew 23:31-36.
For a better understanding of this passage you may wish to read Matthew 22:15 through chapter 23:1-39.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:1b.
This is defined in a lovely way by Bishop Anselm “That ye may have in God that favor and peace which men withhold.”
1 Thessalonians 1:1b quoted above is also, word for word, part of the salutation in Paul’s letters to, 1 Corinthians 1:3, Philippians 1:2, Colossians 1:2, and here.
Grace is defined in the lexicon as; good will, loving kindness, and favor; among other usages.
Peace is harmony, accord; the tranquil state of soul of those who have accepted Christ as savior.
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27.
“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers…” 1 Thessalonians 1:2.
While this verse is self explanatory, it brings up what I believe is a sore spot for Christians, and I am the first culprit.
Very often someone will say, “Pray for me, I am going through a very difficult time”, or, “The doctor says I need an operation.”
We listen while they give us the necessary information, say we will pray for them, and then often, forget to do so.
This in itself is the reason many things do not happen; no one is praying for this person.
One solution for this oversight is to pray for them immediately, right where you are seated or standing. By this I mean, if it is a safe place, like your home, in a church, at a Bible study, any neutral ground where the person you are praying for will not be embarrassed.
You do after all want them to continue to confide in you, something they might not do if they think you will loudly pray for them in a public place. Afterward try to continue to lift them up to the Lord whenever you pray.
Another solution would be to write the prayer request down on a list as soon as possible, and pray from that list.
One woman had such a long list that she would pray for half one day and the other half the next day, rotating daily.
And yes, it is okay to have your eyes open to read off of a list when you pray. It may seem insincere, but it is better than no prayer at all.
None of this has to be a ritual, just talk to God; it will get easier after a while. If Christians would get their ducks in line in just the area of prayer the world would see a lot more of God’s power.
Alas, even many churches have discontinued prayer meetings.
“…remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father…” 1 Thessalonians 1:3.
“…your work of faith”, this is work that comes out of faith; not work that comes out of guilt or because the pastor says you have to do it, or rules, “well the Bible says to do it”, yes it does, but not out of compulsion.
This faith has the meaning of trust or confidence.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6.
You may have heard the term, “A leap of faith”; this is a philosophical term which has nothing to do with faith in God.
When someone speaks of a leap of faith, they are saying that they know there is no God, so they will take a leap of faith and say that there is.
Atheist existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre said, “No finite point has meaning without an infinite reference point.” Man without God is meaningless and absurd.
The faith of the Christian is one of trust or confidence. It is not, “I hope, I hope, I hope!” it is “I know as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow. Therefore I consider no other options!”
Under normal circumstances you go to a light switch and flick it on, you do not think, “I hope, I hope, I hope, this works!”
This is the faith that the Thessalonians exhibited, a faith unshakeable that knew that the blood of Christ had rescued them from an eternity in the lake of fire, and saved them to a glorious relationship with God in Christ.
This faith in God produced a gratitude which overflowed to their brothers in Christ and to the unbelievers around them producing a love for those whom Christ died for.
“Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2:17.
“…your work of faith, labor of love”, the word labor here means, hard labor, laborious toil which comes out of a true love for Christ, and for all men and women.
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” 1 Corinthians 13:1.
Labor of love might not always be what we would call hard work. Just listening to someone pour out their heart out to you on the phone at 3 am may help them on the way to healing their heart.
Teaching someone to read, so they can read the Bible for themselves, visiting the sick, or giving food, clothes, or money to those in dire need; all of these things can be a labor of love if it comes from a heart led by the Spirit – not from duty.
“…remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father…” 1 Thessalonians 1:3.
“…your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope” this hope is not the, “I hope I get a raise” sort of hope. It is a hope fixed on something that is real and inevitable, a joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.
This is a, “…patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”, it is a hope based on the person of Christ and the completeness of His sacrifice on the cross.
It is a hope which overcomes the reproaches, the sufferings, and the afflictions put upon Christians in the world.
It is a hope which looks forward to a heaven in which there is no more sin, evil, and hatred; a heaven of eternal peace, in which death has ceased to exist.
“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13.
“…knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.” 1 Thessalonians 1:4.
The New American Standard Version, translates the above this way, “…knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you.”
And the J.B. Phillips translation of the New Testament puts this verse this way, “We know that God not only loves you but has selected you for a special purpose.”
It is important to understand that these brethren and all Christians are beloved by God and that they are not just elected by God as though they had no choice in the matter, everyone has a free will to accept or reject God.
All Christians were, chosen, selected for a special purpose in life. This election or choosing is something God in His foreknowledge did before the foundation of the world.
He decreed His blessings to certain persons; those who accept Christ as savior, this would also include the saints of the Old Testament who put their trust in the promises of God.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10.
The verse above is a good description of what the Thessalonians were doing in their city, works which were soon testified to in the surrounding cities.
It is this kind of work done in the power of the Holy Spirit that is missing from many churches today.
“And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:22-23.
It is Christ who is meant to be the head of the church, His body on earth; but men have taken over as the head. This in spite of the fact that God:
“…raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” Ephesians 1:20b-21.
Men have elevated themselves above the status of Christ.
“For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.” 1 Thessalonians 1:5.
These men did not just preach, they preached from the word of God.
“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” Romans 1:16.
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18.
“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:2.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
God’s word is the power of God, with the Holy Spirit convicting, and convincing, and assuring the Thessalonians that these men and these words were from the true and living God.
Indeed Paul’s own holy living and example not only convinced these men and women, but the evangelists set an example for them as to how to live.
Bear in mind that this church was set up using only the Old Testament writings, and perhaps some of the book of James or Galatians, the rest would have come from the things they were taught by Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. Christ, as the head of the church, orchestrated all of this through His Holy Spirit which indwelt each Christian within that local body of believers.
The following is the result of a church headed by Christ.
“And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God…” 1 Thessalonians 1:6-9.
The miracle of Thessalonica which turned idol worshipping Gentiles and formal works oriented Jews into a loving, joyful unit of Spirit filled Christians could not be kept secret but flowed out into the countryside of Greece until it was so well known that Paul and his companions were known in every place they went.
“…and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 1:10.
After saying that the Thessalonians had turned from idols to serve the living and true God, Paul continues his sentence with the words, “…and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead”, this church turned to God and served Him while they waited in anticipation for the Lord Jesus Christ to come from heaven for them.
“…even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come”, this statement or ones similar to it are entered at or near the end of every chapter in this book.
There can be no clearer statement that Christians will not enter the tribulation, because Jesus delivers us from the wrath to come. The same essential statement is made later in the book.
“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…” 1 Thessalonians 5:9.
God tells us these things that we might not live in fear, but in hope, even in these troubling times.
Faith Love Hope, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 8-26-13, updated on 12-19-20.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.