Written ~ 10-11-2024
Read 1 Thessalonians Chapter Two
1 Thessalonians 2
During Paul’s second missionary journey he and Silas arrived in Philippi. It was a major city in Macedonia. Even though they only stayed a few days, they wound up in prison. Acts 16:20-24 says, 20 “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. 21 “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.” 22 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. 24 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.”
So, why do I mention that Scripture reference? Because it is after this incident that Paul and Silas go on to Thessalonica. They had been badly beaten and in prison and even though they had gone through some intense persecution in the short time they were there, Paul and Silas managed to lead several men and women to the Lord. Paul mentions their stop over in Philippi in the first few verses of 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-3…
1 “You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure. 2 You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare His Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition. 3 So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.”
Let’s think about what Paul and Silas endured while in Philippi. All because they preached the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and taught that it was through Him that Salvation was given… they were severely beaten, chained to the stocks and thrown into a dungeon. Wouldn’t you be hesitant to go into the next city and start preaching again? I’m pretty sure I would be a little reluctant! But look at that Paul says, “…our God gave us the courage to declare His Good News to you boldly…” That’s what the Lord does through His Holy Spirit! He gives us courage. For those of us who are a little introverted and maybe even quite shy, He gives boldness. The footnotes from the Life Application Study Bible says, “If God wants us to do something, He will give us the strength and courage to do it despite any obstacles that may come our way.” We must stand firm in the faith and trust we have in the Lord!
In verse 2:3 Paul comments to the fact that they were not preaching deceitfully, that they didn’t profess the Word of the Lord with impure motives and tricks in order to coerce someone to believe what they were teaching. But there were a lot of people doing just that, so that was one opposition Paul would have to deal with. Because there were so many people seeking money, fame and popularity through the message they taught, Paul would work very hard and never seek after money and provisions to further the Gospel message, plus he was willing to suffer for the Lord… those seeking money and fame would not have put themselves in harm’s way.
1 Thessalonians 2:4-6…
4 “For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. 5 Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know. And God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money! 6 As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else.”
The trustworthiness found in Paul and Silas was given to them by the Lord God Himself. “…God alone examines the motives of our hearts…” We are not to preach or teach the Good News of Jesus Christ with ulterior motives. We cannot go around teaching God’s Word in such a way that only pleases the people listening to it. Do you know why? Because the Word of God convicts our hearts of sin, it tells us that we can only be reconciled with God by calling upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and accepting Salvation, otherwise we will be sentenced to death and spend an eternity in Hell. People don’t want to be convicted of their wrongdoing. They want to do things their own way and not confess that they are sinners. That’s why Paul and Silas would never use flattery or trickery to get people to believe and accept their message. When we tell someone the whole truth of Scripture, it is not always going to be “sunshine and rainbows.” No there will be instructions, commands and regulations given to us by the Lord that will be challenging. But those are the messages people need to hear as well as those that provoke joy, praise and rejoicing!
When Paul said they were entrusted with the Good News, what do you suppose he meant? That means God had confidence in the commission He placed on Paul and Silas, that they would carry out His will instead of their own agenda. I think that’s pretty awesome. Can God have confidence in you to do His will in everything you do? Can He have confidence in me to do His will in everything I do? I don’t know about you, but that’s mind blowing. The Holy Spirit gives us confidence, God has confidence in us, so why don’t we have confidence in ourselves? Whew! Again, mind blowing. “Our purpose is to please God…” (vs.2:4b).
When Paul and Silas were in Thessalonica, they made it very clear that were not to be a burden to the new believers, they worked very hard to provide for themselves so no one could say they were taking advantage of them. In verse 2:7 Paul says they felt as though these new believers were like their little children and they were like mothers caring for their young. They loved them so dearly not only did they share the gospel message with them, but they also shared the hardships they had endured. Those few weeks they spent in Thessalonica proved that they were devout, honest and faultless towards the believers there (vs.2:10).
1 Thessalonians 2:12…
12 “We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For He called you to share in His Kingdom and glory.”
Look back at what it says in Acts 17:1-4… “Paul and Silas… came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.”
This new church in Thessalonica was built on just a few Sabbath messages that Paul preached about Jesus, the Messiah. Hearts were stirred, and Salvation came to many in attendance. And from those few messages the Gospel exploded, even though they suffered heavy persecution, those believers persevered!
1 Thessalonians 2:13-14…
13 “Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received His message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God – which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe. 14 And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God’s churches in Judea who, because of their belief in Christ Jesus, suffered from their own people, the Jews.”
It might very well be that when you really start proclaiming Salvation through Jesus Christ to your family, to your friends, you could also get a backlash of persecution. Not everyone is going to understand the message you are giving. That’s why an eruption of praise is lifted to Heaven when someone gives their heart to Jesus. When God’s Word moves a heart to confess sin and then give their lives to the Lord, that is something to be exceedingly thankful for! And Paul and Silas were thankful for the Thessalonian believers, they had a lot of opposition to push through to grow in their faith and share their message of hope.
The remaining verses of this chapter are incredibly heartfelt. Think of someone you love and absolutely adore but you can’t be with them, for whatever reason… then couple that with extra longing because they are new believers and you desperately want to see how they are growing in their faith, but you can’t be with them… This will give you just a bit of a hint as to how Paul felt when he wrote the following…
1 Thessalonians 2:17-20…
17 “Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again. 18 We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us. 19 After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when He returns? It is you! 20 Yes, you are our pride and joy.”
Wow.
Do you feel the longing in Paul’s heart to see these believers again? It says in verse 2:18 that they tried again and again, but Satan prevented them… let’s look back on the account written in the Book of Acts to see why Paul and Silas could not return to Thessalonica…
Acts 17:5-9…
5 “…some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd. 6 Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too. 7 And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.”
8 The people of the city, as well as the city council, were thrown into turmoil by these reports. 9 So the officials forced Jason and the other believers to post bond, and then they released them.
Let’s understand what it means for “…Jason and the other believers to post bond…”
The “Expositor’s Bible Commentary” describes the posted bond like this…
- The charges against Paul and Silas and their companions naturally alarmed the Thessalonian city council. But apparently, they found the evidence for the charges scanty (or very limited); after all, Paul and Silas could not be found. Therefore, they took what they thought to be a moderate and reasonable course of action. They made Jason and those with him post a bond, assuring the council that there would be no further trouble. This probably also meant that Paul and Silas had to leave Thessalonica and that their friends would have to promise that they would not come back.
So, there you have it… these brand-new converts had to post a bond and promise that Paul and Silas would never come back to Thessalonica. That must have been heartbreaking for them! Here they just made the biggest most transformative decision of their lives, and their mentors would never have the chance to come back and greet them personally ever again. In verse 2:18 it says that though they tried and tried to go back and visit the Thessalonians, Paul said Satan prevented them from going. It doesn’t say in this verse what else the enemy used to keep them from their dear children in the Lord, was it only the bond that kept them away or did Satan hinder them in other ways too? Whatever was going on, Paul was heartbroken that he couldn’t go see them.
In this letter Paul wants to make it very clear that these brand-new believers in Thessalonica are incredibly special him, they are his pride and joy. Even though he can’t go see them in person Paul is reassuring them that they give him hope and joy because they will be his crown of glory when he stands before the Lord Jesus when He returns.
So, if we are hesitant to proclaim the gift of Salvation given to us by Jesus, if we don’t have the confidence to speak the truth of God’s Word or we go about our day never shining our light… how can God entrust us with His Good News? Let’s make it our testimony to spread the Good News message of Jesus without hesitation, let’s readily accept the confidence the Holy Spirit can give us and let’s gain the trust and confidence of God! We need to realize the power we have within us to get the Good News message out to everyone we come in contact with! We may never see everyone that message touches. We may never know until we get to Heaven how our attitude, how our testimony affected others in this life. But the crown of glory that will be placed on our heads in our next life, will certainly show the power and confidence and boldness we demonstrated here on earth. Who will be your pride and joy when you stand before the Lord in Heaven? Who will be your reward and crown? You may never know! That’s why we must shine the Light of Jesus!!
~AMEN~