1 Thessalonians, Chapter 1
Copyright © 1999 Darroll Evans-All rights
reserved
1 Thessalonians 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 includes both Silvanus and Timothy in
his greeting to the Christians of Thessalonica.
Silvanus, or Silas, was a prominent member of
the Church at
His name first appears in the 15th
chapter of Acts.
Timothy first appears in the 16th
chapter or acts.
Silas, an active member of the early Church,
was probably a Roman citizen.
After Barnabas and Paul disagreed over John
Mark's participation in missionary journeys, Silas joined Paul.
Two Roman citizens traveling together made a
formidable team.
Silas was with Paul at
It was at
The last we hear of Silas is in Acts 18 where
both he and Timothy apparently came from
Since the letters to the Thessalonians was
written in approximately 51-52 AD, we may assume that the action of Acts 18
took place during that period, or perhaps 18-19 years after Christ's
crucifixion and resurrection.
Paul's standard greeting, "Grace to you
and peace" does not present a "throw away" greeting.
Grace and peace are two of the multiple
benefits we receive from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:2 We
give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
Paul gives us an example of what Christians
should do as a matter of course.
We should offer thanks to God for those of
like precious faith.
1 Thessalonians 1:3 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;
"Remembering" (Gr. mneemoneuontes-mnhmoneuinteV)
indicates that Paul went over and over in his mind the faith demonstrated by
the Thessalonian Christians.
We must remember that Paul lived in a state
of prayer.
To Paul, the work of the gospel was a labor
of love.
He considered the
Their steadfastness in the hope of our Lord
Jesus Christ will be made evident as go through this letter.
As we shall see, they had problems.
Pretenders coming among them brought that
about.
We have the same situation today.
Pretenders hate Paul’s letters!
We study revelation because of eschatology!
We study the OT for historical and
eschatological content!
We now live in Paul’s letters!
1 Thessalonians 1:4
Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
Election (Gr. eklogeen-ekloghn) is a difficult thing to discuss.
Not many are willing to accept the word
because it flies in the face of what many believe to be freewill.
It denotes one who is chosen or selected.
We have fallen in love with the idea that we
choose.
That is not what Jesus said. He said,
"But you are not willing to come to Me that you
may have life." (John 5:40/NKJV)
A more literal translation is, "Your
personal will, will not allow you to come to me so that you may have
life."
Pretenders have trouble with God being God.
God being Lord of our lives is the last thing
our freewill wants.
1 Thessalonians 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.
Here, Paul referred to the gospel as
"our gospel." In other places he referred to it as "my
gospel" (Romans 2:16, 16:25 & 2 Timothy 2:8).
Some folks have tried to make much of those
references.
If the gospel does not become personal, you
will never be proficient in its practice.
What do I mean by that?
Let Paul give you the answer.
He did not come to the Thessalonians with
only persuasive words.
He came in the power of the Holy Spirit,
filled with godly assurance.
He did it as a demonstration of true
Christianity.
He did it for theirs sakes.
Not many do this today, because not many have
that absolute sold out closeness with Christ that is required to truly
demonstrate Christ.
Some seek to replace the power of the Holy
Spirit with the personal power of persuasion.
It will not work. Sweet words can never
replace the Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 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:
Paul asked the Thessalonians to become "followers" (Gr. mimeetai-mimhtai) of, to imitate or mimic those that are mature in the
Spirit.
Notice that Paul's scale of maturity was not
based on how much personal wealth a person accumulated.
Success in Christ is determined the amount of
joy we have in Christ during "affliction," oppression, distress, or
tribulation that surely comes.
1 Thessalonians 1:7 So
that ye were ensamples to all that believe in
The Thessalonian
Christians had become examples to those in
Today we know that area as simply
They laid the groundwork for the Orthodox
Church.
The Orthodox Church was very strong during the
Roman oppressions at a time that the Roman Church buckled under to many
non-biblical encroachments into Christianity.
Today, the Orthodox Church is a tradition
riddled supposed Church with no use except as a social group!
1 Thessalonians 1:8 For
from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in
In this verse we find the phrase, "you
sounded out the word."
What does that mean?
I am a retired broadcaster, so let me put it
in those terms.
The Thessalonians "broadcast" the
word of the Lord throughout
Their faith in God during the early history
of the Church was well known.
What is the reputation of your Church?
1 Thessalonians 1:9 For
they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in
we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and
true God;
Evidently the word had spread about the
This was at a time when Paul was not
universally accepted as an Apostle.
Word of the
They were known to have turned away from
Greco-Roman idols.
They had accepted the true and living God and
His Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:10 And
to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus,
which delivered us from the wrath to come.
As Christians, the Thessalonians waited for
the return of Jesus Christ.
As we shall see, some Pretenders took
advantage of their belief in His return.
It is my belief that the Thessalonians became
part of the seed for the beginning of the written New Testament.
It is my opinion that Thessalonica was a
majority Gentile Church with little basis in Jewish Scripture, as opposed to
the Galatians being a majority Jewish Church with knowledge of the Hebrew
Scriptures.
Those two letters may have written in the
same year.
Pretenders, using both Church's newness in
Christ to cause division, invaded both Churches.
Both Churches needed a written reference
text. So, Paul wrote the letters.
We have been blessed by the Thessalonians
lack of theological training.
Paul told them to be at patient. Wait for the
Lord Jesus Christ. He shall return.
The fact is that Christ Jesus shall deliver
us from the wrath to come!
Will that be done through a pre-tribulation
rapture, a mid-tribulation rapture, or a post-tribulation rapture?
Many are certain of their personal hopes and
little else!
Does it really matter?
The fact is that Christ Jesus shall deliver
us from the wrath to come!
He shall deliver us from whatever wrath that
Satan has planned for us, and the wrath that God shall
lay on those who will not come to Christ!
Christ shall protect us, through the Holy
Spirit, from any wrath God rains down on the children of disobedience.
We will continue this in the next Chapter.