An Introduction to the Thessalonian Church

Introduction — Background of the Book

So what is so attractive about the Thessalonian church? We are not going to cover that section today — that is next Sunday — but here is what Paul says about them, in verse six of chapter one: you became followers of us and the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all of Macedonia and Greece who believed. For from you, the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Greece, but also every place — your faith toward God has gone out so that we do not need to say anything.

Keep that in mind as we look at these first five verses. We are going to look at the background — the background in geography and the background in the text.

Geographical Background: Paul's Journey to Thessalonica

Paul's first contact with the city was right after he came out of Philippi, as Paul was planning the second missionary trip. There arose a problem between him and Barnabas — so large that they split up. Paul chose Silas; Barnabas took John Mark — different directions, still missionaries, but in different ways. While visiting the churches from the first journey in south Galatia, Paul heard about one of his own converts — and there is nothing better than going back to a place where you once ministered and finding someone you taught still going on, still growing. That was Timothy: well spoken of by the brethren in Lystra and Iconium — a young man, maybe even a teenager, late teens — and Paul said, I'll add you to the team, and Timothy went along.

Paul traveled west into Asia Minor — modern Turkey; no passport needed in those days. He was trying to minister somewhere in that region, someplace he had not been before, and the Holy Spirit kept redirecting him: don't go south, don't go north, just keep going west. He came to Troas. Standing there with the Aegean Sea in front of him, he had a dream: a man from Macedonia saying, Come over and help us. They took that as the Lord's direction and went to Philippi — one of the chief cities in Macedonia — and began to preach the gospel.

There was a demon-possessed girl who followed them around saying, These men are from the Most High God. Paul expelled the demon, and they hauled him into court and threw him into jail, kept in the stocks. While he was there, an earthquake came — they were singing praises to the Lord (someone suggested singing; another joked that somebody should pass out the hymnals — but no, they did not need hymnals, they knew the hymns, probably the Psalms, by heart, and they sang them). The jail doors flew open. The jailer was responsible for all those prisoners, and he assumed everyone was gone — then Paul called out: Do yourself no harm. We are all here. The jailer asked the defining question: What must I do to be saved? Remember what Paul wrote in his first epistle to the Galatians: if anybody brings you any other doctrine, any other gospel than what we have delivered to you, let him be accursed. So what is Paul's gospel? Follow him around and find out what he actually says when someone asks how to be saved — here it is: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household, if they believe. That is the gospel he preached when he went into Thessalonica.

He left there — it was better for him to go than to stay and become an ongoing problem for the young church — and passed through a couple of other places before he wound up in Thessalonica, traveling west on the Ignatian Way, the main highway between Rome and the East. As his custom was (Acts 17:2), he preached three Sabbaths in the synagogue. That is only three weeks, and for that reason some people say Paul was only in Thessalonica three weeks — but that is not right. Three weeks describes only how long he was in the synagogue; he was there longer than that. He taught both Jews and Gentiles, because Gentiles were present as proselytes in the synagogue. Scripture says in Acts 17:4 that some of them were persuaded, and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas — that is expansion, and growth can be a problem. Do you know what he taught them? Prophecy. People do not understand that — why should we have prophecy in Sunday school, what are you doing? But these were people who had just come to know the Lord, and Paul was telling them Jesus is coming — and it strengthened them; we will see that. So Paul had to exit again. The Jews of the synagogue became antagonistic. Meetings moved to Jason's house, right next door to the synagogue, and the trouble continued.

Paul, Silas, and Timothy went on to Berea. The Bereans were more noble than anywhere else because they searched the Scriptures to see if the things Paul said were true — and that is a great thing to do. I would like nothing better than for someone to come to me and say, what you said was this, I don't understand it, is that true, can you show me? I do not say anything up here that I cannot show you in the Bible; I would not do that. That is what the Bereans were doing with Paul — checking, and finding, yes, Paul, you are right, reading it straight from the Scriptures. But Paul had trouble there too, and so he went on alone; the Thessalonians who had come down to Berea escorted him to the coast to take ship, and he went on down to Athens, and from Athens to Corinth (Acts 17–18). Timothy and Silas joined him there. We do not know exactly how long, but he was in Corinth probably more than a year, and it was there that Paul wrote both epistles to the Thessalonians.

I. Paul and His Companions — 1:1a

Now we come to the text. The first thing we see is Paul and his companions. Notice: not 'Paul the Apostle,' not 'Paul, the one God sent to you' — just Paul. He writes Paul the Apostle when he writes to the Galatians — they have doctrinal errors. And to the Corinthians — they had personal errors in conduct. In both cases: Paul the Apostle, I am going to tell you what to do. Not here. Here, it is simply Paul — Paul, their friend, Paul, the one they loved.

A. Paul: The Friend, Not the Apostle

No assertion of rank was needed with this congregation. Paul's relationship with them was one of mutual love and trust. The absence of the title ‘apostle’ reflects the health of this church.

B. Silvanus (Silas): The Senior Member

Silvanus — Silas — was the senior member of the traveling group. His experience and credibility added weight to the team and to the mission.

C. Timothy: The Leader in Training

Timothy was very much a want-to-be-like person — a leader in training. Later he was dispatched by Paul to Philippi to help them, and then he served as pastor at Ephesus. Two pastoral letters — First and Second Timothy — were written to him there. But here in Thessalonica, he was still in formation. Paul saw in him what others had already seen: someone well spoken of, worth investing in.

II. Paul and the Congregation — 1:1b–2

In the rest of verse one and verse two, he begins with a proper and significant greeting.

A. The Church Defined: The Ecclesia

The church — that is a special term. It is actually a secular word, used even in the Old Testament for any assembly of people. In Acts 19:32, it referred to the worshipers of Diana of the Ephesians — those heathen worshipers got together, and it was called a church, an ecclesia. How did it become the word for the church? Jesus took it. In Matthew 16:18 he said: on this rock I will build my congregation — I will build my church. The church universal includes every believer from Pentecost to the Rapture. But in Matthew 18:17, he says if a person has a problem, take it to the church — meaning the local assembly. Here, it is the local church in Thessalonica.

B. The Church's Identity: In God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

He describes this church as existing in God the Father — and that gives it security, love, and the strength of the Father. But it is also in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord: that is the term for Jehovah, the title of deity. Jesus: the Old Testament name Joshua, which means salvation, deliverer. Christ: Messiah, the anointed one, prophesied in the Old Testament to come to the Jewish people and to the world. He is God. He is man. He is the Messiah.

C. The Apostolic Greeting: Grace and Peace

Grace to you — it almost sounds like the tagline of a radio program. Grace: unfavored, unmerited favor — or better, favor in spite of demerit. It is not just that we do not deserve his grace. It is that we deserve his fury, his judgment — and he gives us grace instead. Peace — the Greek word eirēnē (we get the name Irene from it; an Irene ought to be a very peaceful lady), the Hebrew shalom: wholeness, welfare, prosperity of spirit. So: grace to you, and peace to you.

III. The Prayer of Gratitude — 1:2–5

A. The Circumstance of the Prayer: Thanksgiving Joined to Intercession — 1:2

“We give thanks always for you all.”

The 'we' here likely includes all three men — Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy — but that does not make them co-authors; Paul wrote the letter. It is more like an editorial we, the way a newspaper says 'we decide,' 'we think this,' 'we plan this' — not everybody, just the one writing, the way a king says 'we are happy for you' and means himself. That is a royal we, meaning me. So when Paul says we, he is not saying they all wrote the letter with him. The thanksgiving is accompanied by prayer, and it ought to be — if I am thankful for you, I should be praying for you. That should be true of all of us, not just something we sing about, but something we do. The last thing we say when we part is, I will pray for you — and we ought to mean it. Paul says, in every prayer of ours, we pray for you all — not missing anybody; not everybody is easy to pray for, but we pray for everybody. Paul must have had a long prayer list, because he prayed for all of them, every individual, by name, on a regular basis, always — unless he simply had a great memory. I knew a fellow teacher at Miami Christian College who carried a good-sized piece of paper around with him, listing names, and he recommended it to his students: get people's names on a list, and pray for them. That is likely what Paul did too.

B. The Content of the Prayer: The Triad of Faith, Love, and Hope — 1:3

1. Work of Faith

Not busy work — work that results from faith. If they did not have the faith, they could not do the work. It was obvious to Paul that their activity was a result of seeking God's will and depending on his power. That is the work he is grateful for — work that brings results beyond any human expectation.

2. Labor of Love

Not just labor — labor that comes out of love. Someone has said the church needs love for the Lord Jesus Christ; obviously it also needs love for each other, but it also needs love for the lost. God so loved the world. If we are going to do God's work, we need that kind of love — the kind that reaches toward the world.

3. Patience (Endurance) of Hope

The endurance inspired by hope — specifically, endurance in tribulation. It comes from placing your hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. All three — faith, love, hope — have Christ as both their source and their object. Your faith in Jesus Christ, your love for Jesus Christ, your endurance looking for Jesus Christ. It was observed by God the Father and commended by him.

C. The Core of the Prayer: Election by God's Choosing — 1:4

“Knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.”

Any preacher loves to get hold of this verse — every commentary runs on and on about election. Paul, in this very sentence about election, calls them brothers — a word he uses twenty-two times across First and Second Thessalonians, fifteen in the first letter and seven in the second. It would be illogical in this context for him to put himself above them — they are brothers, equal. And they are more than brothers — they are beloved by God. They did not become elect by their own work; they became elect by God's choosing.

Ryrie, in his study Bible, puts it this way: God's choosing is sovereign, God's choosing is for salvation — and then he adds something that sounds a little strange: and it is proved by works that accompany salvation. I hesitated over that. Ryrie is my hero — he was president of the college I attended, and a year later he turned up at the seminary I went to as well; I was there three years, and he was there the whole time. So I trust him. But I said, wait a minute — proved to whom? Proved to yourself? No. My works do not prove my own salvation to me. My proof of election and my salvation is the Word of God — it tells me that when I believed, he gave me eternal life, and eternal means forever. My works do not prove to me that I am a believer or that I am elect. But there is another kind of proof, and it is necessary — proof to other people. You do not know anything about me except what you see. You might look at my life and say, well, maybe he's a believer — or you might say, yes, he clearly is, because you can see it in how he lives. James, in chapter two, verses 23 to 26, talks about two kinds of justification: justification by faith, before God, and justification by works, before men. Before God, justification is by belief alone. Before men, you look at the works, and you judge by that — but there is no such thing as salvation by faith and works together. That is why James can speak of Abraham being justified by works without contradicting how Abraham was declared righteous in the first place: God had already declared Abraham righteous thirty years earlier, in Genesis 15:6, when Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness. James makes the same point using Hagar as well. In every case, the justification in view there is justification before other people — by my works — and that is what I believe Paul is pointing to here as well.

D. The Confidence of the Prayer: The Power of the Gospel — 1:5

“For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance...”

The gospel is always in word. There is no salvation by osmosis — the word must be heard or read. People are living and dying without hearing about Jesus Christ. That is why missions exist. But it came also in power. Romans 1:16: I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes. The gospel has power. We do not just say the words — we allow them to sink in, we explain them, we show them in our lives.

1. The Holy Word

The word goes to the mind. The Holy Spirit takes the message to the heart — the spiritual center of the person — and gives spiritual life to someone who was already spiritually dead. Regeneration is a work of the Holy Spirit alone. We do not save people. We give people the gospel, and the Holy Spirit does the rest.

2. The Holy Spirit

As Paul said, he saw it with much assurance. Paul went downtown with one weapon, and with that weapon he could withstand the methods of Satan, the hardness of men's hearts, the blindness of their spiritual sight. The gospel is God's grace in action. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes it land.

3. The Holy Walk: Paul's Example — 1:5d

“...as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.”

The gospel goes out backed up by the life of the messenger. A pure gospel must be served up by pure vessels — 2 Timothy 2: if anyone cleanses himself from sin, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work. Holy Word, through the Holy Spirit, backed up by a holy walk, produces holy people — saints of God.

The Church of Thessalonica was a great church. From what we see in Scripture, it is probably the finest work that Paul did — or that the Lord did through Paul. We need to see that, and we will see a great deal more of it, especially next Sunday — how they worked, what they did, just pagans coming to know the Lord and then opening up to become the church that stands out in the New Testament.

Lord, thank You.