~ 1 Thessalonians Chapter 2 - How Paul and his friends came to Thessalonica 2:1-4 Verse 1 The Christians at Thessalonica knew that the visit of these three was no failure and it was not in vain. The visit had been good. And it had achieved the purpose that God had for it. This was that many men and women should believe the good news about Jesus Christ. As a result, many came to know Jesus as the one who saved them from *sin. The experience so changed them that they went and told other people what the *Lord had done. Many more people believed in the *Lord through them and the good news spread through all that region. The message about Jesus Christ did not come just in the words of Paul. Paul did not make it up. If that was all it was, it could not have achieved such a result. No, it was not just in words but it was in the power of the Holy Spirit. It really was what they claimed it to be. It was the truth and it came from God himself and with his power. Verse 2 They reminded the Thessalonians how they first came to the city. They had come from the city of *Philippi. There Paul and Silas had suffered badly. The leaders of that city had stripped their clothes from them and whipped them in public. Then they threw them into a prison. The leaders did not even ask whether the charges made against Paul and Silas were true or false (Acts 16:19-24). Just a few days later, they were in Thessalonica. Although they had suffered so much, they had the courage to go on telling the good news about Jesus Christ. God gave them the courage to be bold and to speak with confidence. Because they trusted in God, they were not afraid of what their enemies might do. They knew that God had sent them to tell what Jesus Christ had done. And he gave them the courage to do it. With this confidence and courage, they told the Thessalonians the good news that comes from God. They spoke in plain language about the life and the death of the *Lord Jesus. This was God’s plan by which he would save people from their *sins and give them new life. This *gospel was not of human origin. It came from God himself. God was the author of it. It was not an easy task to speak about the *Lord Jesus in Thessalonica. Many people tried to stop them. The *Jews especially were against them but there were a lot of other people as well. In the end, their enemies forced them to leave Thessalonica (Acts 17:5-10). Verse 3 Paul and his friends *pleaded with the Thessalonians to *respond to the message that they brought from God. It was an appeal to turn from their wicked ways and turn to Christ. Those who were against them accused Paul and his friends of many things. Among these were three false claims, which Paul, Silas and Timothy answered: 1 Paul and his friends were false and what they said was a lie. They tried to get the people to believe a story that was not true. But Paul and his friends knew that the message was true and no lie. Their appeal was not from error. God had sent them to tell this message. What they urged the Thessalonians to believe was good news for all who would trust in Christ. 2 Then Paul’s enemies said that the intentions of Paul and his friends were not pure. They behaved badly and not in a proper way. They came to get some gain for themselves from the people. Paul and his friends replied that this was not true. They were sincere and had no false intentions. They had come and passed on the message for the benefit of the Thessalonians. They had lived good and pure lives while among them. 3 The enemies said that these three had cheated the people to get them to believe. It was like catching fish by offering them something on a line. Their purpose was to make some gain out of those whom they cheated. What they could get was of more interest than the help that they could give. Paul and his friends replied that they had no false intentions. They had come for the benefit of those who would believe. They had no other purpose in coming to Thessalonica. What they said was true and no lie. They were sincere when they spoke. They cheated no one and they did not look for anything for themselves. Verse 4 What they taught was truth and not error. This was because what they said came from God. God had told them to go and tell people the *gospel of Jesus Christ. God had tested them and approved them. The Greek people used the words ‘tested’ and ‘approved’ for the process of proving the quality of metal. God himself had trusted them with the task of spreading this good news. They saw themselves as servants of God, who had sent them for this purpose. So, by what they said and how they lived, they always tried to obey the *Lord. Paul, Silas and Timothy did what they could to help people. But they did not live to please them. They did not set out to be popular or to get power. But they worked hard to bring the benefits of the good news to people. They loved and served God first. They saw themselves as the servants or slaves of Christ. Their aim was to please God and not *human beings. They served people because they loved and served God. Only God can see into the hearts and minds of people. He knows all their secret thoughts. Paul and his friends knew that God tested their hearts and minds. He tested them to see what was good or bad in them. That is why they tried to please him rather than people. They called on God to support them because he knows that they told the truth. - Their attitude to the Thessalonians 2:5-8 Verse 5 Paul, Silas and Timothy never tried to achieve their purpose by saying things that were not true. People like to hear things that make them seem better than they are. But Paul and his friends never said those kinds of things to the people at Thessalonica. They did not try to get them to do what they wanted, by saying extra nice things to persuade them. Paul and his friends were always sincere in what they said. The Thessalonians themselves knew that this was true. In all that Paul, Silas and Timothy said and did, they had no hidden intentions. They had no secret plans for their own benefit. Their one desire was to do what the *Lord had sent them to do. Both the Thessalonians and God know that this is so. It would be possible to hide their true intentions from the Thessalonians. But they could hide nothing from God. So, they say that God knows that this is true. Verse 6 It did not matter to Paul, Silas and Timothy whether the people at Thessalonica approved of them or not. It was not important what men or women thought of them. They were servants of God and of the *Lord Jesus Christ. Their aim was to please God and they wanted him alone to approve of them. We often use the word ‘*apostles’ to mean the 12 whom Jesus called to be his first team. Some time later the *Lord called Paul to be an *apostle. But here the word *apostles means those whom Christ sent to take the good news. So Silas and Timothy are also, with Paul, *apostles of Christ. When Jesus sent his teams to take the good news and to heal the sick, he told them to take no food with them. They should stay in the homes of the people and eat what they gave them (Mark 6:7-13; Luke 9:1-6). He said that those who work deserve their wages (Luke 10:7). So the *apostles had the right to expect the people at Thessalonica to care for them. They could have expected to lodge with them and eat their food without cost. There may have been many reasons why Paul and his friends did not ask for this support. But the main one was that they did not want to be a financial cost to the people at Thessalonica. They wanted to be a good model for those who believed the good news (2 Thessalonians 3:9). Verse 7 Paul and his friends had certainly not tried to make any gain from the people at Thessalonica. Instead, they had done all that they could for them. In all that they did, they were gentle, mild and kind. They were gentle as when a nurse cares for her own little children. To her they are very special. So, to Paul, Silas and Timothy, the Christians at Thessalonica were special, as if they were their own children. Verse 8 Paul and his friends came to Thessalonica to tell the people the good news about Jesus Christ. They really wanted them to come to know and love the *Lord Jesus. They were happy to do anything to help the people at Thessalonica to believe that good news. They wanted to share not only the good news but themselves as well. The *apostles were ready to give their lives for the Christians at Thessalonica. Paul and his friends felt this way about them because these Christians had become so dear to them. - How they lived among them 2:9-12 Verse 9 The proof of their love was the hard work that they did on behalf of the Thessalonians. They had to work hard to be able to keep themselves as they taught about the *Lord Jesus. The Thessalonians must have remembered that this was how they lived. The letter does not say what type of work they did. It was a rule that all *Jewish boys had to learn a trade. Paul was a tent-maker (Acts 18:3). He would have worked at that to earn his wages in Thessalonica. Silas and Timothy did some type of physical work as well, perhaps tent-making with Paul. They worked both in the day and at night. And, in between, they taught the people about Jesus. This must have been very tiring. But they were happy to do it because they loved the people at Thessalonica. They were eager to tell them the good news about God’s love for them. The reason for this constant work was to make the offer of the good news free to all and without cost. Verse 10 Paul is certain that their consciences were clear in all that they did. They had carried out their work there as servants of God. At all times they tried to do what was right and what would please God. God would know if there was anything wrong in them. He knows that their attitudes and actions were right and good. The Thessalonians also knew the way that they behaved while they were there. There were those who accused Paul, Silas and Timothy of bad behavior. But those who believed in Jesus knew that they were not guilty of this.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 09:33:10 +0000