1 Thessalonians 1: 1 “Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.”
Paul wrote Thessalonians personally.
“The epistle to the Thessalonians is certainly one of the most ancient Christian documents in existence. It is typically dated c. 50/51 CE. It is universally assented to be an authentic letter of Paul.” Click
1 Thessalonians 1: 2 “We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.”
This was the very first letter Paul ever wrote.
“The first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians is also the first letter the apostle wrote. It was written to a struggling, yet vigorous church that was only a few months old, made up of Christians who had just come to Christ under Paul’s ministry. This is a delightfully revealing letter, showing the heart of the apostle toward these new Christians, and also showing the struggles that were present in the early church.” Click
1 Thessalonians 1: 3 “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Thessalonians was written as an instruction manual for a new church. Basically, Paul covered Christian Doctrine 101.
“… [Thessalonians] they illustrate the apostolic instruction given to a newly organized church, composed of Gentiles, suffering under the persecution of both Jewish and heathen adversaries.” Click
1 Thessalonians 1: 4 “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,”
The city of Thessalonica was merely one of the many cities Paul visited to establish new churches and new Christians.
“When the apostle, on his third missionary journey, passed into Europe, he first planted a church at Philippi, but after a little season was driven from there by heathen persecution. Then, attended by Silas and Timothy, he went westward along the great Egnatian Way, the Roman road which led through Greece to Macedonia. He did not pause until he reached Thessalonica, nearly a hundred miles westward, the chief city of Macedonia, situated around a noble harbor at the head of the Aegean Sea.” Click
1 Thessalonians 1: 5 “because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.”
What was unique and special about the city of Thessalonica?
“Thessalonica was the capital of the province of Macedonia and a large seaport. The letter to the Thessalonians is thought to have been written by Paul…” Click
1 Thessalonians 1: 6 “You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.”
Thessalonica is one of the few cities where Paul preached that is still standing and even prospering today.
“The city is still great and flourishing, in point of commerce the third in the Turkish empire, possessing a population estimated all the way from 75,000 to 100,000. Of these about one-half are Greek Christians, and the remainder nearly equally divided between Mohammedans and Jews. The excellence of the harbor makes it a constant object of eastern diplomacy…” Click
1 Thessalonians 1: 7 “And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.”
When was the city actually founded?
“The northern Greek city of Thessaloniki was founded around 315 BC by Cassander, the King of Macedon. Cassander named the new city after his wife Thessalonica, the sister of Alexander the Great.” Click
1 Thessalonians 1: 8 “The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it,”
And when did the Romans come on the scene?
“…in 146 BC, Thessaloniki became part of the Roman Empire. It became an important trading center on the Via Egnatia, a Roman road that connected modern Istanbul with modern Durrës in Albania.” Click
1 Thessalonians 1: 9 “for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,”
And Thessalonica today continues to carry on the evidence of Paul’s earlier work of 2,000 years ago.
“Many of the places where Paul preached have crumbled into ruin, but Thessalonica is still a thriving, bustling metropolis. It was then the capital of Macedonia, but it is now in Greece proper, and is called Thessalonike.” Click
And back to ancient Thessalonica?
“Ancient Thessaloniki had a sizeable Jewish colony and was an early center of Christianity. On his second missionary journey, the Apostle Paul preached in the city’s synagogue, the chief synagogue of the Jews in that part of Macedonia, and laid the foundations of a church.” Click
Now let’s talk about the persecutions that drove Paul away from wonderful and mighty Thessalonica.
“From the account in Acts, we learn that Paul had only been there about three weeks when persecution began and he had to leave the city for his own safety. He went down to Athens and from there he sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to see how these Christians were doing. He was very disturbed about them; he felt that perhaps the persecution they were undergoing would drive them from their faith.” Click
Almost immediately after Paul founded the church in Thessalonica persecution began. Paul was worried about the new Christians turning from the faith but through there faith in Jesus they held on. This evidence that Paul observed was a great personal encouragement to him.
“Shortly after Paul’s departure from Thessalonica, the persecutions which had driven him away turned upon the church…, a circumstance that made him yearn to return…, Twice he resolved to do so but was prevented…, Finally he sent back Timothy from Athens…, and when Timothy returned to him at Corinth, to which he had proceeded, the message which he brought was the occasion of this epistle, an epistle full of comfort, instruction and encouragement, but withal, containing also the instruction in righteousness so much needed by a congregation of those so recently heathen and addicted to heathen vices.” Click
What were these early Thessalonian Christians like? Let’s examine below the testimony they left for the ages to come
“…three things marked these Thessalonian believers — their work of faith, their labor of love, and their endurance in hope.” “Now interestingly enough, those three things also form a little outline, built right into the text, to guide you in understanding the first three chapters. The work of faith, the labor of love, and the patience of hope — chapter one, chapter two, chapter three.” Click
It can be argued that of all the many places Paul planted new churches the Thessalonians Christians were the most dynamic. There faith was so strong from the very first day that their efforts began to immediately draw more believers in the city.
“We might say of these early Christians, “they dropped out, tuned in, and turned on.” They dropped out of the stream of society, the world in which they lived, (not out of contact with it: in fact, they spread the Gospel through the whole area); they dropped out of the attitudes, the power structures, and the values of the world in which they lived. And they tuned in to the grace of God in Jesus Christ, and received the word.” Click
While so many in town continued to have no hope and no faith in Christ the body of Christian believers only grew and grew. And this new body of Godly believers experienced hope and calmness even in the middle of their persecution.
“An archaeological excavation team, working in this very city of Thessalonica, has turned up an ancient, first-century graveyard. And there among the pagan tombstones they found one which was inscribed in Greek with these words: “No Hope.” But here, in a church in the midst of that city, there were those who had found the endurance based on hope; they were looking for the coming of the Son of God. That is what keeps the heart calm in the midst of perils and persecutions. That is what makes it possible to watch the world apparently coming apart at the seams and maintain quietness; God is in control, and he knows what he’s doing. And thus Paul encourages these Thessalonians…” Click
It is believed that the Thessalonians were some of the most ardent believers as Paul continued his difficult ministry planting churches through Europe and Asia.
“In the first three chapters the apostle is just unloading his heart to them concerning his relationship to them, and this is followed by a very practical section with advice on how to behave in the midst of the pressures in which we live.” Click
As we close the text below provides probably the best closing summary of our introduction to Thessalonians 1.
“Our Heavenly Father, in many ways we recognize the days in which we live as very similar to the days in which this letter was written; yet from our vantage point of twenty centuries away, we can see that although their hopes burned brightly for the coming of the Lord, then, they were a long way from the goal. But how much more surely are these promises true for us; how much more certain can we be that we are in the days in which our Lord is moving world events to presage his coming! Lord, help us to walk in the light of this, as we’ve been exhorted and admonished by the Apostle Paul, earnestly and soberly, intelligently giving ourselves to first things first. We ask it in Jesus’ name, Amen.” Click
1 Thessalonians 1: 10 “and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”
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