1 Thessalonians – Intro
Before we get into 1 Thessalonians I want to take a few minutes and remind ourselves of some things that were going on between Jesus ascending and the writing of 1 Thessalonians.
And before that I need to bring up how important God’s Word is to God.
Psa_138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
There is no name higher than God’s name. And God has magnified His Word above His name.
If you stop and think about that a moment. It should be a little staggering. God’s thinks more of His Word than most people think He does.
They change it and manipulate it and mistreat it and I am not talking about lost people. Most Christians today do this. If they really understood how highly God thinks of His word then they would obey His instructions and heed His warning and they would not change it or play games with it.
The Bible ends with a final call for sinners to come and get saved and after that this warning.
Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
God thinks so highly of His Word that He has a stern warning to anyone who changes it and He will always do what he says.
God deems that The Word of God is that important.
And it should be very important to us. It is by the Word of God that we grow as Christians.
1Pe_2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
It is the Word of God that gives us direction.
Psa_119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Any wisdom and knowledge and instructions that you need to navigate life in this sin stained world is in the Word of God.
And the Word of God is instrumental in us pleasing God and growing closer to Him and for our reassurance that we are His children.
1Jn_2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
It starts with His Word. We first have to have it, then we have to read it.
And then we have to keep it as in doing it.
As we do it the love of God flows thru us. We grow, we please Him, we do good to others.
And thru this process the Holy Spirit is working in and thru us and this results in us having a stronger assurance that we are saved and are His child. The verse says at the end, hereby know we that we are in him.
The results and changes in our lives of having God’s Word and then reading it and doing it are Huge.
So God gave man His Word and done it in a way that shows that it is His book and not man’s. God gave His word over a long period of time by using many different men as penmen. And it all goes together in a way that can only be explained by the fact that there really is only one author and that is God.
God did that until the 400 years of silence, which is the amount of time between the last O.T. scripture was given and the announcement to John the Baptist’s father.
Then God started speaking to man again and He had John the Baptist preach to prepare the way. Then Jesus came and He gave the Word of God to people.
Then Jesus went to the cross and paid the penalty for our sins, and then rose again 3 days later. And then He spent 40 days teaching and preparing the disciples.
Now it is time for Jesus to go back to Heaven. And he gives them their marching orders.
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Things are different now in many ways. All of the timeless truths in the Old Testament are still valid and still apply. Just to be clear I am not talking about practice. God changes many things after Jesus fulfilled all that those ceremonies and feasts and sacrifices pictured.
So all that will be done away with.
After Jesus did His work, the believers focus is different. The focus is now teaching the Gospel, and to all nations, everywhere. Once saved then baptize them, and then after that teach them to observe all things that Jesus commanded.
This is a different focus than the Old Testament. The focus of the Old Testament was to look for the coming of Jesus. Now that He has come and did His work the focus changes.
They way we practice our faith and the way we serve Him changes.
Being Born again is now new. And a short time after Jesus leaves believers will be indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God at salvation. This is new. A lot changes in the New Testament age.
So it should be obvious that New Testament scriptures are needed to explain all of this and to give us the direction and instructions we need to live for Him and serve Him properly and so that we know what Old Testament things to leave back there and not bring forward into the New Testament age.
It is very important to God that His children have His Word. And having His Word is critical for us. It is spiritual food. It nourishes us and strengthens us and gives us direction.
Question. 5 Minutes after Jesus ascended what New Testament teachings did they have?
And what form are they in? Where can new believers go to learn New Testament teachings 5 minutes after Jesus is gone back to Heaven?
The answer is the Apostles and disciples. They have the Apostle John and Peter and Matthew for example.
Where are all the believers? Mostly in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, and don’t forget some in Samaria. The town where the woman at the well lived.
Then comes the feast of Pentecost.
Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Act 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Act 2:6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
Act 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
Act 2:8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
So now the source for N.T. truth has grown slightly.
There were Jews that came for this feast from all over. Country after country. Language upon language. And what were they preaching and what were they hearing? New Testament truth.
Then Peter preaches the Gospel.
Then Peter gets up and preaches and finishes his sermon in verse 38-40.
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Act 2:40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Ok. Some will teach that the church at Jerusalem just went from a membership of 120 to 3,120.
That is unreasonable. Why? That would be saying that out of all of those people from all of those different nations that heard the Word of God in their own language did not get saved.
I don’t believe that for a minute. It is reasonable to assume since the Jews from other nations greatly outnumbered Jews from Jerusalem at this feast, that at least some of the 3,000 that got saved were from out of town.
So now 1 month after the feast of Pentecost where can people find New Testament teaching?
The main source at that time is the Apostles and the disciples around Jerusalem, maybe a few in Galilee and the town in Samaria where the woman at the well lived. And now a tiny bit from those that heard the preaching of Peter, got saved and went back home.
They would not have much, but they had the gospel. So there is a tiny bit now out there.
But it is still all verbal.
The Word of God is very important to God and it is important to Him that we have it and it is critical for us to have it.
So God has Matthew start working in the Gospel of Matthew and it is finished in 37 A.D. That is only a few short years after Jesus ascended.
Why did God not at the same time give the entire New Testament? Many reasons.
He is going to follow the same pattern that He established with giving all the Word of God up to that point. He is going to give His scripture thru different men over time. And because of the unity of God’s Word giving it this way shows it came from one mind.
Another reason is they could not handle getting it all out that fast.
They did not even have ball point pens at that time. It was dip into the ink well and write maybe one letter, maybe two and then stop and dip into the ink well. They had not invented the printing press yet.
Making copies was very slow work. They were going to have their work cut out for them to just get a copy of one book to every new church.
And God in His wisdom choose to give the book of Matthew first.
And you should be able to see why.
The first things they needed are the teaching of Jesus, the example of His life, and the work on the cross and His death, payment for sin, and the resurrection.
And then the proof of His resurrection and then His instructions on what they were to be doing. Which is The Great Commission.
The first New Testament truths that the New Church needed in the New age of the New Testament was how to get saved, the life of Jesus and the Gospel, and the instructions on what they were to be focused on and busy working on.
All of that is in Matthew. Why not choose the Gospel of Luke or John first. Two reasons. Matthew has the clearest presentation of the Great Commission. And Matthew is the gospel of Jesus as the promised Jewish Messiah. Jesus as King.
And most of the first people to get saved are Jews and then Gentiles who had been attending Synagogue. So it makes sense that the first Gospel given is the one that has more of a Jewish focus.
Time passes and God has Paul go work with the new Gentile believers in Antioch. They are the first ones to take the journey on the Great Commission. And we know that all of the preserved manuscripts can trace their roots to Antioch.
Antioch will be the ones who will produce the first translation into another language. Antioch is the ones who first got busy creating copies of Matthew for the New Churches.
Paul then goes on the 1st missionary journey.
Time passes and then God in His wisdom and perfect timing decides it is time for the next book of New Testament scripture. And what is that? Galatians.
We have went thru the book of Galatians. And what was it about? The main purpose was dealing with false teachers and their false teaching.
So if you look at the order that God gave the New Testament you will see a progression.
First you have to have the Gospel and you have to have your marching orders. That is the book of Matthew. So now you know about Salvation and you know what you are to be doing.
Great now what? What is the next important thing? Galatians. Stay true to the truth. Stand strong. Have no tolerance for error. Do not allow nor endure false teachers.
So you have Jesus ascending in about 33 to 34 A.D.
Then you have the book of Matthew in 37 A.D. In between that you had the Apostles and disciples teaching New Testament truth.
God never had the new believers without some New Testament truth. Not even for one day. He is going to give them more and more until John writes the last book of Revelation, but they never had one day without some. And not one day without the most important which is the gospel.
Then Galatians was written early on the 2nd missionary journey. About 52 A.D. So about 15 years after Matthew. They have had time to copy Matthew for the new Churches so they can handle getting more scripture to copy.
So now you have the book of Matthew and Galatians. So now you know the teachings of Jesus, the Gospel, and know to stand strong and reject false teachers and their errors.
Now what? What is the next New Testament teaching that God gives. What are the next important things for the New Churches to learn and know and live?
1st and 2nd Thessalonians. They are both very important books. And hopefully as we go thru them you will see some of the reasons why that they are the very next books that God gives to His New Testament believers.
I believe that God in His perfect wisdom and His perfect timing gave the New Testament books to the young churches in the order that they most needed.
The pastoral letters are given much later for example. Those are also very important but they could come later. The most important for daily Christian life came first. It really makes sense and when you look at the content of the first letters given you can see it.
So now that we have refreshed our memories on all of that the question becomes so who were the Thessalonians. How did Paul know them?
That is recorded for us in Acts chapter 17.
Act 17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
Act 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Act 17:3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
Act 17:4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
The devout Greeks are Gentiles who God had moved in their hearts sometime in the past to seek the true God and to go to synagogue and start learning. God was moving way ahead of time in their lives so that they would already be attending and have some foundation of Old Testament scripture before Paul showed up and preached.
So in Thessalonica a few Jews believed, and a great multitude of Gentiles.
But most of the Jews did not. Their reaction was to get angry.
Act 17:5 But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
Act 17:6 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
Act 17:7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
Act 17:8 And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.
Act 17:9 And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.
Act 17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
The “those” in Thessalonica that did not receive the word is talking about the unbelieving Jews and not the Gentiles that got saved.
The Jews in Berea were more noble and they received the word with all readiness of mind and they searched the Old Testament scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true.
The result was that many of the Jews in Berea got saved.
Act 17:12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
Now this really upset the unbelieving Jews in Thessalonica.
Act 17:13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.
Act 17:14 And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.
Act 17:15 And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.
The unbelieving Jews in Thessalonica hated the gospel so much and they hated Paul preaching so much that they traveled to another town and caused so much trouble that Paul had to hastily make a run for it and that is what brought Paul to Athens separated from Silas.
Knowing this back ground is important when looking at 1st and 2nd Thessalonians.
It helps you understand the situation that they were living in. They were living in a town where the unbelieving Jews hated the gospel and they openly and actively persecuted believers.
So Paul first met the Thessalonians early on the 2nd missionary journey. He did not get to stay long and was run out of town.
First visit on 2nd missionary journey with Silas around 49-50 A.D.
Paul stopped again in Thessalonica on the beginning of the 3rd missionary journey on his way to Greece. Around 52 A.D.
Paul then wrote to the Thessalonians about a year later, a little time passed and wrote them again.
1st and 2nd Thess were written about 53-56 A.D. give or take a little.
Paul did not spend much time with them on those 2 visits. It was a very hostle town to the Gospel. So they had much need for these letters.
And we do as well. These letters (and the book of James) were the next scripture that God in His wisdom gave. They contain the next truths that are needed after what is in Matthew and Galatians.
Paul then saw them a 3rd time at the end of the 3rd missionary journey when he is not listening to God and going to Jerusalem when God keeps telling him don’t go.
With that background covered, we are now ready to start 1st Thessalonians next week.
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