Listen to this helpful overview of the same journey of the Apostle Paul we have outlined in ACTS of the Apostles.
Soon we’ll take a look at Paul’s next letter to the church at Corinth but READ this overview and listen to Alistair Begg’s description of where Paul has been so far in his introduction to I THESSALONIANS.
In addition to several Jews, including Jason who had been a leader of the local synagogue, the Church of the Thessalonians had many Macedonians (and perhaps Roman citizens as well.)
And some of them were persuaded, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
ACTS 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. 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; 7 whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. 8 And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.
10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea..
Jason and other Jews have undoubtedly continued in Christ as members of the church in Thessalonica.
And they [Berean believers] that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus [who had remained in Berea] for to come to him with all speed, they departed.
18 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth.. 5 And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
How was our first epistle received?
PAUL, TIMOTHY, SILAS (Silvanus), Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others [from Athens and other cities] COMMUNICATED with the Church in places where Paul and Silas had proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ. Timothy, Jason and others became part of church leadership in cities throughout Asia Minor, Macedonia and Achaia.
APOSTLES SENT EPISTLES TO COMMUNICATE WITH AND SUSTAIN THE CHURCHES in a similar fashion as when in about A.D. 50 the Council of Jerusalem had sent clarifications of the faith into all the world of their ROMAN provinces.
The Apostles must have sent AND RECEIVED letters and brief messages much more frequently than these exemplary New Testament Epistles record.
Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians
Once again PLEASE endure a most appropriate formality (17th c. King's English) of the KJV & Authorized KJV for this Apostolic Epistle.
- RH
~ A.D. 51 (a few months after Paul’s First Epistle)
.. we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
Silas, Timothy, Jason and others had delivered first-hand or second-hand accounts of events in Thessalonica after Paul had escaped.
Paul knew that the Thessalonian believers were suffering. So the Apostle encourages the faithful:
5 which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
Skipping ahead in Paul's Second Epistle:
II Thessalonians 3:6
Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. ..
11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
HOW did Paul, Silas and Timothy know about these serious challenges to the Thessalonians?
COMMUNICATION between church leaders and the Apostles.
IF you are SUFFERING on account of your witness of the Lord JESUS Christ GOD has chosen you and GOD will repay those who trouble you.
BUT IF some in your church DO NOT OBEY the commands and example of the Apostles they DO NOT and SHOULD NOT represent Christ as a member of your church.
When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed!
Paul preaches clearly about the Judgment to come.
II THESSALONIANS 1:7-12 AKJV – Paul’s Points concerning Judgment
that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,
and from the glory of his power;
when he (The Lord Christ JESUS] shall come to be glorified in his saints(all believers),
and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
with his mighty angels,
in flaming fire
Let no man deceive you
Paul continues in encouraging these faithful Thessalonians currently enduring persecution to look forward to THE DAY Christ will return and draw the saints unto Him in victory over death.
.. by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and by our gathering together unto him,
be not soon shaken
in mind,
or be troubled,
neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
Don't believe such things.
.. for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,
and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himselfabove all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2 Thessalonians 2:8-10 AKJV
We can hardly overlook Paul’s warning of Satan’s deception which will precede the returning of Christ for those He has saved.
Persecuted Thessalonians would obey the Apostle – having received the Holy spirit AND to whom Paul had already written in his first epistle:
He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. – 1 Thessalonians 4:8
Quench not the Spirit. – 1 Th 5:19
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Th 5:23
ONCE MORE PAUL ENCOURAGES BELIEVERS IN THE TRUTH OF THE RETURN AND JUDGMENT OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Pray that we might be delivered..
.. pray for us
..that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men:
for all men have not faith.
But the Lord is faithful,
.. and keep you from evil.
And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.
And .. into the patient waiting for Christ.
Walk away from evil men
I have already addressed [above] Paul's concern from evil influencers who claim to be 'christians' AND Paul's COMMAND to stay away from such men.
But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
11 Thessalonians 3:13-15 AKJV
And so, my dear brother or sister in the Lord, WHY NOT respond to Paul’s Epistle by your COMMENT?
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer – Celebration of Holy Communion Order One in Traditional language
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
I am about to go 'formal' on you with the Authorized King James Version of II Thessalonians; therefore let us look back to the formality of Paul's long opening sentence [above] written after his formal greeting of this Epistle evoking a sense of duty of a responsive brother receiving a second Epistle of encouragement from our beloved Apostle to the Gentiles (of which you and your wife and children are part) as members of a new and growing church at Thessaloniki (as we now Anglicize it centuries after King James).
Paul’s letters or epistles would have been written to a church and VERBALLY delivered by a man leading worship at any first century church.
The common language of the Roman Empire is GREEK as it was in Thessalonica even prior to Rome’s rule.
In Macedonia (of Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great) Greek had been made the language of Alexander’s vast Empire even as far east as the Jews had been banished to Babylon, later ruled by Persia and then Alexander.
Intro to Thessalonica via the Protestant Reformation
JUMPING centuries and millennia toward today..
At the time of the Renaissance, in this same sense under the rule of a later Empire of Great Britain the BIBLE goes into all the world (largely in English) authorized by King James of England .
Unlike an impotent inclusion of anti-Christ philosophies of this Common Era, it was a time when Kings and Queens went out to war AND Sovereigns were not only an authoritative Defender of the Faith, but also men who did determine political religious alliances with the Pope and Bishop of Rome as well as other rulers beyond the realm.
Because the governed now became literate in Scripture the Bible exposed the darkness of Rome’s frequent heretical Bishops and frequently-fallible Popes.
The King James Bible was commissioned in the year of our Lord 1609 and first published in A.D. 1611.
At the time of the Protestant Reformation the Anglican Book of Common Prayer standardized the traditional liturgy of the Roman Catholic Mass from centuries of Christian tradition in the King’s ENGLISH, replacing the ancient Latin (archaic even in Italy and its Papal States) used in its liturgy.
The common language of the King later remained as part of worship in English long after the meaning of its words were common (much as had Latin become unused beyond the Mass) and centuries after Britannia no longer ruled the waves.
Never-the-less, let us not overlook the validity of this worship, whether in Thessalonica of the A.D. first century or an American colony of Britain of the A.D. 17th century or for our present day church.
Meet our ‘word of the day’ – ‘meet‘
For many years Christians from the Anglican tradition proclaimed corporately each week as a church celebrating the Communion of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ sacrificed for us in the following words [in part], theology imprinted upon our worshiping hearts:
Officiant: [Priest leading Holy Communion] The Lord be with you.
Response of the Congregation: And with thy spirit.
Officiant: Lift up your hearts.
Congregation: We lift them up unto the Lord.
Officiant: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
Response: It is meet and right so to do.
Before proceeding with the opening response of the priest celebrating Holy Communion I would like to PAUSE briefly here to consider the response of the worshipers.
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Genesis 2:18 King James Version
Not only does Moses introduce the Hebrew equivalent of meet (as we once translated in KJV in English), the Gospel writers and Paul introduce its importance to solid theology as well.
The KJV translates Strong’s G514 in the following manner: worthy (35x), meet (4x), due reward (1x), unworthy (with G3756) (1x).
weighing, having weight, having the weight of another thing of like value, worth as much
befitting, congruous, corresponding to a thing
of one who has merited anything worthy
both in a good and a bad sense
IS YOUR FAITH IN THE LORD CHRIST JESUS BOTH MEET AND RIGHT?
Our Christian Duty
Returning to & Continuing from the Book of Common Prayer:
Officiant: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
Response: It is meet and right so to do.
Officiant:
It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee, O Lord, holy Father, almighty, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ thine only Son our Lord.
Ano Domini 51 – Paul writes a Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
a context in Paul's missions to write another Epistle
A couple of reminders to my fellow Christians of this Common Era
A.D., used for calendars and timelines of history since about the fifth century derives from the Latin abbreviation for Anno Domini means “IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD” or “In the year of our Lord,” depending on context.
Epistle – generally a serious letter on an important subject [Greek epistole] “message, letter, command, commission,” whether verbal or in writing
The Apostle to the gentiles sends his Epistle after having clarified the commands of the Council of Jerusalem concerning worship of Jews and gentiles together as believers in Christ Jesus, the Messiah crucified and risen some twenty years ago.
Paul penned I Thessalonians to commend his faithful brethren for their stalwart dedication to Christ and to one another and to encourage them to further progress in love and holiness.
Intro to Thessalonians – AKJV [A.D. 1964]
Once Paul’s messengers deliver his Epistle to Thessalonica they return with their report.
Paul then writes a second Epistle after the returning brothers report certain problems that are not solved. The Apostle writes to encourage believers being persecuted, to clarify the Day of the Lord, commanding them to work and to obey his Epistle.
.. as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure..
