The Thessalonian Epistles
Reasons for Thanksgiving
Lesson XVII
2 Thessalonians 1:1-6
Written: May 5, 2005
2 Thessalonians 1:1-6
(1) Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of
the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
(2) Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ.
(3) 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;
(4) 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:
(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:
(6) Seeing [it is] a righteous thing with God to
recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
1 Thessalonians 1:1
(1) Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of
the Thessalonians [which is] in God the Father and [in] the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The
words in the first two verses of the first chapter of the second epistle are
almost identical to those in the introduction of the first epistle. “Grace” followed by “peace.” One cannot really enjoy God’s peace without
first learning about God’s grace. By the
grace of God we are what we are, have what we have, and stand where we stand.
The
letters to the Thessalonians were the first letters written by Paul to the
Churches. The hand of God must be seen
in the arrangement of Paul’s letters as they now appear in our New
Testaments. His letter to the Church at
Thus
we see purpose in this order. The Church
needs to know fundamental doctrines to keep it faithful until He who is coming
comes. It is because of a general
departure from preaching doctrine to believers that we are witnessing, not only
a ‘down-grade’, as C.H. Spurgeon called it, but an actual departure from the
faith that Paul warned would happen in the latter days.
1 Timothy 4:1
(1) Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter
times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils;
Philippians 4:6-7
(6) Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
(7) And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
It
is now my conviction that the Church is facing the most deceptive, dangerous,
damaging days since the days of the reformation. In such days we need to be reminded of Paul’s
words to the Philippians: “…in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests (not
demands) be made known unto God. And
the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6,7). We can have peace in the midst of turmoil.
In
2 Thessalonians 1:3-6, Paul pours out his heart in thanksgiving for this
Church. First “because their faith was
growing exceedingly” and their “love for each other was abounding.” Now if their faith was growing, that can only
mean that they were spending much time in the study of the Word of God. We need to remind ourselves that “faith cometh
by hearing the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).
Romans 10:17
(17) So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God.
Need
we write it again? The only source of
genuine faith is God’s Word, the Bible.
There is no other source. Neglect
the Bible and all the experience in the world will not increase one’s faith.
Wrote
J.C. Ryle: “No means is so blessed in all the experience of Christ’s Church as
the plain preaching of the Gospel; no sign so sure of decay and rottenness in a
Church as the neglect of preaching; for there is no ordinance in which the Holy
Spirit is so particularly present, none by which sinners are so often converted
and brought back to God. And seldom too
is a man born of the Spirit without the Bible having something to do in the
work.”
One
said, “God is not tied to the Bible but we are.” He did not mean that God would ever ignore
His word, but rather that there are things God knows that are not written in
this book (John 20:30). But that we need
Holy Scripture is a fact that needs to be emphasized again and again, in these
days of departure from the faith.
John 20:30
(30) And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence
of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
Faith
does not come by reading Christian novels nor viewing Christian films. Faith does not come by seeing but by hearing
and believing what God has said and is saying in His Word.
Then
their love was abounding (verse 3). Love
for the saints by the saints. I think
back to the 1930’s and realize I witnessed this kind of love. A man came from
In
Edmonton, Alberta, on October 28, 1999, the foundations of some houses in the
city near the river started to fall into the river. As the danger increased, authorities allowed
the residents to go into their homes and rescue their belongings. One man came on the T.V. news to tell how
people, total strangers, helped him. He
said: “It was a moving experience.” Most
people seem naturally inclined to help others in time of crisis, but Christian
love goes beyond anything natural.
At
Thessolonica there was great persecution and the love of the saints for each
other was immeasurable. It is during
tough, troublesome times that we discover what kind of Christianity we really
have.
Paul
boasted to others because of “their patience and faith in all their
persecutions and trials” (verse 4). Not
too many years ago two brothers who had come through a time of great sickness
gave testimony that their trials had drawn them closer to the Lord. One said, “His great trial had drawn him
closer to his Christian father;” the other that “his trial had drawn him and
his wife closer together.”
I
have learned through out my years that Christians likely fail the Lord more
often in times of prosperity than in times of trials and adversity. Writing these words reminded me of a story I
heard years ago. At a prayer-meeting a
request was made for a certain brother.
The leader of the meeting asked if the man was sick. The reply was: “No, he is prospering.” That is when we need prayer. Hosea wrote of Israel, “As they were
increased, so they sinned against me” (Hosea 4:7). The record of history proves the truth of the
prophet’s words.
Hosea 4:7
(7) As they were increased, so they sinned against me:
[therefore] will I change their glory into shame.
In
the book “Caesar and Christ” by Will Durant (page 88) I read:
“Rome
was becoming not the industrial or commercial, but the financial and political,
center of the White man’s world.
Equipped with such means, the Roman patritiate and upper middle class
passed with impressive speed from stoic simplicity to reckless luxury; the
lifetime of Cato (234-149) saw the transformation complete. Houses became larger, as families became
smaller; furniture grew lavish in a race for conspicuous expense; great sums
were paid for Babylonian rugs, for couches inlaid with ivory, silver, or gold;
precious stones and metals shone on tables and chairs, on the bodies of women,
on the harness of horses. As physical
exertion diminished and wealth expanded, the old simple diet gave way to long
and heavy meals of meat, game, delicacies, and condiments … drinking increased;
‘The citizens,’ Cato mourned, ‘no longer listen to good advice, for the belly
has no ears.’
“Prostitution
flourished. Homosexuality was stimulated
by contact with Greece and Asia; many men paid a talent ($3600.00) for a male
favorite; Cato complained that ‘a pretty boy cost more than a farm’. Cosmetics became a necessity….”
We
ask: has anything changed? Not only in
the days of Hosea, but in the days of the great Roman Empire as in our day, “as
they increased so they sinned against me.”
The heart of fallen man remains the same and only the Lord by the power
of the gospel can change the human heart.