Pastor Rick’s Study Notes:
Background: Thessalonica formerly known as Therme in Macedonia found at the top point of the gulf that juts into Greece and Macedonia on the Aegean Sea. Still there. Capital of Macedonia region and declared a “free city” a century before the church was founded. The half-way point on the great highway from Rome to Constantinople. This is a city for the nations.
It’s an international city, a free city with its own constitution and laws, a wealthy and diverse city, and a beach town.
This would be the key city from which to take the Good News throughout Macedonia.
Paul and Silas along with Timothy visited and planted the church in Thessalonica in Act 17:1ff. This is where Aristarchus was from and probably became a believer during the 2nd missionary journey. He was with Paul all the way to Rome through several cities as his companion.
The likelihood is that Paul and his team would be in Thessalonica for several months – at least six – perhaps as a home base from which to travel.
When the Jewish jealousy led to a mob riot, Paul and much of his team left for Berea a small near-by town. They were productive in planting churches there as well as in Thessalonica, but the Jewish authorities from Thessalonica traveled to Berea to stir up riots there, too.
The church in Thessalonica is more one from all the nations than Jewish (hence the “turn from idols” reference) even though he started at the Synagogue (Acts 17).
These two letters to the believers in Thessalonica are Paul’s earliest and, though he couldn’t attend to their growth because of the danger of harm to their leaders because of his presence, he wrote, prayed, and sent Timothy. Paul was able to return there at least three times; probably more often since it was on the main highway from West to East.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-13 (PRT)
v. 1 For our arrival to you, as you know, brothers has not been a hollow exercise.
v. 2 You know that we suffered and were treated with outrageous hostility and abuse in Philippi. Still, we spoke the Good News to you in a boldness from our God even in the middle of the conflict.
v. 3 For our appeal to you was not an illusion, nor was it sneaky or sullied by impure motivations.
v. 4 With God’s stamp of approval, we have been entrusted with the message of the Good News; because of this, we speak from hearts scrutinized for approval by God and not for the accolades of people.
v. 5 God can back us up that at no time did we come to you with an empty and fawning word of flattery nor use that word as an excuse to manipulate you for personal gain; of course, you know this, too.
v. 6 We didn’t come seeking praises from people; neither did we weigh you down by exerting our authority as apostles on you or others.
v. 7 Instead, when we were in the middle of your lives, we were gentle with you just like a nursing mother would care for her own children.
v. 8 That’s why in our affectionate longing for you we not only shared the message of God’s Good News but also our very own lives; that’s how much we love you.
v. 9 For you remember our hard work and laboring round the clock that we engaged in so we wouldn’t be a burden to any of you as we proclaimed God’s Good News to you.
v. 10 You as well as God can testify how we lived toward you who believe; we were devoted, upright, and blameless.
vv. 11-12 You know, it’s just as you would be like a father who would draw his children alongside, we do the same to encourage and comfort and urge you to live in a manner that is worthy of God who invites you into His Kingdom and glory.
Teaching Notes:
v. 1 For our arrival to you, as you know, brothers has not been a hollow exercise.
The trip and time spent with this church has been fruitful and not just a hollow or empty exercise. These first 12 verses describe the fruitfulness of the Apostle’s work in this city. The Gospel’s impact left them totally changed in relation to their culture.
Illustration: God knows my name and my bent, how I act, respond, deal with difficulties and difficult people. He doesn’t compare me to anyone else but Jesus and that’s why grace and mercy are needed each day. I don’t meet the ideal. I am his child. Some people just seem to be made for a life of “extra” – they are extra kind, extra patient, extra loving, extra faithful, etc. – God’s Spirit poured out shows kindness beyond their “extra.” And He pours out kindness through you, through who you are. I’ve know some quite crusty people and kindness from the Spirit is in their context (crustiness.) We each wear the Holy Spirit’s evidences uniquely and at the same time marked by His character. Don’t try to be someone else. Be you in His fruitfulness.
Not empty, but filled with fruit. Like a fruit bowl. Culture conflict when all around are self-centered, unfaithful, devalue life. The work, the labor, the energy invested in chapter one is securely effective in chapter two.
“Our arrival” is important – Paul and his companion not long before were pushing on toward the north and into Asia. And they were blocked “by the Holy Spirit.” That’s when a dream came pleading for Paul to come to Macedonia: Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea. His arrival was providential.
v. 2 You know that we suffered and were treated with outrageous hostility and abuse in Philippi. Still, we spoke the Good News to you in a boldness from our God even in the middle of the conflict.
The word for “treated with insults and abuses” is one word that indicated they crossed the line morally, legally, ethically. They treated them with outrage, indignity, and violence. Acts 16-17. In Philippi they were beaten and imprisoned; in Thess. they were facing the same, except they weren’t where the mob looked and escaped to a neighboring city. They faced pain, rejection, legal action, persecution. They preached the truth with boldness even though it followed them to harm them.
v. 3 For our appeal to you was not an illusion, nor was it sneaky or sullied by impure motivations.
Sneaky, deceptive or manipulative. Sullied by impurity, uncleanness. This word is used for sexual impurity, too. The idea is this: what we preached or appealed to you was neither over-the-top nor deceptive. We didn’t manipulate you or give false expectations.
This is the key verse: the appeal was not a vaporous illusion or mirage, it was not motivated by sneaky or suspicious intent, neither was this pure truth tainted by a manipulative desire. This is the integrity. They knew this to be true and the lives of those who now represent the Good News to their culture know it too. Something changed them!
v. 4 With God’s stamp of approval, we have been entrusted with the message of the Good News; because of this, we speak from hearts scrutinized for approval by God and not for the accolades of people.
God gives his approval even as he careful searches our hearts and word. We don’t do this so people will be pleased and happy with us. He is testing our words and the heart from whence they come. God is testing us. His stamp of approval is on us because He has examined our hearts and our treatment of the message. The “approval” as at its base a sense of being tested, like an evaluation process. That shows up later in the verse.
v. 5 God can back us up that at no time did we come to you with an empty and fawning word of flattery nor use that word as an excuse to manipulate you for personal gain; of course, you know this, too.
The flattery that might seeks to make someone like us or, even worse, the words that might manipulate someone to give their resources to us – these are both false examples of what it means to be faithful with the truth. The word extort is used here: that is the manipulative word that seeks gain. This verse applies to the outward – flattering lips, and the inward, manipulative heart.
There’s was a culture of manipulation, empty word (throwing flowers), plans to extort and deflect from truth. The Gospel, and their lives, are the opposite. The collision is coming – their culture could not stand up to such a powerful truth.
v. 6 We didn’t come seeking praises from people; neither did we weigh you down by exerting our authority as apostles on you or others.
We didn’t claim the authority over you because we are apostles. We didn’t play the apostle card to get praise or power. Not driven by ambition but by the selfless lifting up of others. When one life is changed by the Good News, the whole culture is lifted up.
v. 7 Instead, when we were in the middle of your lives, we were gentle with you just like a nursing mother would care for her own children.
We weren’t heavy-handed; we were gentle in our ministry and preaching to you. Instead of distancing from and discarding the values of one’s life, we became gentle, like a nursemaid. Cultural conflict here is that weak equals discarded.
v. 8 That’s why in our affectionate longing for you we not only shared the message of God’s Good News but also our very own lives; that’s how much we love you.
This verse mainly says you are loved; we have come to call you beloved. This word for love is the deep affection of a mother toward a child.
They gladly gave away the Good News and their very souls. For souls here, probably represents the total life.
v. 9 For you remember our hard work and laboring round the clock that we engaged in so we wouldn’t be a burden to any of you as we proclaimed God’s Good News to you.
Burden as in causing extra toil or weight on their part. Night and Day, or around the clock. Paul didn’t want to exact additional toll from them as they considered the redemptive message. This verse could be our work and hard work that we worked.
They worked to provide for their needs. They did so in order to keep them from resenting their presence. They knew the Apostle wasn’t there for private gain; his rough hands calloused from the goat’s hair cloth that served as tent material proved. While people needed to see and hear the Good News, he preached; when they slept, he completed his tent orders.
v. 10 You as well as God can testify how we lived toward you who believe; we were devoted, upright, and blameless.
These three words are relational. We lived holily or devoted to God and to you. We lived righteously and upright around you. We lived blameless and without fault in our intents toward you. God witnessed this; they testify to this, too.
vv. 11-12 You know, it’s just as you would be like a father who would draw his children alongside, we do the same to encourage and comfort and urge you to live in a manner that is worthy of God who invites you into His Kingdom and glory.
Paul is drawing a parallel: you know how a daddy come alongside his kids so they will live honorably, we are doing the same to bring you toward a life that honors your Daddy in heaven, too. Invites as in he calls us to life in the value of His nature and His Kingdom. Interesting that they were gentle and loving with the heart of a mother; they were models and encouragers like a father. There is the sense of both encouraging and warning as a dad would his son leaving for college or his first job.
v. 13 And through all this, we also constantly give thanks to God since you have heard from us and taken as your own this message, and not from man but from God since it is truly from Him; and this message is at work inside of you who believe.
They believe it and God is at work demonstrating the fruit of this belief. And it is at work in those who keep on believing.
Small Group Study Questions:
- Read 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12. As you read, choose a verse from this passage that means the most to you. Why does this verse stand out for you personally?
- We are discussing what happens When Faith and Culture Collide. When culture seems to feed on deceptions, what can Christ-followers do to counter this?
- This passage talks about how the Good News is shared. What words stand out as you look at these verses that show the integrity of the Good News?
- V. 7 talks about mothers and v. 12 talks about fathers. How do these two images reflect our choice to live the Good News and share the Good News in the face of a culture that is broken and deceptive?
- When have you felt like a relationship was harmed because integrity was broken? How can we pray for you today for healing the relationship?
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