On their second missionary journey, Paul, together with Silas, Timothy, and Luke, had established a beach-head for the Gospel in Europe in the city in Philippi in Macedonia around AD 51.
Paul and Silas were arrested and beaten following Paul's casting out of a demon from a slave girl who was used of her masters to foretell the future. As Paul and Silas lay in a dungeon singing praises to God, an earthquake destroyed the prison. The jailer and his family came to faith as a result, and they joined together with Lydia and her household to form the first home church on the European continent. As soon as they were released from prison, Luke remained to shepherd the young church. Paul and his companions headed south on the Egnatian Way to the city of Thessalonica.
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Acts 17:1 ESV
We see that Paul went into the synagogue, preached the Gospel, caused a riot, and was run out of the city. We really don't learn much about the Thessalonians from our text in Acts, but one thing we do learn is that many of them believed Paul's preaching and came to faith in Christ.
And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. Acts 17:4 ESV
Who is the "them" here? It is the Jews of verse 1. Some of the Jews were persuaded that Yeshua was the Christ. They believed Paul's words and put their faith in Yeshua. Not only Jews believed Paul's message, but so did a "great many of the devout Greeks." Devout means God-fearing and points to that class of monolatrous Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel as the one God. They respected the Old Covenant and the moral teaching of the Jews, attended synagogue, observed the Sabbath, and practiced the main requirements of Jewish piety.
Most mainstream, Old Testament scholars believe that the religion of the early Israelites was neither monotheistic nor polytheistic but was, rather, "monolatrous." Monolatry is the belief in the existence of many gods, but with the consistent worship of only one deity. While the existence of other gods was not denied, Israel was to worship no god but Yahweh.
Preaching in the synagogues was an effective means of reaching Gentiles. In nearly every synagogue there were God-fearing Gentiles. These Gentiles had already come to the point of looking for salvation from a Jewish Messiah, and they also had some knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures.
What I want to do this morning is to show you the results of Paul, Silas, and Timothy's visit to Thessalonica. We learn much about the believers in Thessalonica in these two letters written to them by Paul. So please turn with me to the first letter to the Thessalonians.
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Yeshua Christ: Grace to you and peace. 1 Thessalonians 1:1 ESV
These are the three men who, on Paul's second missionary journey, brought the Gospel to the city of Thessalonica. What is special about this letter is that this is the first inspired letter that Paul wrote, and this is the first inspired letter of the New Testament.
As we saw in our reading this morning in Acts 17, Paul and his companions were driven out of Thessalonica, after only a brief stay, by vicious persecution that broke out. He and his companions were forced to leave and went to Berea and then Paul went down to Athens.
While Paul was in Athens, he tried to go back to Thessalonica. He says:
because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 1 Thessalonians 2:18 ESV
At least twice, Paul tried to return to Thessalonica, but Satan hindered him. So, while Paul was waiting in Athens, he sent Timothy back up to Thessalonica to see how those new converts were doing:
Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2 ESV
Why didn't Satan hinder Timothy from going to Thessalonica? Paul said, "Satan hindered us" but obviously not Timothy.
Now, while Timothy was in Thessalonica, Paul went on to Corinth and began his ministry in the city of Corinth. While Paul was in Corinth, Timothy came back from Thessalonica to report to him, and he brought a glorious report. And, when Paul heard it, he sat down and wrote the first letter to the Thessalonians.
After about five months, Paul wrote a second letter to them from Corinth because of a misunderstanding in the church. And, these are the very first letters of the New Testament. Any date assigned will have to be approximate, though probably AD 51-52.
What is really convicting is that these two letters are written to new converts, many of whom were converts out of pagan idolatry. These Christians at Thessalonica have not even been Christians for a year. They were only several months old in the Lord when Paul wrote these letters. And, yet, when you read them and look at their doctrinal content, it is almost unbelievable. Almost every major doctrine of the Christian faith is mentioned. The amount of doctrine taught in this short span of time clearly demonstrates the priority the apostle placed on the doctrines of the Word. These new converts out of pagan idolatry have a solid understanding of Christian truths.
Most Christians today, even those who have been saved for decades, don't know enough about the Bible to even discuss it intelligibly. But here we see these new converts, many of whom had been worshiping idols all their lives, have a good grasp on Christian theology. Paul speaks to them about the doctrines of salvation, of assurance, of sanctification, of election, of the Trinity, of the nature of man, of the judgment day of the Lord, and of the Second Coming of Christ. He writes these things to them as though they were perfectly familiar with them. Notice what Paul says to them:
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 ESV
Then in the second letter, in referring to the events that would precede the Second Coming, Paul writes:
Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 2 Thessalonians 2:5 ESV
Paul, when preaching in Thessalonica, obviously preached the judgment of God and the return of the Lord and our accountability to Him. They knew all about the Second Coming of Christ. This is a remarkable thing. How many Christians can you say this of today? These converts are less than a year old, and they didn't have the New Testament—It wasn't written yet. It was just being written. All they had was portions of the Tanakh and the teachings of Paul.
Compare them to us today. We have the complete Bible and every imaginable Bible study tool. We have the Bible on computer and can search through the whole thing in seconds. We have the Bible on our phones so that at any time we want to, we can take them out and read Scripture. And yet it appears that they knew way more than we do. We should be ashamed!
What happened to this church after Paul left? These new converts were subject to severe persecution:
For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Yeshua that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Yeshua and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15 ESV
Those in Thessalonica were experiencing the same suffering that the first Christians in Judea suffered. Do you remember what that was? The apostles were beaten and told to keep quiet about Yeshua:
and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Yeshua, and let them go. Acts 5:40 ESV
Then we see that Stephen was stoned to death. And Saul tried to destroy the church:
And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Acts 8:1 ESV
"That day" is emphatic in the Greek text, referring to the day of Stephen's being stoned to death. "There arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem."
But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Acts 8:3 ESV
"Ravaging the church" is from the Greek word lumainomai, which literally means that "he exercised brutal and sadistic cruelty."
In the midst of all this talk about suffering and persecution, a major theme arises in the studying and reading of 1 and 2 Thessalonians—the return of the Lord Yeshua the Christ. This is a subject found at the close of every chapter of the first letter. Concerning Christ's return, there is a two-fold emphasis of both a confident expectation along with the call to live in readiness in the light of His imminent coming.
As we read the Bible, we must keep in mind the hermeneutical principle of audience relevance to help us discover what the original audience understood a passage to mean. The concern of the evangelical interpreter is to understand the grammar of a passage in light of the historical circumstances and context of the original audience.
The Bible was written for us, but not to us.Most Christians don't get this because they think that the Bible is written to us. It should be quite simple to show them otherwise. I was discussing this very subject with a man who said, "All the Bible is written to us." To show him how ridiculous this position was, I took him to Joshua 6.
You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. Joshua 6:3 ESV
I asked him, "Who is the 'you' in this verse?" He replied, "It's us." I said, "So we are supposed to march around Jericho?" And he said, "Yes!" At that point I ended our discussion. This is an absolutely insane view. I don't think that he actually believed that he was commanded to march around Jericho (even though he said he was), but for him to admit that would have been an admission that the Bible is written for us and not to us.
If you ignore audience relevance and view this verse as written to you, what do you have?
But Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. Joshua 6:25 ESV
Is Rahab still living in Israel today? If she is, she would be well over 3,500 years old. We know this is ridiculous. Why does the Bible say she is still living in Israel today when she isn't? When the book of Joshua was written, she was still living in Israel. This statement was true and accurate when it was written. But to us, some 3,500 years later, it must be viewed in light of audience relevance.
Let me ask you a really difficult question: To whom are the letters of 1 and 2 Thessalonians written? The answer is simple. They were written to the believers who lived in Thessalonica in the first century.
These young converts in Thessalonica were suffering greatly for their faith in Christ. So, when Timothy comes back to Paul, he reports that there is much suffering for these new believers: Their property is being confiscated, and they are being beaten and imprisoned. Yet in the midst of it all, they are still as true to Christ as the day they first trusted Him.
Timothy also reported that they had a problem. They were looking for the Coming of the Lord and waiting for the Son of God from heaven. But in the meantime, some of their loved ones had died. Their families were breaking up, and the Lord had not come, and they wanted to know if their dead loved ones had a part in the Kingdom of Christ. So, Paul wrote the first letter to the church at Thessalonica.
The most impressive topic of the Thessalonian letter, from what we can gather from these letters, was the Coming of the Lord Yeshua in His heavenly kingdom. This letter is loaded with eschatology. It was evidently the topic of frequent conversations when Paul was in Macedonia.
Eschatology is a major theological issue, not just in Thessalonia, but in all of Scripture. R.C. Sproul says that two-thirds of the New Testament is either directly or indirectly eschatological. Other experts say that 25 to 30 percent of the whole Bible is eschatological. Every one of the five chapters in this first letter ends with a reference to the Second Coming of Christ. With audience relevance in mind, let's look at these letters.
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Yeshua who delivers us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 ESV
The faith of the Thessalonian believers is summed up in these two things: serving a living and true God and waiting for His Son from heaven. "And to wait for his Son from heaven"—this is clearly a reference to the second coming of Christ at the end of the age. Nobody argues with or questions that. So, the Thessalonians were waiting for Yeshua to come from heaven at his second coming. Why? If the Lord has not yet returned, as the majority of the church believes, over 2,000 years later, why were they waiting on Him in the first century? Would you wait for something that you would never experience?
Let's talk about the word "wait." Wait is from the Greek word anameno. It is found only here in the New Testament, but it occurs four times in the Septuagint.Anameno is from ana, which means "upon." Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says it intensifies the meaning of meno ("abide or remain"). It conveys the meaning of expectant waiting—sustained, patient, trusting waiting. It pictures an eager looking forward to the coming of one whose arrival was anticipated at any time, waiting for one whose coming is expected. BDAG says it means "to wait for, expect someone or something." You wouldn't wait for something that you didn't expect to happen.
In the Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary, Gilbrant states that In classical Greek, anamenō means "waiting or staying in wait." The word carries the sense of anticipation of an impending event. One such example is the use of anamenō in describing an army waiting for the enemy to attack.
Anameno is in the present tense and can be rendered "keep on waiting." Waiting for the return of their Lord was their lifestyle, the habit of their life, the truth that colored all their daily activities and afflictions. To the first-century believers, the advent of Christ was not regarded as a distant possibility but as an imminent certainty!
I think that the fact that the first-century believers in Thessalonica were waiting for Christ's coming from heaven tells us that they expected to see it in their lifetime. Why look for something you will never see?
Where did they get the idea that the Lord would return in their lifetime? They got if from Paul who got it from Yeshua. Notice what Yeshua said.
Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Mark 13:30 ESV
Yeshua here, very plainly and very clearly, tells HIS DISCIPLES that ALL of the things He had mentioned would come to pass in THEIR GENERATION. This includes the Gospel being preached in all the world, the Abomination of Desolation, the Great Tribulation, and the Coming of the Son of Man. This is so clear that it greatly troubles those who hold to a futurist eschatology. Listen to what C.S. Lewis said:
"The apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, 'This generation shall not pass till all these things be done.' And He was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else. This is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible." (Essay "The World's Last Night" (1960), found in The Essential C.S. Lewis, p. 385)
To deny the time statements that the Bible gives of the Second Coming is to deny inspiration. Because of his physical view of the nature of the Second Coming, Lewis couldn't believe this clear time statement. He felt that it hadn't happened yet, therefore, Yeshua had to be wrong. That would be, in fact, much more than embarrassing; it would be devastating to the credibility of Yeshua. If Yeshua was wrong, as Lewis says He was, what else might He have been wrong about? What if He was wrong about those who believe in Him having everlasting life? Relax! Yeshua wasn't wrong, Lewis was the one who was wrong. We can count on the truthfulness of what Yeshua tells us. Aren't you glad of that?
"Who delivers us from the wrath to come"—what wrath is this? This is the wrath that Yeshua predicated would come upon Jerusalem.
"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, Luke 21:20-21 ESV
This is clearly a reference to AD 70 and the destruction of Jerusalem. Notice what Yeshua says next.
for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Luke 21:22 ESV
This is a very significant verse. Yeshua tells us here that ALL things which are written will be fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem. What does He mean by that? "All things which are written" refers to all prophecy. All prophecy was to be fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem. This makes the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 a very significant event for all Christians. Everything that was ever prophesied to happen was fulfilled in Jerusalem's fall. Please consider the weight of this statement!
Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. Luke 21:23 ESV
The coming wrath was on Israel. The Parousia of Yeshua the Christ is associated with judgment.
As we said earlier, every chapter in this letter talks about the Second Coming.
For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Yeshua at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 ESV
so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Yeshua with all his saints. 1 Thessalonians 3:13 ESV
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, even so, through Yeshua, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 ESV
It appears as though the Thessalonians were concerned for their departed loved ones. Paul reassures them by telling them in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 not to worry, for they would rise with Christ at the Parousia, and "We who remain alive will also rise!" This is directed very specifically toward the first-century Thessalonians.
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 1 Thessalonians 4:15 ESV
Notice what Paul wrote: "By a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord." The "we who are alive, and remain" is indeed a TIME STATEMENT, for the "we" MUST be seen as the collective group of Paul and his audience. They (Paul and the Thessalonians) were expecting the return of Christ in their lifetime. This is very clear throughout the book.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ESV
As we compare Scripture with Scripture, we see that this is apocalyptic language speaking of judgment. Comparing this text to a parallel text in Matthew 24 will help us to better understand its meaning.
Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:30-31 ESV
Does that sound familiar? It should because this is a parallel text to the Thessalonian passage. In Matthew 24, Yeshua predicted His Coming to gather together the saints in that generation. In 1 Thessalonians 4-5, Paul spoke of the same Coming of the Lord to gather the saints. How many Comings of the Lord with his angels in fire, in power, and in glory to gather the saints are there in the New Testament? Just ONE! The conclusion is inescapable: 1 Thessalonians 4-5 is dealing with exactly the same coming, judgment, and gathering that Matt. 24 is.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 ESV
The words "caught up" are from the Greek word harpazo, which means "to snatch away." This is where the word "rapture" comes from. But certainly being "caught up" means something different than a levitation of the physical body from earth up into the atmosphere of the sky. Remember, this being "caught up" happens sometime after the Second Coming.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ESV
The "you" identifies the first-century Thessalonians. This is a prayer that they would still be in their biological bodies when the Lord returned. Physical death separates the spirit and body. To be preserved complete is to still be alive at the Second Coming.
After that first Epistle was written, there came a report to Paul about some doctrinal issues. So, he wrote a second letter to correct those misconceptions. We'll look at that shortly, but first I want to show you something in the first chapter. In the first chapter he speaks about their suffering—-it was real and they were hurting, and so he comforts them with what doctrine? Let's look at the text:
Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Yeshua is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Yeshua. 2 Thessalonians 1:4-8 ESV
He comforts them with the doctrine of the Second Coming. Notice that he says, "God
will repay with affliction those who afflict you." Who were "those who afflict you"? It was the Jews! Verse 7 says that God will give them relief from their suffering—when? "When the Lord Yeshua is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire." Paul says that they will have relief from their suffering at the Second Coming. Now if the Second Coming is still future, we have a problem! If Paul was giving them false hope, how can we believe anything he says? If Yeshua did not come in the lifetime of those living first-century Thessalonian Christians to give them relief from their persecution, as promised by Paul, then Paul lied to them. If his prediction failed, he is a false prophet! He is a cruel false prophet. That is the problem of this text, and it is unavoidable.
It seems that somebody wrote one or more fictitious letters and signed Paul's name to them and circulated them up there in the Thessalonian Church. And that forgery obviously was saying that the Second Coming had already happened. This was causing great difficulty among the believers in Thessalonica. So, Paul writes the Second Thessalonian letter to correct this misunderstanding.
Notice that Paul closes this Second Thessalonian letter with:
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 2 Thessalonians 3:17 ESV
Paul is essentially saying:" You can easily tell a genuine letter from me because I will always close it with my own handwriting, and I will sign it with my own hand" (his personal mark in every Epistle).
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Yeshua Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 ESV
This verse shatters the paradigm that views the Second Coming as fiery destruction of the whole earth. Do you see that? If the Thessalonians believed that the nature of the Second Coming was an earth-burning, total destruction of the earth, how could they be deceived about its arrival? If the Second Coming was, as many view it today, Paul could have written them and said, "Look out the window, the earth is still here, so the Lord has obviously not come." They thought it had already happened, so they must have viewed the nature of the Second Coming differently than most folks today view it. If we can allow a crack in this earth-ending Second Coming paradigm, maybe we can begin to understand the truth of the Second Coming.
Whenever I talk about the time statements of Scripture, someone inevitable says, "Yeah, but a day with the Lord is as a thousand years" 2 Peter 3:8. That is true. God is not bound by time. But man is, and He is writing to men. As we have seen, the Second Coming was "imminent" in the first century, but was it imminent before the first century? The fact is that what God said was near to the apostles, He said was not near to the earlier prophets.
The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true, but seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now." Daniel 8:26 ESV
This was written in the 6th century B.C., and the vision pertained to "many days from now"—it was a long time off. It was to be kept secret or sealed up. Now notice:
And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Revelation 22:10 ESV
This was written in the first century AD and the time of the vision "was near." What God said was far away in Daniel's time, He said was near in the apostles' time. The implication is inescapable: soon means soon, and near means near. God knows how to tell time.
These events were imminent in the first century, and the believers at Thessalonica were waiting for the Coming of Christ. They expected it in their lifetime, and it happened in their lifetime. God gave them rest from their afflictions by destroying the Jewish temple, nation, and people.
Now listen carefully. I am not saying I don't believe in the Second Coming of Christ. I strongly believe in the Second Coming, but I believe it is in our past and not in our future. To deny the fact of the Second Coming is to deny the inspiration of Scripture. Do you agree? Well, I believe that the time of the Second Coming is just as clear as the fact of the Second Coming. I believe that to deny the time statements that the Bible gives of the Second Coming is also to deny inspiration.
Bereans, the return of Yeshua is mentioned in every one of the New Testament books except for Galatians (where it is alluded to) and the very short books of second and third John and Philemon. The return of Christ is a major theme of the New Testament. As you study this theme of the return of Christ, you will find that the first-century church expected the Lord to return in their lifetime. They thought this because Yeshua taught a first- century Parousia, and so did all the New Testament authors.
So why does the majority of churchianity today reject a first-century coming of Christ. Why can't they see this? I think it is because they look for a physical coming of Christ. Just like the Jews missed the first coming of Christ because they were looking for a physical deliverer, so has the church missed the second coming.