PAUL'S FIRST LETTER TO THE THESSALONIANS

FURTHER DEFENSE OF PAUL'S MOTIVES AND CONDUCT

1 Thess. 2:17-3:13

INTRODUCTION

From the beginning of 1 Thessalonians, Paul has been defending his conduct and actions towards the Thessalonians during his stay in Thessalonica. The Thessalonian Jews have launched a vicious campaign against him in order to discredit both him and his ministry in Thessalonica. They have used a machine-gun approach against him, hoping to find at least one charge which will discredit him in front of the Thessalonian Christians. Tow charges they leveled against Paul included (1) that he did not care about the Thessalonian Christians and (2) that he had abandoned the church in Thessalonica. They claimed that he had come to Thessalonica, done his business, gotten his money and fame, and high-tailed it to Achaia when things got hot for him in Thessalonica. Paul devotes the remainder of his defense to these 2 issues.

DEFENSE AGAINST THE CHARGE OF NOT CARING (2:17-20)

In defending himself against this charge, Paul presents a very personal account of his feelings towards the Thessalonians. Leaving the Thessalonians had proved very painful for Paul. The word "bereft" in v. 17 literally means "orphaned." The picture Paul is painting is that of a child who has been abandoned by his parents, standing at the door of an orphanage. That is a pitiful sight which would evoke tears from any person. Well, that is exactly what Paul feels towards the Thessalonians. His losing them feels just like a child who has lost his parents.

The Thessalonian Jews had claimed that Paul had chunked the Thessalonians, that he did not care for them anymore. The exact opposite was true. Paul claims that on several occasions he had tried to return to Thessalonica. The only reason he had not done so was that Satan had prevented him. (Now Paul is skirting the issue of what persons were used to prevent him from returning. The people preventing him from returning were the exact same persons who were accusing him of not caring for the Thessalonians! That's sheer hypocrisy; however, people like that don't care whether or not they're hypocritical. All they care about is winning and getting their way.) The ultimate opponent Paul is battling, though, is Satan. When it is all said and done, the primary cause for evil and suffering in the world is not people; it's Satan. Yes, Osama Bin Laden must be punished because of what he did to the WTC and to the Pentagon; however, getting rid of him will not rid the world of evil. Annihilating Satan and destroying people's evil natures is the only thing which will ultimately remove evil permanently from the world.

When we look at this passage, we have to ask ourselves the questions: "Why did God allow Satan to prevent Paul from returning to Thessalonica? If God is in control, he could have kept Satan from thwarting Paul!" All that is true; however, God's power is seen many times not in Him preventing evil from happening but in Him using the results of evil for an even greater good. (If God could only use the good to do His will, His will would never get anything good done!) The prime example of this is the cross. The cross shows us evil at its worst. On the other hand, it shows God's power at its greatest because He uses the cross for the salvation of untold billions. Well, the same is operating here. Yes, it is tragic that Paul could not return to Thessalonica because this situation brought a lot of stress upon Paul and the Thessalonians. Some of the Thessalonians may have actually believed the lies the Jews spread about Paul. When you think about it, though, you realize that if Paul had not been driven out of Thessalonica and if he had been allowed to return there, then he would not have written 1 and 2 Thessalonians because it would have been unnecessary for him to write them. We would have lost a wealth of information about Paul's attitude towards ministry besides losing valuable teachings regarding the second coming of Christ. Some times my comfort is not at the top of the list of God's priorities for my life. Sometimes He has something greater in store for me.

Paul then proceeds to explain the reason he has such feelings for the Thessalonians. He claims that the Thessalonians are his hope, joy, and crown of exultation in the presence of the Lord Jesus at His coming. At first, these terms may seem self-serving. Is Paul claiming that because of his success among the Thessalonians that he is going to have reason to boast before God on the Day of Judgment? Will he be able to say, "Look, Lord, at all whom I have converted. Now reward me!" As a minister, I don't believe he means that at all. Paul would never use people in that manner. Rather, we all want to stand before Christ completely affirmed and approved. How do I know that I have faithfully served the Lord? How do I know that God has actually worked through me? By the people God impacts through me. If people are being brought to the Lord and their lives are being changed through my ministry, then I know that God has approved of me and my ministry.

Notice that the emphasis falls on the clause "By the people God impacts through me." It's not that I am doing all the work and that God is then impressed. The bottom line is that I am getting out of the way and God is working through me. Ministers are just vessels God is using to do His work. He, though, is actually doing all the work. When He rewards us, He is rewarding us because we got out of the way and allowed His Spirit to work through us. What is wonderful is seeing God working through us pitiful ministers in impacting lives for Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, look at the rewards themselves. Whereas I don't believe the rewards are literal crowns and robes, etc., I do believe that they are actually rewards. The rewards may consist primarily of the capacity to experience God more fully. When the streets of heaven are made of pure gold, what is a golden crown? If we have Jesus, what is a beautiful piece of furniture? Whatever constitutes the crowns though, those awarded them use them for one primary purpose—to throw them at the feet of Jesus. At the end of the most spectacular worship scene in the Bible, John claims that the 24 elders responded to the greatness of the Father by throwing their crowns at His feet (Rev. 4:10). That's the reason I want a crown. Not so I can look at myself in the mirror and glory in what great thing I've done, but rather so that I can throw something at the feet of Jesus on that day of worship. I too want to be able to offer something to Jesus on the Day of Judgment and of rewards.

EXPLANATION OF TRAVEL PLANS (3:1-13)

Next, Paul explains to the Thessalonians the actual dynamics of his movements from Thessalonica to Corinth. His Thessalonian opponents had claimed that he had left Thessalonica and had never intended to return there. Paul has already dealt with the issue of whether or not he wanted to return. He claimed he did want to return but that Satan (through the city authorities) had thwarted him. Now he actually explains all the different things which happened between the time he left Thessalonica and the time he wrote to them from Corinth.

First, he was torn emotionally about the spiritual condition of the Christians in Thessalonica after he left there because he did not know how they were faring spiritually. Finally, he said that when he could endure it no longer, he sent Timothy to them. Notice 2 things about verse one. First, the word "endure" literally means "contain." The idea is that of a pressure cooker which is getting really hot with the steam building up inside it. So much steam is produced that finally it either has to release steam or else blow up. Paul says that's the way he felt. Paul could not contain his anxiety any longer; either he had to release some steam and send Timothy to them to ascertain their spiritual condition or else he was going to explode. He was that anxious.

Next, he said that sending Timothy to the Thessalonians cost him a high price. Apparently, Silas his other partner was away doing some other business, and all he had with him was Timothy. Now Paul was not staying in a Holiday Inn on his trips. He had to rely upon the hospitality of strangers. Now this would be hard even for 2 men, much less one man all by himself in an unfamiliar city. He was risking loneliness and personal danger by sending Timothy back to Thessalonica. Yet, he was willing to risk this first in order to find out the spiritual condition of the Thessalonians and second in order to shore up their weaknesses if there were any.

For this reason, Paul sent Timothy who was abundantly qualified for the mission Paul entrusted to him. He was a brother (someone he could trust) and God's fellow-worker in the gospel of God. According to Paul, Paul was not the only one who found Timothy worthy. God had chosen him to be a fellow-worker. If God had approved of Timothy for this task, then he was surely up to the task Paul entrusted to him.

The primary purpose of Timothy's mission was to make sure that no one was being disturbed by these afflictions. Which afflictions is Paul referring to? Probably the afflictions that Paul and the Thessalonian Christians were experiencing. The Thessalonian Christians may have been thinking the following: "If what we are doing is pleasing to God, then why are we experiencing all these difficulties? If Paul is God's man, then why is he suffering persecution? Maybe all these troubles indicate that neither Paul nor his gospel is from God." Paul sent Timothy to make sure that this kind of reasoning was not swaying the Thessalonian Christians.

Fortunately, Paul could take comfort from the fact that he had previously warned the Thessalonian Christians that just this very kind of persecution would take place. Before Paul had actually suffered persecution, he had preached that persecution was an expected outcome of preaching and accepting the gospel. What served as the basis for this truth?

The primary reason Paul taught this was that the founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ Himself, had suffered persecution. What makes us think that we have the right to escape persecution when Christ Himself suffered it? Recently, I was talking with somebody about Muslims and Christians. That person was claiming that Muslims were basically good and that what Osama Bin Laden did was out of character for the Muslims. My response to that is that what Bin Laden did was in character for true Islam and that fortunately most Muslims act in a way out of character for true Islam. The founder of the religions is the one who sets the tone for that religion. A Christian never has the right to take up arms in order to promote his faith. Why? Because that is not the method Jesus, the Founder of Christianity, used in order to further His faith. Rather, He furthered it through preaching and through His acts of love. On the other hand, Mohammed used the sword to force Islam upon the Arabs. Bin Laden is acting consistently with his faith, while Christians who suffer for the cause of Christ are actually following in the steps of their Founder, Jesus.

TIMOTHY'S REPORT (3:6-10)

Paul now describes Timothy's report to him concerning the Thessalonians. Although there were legitimate grounds for concern, basically all is well with the Thessalonian Christians. No matter what else may be true, the fact is that the Thessalonians have remained faithful to Paul, the legitimate apostle of Jesus Christ. As a result, their spiritual condition is good. He has tremendous grounds for rejoicing before God. Instead of not caring about the Thessalonians, he has actually been revived because of their positive response to Paul's gospel—they are THAT important to him.

PAUL'S PRAYER (3:11-13)

Paul concludes this section with a prayer for the Thessalonians. In this prayer, he once more shows his concern for the Thessalonians, contrary to the accusations the Jews were leveling against them. The main import of his prayer is that God direct his way to the Thessalonians. The word "direct" literally means "to remove any and every obstacle." It has the idea of a road which has potholes in it or large boulders on top of it stopping traffic. Paul prays that God fill up those potholes and remove those stones. That may result in God dealing with the Thessalonian Jews. Whatever is necessary, Paul prays that God take those steps to bring him to the Thessalonian Christians.

In the meantime, if Paul is delayed in returning to Thessalonica, he prays that God continue to minister to them in the way that Paul himself would minister to them. He prays that God increase their love for one another and for all people. Many times during times of tribulation, love is the first casualty. We grumble and complain against our persecutors. Sometimes when we can't control our persecutors, we find safe targets at which to vent our anger—spouses, children, fellow believers. Paul prays that not happen because one of the surest signs that Christianity is true is the way that Christians show love towards their persecutors and by the way they act during times of persecution. Left to ourselves, we can never show love during times of persecution; however, with the power of Jesus Christ, we can endure positively during persecution. When people see us responding positively, they encounter Christ working through us. This provides hope for a skeptical world, even for those who persecute Christians.

The ultimate purpose of Paul's prayer is that the Thessalonians be complete when they stand before Christ on the Day of Judgment.

A NOTE ON ESCHATOLOGY

The Thessalonian corpus provides us with valuable material concerning eschatology, the study of Jesus' second coming and related events. Many times, though, we look only at 1 Thess. 4:13-18, 5:1-11, and 1 Thess. 2 when we examine Paul's view on eschatology. Instead, we need to realize that Paul's view on eschatology runs like a thread throughout these 2 books.

First, he informs us that suffering is the expected lot of the Christian. He informed the Thessalonians that they should have expected to suffer and for Paul to suffer. Behind this expectation lies the belief that God's people would suffer tremendously before the return of Christ. We see this theme developed more fully in Revelation. Although in chapter 2 Paul does not attach this expectation of suffering specifically to Christ's return, later in 2 Thess. 1, he does exactly that.

Second, the second coming has ethical implications for the Christian. Paul is wanting them to mature spiritually so that they can stand complete before Christ on the Day of Judgment (3:13). Contrary to what many "conservative" theologians have promoted, Christians are going to stand before Christ in judgment. We are going to give an account of our lives and Christ is going to reward us on the basis of our lives. This truth is a key NT motivator for the Christian to live the Christian life.

Finally, when Christ returns, He is going to return with all His saints. This theme he will develop more fully when he deals with the rapture.