THESSALONICA: EXCEL STILL MORE

Faith, Love and Suffering – 2 Thes. 1:1-5

Thessalonica

A Few Months Later…(?)

Most scholarship holds that 2 Thessalonians was written only a few months to not more than a year after 1 Thessalonians.

Written by Paul, who also mentions Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy.

Most likely written while Paul remained in Corinth.

A Peculiar Epistle…

• Which contains a lengthy section on “the man of lawlessness” not found anywhere else in New Testament theology.

• Strong support from early church writers for Paul’s authorship.

In God And In Christ

• “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

• 2 Thessalonians 1:1-2

In God and In Christ Jesus

In God… Matthew 28:19 – “Go

therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit….”

EIS TO ONOMA

1 John 4:15

• “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.”

In God We Have Reconciliation

Romans 5:11 – “And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

In Whom We Are Hidden With Christ

Colossians 3:3 – “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

…in the Lord Jesus Christ Lord – the Sovereign

we worship as obedient subjects.

Jesus – the name announced by the angel and which means GOD SAVES.

Christ – Greek form of the word Messiah – the Anointed of God.

Who Redeemed Us

Romans 3:24 – “…being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus….’

Who Gives Us Eternal Life

Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord

Source Of Every Spiritual Blessing

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ….”

Grace and Peace

Grace = the unearned blessings given to all believers by God in Christ. God’s grace enables us to enjoy communion with Him though we are sinners and deserve death.

Peace = a state of untroubled tranquility, harmony and well being which is obtained by the Christian through reconciliation by means of the sacrifice of Christ. Such peace results in assurance for the sinner before our merciful and forgiving God.

Faith And Love At Thessalonica

1:3-3 – “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.”

FAITH

Their Faith Was Ever Increasing

• Is this important?• Colossians 1:5-6 –

“…because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth…also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it….”

2 Peter 1:5-8

“…in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Importance Of Growing Love

John 13:34-35 – “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

1 John 3:11

“…For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another….”

1 Peter 1:22 – “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart….”

Persecutions and Afflictions

1:4-5 – “in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.”

Persecutions Not To Be Despised

James 1:2 – “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials…”

Why do we suffer?Through our own

foolishnessBecause of SatanBecause God wants us

to grow stronger

Reasons For Our Suffering

Psalm 34:19 – “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

Colossians 1:24 – “Now I rejoice in my sufferings…in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.”

2 Corinthians 4:17

“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison….”