Picture: Two Important Letters to the Thessalonians 4TC 133.1
This chapter is based on First and Second Thessalonians.
Silas and Timothy’s arrival in Corinth had greatly cheered Paul. They brought him “good news” of the “faith and love” of those who had accepted the gospel at Thessalonica. These believers had remained true, even through trial and hardship. He longed to visit them, but since this was not possible just then, he wrote them: 4TC 133.2
“Therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith. For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God?” 4TC 133.3
Many people in Thessalonica had turned from idols and had “received the word in much affliction,” and their hearts were filled with “joy of the Holy Spirit.” In their faithfulness they were “examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.” The apostle declared, “For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place.” 4TC 134.1
The hearts of the Thessalonian believers burned with zeal for their Savior. A wonderful transformation had taken place in their lives, and the truths they presented won other hearts to the Lord. 4TC 134.2
In this first letter Paul stated that he had not tried to win converts among the Thessalonians through deception or misleading. “For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness—God is witness. ... But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So ... we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.” 4TC 134.3
“You know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you.” 4TC 134.4
“What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.” 4TC 134.5
Paul did his best to instruct the Thessalonian believers about the true condition of the dead. He spoke of those who die as being asleep—in a state of unconsciousness: “I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. ... 4TC 134.6
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” 4TC 134.7
The Thessalonians had grasped the idea that Christ was coming to change the faithful who were alive and to take them to Himself. But one after another of their loved ones had been taken from them, and the Thessalonians hardly dared to hope to meet them in a future life. 4TC 135.1
As the believers opened and read Paul’s letter, the words revealing the true condition of the dead brought them great joy and comfort. Those living when Christ comes would not go to meet their Lord ahead of those who had fallen asleep in Jesus. The dead in Christ will rise first, before the touch of immortality will be given to the living. “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 4TC 135.2
We can scarcely appreciate the hope and joy that this assurance brought the young church at Thessalonica. They cherished the letter that their father in the gospel sent them, and their hearts went out in love to him. He had told them these things before, but at that time their minds were trying to grasp doctrines that seemed new and strange. Paul’s letter gave them new hope and a deeper affection for Jesus, who through His death had brought life and immortality to light. Their friends who believed in Jesus would be raised from the grave to live forever in God’s kingdom. Paul’s message dispelled the darkness that had shrouded the resting place of the dead. A new splendor crowned the Christian faith. 4TC 135.3
“God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus,” Paul wrote. Many interpret this to mean that Jesus will bring the sleeping ones from heaven, but Paul meant that as Christ was raised from the dead, so God will call the sleeping redeemed from their graves. 4TC 135.4
At Thessalonica, Paul had so fully presented the signs of the times that would happen before the Son of man returns in the clouds of heaven that he did not write very much on this subject. However, he pointedly referred to his earlier teachings: “Concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them.” 4TC 135.5
Today the signs of the end are quickly being fulfilled. Paul teaches that it is sinful to be careless about the signs that will precede the second coming of Christ. He calls people who are guilty of this children of darkness: “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” 4TC 136.1
To those living so near the great day of Jesus’ coming, the words of Paul should be all the more important: “Let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” 4TC 136.2
Watchful Christians try to do all in their power to advance the gospel. They have severe trials, but they do not allow hard experiences to sour their outlook or destroy their peace of mind. They know that if they bear their trials well, the trials will purify them and bring them into closer fellowship with Christ. 4TC 136.3
The believers in Thessalonica were annoyed by people who came among them with fanatical ideas. Some were living “in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.” Some, self-willed and rash, refused to follow the instruction of those who held authority in the church. They claimed the right to urge their views on the church publicly. Paul called the attention of the Thessalonians to their obligation to show respect to those who had been chosen to fill positions of authority in the church. 4TC 136.4
The apostle pleaded with them to reveal practical godliness in their daily life: “You know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication. ... For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness” (NRSV). 4TC 136.5
Paul wanted them to increase in their knowledge of Jesus Christ. He would often meet with little groups of men and women who loved Jesus, and bow with them in prayer, asking God to teach them how to maintain a living connection with Him. And he often pleaded with God to keep them from evil and help them to be earnest, active missionaries. 4TC 136.6
One of the strongest evidences of true conversion is love to God and to others. “Concerning brotherly love,” the apostle wrote, “you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. ... Aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.” 4TC 137.1
“And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” 4TC 137.2
Paul cautioned the Thessalonians not to despise the gift of prophecy: “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good.” He urged them to pay careful attention to distinguishing the false from the true, and he closed his letter with the prayer that God would sanctify them fully, that in “spirit, soul, and body” they might “be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He added, “He ... will do it.” 4TC 137.3
Some of the Thessalonian believers understood Paul to be expressing the hope that he himself would live to witness the Savior’s coming. This served to increase their enthusiasm and excitement. Those who had neglected their duties became more persistent in urging their mistaken views. 4TC 137.4
In his second letter Paul set about to correct their misunderstanding. Before the coming of Christ, important developments would take place that prophecy had foretold: “We ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 4TC 137.5
No one was to teach that Paul had warned the Thessalonians that Christ would come immediately. The apostle cautioned the believers not to receive any such message as coming from him. He emphasized the fact that the papal power that the prophet Daniel described had not yet risen against God’s people. Until this power performed its blasphemous work, it would be fruitless for the church to look for the coming of their Lord. 4TC 138.1
Terrible trials were going to oppress the true church. The “mystery of iniquity” (KVJ) had already begun to work. Future developments “according to the working of Satan” will be “with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish.” Paul wrote about those who would deliberately reject the truth, “God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie.” God withdraws His Spirit, leaving them to the deceptions they love. 4TC 138.2
In this way Paul outlined the work of that evil power that was to continue through long centuries of darkness and persecution before the second coming of Christ. He advised the Thessalonian believers to take up bravely the work before them and not to neglect their duties or to sit back in idle waiting. After their glowing expectation of being delivered immediately, the routine of daily life would seem unbearable. So he urged them: 4TC 138.3
“Stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.” “May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.” 4TC 138.4
The apostle pointed them to his own example of diligence in earthly matters while he worked in the cause of Christ. He rebuked those who had yielded to laziness and aimless excitement, and directed that they “do their work quietly and ... earn their own living” (NRSV). 4TC 138.5
Paul concluded this letter with a prayer that in all of life’s toils and trials the peace of God and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ would be their comfort and support. 4TC 138.6
