Thessalonica - Thriving Despite Affliction

by K.0. Dorricott, Toronto, Canada | Category: The New Testament Churches Of God (Their History, Order And | Sept 1982

(Acts 17:1-15; 1 and 2 Thessalonians)

Paul's first visit to the city of Thessalonica (in the early AD 50s) was cut prematurely short. He had been there only a few short weeks; the newly planted assembly needed teaching and establishing. But Paul had no choice; just as in Philippi, his previous stop, where he and Silas had been imprisoned, so here also the Jewish opposition to his preaching forced him to leave. This time it was to Berea - during the night.

Two cities in the province of Macedonia, and in both there was a great outcry by some of the Jews against the gospel. Did Paul begin to doubt his Macedonian vision which had caused him to forego his plans to stay in Asia and cross over into Europe? And yet behind him were two fledgling assemblies, in the same pattern as those back in Judea, and with sterling saints like Lydia and Jason among them.

As Paul had to leave them behind, the Thessalonian saints were constantly on his mind, especially as he had to leave Berea also when the Jews followed him there. Unable to return himself as he wished, he sent Timothy, who had been with him since Lystra. Timothy, perhaps because he was younger and not as directly involved in the preaching, had escaped the imprisonment in Philippi and the turmoil in Thessalonica. He was a young man, sent to encourage a young assembly.

On Timothy's return to Paul, now in Corinth, the apostle felt compelled to write to the church, and so in 1 Thessalonians we have his first recorded epistle. And in it he recounts in detail, as it would still be fresh in his mind, his short time among them. "Being bereaved of you for a short season, in presence, not in heart," he writes; "ye were very dear to us

From what Paul refers to in this warm and encouraging letter, it is clear that he didn't waste the short time he did have in Thessalonica. He himself says that he worked "night and day". He had probably begun to teach them the truths of the Trinity, the indwelling Holy Spirit, divine election, assurance of eternal salvation, Christian living, resurrection, future judgement and the return of Christ. And he had appointed overseers from among the new Christians.

For their part, they had received Paul's preaching as the word of God and it was at work in them. And so he commends them for their work of faith, "turning to God from Idols", and their labour of love, "to serve the living and true God", and their patience of hope, "to wait for His Son

from heaven". And they themselves were spreading the word throughout Macedonia and Achaia and beyond.

What a condemnation it was of the Jews in the synagogue where Paul began his work, as he usually did on arriving in a new city. They refused the preaching of Paul (Acts 17:11 refers to the Jews in Thessalonica who opposed Paul, not to the saints in the assembly); but many of the Gentile idol-worshippers responded completely, even though it was to mean suffering great persecution.

"Patience of hope" was going to be required of them. Their persecution by the Jews may have caused them to think they were in Great Tribulation period, about which Paul corrects them in his second epistle. As many Christians do today, they were confusing the "day of Christ", about which Paul had written previously, with the "day of the Lord" of His fierce judgement.

And so the prospect of Christ's return is kept solidly before them; every chapter in the first epistle ends on this theme. Paul himself was looking forward to it: "we that are alive," he says. But to some in the assembly, it seems, this expectation may have been undermining their sense of responsibility. If Christ was coming soon, why the need to work? Others could support them. And so Paul goes to great pains to remind them how carefully he lived among them. He took no money from them, for only the Philippian assembly supported him financially when he was in Macedonia (1). He supported himself that they might imitate him and not be idle busybodies. The imminence of the Lord's return should intensify our spiritual lives (2), not cause them to slacken.

Later, after visiting Berea and Athens, Paul would spend eighteen months with the church at Corinth (3), and yet still have to write an extensive epistle pointing out their shortcomings. In contrast, after perhaps just a month or so in Thessalonica, he refers to them as his "joy and crown". He was not permitted to return to them until years later (4), but persecution that work of Satan - was being used under God, as it is so often, to refine those dear saints despite Paul's absence, and to bring them to spiritual maturity.

References

1.Philippians 4:15, 16

2.2 Peter 3:11

3.Acts 18:11

4.Acts 20:2

K.0. Dorricott, Toronto, Canada | Sept 1982
The New Testament Churches Of God (Their History, Order And