Insights on 1 & 2 Thessalonians
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The 15-volume Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary series draws on Gold Medallion Award–winner Chuck Swindoll’s 50 years of experience studying and preaching God’s Word. His deep insight, signature easygoing style, and humor bring a warmth and practical accessibility not often found in commentaries.
Each volume combines verse-by-verse commentary, charts, maps, photos, key terms, and background articles with practical application. The newly updated volumes now include parallel presentations of the NLT and NASB before each section. This series is a must-have for pastors, teachers, and anyone else who is seeking a deeply practical resource for exploring God’s Word.
ISBN-13: 9781414393728
Media Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Publication Date: 10-01-2016
Pages: 176
Product Dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.30(d)
Series: Swindoll's Living Insights New Testament Commentary #10
TURNING FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT (1 THESSALONIANS 1:1-3:13) These first three chapters of the book reveal Paul's pastoral heart, setting forth his style of ministry and emphasizing diligence to the Christian calling not only as believers but also as ministers. As such, it's especially appropriate for new converts who are trying to come to grips with their budding faith, as they look back on the lives they left and look at the new life they're supposed to be living while they await the Lord's return. It also provides crucial insights for young pastors and anybody involved in church ministry, as Paul reveals ministry strategies worthy of imitating. A Church with the Right Stuff 1 THESSALONIANS 1:1-10 NLT 1 This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give you grace and peace. 2 We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. 3 As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people. 5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance* that what we said was true. And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you. 6 So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. 7 As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece — throughout both Macedonia and Achaia. 8 And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don't need to tell them about it, 9 for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God. 10 And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God's Son from heaven — Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment. Balance has been wittily defined as "the brief moment of equilibrium we experience as we're swinging from one extreme to another." I can't think of many things more damaging to a believer's spiritual growth and a church's spiritual health than a lack of balance, or going to extremes. It seems Christians and their congregations are constantly wavering between ornery pessimism and naïve idealism ... dwelling stubbornly in the past or careening aimlessly into the future ... idolizing their leaders to the point of worship or criticizing them to the point of rebellion. Realism is the key to a balanced perspective when it comes to the Christian life and ministry. And this balance is exactly what Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians provides. Following the example of their founders and first teachers — Paul, Silas, and Timothy — the church in Thessalonica maintained an astonishing Christian witness without going to silly extremes. How did they keep this balanced perspective on the past, present, and future? By a constant commitment to a triad of balancing virtues: faith, love, and hope. — 1:1-2 — Though we frequently — and rightly — refer to this book as Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, its opening words reveal corporate authorship: "Paul and Silvanus and Timothy" (1:1). As we saw in the introduction, Silas (referred to as Silvanus in this letter) took Barnabas's place as Paul's right-hand ministry partner after Barnabas and Paul parted ways over ministry strategies. We're told in Acts 15:40 that after the rather explosive confrontation between Barnabas and Paul, "Paul chose Silas and left" Antioch on what became known as the second missionary journey. Clearly, Paul is portrayed as the pilot in this second journey, while Silas is his copilot. So when we read that the letter to the Thessalonians is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy, we rightly regard it as a letter from Paul, the primary authority behind the letter, with Silas and Timothy as lending their assent and support of the letter. All three of these men, though, enjoyed a close relationship with the believers in Thessalonica. It must have been quite an encouragement to them to hear from all three men. Notice what Paul says about the church. They were "in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thes. 1:1). Regardless of their earthly circumstances, "in God" and "in Christ" was their true identity. They were safe in the hands of both Jesus and the Father. That's double security and a double encouragement for a church wondering if they had the right stuff to survive in the midst of social, religious, cultural, and even political conflict. Paul's standard salutation of "grace to you and peace" may have had special, concrete significance for the Thessalonians in light of the crises they faced. They needed grace to endure; they longed for peace that would alleviate the constant conflict. Let's admit it. We can't wait to forget some people. Some people can be toxic, tearing us down instead of building us up. But other people, we couldn't forget if we tried. They accept us for who we are; give us energy to go on; radiate authenticity; and support, encourage, and strengthen us. That's how it was with the Thessalonians. Paul couldn't keep them out of his mind. He constantly prayed for them (1:2). Even after their brief, intense span of ministry all those months earlier, Paul remembered the Thessalonians with fondness. — 1:3-5 — After thanking God for the Thessalonians, Paul remembered three fundamental qualities about them for which he was particularly grateful — qualities that could only come from the work of the Spirit in the lives of genuine believers: their "work of faith," their "labor of love," and their "steadfastness of hope" (1:3). We often regard faith, love, and hope as invisible virtues, qualities of the heart invisible to those around us. But in Paul's mind faith resulted in work, love manifested itself in labor, and hope could be seen in the perseverance of those in whom it dwelled. How beautiful and fragrant those spiritual blossoms must have seemed to Paul! He had been whisked away from his mission field before he could be sure the seeds he had planted in Thessalonica had sprouted. But Timothy had returned with an encouraging report that lifted Paul's spirits. Because of their evident faith, love, and hope, Paul and Silas were assured of the genuineness of the Thessalonians' relationship with God — their status as beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, chosen by God (1:4). The phrase "our gospel did not come to you in word only" reveals something of Paul's teaching method. He didn't simply deliver a message and move on to the next evangelistic target. The gospel for Paul wasn't merely a carefully packaged cluster of words. He didn't just stand up in a crowd and shout, "Jesus came to die for your sins and rise from the dead. Believe in Him alone to be saved ... Next!" Paul didn't simply deliver a message like a mailman delivers a letter. Rather, the word came with power. Paul entered their homes, their lives, their hearts. The Holy Spirit brought full conviction (1:5). No wonder the message didn't simply enter the minds of the Thessalonians and warm their hearts. No wonder it produced outward works of faith, love, and hope! They had examples of living, active, powerful faith in Paul and his associates, who had embraced them, dwelling among them, pouring themselves into their lives. — 1:6-8 — Having thanked God for the Thessalonian believers (1:1-2) and having remembered them (1:3-5), Paul then affirmed them. Through his encouraging words he put his arm around their shoulders and praised the progress they had made since he was torn from their presence. He affirmed them in two ways. First, he affirmed them for the way they responded personally to Paul (1:6). They imitated his spiritual walk and the Lord's righteous example. They welcomed the word of God with a joyful spirit even in the midst of affliction. What a miraculous reception of the gospel! When they had everything to lose from the world's perspective, they gave it all up for the sake of Christ. Second, Paul affirmed them for the way they displayed their faith publicly (1:7-8). They became examples to both Christians and non-Christians. As Paul moved through Macedonia, where Thessalonica was located, southward into other cities of Achaia, he quickly learned that the news of the Thessalonians' great faith had preceded him. So pronounced was their faith that it echoed down the canyons, over the countryside, and into the city streets of the surrounding areas. Their Christianity was contagious and spreading faster than Paul could travel! — 1:9-10 — From thanking, to remembering, to affirming, Paul finally relayed the reports that had been resounding far and wide. What was it that Paul kept hearing about the Thessalonians everywhere he went? What news of their faith was paving the way for Paul and his ministry partners to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others? First, he heard about the relationship they had enjoyed with the great apostle and his colleagues — "what kind of a reception we had with you" (1:9). The enthusiasm with which the Thessalonians had received the apostle was caught by others who became just as eager to hear what Paul, Silas, and Timothy had to say. Second, Paul heard echoes of the report concerning the Thessalonians' turning to God from idols, committing themselves to Christ alone (1:9). Now the Thessalonians had two purposes for their lives: "to serve a living and true God" and "to wait for His Son from heaven." They displayed responsibility in the present yet readiness for the future. They weren't anticipating the Lord's return so much that they neglected the present, and they weren't becoming so involved in their earthly affairs that they forgot the future. Instead, they balanced their past faith conversion and repentance from idolatry with their present pursuit of love and their embrace of the future hope of the return of Christ to save believers from the coming wrath that would one day be unleashed on the world (1:10). You know what I see here in these verses? I see both responsibility and readiness. I see a group of people who took the truth to the lost and lived the truth among the saved. And I see a readiness of people who knew that Christ could come at any moment to rescue them from judgment before unleashing His stored-up wrath on the world. That's balance — to live as though He could come before lunch but to behave in ways that acknowledge He could delay His return until long after we have lived. The church in Thessalonica may not have had a lot of money, a large congregation, or famous teachers. But they had strong faith. They had active love. They had abiding hope. They had the right stuff. APPLICATION: 1 THESSALONIANS 1:1-10 A Three-Way Commitment The opening verses of this compact, powerful letter challenge us to a three-way commitment — to the saved, to the unsaved, and to Christ. First, with regard to our commitment to fellow Christians, Paul's words remind us that we must be ready to accept, support, and encourage one another in the family of God to excel in works of faith, in labor of love, and in perseverance of hope. Second, regarding our commitment to non-Christians, Paul's words inform us that we must live in such a way that our actions are evidence of the word of the living God for all those who are lost. The reputation of the Thessalonians went around to all near them and beyond them (1:8-10). We need to be witnesses to the unsaved and carry the gospel by means of our reputations that match our verbal testimonies. Both the words on our lips and the works of our lives need to bear witness to Christ. Third, concerning our commitment to Christ, Paul's words urge us to be free of any and all entanglements that pull us away from the Savior. This is freedom from idolatry, which can be anything — a thought, a priority, an object, a philosophy, a career, a dream, or a person — anything that takes our full devotion away from Christ. When we're free from such idols, we're freed to commit fully to Christ. A Leadership Style That Works — Guaranteed 1 THESSALONIANS 2:1-12 NLT 1 You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters,* that our visit to you was not a failure. 2 You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition. 3 So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery. Read an Excerpt
Insights on 1 & 2 Thessalonians
By Charles R. Swindoll Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Copyright © 2016 Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4143-9372-8
CHAPTER 1
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Excerpted from Insights on 1 & 2 Thessalonians by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2016 Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc..
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Table of Contents
Contents
Author's Preface, v,
The Strong's Numbering System, vii,
Introduction: 1 Thessalonians, 3,
Turning from the Past to the Present (1 Thessalonians 1:1–3:13), 11,
Living in the Present for the Future (1 Thessalonians 4:1–5:28), 48,
Introduction: 2 Thessalonians, 105,
Affirmation amidst Affliction (2 Thessalonians 1:1-12), 111,
Explanation of Prophecy (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17), 124,
Clarification regarding Response (2 Thessalonians 3:1-18), 145,
Endnotes, 163,
List of Features and Images,
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