Tiptoeing into Thessalonians - 1

As you know, we concluded our preaching series to the book of second Corinthians. Last Sunday and today we are entering into a study of first Thessalonians, which is a great deal shorter than either of the Corinthian epistles. It only contains five chapters as compared to 16 for first Corinthians 13 for second Corinthians 2nd Thessalonians, only has three chapters supporting the two together eight chapters you have only half as much is in one of the Corinthian epistles and so this study is not going to take us nearly as long.

But I pray that by the grace of God. It will be just as rich and may be even more rich to nourish our souls, what is our goal for starting first Thessalonians.

Of course, once sensitive same goal, we have for every portion of God's word that we open. We desire to receive the word of God, we desire to understand it, we believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and all of it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, and therefore we approach this portion of God's word with a reverent attitude, asking God to help us understand it and apply it and live in the light of it to be sanctified by it.

For those who are outside of Christ to be saved by the power of these divine words. But beyond that I'm hoping that it will enable us to become better acquainted with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Thessalonica in the first century we don't normally think of them as being our brothers and sisters in Christ, but they are in every time I go through a book, particularly these epistles I feel like I come away with only some personal relationship to the people to whom that epistle is addressed. You can't really live in that book for months without. Not only coming away with the truths that are revealed therein, but with a sense of connection to the people who are involved in those truths as they work given in that first century setting, so I trust the same thing will prove to be true in the Thessalonian epistles. So as we have come in some way.

Not a close way, but in some way have come to know to become acquainted with the Corinthian believers we now want to become acquainted with the Thessalonian believers who are now enrolled in the church triumphant. While we remain in the church militant familiar with those terms, I'm sure the church triumphant is made up of all the saints who have finished their earthly journey. They have gained the victory.

They are triumphant forevermore and Kevin and they are rejoicing with the Lord and their trials and pitfalls and dangers are passed, they are beyond the possibility of falling away.

There beyond the possibility of bringing reproach to the Savior.

They are the church triumphant.

They have already triumphed. We, however, who are here in this world are part of the church militant militant of course means battle Warner fighting and we are doing that as much as anything more fighting the world the flesh and the devil fighting the sinful propensities which are within our own hearts fighting against sinful thoughts were fighting against sinful deeds work paddling and fighting day by day and month by month and year by year and longing for that day when the fight will be over, and when we shall join the church triumphant and one day all God's people will gather in one place and all will be part of the church triumphant, the one true church of the Lord Jesus Christ. While we are looking forward to joining the Thessalonian believers in the Corinthian believers in all born-again believers who have gone before us and Kevin.

We will persevere on earth and we need God's word in order to do that and so today we are tiptoeing into Thessalonians were just sticking our toe in a little way as we get started in this study. Today, most of what were going to do is study the background of Paul's first epistle to the Thessalonians because of knowing something about the background will help us to understand more of the contents of the epistle.

So number one. Let's consider a few things about the city of Thessalonica itself because that to understanding the book.

But consider its location and its description and its selection.

Where was Thessalonica, where is Thessalonica still there today. Remember, and is larger today than it was in Paul's day, I remember about 25 years ago when Marty and I had the joy of traveling to Israel and then at the end of that trip the end of that program. There was a three day program shorter program visiting in Athens and in Turkey in this round. The seven churches of Asia minor, and so forth and I still remember. To my surprise, as I was. I just riding around the city of Athens. Probably the tour bus seeing a highway side to Thessalonica several long ways from Athens but it is a major city in Greece. Even today, and so there just like we see a city that says that Atlanta 350 miles or something like that is simple similar to that. It has a slightly different name. I think it was may just be salad I got today but 300-5400 miles north of Athens. It's still there today well. Thessalonica is in Macedonia.

We keep hearing that word a lot a lot of the first Corinthian and second Corinthian epistles Macedonia remember is the northern portion of what we call today. Greece and Thessalonica was on the East Coast of Macedonia. These coast of northern Greece on the Aegean Sea. 100 miles south of Philippi. Paul in his missionary team landed first in Philippi when they traveled across the Aegean Sea from Asia to Europe, but they eventually ended up in Thessalonica 100 miles south Thessalonica, situated on an excellent harbor and if you have the opportunity to look at a map you want to see what a well protected harbor is in the water in front of Thessalonica is about the only way how to put it.

Thessalonica is on the shore of this natural harbor and is one of the three major ports on the Aegean Sea and what are the other two. Ephesus and Corinth was a familiar names three major ports on the Aegean.

See both sides and they are Ephesus on the east side Asia side Turkey side and Thessalonica, Thessalonica, northern Greece, Corinth southern Greece got a figure into something else will notice in a moment, but a final piece of information about Thessalonica is it was situated right in the middle of the indignation way. One of those major Roman roads, this one from Rome going East and it went right through the city of Thessalonica. What can I tell you, by way of description of the city itself. The population of the first century was estimated to be about 200,000 people, making it the largest city in the province of Macedonia. It is now about twice that size today 400,000 people, but it was the largest city in Macedonia.

In Paul's day, and in regard to its ethnic makeup. The majority of its inhabitants were Greeks, but they were also Romans and Jews and people from a good many other surrounding countries. There was a good blend of ethnic peoples in that large city which was wealthy because of commerce it had both the converse that came into its port, a major port on the Aegean Sea, as well as the converse that flow to it because of its position on the ignition way and that tells me something I don't think you to come to me with quite the same clarity until I was studying this portion of this week. But when Paul writes to the Corinthian church as he did in second Corinthians that the churches of Macedonia gave to the project offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem that they gave out of their poverty. There must be some of the reason for the poverty of the churches in Macedonia Philippi method of Thessalonica and Berea than the poverty of the region in which they were located. Because actually, Thessalonica was considered to be a fabulously wealthy city so why was the church impoverished wife were so many of the people in that church struggling financially and the only answer that I can lay hold of is that it must've been because of persecution. That's why the things in Jerusalem were impoverished. That's why the saints and Thessalonica were impoverished. We don't know much, if anything about that doing once in a while will have small incidents where we might be discriminated against on the job passed over for promotion demoted even even the fired for some pretext. What we know that the real reason is because we are Christian, they just don't want to surround so does happen to us in a lesser sense, but how many of the saints of God in that first century suffrage impoverishment for the sake of Christ, and were willing to do so they were willing to endure that they were willing, if necessary, to give up their former comfort financially and accepted its place. This financial hardship because they'd rather have Jesus and be true to him than they would to have the comfort of a solid financial standing. Excellent Thessalonica was Macedonia's not only of its largest city, but it's most important city and in the passing of time. It became the capital of the province of Macedonia what it was like all the cities in that area. Idolatrous people were religious like the Athenians. Paul said I looked around I see evidences of your religion, your your your very religious people. I see all the. The statues the idols the gods that you worship.

That was just as true Thessalonica as it was in Athens as it was in Corinth so that means not only were they idolatrous but they also lived in them in the midst of typical pagan lasciviousness immorality is definitely not quite to the extent as in Corinth that had a reputation for that even in that society.

They were so bad that they were considered to be excessively lascivious but Thessalonica wasn't far behind. Philippi wasn't far behind. Korea wasn't far behind.

That's just the way things were in that day. If we think things are bad in the United States and getting worse and they are allowing can the diet and how we can pretend it isn't so.

Talking about the moral climate as we slide further and further into declension as the William Bennett put it slouching toward Sodom. Is that what he called his book several years ago. We are slouching toward Sodom.

No question about it yet. I don't think that were as bad as Corinth and Athens and Thessalonica and Philippi and Berea yet. We have some aspects of immorality that they didn't know and couldn't note because the course they didn't have didn't have the kind of electronic media that we have today that spreads spreads that kind of stuff so widely, but nevertheless, if we think were struggling under difficult circumstances, and resale awarded so hard and I don't see how we can make any progress and I don't see how we can triumph and I don't see how we deliver the Lord in a world like this and I don't see how we can rear our Christians to love the Lord in a climate like this, stop it. It's not as bad.

Yet for us as it was for them and they did a pretty admirable job. As we shall see. As we work our way through this first epistle to the Thessalonians. But I furthermore still talking about the city asked the question why was Thessalonica chosen to plant a church by the apostle Paul and theirs saw two answers to that question. The first one is out of necessity and the second one is as a matter of strategy and out of necessity.

I'm simply referring to the fact that persecution drove Philip up all out of Philippi if he had not been driven out. He would've stayed there longer. No doubt we have no way of knowing how long and we don't know what would have been his direction. After that there's no way to know we can't make suppositions about what didn't happen. We can only make observations about what did happen. He was driven out of Philippi in running from the, the authority, so to speak. Well, he wasn't really running from Philippi had a had an agreeable departures will see in a moment, but nevertheless departing from Philippi, he ended up next in Thessalonica, so there was a certain measure of necessity that took him to that location, but something far more important than that, it's very obvious that Paul chose Thessalonica as a matter strategy see that more clearly when we turn the moment to the book of acts, but if you follow the missionary journeys of the apostle Paul in and take the time to get a good Bible dictionary and look up the names of the cities you will find that inevitably every one of them were significant cities. Paul bypassed the smaller towns the smaller cities paid no attention to the villages and out-of-the-way places and invariably focused his attention upon major cities like Athens, like Corinth, like Philippi, like Thessalonica was a matter strategy. Paul believed that if he could plant gospel churches in these major centers where people were coming through all the time where people traveled to the cities for commercial reasons where people went from the cities traveling other places in order to to apply their commercial interests. Paul was convinced that when some of those people became Christians that they would then spread the gospel out from those population centers to the surrounding areas and, indeed, that seems to exactly be the case.

That is what happened both strategy seems to have been a very sound. He expected the gospel to spread from these major cities, and he was correct in that expectation. We move however from our consideration of the city of Thessalonica to the church that was established in Thessalonica and for this we do need to turn to the book of acts chapter 16 and 17 organ spent a little bit of time here, so please turn with me here. Those pages wrestling.

I don't need to hear your electronic device beeping, but I would like to hear the pages wrestling. Well, as we've already mentioned, Paul was driven out of Philippi. I'm going to pick up at acts 16 verse 35 when it was day, the magistrate sent the officers, saying, let these men go. This is after Paul and Silas had been imprisoned in Philippi in the next day after their imprisonment after the beating and all that took place with the Philippian jailer and his salvation and his is a whole household. The magistrates sent to the officer, saying, let these men go so the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul saying the magistrates have sent have sent to let you go now, therefore departing go in peace, Paul said to them, they have beaten us openly on condemned Romans and have thrown us into prison now do they put us out secretly.

No indeed let them calm themselves and get us out. The officer told these words to the magistrates and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman.

Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out and asked them to depart from the city so they would out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia when they seen the brethren they encourage them, and departed. Chapter 17 verse one now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews that Paul is his custom was when into them in for three Sabbath reasoned with them from the Scriptures explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead saying this Jesus whom I preached to you is the Christ and some of them were persuaded and a great multitude of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women joined Paul and signers but the Jews who were not persuaded. Becoming envious took some of the evil man from the marketplace and gather a mob set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people. But when they did not find them. They dragged Jason and some of the brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, these schools have turned the world upside down have come here to Jason has harbored them and they are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king, Jesus. They troubled the crowd in the rulers of the city when they heard these things, so when they had taken security from Jason and the rest they let them go.

Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea when they arrived they went to the synagogue of the Jew's all right what about the establishment of this church in Thessalonica well it started with the magistrate's decision Philippi, to let them go from jail. But when the word of their release came to them.

Paul said way that not so fast you think he would've said get out here. It's not very comfortable here.

I'll get out as quickly as I can. But Paul said wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. This is right. You commanded us to be beaten, which was against the law. We being Roman citizens.

It is, it is illegal to beat us before we had a trial of been found guilty and have a a legal sentence that we are supposed to be beaten. You did all that illegally, and you did that all openly publicly humiliated us in this way, and now you're going to come secretly and tell us please just go away quietly.

I don't think so. You marched out here, you magistrate, you marched down here publicly where everybody can see what's happening and you is going to public way so that everybody knows that we are innocent of the charges that weren't even proved in court in which caused our beaded we want to be exonerated in this matter which of course through fear into the hearts of the magistrates because apparently until Paul said that they didn't know that Paul was a Roman citizen. They assumed he was not not very many of the inhabitants of the Roman Empire were actually citizens and had the much greater level of rights and privileges and protections that only citizens had the Paul was a Roman citizen. Apparently the magistrates didn't know until then and now they were afraid because they could get in trouble with higher authorities for mistreating Roman citizen. Another question that comes to my mind is it Paul was a Roman citizen is that in fact he was obviously was why didn't he pull the citizen card out of his sleeve a little bit earlier and avoid the beating of the jail. He was beaten. Her feet were put in stocks.

They were mistreated they were treated and wake the Roman citizens are not allowed to be treated in less they are justly trying to sentence has been passed, so why didn't Paul use the citizen card a little bit earlier and avoid this mistreatment and I can't give you a definitive answer because the Bible doesn't explain what it seems to me that everything Paul did Paul did with a purpose in mind and I think that he found this to be a strategic move, he thought.

In this particular case he could make better use of his citizenship by waiting until they had violated his rights and that would give him greater leverage for the cause of the gospel and the establishment of the church in Philippi. I'm assuming that's why he waited because on another occasion he pull that card out quicker to keep from being beat and read about that later in the book of acts you mean if I'm correct about this. You mean Paul was willing to endure a beating unnecessarily in order to help the cause of the gospel. Why not he was willing to endure a lot worse than that for the cause of the gospel and so if he thought that might be helpful apparently was willing to do it again.

How ashamed are we how little suffering were willing to endure how much we complain about little little things that happen to us in this how much Paul was willing to suffer for the cause of Christ. Will the magistrates came down and said dear Sirs, we are sorry we apologize.

Please forgive us.

You are right we are wrong and if it would please you, Sirs, to go someplace else that might keep the peace in our city secure so if you wouldn't mind considering that is a possibility we would really appreciate it. So Paul said his goodbyes to Lydia in the church and the way they went. The missionaries departed. But there's another interesting aspect and you can all you can learn a lot by reading between the lines, what isn't there.

You can always learn everything for certainty. That way, but it causes you to think and to explore little bit more and what we know is that when Paul arrived in Philippi from Troy as trustee GNC there were at least four members in his missionary team.

There was Paul there was Silas there was Timothy there was Luke but now we learn that when the team left the city and headed south toward Thessalonica. It was half as large. When they got to Thessalonica it was only Paul and Silas, where are Timothy and Luke will again the only answer that I can come with for that up with for that is, they stayed behind because they weren't as prominent.

They were able to do that without causing an uproar, and even though Paul and Silas left. They didn't leave the church without leadership. They did leave the church without teaching they didn't leave a trip church without some help, they left behind some faithful gospel workers that could continue to strengthen the church at Philippi. Even as Paul and Silas went on their journey, but considering the ministry at Thessalonica and how it all developed as we read about it and checked after 17. I pointed out to you that Paul and Silas skipped to named cities on their way to Thessalonica.

We don't know how many unnamed ones hundred miles or probably were good many other Townsend villages as they went through and Paul didn't stop and preach the gospel in Amphipolis and Paul didn't stop and preach the gospel and Apollonia. Paul didn't stop to engage in gospel preaching until he got to Thessalonica because as we read your Thessalonica had a synagogue that's important in two ways. Number one because Paul always had a reception for preaching synagogues and he knew that the use lights that number two because that also indicates the size of the city synagogues were only established where there was a sufficiently large Jewish population to support a synagogue interesting me. Even Philippi, which was a large and in major city, though not quite as large as Thessalonica, but it didn't have enough juice for synagogue. Remember, Paul went looking for synagogue and there was one, but he found some women. Lydia and other women who were worshiping the God of the Bible by the Riverside. They had found an outdoor place where they could worship on the Sabbath, but there was no synagogue, but Paul knew there was a synagogue in Thessalonica. II I can't approve this either.

But I would be at all surprised if there wasn't some kind of a directory of the of the synagogues throughout the Roman world because Jews were going traveling everywhere and they probably had a list you can find synagogue here you can find synagogue here you can find synagogue here. Paul knew he could find a synagogue in Thessalonica jury do about it. How we knew about it.

I don't know, but he came sure enough there was a similar synagogue there utilized the preach on 3/7 were told and he preached from the Scripture showing them that the Christ not Christ. That's the way we usually would refer to the Lord Jesus Christ. If we were just using the word Christ, we would generally call him Christ. But here the word the definite article is used, how the Christ because he is not talking now about Jesus is talking about the Jewish Messiah, the Christ, that they all knew about that they were looking for was promised of them in their scriptures and Paul showed them from their scriptures. How the Christ that is the Messiah must suffer and die something that they had consideration to because strangely, though maybe not so strangely. The Jews of the first century focused on all of the promises relating to the Messiah that had to do with his glory is. Might his victory has ruling in writing. He has elevating the nation of Israel to position a promise and somehow they just sort of skipped lightly over and pretty much ignored other scriptures also referring to the Christ that talked about his suffering and dying and even by implication some indications that he would rise from the dead, they skip those over. They didn't study those carefully didn't give them any consideration, just like we do a careful with our Bibles help, how long did some of you skip over the sections of the Bible.

The deal with the doctrine of election in the sovereignty of God in salvation and some of those things you just sort of got like useful and read by the not there. Yes, they are as much God's word is the rest, so we are still struggling with that not many of you would some of you will. I don't know about that all why don't you you got eyes in your hand where you been light of an excuse before you came here you been here long enough event. The Scriptures pointed out to you going like Paul, I'm showing you this aspect of Scripture that salvation began in eternity past with the electing grace of God and then worked its way out in time of the coming of Jesus Christ and so forth. And of course it's true that those who are saved must exercise faith in Christ. They must believe in Christ. They must if you want to use that language make a decision for Christ that you only know half of it until you understand why those who make a decision make a decision why those who actually believe you believe why those who are saved come to be saved can't understand that completely until you get all the information just like these Jews couldn't understand everything about the Messiah, until he got all the information Paul showed to them out of their Bible that their scriptures indicated that the promised Christ must suffer and die, and I'm sure many of them were shaking their heads with bewilderment, but they open their eyes, they look at the portions of Paul was teaching in the said will there is a never saw that before and we read some of them believed Jews in a great many devout grapes a bigger number of those. These are Gentiles who were worshiping with the Jews in the synagogue hearing the same Scriptures so some of the Jews. They were a little hard for hardheaded Gentiles, but so most of them didn't put some Jews believed a great many Greeks believed and not a few prominent women, wealthy women, socialite women, women who were married to the to the political officials and in the commercial kingpins in the town of Thessalonica and not a few of those were saved, as well as a pretty good group of people to start a church with, but immediately Jewish opposition arose in the determined to's wash. This testimony to the fact that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ is already, he died on the cross he rose from the dead he ascended back to heaven were to drive that out. These Jews said, but were told that as much is anything their motive was to catch it envy.

They were envious the pocket come in here and preach for three weeks and have all large following of people they been working on this thing for years and years and years and he just took half or more of their crowd. Just like that they're envying his ability as a power which Paula Corson understood wasn't here as it was given to him by God, but they didn't understand that but if you make a careful note. You'll notice how many times that word envy comes in to the opposition that we find in Scripture to to the people of God. How many times it comes into play in regard to the crucifixion of Christ. Why did the religious leaders crucified Christ because of envy.

The Bible tells us that in the dim's success. His appeal is popularity with the crowd, the Jews envied Paul in his missionary team at their amazing success by the work of God spirit and so they dragged people before the magistrates and created quite a ruckus and Paul and his team had to make a hasty nighttime departure out of Thessalonica and they went down the road little bit further down the ignition way to Brea.

But the question is how long were Paul and Silas in Thessalonica before they were driven out. And here they were driven out in Philippi.

They were escorted out. If you be please to go service in Thessalonica that they were driven out.

If you don't going to beat you to death.

How long were they Thessalonica before this happened will if you read what I read to you a moment ago you would say three weeks, but I'm to say no longer why do I say that well keeping in mind as I show you this other evidence, keeping in mind we've already learned the Dr. Luke the historian who wrote the book of acts by the direction of the Holy Spirit does not record all the elements and events that was starkly apparent when we read about all of the persecutions that Paul listed in second Corinthians all the things that happened to give the number of beatings, the number of jailing the number of floggings, both by Gentiles and by by Jews and we say wait a minute. I didn't see half of those I can see 1/3 of those of the book of acts right because Luke doesn't record everything. He can't.

He doesn't have time. He doeshow how big you want the book of acts to be exactly the size it audibly by the perfect design of the Holy Spirit of God, but now he doesn't he doesn't claim to have reported everything and I think there's plenty of evidence that he didn't report all that went on Thessalonica before they were driven out what other evidence do we have well do you remember what Paul said to the Philippians when he wrote his epistle to them thanking them for the offerings that they sent to him and he said this in chapter 4 verse 15 now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel. When I departed for Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving.

But you only for even listen. Verse 16. Philippians 416 for even in Thessalonica you sent aid. Once and again for my necessities. How many times total was Paul in Thessalonica once he never came back. He wanted to but he never made it back so when did this aid come from Philippi to Paul in Thessalonica during this time were talking about right now. When he planted the church there will how often could they send aid in the three week. They probably didn't even get the first the first support check there by courier it in the matter of the first three weeks it took a little while to find out where Paul was what he was doing, they could pick up the phone and get this information.

Somebody had to go 100 miles back to Philippi and St. Paul's in Thessalonica. On the work and he could use some help and they had to get their money together get occurring and send it back down the Thessalonica and then little bit later they got word for messenger. His funds are running out. If you'd like to help them support would really be a blessing and they got some more money together.

Send a courier down at and brought aid to get it's almost impossible to fit that into a three week timeframe and then when you consider what Paul says will see this as we move into first Thessalonians, when you see what Paul says in his his description of the time that he was with him and what he did with them and how we related to them and you're going to say well I don't see how he could annul that three weeks and I don't either so the conclusion the most Bible scholars come to is that if he was there minimum of three months and probably longer. Somewhere between three and six months which would would fit into what we know about the whole chronology of the ministry of Paul.

At this time but at some point, the Jews finally said enough is enough and they figured out they were going to run them out of town will I come quickly to the epistle itself. Just a few facts about it. When was it written around 51 A.D. which makes it one of the earliest epistles that Paul wrote this recorded that's included in the New Testament where was Paul when it was written. Where was Paul writing from when he sent his first epistle to Thessalonica and almost all Bible scholars, even though were not given this information directly the Bible but putting together the bits and pieces of information that you can draw from other places almost all Bible scholars are are agreed that he was in the city of Corinth.

When Paul was in Corinth, where we were studying last several months.

During that time he wrote this epistle to Thessalonica which gives us this time between Corinth and Thessalonica. A lot of times we found references in the Corinthian epistles to the churches of Macedonia, but now there's probably this ties well. Paul wrote to Thessalonica from Corinth.

Interestingly, far as we know he did write to Philippi from Corinth. There is a flipping epistle but not from Corinth. The Philippian epistle is one of the what prison epistles. He wrote that from prison in Rome much later we would have an epistle to Maria even though he went there and established the church.it's possible that he could have in fact likely wrote other epistles that are not included in our New Testament in our canon to use a technical term but this one is came from Corinth. What does the epistle reveal to us about the condition of the church at Corinth because even if Paul was there three months or longer.

That's a mighty short time to establish a strong and healthy church. Paul was in what I say Corinth I'm in Thessalonica because Paul was in Corinth for a year and 1/2 and that church was riddled with problems. Paul was in Thessalonica for 3+ months. So what kind of shape was this church you work. Paul was driven out and couldn't stay in establish it properly. Well interestingly from the evidence of the epistle.

It was a very strong healthy church with very few problems. No condemnations, no short corrections.

Many commendations. The only conclusion you can draw is that the church of Thessalonica was strong and healthy. In that short period of time. That's the work of the Spirit of God clearly well if I asked the question why did Paul write this epistle, that he wasn't writing to address problems in the church. What was he doing well. I can tell you that the five chapters of first Thessalonica, you first Thessalonians are basically divisible into two parts and this is a generalization, but the first three chapters, we could call personal and the last two chapters we can call doctrinal a lot of personal conversation. The first three chapters chapter 1 Thanksgiving for God's grace manifested, and he encourages the Thessalonians.

With this chapter. Two reminders of Paul's presence with them.

He talks about how he ministered to them what his attitude was, what he is what he is. The procedure was while he was with them.

Chapter 3 records Timothy's visit. When Paul sent Timothy back to visit and check on them and asked for Timothy to come back to Paul and give him a report on how things were going in Thessalonica and the report was good and all that is contained in the first three chapters, and then in chapters 4 and five we get into some exhortations for godly living. In chapter 4 and then the last part of chapter 4 and the good part of chapter 5. Most of you know, has to do with information about the second coming of Christ.

In fact, every one of the five chapters in first Thessalonians concludes with a reference to the second coming of Christ.

That is a major major major doctrine is dealt with in this epistle.

So were going to have an opportunity to study that carefully. So why was the epistle written, number one, obviously, to encourage the saints of Thessalonica number two to strengthen Paul's relationship with them. He couldn't be there with them when he wrote in such a personal way, so that they would feel was personal connection number three to strengthen the saints resolve to live righteously for no matter how strong they work, they still needed these reminders and exhortations, don't you don't way. Of course we do number four to correct what were obviously some misunderstandings about the second coming of Christ. This is really the only corrections in the epistle, it does seem that some of them either had wrong ideas or or or incomplete ideas.

What happens to our loved ones have already died they missed the rapture of the church and so forth so pauses. I don't want you to be ignorant of those who have gone to sleep and he describes with the coming of the Lord will will be like and he tells them about the second coming of Christ. That was the first, second and third section of my sermon today and I had 1/4 one, but I think I'm in have to hold onto that one would look of the city. We looked at the church. We've looked at the epistle in general terms overview and I'll just read the salutation I was going to study this in some detail that we don't have time but just verse one Paul savanna's and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ and we will get into the contents of this epistle, Lord willing. Next Sunday, shall we pray father enlarge our appetite enlarge our understanding enlarge our desire to understand and our ability to receive and benefit from your word.

We ask in Jesus name