2Thessalonians 1: 1 – 12

January 12, 2023

Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

2 Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:

12 That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

So what is going on here? What is St. Paul addressing in this letter? From Wikipedia: Biblical commentator and pastor John Macarthur writes, “The emphasis is on how to maintain a church with an effective testimony in proper response to sound eschatology and obedience to the truth.”^[39]Paul opens the letter praising this church for their faithfulness and perseverance in the face of persecution:”

I have often worried about new Christians or seekers for Christ; there’s a whole ocean of misinformation on the internet and documentaries about Jesus always leave mature Christians scratching their heads, wondering what Jesus the documentary is presenting.

I always advise, those who are new and those that are seeking. to read the New Testament first. Learn Jesus; get to know Him, His life on earth, what He taught, who He taught, the miracles and their meanings. Learn Jesus. Do your homework – God speaks to us individually in the Bible, based on what we bring to our search; each new person will get a basic understanding of Him – look at little children in school; they start out learning the alphabet and then they learn that those letters, in certain combinations, create words, and the words lead to sharing thoughts. They don’t understand the finer points – they won’t for many years – but they are building on a knowledge that will serve them well all the rest of their lives. That’s how the New Testament works for new Christians or seekers. Learn Jesus first.

When we do the homework, we are building a wall against all the wrong things people put forward about Jesus and about Christianity. You don’t know if someone is misleading you if you’ve never read the book yourself. We don’t lean unto our own understanding but if we have the basics, we’re ready to learn the finer points but also able to spot a ‘wrong thing’ and avoid it. And that’s what St. Paul is saying – stick to what you’ve been taught by the Apostles and don’t listen to those who would tell you something different from ‘the faith once delivered’.(Jude 1:3)

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