Faith, Hope, Love (Part 1 of 2)

Welcome to Truth for Life where we are beginning a study in the book of 1 Thessalonians as Alistair Begg sets the stage for our study, he will outline the historical context, we'll get to know the author of the letter, and we'll find out why the church in Thessalonica had such a special place in his heart. Well, if you like to take your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians, we'll turn there once again. Every local church is going to be known for something. It will be marked by certain facets and aspects that will become characteristic of it. And there is only a certain degree to which any company of God's people have control over that.

It's largely something which happens unwittingly in most cases. So that is, if you think of different places and different times and different fellowships, you say to yourself, Oh yes, I remember that city, and I do remember that local church, and I remember these certain things about it. Well, the church at Thessalonica was known throughout the world, and the message that was ringing out from it was just a tremendous message.

They had become a model church to all the believers in Macedonia and to Akai. And all through the summer, since the earliest part of the summer, I've been reading 1 Thessalonians, and I've been wanting to study it with you as a church, and tonight we're going to make a beginning at it. And I want to give you a suggestion—and some of you will not be able to do this because of the programs in which you're already engaged—but if you are not presently engaged in a form of reading that would preclude this, I'm going to suggest to you that you set it as a target to read 1 Thessalonians every day for the next month. There are some five chapters, about seventy-nine verses, I think, and it's not a particularly daunting prospect, but some of you may want to take me up on the challenge and the call and to read 1 Thessalonians every day for the next month.

Now, the reason for that is simply that you would become very, very familiar with it. By the end of thirty days, you will be surprised how much of this you actually have committed to memory, and you will be encouraged by that, and it may be that you've never ever approached another portion of Scripture in this particular way. And so I want to suggest that to you, and as I say, some of you may take me up on it. My purpose this evening is to establish something of the background to the book, to look at it only in its opening couple of verses, and I want to forewarn you. I feel a bit like the gentleman, the pastor, who said, Since my sermon this morning had sixteen points, my message this evening will be pointless.

And there is a sense in which there's not a tremendous amount of structure to what I'm about to share, but I trust that there will be enough cogency to it that you'll be able to follow the line along with me. Now, having opened your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians, I'd ask you to turn back into the Acts of the Apostles and to chapter 16, so that we might put this in historical context. You understand that the Acts of the Apostles is the history book of the church.

It's the church's minute book. So when you read through the Acts, you get the minutes of how the church was developing. And then when you read in the Epistles—and you wonder, well, I wonder where that fits in relationship to Corinth, and I wonder where Philippi was in relation to Thessalonica, I wonder if he was there first or there afterwards or whatever it is—we'll find, almost without exception, that by turning back to the Acts of the Apostles, we'll be able to answer those questions, and helpfully so. And what we discover when we turn back into Acts chapter 16 is this quite incredible and wonderful truth—that the existence of the church in Thessalonica was directly related to Paul's obedience to a vision which Luke records for us in Acts chapter 6 and in verses 9 and 10. And there, we're told that the Holy Spirit, having kept Paul and his companions from going forward into Asia, simultaneously, during the night, verse 9 of Acts 16, during the night, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, Come over to Macedonia and help us.

After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God has called us to preach the gospel to them. In response to this particular vision, Paul becomes the first known Christian missionary to preach the gospel in Europe. It was, perhaps from his perspective, in one sense a very small step for the apostle, because it meant simply a shift from one Roman province to another, because the whole Roman colonized world was pervading this whole area of the world.

And yet, it was a dramatic step in the history of Christianity. Because on account of Acts chapter 16 and verse 9 and Paul's obedience to it in verse 10, it set the whole course of Christianity westwards rather than further east. And the whole Christianization of Europe emerged from Paul's obedience to a vision in the night to go to Macedonia and to preach the gospel—one small step for a man, one dramatic step for the issues of the kingdom. Now, we're told that associated at this time with Paul were three other fellows.

There was Silas, who's sometimes referred to as Silvanus, which is kind of his proper name, Timothy, and also Luke. And as a result of this call into Macedonia, we're told—and we're still in Acts chapter 16—that from Troas they put out to sea they sailed straight for Samothras and the next day on to Neapolis. And once they reached ground, they headed—or land, I should say—they headed for the most strategic center in which to begin their ministry. And so they traveled, we're told, in verse 12, to Philippi, a Roman colony, and the leading city of that district of Macedonia.

And we stayed there several days. If you like history, this is fantastic. If you like a good developing drama, this is wonderful. This is real history.

This is significant events in time and space. This is a real man with his real friends having a real vision and being committed to a real cause. And so they show up in Philippi. And we can't go through all of this, but as a result of their ministry in Philippi, they ended up in jail. Verse 22, the crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. And after they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. So they arrive in Philippi, they preach with great effectiveness, and the next thing they know, they're having all their clothes torn off them, a sound beating, and thrown in the jail.

You can just imagine the kind of comments that would have come from us if that had been the case. "'Are you sure,' says Silas to Paul, "'that you got the right vision? Are you sure it was Macedonia?'

I mean, there's a lot of words begin with M. Are you sure that we're on the right track here?' And Paul might have said, you know, I was wondering myself, quite frankly, because although it's gone off to a great start, I never bargained for this." And so they put their feet in the inner cell, and they fastened their feet in the stocks. But in actual fact, my conjecture is unfounded, because look at what we're told in verse 25. In the middle of the night, right around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Praying and singing hymns in the middle of the night, after having been soundly beaten and having been fastened in the stocks. I can't, without my orb, go through the rest of chapter 16, but it's a great story—you know, the earthquake and the shaking of the manacles and the opportunity to make a run for it, and then telling the prisoners, Hang on, don't go yet! Stopping the Philippian jailer from falling on his sword and going over to his house for a cup of tea and giving him a little bit of the gospel and everybody getting converted and everybody getting baptized. I mean, it's fabulous.

I mean, it's really good. I wish I'd been there. Now, we go from there, once they leave, into Thessalonica, verse 1 of chapter 17. When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. Now, they would have gone by way of the Via Ignatia, or the Ignatian Way. I believe in Thessalonica it is still there.

It is known as the Ignatian. And this great Roman highway led to the east. And so they had gone down the common thoroughfare of the time, and they had arrived at the next strategic point of influence.

Thessalonica, situated on what is now the Gulf of Salonika, was the largest and most influential city of its time in Macedonia. And verse 2 of chapter 17 tells us that they ran what was essentially a three-week crusade. As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the Scriptures. There was no question about what he was going to do. He was not going to go in there and entertain them. He was not going to go in there and just seek to win their favor.

He was not going in there to try and let them know that he was a very nice guy in the hope that maybe three or four weeks down the road he would have an opportunity to talk with them. No, he went in there, and he began immediately to reason with them from the Scriptures. This is, as always, the task of the missionary. This is the task of evangelism.

This is the issue of our day. Find the place and reason with people from the Scriptures. About what? Not about versions of the Bible. Not, first of all, about seven days of creation.

But reason with them. Explain to them and prove to them the issues of Jesus. Verse 3, that he had to suffer, and that he had to rise from the dead.

And this Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ. And as a result, some of the Jews were persuaded. And they joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-feeding Greeks and not a few prominent women.

That was the result of their three-week crusade. A few Jews, a large number of God-feeding Greeks. Now, you need to understand where these God-feeding Greeks were coming from. Why were they at the synagogue?

Because after all, the synagogue was monotheistic, and it was Jewish, and the Greeks were neither. Well, the fact of the matter was that this God-feeding group that had begun to gather itself around the monotheistic system of Judaism was there because they were so disillusioned with the world out of which they were coming. It was a moral cesspool.

It was an intellectual disaster zone in terms of confusion. And as a result of that, their hearts were crying out for reality. And so they began with an interest in God and with a search for God in their hearts to go to the place that they thought they might find him. And so they began to gather themselves around the synagogue, and they were known as God-fearers. They didn't know who God was, they weren't sure if they might, they knew that they couldn't become Jews like the people who were really in the synagogue, but nevertheless they were there, and they were ripe for the gospel. And as a result of Paul's reasoning and proclamation, these God-fearing people came to trust in Jesus Christ.

And so they were greatly encouraged. But once again, it ends up in a riot. The Jews were jealous, verse 5, so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, they formed a mob, and they started a riot in the city.

So there we have it. He's been in Philippi, gets a hammering, and ends up in the jail. Leaves there, comes to Thessalonica, still in obedience to the vision, has a measure of success, and then is forced to leave because a riot has taken place. If your Bible is open, you will notice that they go then to Berea. In Berea they hang around with another group of people who are very noble and are examining the Scriptures every day. But when the Jews in Thessalonica found out that they were in Berea, they decided to send the Bover boys down to Berea and stir up the trouble all over again. So off they went, and they came down agitating the crowds and stirring them up.

And the tremendous word, of course, was that these people who had turned the world upside down were now in your city. Now, from there he then goes to Athens. And from Athens, with a measure of success, he then goes to Corinth.

And by that time, we're in chapter 18. After this, Paul left Athens, and he went to Corinth, and then we have the account of him being in Corinth. And it's not surprising, when we put all this together, that when he recounts to the Corinthians, when he writes his first letter to them, how he was feeling when he showed up in Corinth, he said, I came to you in weakness and fear and with much trembling.

Surprise, surprise! You get a Macedonian vision in the middle of the night. The Lord says, I don't want you to go to Asia Minor. I want you to go to Europe. So in obedience, you go to Europe. The first place you go, you get a hiding and end up in the jail. The second place you go, you start a riot.

The third place you go, the people who started the previous riot come down and start another riot. And the fourth place you go, you're so consumed with the pagan idolatry of the place that your heart is almost crushed within you, and after a measure of success and a kind of apologetic sermon, you finally make your way into Corinth, this vast city full of all of its nonsense and confusion. And you're honest enough to write back to the folks, I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling. So by the time he had reached Corinth, he had every reason for discouragement. Fanatical opponents had brought about his forcible rejection from three successive preaching places, just when it appeared that the work was going really well.

And every time he got moved along. I was thinking about this, thinking about the fact that we have no theology for suffering, thinking about the fact that we always have to try and describe everything in great terms, glowing terms. We think that somehow or another we have to keep up the cause of the gospel, we have to make Jesus look good, we have to make the church look good, we have to make sure that it's all successful and fine and effective and there's no trouble, there's no strife, no, no, we're really good, you know, we're doing well. But there's nothing of that in the New Testament. It wasn't the ministry of Jesus.

And consequently, when people ask us why it is that there is suffering, why it is that we face death, why it is that we are beaten up, why it is that we're fearful, why it is that we're ineffective, we've got nothing to say, because we've suggested almost completely that it's not supposed to be that way. And he had every reason for discouragement, and through this expedience, the Holy Spirit was moving him along. Were it not for all these things, perhaps the ministry of the gospel would have stopped. Perhaps Paul would have gone no further than Philippi.

Maybe he'd build a place there. Maybe he became the full-time pastor. Maybe he saw the church grow to large, large numbers. And people would say, you know, Paul, he used to be a missionary and an evangelist, but he became a pastor and a teacher, and he settled down. And so the Holy Spirit moves him along—not by means of giving him lovely carrots to entice him, but as a result of being driven by the response of the world around him. Now, why have I got you to Corinth?

Well, let me tell you why. Because it was not long after that that Paul and Silas came from Macedonia. And they came to Corinth.

Now, why do we know that? Well, Acts chapter 18 and verse 5, when Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching and testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. Now, if you turn back to 1 Thessalonians—you remember we're doing a study in 1 Thessalonians—in chapter 3, in verse 6, he says to the Thessalonians, But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us, and that you long to see us just as we also long to see you. Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you because of your faith.

Here's this wonderful thing. Through the process, as Paul has gone in obedience to God and has now found himself in Corinth, with all the daunting prospect of it all, with the bruises and the beatings on his body as a result of his commitment to Christ, with the apparent disinterest that had marked his visit to Athens, and now facing all the daunting challenge of this, what did he need? He needed a wee word of encouragement. And the Holy Spirit, recognizing this need in his life, dispatches at just the right moment his buddies Timothy and Silas, and they come into town, and they say, Hey, listen, Paul, I know it's been tough. I know it's rough.

I know the prospects are difficult. But let me tell you what's going on in Thessalonica. Oh, he says, Tell me. And then they told him, They have pleasant memories of us, Paul. They said they long to see you. Therefore, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you because of your faith.

Now it is, you see, this resultant relief and exaltation which is experienced by Paul in the framework of Corinth that gives rise to this letter. They come, and they tell him this about Thessalonica, and he says, I'm gonna write these guys a letter. I'm gonna write them and tell them how much I love them. I'm just gonna write them a letter and tell them my concern for them and my joy in them. Now, just in passing, let me suggest to you that you do something else this week. Write somebody a letter which contains nothing other than an expression of your concern for them and your joy in them.

They'll be delighted to hear from you. And this 1 Thessalonian letter is not a theological treatise largely. It is the heart of a pastor pouring out for those whom he has birthed under God all of his great and deep concerns.

Now, having said all of that, we've now reached the first word of the first verse. Paul. Paul. The name Paul is not the same as the name Saul. It's a different name completely. Paul means little. It's interesting, actually, because—it's interesting to me—because the name Begh means little. It's a Gallic name—B-E-A-G-H—it means small. So I was just interested in that, and I thought I'd mention it to you.

I wish I hadn't now, but there we have it. As a result of the fact that he was given the name Small, people throughout the ages have made much of that. Chrysostom referred to him as the man three cubits tall. And he has always been regarded in biblical folklore, if you like, as a small individual. Others have pointed out that, irrespective of his physical stature, Paul, Saul of Tarsus, was destined by God's grace to regard himself as small, to regard himself as very little, to regard himself as insignificant, to regard himself, as he says to the Ephesians in 3.8, the least of all the saints. And the apostle Paul was then, if you like, a small man with a big heart.

He was small in his estimation of himself and large in his understanding of God and his purposes. If you're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg, we'll hear the conclusion of the message tomorrow. There are many ways people listen to Truth for Life. You may be listening on our mobile app, or using a streaming device, or you may be listening on one of the more than 1,800 radio stations that carry this program. But you need to know a small number of this large listening audience, less than seven percent actually, give each month to help cover what it costs for us to be on radio. If you are part of this small but significant group, we want to say a very special thank you. And the gratitude is not just from us, it's from listeners like Tina, who wrote to us recently to say, thanks for making it possible for us to hear you on our radio station in Florida at 5 30 in the morning.

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Thanks for listening today. How would a visitor describe your church? Tomorrow, Alistair Begg tells us about three identifying marks of the Thessalonian Church that endeared that church to the Apostle Paul. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.