1 Thessalonians 3:2

And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith: MINISTER OF GOD, AND OUR FELLOW-LABOURER. 'Aleph (') A, Vulgate, read only "minister of God." Delta G g, and 'fellow-labourer of God' (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 6:1). The English version reading is perhaps compounded of the two other readings. Paul calls Timothy "our brother" here; But in 1 Corinthians 4:17, "my son." He speaks thus highly of one so lately ordained, both to impress the Thessalonians with respect for the delegate sent to them, and to encourage Timothy, who was y...

2_Our brother_. He assigns to him these marks of commendation, that he may shew the more clearly how much inclined he was to consult their welfare: for if he had sent them some common person, it could not have afforded them much assistance; and inasmuch as Paul would have done this without inconvenience to himself, he would have given no remarkable proof of his fatherly concern in regard to them. It is, on the other hand, a great thing that he deprives himself of a _brother _and _fellow-laborer_, and one to whom, as he declares in Philippians 2:20, he found no equal, inasmuch as all aimed at the promotion of their own interests. In the mean time, (555) he procures authority for the doctrine which they had received from Timothy, that it may remain the more deeply impressed upon their memory. It is, however, with good reason that he sa

1-5 The more we find pleasure in the ways of God, the more we shall desire to persevere therein. The apostle's design was to establish and comfort the Thessalonians as to the object of their faith, that Jesus Christ was the Saviour of the world; and as to the recompence of faith, which was more than enough to make up all their losses, and to reward all their labours. But he feared his labours would be in vain. If the devil cannot hinder ministers from labouring in the word and doctrine, he will, if possible, hinder the success of their labours. No one would willingly labour in vain. It is the will and purpose of God, that we enter into his kingdom through many afflictions. And the apostles, far from flattering people with the expectation of worldly prosperity in religion, told them plainly they must count upon trouble in the flesh. Herein they followed the example of their great Master,...

Verse 1 Thessalonians 3:2. _TIMOTHEUS, OUR BROTHER_] It appears that Timothy was but a youth when converted to God; he had now however been some years in the work of God; Paul therefore calls him his _brother_, being one of the same Christian _family_, a _son of God_ by _adoption_: elsewhere he calls him _his own son_, 1 Timothy 1:2; and his _dearly beloved son_, 2 Timothy 1:2; because he was brought to the knowledge of the true God, and to salvation by Christ, through the apostle's instrumentality. See the _preface_ to the First Epistle to Timothy. _MINISTER OF GOD_] Employed by God to preach the Gospel; this was God's work, and he had app

AND SENT TIMOTHEUS - That is, evidently, he sent him from Athens - for this is the fair construction of the passage. But in the history Acts 17 there is no mention that Timothy came to Athens at all, and it may be asked how this statement is reconcilable with the record in the Acts ? It is mentioned there that “the brethren sent away Paul (from Berea) to go, as it were, to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still. And they that conducted Paul brought him to Athens;” Acts 17:14. The history further states, that after Paul had remained some time at Athens, he went to Corinth, where he was joined by Timothy and Silas, who came to him “from Macedonia;” Acts 18:5. But in order to reconcile the account in the

EXPOSITION CONTENTS.—The apostle, no longer able to repress his longing and anxiety for the Thessalonians, resolved to be left alone at Athens, and sent Timothy for the purpose of exhorting them to endurance amid their persecutions, and to bring him information concerning their condition. Timothy had just rejoined him at Corinth, and the apostle expresses the extreme satisfaction which he felt at the welcome tidings which his messenger had brought of their faith and love; it put new life into him, and comforted him in all his affliction and distress. He prays God that he may be permitted to revisit the Thessalonians, and to supply what was still defective in their faith; and he makes it the object of his earnest supplication that the Lord Jesus would make them so to increase in love and establish them in holiness that they may be blameless at his appearance with all his holy ones....

AND SENT TIMOTHEUS OUR BROTHER,.... In a spiritual relation, having the same heavenly Father, and belonging to the same Jerusalem, which is free, and the mother of us all; of the same household and in the same relation to Christ, the firstborn among many brethren; or their brother in the ministry, who was employed in the same business, and did the same work they did; or he is so called, on account of that strict and intimate friendship which subsisted between them, by virtue of which they stuck as close as brethren, or closer to one another than brethren usually do: AND MINISTER OF GOD; of his making, and not man's; of his calling and sending, and of his blessing and succeeding; and who was a minister of the things of God, of the mysteries of God, of the truths of his Gospel; and who ministered according to the ability God gave him, and was faithful to him: AND OUR FELLOW LABOURER IN T...

1 THESSALONIANS 3:2 kai. sunergo.n tou/ qeou/ evn tw|/ euvaggeli,w| tou/ Cristou/ {B} Amid the variety of readings, the chief textual questions are whether sunergo,n or dia,konon should be read, and whether tou/ qeou/ should be retained or omitted. Although on the basis of external evidence it may appear that the reading kai. dia,konon tou/ qeou/…(a A P Y 81 629* 1739 itar vg syrh copsa, bo, fay goth eth) should be adopted, the reading that best accounts for the origin of the others is kai. sunergo.n tou/ qeou/…(D* 33 itd, 86* Ambrosiaster Pelagius Ps-Jerome). In order...

III. AFFLICTIONS AND COMFORT CHAPTER 3 _ 1. Timotheus, Paul's messenger 1 Thessalonians 3:1)_ 2. His return with good tidings and the apostle's comfort and joy 1 Thessalonians 3:6) 3. This earnest desire 1 Thessalonians 3:11) 1 Thessalonians 3:1 His longing for the beloved Thessalonians and his solicitude for them became so great that he could no longer forbear and he decided to be left alone in Athens and send Timotheus to Thessalonica. He knew they had great afflictions and that there was danger that they might not endure and then his l

THE MISSION OF TIMOTHY TO THESSALONICA. Paul's distress and anxiety with regard to the fate of the Church led him to send Timothy upon a mission of inquiry. He describes the effect produced upon him by Timothy's reassuring report. 1 THESSALONIANS 3:2. SENT TIMOTHY: in * Acts 17:14 f; Acts 18:5, Silas and Timothy left Paul at Berœ a on the sea-coast and did not rejoin him till after his arrival at Corinth. It is possible, however, that Timothy followed him to Athens and was subsequently despatched to Thessalonica. TO ESTABLISH: the object of Timothy's mission was: (_a)_ to consolidate the Church, (_b)_ to comfort the Christians in the face of persecution....