1 Thessalonians 2 - Introduction

Chapter 2. Paul Demonstrates the Genuineness of His Ministry and Encourages the Thessalonians in the Face of Persecution.

Having commended and rejoiced in the wonderful experience of the Thessalonians brought about by God through his Spirit-filled preaching, Paul now demonstrates what kind of a ministry he had among them. It is clear that this question arose because some had come to the Thessalonian church seeking to diminish Paul and his influence, apparently calling him a self-seeker, a time server, a hypocrite, and a money grabber who had now moved on and deserted them, like many wandering philosophers who were concerned only for themselves and their own cleverness and what they could get out of it. So Paul reminds them of what the truth about him really was as they knew from their own experience.

He emphasises that they had brought the Gospel of God, that they had been approved by Him for that purpose and always preached as those who must give account, that all the charges were unfounded, that they were always sincere and never used flattery or fair words, that they sought neither prestige nor money, but that rather they had provided their own finance, had laboured hard night and day, and had shown love and tenderness like that of a father or a nursing mother. He calls on them to themselves testify as to the total rightness and godliness of their behaviour from their own experience.

The amount of emphasis on this in the epistles demonstrates how concerned God was for His word to constantly speak to preachers to remind them what their approach and attitude of heart should be. All preachers would do well to study these words again and again, and measure their ministry by them.

He then encourages them in the face of persecution.