Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. [In this salutation Silas and Timothy are united with Paul because they had aided Paul in founding the church at Thessalonica. The account of the founding of thi... [ Continue Reading ]
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;... [ Continue Reading ]
remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father [Paul thanked God for the church at Thessalonica for its evidences of Christian life mentioned in the remainder of this section. In the words before us he sets fo... [ Continue Reading ]
knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election,... [ Continue Reading ]
how that our gospel [ours not by right of authorship, but of proclamation] _came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance; even as ye know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you for your sake_.... [ Continue Reading ]
And ye became imitators of us [1 Corinthians 11:1], _and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction_ [Acts 17:4-10], _with joy of the Holy Spirit_;... [ Continue Reading ]
so that ye became an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. [Continuing, Paul gives thanks that he has so much evidence of the election of the Thessalonians that it amounts to a practical knowledge of that election. This evidence is threefold: 1. The power with which he and his com... [ Continue Reading ]
For from you hath sounded forth [as the sonorous, soul-stirring blast of a trumpet] _the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia_ [after its subjection by the Romans, all Greece was divided into two parts, of which. Macedonia was the northern, and Achaia the southern], _but in every place... [ Continue Reading ]
For they themselves [those to whom Paul came] _report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God_,... [ Continue Reading ]
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come. [Paul had gone from Thessalonica to Athens, and from Athens to Corinth. He may have done considerable missionary work in the smaller villages about Corinth. Now, as he went about... [ Continue Reading ]