Greetings, Faith, Hope and Love

Today, the first verse of 1 Thessalonians 1. I think what we might do here would be to read the first 10 verses. And Roger, are you mic'd up there? I think I am. OK. I'm going to challenge you now to read the first 10 verses, and we'll look at 1 through 4 today. OK.

All right, so verse one, Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of Thessalonians in God, and fathers, and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace, we give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, constantly bearing in the mind of your work of faith and your labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the presence of our God and Father.

Knowing, brethren, beloved by God, His choices of you, for the gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction, just as you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that so that you became an example to all believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. Okay, good. Thank you very much. There's a lot of sound doctrine here, isn't there? So today we're going to draw our attention to the first four verses. So I think we need to remember up front.

So I think up front we need to remember that this epistle was written approximately 50 or 51 AD, and this was among Paul's first epistles. and it was generated and directed to the newly founded church in a major commercial metropolis in Macedonia, the very relevant city of the times, and this is described as a very wealthy city inhabited by really well-to-do Romans and also Jewish merchants. So there's a population of different kinds of individuals that relate to the recent history of this particular city. Alright and so Thessalonica too was kind of a free city and enjoyed the autonomy of self-government in all of its kind of internal affairs and really resented the idea that anyone would be running the city. So this is an independent spirit if you will. which might remind us of a few places here in this country today. So anyway, I think it's good to put this into context in terms of to whom Paul, by the way, Silvanus or Silas, and Timothy were writing.

And I should point out at the end of verse 1, this from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ at the terminus of this verse is absent from many translations. So we have it ultimately in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace, and that's where the text ends in most of the translations that exist here. So who are all these guys anyway? We've got three authors and I'm going to return to this maybe in a few minutes, but the idea of we is mentioned multiple times in this epistle and there's some question whether this is solo authored by Paul or whether in fact all three of these guys are playing a role here.

So I'm going to go ahead and say goodness if we don't, you know, you know, basically understand that these were all servants who brought the Gospel of Thessalonica. I think we're missing the point of the term we, which we use frequently. So we all know Paul. If people who are attending this class don't know anything about Paul, well, go to Roger. He'll tell you all about Paul. Anyway, Paul is certainly a relevant figure of the entire New Testament, and we do not need to review all that Paul is and what he's been and where he is right now.

But ultimately, we get a sense of kind of what's going on here from Acts 17, 1 and 2. And that says, none, when they had passed through Amaphilus, Napoleon, they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews, and Paul went in, as was his custom, and for three weeks he argued with them from the scriptures, and then the brethren immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. So we get a hint in Acts that section of scripture that these three guys were kind of hanging out together and traveling together at least at the point of time that the church in Thessalonica was identified and ultimately preached to by the three of them together. So we skipped again from verses 1 and 2 to 14 to finish that thought process. So Silas was a Jew, and we find that out from Acts. And he was part of the body at Jerusalem.

And we also, in Acts 15.22, identify that role of Silas in Jerusalem. And he was a prophet.

And he joined Paul on his second missionary journey. And that's really what we're talking about here, again referenced in Acts. ultimately later become a companion of Peter and Paul, and we looked at that actually briefly in the Epistle of Peter. So Silas or Silvanus, he's called by both, and I think Luke was the one who really said that this is the same guys, Silvanus and Silas are the same guy. He and Paul and Timothy were together in the second missionary journey, and ultimately we're told that Paul has left he and Timothy behind.

Now, Timothy was a young man at this time, I'm sure, and son of a Jewish Christian mother and a Gentile father. We learn of that in Acts, and we learn of that in 1 Timothy. And there's some question that comes up, and I'm going to raise this to us today, did Paul lead Timothy to Christ or were they just buddies in the Lord? And there's some hint of that in 1st Timothy 1-2 where it says to Timothy, my true child in the faith.

Now you know you can speculate all you want whether Paul was responsible for Timothy's conversion or whether in fact he just mentored him and either interpretations I think appropriate and somewhat irrelevant to what the relationship was because these were clearly blood brothers in the Lord.

So I think it's important to see up front that these three gentlemen, these members of the body, early body of Christ, were ultimately well known to one another and they traveled together and they departed ultimately after their trip to Thessalonica.

Now, and forgive me here a little bit because my glasses aren't perfect for the screen distance, they're not perfect to read, so I'm going to have to kind of flip back and forth. And this letter is addressed to the church, which is in the Greek term ecclesia. of the Thessalonians in God and the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the rest of this verse, verse 1.

So here the Greek word for father is kind of interesting. It's actually pater, which really references the father as a nourisher or protector, if you will. So in other words, You know it's almost kind of like what we've read from Paul in Romans where Abba Father, I mean it's kind of that really close and dear relationship that Paul's reflecting now in terms of addressing the church at Thessalonica. So that's kind of neat.

I mean when we think of God our Father, We think, you know, God Almighty in the Jewish realm, you know, just his name is revered here, but now we have a very different relationship as believers, and this is, I think, what was reflected by Paul in his letter to Thessalonica.

So the question to the class then is, why might this be important, do you think, with this new church? Well, doesn't it just mean that there's a different relationship? I mean, this is, in the Jewish world, and even if these are Greeks and there's a lot of idols, it's a different relationship. This is, you know, when people think of the relationship with their father, their birth father, you have a different relationship than you have with kind of awestruck and not approachable and all those things.

That's what I would say. Okay. I was going to say that you know we were studying about the Trinity and I think that in some ways maybe knowing there's one God the Jews were understood there was one God but the fact that there's three persons this kind of opens the door and the fact that Paul's talking to the fact that we have God the Father and then the Lord Jesus Christ. He puts both forward as God. That's my thought.

It does kind of identify the various components of the Trinity, doesn't it? Well, I think being a nourisher and protector is a role that went beyond probably at least for the Jewish believer the God that they'd worshipped or believed in historically. So it really brings on a relationship that I think we all experience today and have a very, very close and zealous relationship with our Heavenly Father. Okay, so what do you make of the way Paul addressed the body of believers at Thessalonica? Well, when I turn to the Logos software Bible, which is one of my references, I'm going to quote what that says.

It says, not merely as in the epistles to the Romans, the Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians, to the saints or the faithful at Thessalonica, It's though as yet they do not seem to have had the final church organization under permanent bishops and deacons which appears in the later epistles, see for instance Philippians 1.1 and ultimately see 1st and 2nd Timothy. Yet he designates them by the honorable term church. implying their status as not merely isolated believers but a corporate body with spiritual rulers. So in a sense you get the idea from what the Logos Software Bible has suggested is that his relationship to this body of believers was one of an increasingly more mature existence. These people are pretty well founded in ultimately the gospel that's been led to them and preached to them.

So As we go forward then, let's take a look at the second verse. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. There's a lot of interesting aspects to this verse that we're going to drill down on. And again, what do you make of we?

And I think this is again one of many examples in this epistle where the pronoun we has been used rather than I. So this is a little different than all of his other epistles. Paul doesn't share authorship with other of the writings that he's done with people like Timothy and Silas.

Well here's what Macaulay says, while it is too much to say that Silvanus or Silas and Timothy were Paul's co-authors, The pronoun we continues throughout most of the letter and this stands in contrast to 1st Corinthians 1.1 as an example by the way where Paul associates sostenese with himself but by verse 4 changes to the first person singular I for the remainder of the book. So that 1st Corinthians I think Macaulay simply uses an example where I gets transitioned back to himself after the first few verses or something. Now, the question I have for the class is this whole issue, we give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our prayers. Doesn't this sound kind of legal? I didn't think of it that way.

I thought of it more of a personally involved with them in their thoughts continually. What about always? Say that again, Bob? Yes? Say that again, I was starting to talk so I didn't hear what you said. No, I was just saying this first, I'm raising the question, we give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. Does that sound a bit legal? She wants to know, what do you mean by legal, I think?

Well, the term always. How are we doing? How's everybody doing here praying always? I mean, so I'm going to build on this theme. No, I don't think it's legal at all. I agree with Roy. But I think it does sound, you know, when we say we're doing something always, you know, we think about that in the human reality fleshly experience, don't we? So let's put like an attitude. OK, I think that's good, Bonnie.

But also, doesn't he use that phrase in many of his epistles very good so this is one of the ways that that you know that it's Paul is because in many of his epistles that same exact verse is said over and over in his it's like a it's almost like a greedy that he does all right but if you mince words you're in big trouble Now, actually, that's the heart of Christ. Thanks, Michael, I think. So Macaulay says, and I agree with him, prayer for other believers occupied much of Paul's time. The emphasis on continual prayer, praying always is found in Romans, First Corinthians, Philippians, and Colossians.

So this is a ongoing kind of attitude that Paul has. And in a sense, I think it does relate to us today, and it's not legal. And so I'm going to drill down on that a little bit. So the next question then, how should we interpret this? And by the way, along that line, what's making mention of you in our prayers? I mean, making mention of you in our prayers? I mean, do we make mention? I think we make mention of people in our prayers. We have prayer lists, quote unquote. We have a list of things that are on our heart. So what Paul's saying is he's saying, you're on our heart and you're in the list of things we're praying about.

I don't know. Roger, you must be reading the handout. I don't have a handout. I sent one. I didn't open it up and print it out. Now I'm turning to Robertson. I think the first thing he says in what I'm quoting here is, did Paul have a prayer list of the Thessalonican disciples which he read over with Silas and Timothy? No, maybe he did, I don't know.

I had, you know, there was a time in my Christian growth and development where I had a prayer list, you know, and I was failing at left and right. So I finally decided, well, it's the Holy Spirit that's going to lead me in prayer, not this list. And that's where the legal aspects of this comes in, you know. I think when we're legally going about this, it's an intellectual process and not really one of faith.

Anyway, Robertson goes on to say, of course, he did not make audible prayer always, but he was always in the spirit of prayer, a constant attitude in tune with the infinite. Of course, he did not make audible prayer always, but he was always in the spirit of prayer, a constant attitude in tune with the infinitive. I repeated myself there. But nevertheless, that was Robertson's interpretation.

So the next point I want to bring up is, isn't this our position translated into our condition? I mean, how many of us are, and I'm in no way going to be judgmental, how many of us are on our knees praying with a prayer list? I mean, no, but the position we have in Christ Jesus allows that communication to be constant. And I don't know about you all, I throw stuff up all the time to the Lord and communicate with him. And I think that's what this always implies. We're not making a 24-7 list of prayer. It's a relationship we have with the Lord Jesus Christ that's continual and constant. Especially when I'm driving.

Those prayers are going up all the time. Don't you think, too, it's more of a Since a lot of times he's been talking to Jewish believers, I mean, Jewish, who come out of the Jewish faith, or they're Greeks and they've had idols and they do certain prayer time, I think what he's trying to establish with all of these churches is it's okay to go to the Lord all the time. I mean, that's why he's your father, just like you would go to your father, your personal father, you know, earthly father, thank you, you would go, you know, for you to have a conversation. And he's trying to encourage the believers to do the very same thing all the time with the Lord, to not be intimidated, to not go to the Lord about everything, just in a conversation. What's this mentioning aspect then, do you think? Well, I think that's water experience and prayer, isn't it? I mean, the Spirit leads us in prayer and that communication mentions Wayne or mentions Marilyn or mentions whomever, right?

So that's what that's all about. But again, I think the incredible truth of this scripture relates to all of Paul's epistles. You've got to be founded positionally to understand that we've been made righteous. because of him who knew no sin being sin for us. So that begins with a relationship that we could equate with our relationship to our earthly father, but this, in a sense, is far, far greater, because it's spirit-directed.

Wayne? Don't you think that making mention wouldn't necessarily mean specific, like we remembered this morning in prayer a certain family? But maybe in general, mentioning the church, period. After all, we're all in one family by birth. That's right. We're talking about a body here, right? Yeah, so that really makes it personal with every one of them.

Any other thoughts here about verse 2? One of the things, I don't know, can you hear me? Yes, Roy, speak up just a little bit. I can hear you. One of the things I'm noticing in the word order of the communication from the Spirit here is that all things, in everything about you, in remembrance, we make mention. That sort of focuses on the things that he's remembering. He gives thanks to the Lord based on that. I don't know if that helps or not. All right, thank you. Bob? Yes? To me, it's a dimension thing, sounds like.

It's not a formal thing, you know, like kind of what Wayne was saying. It's not a formal, you know, prayerless kind of thing. But, you know, as I think of you, I, you know, talk to God about you or as he brings you to mind kind of thing. It's more of an informal, you know, When you're in our mind, we talk to him about you, which happens on a regular basis.

Right, if we think of the fact that he addressed the church in Rome and Corinth and Philippi and Colossians in the same way, this mentioning, gee, right now I'm mentioning the church at Colossae to you, Lord. So the idea that prayer's in the business all the time of seeing his position lived out in his condition, and that's that constant communication that Spirit led.

Good, I think we resolved this issue. Okay, verse 3, remembering without ceasing, here we are again, without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, patience of hope, and our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father. I think, you know, this issue of remembering without ceasing is the kind of same interpretation as forgiving thanks always, isn't it? I mean, this kind of constant, and that's relationship, isn't it? That's position. And when we understand position, then our conditions increasingly conform to our position, where that relationship is constant. It's never ceasing, never ending.

Now, we may get distracted by these earthly things that surround us. But nevertheless, we have an open door. Remember in Hebrews, we can approach the throne of grace boldly. I mean, I love that, because that really gives us an opportunity to go to the Lord about everything. That's the new nature lived out. And let's see what goes without ceasing.

It's your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope. How's that for a mouthful? So let's go ahead and describe work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope, and dot, dot, dot, dot, in Christ. And before we even describe it, where does that take you in scripture?

Faith, love, and hope. Chapter 13, 1st Corinthians. Okay, good Michael. 1313, 1st Corinthians. So faith, hope, and love abide these three, but the greatest of these is love. Now I always say the greatest of these is truth. It's not mentioned in 1st Corinthians 1313, but without truth all these things become pale. They become unoperational.

Now, how would you describe the labor Well, first of all, the work of faith. What's the work of faith? Reading the Word for us, for me, it's the Word of God. Okay, Mike, so what do you think, if you're describing the work of faith to a non-believer, or let's say a newly identified brother or sister in the Lord, how would you describe the work of faith? Well, I'd take his hand and put it in the Lord's hand by reading scripture to him. Why is faith called a work?

Because it's, it does something. It's an action. I've said this multiple times. It's believing what's being revealed. And so they've already, this church has already been, these are believers he's talking to. You know, from Adam to Vani, faith is believing what God has revealed, right? I mean from the very beginning. Now, why is faith called to work here?

And I think this is really important. the privilege of exercising by God. It's non-meritorious. There's no real, to us anyway, attribute of, oh gee, you believed, you know, you did it. No, the value is in what we believe, in the facts of the truth of God. Go ahead, Roger.

I'm just wondering if, you know, it says he's commended, this is a commendation, he's saying, what I see here is a work of faith, and the only one that's working there is the Holy Spirit, or is God. Right, but what is our responsibility? And Michael talked on this up front, it's the Word of God, and when we believe what God has revealed to us, we have the entire text. So when we believe that by faith, that's the work of faith. Our responsibility is to believe. That's what a work of faith is. We do have a responsibility.

We're not zapped by some robotic force. Remember, the other class is the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and it's He that does the work. to reveal truth in us, but we have a responsibility to live by faith, and that's believing what God's revealed. So I think that's what Paul is seeing in this new body.

They're pretty mature. He calls them a church. He didn't call anybody else church. He calls them saints, which is true. They're both the same, but the church reflects, I think, in terms of what one of my commentators said, something more mature. They're really better established in the Word of God.

So the work of faith is our responsibility to believe what God has revealed. So there is a work there, but it's spirit-led, as Roger said. OK, what about labor of love? Labor relates to work, doesn't it? Well, I think a lot of the verses in Scripture talk about we're to love one another. And so I assume that he's But the labor of love, again... I know, we're back to this. Who's doing the work? Who's doing the labor? Who's doing the work? Well, the labor of love from a human perspective falls not only far short, it's totally impotent. It has no capability at all.

But I, you know, so often, you know, when people say you don't have to like somebody, you just have to love them. That's the new nature. I mean, it really is. The new nature is unconditional, in fact, of that work of the Lord Jesus Christ in us. Again, a work of the Holy Spirit is the labor of love.

This is something we kind of keep track of and see how we're doing. Yeah, you husbands, how are you doing out there? You didn't have to bring that up, Mike. Well, no, it's all about knowing your intimacy with Christ, you share with the wife, the romance, your time, your everything. You're a gift to her. And you notice all of these are followed by in our Lord Jesus Christ, right? Correct. It's positional. This is agape love, too. It's not earthly love of any kind. It's God's love.

And what about patience of hope? Well, it's once again the work of the Spirit here. Right. Well, what's the patience relate to, Roger? It's the patience of hope. I mean it's hope of the Lord coming back. Okay, I think, and Paul will get to that clearly in this epistle. The hope of, we kind of simplify hope sometimes as looking to his return. That's to a large extent what it relates to, but it could be the hope of everything that's in the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of our day-to-day lives, right? Oh, Bob? Yes, sir.

Yeah, good, I think it was Merriman who, if you discuss this little phrase this way, if you say, your work springing out of faith and your labor springing out of love and patience that springs out of hope is how the Greek is constructed, he said, so it makes more sense. So your patience, springs forth from your hope. It's kind of a neat way to think about that. And it's written that way in the Greek, but I can't tell you why. OK. It's because it's of the genitive of source.

All of these things are the result of the focus on Christ Jesus himself. And it is his life that's being manifest. Bob, speaking about hope. Would you say hope is absolute certainty of things future? Yes, I think in context it relates to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. but in fact could encompass more than simply that. The patience of hope is in our growth by grace. I mean, it's the body maturing together as one in the Lord.

So anyway, I think all of these things are spirit led through the new creations we all are in Christ Jesus. So let's go ahead and... He also remembered that Paul was expressing this in his remembrance of prayer for them, that these are the things he's remembering. Okay.

So then the question I have now is, do you think there's any reason to believe that there's a change in order here versus what was in 1 Corinthians 13.13? You're asking, is it significant that the order is different, right? I think there might be, but I don't think we overly spiritualize this. What is the difference? Love? Well, in 1 Corinthians 13, it is faith, hope, and love. And here it's, yeah, faith, love, and hope.

So there's just a modest difference in order. I think we don't need to dwell on that question. I don't think it's really that relevant. But do you agree with Macaulay? He says, the trilogy of faith, love, and hope is not in itself the focal point. The emphasis is rather on what each part of the trilogy produces. Faith produces works, love produces the labor, and hope produces the stability.

So in a sense I think that's in part the way that Andrew you've described the Greek translation. Any thoughts here? Amen. Good. All right, in the sight of our God and Father, again, Father is pater, which is a nourisher or provider. And our faith, love, and hope are not merely to pass for genuine, meaning as the world system would identify this, but to bring glory to our God and Father. And this is, again, the work of the Holy Spirit led life in Christ Jesus in all of us. And a couple of verses, Romans 16-17, to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ, amen. And 1 Corinthians 10-31, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. I mean, we could talk about the glory of God all we want, but that's the purpose of us here as believers, bringing glory to God. Let's turn now in closing to verse 4, knowing beloved brethren your election by God.

What's the interpretation in the Greek? Which Greek verb is this? Dido, ginoska, or epiginoska? Knowing your election of God. What is Well, this is factual. This is not a personal relationship, although we know it is. But knowing that we're elected by God is a fact. Okay, so this is head knowledge, spiritual knowledge, and everything that we would identify like the traffic light is red at the corner of Yale and I-25.

Now, beloved, perfect passive participle, brethren, boy, you know, this is something Paul likes to use in terms of how he views the body of Christ. Constable goes on to say that Paul's favorite appellation for the Thessalonians was brothers. He used it 15 times in this epistle and seven times in the second epistle to Thessalonica. And it emphasizes the equality of Christians in the family of God, Jews, and Gentiles, all to whom he's teaching and preaching.

Okay, your election by God. What does it mean to be elected by God? Well, let's drill down on this. We could spend a long time on this. But do you agree with Keatley III, a commentation that Roger provided us? The difficulty in putting divine election and human responsibility together is understanding how both can be true. And it really is. This is a good line.

And Paul further states this position to the Thessalonians. in 2nd chapter verse 2, verse 13 of chapter 2, but we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. Now, But we've read in Peter, God would have all to be saved, right? So this balance is always there, and we're not going to reconcile this down here. And being written in the book of life, isn't that wonderful? But we, by faith, have entered that book of life. So we'll just leave it where it is.

And I'm going to end with something that I thought was a little controversial. This is what Vincent attempts, how he attempts to interpret this differently. This and the kindred words to choose or to be chosen or elect are used of God's selection of men or agencies for special missions or attainments. But neither here nor elsewhere in the New Testament is there any warrant for the revolting doctrine that God has predestined a definite number of mankind to eternal life and the rest to eternal destruction. So we'll leave that as it is. He's a revolting doctor. I like that. The revolting doctor, that's good. So anyway, well, look, I think we'll close today.

And thank you for being part of the class today. And so let's close in prayer. Father, we're thankful so much for what the Spirit through Paul has revealed to the body of brethren, the church, so he calls them Thessalonica, and we trust that we're in that position of being a mature church, and we want to look at this epistle and how it relates to those members in Thessalonica decades and centuries ago, but ultimately how it relates to us today. So we're thankful for the leading of the Spirit. In his name we pray, amen.