1 Thessalonians 1:1 - Living in Light of His Coming

Today we begin a brand-new journey through two wonderfulbooks of the New Testament—First and Second Thessalonians. We have justcompleted our study through Philippians, and now we are going to follow theApostle Paul a little farther down the road on his second missionary journey. Iwould like to give our new series this theme: "Living in Light of HisComing." You will understand why as we move through these two letters. Thereturn of Jesus Christ is one of their great themes. In fact, every chapter ofFirst Thessalonians ends with some reference to the coming of the Lord. ButPaul does not teach prophecy merely to satisfy our curiosity about the future. Heteaches us about the coming of Christ because what we believe about tomorrowshould change the way we live today. Sobefore we begin with First Thessalonians 1:1, let's go back to Acts 16 and 17and remember how this church was born. Paul was on his second missionaryjourney with Silas and Timothy. He had intended to preach in certain areas ofAsia Minor, but the Holy Spirit closed those doors.  After Paul heard the "Macedoniancall." Paul immediately recognized that God was directing them into Europeand went to Philippi. And we know what happened there. After the salvation ofLydia, a demonic girl, and the jailer’s and his household, A church had beenborn. But Paul's journey continued. Acts 17:1 says, "Now when they hadpassed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was asynagogue of the Jews." Thessalonicawas about one hundred miles from Philippi and was one of the great cities ofMacedonia. It was located on the Via Egnatia, one of the major highways of theRoman Empire. People, merchandise, soldiers, government officials, andtravelers continually passed through this important city. Paul understoodsomething very important about missions. If you can reach a strategic city withthe Gospel, the people in that city can carry the Gospel far beyond it. So Paulwent into the synagogue, as was his custom. Acts 17:2 tells us, "AndPaul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasonedwith them out of the scriptures." I love that expression: "Reasonedwith them out of the scriptures." Paul did not give them his opinions.He opened the Word of God. Verse3 says he was, "Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs havesuffered, and risen again from the dead." And then Paul declared, "ThisJesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ." That was his message. Jesusdied. Jesus rose again. Jesus is the Christ. And people believed. Some Jewsbelieved, but Acts tells us that a great multitude of devout Greeks and anumber of prominent women also received the message. In a remarkably shortperiod of time, another church was born. But almost immediately, oppositioncame. Unbelieving Jews stirred up trouble. A mob attacked the house of a mannamed Jason, where Paul and his companions had apparently been staying. Whenthey could not find Paul, they dragged Jason and some of the other believersbefore the rulers of the city. Andlisten to the accusation they made in Acts 17:6: "These that haveturned the world upside down are come here also." What a testimony! Theseearly Christians were accused of turning the world upside down. Actually, theworld was already upside down because of sin. The Gospel was turning it rightside up! Because of the danger, the believers sent Paul and Silas away by nightto Berea. Imagine how Paul must have felt. He had only been with these newbelievers for a short time. They were young Christians living in a paganculture.Theywere already experiencing persecution. Paul loved them and was deeply concernedabout them. Eventually Timothy was sent back to see how they were doing. Later,when Timothy brought Paul the wonderful news that their faith was standingstrong, Paul wrote the letter that we call First Thessalonians.