Ministry to the Thessalonians

Acts 17:1-7; I Thessalonians 1:2-8

GOLDEN TEXT: “Be not weary in well-doing.”—II Thessalonians 3:13

THE first part of our lesson describes the founding of the church at Thessalonica, about one hundred miles distant from Philippi. Their faithful witness in Philippi had brought the missionaries into prison; but through divine intervention they were delivered and exonerated of the charges against them by the rulers of the city, and their jailer and his household converted and added to the company of believers.

At Thessalonica the missionaries, Paul, Silas, and Timothy, found a Jewish synagogue; and, in harmony with their usual custom, they attended worship there and for three Sabbath days they reasoned from the Scriptures with the attendants. The original text indicates that they engaged in a dialog, or discussion. Bible students of today have recognized the value of this method, and our Berean studies are of similar character, in which questions and answers stimulate general thought and expression. In this way, and with the use of the Studies in the Scriptures, and other helps which have been especially provided in the harvest period, many obtain a clearer and more permanent understanding of the Scriptures than would be the case by merely listening to discourses.

This method, we are told, was usual with the Jews, but they needed just what the Lord sent them in the apostle; namely, some one to explain the Scriptures, to help them find the answers to their own questions there. And just so, today, it is important that our Berean classes have wise and intelligent leaders, of humble mind, glad to call attention to the helps which the Lord has provided at this time, to enlighten them, and is still using to disseminate the truth of his great plan and its ample foundation in the Bible.

Our lesson tells us something of Paul’s message. He reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, explaining what they had not previously noted, that it was necessary for Christ to suffer death and to rise again before he could be the promised King. The sum of his argument was, “This Jesus whom I preach unto you is the Messiah.”

Some of the Jews believed the message, also some devout Greeks and prominent women. The division time had come. The “wheat” among the Jews in Thessalonica must be separated from the “chaff’ class, as elsewhere; they were being gathered into the Gospel garner, transferred from Moses to Christ, from natural Israel to the new spiritual Israel, called to be of a “royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people,” for a special purpose in God’s program.—Luke 3:17; I Peter 2:9

Having no truthful argument to present against the message of Paul, the unbelieving Jews incited an uproar in the city, and a mob made an assault upon the house of Jason, with whom the missionaries were lodging. Not finding his guests, the leaders of the mob took Jason and some of the believers before the magistrates, saying, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” The accusation was that Jason and his associates were traitors to the government of Caesar, because they taught there was another King, Jesus.

While the kingdom which Jesus and the apostles preached is a heavenly one, it is true that their message includes the establishment, in due time, of the authority of that kingdom in the earth, and that its rule will be worldwide. When its beneficent authority is extended and replaces the “kingdoms of this world” we are assured that it will be “the desire of all nations.” (Revelation 11:15; Haggai 2:7) This is clearly indicated in the prophecies of the Old Testament, and the Jews had no excuse for using their influence against the apostle and his message, for they well knew that all the promises in which their nation rejoiced led up to just such a kingdom hope.

The attack upon Jason and the other brethren apparently was not permitted of the Lord until the work of the evangelists had been accomplished and those who had ears to hear had been given opportunity to receive the message. The rulers of Thessalonica placed Jason and the others under bond to insure that the Christian missionaries would raise no further disturbance. Realizing that their work in Thessalonica was at an end, that they must not injure the cause and their friends by further public utterance, Paul and Silas left the city quietly.

The second section of our lesson indicates some of the results of the witness to the truth in Thessalonica. Evidently the brethren had been thoroughly instructed in the Gospel message, had embraced it and made it their own, and after the departure of the missionaries continued to stand as lights in their city. The apostle indicates this in saying that the brethren at Thessalonica had become examples to all the believers in those sections of Macedonia and Greece.

What joy it must have given the apostle to pen those words to the church which had been established in the face of such opposition and misrepresentations! While engaged in laying down his life in the work of the Lord, God granted to Paul much encouragement and joy as he looked back upon his ministry in these cities.

QUESTIONS:

Under what circumstances did Paul leave Philippi and make his visit to Thessalonica?

What method of instruction did he use in preaching to the Jews at Thessalonica, and was it an effective one?

Under what circumstances did the missionaries leave Thessalonica, and was the work left in good hands?

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