2
Thessalonians 1 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
1
Paul, Silas[a] and Timothy,
To
the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2
Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
and prayer
3 We ought always to
thank God for you, brothers and sisters,[b] and rightly so, because your faith
is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is
increasing. 4 Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance
and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
5 All this is evidence
that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the
kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: he will pay back trouble
to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us
as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in
blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know
God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with
everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the
glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people
and to be marvelled at among all those who have believed. This includes you,
because you believed our testimony to you.
11 With this in mind, we
constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and
that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and
your every deed prompted by faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord
Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our
God and the Lord Jesus Christ.[c]
Can you name 2
people?
2 Thessalonians 1 Elim Missions
Paul, Silas and Timothy.
Companions on the journey.
Sharers of the suffering.
Co-workers.
Co-authors.
Fellow missionaries.
We.
Us.
Our.
Chosen words.
It's a team.
Your answer is always team.
Can you name 2 people?
If you can you're rich.
Matthew
Henry's Commentary
Verses
11-12
In
these verses the apostle again tells the Thessalonians of his earnest and
constant prayer for them. He could not be present with them, yet he had a
constant remembrance of them; they were much upon his thoughts; he wished them
well, and could not express his good-will and good wishes to them better than
in earnest constant prayer to God for them: Wherefore also we pray, etc. Note,
The believing thoughts and expectation of the second coming of Christ should
put us upon prayer to God for ourselves and others. We should watch and pray,
so our Saviour directs his disciples (Luke 21:36), Watch therefore, and pray
always, that you may be counted worthy to stand before the Son of man. Observe,
I. What the apostle prayed for, 2 Thess.
1:11. It is a great concern to be well instructed what to pray for; and without
divine instruction we know not what to pray for, as without divine assistance
we shall not pray in such a manner as we ought. Our prayers should be suitable
to our expectations. Thus the apostle prays for them, 1. That God would
begin his good work of grace in them; so we may understand this expression:
That our God would count you (or, as it might be read, make you) worthy of this
calling. We are called with a high and holy calling; we are called to God’s
kingdom and glory; and no less than the inheritance of the saints is the hope
of our calling, nothing less than the enjoyment of that glory and felicity
which shall be revealed when Christ Jesus shall be revealed from heaven. Now,
if this be our calling, our great concern should be to be worthy of it, or meet
and prepared for this glory: and because we have no worthiness of our own, but
what is owing purely to the grace of God, we should pray that he would make us
worthy, and then count us worthy, of this calling, or that he would make us
meet to partake of the inheritance of the saints in light, Col. 1:12. 2. That
God would carry on the good work that is begun, and fulfil all the good
pleasure of his goodness. The good pleasure of God denotes his gracious
purposes towards his people, which flow from his goodness, and are full of
goodness towards them; and it is thence that all good comes to us. If there be
any good in us, it is the fruit of God’s good-will to us, it is owing to the
good pleasure of his goodness, and therefore is called grace. Now, there are various and manifold
purposes of grace and good-will in God towards his people; and the apostle
prays that all of them may be fulfilled or accomplished towards these
Thessalonians. There are several good works of grace begun in the hearts of
God’s people, which proceed from this good pleasure of God’s goodness, and we
should desire that they may be completed and perfected. In particular, the
apostle prays that God would fulfil in them the work of faith with power. Note,
(1.) The fulfilling of the work of faith is in order to the fulfilling of every
other good work. And, (2.) It is the power of God that not only begins, but
that carries on and perfects the work of faith.
II.
Why the apostle prayed for these things (2 Thess. 1:12): That the name of the
Lord Jesus may be glorified; this is the end we should aim at in every thing we
do and desire, that God and Christ in all things may be glorified. Our own
happiness and that of others should be subordinate to this ultimate end. Our
good works should so shine before men that others may glorify God, that Christ
may be glorified in and by us, and then we shall be glorified in and with him. And this is the great end and design of
the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ, which is manifested to us and
wrought in us. Or thus: it is according to the grace of God and Christ, that
is, it is an agreeable thing, considering the grace that is manifested to us
and bestowed on us, by God and Christ, that we direct all we do to the glory of
our Creator and Redeemer.
The
Bible Panorama
2
Thessalonians 1
V 1–2: THESSALONIANS Paul, along with
Sylvanus and Timothy, again writes to the church of the Thessalonians. He uses
an identical greeting to the one in the first letter.
V 3: THANKSGIVING Paul again thanks God
for them because of their growing faith and love which abounds towards each person
in the church.
V 4–7: TRIBULATIONS The growth of their
faith and love is in the context of the tribulations that they are enduring
along with persecution. This is producing patience in them that causes Paul to
hold them up as an example to other churches, and he reminds them that God will
repay those who are troubling them at Christ’s second coming.
V 8–10: THEN This takes Paul on to
his focus on the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This will be a day of
vengeance for those who do not obey His gospel and who will be punished with
‘everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord’. ‘On that day’, He will
come to be ‘glorified in His saints’.
V 11–12: THEREFORE This causes Paul and
his party to pray for the Thessalonian church, that they will glorify God and
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and receive divine grace.
Dictionary
of Bible Themes
8348
spiritual growth, nature of
Having
given spiritual life to his people, God expects them to grow to maturity.
God
desires the spiritual growth of his people
Mt
5:48; Heb 6:1 See also 2Co 13:9-11; Eph 1:4; Eph 2:10; Eph 3:17-19; Php 3:12;
1Th 4:1,7; 2Ti 1:9
Christlikeness
is the goal of spiritual growth
Ro
8:29 See also Eph 4:13-15; Php 2:5; 1Jn 3:2-3
Aspects
of spiritual growth
Growth
in grace 2Pe 3:18 See also Pr 4:18; 1Pe 2:1-3
Growth
in faith 2Th 1:3 See also 2Co 10:15
Growth
in love 1Th 3:12 See also Ro 5:5; 1Co 14:1; Php 1:9; 1Th 4:9-10; Heb 10:24; 1Jn
4:7-21; 1Jn 5:1-3
Growth
in understanding Ps 119:27; 1Co 14:20 See also Ps 119:97-99; Ro 12:2; Ro 16:19;
1Co 13:11; Eph 1:17-19; Php 1:9-10; Col 1:9; Heb 5:14
Growth
in holiness 2Co 7:1 See also Eph 5:25-26; Heb 2:11; Heb 10:10-14; Heb 12:14;
Heb 13:12; 1Pe 1:15-16
Growth
in fruitfulness Jn 15:16 See also Mt 13:23 pp Mk 4:20 pp Lk 8:15; Jn 15:2,8;
Php 1:11; Col 1:10
Growth
in contentment Php 4:11-12 See also 1Ti 6:6; Heb 13:5
Examples
of spiritual growth
In
individuals 1Sa 2:26 Samuel; Lk 1:80 John the Baptist Jesus Christ: Lk 2:40,52
Paul: Ac 9:22; 1Co 9:26-27; Php 3:12-14
Ac
18:26 Apollos; Phm 11 Onesimus; 3Jn 2-3 Gaius
In
the church Ac 9:31; Ac 11:26; Ac 16:5; 2Co 10:15; Col 1:6; 1Th 2:13; 2Th 1:3
Some aspects of
Spiritual Growth
1.
Growth in grace
2
Peter 3:14-18 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
14 So then, dear
friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found
spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s
patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you with
the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters,
speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are
hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the
other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17
Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so
that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your
secure position. 18 But grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now
and for ever! Amen.
1
Peter 2:1-4 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
2
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and
slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your
salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.4 As you come
to him, the living Stone – rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to
him –
2.
Growth in faith
2
Thessalonians 1:3-4 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
Thanksgiving
and prayer
3
We ought always to thank God for you,
brothers and sisters,[a] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and
more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4
Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in
all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
2
Corinthians 10:12-18 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
12
We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend
themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves
with themselves, they are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond
proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God
himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. 14 We are not
going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you,
for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. 15 Neither do we go
beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of
activity among you will greatly expand, 16 so that we can preach the gospel
in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done
in someone else’s territory. 17 But, ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the
Lord.’[a] 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but
the one whom the Lord commends.
3.
Growth in love
1
Thessalonians 3:11-13 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
11
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to
come to you. 12 May the Lord make your
love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours
does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be
blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus
comes with all his holy ones.
Romans
5:1-5 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
Peace
and hope
5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by
faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the
glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we
know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and
character, hope. 5 And hope does not put
us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
4.
Growth in understanding
Romans
12:1-2 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
A
living sacrifice
12
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true
and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to
the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good,
pleasing and perfect will.
Hebrews
5:11-14 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
Warning
against falling away
11
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because
you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to
be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word
all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk,
being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
14 But solid food is for the mature, who
by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
5.
Growth in holiness
2
Corinthians 7:1-4 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
7 Therefore, since we
have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that
contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.2 Make room for us in
your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have
exploited no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that
you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. 4 I
have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you. I am
greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.
1
Peter 1:13-16 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
Be
holy
13 Therefore, with minds
that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you
when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not
conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as
he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: ‘Be
holy, because I am holy.’[a]
6.
Growth in fruitfulness
John
15:11-17 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
11
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be
complete. 12 My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. 13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14
You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called
you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to
you. 16 You did not choose me, but I
chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that
will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
17 This is my command: love each other.
Colossians
1:8-14 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
8
and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.9 For this reason, since the
day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask
God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and
understanding that the Spirit gives,[a] 10
so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way:
bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being
strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may
have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father,
who has qualified you[b] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the
kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
7.
Growth in contentment
Philippians
4:10-13New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
Thanks
for their gifts
10
I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me.
Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not
saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the
circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have
plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,
whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do
all this through him who gives me strength.
1
Timothy 6:3-10 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
3
If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our
Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand
nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about
words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and
constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the
truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.6
But godliness with contentment is great
gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out
of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9
Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many
foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for
money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Be Blessed today
Yours by His Grace, for the sake of His Kingdom and His Church
Blair Humphreys
Southport , Merseyside
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