1 Thessalonians 2

We would love to see throngs of people praising God unanimously when we proclaim the glorious message of the Lord Jesus Christ. There may be many motives for this desire, but not all of them are good. We may long for celebrity, or for the approval of men rather than God. It is very natural to want to be liked, and it is not ultimately a bad desire, but it cannot be our first goal in life without serious spiritual danger. We need to preach as those who have been approved by God and who want to please God, even when what we say may displease men.

Paul was well aware that the best message that God has ever made known throughout the universe is often greeted not only with disdain and rejection, but even with violent hatred. In the ministry of Jesus and the apostles, the preaching of salvation through a Redeemer normally caused a division among those who hear it. Some embraced it as life, while others considered it to be unworthy of their trust. Given this fact of a divided response, it is of great practical importance to the church that her preachers not demand universal approval in order to continue with their efforts.

The fact that the death and resurrection of Christ for us is good news is not dependant upon our approval ratings. The message of Jesus is the good news of God. It will not get better by our adding error, impurity, flattery, or deception to it. It is perfect. Instead of attempting to change what cannot possibly be improved, the message recorded for us in the Scriptures, we should give more serious attention to something that could be better, our behavior as servants of the truth. Are we gentle among the people who are hearing the Word, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children? Are we affectionately desirous of those who would be our brothers and sisters in the Lord, ready to share not only our words, but also our lives? Are the people that we want to teach dear to us? Are we willing to work hard for their benefit? Does our conduct match the excellent message that we preach?

Our doctrine has everything to do with a righteousness that is not our own. We know that the cross would have had no power if the One who willingly died there for us had been lacking in that love which is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. We cannot improve His righteousness by changing the Bible to please our detractors, but we can easily distract from God’s Word through our own unrighteousness. That means we need to consider our ways.

Attention to life is not only for apostles and ministers of the Word. Paul says here that the church in Thessalonica needed to walk in a manner worthy of God, especially in an environment of significant persecution. Our behavior can be witnessed by others, even though it is not our intention to put on a show of our obedience. People are fairly perceptive. They pick up clues that we may be hiding from ourselves. Ministers can be seen and known, and so can those who make up the beloved body of Christ. Our life of love matters, and it needs to be genuine.

There was much to thank God for concerning the church in Thessalonica, this despite the fact that Paul was only able to preach there for three Sabbaths because of the persecution that erupted out of the synagogue there. We could look at the facts of this ministry and conclude that there was much cause for a godly lament, and we would be right. People in the church were suffering unjustly. Many Jews had utterly rejected the good news of the Jewish Messiah. They were actively attempting to prevent the expansion of the message of salvation through Jesus from having any positive reception by the Gentiles in that region. Paul had wanted to come to them many times, but Satan had hindered him. These are very sad facts. Yet Paul writes to the church that he and those who are with him in this apostolic mission are thanking God constantly for the way that the new church in Thessalonica received the word of God as what it really is, a definitive message from the Creator and Sustainer of the world, a word that must be received with full trust, a word that is not only to be believed, but which must be at work in and among believers. This good testimony could not have taken place in the absence of suffering.

The story of the rejection of the gospel of Christ by so many Jews is a very sad story, but it is not a different story than the rejection of the Old Testament prophets by the people of God in their own day, only a new chapter of that same Old Testament story. Thankfully this rejection of the Son of God is not the final chapter in God’s dealings with the Jews. Though many Jews have not received Jesus as the Messiah, the fact is that many Jews have embraced Him, and have been willing to suffer for the sake of the Man who suffered so powerfully for our salvation.

The final chapter of the Lord’s dealings with mankind involves the fullness of His wrath against His enemies and the fullness of His mercy. As the reception of the message of Christ has been a divided issue over the centuries of its proclamation, the fact of Christ’s return will also be a matter of division. For those who see their own unworthiness and flee to Jesus, the fact of His coming, and even the present faithfulness of the body of Christ under lamentable trials, is a matter that has become our hope, our joy, our crown, and our glory. We will be with Him, and we will be together. This is why we can be full of thanks to God even now. Those who reject Him and persecute His church need to consider what their reaction will be in the day of His coming.