SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Give Thanks in All Circumstances!

Key Verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:18

(Background: 1 and 2 Thessalonians)

During 2008's Thanksgiving season, based on 1 and 2 Thessalonians, we would like to think about: 1) What to give thanks for; 2) How to give thanks (in all circumstances); and 3) Why we must give thanks in all circumstances. 

In these two epistles the Apostle Paul shares with the believers in the church of Thessalonica answers to these three questions: What, How, and Why. To say the conclusion first, he exhorts his audience to give thanks to God in all circumstances: 1) for the faith, love, and hope we have in the Lord; 2) by holding on to the message of faith, love, and hope; and 3) because that leads man to securing the life that is "good, pleasing, and perfect". 

1. Fill the blanks:

(1) The senders of both epistles are: ________, _______, and ______. The recipients are: ______________________________.

** Paul, Silas, and Timothy sent the epistles to the members of the church in Thessalonica. 

(2) The believers in the church of Thessalonica became a ________ to all the believers in Macedonia and Acaiah.

** They became a "model" to the believers in Macedonia and Acaiah. Read Acts 17, which indicates that most of the church members were Greeks who converted to Judaism, and then upon hearing the gospel became Christians. The Jewish leaders in the area (the runners of the Jewish synagogue) became jealous of these Greek converts leaving the synagogue for the newly emerging fellowship called the Nazarene Sect (Acts 24:5, 14; 28:22). So they persecuted the new believers, and yet the members of the church kept their faith; they kept sharing the gospel. And the gospel rang out from them throughout Macedonia and Acaiah and beyond. 

2. Compare 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 with 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4. In 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 the Apostle Paul thanked God, remembering their "faith," "love," and "hope" in the Lord. However, in 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4, which one of these three is missing? Why might the Apostle have dropped that out? (Cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17)

** Hope is missing.

** The Apostle Paul must have dropped that out, for apparently by the time the Apostle Paul needed to write the second epistle deceivers (tempters) had already slipped into the church of Thessalonica and confused the believers about their hope by spreading the false message that "the day of the Lord has already come" [meaning, the promise for the Christ to come again has already taken place, so that the teaching on the promise of the Son of God coming from heaven is an empty promise]. Their teaching made the Apostle Paul out to be a liar for Paul wrote in the first epistle on the Lord's coming from heaven (cf. 1Th 4:13-17). Because of this hope, Paul exhorted everyone to keep their body, soul, and spirit sanctified through and through all according to God's power that is at work among those who believe. But if one does not have this hope which still stands, then one has no motive to keep himself blameless "at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

3. Match column A with Column B by drawing a line between related ideas: 

Column A Column B

Faith  * * Inspires endurance

Love  * * Produces work

Hope  * * Prompts labor

** The answer is found in 1Th 1:3. For further discussions, read John 6:29 (on the relationship between faith and work), 1Co 13:1-10 and 1Jo 4:10 (on the way in which God's love prompts man to labor for others), and Proverbs 29:18 (on why hope helps man endure hardships). 

4. True or false? 

____ Faith is faith in the gospel

____ Faith is faith in God

____ Faith is faith in the word of God

** All are true, for the two epistles, as well as Acts 17, tell us that it was when the Apostle Paul preached the gospel that they believed in the Lord who came from God. The word of God refers to the Bible which talks about the good news of the Savior. 

5. Read 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 and compare this passage with 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17. How did the Apostle Paul come to know that the members of the church of Thessalonica were "loved" by the Lord? Why did the Lord God love them that way? (2Th 2:14)

** When he preached the gospel with deep conviction, relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, in one of the Jewish synagogues in Thessalonica the Lord God worked powerfully through the Holy Spirit so that many (brothers of the church of Thessalonica) "believed" in the gospel. In this way, Paul knew that God "chose" them to be saved, so they would be made worthy of participating in the coming glory.

6. True or false?

____ Hope [inspires us to] wait for [God's] Son [to come again] from heaven. 

____ Hope refers to the hope to be saved from the coming wrath. 

____ Hope refers to the hope for each believer to be with the Risen Jesus in a resurrected body forever.

** All are true.

7. Memorize 1Th 5:8. How can we give thanks to God in "all" circumstances? Why should we give thanks to God in all circumstances? 

** Faith, love, and hope enable us to give thanks to God in all circumstances. 

Faith is faith in the gospel, meaning, as one has faith in the Lord, the Lord in turn sets the believer free from the bondage to the power of sin and death. This transaction in turn sets the man to be full of joy and peace. The joy and peace one has in the Lord comes from above (God the Father), and as such they are not dependent upon circumstances (of the world), so that a believer can remain thankful all the time in "all" (or under all) circumstances.

Love is the love of God, especially the love that washes him of his sins inside and out, making him to be a new creation. Love also satisfies man. When one believes in the Son, the Lord God gives him the Holy Spirit who pours God’s love into his heart. As the Holy Spirit fills him with God's love, he becomes confident that he has all he needs for life (Gen 33:11; Rom 8:34-37). Again, it is the deep conviction of God's love that truly satisfies man inside and out. This satisfaction factor is critical to one remaining thankful in all circumstances. The other side of the coin is also true. When one does not have this love in him, no matter how much or how many he has under his control, he always feels "insufficient" and he ends up complaining regardless of circumstances. 

Hope also keeps man thankful to God in all circumstances, for hope inspires a believer to know that he has an eternal home ready for him. 

** The Apostle Paul says that we need to give thanks to God for it is God's will for those who are in the Lord. One of the meanings of this passage is to say that a believer must live life in a way which is consistent with the reality that is true of a believer. The reality for a believer is different from the reality for an unbeliever. The difference is the difference between the reality that hit Adam when he first sinned, and the reality which Jesus saved us into. Adam's reality can be characterized with the word "curse," whereas a believer's reality can be described with the word "blessing." Jesus came to practically help us to rise above, to transcend the fallen world, so that we would live a life that is free of all that remains cursed. The new reality Jesus came to grant each believer can be described with three words: good, pleasing, and perfect, all of which are true of God's will (Romans 12:2).

The end