The Letters of Paul to the Thessalonians

Translation: The New Jerusalem Bible

The Spoken Word Set 1
The Early Letters of Paul Volume 1

The recording of this letter read by David Guthrie
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Paul's first letter to the Church in Thessalonica is the earliest Christian scripture (or Christian writing of any kind) that we possess. It was written in 50AD to the fledgling European church, which Paul had founded a short time before. The apostle was in Athens when he writes, worried about the state of the church he left behind him which was existing in a society of lax moral standards. However, he has heard from Timothy that the chruch is flourishing, so he writes with relief and thanksgiving.

At this point in his ministry, Paul's concept of the gospel is focused upon his belief in an immanent return of Jesus, and the gospel is expressed in terms of being ready for the Lord when he appears. However, this apocalyptic vision has created difficulties, in that people were abandoning normal life, and ceasing to act responsibly. So his letters set out to correct this.

We can read these letters as to a people who had no scripture: as gentiles they did not even appear to have knowledge of the Hebrew scriptures. Although, in content, not these letters may not be the most important of Paul's correspondence, when listened to as the first note we have of christian thinking, they take on a special drama.

The first Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians

Track 2 Chapter 1:1 Address

Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, to the Church in Thessalonica which is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace.

Track 3 Chapter 1:2-10  Thanksgiving and congratulations

We always thank God for you all, mentioning you in our prayers continually. We remember before our God and Father how active is the faith, how unsparing the love, how persevering the hope which you have from our Lord Jesus Christ.  We know, brothers loved by God, that you have been chosen, because our gospel came to you not only in words, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with great effect. And you observed the sort of life we lived when we were with you, which was for your sake. You took us and the Lord as your model, welcoming the word with the joy of the Holy Spirit in spite of great hardship.  And so you became an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia since it was from you that the word of the Lord rang out -- and not only throughout Macedonia and Achaia, for your faith in God has spread everywhere. We do not need to tell other people about it: other people tell us how we started the work among you, how you broke with the worship of false gods when you were converted to God and became servants of the living and true God; and how you are now waiting for Jesus, his Son, whom he raised from the dead, to come from heaven. It is he who saves us from the Retribution which is coming.

Track 3: Chapter 2: 1-12 Paul’s example in Thessalonica

You know yourselves, my brothers, that our visit to you has not been pointless. Although, as you know, we had received rough treatment and insults at Philippi, God gave us the courage to speak his gospel to you fearlessly, in spite of great opposition.

Our encouragement to you does not come from any delusion or impure motives or trickery. No, God has approved us to be entrusted with the gospel, and this is how we preach, seeking to please not human beings but God who tests our hearts.

Instead, we have never acted with the thought of flattering anyone, as you know, nor as an excuse for greed, God is our witness; nor have we ever looked for honour from human beings, either from you or anybody else, when we could have imposed ourselves on you with full weight, as apostles of Christ. Instead, we lived unassumingly among you. Like a mother feeding and looking after her children, we felt so devoted to you, that we would have been happy to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, so dear had you become. You remember, brothers, with what unsparing energy we used to work, slaving night and day so as not to be a burden on any one of you while we were proclaiming the gospel of God to you.

You are witnesses, and so is God, that our treatment of you, since you believed, has been impeccably fair and upright.

As you know, we treated every one of you as a father treats his children, urging you, encouraging you and appealing to you to live a life worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and his glory.

Track 4: Chapter 2:13-16  The faith and patience of the Thessalonians

Another reason why we continually thank God for you is that as soon as you heard the word that we brought you as God's message, you welcomed it for what it really is, not the word of any human being, but God's word, a power that is working among you believers. For you, my brothers, have modelled yourselves on the churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judaea, in that you have suffered the same treatment from your own countrymen as they have had from the Jews, who put the Lord Jesus to death, and the prophets too, and persecuted us also. Their conduct does not please God, and makes them the enemies of the whole human race, because they are hindering us from preaching to gentiles to save them. Thus all the time they are reaching the full extent of their iniquity, but retribution has finally overtaken them.

Track 5: Chapter 2:17-20  Paul’s anxiety

Although we had been deprived of you for only a short time in body but never in affection, brothers, we had an especially strong desire and longing to see you face to face again, and we tried hard to come and visit you; I, Paul, tried more than once, but Satan prevented us. What do you think is our hope and our joy, and what our crown of honour in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? You are, for you are our pride and joy.

Track 6: Chapter 3:1-5  Timothy’s mission to Thessalonica

When we could not bear it any longer, we decided it would be best to be left without a companion at Athens, and sent our brother Timothy, who is God's helper in spreading the gospel of Christ, to keep you firm and encourage you about your faith and prevent any of you from being unsettled by the present hardships. As you know, these are bound to come our way: indeed, when we were with you, we warned you that we are certain to have hardships to bear, and that is what has happened now, as you have found out. That is why, when I could not bear it any longer, I sent to assure myself of your faith: I was afraid the Tester might have put you to the test, and all our work might have been pointless.

Track 7: Chapter 3: 6-13  Paul thanks God for good reports of the Thessalonians

However, Timothy has returned from you and has given us good news of your faith and your love, telling us that you always remember us with pleasure and want to see us quite as much as we want to see you. And so, brothers, your faith has been a great encouragement to us in the middle of our own distress and hardship; now we can breathe again, as you are holding firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you, for all the joy we feel before our God on your account? We are earnestly praying night and day to be able to see you face to face again and make up any shortcomings in your faith.

May God our Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, ease our path to you.  May the Lord increase and enrich your love for each other and for all, so that it matches ours for you. And may he so confirm your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless in the sight of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

Track 8: Chapter 4:1-12 Live in holiness and charity

Finally, brothers, we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus; we instructed you how to live in the way that pleases God, and you are so living; but make more progress still. You are well aware of the instructions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Jesus.

God wills you all to be holy. He wants you to keep away from sexual immorality, and each one of you to know how to control his body in a way that is holy and honourable, not giving way to selfish lust like the nations who do not acknowledge God.

He wants nobody at all ever to sin by taking advantage of a brother in these matters; the Lord always pays back sins of that sort, as we told you before emphatically. God called us to be holy, not to be immoral; in other words, anyone who rejects this is rejecting not human authority, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

As for brotherly love, there is no need to write to you about that, since you have yourselves learnt from God to love one another,

and in fact this is how you treat all the brothers throughout the whole of Macedonia. However, we do urge you, brothers, to go on making even greater progress and to make a point of living quietly, attending to your own business and earning your living, just as we told you to, so that you may earn the respect of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.

Track 9: Chapter 4:13-18  The dead and living at the time of the Lord’s coming.

We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, to make sure that you do not grieve for them, as others do who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that in the same way God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. We can tell you this from the Lord's own teaching, that we who are still alive for the Lord's coming will not have any advantage over those who have fallen asleep. At the signal given by the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God, the Lord himself will come down from heaven; those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise, and only after that shall we who remain alive be taken up in the clouds, together with them, to meet the Lord in the air. This is the way we shall be with the Lord for ever. With such thoughts as these, then, you should encourage one another.

Track 10: Chapter 5:1-22  Watchfulness while awaiting the coming of the Lord

About times and dates, brothers, there is no need to write to you

for you are well aware in any case that the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night.It is when people are saying, 'How quiet and peaceful it is' that sudden destruction falls on them, as suddenly as labour pains come on a pregnant woman; and there is no escape.

But you, brothers, do not live in the dark, that the Day should take you unawares like a thief.No, you are all children of light and children of the day: we do not belong to the night or to darkness, so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide awake and sober. Night is the time for sleepers to sleep and night the time for drunkards to be drunk,

but we belong to the day and we should be sober; let us put on faith and love for a breastplate, and the hope of salvation for a helmet. God destined us not for his retribution, but to win salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that, awake or asleep, we should still live united to him. So give encouragement to each other, and keep strengthening one another, as you do already.

We appeal to you, my brothers, to be considerate to those who work so hard among you as your leaders in the Lord and those who admonish you. Have the greatest respect and affection for them because of their work.

Be at peace among yourselves.We urge you, brothers, to admonish those who are undisciplined, encourage the apprehensive, support the weak and be patient with everyone. Make sure that people do not try to repay evil for evil; always aim at what is best for each other and for everyone. Always be joyful; pray constantly; and for all things give thanks; this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Spirit or despise the gift of prophecy with contempt; test everything and hold on to what is good and shun every form of evil.

Track 11: Chapter 5:23-28  Closing prayer and farewell

May the God of peace make you perfect and holy; and may your spirit, life and body be kept blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who has called you is trustworthy and will carry it out. Pray for us, my brothers. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. My orders, in the Lord's name, are that this letter is to be read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Track 13: Chapter 1:1-2  Address

Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, to the Church in Thessalonica which is in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Track 14: Chapter 1:3-12  Thanksgiving and encouragement. The Last Judgment

We must always thank God for you, brothers; quite rightly, because your faith is growing so wonderfully and the mutual love that each one of you has for all never stops increasing. Among the churches of God we take special pride in you for your perseverance and faith under all the persecutions and hardships you have to bear.It all shows that God's judgement is just, so that you may be found worthy of the kingdom of God; it is for the sake of this that you are suffering now.

For God's justice will surely mean hardship being inflicted on those who are now inflicting hardship on you, and for you who are now suffering hardship, relief with us, when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with the angels of his power. He will come amid flaming fire; he will impose a penalty on those who do not acknowledge God and refuse to accept the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Their punishment is to be lost eternally, excluded from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength

on that day when he comes to be glorified among his holy ones and marvelled at by all who believe in him; and you are among those who believed our witness.

In view of this we also pray continually that our God will make you worthy of his call, and by his power fulfil all your desires for goodness, and complete all that you have been doing through faith; so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him, by the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Track 15: Chapter 2:1-12  The coming of the Lord and the prelude to it.

About the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, brothers, and our being gathered to him: please do not be too easily thrown into confusion or alarmed by any manifestation of the Spirit or any statement or any letter claiming to come from us, suggesting that the Day of the Lord has already arrived. Never let anyone deceive you in any way.

It cannot happen until the Great Revolt has taken place and there has appeared the wicked One, the lost One, the Enemy, who raises himself above every so-called God or object of worship to enthrone himself in God's sanctuary and flaunts the claim that he is God. Surely you remember my telling you about this when I was with you? And you know, too, what is still holding him back from appearing before his appointed time. The mystery of wickedness is already at work, but let him who is restraining it once be removed, and the wicked One will appear openly. The Lord will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will annihilate him with his glorious appearance at his coming.

But the coming of the wicked One will be marked by Satan being at work in all kinds of counterfeit miracles and signs and wonders, and every wicked deception aimed at those who are on the way to destruction because they would not accept the love of the truth and so be saved. And therefore God sends on them a power that deludes people so that they believe what is false, and so that those who do not believe the truth and take their pleasure in wickedness may all be condemned.

Track 16: Chapter 2:13-3:5  Encouragement to persevere

But we must always thank God for you, brothers whom the Lord loves, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved by the Spirit who makes us holy and by faith in the truth. Through our gospel he called you to this so that you should claim as your own the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stand firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us his love and, through his grace, such ceaseless encouragement and such sure hope, encourage you and strengthen you in every good word and deed.

Finally, brothers, pray for us that the Lord's message may spread quickly, and be received with honour as it was among you; and pray that we may be preserved from bigoted and evil people, for not everyone has faith. You can rely on the Lord, who will give you strength and guard you from the evil One, and we, in the Lord, have every confidence in you, that you are doing and will go on doing all that we tell you. May the Lord turn your hearts towards the love of God and the perseverance of Christ.

Track 17: Chapter 3:6-15  Against idleness and disunity

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we urge you, brothers, to keep away from any of the brothers who lives an undisciplined life, not in accordance with the tradition you received from us.

You know how you should take us as your model: we were not undisciplined when we were with you, nor did we ever accept food from anyone without paying for it; no, we worked with unsparing energy, night and day, so as not to be a burden on any of you. This was not because we had no right to be, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to imitate. We urged you when we were with you not to let anyone eat who refused to work.

Now we hear that there are some of you who are living lives without any discipline, doing no work themselves but interfering with other people's. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we urge and call on people of this kind to go on quietly working and earning the food that they eat. My brothers, never slacken in doing what is right.

If anyone refuses to obey what I have written in this letter, take note of him and have nothing to do with him, so that he will be ashamed of himself, though you are not to treat him as an enemy, but to correct him as a brother.

Track 18: Chapter 3:16-18  Prayer and farewell wishes

May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all. This greeting is in my own hand-PAUL. It is the mark of genuineness in every letter; this is my own writing.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

 

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