notes

Main point summary

You received the word of God as what it truly is and not as the word of man, which is now producing fruit in you.

Discourse

editing

NT

1 Thessalonians 2:13-16

esv

mine

And j we also thank God constantly 1 for this,

And we never forget to mention in our prayers how grateful we are concerning this matter,

that when you received k the word of God, which you heard from us,

that when you heard the word of God which we presented to you while we were with you, you received it,

you accepted it l not as the word of men 2

not as though you were receiving our words

but as what it really is, the word of God, m which is at work in you believers.

but rather , you received it as what it truly is, the word of God, and this word is producing fruit in you who believe in Christ.

For you, brothers, n became imitators of o the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea.

Why do I say this? It is because , my beloved brothers and sisters, you emulated the body of Christ who are gathered by God in Judea.

For p you suffered the same things from your own countrymen

This is because you went through the same kind of afflictions as the body of Christ in Judea did, that is, you were afflicted by your very own people

q as they did from the Jews, 1

just as they were afflicted by their very own people, the Jews.

r who killed both the Lord Jesus and s the prophets,

These are the Jews who caused the death of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ and killed the prophets who were sent to them by God.

and drove us out,

And they chased us out of their midst,

and displease God

and they made God upset because of their evil deeds.

and t oppose all mankind

And they did not only set their faces against us but the whole human race.

u by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles

How did they do that? By making it difficult for us to tell the good news of Jesus Christ to those who have never heard of this news

that they might be saved—

so that they might believe in Jesus Christ and be saved.

so as always v to fill up the measure of their sins.

What is the result of their behaviour? They heap up their sins to the limit.

But w wrath has come upon them at last! 1

But God has not ignored these, His wrath has been revealed against them at last!

This answers the question WHY . Why Paul is grateful.

This is the main point. It is the reason why Paul is grateful. Because they received the word of God as it truly is.

This is the result of the Thessalonians receiving the word of God.

OCCASION Paul is grateful for how the Thessalonians received the word of God. The suffering of the Thessalonians. THEMES The suffering of the saints. TONE Happy Energized PURPOSE To tell the Thessalonians how grateful they were when they received the word of God and that their suffering is as a result of obedience to God's word. KEYWORDS Wrath has come upon them at last. The measure of their sin. Churches of God in Christ. RECIPIENTS They are believers since they received the word of God and Paul compares them to the Church in Judea.

discourse

Notes

When I present the word of God to people, I should not be the center of the message but God. My aim should be to present the word of God in such a way that it will be received as it is, THE WORD OF GOD. The word of God works in me to produce fruit. So the evidence that the word of God has been received is the fruit produced thereafter. I will suffer opposition for the sake of the word. When suffering comes I should rejoice for Jesus said in Mathew 5:10-12 that I shall inherit the kingdom of heaven and my reward shall be great in heaven. Even if hindered by others from sharing the gospel, I should not stop sharing for the wrath of God will be upon the opposers. They hindered Paul but he still took the gospel to the Thessalonians which lead to their salvation. NEXT STEPS Since I've already started the book of 1 Thessalonians, I'll continue with it. Planning to study both 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Then after that go to Galatians I will be sharing my insights with friends and also try to teach them how to paraphrase a passage in the Bible. I will come up with a daily morning routine for the studies.