Click here for Alexander MacLaren’s wonderful sermon on verse 2:12.
Click here for Charles Spurgeon’s wonderful sermon on verses 2:13-14.
"IN Thessalonica the conversions to the faith were remarkable. Paul came there without prestige, without friends, when he was in the very lowest condition; for he had just been beaten and imprisoned at Philippi, and had fled from that city. Yet it mattered not in what condition the ambassador might be; God, who worketh mighty things by weak instruments, blessed the word of his servant Paul. No doubt when the apostle went into the synagogue to address his own countrymen he had great hopes that, by reasoning with them out of their own scriptures, he might convince them that Jesus was the Christ. He soon found that only a few would search the Scriptures and form a judgment on the point; but the bulk of them refused, for we read of the Jews of Berea, to whom Paul fled from Thessalonica, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” […] It became a matter of talk all over the city, and the Jews in their violence helped to make the matter more notorious; for the mobs in the street and the attack upon the house of Jason all stirred the thousand tongues of rumour. Everybody spoke of the sudden appearance of three poor Jews, of their remarkable teaching in the synagogue, and of the conversion of a great multitude of devout Greeks, and of the chief women not a few. It was no small thing that so many had come straight away from the worship of Jupiter and Mercury to worship the unknown God, who could not be seen, nor imaged; and to enter the kingdom of one Jesus who had been crucified. (Spurgeon, “A Summary …”)
PAUL seems very much at home when he is writing to the church at Thessalonica. In his letters to that favoured people he unveils his inmost feelings. He is rather apt to do so when he feels himself quite at ease: for Paul is by no means a man shut up within himself, who is never at home to any one. When he is battling with an ungrateful people he keeps himself to sharp words and strong arguments; but when he is writing to a loving, attached, affectionate church, he lets them have the key of his heart, and he lays bare before them his secret emotions. (Spurgeon, “Three Sights …”)
vv. 1-2
1 Thessalonians 2:2 refers to the imprisonment and abuse that he had received at Philippi ( Acts 16:16-40 ). There were, no doubt, those in Thessalonica who said that this man Paul had a police record, that he was nothing less than a criminal on the run from justice and that obviously no one should listen to a man like that. A really malignant mind will twist anything into a slander. (Barclay)
Confidence in God’s gospel. Paul knew that the gospel he had received and that he preached was not of men, but of God. No infidel argument could shake his faith in this. It was to him a subject beyond question and debate, settled amongst the immoveable facts of his own consciousness. Boldness in God is what the pulpit wants now. Some preachers speak as if they were bold in their theology, in their sect, in their own capacities; but Paul was “bold in God.” He felt himself to be nothing. (Exell)
vv. 3-4a
The other two terms in verse 3 speak of Paul’s motives, but this phrase indicates an atmosphere of trickery (cf. Eph. 4:14). “Deceit” originally meant “to catch with bait” (cf. Matt. 26:4; Mark 7:22; 14:1), but later evolved into imagery for trickery for profit (cf. 2 Cor. 4:2 which reflects 2 Cor. 2:17). Paul was often accused of greed (cf. 1 Thess. 2:5). (Utley)
It was being said that Paul’s preaching was guilefully aimed at deluding others. (Barclay)
1 Thessalonians 2:4 indicates that Paul was accused of seeking to please men rather than to please God. No doubt that rose from the fact that he preached the liberty of the gospel and the freedom of grace as against the slavery of legalism. There are always people who do not think that they are being religious unless they are being unhappy; and any man who preaches a gospel of joy will find his slanderers, which is exactly what happened to Jesus. (Barclay)
vv. 4b-6
vv. 8-11
Love is one thing, all the universe over. Other elements of the bond that unites us to God are rather correspondent in us to what we find in Him. Our concavity, so to speak, answers to His convexity; our hollowness to His fulness; our emptiness to His all-sufficiency. So our faith, for instance, lays hold upon His faithfulness, and our obedience grasps, and bows before, His commanding will. But the love with which I lay hold of Him is like the love with which He lays hold on me; and righteousness and purity, howsoever different may be their accompaniments in an Infinite and uncreated Nature from what they have in our limited and bounded and progressive being, in essence are one. So, ‘Be ye holy, for I am holy’; ‘Walk in the light as He is in the light,’ is the law available for all conduct; and the highest divine perfections, if I may speak of pre-eminence among them, are the imitable ones, whereby He becomes our Example and our Pattern. (MacLaren)
But Satan hindered his return to them. The great enemy of mankind is especially opposed to those who would destroy his kingdom of lies by declaring the truth of another kingdom. The child of God can no sooner enterprise that which is really good, but he meets with some impediment; so, whoever be the means or instruments for impeding us in the way of duty, the devil himself, through God’s permission, is the prime author of that woeful work, and all others do but fight under his banner; for, though other means were doubtless accessory to Paul’s stay at Berea, yet Satan hindered him from returning at once to Thessalonica. (D. Mayo.) (see Excell)
We have schemes which come to nothing; wishes which perish in disappointment vows which fall so far short of realization as to afflict our hearts with a sense of self-perjury and self-contempt. What is that malign power which hinders us when we start on any holy errand? Why is there not a clear path to the soul’s feet, so that we may run the way of the Lord? The question is all-important. If we know the hinderer we may address ourselves to the speciality of his power; but if we misconceive his individuality or resources we may exhaust our strength in profitless labour. (Excell)
There is a hinderer. Not only are there hindrances; there is a personal hinderer. He is not visible. He is not persuadable; resist is the right word, not persuade. Is the tiger ever persuaded to spare the prey? God can be entreated the devil must be resisted. One man says there is no devil. Who is that one man? Where does he live? What has he done for the race? “Jesus I know, Paul I know, but who is this?” The devil tempted Jesus, entered into Judas, desired to have Peter, hindered Paul. I prefer that my faith should run in the line of these statements, notwithstanding their mystery, than that it should espouse the suggestions of speculators who have not yet established their claim to the confidence of souls. (Excell)
Did Satan ever hinder a man from doing a bad action? When we were about to give a pound to a good cause, did Satan ever say, “Give two.” (Excell)
Remember the enemy deals with the purposes as well as the performances. He fights battles in the mind. What a wreck is the inner life of some of us! (Excell)
But why should he take so much interest in these three poor missionaries? That he might weaken the young Church at Thessalonica and destroy it; that he might thwart a powerful ministry; that he might keep Christians apart, and thus weaken that unity which is the strength of God’s people. (Excell)
Heaven to us is a pretty place, talked about in Revelation […]. It is not to us sufficiently real to dry our tears. (Excell)
The relation of ministers to their people must of necessity always involve the exercise of kindly solicitude on their behalf. This is clear from Scriptural designations of their vocation. It is impossible to fulfil that vocation without feeling towards those whom they feed as shepherds, protect as watchmen, instruct as teachers, lead as guides, an affectionate interest. (Excell)
The salvation of others will add new and permanent value to ministerial reward. (James Parsons)
The hope the minister may cherish that in some his aim will be realized. When we stand in the presence of Christ we shall each have several persons to thank for helping us forward on the road to holiness and God. (R. Tuck)
Barclay, William. William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible [NT]. “1 Thessalonians 2,” https://bibleportal.com/commentary/chapter/william-barclay/1+thessalonians/2.
Exell, Joseph. The Biblical Illustrator. Baker Publishing Group, 1978. Sourced from Bible Portal, 2 Thessalonians 2, https://bibleportal.com/commentary/chapter/the-biblical-illustrator/1+thessalonians/2.
MacLaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scriptures. “WALKING WORTHILY”, Public Domain. Available at Bible Portal, https://bibleportal.com/commentary/chapter/alexander-maclaren-s-expositions-of-holy-scripture/1+thessalonians/2.
Spurgeon, Charles. “Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible.” “A Summary of Experience and a Body of Divinity,” public domain. From The Spurgeon Center, https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/a-summary-of-experience-and-a-body-of-divinity/#flipbook/.
________, Charles. “Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible.” “Three Sights Worth Seeing,” public domain, From The Spurgeon Center, https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/three-sights-worth-seeing/#flipbook/.
Utley, Bob. “1 Thessalonians 2,” Bible Lessons International, 2014, https://biblehub.com/2_thessalonians/3-5.htm.