A Study in 1 ThessaloniansSýnishorn

More Standing Up. Less Bowing Down.

What comes out of a bottle of ketchup when you squeeze it under pressure? Ketchup.

What comes out of a bottle of mustard when you squeeze it under pressure? Mustard.

What comes out of a tube of toothpaste when you squeeze it under pressure? Toothpaste.

What comes out of a Christian when you squeeze them under pressure? It depends. Entitlement, bitterness, anger, jealousy, cursing, and worse comes out of some Christians. Gratitude, forgiveness, joy, generosity, worship, and better comes out of other Christians.

The truth is, we often don’t really know what is in us until we are squeezed under pressure. The squeezing and pressure on the outside reveal who we really are on the inside. For this reason, the worst seasons of life can be the best opportunity to grow in Christlikeness for two reasons. One, if what comes out of us is bad, we can repent, be forgiven, and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to experience deep healing and change from the inside out. Two, if what comes out is good, we can rejoice and see God use our test as our testimony to encourage others.

In 1 Thessalonians, Paul is writing to new Christians who are being squeezed by the pressure of everything from demonic spiritual warfare, false religious teachers, intense pressure from a godless corrupt culture, and their own ignorance as they are new to God’s Word without a lot of Bible teaching to fall back on.

These Christians knew little, but they obeyed and believed what they had been taught.

The Bible repeatedly says that learning + obeying = blessing.

•In John 13:17, Jesus said, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”

•In Luke 11:28, Jesus said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

•In James 1:22, Jesus’ half-brother James said, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

When Paul receives the report about the church at Thessalonica, he hears how they were obeying what he had been teaching. Importantly, Paul had taught them that they were not just “destined” by God for salvation, but also for suffering (3:3). Paul did a good job teaching them that while God loved them, Satan hated them, and that while Heaven was their home, the world was their temporary residence. Until they are home with God, they will suffer a bit like Jesus in this world.

This is an amazing report from new Christians who have not seen their pastor in some time but have been suffering for what felt like a long time. The new Christians were obeying what Paul and others had taught them from God’s Word, and he was overjoyed.

Despite what the Father of Lies shouts through the media and social media, not all Christians are hypocrites and not all churches are bad. While Paul longs to visit them, in the meantime, he comforts them with triple truths that should comfort us as well.

1. God is present with people we cannot be present with.
2. You can be with someone spiritually even when you cannot be with them physically.
3. One day the bad will end, and good will begin and never end.

Too often, we can wrongly think of the end of this life as a finish line. For the Christian, the end of this life is a starting line and everything we do and learn beforehand is to prepare us for the race that never ends. This is the long view of things made possible by Jesus’ resurrection, which is the guarantee of our resurrection.

Reflection:

How have you seen the process of learning + obeying = blessing work practically with some very specific examples in your own life?