As we continue looking at the Life of the Apostle Paul, we pick up where we left off in his first letter to the Thessalonians. He spent the first three chapters reminiscing about his time ministering and teaching in Thessalonica only a few months prior to writing this letter. Now we pick up with the final two chapters, Chapters 4 and 5. He begins this section by reminding the church of what he taught them when he was there. First, Paul reminds them that their sexual behavior and ethics should set them apart from society.

“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.“

Another topic that Paul emphasized was love as displayed within and for the church body. While he may have taught them about this, he points out that they’ve already demonstrated evidence of this fruit of the Spirit and he simply encourages them to continue growing in that area. He also reminds them of the instruction he gave them about ethical living and working among themselves so that they set a good example to observers in the world.

“Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.“

Now Paul turns to a topic that he must have received word from Timothy and Silas that the Christians in Thessalonica concerned about. They may have written a letter asking Paul, but more likely Timothy and Silas had been asked a question and didn’t know how to answer it, or they had just picked up in general discussions that the topic was of some concern. The question that needed answering was something like this: We thought Jesus was going to return to take us to be with Him, but some of our loved ones have died and missed it. What happens to them?

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,…

This statement – “a word from the Lord” – indicates that Paul prayed about the question and sought God’s leadership on it and received a direct instruction from Jesus regarding this topic.

“… that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.“

Paul describes here what has become known in modern times as the “rapture”, a term first described in some eighteenth century Bible commentaries. The rapture is the concept that Christians will be taken up from Earth at a time before Jesus’ actual physical return to the earth’s surface (his “second coming”). Paul received direct instruction from Jesus regarding this event, saying that Christians who have died will have their restored physical bodies resurrected from the dead and those who are living at this time will be instantly transformed into their “heavenly” body and be taken to be with Jesus.

Paul then segues into a treatise on the second coming of Jesus, which is a different event than the rapture. This event is referred to in Scripture as “the day of the Lord”, when God exacts judgment on the world. His teaching echoes the direct teaching of Jesus to his disciples before his crucifixion. Paul apparently had already addressed this doctrine in part while he was with them, but his teaching on the matter was interrupted by the events leading to his departure.

“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.“

Paul reiterates that this teaching needs to be a source of encouragement and hope to the believers. He finishes the letter with a series of short admonishments, which I’ve listed here as individual bullet points as a way of highlighting his list.

“We ask you, brothers,

• to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and
• to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.
• Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers,
• admonish the idle,
• encourage the fainthearted,
• help the weak,
• be patient with them all.
• See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but
• always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
• Rejoice always,
• pray without ceasing,
• give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
• Do not quench the Spirit.
• Do not despise prophecies, but
• test everything;
• hold fast what is good.
• Abstain from every form of evil.”

Paul’s conclusion is a prayer, a final word of encouragement, and request for their prayers, a greeting to be passed on to others and a charge to distribute and read the letter among all of the believers there.

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.“

The letter was apparently sent through whatever postal conveyance there was in that day. Sometimes in Paul’s letters he indicates the name of the bearer of the letter, but in this case he does not.

Now we return to Luke’s description of Paul’s initial time in Corinth. We’ll pick back up starting in Acts 18:5-11.

“When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.“

We read this verse in the last post as a way of introducing Silas’s and Timothy’s return from Thessalonica and the prompting of Paul’s first letter. Now we see a little of the events confronting Paul in Corinth.

“And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’ And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.”

As was typical, Paul’s message met with resistance with some of the Jews. However, some of the Jews also believed in Jesus the Messiah, including the ruler (leader) of the synagogue there. This is the beginning of a lengthy sojourn in Corinth.

“And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.’ And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.“

That eighteen months enabled Paul to accomplish a lot in preaching the gospel and setting up the church in Corinth. It also gave him time to hear news from Thessalonica and prompt the need for a second letter to them, which we’ll look at in the next Life of Paul post!