"Paul, Silas and Timothy. To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thess. 1:1)

In most of the epistles of the Apostle Paul, he did not hesitate to call himself an "apostle" because that's who he was and he wrote under such an authority. It had nothing to do with pride or ego, but with the acute awareness of the awesome responsibility entrusted to him, not only in the actual verbal delivery of the Word of God, but also in his writings which served to etch the Word of God for eternity.

So, it is rather unusual and surprising to read the salutation in both his letters to the Thessalonians in which he does not mention his "title" as an "apostle". Even his other familiar self-address, the "servant of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:1) is absent.

John Chrysostom does have a point when he says,

"he gives himself no title — not 'an Apostle', not 'a Servant'; I suppose, because the men were newly instructed, and had not yet had any experience of him, and he does not apply the title; and it was as yet the beginning of his preaching to them." (NAPF, Chrysostom, I Thessalonians, Homily I, p.323)

But I believe it has less to do with their being "newly instructed", but more to do with their proper understanding of who Paul was and that they already accepted his teaching "not as the word of men, but as it actually is the word of God." (1 Thess. 2:13). In other words, they were very mature in Christ even in their infancy as Christians.

I am sure, if not for the immaturity of the rest of the churches, especially the church in Corinth and their readiness to succumb to heresies, Paul would rather not use any title at all. This is quite contrary to some servants of God today who would not hesitate to call themselves "apostles" or use other titles to boost their sense of self-importance.

"and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead — Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath." (1 Thess. 1:10)

It this day and age, it is really infrequent that the wrath of God is being preached either from the pulpit or shared as we seek to evangelize the non-believers. We choose to talk about joy and peace and the other blessings that come from our belief in God. However, one of the fundamental truths of the good news in Jesus Christ remains that He "rescues us from the coming wrath" (1 Thess. 1:10).

One of the reasons that we tend to shy away from talking about the wrath of God might have to do with our misunderstanding of God's wrath. Allow me to share a proper perspective of God's wrath as explained by Thomas Oden:

"Wrath (orge) differs from passionate anger, which is immediate and strong; wrath is more settled in the long term. The wrath of God suggests the continuing revulsion of the holiness of God against sin. The holy God cannot abide injustice, pride, deception, and willful diminution of the good. God's righteous wrath is directed against sin…

"His anger, to speak metaphorically, is vented against 'all godlessness and wickedness' (Rom. 1:18). Anger is the divine response to persistent, self-chosen human alienation, a response motivated by love. Forgiveness is made a nonevent if this deep sense of alienation is overlooked.

"One cannot think of a serious parental love that makes no effort to protect the child against evil. The parent who is not revulsed by the evil that might overtake the child is not a good parent.

"A remarkable reversal, however, happens in the story of the resistance of the holy God to sin. What happened in Christ was an act of substitution by which God demonstrated that His wrath had been turned aside so as to enable an entirely new relationship with humanity, not yielding to sin, but binding it up so as to make a new start.

"This is quite different from the prevailing forms of conciliatory rituals in the history of religions, wherein, men and women offer sacrifices to try to change a god's attitude from wrath to friendship…Rather here it is God who is taking the initiative to change the broken relationship with humanity. The picture of a human being placating an angry deity is not characteristic of New Testament teaching. More characteristic is the picture of God's quiet, costly approach to alienated humanity to overcome sin through sacrificial suffering."
(Thomas Oden, The Word of Life, 395-6)

"but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children." (1 Thess. 2:7)

In his first letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul used two analogies to express how he ministered to the Thessalonians: One is like a mother (2:7) and the other one is like a father (2:11). I am not that surprised by the second analogy, but am truly touched by the former.

The mark of a mother, as Paul points out, is gentleness. As I think of a minister of the gospel — of a pastor as a mother, I could not help but search my memory: In all the pastoral recruiting processes of which I have been part, was this one of the criteria or trait that we looked for in a candidate? Honestly, I have to say, no. Academic qualification, yes; giftedness in teaching, preaching and discipleship, yes! But gentleness as a mother? Who wants a motherly like pastor! But surprisingly, that's what the Apostle was.

And in his motherly gentleness, the Apostle Paul seeks not only to be faithful in the sharing of the Word of God, but the sharing of his life as well (2:8). That's what a mother does. Apart from teaching her children the way of being a decent human being, her life is marked by sleepless nights caring for her sick children, early mornings waking up to cook for them, the never-ending washing of their clothes, the constant cleaning up of the messes left by the children, and the nightly reading of stories to send them to sleep.

In other words, her entire life is devoted to the children. This is a mother. This is love. That's what the Apostle Paul was to the church of Thessalonica, and they knew it, they felt it. No wonder the Apostle Paul did not have to address himself as "an Apostle of Christ Jesus" in his opening salutation.

"…you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God which is at work in you who believe." (1 Thess. 2:13)

Paul gave thanks for the church of Thessalonians for their work of faith, their labor of love and their endurance of hope (1:3), and also for their attitude in listening to his preaching (2:13). While the former is indeed very admirable, the latter is very foundational to a church that pleases God, because belief or faith comes from hearing (Rom. 10:14). How we hear, therefore determines if faith, love and hope can germinate in our lives. And, the Thessalonian believers had the correct attitude in listening to the preaching of Paul, because they accepted it as the word of God and not as the word of men.

It is what today's Christians lack in their hearing of preaching today. Many Christians pick and choose whom they would listen to on Sunday to the point that some would demand the church to publish in advance who the speaker will be the following Sunday, so that they could decide whether they would come or go to another church. In essence, they hunger and thirst not after the word of God, but after the word of men.

Over the years, whether as a layman or a minister myself, irrespective of who the preacher is, as long as he "divides the word correctly" (2 Tim. 2:15), I have learned to seize the chance to draw close to God, feel the warmth of the word of God and be nourished. Regardless of whether the preaching is eloquent or not, I am aware that I am in direct contact with the very word of God. The preacher is only the messenger, the word of God remains always the meat, the Word of Life.

I still remember a time when I was still a layman, there appeared to be a misunderstanding by the pastor about me. He appeared to be directing his message against me repeatedly. Although I had learned that I could be over-sensitive, the illustrations were getting so obvious that one elder of the church came and asked me how I could continue to sit there and listen to his "attack". Honestly, even after being so questioned by the elder, I continued to get a lot out of the pastor's preaching, because as long as he was dividing the Word correctly, and it happened to be applicable to me, I listened as not the word of men, but the very Word of God.

"For we want to come to you — certainly I, Paul, did again and again — but Satan stopped us." (1 Thess. 2:18)

I am greatly troubled when I hear a Christian call another Christian, Satan. It is even worse when such an accusation is said during a public prayer, attributing any opposition to our idea or suggestion concerning church matters as the work of Satan.

They seem to find their legitimacy or precedent in Jesus' rebuke over Peter in Matthew 16:23 and in this passage to the Thessalonians by Paul (1 Thess. 2:18). However, we have to recognize that such an attribution of a person as Satan or of certain deeds by Christians as the work of Satan is few and far between in the Scripture.

First of all, it is the Lord and not any of the disciples who called Peter Satan, and the Lord's rebuke was certainly out of love as He understood that as wrong as Peter was, he acted out of love for Him. Yes, the cold, hard fact was, Peter's love for Christ served to lure Christ out of His commitment to die for all of us on the cross. It was because the severity of such an act is a stumbling block to the eternal plan of salvation that Jesus had to equate Peter as Satan. However, there were numerous other occasions when His disciples "do not have in mind the things of God, but things of men" (Matthew 16:23) and yet Jesus never rebuked them as Satan. Their argument over who was the greatest is a case in point (Matt. 18:1-5) and Peter's denial of Jesus is another (Matt. 26:69-75).

In the case of Paul not being able to go to Thessalonica as soon as he wanted to, we really have no idea what might be the circumstance that caused Paul to attribute it to the work of Satan. Since Satan is called the "prince of this world" by our Lord (Jn. 14:30) and he is the one who is also called "the accuser of our brothers" (Rev. 12:10), I would be very reluctant to call any of our brothers or sisters in Christ, Satan. It is very likely that whatever prevented Paul from going to Thessalonica came from the world, and not necessarily from within the body of Christ. As a result, any action by the world that goes against the body of Christ and His Kingdom is that of the "prince of this world" and can safely be described as the work of Satan.

While our brothers and sisters might at times act in a way that is blatantly against the biblical principles and unity of the body of Christ, under such circumstances, we can rest assure that the "accuser" has already seized the opportunity to accuse them before God, and there is no need for us to give him a hand in this respect. Therefore, we need to pray for them and not to shame them or call them as Satan, but intercede on their behalf before the throne of grace.

"For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord." (1 Thess. 3:8)

Maybe you are taken aback like I am at the statement made by Paul in the captioned verse above. Why would he say that since the Thessalonians believers are standing firm in the Lord, they "really live"?

Allow me to share with you the insight of John Chrysostom of the 4th century B.C. as follows:

"What is comparable to Paul, who thought the salvation of his neighbors was his own, being so affected towards all, as really towards members? Who now would be able to break forth into such speech? Or rather, who will even be able to have such a thought? He did not require them to be thankful to him for the trials which he suffered for them, but he was thankful to them that they were not moved on account of his trials. As if he said, that to you rather than to us was injury done by those trials; you were tempted rather than we, you who suffered nothing, rather we who suffered. Because he says, Timothy brought us these good tidings, we feel nothing of our sorrows, but were comforted in all our affliction; not in this affliction only. For nothing besides can touch a good teacher, as long as the affairs of his disciples go on to his mind. Through you, he says, we were comforted; you confirmed us. And yet the reverse was the case. For that when suffering they did not yield, but stood manfully, was sufficient to confirm the disciples. But he reverses the whole matter, and turns the encomium over to them. You have anointed us, he says, you have caused us to breathe again; you have not suffered us to feel our trials. And he has not said, we breathe again, nor we are comforted, but what? "Now we live," showing that he thinks nothing is either trial or death but their stumbling, whereas their advancement was even life. How else could any one have set forth either the sorrow for the weakness of one's disciples, or the joy? He has not said we rejoice but "we live," the life to come.

"So that without this we do not even think it like to live. So ought teachers to be affected, so disciples…"
(NAPF, Vol. 13, 3401)

"Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living." (1 Thess. 4:1)

The US Declaration of Independence contains these words,

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

This well-meaning statement has been foundational to the upholding of human rights, and rightly so. However, as Christians, we have bought into this statement, especially the last element as if it were from the Scriptures. There is no doubt that God delights to give us happiness, but can the pursuit of happiness be our goal of life? Absolutely not. It is not our happiness, but God's happiness that should be the pursuit of every Christian.

The following story by Steve Farrar serves to illustrate how wrong-headed and wrong-hearted we have become as we make the pursuit of own happiness our goal of life:

"A number of years ago when I was pastoring, a man sat in my office. He was in his early sixties, had been married to the same woman for nearly forty years, and had five grown children and numerous grandchildren. He had been a committed Christian since coming to Christ in high school. For years, he had been a pillar in the evangelical community, serving as a leader in the church as well as on the boards of various Christian ministries. He had an excellent grasp of the Scriptures and had influenced hundreds of young people for Christ.

Why were we meeting? To discuss his teaching a Bible class for men? To look into the possibility of his mentoring some younger men in the church? No. We were meeting to discuss why he was involved in an immoral relationship for the past five years with a girl younger than his own daughter.

He didn't even try to deny his sin. A sharp thinker, he had developed a tight web of rationalizations that even included some scriptural references. As I continued to probe and slice through his web of excuses, finally, after about thirty minutes, he heaved a great sigh and blurted out, 'Don't I have a right to be happy?'.

In that one statement he captured the spirit of our age."
(Excerpt from Point Man, by Steve Farrar)

"Brothers, we do not want you to be asleep or to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope." (1 Thess. 4:13)

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is one the great passages we can use to comfort those who have lost a loved one in Christ. I like to use it in my preaching at Christian funerals because it not only gives us comfort and hope, but a comfort and a hope that is absolutely not wishful thinking.

In officiating the funerals or memorials of Christians, I often hear well-meaning, but misguided eulogizers say things like the following:

"He (meaning the deceased) is looking at us now." (Well, sorry, only God is omnipresent!)

"He is enjoying his most favorite drink now in heaven." (No kidding!)

"He is having fun skating, skiing, fishing (or any hobby that the deceased was noted for having) with the Big Guy." (All this "fun" depends on gravity!)

I know, I shouldn't be too harsh on them, but they do not really know what to say, especially if they themselves are not Christians. So, they end up saying things that amount really to wishful thinking!

Unfortunately, when it comes to my turn to preach from the Scriptures, many continue to think that what the Bible says also amounts to nothing more than wishful thinking. Far from it, exclaims Paul:

"We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep (i.e. died) in Him." (1 Thess. 4:14)

What the Apostle Paul is saying is that our hope in the resurrection of the dead is not based on wishful thinking, but rather, on the historical fact of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only person whose tomb is still empty because He has risen from the dead to prove that He is not just a man but God — the Creator and Giver of life. As a result, those who died in Him, meaning those who, in their lifetime have believed in Him and received His resurrected life into their hearts, will be resurrected too at the time of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is not wishful thinking because this risen Christ had been seen by many of His disciples, and "He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time," testified the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:6.

Therefore, in 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul is not urging us not to grieve and mourn for our loved ones, but that our grieving and mourning should be done so with hope, not wishful thinking, believing (in fact, knowing) that our separation with our loved ones in Christ is only for a while; soon and very soon, our Lord willbring them along in His return. It is with such a glorious and solid hope that we will experience the second Beatitude of our Lord, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matt. 5:4)