Introductory remarks:
Chapter two is a continuation of chapter one where Paul was teaching the Thessalonian believers of the second coming of Christ, and that it should motivate them to live in fellowship with the Father. "Paul says that the bad treatment he got didn't stop him because God trusted him with the gospel and he does it faithfully to serve God and not for personal gain. He says that he came to them with the affection of a father to children and worked night and day not to be a financial burden on them and they know how purely he behaved. He was thankful that they believed his message from God and not men. Just as the Jews attack Christians in Judea and try to stop Paul's efforts, the Thessalonians are suffering from their own countrymen. Paul yearns to visit them because they are his glory and joy" (A Survey of I Thessalonians - By Brenda). This chapter may be outlined as follows: Paul's ministry in Thessalonica vv. 1-16: Paul's desire to visit the Church again vv. 17-20.
Paul's Ministry in Thessalonica
Verse 1, "For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you that it was not in vain."
LGT "For ye yourselves know, brethren, our entrance in which [we had] to you, that it has not been void."
For ye yourselves know, brethren: the believers in Thessalonica. Our entrance in which we had to you: the allusion concerning the report in 1:9 with regard to the other assemblies testimony of their work among the Thessalonians, he now returns to what they themselves experienced through their ministry there, that they were not imposters. Paul goes on explaining this entrance in unto them through verse 12. That it has not been void: it was not empty but bore much fruit as can be attested by all the surrounding assemblies. The word void is the opposite of efficacious or spiritually successful.
Verse 2, "But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention."
LGT "But having before suffered and having been injuriously treated, just as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak to you the Glad Tidings of God in much conflict."
But having before suffered and having been injuriously treated, just as ye know, at Philippi: Paul brings to their remembrance how they were shamefully treated at Philippi, and that as a Roman citizen it was even more disgraceful; this humiliation of Paul is described in Acts 16. We were bold in our God to speak to you the Glad Tidings of God in much conflict: Paul rightly gives God all the glory for their boldness in the midst of persecution. This is designed to help the Thessalonian believers trust God in all their trials, and let them realize that Paul is not what the false teachers are insultingly saying; Paul stands firm in the gospel of grace, and is seeking to build these believers up that they may also stand firm. Paul and his companions overcame, by the grace of God, the shameful treatment and continued to preach God's grace in much conflict. "The triumph of the gospel there was secured only by the effort of the highest kind, and by overcoming the most formidable [frightful] opposition." In this phrase, in our God is presented as the sphere in which they were, in fellowship with the God as their choice of Him who they knew would sustain them by His grace, and the second statement, the Glad Tidings of God, is presented in the sphere of origin, that is, the source and Author of our message of grace.
Verse 3, "For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile."
LGT "For our exhortation [was] not of error, nor of uncleanness, nor in craftiness."
For our exhortation: exhortation means to call alongside to admonish, comfort, and encourage. Was not of error: this means to lead astray. Paul says that all of their exhortations were to encourage the Thessalonians in grace, and help them grow in grace and the knowledge of the truth, and help them develop unity among themselves. The false teachers, on the other hand, were divisive and cruel, and would drive them apart. Nor of uncleanness: "This disclaimer [exhortation of uncleanness], startling as it may seem, was not unneeded amidst the impurities consecrated by the religions of the day (Lightfoot). There was no necessary connection in the popular mind between religion and morals. The ecstatic initiations in some of the popular religions were grossly sensual: (A.T. Robertson). Not in craftiness: Paul is saying that when he came to the Thessalonians, he did not come to deceive them, and he did not have any ulterior motive of fame or fortune; he did not use the wisdom of this world to beguile them; he did not water down the gospel of grace in order to win there approval by tickling their ears; he came to build them up in the faith.
Verse 4, "But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men but God, which trieth our hearts."
LGT "But even as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Glad Tidings, so that we speak, not as men pleasing, but God, who proves the hearts of us."
But even as we have been approved By God: Paul says that he and Timothy and Silas have been tested and proved and thus approved by God. We came as tested men and preached the gospel of grace to you all. To be entrusted with the Glad Tidings: Paul says that because they were tested and approved by God, they were entrusted with the gospel of grace by God. So that we speak, not as pleasing men, but God: Paul says that their work as preachers of God's grace was in unison with God's approval and choice. "Their life's labor did not lie in pleasing men: they were too faithful to their trust, too noble in purpose to be men pleasers. They had none of that mixed motive, astute self-adaptation and versatility of address, discovered in men pleasing. Their aim in preaching was to please God, to gain His approval by cordially and unfeignedly doing His work because it was His work and they bore His commission (2 Cor. 5:9)" (John Eadie). Who proves the hearts of us: God is the One who tests Paul's motives, and He finds Paul not a man pleasers. "The meaning here is, that the apostle had a deep conviction of the truth that God knew all his motives, and that all would be revealed in the last day" (Barnes).
Verse 5, "For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness; God is witness."
LGT "For neither at any time with word of flattery were we [with you], even as ye know, nor with a pretext of covetousness, God [is] witness."
For neither at any time with word of flattery were we with you, even as ye know: Paul says that they never fawned over the believers there. This is what is known as tickling their ears. Paul did not say what they wanted to hear; he said what God wanted them to hear, even if it meant they would be disturbed by what they heard. Truth is truth, and that is exactly what Paul taught them, in his exhortations, admonitions, and encouragements. "Paul says that they had not descended to flattery in order to make the gospel acceptable. They had not flattered men's self-complacency so as to blind them to their need of the radical work which the gospel demands" (Vincent). Nor with the pretext of covetousness: Paul says that he did not use his apostolic commission for greedy desires. God is witness: Paul is so sure of this truth that he calls God his witness, the same as we might say, "I swear to God", only Paul had his inspiration of the Holy Spirit as his Guide, and we probably, by using this term, are using God's name in vain.
Verse 6, "Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ."
LGT "Nor seeking from men glory, neither from you nor from others:"
Paul and his associates were not seeking glory or praise from the Thessalonians, neither did they seek glory or praise from any of the other assemblies they visited, or established. Paul, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, with the power to perform miracles, and bestow spiritual gifts, had every opportunity to lord it over the average Christian, and claim apostolic rights, and claim to be the Vicar of Christ, but that was not in his thinking. Paul was commissioned directly by Christ, and this love that Christ had for Paul confined him to preach the Gospel of Grace and establish assemblies throughout the world. The last phrase of this verse in the KJV is the first phrase in the Greek New Testament.
Verse 7, "But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children."
LGT "Having power to be in authority as Christ's apostles; but were gentle in the midst of you, as a nurse would cherisher her own children."
Having power to be in authority as Christ's apostles: the term "burdensome" is better translated 'to be in authority'. Some commentators I have read connect the term "burdensome" with taking support, by connecting it with verse 5 regarding being covetous; however, the meaning of the word is to be in authority, and is better connected with the first phrase of verse 6. But were gentle in the midst of you: "So far from seeking human glory, so far from insisting on official standing and prerogative [privilege], and exacting recognition and service, we were gentle in the midst of you; we were each of us as one of yourselves; our deportment [manner] was mild, quiet, unassuming, and affectionate." As a nurse would cherish her own children: This is literally 'the mother-nurse that suckles her own baby.' The term "cherish" means that the mother warms, takes pleasure in, and attaches great importance to this little treasure God has given her, for which she places the highest importance upon it. This tender love and care a mother has for her little baby is a description of the fondness and loving care Paul has for these believers. I don't believe he could have described it better with any other illustration.
Verse 8, "So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us."
LGT "Thus affectionately desiring you, we were pleased to have imparted to you not only the Glad Tidings of God, but also our own lives, because you have become beloved to us."
Thus affectionately desiring you: Paul is continuing his figure of a nursing mother, "she is not satisfied with nursing the child, but interests herself affectionately in all that concerns it." We were pleased to have imparted to you not only the Glad Tidings of God: presenting the Gospel of Grace was Paul's primary mission, and then to establish assemblies of the brotherhood to remain together for the edification of the whole, in their unity in Christ. But also our own lives: he was willing to lay down his life for these dearly beloved believers; "greater love hath no man than that he would lay down his life for his brother" Because you have become beloved to us: this is a wonderful picture of how Paul's love grew for them. "They had listened to and accepted the good tidings immediately and intelligently and decidedly, and became followers of us and the Lord, were not swayed off by persecution, but so steadfastly adhered to their profession, that they were everywhere spoken of. Becoming so dear to Paul and his colleagues, these devoted men cherished them like a nurse fostering her own children, did not lord it over them, but were gentle, affectionate, and self-imparting; and not only with enthusiastic fondness had they preached to them the blessed gospel, but they have willingly died a martyr's death for them, had such a proof of heroic attachment been necessary" (John Eadie).
Verse 9, "For ye remember, brethren, our labor and travail: for laboring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God."
LGT "For ye remember, brethren, our labor and the toil: working night and day, for not to burden any one of you, we proclaimed to you the Glad Tidings of God."
Paul says here that he labored night and day so as not to have to take any financial support from the assembly in Thessalonica. As an apostle, Paul had the right to accept from the assemblies financial support, but for some reasons he did not accept support; for instance in Corinth, he would not accept support because the false teachers were charging him with preaching for filthy lucre, and it seems that it was for this same reason that he would not burden himself on the Christians in Thessalonica, and that he could present the gospel of grace without any hindrance.
Verse 10, "Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe."
LGT "Ye [are] witnesses, and God, how holily and righteously and blamelessly we were with you that believe:"
Ye are witnesses, and God: Paul calls the Christians in Thessalonica as well as God as his witness to his ministry among them. How holily: this describes Paul and his associates walk before God. And righteously and blamelessly we were before you that believe: and this describes their walk before the believers in Thessalonica. "The apostle's appeal was to the believing Thessalonians, to them, and to God; and it was on account of their being believers in God that he so confidently summoned them to witness on his behalf" (Eadie).
Verses 11, 12, "As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory."
LGT "Even as ye know, how each one of you, as a father to his own children, exhorting you and persuading and charging, for you to have walked worthily of God who calls you to His own kingdom and glory."
Even as ye know: how the Thessalonian believers witnessed Paul's ministry among them. How each one of you: each one experienced Paul's tenderhearted care for them. As a father to his own children: Paul switches from nursing them, now he treats them as his children, that is, as they grew spiritually, he was able to apply more refined treatment to them. Exhorting you: Paul convicted them of their need by teaching them grace doctrine. And persuading: the word "comfort" gr. parakalountes, is better translated "persuading" (Vincent); Paul persuaded them with the doctrines of grace. And charging: this means to earnestly advise them to a godly walk. For you to have walked worthily of God: to walk in fellowship with the Father. To walk worthily is to walk according to God's prescription; and this is only accomplished by adjusting ones life to Bible Doctrine. Who calls you to His kingdom and glory: Paul uses this term in the spiritual sense of walking in fellowship of the kingdom of the Father. When a believer is walking in the Light, he is in the spiritual sense of walking in the Kingdom of God's Light. "To walk worthily of God, who is calling us to His kingdom and glory, is to have one's whole course of life preserved in harmony with God's gracious work upon the soul, and with the high and hallowed destiny with which that work is lovingly connected, and into which it is ever ripening. And such being the propriety and necessity of this worthy walk, the apostle and his fellow-laborers laid themselves out in exhorting, encouraging, and charging the Thessalonian believers - all of them as a body, each of them by himself - to maintain it (1 Peter 5:10)" (John Eadie).
Verse 13, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe."
LGT "And because of this we also give thanks to God unceasingly, that, having received [the] Word by [the] preaching of God by us, ye accepted not men's word, but even as it is truly, God's Word, which also works in you who believe."
And because of this: our coming in and ministering to you in these several ways mentioned in the last verse. We give also thanks to God unceasingly: Paul says that because of their receiving the Word of God so willingly that he keeps thanking God. That, having received the Word by the preaching of God by us: Paul says that when he preached the gospel of grace to them, they listened, and by listening the received it. Paul preached, they received it, but God gave it. Ye accepted not men's word, but even as it is truly, God's Word: They did not accept the Word of God simply as from Paul, but as truly from God. "As a message spoken to them and heard by them, it was a word from men; but when they accepted it, they accepted it in its divine character, the Word of God. Men were but the instruments; God was the primary author and origin. To accept a human word is ordinary credence [acceptance]; to accept a divine word is saving faith, accompanied in them that believe with joy in the Holy Ghost. The first part of the process, the hearing and comprehension of the message, may exist without the second; but the second, the belief, ever implies the first (Rom. 12:14)." Which also works in you who believe: "For the Word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).
Verse 14, "For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews."
LGT "For ye became imitators, brethren, of the assemblies of God, which are in Judea, in Christ Jesus; because the same things ye also suffered from your own countrymen, just as also they from the Jews:"
For ye became imitators, brethren, of the assemblies of God, which are in Christ Jesus: Paul wrote this for their comfort and encouragement. The unbelieving faction of the Jews was vicious against the believing Jews in Judea that made up the assembly in Judea. Because the same things ye also suffered from your own countrymen, just as also they from the Jews: "The Jews which believed not, moved with envy, set all the city on an uproar." "They drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, Those that have turned the world upside down have come hither also;" Acts 17:5, 6. The same thing occurred a short time after at Berea. "When the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the Word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also and stirred up the people:" Acts 17:13; comp. Acts 14:2. "The unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil-affected against the brethren." "The epistle, therefore, represents the case accurately as the history states it. It was the Jews always who set on foot the persecutions against the apostles and their followers;" (Paley, quoted by Barnes).
Verse 15, "Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men."
LGT "Who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and do not please God, and [are] contrary to all men."
Who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets: this is justification for Paul's praising the Christian assemblies in Judea. The Jews killed the prophets before the Lord Jesus, for they were predicting Christ's incarnation. Paul and Peter both laid the death of Christ on the Jews, "Him [Christ], being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain; whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it" (Acts 2:23, 24). And drove us out: "Paul describes how he was driven out in Acts 17:5ff, when the rabbis and hoodlums from the marketplace chased him out of Thessalonica by the help of the city rulers." And do not please God: Paul remembers how when he was a Pharisee, that he sought to stamp out all remnants of Christianity; now he says that is exactly what these rabbis and rabble rousing Jews were doing when they ran him out; however, Paul knows better now. And are contrary to all men: this is Paul's description of the unbelieving Jews. "Tacitus (Hist. 5:5) describes the Jews as stubborn in their faith, prompt in kindly offices to each other, but bitterly hostile toward everybody else. Juvenal (Sat. 14:102 f.) says that they observe and respect whatever Moses has taught in his material volume; not to show the way to one who practices the same rites, and to show the well only to the circumcised" (Marvin Vincent).
Verse 16, "Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost."
LGT "Forbidding us to speak to the nations that they may be saved, for to fill up their sins always: but wrath is come upon him to the uttermost."
Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles in that they might be saved: the unsaved Jews put up a stumblingblock everywhere Paul presented the gospel of free grace, not only to the Jews themselves, but also to the nations, that is, the uncircumcised. The Jewish leader's opposition to Paul was that no Gentile could be saved by grace alone, but they had to become proselytes to the Jewish religion and keep the Law of Moses. For to fill up their sins always: "Always blind and stubborn, the Jews filled up the measure of their sins by their treatment of Christ and His apostles . . . Always (pantote) emphatically placed at the end of the sentence. At all times - before Christ, in Christ's time, now - the Jews by their resistance to the divine Word fill up their sins " (Vincent). But wrath is come upon him to the uttermost: Paul is not referring here to the final wrath of God at the Great White Throne of Judgment at the last day, but the on going lost condition of unbelief; "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36). God's wrath is remaining on all unbelievers. The final wrath of God against all unbelief will be manifest in the last day when all unbelief will be cast into the lake of fire. The Jews have been abandoned by God, and they will remain abandoned until they receive His Son as their Savior, the same as the Gentiles, for the "middle wall of partition as been destroyed forever", by the wonderful work Christ sacrificed for us all on the cross.
Paul's Desire to Visit the Church Again
Verse 17, "But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire."
LGT "But we, brethren, having been bereaved from you for a season of an hour, in person not in heart, were diligent more abundantly to see your face with much desire."
But we, brethren, having been bereaved from you for a season of an hour: Paul had been separated from them for a short duration, how long is impossible to know, at least several months; and the term "bereaved from you" is his way of letting them know that it was like a father being separated from his children. In person not in heart: away from them in person but not in heart, the heart being the seat of affection, that is, "out of sight, but not out of mind. "Being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart. Isn't this lovely of the apostle Paul? He was actually run out of Thessalonica, but his heart was still there. He hated to leave these Christians and wanted to be able to see them again. By the way, he did" (McGee). Were diligent more abundantly to see your face with much desire: Paul really feels that absence makes the heart grow fonder. It was not from desire to see them, that he was separated from them, but his absence was beyond his control, for he said, "Satan prevented him (vs. 18)." Paul had the deepest desire to be with them in their hour of need, from the trials and persecutions they had to endure.
Verse 18, "Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us."
LGT "Because we willed to come to you, I indeed Paul, both once and twice, but Satan hindered us."
Because we willed to come to you: Paul says they willed to come to them, which is stronger than wish or desire; it means they determined with earnest intent. I indeed Paul: Paul is not saying that his associates had any less desire to see them; it simply means, "that he is emphasizing his own determinate desire". Both once and twice, but Satan hindered us: Paul says here that Satan hindered him, and in another place he says God had not permitted him (Rom. 1:13); now the two are not contradictory, for even as Satan does his part in hindering the spreading of the gospel of grace, God is the supreme Authority, "Paul accordingly says truly that God does not permit, although the hindrance comes from Satan" (Calvin).
Verse 19, "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?"
LGT "For what [is] our hope or joy or crown of boasting - or [are] not even ye before our Lord Jesus at His coming?"
For what is our hope: Paul uses this word hope, not in maybe so, maybe not, but in earnest expectation, that in spite of all the trials and tribulations they both will meet Christ soon at His second coming. Or joy: the joy Paul felt was the fact that they all were trophies of grace through his earnest labor of love among them; not that he expected a reward, just that they were his reward both now and in eternity. Or crown of boasting: "As the victor boasts of his crown, the apostle might rejoice in the salvation of his converts through God's grace and by his preaching" (Eadie). Paul also shows in his epistles that he claimed a crown not only for the salvation of his converts, but also for their accepting grace doctrine and applying them to their lives. Before our Lord Jesus at His coming: Paul makes it very clear that he anticipated a "joy and crown of rejoicing" when he and they all stood in Christ's presence at His second coming, when they would meet Him face to face, and that he would be sharing in God's blessing, and that he was God's instrument in their salvation.
Verse 20, "For ye are our glory and joy."
LGT "For ye are our glory and joy."
Paul is letting them know that his not coming to them did not in any way dampen his enthusiasm for their spiritual welfare, and that they are his crown of rejoicing and joy before our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The next chapter is a continuation of this one.
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