 Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Good morning, Nina. Good morning. Good morning. So, welcome to BC 103, the class on the New Testament survey before we could begin with our session on 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. May I request one of us to please lead us in prayer? Shri, can you please lead us in prayer? Shri Radha? Yes, yes. Okay. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for this time, for this day that you have given us God, and we all came here to learn more from your Word, God, and give us the wisdom and knowledge that we can understand your Word and lead by your Holy Spirit, God. We surrender every student and Pastor Dana in your hand, God. You bless us, God. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Thank you. So, let me share the PowerPoint presentation. Give me a minute, please. Okay. Is my video clear? My voice is clear. If there's any time there's a drop in the network with my video or my voice, please let me know so that I can switch the network to a different network. Anand, you're there, right? Yes, ma'am. It's good, ma'am. It's good, ma'am. Okay. So, the voice and the video is clear, right, Anand? Yes, ma'am. Okay. So, any time it drops, please let me know so that, you know, I can switch the network to something. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Let me quickly share the screen about our presentation. Okay. So, today we're going to cover both the letters, first and second Thessalonians. First Thessalonians have about five chapters and in second Thessalonians we have about three chapters. So, the first Thessalonians cover the first, second and third chapter is mostly on, you know, Apostle Paul was the author of this letter. He wrote this letter in the second missionary journey. And the first three chapters from first Thessalonians, more or less, its perspective is to looking back. And fourth and fifth chapter, it is more towards looking ahead. And here we see in the first chapter, it mostly talks about the new converts. And in second chapter, it talks about the young pastors. And chapter three addresses on the certain issues on the suffering or the persecuting Christians. Then the last chapter, four and five, four addresses, few concerns on being tempted and uniformed Christians. And chapter five, that is the last chapter from the first Thessalonians, it addresses on the sleepy Christians. And in second Thessalonians, we have three chapters. The first chapter, yes, it addresses about the trouble from the outside. And the second and third chapter addresses the trouble from within, from inside, inside the church itself. And yes, in second Thessalonians, we have only three chapters. And all the three chapters carries a different theme. The chapter one talks about faith. How do we preserve faith? And chapter two gives us a hope. In midst of all these confusion, it gives us a hope. And chapter three talks about love. There are certain people within the church who rebel against their responsibilities that they have. In midst of all that Apostle Paul is talking about love and how we need to hold that love. So as we address them, okay, let's look at the background. Let's look at the city of Thessalonica itself. The city was founded in 313 BC and was named after the wife of the founder. So under the Roman Empire, it became the capital city of Macedonia in approximately 146 BC. It was a significant trading city with the largest harbor in that region. And later we also see that it became the second largest city in Macedonia, second only to Philippi. We also see that this city still exists today. Yes, there's a lot of ruins, but then the existence of the city is still there. The books of first and second Thessalonians were written by Apostle Paul on a second missionary journey while he was either in Athens or in Corinth. So this letter was probably written between 52 to 54 AD. And these two books are very closely tied together and they were written like within few months itself. So the very purpose of these letters, let's look at the purpose of this letter. Paul had received a report from Timothy regarding the condition of the church. And yes, there was positive and negative. The report had both positive and negative. So on the positive side, we see that the believers in the church of Thessalonica had been very faithful even under the persecution, under the pressure of the persecution. When we read in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 1 to 10. Can I request one of us to please read? Sriradha, can you read? Nina, anyone? Anyone who was available, please take a. Father chapter 1 verse 1 to 10. Yes. Paul, Silvanus and Timothy. To the church of Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our prayers. Remembering without seizing your work of faith, the labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father. Knowing beloved brethren, your election by God for our gospel did not come to you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only Macedonia and Achaia but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out so that we do not need to say anything but they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. Amen. Thank you so much. So what we see is especially when we read from verse 6 to 8 we see that you became followers of us and of the Lord having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit so there was a pressure of persecution but you see the Thessalonians try to be a remain faithful even under the pressure of persecution that is what we see and they had the joy of the Holy Spirit so that they became the example to all in Macedonia and in Achaia who believed. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and Achaia but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out so that we do not need to say anything. So this is what Apostle Paul is being very encouraged with the Church of Thessalonica for their faithfulness. There was persecution everywhere but then in this church it was little different. The believers may be small in number but what he is saying is the faithful even under the persecution they were faithful and here these people this church has been trying to stand out even under this pressure so this is what Apostle Paul is saying just standing out and I don't have to say anything just you know look at the example of yours okay in whole of Macedonia and Achaia the way you have believed on Jesus Christ the way you're standing you're holding on to your faith you've been standing out as an example and at the same time he's also addressing certain negative things from this church okay so let's try to look into certain scripture from chapter 2. He says on the negative side there were a few problems that Apostle Paul felt that he need to address. One was Paul felt the need to defend some of his actions when we see from chapter 2 verse 1 to 16 we see some of the conversation he's addressing on how he conducted himself among them so he says for you yourself no brethren that are coming to you was not in vain but even after we had suffered before and we spitefully treated at Philippi as you know we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict we also see one of the reason that the church was standing strong because Apostle Paul was strong even under the persecution Apostle Paul also had the same kind of pressure but here he gave an example by holding on to his faith strong and you know he preached the gospel to this church for our exhortation and I'm reading from chapter 2 verse 3 for our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness or Lord was it in deceit but as we have been approved by God to be trusted with the gospel even so we speak not as pleasing men but God who tests our heart so as an apostle he's also defending his apostleship but then he's giving them an account and he goes on to verse 5 and he says for neither at any time did we use flattering words as you know not a clock for covetousness God is witness so Apostle Paul was a person who was very direct he never used any kind of flattering word to entice people but then he was very direct so he's he's encouraging the people how to contact themself as the leader as a church man as a believer how you need to contact yourself he goes beyond that verse 6 he says nor did we seek glory from men either from you or from others when we might have made demands as apostle of Christ these are the few this they are self-explanatory so I will just go directly read so that we understand what was Apostle Paul trying to tell this church in Thessalonica the correction that is bringing to them about how to conduct themselves verse 7 says but we were gentle among you just as a nursing mother cherishes our own children so affectionately longing for you we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives because you had become dear to us he taught them with love for you remember brethren our labor and toil for laboring night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you we preached to you the gospel of God verse 10 you are witnesses and God also how devotely and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe as you know how we exorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children so he was not very lovingly to this church but then he also was stern in certain things he was bringing correction to them he was correction comforting and charged that is raising each one to be strong leaders in the church and he did all that with the fatherly heart you know considering each one as his own children that's when you see all these three things come in when somebody you know looks at you as their own children you know they want to see you somebody better in life they want to see you grow in leadership grow in the Lord that's when they try to do implement these three things that is correction comfort and charge that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory so for this reason we also thank God without seizing because when you receive the word of God which you heard from us you welcomed it not as a word of men but as it is in truth the word of God which also effectively works in you who believe for you brethren became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus for you also suffered the same thing from your own countrymen just as they did from Judea who killed both Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us and they do not please God and are contrary to all men 16 forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved so as always to fill the measure of their sin but blood has come upon them to the utmost so here we also see a possible warning them and he's telling them why he was not with them in the later part when you read from 17 to 20 he's also saying why I was not brethren I've been taken away from you for a short time in presence not in heart endure more eagerly to see your face with great desire therefore we wanted to come to you even I Paul time and again but Satan hindered us for what is our hope our joy a crown of rejoicing it is not even you in the presence of a Lord Jesus Christ at this coming for you are our glory and joy so he looks at the church at Thessalonians and he says that you are the glory and joy of us so and that's why he sends Timothy to this church you know when there was pressure and persecution he left so to avoid any confusion he leave the church just give me a minute one second sorry I'm back thank you so much so yeah we see that during the persecution at church at Thessalonica we may look at it deeply later like there was a reason there was a reason why Apostle Paul left Thessalonica and then he allowed he encouraged Timothy to stay back to take care of the church we also see Apostle Paul addressing on chapter four certain things like Paul fell the need to admonish them regarding the Christian behavior so certain things the three things that I see in this chapter that he's trying to address was on self purity that is on sexual purity chapter four verse one to eight when we read he talks about you know on how to manage or maintain the sexual sexual purity can I request one of y'all to please turn to chapter four verse one to eight and one of us can please read finally then brethren we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more just as you receive from us how you ought to walk and please God for you know what commandments we gave you to the Lord Jesus for this is the will of God your sanctification that you should abstain from sexual immorality that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor not in passion of lust like a Gentile who do not know God that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter because the Lord is a vendor of all such as we also forewarn you and testify for God do not call us to uncleanness but in holiness therefore he who rejects this does not reject man but God who has also given us his holy spirit thank you so much so as the yeah it's self-explanatory as they addressed on self-purity in this chapter is also explaining on the brotherly love can one of y'all prince can you please read from chapter four verse nine to twelve please chapter nine chapter four nine to twelve but concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another and indeed you do so toward all brethren who are in who are in all Macedonia but we urge you brethren that you increase more and more that you also aspire to lead a quiet life to mind your own business and to work with your own hands as we commanded you that you may walk properly towards those who are outside and that you may lack nothing thank you so here Apostle Paul is addressing on the brotherly love how as a brother we need to be concerned about each other and he also goes ahead in chapter 11 verse 11 he also addresses to avoid any kind of conflict he says please let's mind our own business and you know work with our own hands as we are commanded to do so and verse 12 says that you may walk properly toward those who are outside that you may not lack anything so if we have our own correction how can we correct another person so Apostle Paul is you know encouraging each of us to check our own contact help us to help me I mean each of us walk rightly so that we may not be lacking in anything else okay and chapter 5 verse 12 and 13 can I request anyone else to read chapter 5 verse 12 and 13 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 12 and 13 ma'am yes we ask you brothers to respect those who labor among you and over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work be at peace among themselves yeah thank you so much so here we see Apostle Paul is encouraging the church leadership to treat one another with love he's urging them he's saying recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake be at peace among yourself as much as possible even in the different letters Apostle Paul is encouraging each of us as much as possible live with peace with one another and also we see Paul felt the need to correct them in the doctrinal area and relating to the afterlife and the second coming of Jesus Christ so Timothy most likely delivered this letter to the church we also we will also look at a certain background of this letter okay so the when we look at the background of both first and second Thessalonians we see that Paul found this church in his second missionary journey so first missionary journey sorry first missionary journey we know who are the people who went together right it was Paul and Barnabas so in second missionary journey there was a drift between Apostle Paul and Barnabas so they both separated went towards different places so Barnabas took John Mark and headed out to different place so Apostle Paul took Silas and he headed out on a second missionary journey so he first from Antioch of Syria he goes towards the churches that which was found in the first missionary journey and then he tarries at a place because the Holy Spirit did not allow him to move further this is where we covered in the last class so now what happened the Apostle Paul receives a vision and in the vision he sees a man from Macedonia crying crying and asking Apostle Paul to come and help him so with that vision Apostle Paul decides to go towards Macedonia and here we see Paul and Silas they they went to Macedonia to preach the gospel after seeing that vision and they immediately responded and went to first to Philippi what happened in Philippi they were beaten up and put into prison we read that and that it was the inner dungeon there put into and shortly after they were released by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit and even the the jailer was encountered by the whole incident and through this whole incident the prison the jailer and his whole family the jailer and his whole family received the salvation through Apostle Paul so after the because of the persecution pressure there Apostle Paul and Silas left Philippi and they came to Thessalonica we see this in Acts chapter 16 Acts chapter 1640 we saw what happened in the prison and what was the persecution pressure that Apostle Paul was going through and in Acts chapter 17 verse 1 can I request one of y'all to please read Acts chapter 17 so all these episodes can be understood only with the help of Acts Acts chapter 17 verse 1 if you'll have taken you can read now when they had passed can you hear me yes yes now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews thank you Nina so we see that Apostle Paul came to Thessalonica and he first goes to the synagogue because this was the norm wherever Apostle Paul went to a new place he went in search of a synagogue and if the synagogue was not there then he went on the streets to share the gospel but as a norm he went to the synagogue and he shares the gospel and if the Jews received it good but when they reject he then steps out of the synagogue and shares the gospel to the Gentiles who are there so in chapter 17 verse 1 to 3 when we read I'll read second and third one then Paul as his custom was went into them and for three Sabbath reasoned with them from the scriptures explaining and demonstrating that Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead saying this Jesus whom I preach to you is Christ so Apostle Paul followed his normal custom and started his missionary journey in the synagogue of the Jews and then he reasons out there then he see that you know the Jews were not very keen in receiving the word and then you know what happens verse 4 and some of them were persuaded and a great multitude of the devote Greeks and not a few of the leading women joined Paul and Silas but the Jews were not persuaded becoming envious took some of the evil men from the marketplace and gathering a mob set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason where Apostle Paul was still and sought to bring them out to the people verse 6 but when they did not find them they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city crying out these who have turned the world upside down have come here too Jason has harbored them and these are all acting contrary to the degrees of Caesar saying there is another king Jesus and they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things so when they had taken security from Jason and the rest they let them go so this is what happened so Paul had his usual twofold reaction in that quite a number of people were persuaded and believed but those who were not persuaded and did not believe in Jesus stirred up a right against Apostle Paul and you know the household of Jason they dragged to the magistrate with all the false charges against him and then the the council they took in took certain charges security charges from Jason and they let Apostle Paul and others go through so because of this pressure of situation Paul and Silas were smuggled out of the town by night and they went to Biria where they continued to minister we see that in verse 10 then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Biria when they arrived they went into synagogue of the Jews and then we see was 13 13 and 14 but when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Apostle Paul at Biria they didn't stop there you know they came there and also stirred up the crowds then immediately the brethren sent Paul away to go to the sea both Silas and Timothy remained there so Silas and Timothy remained at Biria and Apostle Paul left so Paul was forced to leave this place because of these riot so Paul travelled to Athens where he ministered in the marketplace while he waited for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him we see that when we read from verse 15 to 34 we see that and eventually Timothy joined Apostle Paul in Athens long enough Paul had to send him back to Thessalonica to help to strengthen the new believers with a new work which God started in them so Paul did not stay in Athens for long he went on to Corinth where he started a business and he partnered with Achila and Priscilla and then he also started a prayer group in their place and he started to preach in the synagogue where we see that in Acts chapter 18 verse 1 to 4 after these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth and he found a certain Jew named Achila born in Pontius who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla we see that because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome and he came to them so because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked for by occupation they were tent makers and he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks so he started to stay there teach them a teach in the synagogue we also see from verse 6 to 8 but when they opposed him blasphemy he shook his garment and said to them your blood be upon your heads I'm clean from now on I will go to the Gentiles he was very clear when he said that because there was a continuous persecution from the Jews so for which he went toward the Gentiles because they were more receptive in receiving the gospel and verse 7 we see that he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justice one who worshipped God whose house was next door to the synagogue then Crispus the ruler of the synagogue believed on the Lord with all his household and many of the Corinthians hearing believed and way back verse 9 and 10 okay verse 9 and 10 now the Lord spoke to Apostle Paul in the night by a vision do not be afraid but speak and do not keep silent for I am with you and no one will attack you to hurt you for I have many people in this city that was a good news and a door open for Apostle Paul from the Lord and you see the follow-up of the church continued Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to strengthen the new believers in the work that God has begun among them and we also see when Timothy returned and gave a report to Apostle Paul Paul wrote to follow-up on the report that is in the second Thessalonians we see that the report had two emphasis that Paul addressed Paul commanded them for their faith Paul commanded them for their faith in face of adversity second we see that Paul corrected some problems that were prevalent in the church and that was one of the reason why he wrote second letter okay let me see okay this is the map sorry I didn't project it before okay we see Thessalonians first he came to Philippi when he entered Macedonia he went to Philippi then from Philippi he moved to Thessalonica from Thessalonica he went to barrier because of the persecution and this is where he was preaching minister and he sent back Timothy back to Thessalonica to strengthen the new church and believers yeah and then later he came to Corinth and from here he wrote the letters to Thessalonica okay I've not come here let me be here okay so Paul wrote the second letter to the church to address certain certain you want to address briefly at the end of their third missionary journey which this letter was circulated to them and the address in the second Thessalonians the address is on faith hope and love and also about the second coming of Jesus Christ okay we will move on to look at the theme of this letter first and second Thessalonians Paul was you know counteracting on some false concept that the people had regarding the second coming of Jesus they they were suggesting that the Christians who die in faith would not have the same glorious experience of Christ return so they would miss out on that they were expecting that the second coming of Jesus would be immediate so Paul let the people know that the second coming will not be a quiet event that those who die in faith would faith would not miss out so he addresses on certain things here he says Christ will return with a loud shout and Archangel will make a similar commotion and he also says that we see that in first Thessalonians chapter 4 we can turn to first Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13 to 17 okay he addresses on these things they would be a loud trumpet will sound and that those who are dead in the Christ will rise first because they have future to go and then those believers who are alive on earth that's we will ascend with them to meet the Lord in the hair and lastly he also addresses that we will live together with the Lord forever he also addresses from 9 to 12 in the same chapter 9 to 12 they were those who were suggesting since Christ return was imminent they there was no need to stay engaged in work they were opposing people from being you know engaged in work so Apostle Paul is you know addressing all these challenges to tell them like when the Lord is coming it will be a great event so you do what you are doing occupy with the work till the Lord comes and we also seen 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 18 he says focuses on the relationship of the second coming of Christ so in relation to the believer so this book sees the comfort size of the comfort side of the second coming of Jesus so this is the last word therefore comfort one another with these words in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 7 to 10 when we read verse 7 to 10 here we see it focuses on the relationship of second coming of Christ in relation to the unbeliever so the book sees the judgment side of the second coming yeah I would encourage all to please read this so that we can save up on time to cover both these letters so there are three keywords in this letter in the 2 Thessalonians we see three keywords of the biblical or the Christian experience we can talk about that is faith hope and love let's turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 2 and 3 it says to this 2 and 3 we give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our prayer remembering without seizing your work of faith hope that is faith labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father so we see that this letter is addressing on these three key words that is faith hope and love so the their work of faith their labor of love their patience of hope and you know it okay let me yeah okay we see in this whole letter that is first and second Thessalonians the word faith the key word faith occurs more than 13 times and hope occurs more than five times and love occurs eight times and Paul commends the believers at Thessalonica for three things for three things one is the work of faith the work of faith so we see that the work of faith is seen in these believers was during the turning from idols they turning to God in the face of persecution and their joy in the Holy Spirit yeah so this is where we see their work of faith and the next point we see their labor of love is seen in these believers was the willingness to serve the living God and all that it means we also see the area of patience of hope when Paul sought to strengthen the church their hope was to wait for Christ return and to prospect of you know to be delivered and from wrath to come upon and we also see throughout Apostle Paul's epistles okay so the letters like first Thessalonians first Corinthians Galatians Colossians first and second Timothy Titus Revelation yeah even in the second Thessalonians we see some of these words follow in all these letter Apostle Paul talks about or preaches the gospel by encouraging in these three key factors that is faith open love to the believers in Christy also emphasizes on the deity and exaltation of Lord Jesus Christ we see in the whole letter the phrase of the word Lord Jesus or Jesus Christ Jesus Christ the key words have been used many times in these two letters first and second Thessalonians whereas the addresses Lord Jesus Christ 20 times Lord Jesus has four times Lord 21 times yeah I've just listed out those numbers so some of the unique features of this book is Paul gives us a good look at the spirit of truth and false ministry yeah almost I'm finishing false ministry and Paul teaches them how to face adversity especially to the church in Thessalonica is teaching about how to face adversity by telling them you know maintain your example in affliction your testimony is stronger because of what you are going through and he's also encouraging them saying maintain your boldness do not fear what men can do to you by saying that he's also setting himself as an example to the church and he's also encouraging them saying maintain your faith knowing that the affliction is part of your destiny as believers so he's been very direct or frying to tell them as a believer what we would be going through and he's also encouraging them and telling them saying that God will take care of those who trouble you remember that you will find the rest when Christ returns that's the greater glory that's the reward that you would get when Jesus Christ comes the second coming he also addresses on you know in second Thessalonians we see that Apostle Paul introduces us to the Antichrist that is in the second Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 3 to 12 he addresses on this he's saying that he is seen as a man of sin the son of prediction and the lawless one he also says that he will perform lying signs and wonders he will deceive many who will worship him as God and he will be destroyed at the second coming of Jesus Christ so he's preparing the church he's preparing the church for them to be more focused on Jesus Christ so whatever the persecution that they are enduring is for a shorter while be bold be fearless hold on to your faith your reward is in the Lord so just like our Apostle Paul is encouraging the believers in the Thessalonian church we see that this letter also encourages you and me as we wait upon the Lord for the second coming of Jesus Christ so as we are waiting upon the Lord can we examine ourselves and ask can we example ourselves and ask God is our hope in Christ return changing the way we live our life are we disciplining and are we having this self control evident in our life when we ask certain questions and examine ourselves there may be certain areas of the Holy Spirit will throw light upon and we can correct and bring a change in our life let these two letters be a witness to discipline us to draw us close to the Lord can we close this session with the word of prayer yeah dear God we thank you we praise you we love you Lord we pray that these two letters as we study on first and second Thessalonians Lord I pray that letter discipline change us inside out may we be bold and fearless as we wait upon you as we undergo the persecution the pressure that what we are going through in different places Father I pray that Lord you will draw us close to you help us to be prepare ourselves and discipline ourselves and be in with an expectant heart for the second coming of Jesus Christ Lord may this letter be a true witness may bring change in discipline us Lord thank you Father in Jesus name we pray amen amen class thank you so much for joining in I've taken your time we need to be quick so that we are there for the second hour thank you so much God bless thank you for joining in today good bless