ACC ~ Colossians 4 v18

THE CHRISTIAN WAY. CHRYSOSTOM: Hear Paul’s chains, and you will understand that to be in affliction is no proof of being forsaken. Would you wear silken robes? Remember Paul’s chains, and these fine clothes will appear to you more worthless than the rags of a menstruating woman. Would you array yourself with gold trinkets? Listen in your mind to Paul’s chains, and trinkets will seem to you no better than a withered bulrush. … Would you daub yourself with pastes and pigments and similar things? Think of Paul’s tears: for three years, night and day, he continued to weep. … What fountain will you compare to these tears? HOMILIES ON COLOSSIANS 12.

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS

ARGUMENT: After leaving the Christians of Thessalonica, Paul had sent Timothy back to them from Athens. He now writes to praise them for their firmness of faith, as well as to exhort them to look for the resurrection of the dead (THEODORET). Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians in order to praise them for their steadfastness in faith and to give them further instruction (THEODORE). Here Paul encourages the Thessalonian Christians, who have endured a great deal of persecution and who remain vulnerable to pagan Greek influences. Central to Paul’s encouragement is his teaching about the resurrection of the dead, since grief at the death of fellow believers is an especially heavy burden for the Thessalonians (SEVERIAN). They must not be too curious about the exact time of the Lord’s coming (THEODORET). Paul praises the Thessalonians as an example of faith but also presses them to push on toward perfection. He wishes them to have such a measure of the Spirit that in the hope of what is to come they might continue to suffer persecution for the name of Christ (AMBROSIASTER).

GREETINGS AND PRAISE 1 THESSALONIANS 1:1-10

OVERVIEW: Paul’s intention in this opening section is to come before the Thessalonians in all humility, eschewing all titles, magnifying the work of his associates and praising the Thessalonians for their great faith and their hard work during persecution (CHRYSOSTOM). The very nature of true faith is that it arouses believers to good work, for love produces steadfastness in laboring, and hope produces endurance with patience. Paul gives thanks for all of the progress that the Thessalonians have made, holding them up to the other churches and praying for their continued growth (AMBROSIASTER). Paul shows here that the believer who has perfect love, whose faith is whole, is able to bear all things patiently for the sake of the future hope (PELAGIUS).

Col