1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13, Paul’s Fear Alleviated

Can you imagine starting a church with new believers, only to have to leave them after three weeks because of the persecution, and hearing as the weeks go by that they are still being persecuted? Paul confesses to worrying that these new believers might have abandoned their faith in the face of such ferocious opposition.

^2:17 But when we were deprived of you, brothers and sisters, for a short time, in person, not in heart, we became all the more eager to see you, with great desire. ¹⁸ So we wanted to come to you, I Paul time and again, and Satan hindered us. ¹⁹ For what is our hope, or joy, or proud victor’s crown before our Lord Jesus at his coming, if it isn’t you? You are our glory and our joy.

^3:1 Therefore, when we could stand it no longer, we felt it best to remain in Athens by ourselves, ² and sent Timothy our brother and God’s servant in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, ³ so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions you were suffering. For you are aware that we are appointed to this kind of suffering. ⁴ Even when we were with you, we told you in advance that such afflictions were coming. And as you know, they did. ⁵ Because of this, when I could no longer stand it, I sent Timothy to find out if your faith held firm, worried the tempter had tempted you and our labor was in vain. ⁶ But now Timothy has come to us after seeing you and given us the good news of your faith and love and that you fondly remember us, always longing to see us even as we long to see you. ⁷ So, we are encouraged by you, brothers and sisters, in our own affliction and distress over you, because your faith has held. ⁸ For we feel alive now since you are standing firm in the Lord. ⁹ What thanks can we pay back to God for you for all the great joy we have on account of you before our God, ¹⁰ after such earnest prayers for you night and day that we might see you in person and mend what is lacking in your faith?

¹¹ Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord, Jesus, direct our way to you. ¹² And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow in love for one another and for everyone even as our love overflows for you ¹³ that you may stand firm in your hearts, blameless in holiness before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his saints.

Several things stand out here:

1. Paul was desperate to come to Thessalonica to bolster the faith of these new believers. He was conducting ministry in the places he had gone to (Athens, in particular), but he was only absent from Thessalonica because he was a target of persecution.
2. Satan had a vested interest in stirring up the persecution and preventing Paul from returning.
3. Paul had trusted teammates, like Timothy, who could enter the city and check on the new Christians.
4. The Thessalonians had held true to the faith despite the persecution.
5. Paul knew that all of this was in God’s plan and anticipated God bringing him back to Thessalonica in His timing.
6. Paul depended on God to grow the believers’ faith and love, and anticipated their standing well in the judgment when Jesus returned. That is, he felt their faith in Christ was genuine and that God was working His holiness into their lives as would be the case with true believers.