1 Thessalonians 1:1
1 Paul, [Paulos] and [kai] Silvanus, [Silouanos] and [kai] Timotheus, [Timotheos] unto the church [ekklesia] of the Thessalonians [Thessalonikeus] which is in [en] God [theos] the Father [pater] and [kai] in the Lord [kurios] Jesus [Iesous] Christ: [Christos] Grace [charis] be unto you, [humin] and [kai] peace, [eirene] from [apo] God [theos] our [hemon] Father, [pater] and [kai] the Lord [kurios] Jesus [Iesous] Christ. [Christos] KJV-Interlinear
1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy
to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace. NASB
Paul means, small or
little.Silvanus means, who loves the
forest.And Silvanus often times called
Silas means, three.Timothy means, honor
of God, valued of God.
The story of the Thessalonians
is found in Acts 17.When Paul was
there, a rebellion caused him to leave that city. Silas and Timothy were sent back to preserve
and maintain that starting church and later they returned to Paul.
It was upon this
occasion of good news that they brought to Paul, that
this first letter of encouragement was written to the Thessalonian
Church.
The central theme of
this letter is waiting.
The Thessalonians were
in a bit of a hurry for the final judgment, and of course little did they know
that it was not to occur for nearly 2000 years, and we are still waiting for
the next Biblical event (the Rapture) to occur.
But waiting not only applies
to the final judgment, it applies to your daily individual life as well. Folks want things to happen fast or right
now, in their life.And for the most
part, most of us do not listen enough, nor learn enough until we are much older
in our life before we learn that there is a great deal of history unfolding
right before our eyes.
History not only has to
unfold for the world as a whole, but that whole is really the collective
histories of every individual who has, is, and will live on this earth. And steadily, day by day, God brings it all
together, one piece at a time.
It usually takes us
years or decades or longer before we can see how history is being fitted
together.
Satans, ultimate goal is one world government. Ruled by him of course. That counters the one world rule of Christ
which will occur in the Millennium.
Satan has to be first though.
He began his rule by
trying to destroy humanity before Noah s flood, but that didn t work. He tried to build up empires from the Assyrian
Empire to the Roman Empire.But those
six empires did not work (review our study in Revelation).
There is only one empire
remaining, the seventh, for Satan, but he has to wait until God has assembled
the nations, and aligned them up in every detail, for Satan s final attempt. But this is jumping ahead a little in our
study.
The Thessalonians are
addressed in the Father and through the Lord, Jesus Christ. There is but one God and Savior, one plan and
one history, one faith and one ultimate destiny for those who have believed in
the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ.
Many plans and
philosophies float around this world, but many are the plans of man, and of them all, none will ever succeed.