The First Epistle To The Thessalonians - Executable Outlines
The First Epistle To The Thessalonians - Executable Outlines
The First Epistle To The Thessalonians - Executable Outlines
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What Is Our Hope, Glory, And Joy?<br />
1 <strong>The</strong>ssalonians 2:17-20<br />
INTRODUCTION<br />
1. Soon after the church at <strong>The</strong>ssalonica was started, Paul was forced to leave...<br />
a. Unbelieving Jews had created problems for some of the members - cf. Ac 17:5-9<br />
b. Paul and Silas had to be sent away by night - Ac 17:10<br />
2. In his letter to the <strong>The</strong>ssalonians, Paul reflects upon their abrupt departure...<br />
a. How it created an eager desire to see them again - 1 Th 2:17<br />
b. How Satan had hindered them from fulfilling that desire - 1 Th 2:18<br />
c. Prompting him to ask the question: “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?”<br />
- 1 Th 2:19<br />
3. We do well to ask ourselves the same question...<br />
a. What is our hope? For what do we long with desire and expectation?<br />
b. What is our joy? What gives us true happiness and satisfaction?<br />
c. What is our crown of rejoicing? What provides the highest degree of joy in our lives?<br />
-- Is our answer the same as Paul’s? Should it be?<br />
[As we consider what our answer should be, let’s examine more closely our text and the answer Paul<br />
gave...]<br />
I. PAUL’S HOPE, GLORY, AND JOY<br />
A. WE READ OF HIS DESIRE TO SEE THEM...<br />
1. He had been “taken away” from them - 1 Th 2:17<br />
a. He is referring to his necessary departure - Ac 17:10<br />
b. He uses a word that implies a painful bereavement, like a child taken away from his or<br />
her parents (Barnes)<br />
2. He had been away from their presence only “a short time” - 1 Th 2:17<br />
a. Exactly how long, we do not know<br />
b. Probably no more than a year, if not months<br />
3. He “endeavored more eagerly” to see them “with great desire” - 1 Th 2:17<br />
a. Note the repeated emphasis of his longing to see them<br />
b. His desire likely heightened by the manner in which he had to leave them<br />
B. WE LEARN WHAT PREVENTED HIM...<br />
1. He wanted to come to them “time and again” - 1 Th 2:18<br />
a. Either from Berea or Athens<br />
b. But he was hindered<br />
2. It was Satan who hindered him - 1 Th 2:18<br />
a. He attributes the persecution by his fellow Jews to Satan<br />
Mark A. Copeland<br />
Sermons From <strong>First</strong> <strong>The</strong>ssalonians 25
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