1 and 2 Thessalonians: A Blackaby Bible Study Series

By Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, Tom Blackaby and 2 more

Let five premiere teachers of God's Word lead you to a closer, more intimate understanding of God's message to His people. Intended as companions to the Blackaby Study Bible, these guides also stand alone as a complete study of a book of the Bible.

The lessons include:

• Leader's Notes
• 7 studies based on reference materials included in the Blackaby Study Bible
• An explanation and interpretation of Scripture
• A story that illustrates the passage in focus
• Other Bible verses related to the theme
• Questions for reflection
• Suggestions for application in everyday life

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Sep 16, 2008
• ISBN: 9781418580896

Book preview

Encounters with God

The First and Second Epistles of

Paul the Apostle to the

THESALONIANS

Encounters with God Study Guide Series

The Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Luke

The Gospel of John

The Book of Acts

The Book of Romans

The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians

The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians

The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians and Philemon

The First and Second Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians

The First and Second Epistles of Paul the Apostle to Timothy and Titus

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews

The Epistle of James

The First and Second Epistles of Peter

The First, Second, and Third Epistles of John and Jude

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

Encounters with God

The First and Second

Epistles of Paul the

Apostle to the

THESALONIANS

Copyright © 2008 by

Henry Blackaby, Th.M., D.D.

Richard Blackaby, M.Div., Ph.D.

Thomas Blackaby, M.Div., D.Min.

Melvin Blackaby, M.Div., Ph.D.

Norman Blackaby, M.Div., B.L., Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [e-mail].

All Scripture quotations are taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION.

© 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-4185-2650-4

Printed in the United States of America

08 09 10 11 12 RRD 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

An Introduction to the First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians

An Overview of Our Study of the First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians

The Lessons:

LESSON #1: Faithful and Exemplary Believers

LESSON #2: Fruitful and Truthful Ministers

LESSON #3: Overcoming Satan’s Hindrances

LESSON #4: Abounding More and More

LESSON #5: Ready for Christ’s Coming

LESSON #6: Resistance to Apostasy

LESSON #7: Admonitions and Blessings

Notes to Leaders of Small Groups

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST

AND SECOND EPISTLES

TO THE THESSALONIANS

This study guide covers two epistles from the apostle Paul to the first-century church that Paul and his evangelistic traveling companions had established at Thessalonica, Greece. Both are fairly short letters written to the Thessalonians in the middle of the first century, only two decades after Jesus’ death and resurrection. The first letter to the Thessalonians is one of the earliest of Paul’s canonical letters. The second letter appears to have been written about six months after the first letter.

The apostle Paul, accompanied by his colleagues Silas and Timothy, went to Thessalonica on Paul’s first missionary journey. Paul arrived in Thessalonica from Philippi, where he and Silas had been imprisoned after Paul spoke words of deliverance to a slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination. Paul and Silas were miraculously released from prison and, after receiving a public apology from the Philippian magistrates and then meeting with new believers in Lydia’s house, they departed Philippi. They passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia to arrive in Thessalonica. There, they went to a Jewish synagogue and reasoned from the Scriptures for three Sabbaths explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead. Paul boldly proclaimed, This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ. The book of Acts says some of the Jews were persuaded to accept Jesus as the Christ, along with a great multitude of devout Greeks that included a number of leading women in the city (Acts 17:1–4).

The Jews of Thessalonica retaliated against Paul’s message and created a riotous scene before the rulers of the city. The city’s new Christians were able to gain Paul and Silas’ release from the city rulers. When the Thessalo-nian Jews caused trouble in Berea, Paul was sent on to Athens. Silas and Timothy remained in Berea for a short while and then rejoined Paul.

While Paul was in Corinth on his second missionary journey, he received a report from Timothy, who had just returned from the church in Thessalon-ica. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians from Corinth to express his general thanksgiving and satisfaction with their lives as new believers, to answer charges that were brought against him by some Jewish opponents, to encourage believers in the faith, and to correct misconceptions they appeared to have about the second coming of Christ.

Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia and its largest city. It was located on the Via Egnatia, the main Roman highway to the east. This location gave the believers in Thessalonica a significant opportunity to help spread the gospel