Call to Commitment

 

Medieval wall of Thessalonica to Aegean Sea

 

1.     Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 

2.     Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 

3.     explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ." 

4.     And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. 

5.     But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. 

6.     But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. 

7.     Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus." 

8.     And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. 

9.     So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. 

 The last time that Luke mentions his part in this story, is in Philippi in Hechos 16:10-17. Apparently, he remained in that city, because he does not say that he was with them, when they departed. From Philippi, they went through two cities of Macedonia, Amphipolis and Apollonia. Amphipolis is 33 miles southwest of Philippi, on the northern coast of the Aegean Sea. Apollonia is another 30 miles southwest of Amphipolis, but the exact site is unknown. Thessalonica is 37 miles due west of Apollonia (v. 1).

 We come to understand, in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, the general reception of the word there. “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance… And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Th. 1: 6-7). I will only add a small phrase from verse 9: “… you turned to God from idols…” In Acts, we get more details.

 Although Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles, it is always his custom to preach to the Jews first. This is done according to divine principle, because of God’s election of the Jews since the very beginning. Let us take verse 2 and Paul’s custom as an opportunity to go into the principle in more depth, because some Christians ignore it. God called Abram out of the world, precisely out of Ur of the Chaldeans to make a nation from his offspring. Isaac followed and then Jacob. We have the history of their nation and prophets throughout the Old Testament. We have their literature from Job to Ecclesiastes and the promises given to them specifically.

 

Ruins of ancient Corinth (my personal photos)

Greeting and Introduction

       1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the                                        church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia: 

2.     Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 A. R. Faucett of Jamieson, Faucett, Brown comments: “The Time of Writing was after Pentecost, a.d. 57, when Paul left Ephesus for Troas. Having stayed in the latter place for some time preaching the Gospel with effect (2 Co_2:12), he went on to Macedonia, He wrote this Second Epistle, and then went on to Greece, where he abode for three months. Macedonia was the place from which it was written (2 Co_9:2) where the present tense, “I boast,” or “am boasting,” implies his presence then in Macedonia. Philippi, as being the chief town of the province, was probably the place to which all the collections of the churches were sent. Ancient tradition, too (as appears from the subscription to this epistle), favors the view that Philippi was the place from which this Epistle was sent by the hands of Titus who received, besides, a charge to prosecute at Corinth the collection which he had begun at his first visit (2Co_8:6). Paul sent Titus back forthwith with this Second Epistle, which is addressed, not to Corinth only (1Co_1:2), but to all the churches also in Achaia (2Co_1:1).

 Paul knows a divine calling, according to the will of God, to be an apostle of Jeus Christ. What is happening in his life has been born in eternity above any importance that men could be planning in any high government congress, to take place on this earth. This calling is according to the purpose of God to touch the heart of men with the power that there is in the message of the gospel, which transforms lives and prepares them for eternity.  This is with which God was concerned and with which He continues to be concerned in this century. For this reason, He sends missionaries out, as he sent Paul.

 Timothy is with Paul, since Paul desired him to leave his own city and dedicate his life to the gospel. He has joined the great family of God and is a brother of all who will read Paul’s letter. In a special and personal way, he is Paul’s spiritual son, because the seed of the gospel was sown by the apostle in him. John Wesley wrote: “Timotheus our brother - St. Paul writing to Timotheus styled him his son; writing OF HIM, his brother.” It was a mighty work, even more real than the physical seed, which brings babies into the world. It is forming the spiritual family of God and an eternal brotherhood.

 Paul addresses the church in Corinth, which is the entity that is near to the heart of God and with which He is creating a bride for His Son. From this one principal church, many others have formed all over the territory of ancient Acaia.

 

How can I be saved?

 

Timothy of Derbe

1.     Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. 

2.     He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. 

3.     Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. 

4.     And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. 

5.     So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily. 

 We learned of Derbe and Lystra in chapter 14, where Paul and Barnabas traveled on their first missionary trip. Now Paul, on his second journey, is with Silas, as they revisit the believers, won on the former visit throughout the region. In these cities, they hear of a young man named Timothy of Derbe (some think he was from Lystra). His grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice, believed before him, but, even before their conversion to Christianity, it would seem, as Jews they taught Timothy the Scriptures.  See what Paul writes him in 2 Timothy 3:15: “From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” The Old Testament was instrumental in giving Timothy wisdom to find faith in Christ. The probability of his conversion was when Paul came to Derbe and there was a better response to the gospel than in the other cities in the region. Timothy’s father was Greek (v. 1).

 Apparently, he had become an outstanding disciple, and was recognized by the local believers beyond Derbe, in the neighboring cities of Lystra and Iconium (v. 2). Paul was always careful to remove unnecessary offences to Jew and Gentile and, because his father was Greek, Timothy had not been circumcised. Paul saw the potential in this young man and wanted him to join their team, but he first circumcised him. This was to avoid causing trouble in the Jewish community, where they knew his father was Greek. Otherwise in evangelization, which Paul instructed this disciple to observe (2 T. 4:5), Timothy would never be able to converse with a Jew, if they knew he was not circumcised (v. 3).

 It is obvious from Paul’s writings, that this was not a necessary Christian requirement, in fact, he told the Galatians, “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation (Gal. 6:15). He called the Jews “false brethren”, who taught that a Gentile believer should be circumcised (Gal. 2:4).