Chapter 1

The city of Thessalonica is living proof that Alexander the Great had relatives. Thessalonica was the name of the stepsister of Alexander the Great. He was very fond of here and it was inevitable that he would name a city after her. Between Alexander the Great and the apostle Paul the city became very famous. The modern name for the city is Salonika. Even today there are over 200,000 people living there.

The church was founded on the second missionary journey and was composed with mostly Gentiles. Since the writing of 1 Thessalonians false teachers had infiltrated this church. They were teaching that the church would go through the Tribulation and blurred all the distinctions between the Rapture and the second advent, between the Church and Israel. They did not understand either the fifth cycle of discipline or the change in dispensations. These teachers, in order to make their lessons stick, carried a letter and said it was Paul’s second epistle to them. It was a forgery, of course, and because of this forgery Paul had to send them a genuine 2 Thessalonians in order to refute everything in the forgery. The human writer is Paul.

“Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus” — Paul is the writer, the others are simply associated with him as communicators of Bible doctrine. This was written about 51 AD. Paul was located at the time in Corinth. The first two verses are the introduction to the epistle, after that this chapter has three principles which are taught:

1. A mental attitude orientation, verses 3,4. The main subject is thanksgiving as the illustration.

2. A time orientation, verses 5-10. The subject is eschatology.

3. A functional orientation, verses 11,12. The subject is prayer.

So a simple title for this chapter is The three areas of orientation. The first two verses do not go with the first chapter, they go with the entire epistle.

Verse 1 — “Paul” is the human writer, his name means “little.” This was not his original name, this is the name he took when he understood some doctrine and it has to do with grace orientation. We all enter the plan of God as zero and the plan of God calls for God doing everything. Once this principle is understood it makes life a lot easier. The only way to go from zero to 100 is on the strength of God, on the work of God, and on the thinking of God which is doctrine.

Mention with Paul is Silvanus which is the correct name for Silas. Silas is merely a nickname. He was a prominent member of the Jerusalem church, according to Acts 15:22. The companion of Paul on the second missionary journey is said to have the gift of prophecy in Acts 15:32, was the bearer of Peter’s epistles to Asia minor, according to 1 Peter 5:12. He was a well known, a prominent person, also remembered for his singing at Philippi.

Timotheus or Timothy [Timotheus being the Latin] is a convert of Paul during the second missionary journey. He had the gift of pastor-teacher.

By spiritual gift each one of these men represents a concept. The concept is that communication must have with it authority. This is communication gifts which are connected with doctrine. Paul, of course, has the most authority and the highest authority ever given. Silvanus only has delegated authority and Timothy has local authority, the gift of pastor-teacher Si on spiritual gifts of communication there is a variation of authority.

“unto the church” — the dative of the noun e)kklhsia. This is dative of advantage. This is the local church because it is specified as “the e)kklhsia of the Thessalonians.” The word is generally translated “assembly” or “church.” The function of the local e)kklhsia is that of a classroom. A classroom means students. The students are the members of the congregation. The professor is the pastor-teacher.

E)kklhsia is actually used in five ways. The Classical Greek uses it for the Athenian citizens assembling to conduct the affairs of state. It is used in the Old Testament sense in Acts 7:38 for the assembly of Israel to receive communications. It is used in Matthew 18:17 for the Jewish synagogue. The Hellenistic use is found in Acts 19:25,29 for the meeting of a Greek city state to solve its problems. It is used dispensationally and technically in the Word for the universal church of all believers — Ephesians 1:22,23; 5:25,27. it is used in our passage and in 1 Thessalonians 1:1 for the local church. It is the local church which is the classroom. Local church is classroom; universal Church is family.

Notice that the local church in Thessalonica is said to be “in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The preposition e)n plus the locative means “in the sphere of God the Father.” God the Father is the author of them plan and it refers not simply to positional truth as such but it means that every believer is in the plan of God and every local church is in the plan of God. This is really the most important thing: God can prosper a local church just as He can prosper an individual, or God can remove a church from the scene just as He can an individual. “in the sphere of the Lord Jesus Christ” is positional truth, union with Christ.

Verse 2 — the word that needs the greatest emphasis is “grace.” Notice that grace and peace are said to be from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. “From” is the preposition a)po, the preposition of ultimate source. God the Father is the author of the plan, the local church at Thessalonica is a part of that plan. Jesus Christ is the basis of entering that plan. The job of God the Holy Spirit in this dispensation is to glorify Christ and to clarify the scripture. Therefore under that concept He is not mention.

The doctrine of grace

1. Grace is the work of God. When God does something he excludes everyone else’s work. No one can do it better than God. Grace is God doing it exclusively. It is God thinking and God doing the working on your behalf.

Grace is all that God is free to do on the basis of who and what Christ is. Grace is the plan of God, grace is the work of Christ on the cross. Grace is both God’s plan and God’s policy for mankind during the source of human history and the angelic conflict.

2. If you define something you must give it a concept. Grace depends on the essence and the character of God. Therefore grace depends on who and what God is, never who and what we are. Therefore, grace is what God can do for you and for me and be consistent with His own essence. This is the concept of propitiation and positional truth.

3. The issue of grace. Once you are born into the family of God the name of the plan is grace. All of your life you are going to have to be very alert and very wary that you are not doing it and trying to help God. The issue of grace is a very simple one: God does not need help. So the word about which we have to be very alert is the word “legalism.” Legalism is man’s ability, man’s works intruding upon the plan of God. Legalism is man’s talent, man’s ability, man’s gimmicks, man’s thinking, human viewpoint. Anything that man throws into the plan of God, any energy of the flesh, is legalism. Legalism starts at salvation, this is the first attack upon the plan of God — “Believe” has been attacked. The only way to be saved is to believe in Jesus Christ, not by doing something. The principle: Faith is totally non-meritorious.

4. Grace, sanctification, and the angelic conflict. The greatest thing that God can do is to make him like His Son, Jesus Christ who is the only celebrity of the Church Age or any dispensation. Man is created to resolve the angelic conflict. The first Adam blew it through his own free will and sin; Jesus Christ through His own sovereignty became a member of the human race, not an angel, and solved the whole problem. This is the subject of Hebrews chapters 1 & 2. The first Adam lost the victory through the fall and the last Adam won the victory through the cross. Grace found a way to take man, created inferior to angels, and make him superior to angels. This is accomplished in the three stages of the angelic conflict. Stage one: At the moment of salvation God the Holy Spirit takes every believer and baptises him into Christ or enters him into union with Christ. So at the moment of salvation every believer is in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, so positionally every believer in union with Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, and no angel has ever been seated at the right hand of the Father. So that positionally, even in this life with our failures, our mistakes, our reversionism, our carnality, whatever it may be, we are still positionally superior to angels. Stage two: The construction of the ECS and the entrance into the supergrace life — occupation with Christ, supergrace capacity, supergrace blessing. In the blessing God vindicates doctrine in your soul by blessing you with things that are very materialistic, things that are associated with happiness in the devil’s world. They have to be associated with happiness in the devil’s world so that God can demonstrate that he can bless totally apart from cosmic diabolicus and that He blesses on the basis of doctrine in the soul of the believer. So in stage two we find the believer with doctrine in his soul, and with an ECS, and entering into the supergrace status as being experientially the highest product of grace, and this is part of the victory of the angelic conflict; and strictly related to grace. God never blesses the believer on any other basis than grace. That is why the believer in reversionism reaps what he sows, but the believer in supergrace reaps what God sows. Stage three: We have the body of Christ becoming the bride of Christ as the Rapture, we have the believer is a body exactly like that of Jesus Christ, and all believers therefore in resurrection bodies are superior to all angels. God is going to do all of this, we never do any of it.

5. Entrance into the factor of grace. This is based upon phrases we find in Hebrews 6:4; 1 Peter 2:3 — every believer has tasted the grace of God at least once. Having tasted grace you may or may not have a capacity. Some people have no capacity for what they taste and avoid it thereafter. So the issue after salvation in phase two is: Are you positive toward doctrine? Doctrine whets the appetite, doctrine is food. If you have an appetite for food then you grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

6. The occupational hazard for believers. Disorientation to grace comes through reversionism. Reversionism, therefore, becomes the believer’s greatest occupational hazard — Galatians 5:4; Hebrews 12:15.

6. The divine attitude — Isaiah 30:18,19, God is constantly waiting to pour out His grace upon the believer. This means that God wants to provide for every believer the maximum of supergrace blessing.

8. References to grace in phase one or salvation: Psalm 103:8-12; Romans 3:23,24; 4:4; 5:20; Ephesians 2:8,9; Hebrews 2:9.

9. Grace in phase two. Grace is related to certain functions in phase two, like prayer. The prayer of the supergrace life is found in Hebrews 4:16. You cannot come boldly to the throne of grace unless you are a supergrace believer, or unless you are moving in that direction.

10. In suffering we have the principle of grace: 2 Corinthians 12:9,10. The believer occupied with Christ in supergrace has suffering designed for his blessing . All suffering in the supergrace life is designed for blessing. Supergrace suffering is reaping what you did not sow, it is what God sows. When God brings suffering to the supergrace believer it is strictly blessing. Only in divine discipline do you reap what you sow.

11. Growth is related to grace — 2 Peter 3:18. Stability related to grace — 1 Peter 5:12; Hebrews 13:9.

12. The modus vivendi of the Christian life related to grace — 2 Corinthians 1:12; Hebrews 12:28.

The production of divine good related to grace — 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 6:1. It is not clearly understood by many but it is a true principle that grace and giving are completely related. Grace orientation is the only bona fide basis for giving — 2 Corinthians 8:9; Philippians 4:14-18. Grace and suffering — 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

The axioms of grace:

a) God is perfect, therefore His plan must be perfect.

b) A perfect plan can only originate and function from a perfect God.

c) If man can do anything meritorious in the plan of God it is not longer perfect.

d) A plan is no stronger than its weakest link. For this reason grace excludes all human merit, all human ability and talent. Grace excludes human good, do-gooders never make it in the plan of God.

e) Legalism and human good is the enemy of grace.

f) Therefore the works of human righteousness have no place in the plan of God.

g) All human good is associated with mental attitude sins of pride, with reversionism. The most devastating mental attitude sins, jealousy or pride, are related.

13. There are four areas in which pride rejects grace. This explains Satan’s pride, human pride, and why pride is the greatest enemy of grace. For example, the pride of the believer who rejects the doctrine of eternal security. A person who rejects eternal security thinks that his own sins are greater than the plan of God — Hebrews 12:28. Secondly, there is the pride of the believer who succumbs to the pressure of adversity, and he is self-pity thinks that his suffering is greater than the grace provision of God — 2 Corinthians 12:8-10. Third, there is the pride of pseudo-spirituality, the pride of trying to be spiritual by something you do. Finally, there is the pride of the believer in emotional revolt of the soul who assumes that his feelings and his emotions and experiences are more important than doctrine — 2 Corinthians 6:11,12.

14. The relation of grace to the divine assets — John 1:14-17; 1 Corinthians 1:4,5; Ephesians 1:6,7.

15. The principle of supergrace — James 4:6. We have the supergrace life of Jesus Christ — John 1:14-17; the supergrace life of the believer — Philippians 4; James 4; Ephesians 3:19-21; 2 Corinthians 12:8-10.

16. The concept of the pursuit of grace — Ephesians 1:6. This results in the recognition of glory from the source of His grace from which He has pursued us with grace in the beloved. Pursuing us with grace is Jesus Christ trying to provide blessing for the believer. The believer has to have the capacity and until there is the capacity He pursues us.

17. Under grace (supergrace) the believer reaps what God sows — Psalm 13:5; under reversionism the believer reaps what he sows — divine discipline, self-induced misery.

Verse 3 — “We are bound” is an obligation verb, the present active indicative of o)feilw. This is a static present, it does not refer to a continuous obligation but an obligation which occurs at certain times, an obligation which can only occur when Bible doctrine exists in the soul of the believer. The believer in reversionism does not have this obligation, he only thinks of God in terms of using God. “We are obligated,” then, is a static present for certain situations related to the supergrace life and/or times when the believer has doctrine in his soul. The active voice: the believer produces the obligation under supergrace. The indicative mood is the reality of the obligation. The obligation is stated in the infinitive, the present active infinitive of e)uxaristew. )Eu means well, good, or well done; xarij is grace. It comes to mean giving thanks, but it is thanksgiving based upon grace orientation. The present tense is, again, a static present. The static present refers to an occasion. The active voice: again the believer under supergrace produces the action, and the infinitive indicates the purpose of the Christian way of life — obligation when there is doctrine.

The principle from these two verbs: When you have doctrine in your soul it changes your whole attitude, and it also changes your obligations. Once you have doctrine in your soul that is the cup. You start reaping what God sows, and when you reap what God sows your life changes completely in your soul. You are occupied with the person of Jesus Christ, you recognise the celebrityship of Christ, and thanksgiving is merely an extension of the celebrityship of Christ. We cannot repay God for what He has done for us. The only thing that we have going for us in response to His provision is thanksgiving which is strictly a mental attitude. E)uxaristew which means to give thanks is merely the mental attitude of response to grace on the part of a supergrace believer. God gives to us without strings. The believer has the capacity for these things, this is a part of glorifying God in the angelic conflict. When God gives without strings the only thing that can go back to God on the part of the believer is a mental attitude which is comparable to the attitude with which things are given. When God gives it is all because of the cup in the soul. The cup is running over now and because of the existence of the cup [Bible doctrine in the soul] there is a mental attitude toward God, and these are the ones who love God in Romans 8:28, a verse which only applies to the supergrace believer. Eu)xaristew is a mental attitude toward God of love.

“thank God” — we have to have enough doctrine to thank God. David was a man after God’s own heart; David reaped what God sowed. There never was a man who loved God the way David did. True thanksgiving is merely thinking love. That is what e)uxaristew means and that is what the communion table is the Eucharist.

“for you” — Paul is only thankful at certain times for the Thessalonians — peri plus the preposition means “concerning you.”

“brethren” refers specifically to the believers of Thessalonica; “as it is meet” — “it is” is present active indicative of e)imi the absolute status quo verb. Again it is a static present which means on a certain occasion, the occasion which warrants it. The active voice: it is only fitting at certain times. The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that it is fitting to be thankful for certain believers under certain condition, i.e. supergrace, and that is brought out by the word “meet” which is a present nominative of the noun a)cioj which means worthy or fitting or suitable. When is it right to give thanks for another believer? When is it fitting? When is it worthy or suitable? When there is some kind of a contact with a supergrace believer. The principle is “my cup runneth over” if you have through doctrine in the soul occupation with the person of Christ, and then this overflows to others. That provides the occasion brought out by a series of static presents.

Now Paul is going to give us the reason for this thanksgiving: “because that” — the Greek o(ti is the causal use of the conjunction, and it relates back to the verb o)feilw which means obligation. Notice the principle: There are certain people who inspire love for God. Thanksgiving, e)uxaristew, is love toward God; and the people who inspire this type of thing are always supergrace believers, they have doctrine in their soul. Here is the concept of inter relationship. The doctrine in the soul causes a love for God and that is expressed in this mental attitude, and it overflows from someone else who loves God. Mutual thanksgiving is the expression of a love back and forth. If you truly love someone you are thankful for them.

“your faith” — h( pistij plus the pronoun u(mwn. Pistij without the definite article always refers to faith as you understand it. With the definite article pistij refers to that which is believed or doctrine. This is literally “the doctrine of yours.” There is a plural possessive pronoun there. It is actually here the doctrine which causes the growing — “groweth” is the present active indicative of u(peraucanw. This means to grow in a fantastic way, and doctrine grows in a phenomenal way under the daily function of GAP. As it grows, so does the mental attitude. We could translate this “the doctrine which is believed by you grows.” Doctrine causes growth.

“and the charity” — h( a)gaph, mental attitude love. Obviously this mental attitude love is the same as e)uxaristew. In other words, thanksgiving is a form of a)gaph. Your mental attitude changes. Doctrine changes you on the inside. Changes made on the outside become hypocrisy; changes on the inside are the things which count with God.

“of every one of you toward each other” — here is where doctrine in the soul develops a true mental attitude in life; “aboundeth” — present active indicative of pleonazw which means to have more and more and more. You don’t try to have an abundance by trying to have an abundance. Doctrine in the soul, category #1 love. occupation with the person of Christ, loving God the Father — all of this comes through the celebrityship of Christ. This doctrine in the soul, then, becomes the cup and then God can fill this cup. When this cup is filled with divine blessing it also includes overflow to others.

Verse 3 is obviously a prosperity verse. Verse 4 shows how this also works in adversity. Your circumstances under these conditions are going to change. But it is the same person regardless and that is the principle that is taught in the next verse.

Verse 4 — “So that” is the conjunction w(ste plus the infinitive which introduces a result clause. It means “with the result that.”

“we ourselves” — Paul and other believers influenced by this wonderful principle of doctrine in the soul; “glory” — present active infinitive of e)gkauxaomia which means to boast in. It doesn’t mean to boast from arrogance, it means recognition of the accomplishment of a job. In other words, when Paul says “we” he is referring to himself and other pastors who have taught the Thessalonians. Paul is not boasting from arrogance, this is the expression of a job well done. So “we ourselves recognise a job well done in you” is the concept. All the teaching of doctrine has resulted in some living examples of how God blesses in supergrace.

“in the churches of God” — these are local churches that Paul has taught the truth correctly, or where some other pastor-teacher has taught the truth correctly.

“for your patience and faith” — “for” is the preposition u(per, “on behalf”; of your patience,” u(pomonh which doesn’t mean to endure, this refers to a mental attitude, a happy mental attitude [+H]. It means to be occupied with Christ, to have supergrace capacity, supergrace blessings, +H — all of these things in adversity. This is why Paul recognises a job well done. “We ourselves recognise a job well done in you and in the churches of God on behalf of your patient frame of mind and faith-rest” — pistij without the definite article, what is believed applied.

“and” is the ascensive us of kai and it means “even your faith in persecution” — diwgmoj. This is a dative of advantage plural and it means persecutions from others. The pressures of life in general.

“and tribulations” — also a dative plural of advantage from qliyij which means great pressure, great affliction, especially mental suffering.

“that ye endure” — the present active indicative of a)nexomai which means to have again and again and again and again. The principle is that God has designed a certain amount of suffering for the believer who gets into supergrace. He has designed a period of great prosperity. Then there is a period of adversity. God has designed the supergrace life so that whether it is prosperity or adversity His provision is there, His grace is sufficient. In other words, God has to demonstrate His love toward you under varying circumstances of life. Once you enter into supergrace and come under the blessings of God in supergrace then God is going to give you a variety of circumstances to show you that these blessings which He provides hold up under any circumstance of life. You will soon learn that the circumstance doesn’t make any difference. What does count is the blessing based upon doctrine in your soul.

Verse 5 — the principle of time orientation. Once you believe in Christ and enter into the family of God time only goes into two ways. You are either on God’s time or you are on cosmos time. Cosmos time is a road of reversionism; God’s time is the road to supergrace. God’s time has all the blessing from God. Cosmos time really has no blessing from God but really self-induced misery and discipline. Whichever road one goes is dependent entirely upon two factors: finding a right pastor and recognising the authority of that pastor. Both of these involve positive volition. Going negative means loss of time. God has only given you so much time to get there because your life is only so long. If you are slow in taking in doctrine and negative and unstable you may or may not get a cup, and God does not pour without a cup. The whole Christian life begins when you get that cup. When you are in God’s time you are not only blessed in the supergrace blessings but you begin to understand the whole realm of God’s program. You are never on God’s time when you are in reversionism, when you are negative.

That brings us to the principle of legitimate suffering in verse 5. We have here suffering as part of God’s pouring. If you take the road of reversionism all of the suffering is self-induced misery and divine discipline. If you take the road of positive volition toward doctrine and get the cup it includes not only the materialistic blessings but also the supergrace blessings which include suffering. So God’s time is broken up into periods of prosperity, periods of suffering; period of prosperity and suffering at the same time. But this is legitimate suffering, as with Job. God had been pouring and pouring for Job and he had nothing but prosperity. Adversity came along which was legitimate but great. At first he held up under it beautifully. Later he went down and then recovered. So Job’s period of suffering is divided into two parts: legitimate suffering under having the cup, God pouring, and then legitimate suffering changed to self-induced misery and divine discipline when job went into reversionism. However, he recovered and it became legitimate suffering again with God pouring. The solution to problems is doctrine. There is going to be a variety of activity in your life, some of which is adversity, and if it is legitimate adversity it is just as much designed for your blessing as all of the materialistic things under the supergrace concept. In other words, the supergrace status is the only place to suffer.

In verse 5 the first two words are not found in the original. Next we have the phrase “a manifest token” — e)ndeigma. It means evidence. E)ndeigma in its very construct means something on the inside manifests itself on the outside. The Thessalonian believers had the cup, they had doctrine in the soul. They carried with them everything which was necessary in life. God demonstrates through the supergrace believer that there is no situation in life, prosperity or adversity, for which there is not fantastic blessing. So first of all it is a demonstration of His grace provision. Secondly, this legitimate suffering when the priesthood really begins to function is designed for another reason. This reason has to do with the angelic conflict. Every time God can pour into that cup adversity and the believer utilises the doctrine involved it is a setback in the angelic conflict, it is a victory of grace. The believer doesn’t earn it or deserve it, it is strictly a victory of grace. So suffering is used in the angelic conflict under the victory of grace principle.

Another factor involved is the fact that the believer’s confidence in the Lord is intensified by suffering, and if you didn’t have suffering you wouldn’t have stability. Adversity or suffering seasons your life, like salt seasons food. What you really are is what you are in adversity as well as in prosperity. This confidence includes stability — you are a stabilised person when you go through some adversity under supergrace and you use Bible doctrine all the way. When you use doctrine in adversity you gain strength, therefore when you get into prosperity the strength that you have gained makes for more fun. E)ndeigma = evidence, proof, proof from inside. Extreme suffering of believers does not mean that the Tribulation is here. E)ndeigma is an inner strength manifest on the outside. It is called a “manifest token” in the KJV but we can make it one word — “evidence.”

“of the righteous judgment of God” — the genitive singular of dikaioj indicates that God never loses His character over these things. It is used here for +R which is not compromised in these things. Prosperity and adversity both go in the cup, but not at the same time. God pours one and then He pours the other. When this occurs we, if we have this cup, remain stabilised. That is the e)ndeigma, and the e)ndeigma lines up with dikaioj, God’s dikaioj. So the fact that we have adversity and the fact that God pours in that direction should not change us. The word “judgement” is krisij and it means a judicial sentence “of the God.” The letters ij is an active suffix, it means the act of judging. Krima means to receive judging. The fact that God can bless a believer in suffering in time is a token or a manifestation of His perfect essence and His perfect plan. So it is important for the believer to recognise this particular principle.

Notice that God calls this judgement. This is an act of judgement but not judgement in the sense of condemnation but in God’s estimate of the situation. Judgment here does not mean judgement like cursing, judgement here means God’s good sense to know when we should have suffering.

“that” introduces the purpose clause. The purpose clause is brought out also by the infinitive — “that ye may be counted worthy”, the aorist passive infinitive of kataciow. The word means to be considered worthy, to be worthy according to a standard. Who is worthy for this kind of suffering? When it is legitimate suffering you have to be worthy only in the sense that God can only vindicate His Word. God is not impressed with us because He is no respecter of persons, but He is impressed with doctrine in our souls. He has saved our soul so He is impressed with our soul because He saved it, not because there is anything good in our soul. But He must vindicate His Word, therefore when we get doctrine in our souls then we get to supergrace. That is when we get the cup. The cup is supergrace capacity. This is where we are counted worthy. We are worthy according to divine standards, we have doctrine in the soul, God has been pouring blessing, now He pours some legitimate adversity. Why? We are worthy. We are not worthy, doctrine in the soul is worthy. The cup is constructed of doctrine and God must vindicate doctrine in our souls. The aorist tense is a gnomic aorist and the gnomic aorist means that this is an absolute principle. All suffering is divided into three categories: a) After salvation we suffer because of reversionism. That means we reap what we sow; b) If we are growing we suffer to test our attitude toward doctrine, so there is legitimate suffering. There is no legitimate suffering on the reversionistic road. There is legitimate suffering which comes from testing our volition; c) Then there is discipline for carnality, which is not the same as reversionism. Carnality is a growing believer getting out and getting back in. How can you tell the difference between carnality while growing and carnality in reversionism? It is the difference of attitude toward doctrine. A believer who is reversionistic is negative toward doctrine or he is a law unto himself, he is a rebel, he knows it all. The passive voice: the subject receives the action of the verb. In this case the believer receives the action of the verb. Every believer is in full-time Christian service. When any believer in full-time Christian service reaches the point of supergrace he is functioning under his priesthood, and one of the blessings that comes to him is suffering — occasional suffering, adversity. Every believer must have this type of suffering.

Then this is in an infinitive to express the purpose. God’s plan is designed so that every believer will have the pleasure of having a cup and have the pleasure of receiving adversity. God has found enough doctrine in your soul to count you worthy for suffering.

Notice it says “the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God in the Pauline epistles refers to the kingdom of regenerate and it refers to a kingdom of priests. The kingdom of God in this passage emphasises the priesthood of the believer in the Church Age.

“for which” — the preposition u(per means “on behalf of which”; “ye also suffer” — present active indicative of pasxw. Pasxw in the present tense is an iterative present which means they suffer occasionally, at certain intervals. This is God’s pouring. It is also an active voice: every supergrace believer suffers for himself. The indicative mood is the reality of this concept.

Concepts of suffering

1. There are some general causes for suffering. Both believers and unbeliever are lumped in this one.

a) This includes loss of health. Generally but not always volition is involved in loss of health.

b) Justice is a cause for suffering in the human race: the administration of law enforcement.

c) People: gossip, violence, ostracism, persecution and war.

d) Privation: hunger, thirst, exposure.

e) Weather: hot, cold, stormy, some natural disaster.

f) Social: loneliness, boredom, social disillusion and frustration.

g) Mental: jealousy, vindictiveness, implacability, bitterness, hatred, fear, worry, guilt reaction — all are self-induced.

h) Reversionism: the unbeliever can enter into reversionism — 2 Peter 2; and the believer. Under reversionism there is operation boomerang, you always reap what you sow. It is always self-induced misery and divine discipline.

2. The temporal categories of suffering: time and eternity.

In time: The unbeliever can suffer under the general principles related in violation of the laws of divine establishment. The believer suffers under eleven points we will take up later. In eternity the believer has no suffering — Revelation 21:4; the unbeliever suffers forever in the lake of fire — Revelation 20:12-15.

3. Categories of believer’s suffering.

a) He suffers under reversionism under three stages: warning, intense, dying. He suffers by reaping what he sows. He suffers self-induced misery and divine discipline from these categories.

b) A believer positive suffers under two general principles. He suffers under carnality and discipline, he suffers under blessing and growth. Once he reaches supergrace he has the cup and from there on it is suffering for blessing.

4. The premise for suffering. For the believer, the member of the family of God, all suffering is designed for blessing in time. Rebound turns cursing into blessing. 1 Peter 1:7,8; 4:14. The exception is divine discipline for carnality or reversionism — Hebrews 12:6. The exception is removed for carnality by rebound — 1 Corinthians 11:31; it is removed for the reversionistic believer, depending on the category. If he is dying it is removed by repentance, and the repentance also gives a rebound so he can start taking in doctrine. If he in the intense stage it is a combination of repentance, rebound, and GAP. If he is merely in the warning stage it is rebound and GAP.

5. Some of the ways in which Christians suffer.

a) In the area of things designed for happiness making you unhappy. This means suffering because of reversionism. You can have right man/right woman and you have no capacity for love. You can be promoted in your profession and in reversionism it is a flop. You can have a billion dollars and if you are in reversionism it is no fun. In other words, if you are in reversionism things which are generally designed to make you happy make you unhappy, and this is suffering because you know that this is supposed to make you happy and it doesn’t .This is the whole book of Ecclesiastes.

b) Suffering from the suppression of the subconscious or a guilt reaction. This type of suffering is given in great detail in 1 Timothy 1:5,6, 19,20; 3:9; 4:1,2; Titus 1:15. The solution to this is inevitably reaching supergrace. No supergrace believer is going to walk around with a guilt complex.

c) Suffering from the rapid construction of the ECS and moving into supergrace. It is inevitable that a person who goes on a crash program to reach supergrace is going to suffer just by virtue of the intensity. The intensity of positive volition. Suddenly recognising the importance of it, the time is short for supergrace blessing and getting positive. You suffer from stepping outside of normal activities in life. This means suffering from social ostracism, rejection, you don’t go along with the crowd. You are going to suffer by no matter how you feel coming to Bible class every night. James 1:1-6.

d) Suffering from a frantic search for happiness — Ephesians 4:17-19. The frantic search for happiness in the life of the believer always comes from reaction — reaction to mental attitude sins, to guilt complex, to jealousy, to bitterness. It comes from disillusion, from discouragement, self-pity, boredom which like the others is a sign of instability. You react to these things by going into a frantic search for happiness, of which there are two types: the self-righteous type and the lascivious type.

e) There is a legitimate suffering — and sometimes not legitimate: Suffering from interrelationship with those who suffer. Suffering through association — 1 Corinthians 12:26; Romans 14:7.

f) Divine discipline — Hebrews 12:6; Psalm 38.

g) Suffering to learn obedience to authority and self-discipline, two of the ingredients that are lacking in the human race when the old sin nature controls — Hebrews 5:8; Philippians 2:8.

h) Suffering to eliminate pride and demonstrate the provision of grace in supergrace — 2 Corinthians 11:24-33; 12:1-10.

i) There is a suffering caused by lack of authority — Judges 19-21. Lack of authority where parents are concerned — Ephesians 6:1; where national rulers are concerned — Hebrews 13:1-7; where pastors are concerned — Hebrews 13:7,17.

In verses 6, 7 we have an eschatological conditional clause. The purpose of this clause is to introduce the whole doctrine of eschatology which is found in the second chapter and which deals primarily with the Tribulation, second advent, and an occasional reference to the Millennium. But the primary purpose is to explain the fact that the Tribulation is a time of great reversion on the earth and that this reversionism causes a great deal of the trouble to which the Tribulation is attached. We have come in fundamental circles to call this the great tribulation because once in Matthew we find the word “tribulation” related to it. After the Rapture of the Church we have Daniel’s seventieth week which is perhaps a better way of designating it. Technically, it should be called “the great reversion” because that is what it is. This period of reversionism is going to get a great deal of explanation because the Thessalonians were the people who had been persuaded since Paul left that they were going through all or part of the Tribulation. That is the big problem. They thought they were going through the Tribulation because they were having so much trouble.

We must remember that 490 years were promised from the time that the Jews would come back from the fifth cycle of discipline; 483 years were fulfilled up to the time of the cross, resurrection and ascension. Then the Church Age interrupts that concept and the last seven years or Daniel’s seventieth week occurs after the Church is removed because it is the conclusion of the Jewish Age. The Jewish Age cannot be concluded while the Jews are out under the fifth cycle and therefore God ordained that it would be concluded at the proper time because the Jewish Age ends at the second advent. The Church comes into the picture on the day of Pentecost, goes out under its resurrection, and then the Jewish Age continues to its proper conclusion which is the second advent. At the conclusion of the Church Age the Church goes up; at the conclusion of the Jewish Age Christ comes down. The Jewish Age has been interrupted but not concluded. This the Thessalonian believers did not understand, and starting at this particular point and going to the end of the book this point will be brought up from time to time; eschatology is the primary subject.

Verse 6 — the word “seeing” isn’t there at all. We have a compound particle, e)iper, the combination of the conjunctive particle plus per, the enclitic particle. It introduces an intensive first class condition. Verse 6 is the protasis and verse 7 is the apodasis — “If indeed” or “If it be so,” the idiomatic expression. This is a first class condition.

The problem begins immediately with the word “tribulation.” It is used here is the sense of catastrophe or disaster. The word “tribulation” is used in a technical sense in Matthew, it is not used in a technical sense here. There is tribulation or disaster or catastrophe in every generation. First of all, there is catastrophe to those in any generation who are reversionistic believers. Their catastrophe is dramatised by the sin unto death. Then there is catastrophe or disaster to those who are in supergrace so that God can demonstrate that grace provision is greater than any adversity. Again, this is not technical. Then we have the occasional suffering for blessing in the life of the supergrace believer, and that is not technical. Then we have any punishment for carnality in the life of a believer moving toward supergrace or in supergrace — in other words, a carnal believer — and that is not technical. The only technical use of tribulation is found in Matthew — “ye shall have great tribulation.” Technically in that chapter it is describing the last three and a half years of Daniel’s seventieth week. The angelic conflict means that every generation will face some sort of tribulation or disaster or catastrophe.

“If so be that you have tribulation.” This is an intensive first class condition and means that they did have disaster or tribulation. But the existence of catastrophe, adversity, disaster, even to the maximum does not indicate that the Tribulation is here, a common misconception among believers. The Tribulation as a technical word is found with such infrequency that really it is a misnomer to call Daniel’s seventieth week the Tribulation. It can be done but it isn’t emphasised. What Daniel’s seventieth week should be called is Daniel’s seventieth week or the end of the Age of Israel. The Thessalonians were all mixed up. They had been taught clearly the eschatology of the Church, the eschatology of Israel, and how the two are never mixed up. After Paul left the Thessalonians apathy set in and with apathy came the misapplication of doctrine — they now have the Church going through the Tribulation. So at this point Paul hits them with the major subject of the book.

“a righteous thing” — dikaioj doesn’t mean a righteous things at all, it refers to justice. It means righteousness in the sense of being fair or equitable. We should translate this “a just thing.”

“with God” is the preposition para, the preposition of immediate source — “from the immediate source of God.”

“to recompense” — the aorist active infinitive of a compound verb, a)ntapodidomi, which means to give from the ultimate source instead of something else. It comes to mean to make retribution, but it is a little stronger than that. It means in stead of people gaining something from your unhappiness they lose something from your misery; “tribulation” — qliyij, which means pressure, affliction, distress, adversity. It is not technical. Paul at this point is explaining the fact that the existence of pressure does mean they are in the Tribulation. This is not the Age of Israel concluded, they are in the Church Age and there is qliysij in the Church Age.

“to them that trouble you” — the present active participle has as its subject those who are putting pressure on them. The word for trouble is the verb that goes with the noun — qlibw. This means at least two categories of humanity. The Thessalonians are receiving pressure from unbelievers; they are receiving pressure from believers. The believers are in reversionism and are antagonistic to doctrine. The unbelievers are also antagonistic to doctrine and since the Thessalonians started out with so much doctrine they are now in a jamb as far as this is concerned. Generally speaking, whether it is believer or unbeliever, apparently it is religion. This will come out in the second chapter. It is the religious type reversionism which is putting so much pressure on them, the frantic search for happiness in religion.

Verse 7 — an apodasis. “And to you” — he gets down from the principle to their situation. This is a dative of advantage and it refers to believers who are positive toward doctrine under pressure — “who are troubled,” present passive participle of qlibw. The present tense is not linear aktionsart. The participle is linear aktionsart but this is an iterative present and that means that they get this periodically but they don’t get it all the time. The passive voice means they receive this pressure from time to time. The participle simply indicates the fact that this is a consistent way of life but not every second. This is really pressure of persecution.

“rest with us” — no one was ever persecuted like the apostle Paul. Paul had religious Jewish people on his back constantly, they are called the Judaisers. So Paul is now telling them to join him in the course of action which is outlined by Bible doctrine. It is brought out simply by a noun, it is not a verb — “rest,” the accusative singular of a)nesij. It means tranquillity, peace, rest in time of pressure, in time of disaster. This really means to relax. Your peace and tranquillity must come from doctrine in the soul. So in effect a)nesij is the act of having a relaxed mental attitude. It means among other things that you do not over think disaster. Over thinking of disaster is a sign of subjectivity. The whole emphasis at this point is a relaxed soul. The pressure cannot reach. Tranquillity is probably the best word to describe the sealing off of the subconscious. All mental attitude sins are excluded from this noun a)nesij. No mental attitude sins can coexist with tranquillity, and you never have tranquillity when you’re jealous or bitter or vindictive, have a guilt reaction, anxiety, etc. “with us” — Paul is not the only one to have enough doctrine to have this tranquillity. He includes Silas and Timothy.

This should really end the sentence. The rest of the verse starts a new sentence.

“when” is the preposition e)n plus the locative, and it indicates the second advent — “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed.” This is not meeting Him in the air, this is coming from heaven to earth. The future active indicative of a)pokaluptw means to be manifested, to be announced, to be set forth, or to make an appearance — “When the Lord Jesus shall make an appearance from heaven.” This is operation footstool in view here — “with his mighty angels.” We have e)n plus the locative, meaning “In the sphere of” — “In the sphere of the Lord Jesus, making an appearance from heaven accompanied by his mighty angels.”

Verse 8 — “In the sphere of flaming [burning] fire” — the same e)n plus the locative — “burning” is the genitive from floc — “In the sphere of a fire of burning,” literally; “giving punishment.” The word “taking” is a present active participle of didomi which indicates the duration of the baptism of fire — constantly giving. The word “vengeance” is incorrect, it is e)kdikhsij which means “justice.”

“on them that know not” — o)ida plus the negative describes the unbeliever survivors of the Tribulation. They are said to “know not” and “obey not” the gospel. Why do they know not? The category o)ida plus the negative refers to those who are negative at the point of God-consciousness and as unbelievers entered reversionism. Then we have those who are negative at the point of gospel hearing and who became reversionists. Here is where we have our first areas of strong delusion. “Obey not” is u(pakouw which means a rejection of what is heard. The present active indicative is iterative present, it does not describe everyone in the Tribulation, only those who are negative at God-consciousness, negative at gospel hearing; whereas we have another group who are simply negative at gospel hearing and never did get to u(pakouw.

Verse 9 — “who shall be punished” — “who” is a qualitative relative pronoun, it refers to those who obey not the gospel or those who rejected at the point of God-consciousness. “Who shall be punished” is the future active indicative of the verb tinw which means to incur punishment, to incur punishment as a result of correct justice. So it is translated, “Who shall be punished with justice.” This means punished with proper legal procedure. Notice also that the punishment is said to be eternal. The baptism of fire is the down payment on the lake of fire for the unbelievers of the Tribulation — “everlasting destruction.” This is the noun o)leqroj and it means not destruction so much as terrible agony. It means an agony so great that it perpetuates in the soul the most unusual type of pain. The unbeliever suffers not only in the burning sense but he suffers in his soul is a way that is indescribable. It means something that would destroy but can’t destroy. Once you are destroyed you no longer suffer but when you put eternal with it it means you are brought up to the point of the ultimate in agony and suffering, and yet do not depart unconscious. There is no loss of consciousness forever and ever and ever. That is divine justice on the unbeliever. Notice that tinw indicates that this is a correct and right type of justice.

“from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power” indicates that this is where they missed the boat. “From” is a)po, ultimate source; “the presence” is proswpon which is used for the face. We as believers are going to be face to face with the Lord, they are excluded from face to face with the Lord; and they are excluded from the glory of his power. The word “glory” refers to His essence and the word for “power” here refers to power as a faculty, as an endowment — i)sxuj, and it means His power and His ability to make believers happy forever and ever without once being bored, frustrated, disillusioned, being discouraged.

Verse 10 — we have now arrived at the Millennium. When the Millennium comes we are going along for the ride. Why does God the Son bring us with Him at the second advent? Here is the answer.

“When” — o(tan means “on the occasion of.” It tells us all about ourselves as believers in the Church Age. It means we have lived for X amount of years as believers in the Church Age. The Church Age is the most intensive attack upon the individual believer of any period in human history, must worse than the Tribulation which is a greater attack upon groups. Remember that in the Tribulation the attacks shifts back to Israel, and the attack is going to be upon the unbelieving Jew, the saved Jew — 144,000 Jewish evangelists are obviously saved. The fantastic thrust of the Tribulation is going to be an attack upon Israel, but the intensity of the angelic conflict lies in the Church Age. The most difficult period in human history for the individual believer is the attack upon the universal priesthood in the Church Age. When God takes us all out at the Rapture that only leaves as the target of Satan Israel. The Church will be in heaven for seven years and then will be returned back to planet earth, and “on the occasion” of this is what we have at the beginning of this verse.

“he shall come” — aorist active subjunctive of e)rxomai. E)rxomai takes the second advent and views it from the standpoint of Church Age believers who have only been in heaven for seven years in a resurrection body. The aorist tense is a constative aorist and gathers into one entirety everything that takes place around the second advent. The active voice: Christ does the returning. The subjunctive mood is used here for an indefinite temporal clause, which means this will not happen tomorrow. It will happen in the future, but the Church Age must run its course, the Rapture of the Church must occur, there are seven years allotted to the Age of Israel [the Tribulation], and then in that shortened seven years this event will occur.

“to be glorified” — this is an aorist passive infinitive of e)ndocazw. Doxazw is to glorify; e)ndocazw means to be invested with glory. In fact, it means to be invested with permanent glory. The permanent glory with which the Lord Jesus Christ is invested is the rulership of the world. This is a culminative aorist. The result of all his is that Jesus Christ is going to rule the world. He will rule forever. He will be crowned. He has already refused to rule the world when Satan offered it. What He refused from Satan He will accept from the hand of God the Father as a part of the Father’s plan, and that will be investment with permanent glory. That is the culminative aorist. The passive voice: Jesus Christ legitimately receives this glory. The infinitive denotes God’s purpose. God’s purpose is to take the only celebrity of the Church Age and give Him the ultimate, perfect glory.

“in his saints” is not quite correct, it is e)n plus the instrumental of a(goij and it should be translated “by his saints.” “Saints” refer to the Church Age believer only, which is the bride of Christ. In other words, when Jesus Christ is crowned and invested with the permanent glory of rulership, the very moment He is, His bride is there too.

“and to be admired” — someone else is there beside the Church in resurrection body. We have the aorist passive infinitive of qaumazw. The word means to be regarded with admiration, to be revered, to be adored; “them that believe” are the Tribulational believers who have survived the Tribulation. Again, the aorist tense is culminative. The passive voice: Christ receives the admiration and the adoration. The infinitive indicates this is the Father’s purpose at the coronation of Jesus Christ; “them that believe” is a dative plural aorist active participle of pisteuw. It is a constative aorist, it starts right after the Rapture, to the second advent, the period of the Tribulation, and all the people who believe in Jesus Christ during Daniel’s seventieth week are involved in this constative aorist. In other words, at different times during the Tribulation people believe. The dative case is the dative of advantage, it is to the advantage of anyone who lives in the Tribulation to believe in Christ. The most advantage comes immediately: freedom from the baptism of fire. These people who are alive at the second advent will become the nucleus for the Millennial civilisation. They enter the Millennium in their physical bodies, in contrast to the Church Age believers who enter the Millennium in resurrection bodies.

“(because our testimony among you was believed in that day)” — a parenthesis; “our testimony” is the communication of the gospel to people in the Church Age, specifically Paul communicating the gospel to the people of Thessalonica. But they merely form the pattern for all evangelism in the Church Age. This sets up the fact that in every dispensation there is always evangelism. “Our testimony” refers to Paul and his team of believers witnessing to the people of Thessalonica; “was believed among you” is where the parenthesis should end — the aorist passive indicative of pisteuw. This is also a constative aorist to indicate that the Thessalonians believed over a relatively short period of time. They received faith. In other words, faith is something which came as a response to information. “Have faith” is a lot of malarkey. You must have information, and faith comes as a result of correct information. Faith is inherent to the human soul as a non-meritorious system of perception — you learn a lot of things by faith — but faith never acts in your soul without information. Therefore the importance of the passive voice here. All evangelism which is bona fide and correct has information, gospel information, related to it. Faith merely has information on which to function because faith in itself in non-meritorious. Faith must have an object, and the object means information. Faith never functions without an object; faith is a transitive verb. The parenthesis is closed here.

“in that day” — a reference to the Millennial reign of Christ. The parenthesis relates the Thessalonian believers to all of this. “In that day” is a completion of the basic sentence in verse 10 which reads: “On the occasion of his coming to receive glory by his saints, and to be adored in all of those having believed [in the Tribulation] in that day [the Millennium].”

Verse 11 — we have some functional orientation. Paul does some orienting, he is praying for the people with whom he has no face to face or visual contact. “Wherefore” isn’t wherefore at all, it is a prepositional phrase [e)ij} and should be translated “To this end” or “For this purpose.”

“also we pray” — the present active indicative of proseuxomai. The present tense is an iterative present. Paul doesn’t pray all the time but he does pray on special occasions for the Thessalonians. The active voice: Paul is doing the praying and so are the members of Paul’s team. The indicative mood is the reality of this prayer.

“that” introduces a purpose clause; “for you” is not quite correct. The preposition peri means “concerning you.” Paul is praying concerning these people.

“our God” — the pronoun here is not only possessive but mutual: “that our mutual God”; “would count you worthy of this calling.” “Would count worthy” is the aorist active subjunctive of a)ciow and it means “esteem.” It means to esteem you having the capacity. “Of the calling” is the genitive of description singular of the noun klhsij for God’s plan. It is a plan designed for each one of us in eternity past. In other words, this passive says God has a plan for us; whether we have the capacity to appreciate it or not brings us right back to Bible doctrine. The fact that the Thessalonian were all fouled up is the fact that they had their doctrine mixed up.

“and fulfill” is an aorist active subjunctive from plhrow and it means here to fill up a deficiency. What is our deficiency where God’s plan is concerned? Lack of doctrine which leads us to supergrace. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it is God’s objective for us to enjoy His plan by having GAPed it all the way to supergrace. The active voice means every believer priest has to GAP it for himself. The subjunctive mood means this is potential. The principle is that God wants us to enjoy in our soul what He has provided. Our deficiency is lack of doctrine in the soul, failure to appreciate what God has given with no strings.

“his good pleasure” — the accusative singular of e)udokia means his purpose, which is his pleasure, but the word means first of all purpose, intent. It is His purpose that we reach supergrace and it does give Him pleasure when we do because He then starts pouring the blessings.

“goodness” is not goodness. It is a)gaqwsunh which means giving with no strings. That is grace.

“and the work of faith with power” — the word “faith” doesn’t always mean faith. Pistij means “faith” but it generally means what is believed and it refers to doctrine. Here it is a descriptive genitive singular of pistij — “the production of doctrine by power,” literally. This is the supergrace life.

Verse 12 — the purpose of phase two. “That” — purpose clause” — “the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The word “name” means the celebrityship, the uniqueness. “That the uniqueness of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified” — aorist passive subjunctive of e)ndcazw, and it means to be invested with glory. This is an ingressive aorist. The last time we had this word was the Millennium, when He is coming back, but this means there is no question about how Jesus Christ is going to be glorified, invested with glory at the second advent, but with doctrine in the believer’s soul He is crowned right now. The passive voice: Jesus Christ receives this from any believer who reaches supergrace, because supergrace is the status of the celebrityship of Jesus Christ. The subjunctive mood is the potentiality; it all depends on whether you receive supergrace or not.

“in you” — a reference to the means of glorifying Jesus Christ. “In you” means in your soul, you must have a cup. You invest Jesus Christ with the glory that belongs to Him, the glory that the Father gave Him by seating Him at the right hand, when you have a cup in your soul and He can start pouring.

“ye in him” — this takes us back to positional truth where God made it possible for this to have a start: salvation.

“according to” is the preposition kata which refers to a norm or a standard; “according to the norm or standard of the grace of our God [God the Father] and the Lord Jesus Christ.”