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Sketches from the Life of Paul
Thus Paul preached to the Thessalonians three successive Sabbaths,
reasoning with them from the Scriptures, upon the life, death, and
resurrection of Christ. He showed them that the expectation of the
Jews with regard to the Messiah was not according to prophecy, which
had foretold a Saviour to come in humility and poverty, to be rejected,
despised, and slain.
He declared that Christ would come a second time in power and
great glory, and establish his kingdom upon the earth, subduing all
authority, and ruling over all nations. Paul was an Adventist; he
presented the important event of the second coming of Christ with
such power and reasoning that a deep impression, which never wore
away, was made upon the minds of the Thessalonians.
They had strong faith in the second coming of Christ, and greatly
feared that they might not live to witness the event. Paul, however, did
not give them the impression that Christ would come in their day. He
referred them to coming events which must transpire before that time
should arrive. Writing to them afterwards, he warned them that they
should “be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit,
nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at
hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not
come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition.”
Paul foresaw that there was danger of his words being misin-
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terpreted, and that some would claim that he, by special revelation,
warned the people of the immediate coming of Christ. This he knew
would cause confusion of faith; for disappointment usually brings un-
belief. He therefore cautioned the brethren to receive no such message
as coming from him.
In his Epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul reminds them of his
manner of laboring among them.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-4
. He declares
that he did not seek to win souls through flattery, deception, or guile.
“But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even
so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.”
Paul rebuked and warned his converts with the faithfulness of a father
to his children, while, at the same time, he cherished them as tenderly
as a fond mother would her child.
When the Jews saw that the apostles were successful in obtaining
large congregations; that many were accepting their doctrines—among