I Thessalonians Lesson 1

I Thessalonians

Key Verse: I Thessalonians, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”

Key Words: Coming – found 4 times; Comfort – found 6 times.

Theme: Christ’s Return: “The Believer’s Hope.”

Date: 53 A.D. (Paul was approximately 46 years old. He had been saved for 16 years.)

Writer: The Apostle Paul

Written to: Saints at Thessalonica (mostly gentiles). From: Corinth (on second missionary journey – Acts 17:1-10).

The Book: Number in Bible – 52nd Book in the Bible; Number of Chapters – 5; Number of verses – 89; Number in order of writing – 13th in the New Testament.

Purpose:

1) Strengthen and confirm new Christians

2) Answer false accusation about Paul

3) Explain that the Christian dead would participate in the rapture

4) Warn Christians about pagan immorality

5) Remind Christian members to honor and follow Scriptural leaders

6) Warn members not to give up jobs and wait

Divisions:

1) Recognition of how they were saved, dealt with and cared for (Ch. 1-3)

2) Reminder of how to live to please God (Ch. 4-5)

Outline:

I. People in the church (Ch. 1)

    1) Elect (v. 4)

    2) Example (v. 7)

    3) Enthusiastic (v. 8)

    4) Expectant (v. 10)

II. Preacher in the church (Ch. 2)

    1) Faithful steward (v. 4)

    2) Gentle mother (v. 7)

    3) Concerned father (v. 11)

    4) Loving brother (v. 14)

III. Program in the church (Ch. 3)

    1) Involved a man sent from God (v. 2)

    2) Involved a letter written by Paul (v. 2)

    3) Involved prayer by Paul (v. 10)

    4) Involved reminder of the second coming (v. 13)

IV. Plan for the church (Ch. 4)

    1) Walk in holiness (v. 7)

    2) Walk in love (v. 9)

    3) Walk in honesty (v. 12)

    4) Walk in hope (v. 13)

V. Prospect for the church (Ch. 5)

    1) Walk in light (v. 1-11)

    2) Walk in gratitude (v. 12,13)

    3) Walk in obedience (v. 14-28)

VI. Conclusions – each chapter refers to the Second Coming

    1) His coming and salvation (1:13)

    2) His coming and service (2:19,20)

    3) His coming and stability (3:13)

    4) His coming and sorrow (4:18)

    5) His coming and sanctification (5:23)

Miscellaneous: In I Thessalonians we see:

1) The model church (Ch. 1)

2) The model servant (Ch. 2)

3) The model brother (Ch. 3)

4) The model walk (Ch. 4)

Chronological Order of Paul’s Books:

1) Prophetic – (I and II Thessalonians)

2) Platform (doctrinal) – Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatians

3) Prison epistles – Colossians, Ephesians, Philippines, Philemon

4) Pastoral epistles – I and II Timothy, Titus

The purpose of a church, as seen in I Thessalonians:

1) A center for getting out the Gospel (1:8)

2) A nursery for new babes (2:7, 8)

3) A target for the devil (2:14, 15; 3:5)

4) A family circle (abounding in love) (3:12)

5) A workshop of divine discipline (4:1, 3, 7)

6) A school for character development (4:9-13)

7) A hospital for the spiritually weak (5:14)

Note: Jesus is referred to as “Lord” 25 times in Thessalonians

Simply click the “Take the Quiz” Button to the right. Have your KJV Bible with you, and look up the answers to the questions on the quiz. You can then answer the questions from the Bible, (Open Book Test).