Hear the Word, Accept the Word

[전승훈2]

Paul gives constant thanks to God because the Thessalonians received the message they heard from him and his companions not as the word of men, but as the word of God. That word was at work in those who believed.

The Thessalonian believers became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in Christ Jesus, because they endured suffering from their own countrymen just as the Judean believers had suffered from the Jews. Paul describes those opponents as having killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, driven out Paul and his companions, displeased God, and opposed all people by hindering the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles so that they might be saved.

In doing so, they continued to fill up the measure of their sins, and Paul says that wrath had come upon them fully.

However, Paul’s main point is not simply to emphasize the cruelty of the Jews toward the Judean believers. Rather, his purpose is to comfort and encourage the Thessalonians by showing that their suffering from their own countrymen is not unique. Just as the churches in Judea suffered from their own people, the Thessalonians are also enduring suffering from their own people as they follow Christ.

Excerpt from the sermon by Pastor Lee, Jul 7, 2026
Thessalonians 2:13-16