The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Thessalonians — Section 15

Thesr,aln11ica; f<ilrnnns certninly, Tinl01heus in all probability; they had shared hi& dRngers there; they were we'll known to the The~snlonians. So he joins their names with hiR own, rC'cognizin:i; tlwir hrot.herly felllllnhip, their faithful co-operation, and ~hrinking, it may he, from pnt.ting hims<>lf into unnecessary prominence. He seeks not, honour for himsC'lf; he has no litC'r~ry ambition; his one aim is the ~alvation of his converts, the glory of Gorl. (I) f<ilv,1011s, or, in the shortened form of the name, Silas, He, like St. Paul, was a Romnn cit izcn, and bore a Latin name. It was, in the Latin mythology, the name of thC' syh·an god, who was supposed to protect the sheep, and save them from wolves. When he became a Christian, that name might perhaps serve to remind him of the great duty of tending the flock for which the good Shepherd died, He had been a leader in the Church at Jerusalem; he WM a prophet (Acts xv. 82), that is, he had the gift of spiritual, inspired eloquence; he used it to exhort and confirm the brethren. He accompanied St. Paul in his first missionary journey; he wo_rked with him, he suffered with him. In the dungeon at Philippi, his feet made fast in the storks, he prayed Rnd sang praises unto God. His presence and sympathy had cheered S, Paul in his dangers. Companionship in affliction had bound them very close to one 11Mther. When working together at Thessalonica they must have still felt the effects of the many stripes which they had received at PhilippL It was natural that St. Paul should mention Silas in writing to the Thessalonians. We may notice here that he furnishes one of the links which couple together the two apostles whose differences (Gal. iL 11-21) have been so much magnified by heretics of old, by unbelievers now. St. Paul loved SilvanllS; St. Peter counted him a faithful brother (1 Pet. v. 12). (2) Tuuotheus, St. Paul's dearest companion, his own son in the faith, bound to him with the closest ties of tender, personal affection. He stands first among the noble company of holy, loving fellow-workers whom St. Paul had drawn around himself. He was known to the Thessalonians; his name, in<leed, does not appear in the record of St. Paul's visit to Thessalonica in the Acts of the Apostles. But we know that he was sent there afterwards to establi8h and to comfort the Thessalonian Christians concerning their faith (eh. iii. 2). Doubtless he was chosen for that work because of the Christian zeal, the loving, gentle sympathy which marked his beautiful character. He fulfilled his mission, and brought back to the apostle good tidings of the faith and charity of the Thessalonians. He greets them now. ll THE Umracn. L Tiu foundation of the Thessalonian <JhurcA. St. Paul had been shamefully treated at Philippi ; he had not lost courage. He co.me to Thessalonica; he went, as he was wont, to the synagogue. There he preached for three sabbath days; he "reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." He showed (as our Lord himself had shown to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus) that it was necessary that the Messiah should suffer, and should rise again from the dead; he showed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ All trne preaching must be full of Scripture; all true preaching must be full of Christ. St. Paul's words were greatly blessed. Some Jews believed, a great multitude of Greek proselytes, many ladies of rank. Those three sabbo.ths l,ad been wonderfully fruitful; a Church was formed at Thessalonico.. 2. The word •· <Jhurch.." This is the earliest uf St. Paul's extant Epistles; it may be (possibly the Epil!tk of St James was written earlier) the earliest of all the writings of the New Testament Then, if we were to read the New Testament in chronological order, we sh<'uld meet here with the word" C'nurch" for the first time. St. James (ii. 2) nses the \I ord " synagocrue,"- not "Church." Our Lord, of course, used it earlier. He founded the Ct•urcL.. He h~ said, "On this rock will I build my Church;" and ago.in, "~l'ell it to the Cbwch." But the date of St. Mattliew's Gospel is probably later than that of this Epistle. '!'he Greek word means simply an assembly, a congregation, as the word "synagogue" means a meeting. It is derived from a verb which means to call out or summon, and is regularly used in classical Greek of the assemblies of citizens summoned by the magistrate in the Greek commonwealths for legislative or other political pur- poses (comp. Acts xix. 30); sometimes of other assemblies, as of the crowd of artisans collected by Demetrius (Acts :r.ix. 32, 41). It is used of the congregation of Israel in Acts vii. 38; Heh. ii. 12; and sometimes in the Septuagint. The New Testament bas taken the word and filled it with a new and holy meaning. It is the assembly which Christ hatb chosen to himself out of the world-the flock of Christ, '!'he visible Cl,urd, of CIJrisl is "a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure Word of God is oa, I, 1-10.J 'l'HI~ J<'lHS'l' 1'.:l'l::i'l'Lg 'l'U Till<.: 'l'.UEH::iALU.'JlA:,S, 11