2 Thessalonians 1:4

Text (2 Thessalonians 1:4)

4 so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which ye endure;

Translation and Paraphrase

4.

So (greatly has your faith and love grown) that we ourselves glory about you (expressing the pride and thanks that are due, when we speak) among the churches of God (telling them) concerning your endurance and faith in all the persecutions and the afflictions which you endure.

Notes (2 Thessalonians 1:4)

1.

Paul was not a man to keep quiet about something good. He boasted about the generosity of the Macedonian churches to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5. Here he tells how he gloried in (1) the patience, and (2) the faith of the Thessalonians when he spoke to other churches.

It is always an encouragement and a stimulus to Christians to hear of the good work of churches elsewhere. Ministers do wrongly if they do not advertise to their people about such things.

2.

Note here that Paul speaks of the churches as churches of God. This is the name most often used in the New Testament to describe local congregations. The name church of God is used in 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 11:22; 1 Corinthians 15:9; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 Timothy 3:5; 1 Timothy 3:15; 1 Corinthians 10:32.

The term churches of Christ is used in Romans 16:16. We should be happy to be a part of a group called either a church of God or a church of Christ.

3.

The word patience (Gr., hupomone) has the meaning of steadfastness; also of endurance and expectation of help and victory. A man, such as Job, who endures one blow after another without giving up his trust in God has patience.

4.

Paul had sent Timothy to Thessalonica to exhort them concerning their faith. 1 Thessalonians 3:2. This verse indicates that their faith was doing very well.

5.

Paul mentions here their persecutions and afflictions. The same expression is used in Mark 4:17 in the parable of the sower, to describe the influences that caused those sown on rocky ground to wither.

6.

There is little difference in meaning between the words persecutions and tribulations. Persecution refers to pursuit or persecution. Tribulation (Gr., thlipsis) means pressure or affliction. (See notes on 1 Thessalonians 3:3, par. 2.)