LESSON 31
AT THESSALONICA AND BEREA
"A constant struggle, a ceaseless battle to bring success from inhospitable surroundings, is the price of all great achievements."
"To banish, imprison, plunder, starve, hang, and burn men for religion is not the Gospel of Christ, but the policy of the devil. Christ never used anything that looked like force but once, and that was to drive bad men out of the temple, not to drive them in."
It is easy enough to do right when in good company, but it is not easy to defend the right when the majority of the crowd are opposing it; and yet, that is the time to show true courage. The Prophet Joseph, for example, was reviled and persecuted for saying that he had received a vision, but he always remained true to his testimony. Though he "was hated and persecuted yet he said it was true that God had spoken to him, and
"All the world could not make him think or believe otherwise!"
Such is the courage and firmness everyone should have. When one knows what is right one should always have the courage to defend it even in the face of ridicule or punishment.
"It's easy enough to be virtuous
When nothing tempts you to stray;
When without or within
No voice of sin
Is luring your soul away;
But it's only a negative virtue
Until it is tried by fire:
And the soul that is worth
The praises of earth
Is the soul that resists desire."
In the matter of courage to preach the Gospel in the face of bitter persecution, the missionaries at Thessalonica and Berea proved themselves true heroes.
After the cruel treatment Paul had received in Philippi, he was not in a condition to endure long travel, and hardship; yet he and his companions traveled over one hundred miles before they reached Thessalonica.
This city, the capital of Macedonia, towards which Paul had been directing his course ever since he left Troas, was an important trading center. "Indeed, in all Greece," "if we except Corinth, there is no harbor with a finer situation; the anchorage is of the best; the roadstead is as smooth as a lake, while the neighboring valleys give access to highways leading into Epirus and upper Macedonia."[[1]]
How Named.
At one time the city was called Therma; but in the days of Alexander the Great, it was named Thessalonica for Alexander's sister, Thessalonica, the wife of one of Alexander's generals.
This name, slightly shortened clings to the city today. It is now called Saloniki and is one of the centers of the great war that is, at the present time,[[2]] wasting all Europe. In importance it is the second city in European Turkey.
Worn in Body; Fresh in Spirit.
Tired and worn and penniless, Paul entered this great city. Tired and worn in body, but fresh and vigorous as ever in spirit, he took immediate steps to give to the people the glorious message of the Gospel of the Redeemer.
In the Synagogue.
The first meeting was probably held in "the synagogue," for Thessalonica was then, and has been since, a strong Jewish center. For three successive weeks, Paul and Silas "reasoned with them out of the scriptures; opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead; and that this same Jesus, whom, he said, 'I preach unto you,' is Christ."
Nor was it only in the synagogue that these earnest missionaries proclaimed their message, but in the street and in the workshop.
With Jason.
Paul and Silas lodged with a man named Jason, where Paul worked at the trade he had learned in Tarsus. Paul says himself that he "labored night and day, that he might not be burdensome to any of them."[[3]] Thus "late at night, when the sun had long set on the incessant spiritual labors of the day, the apostle might be seen by lamplight laboring at the rough haircloth, that he might be chargeable to none."
Aided by the Saints.
We can well imagine that he was frequently interrupted in this work by men and women who would seek for more light on the doctrines of the Gospel. The result was that Paul made scarcely enough money to pay for his food and clothing; and if the good Saints in Philippi had not sent him relief, he and Silas would perhaps have been in actual want.
Not many Jews believed, so Paul and his companion turned to the Gentiles, many of whom believed, "of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few."