The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

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The apostle Paul is deeply concerned about the Thessalonians. Not that long ago, he and Silas led a missionary team westward out of Philippi on the Roman road known as the Via Egnatia. They came to Thessalonica, the strategic capital city of the Roman province of Macedonia. This large port city on the Aegean Sea was populated with idol worshipers, as well as those devoted to emperor worship. 

In typical fashion, Paul and his comrades located the city’s synagogue and began reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jews, many of whom believed Paul’s bold declaration, “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah” (Acts 17:3). Some devout Greeks who worshiped at the synagogue also were persuaded, along with several  prominent women. The church at Thessalonica was established. 

But many Jews in the city rejected Paul’s message and became jealous of Paul and Silas. They stirred up an angry crowd that invaded the home where the missionaries resided. Unable to find Paul, they dragged the homeowner (Jason) and other new believers before city authorities, who demanded a security payment to ensure against further disturbances. That night, the Thessalonian believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea, where they continued their missionary work (Acts 17:1-10). 

From Berea, Paul went to Athens, but he longed to see the Thessalonians again. When his sorrow became nearly too intense to bear, he sent Timothy to encourage the Thessalonians and report on their progress (1 Thess. 3:2). Timothy returned with positive news: Although the church suffered persecution, the people held fast to the faith and served the Lord out of love and eagerness for their Savior’s return. At the same time, they exposed certain doctrinal misunderstandings in the church.

Now in Corinth, Paul writes to his Thessalonian brothers and sisters in response to Timothy’s report. The third chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians begins with these words:

Therefore, when we could no longer stand it, we thought it was better to be left alone in Athens. And we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith, so that no one will be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. In fact, when we were with you, we told you in advance that we were going to experience affliction, and as you know, it happened. For this reason, when I could no longer stand it, I also sent him to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter had tempted you and that our labor might be for nothing (1 Thess. 3:1-5, emphasis added).

Like Matthew, Paul calls the evil one the tempter. In a city of strong demonic influence, played out in the worship of idols and Caesar, along with strong Jewish opposition to the gospel, Paul worries aloud that Satan might lure these new believers away from their foundational faith and godly lifestyle. As Gene Green notes, Paul’s focus is on the fruit of his labor, which is in danger because “this young church, bereft of leadership and struggling without full Christian instruction, faced Satan-inspired persecution that was designed to lead them to give up and abandon their alliance with the living God.”

Paul is not concerned that they have lost their salvation, for Paul is a champion of God’s covenant promises with respect to redemption. However, he must wonder: Would the Thessalonians return to idol worship to avoid persecution? Would they allow unbiblical pagan and Jewish practices to water down their faith, which is still in its infancy? Would they forsake their fervent love of Jesus if they felt Paul had abandoned them?

Paul is concerned that the tempter may have wreaked havoc on his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica. There is no guarantee that believers who start strongly in the Christian faith won’t finish with a whimper. Paul knows this, and he sees his encouragement of fellow believers as a vital part of his ministry. On occasion, the apostle acknowledges the possibility that his labors are in vain (Phil. 2:16), his running of the race is in vain (Gal. 2:2), or his ministry is in vain (1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 6:1). Even so, he expresses confidence that his work among the Thessalonians “was not without result” (1 Thess. 2:1).

Satan’s nature and activities

Notice how Paul gives us insight into the evil one’s nature and activities. For starters, the tempter loves a vacuum. When leaders like Paul move on to new places of ministry, especially when little time has been devoted to raising up new leaders, Satan moves in with a vengeance. Paul knows this about Satan and fears the evil one has ridden the slipstream of the apostle’s departure from Thessalonica.

Second, the tempter always exacts a price. He stirs up persecution in Thessalonica, mostly at the hands of Jewish leaders who reject Jesus as Messiah, but also from idol worshipers and members of the cult of Caesar. This persecution is meant to discourage new or immature believers, leading them to wrongly assume faithfulness to God must be grounded in circumstances rather than in the Lord’s covenant promises.

Third, the tempter always sows tares in Christ’s wheat fields. Jesus makes this clear in the parable of the wheat and weeds (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43). Wherever a work of God takes root, Satan is there to sow discord, doubt, and dissension. Just as tares in Jesus’ parable intertwine their roots with those of the wheat, and even look similar to wheat as the two grow together, false teachers in the church often use persuasive words and charismatic personalities to make them virtually indistinguishable from genuine leaders. And as the farmer allows wheat and tares to grow together until harvest time, so Jesus allows false teachers to spring up in the church until the Son of Man returns in judgment.

Fourth, the tempter makes the status quo attractive. Surely, there was no persecution when the Thessalonians gathered in the synagogue or at the idol’s temple. But when they entrusted their lives to Jesus, they necessarily moved outside their comfort zones. As Satan keeps turning up the pressure, these new followers of Jesus are now forced to examine their hearts and ask whether the pain is really worth it.

Fifth, the tempter generates doubt. If Jesus fed the crowds, turned water into wine, healed the sick, cast out demons, and even raised the dead, why doesn’t he protect his followers from persecution and doctrinal doubts? Why are Jews in the synagogue resisting the gospel so strongly? Why do idol worshipers reject the story of Jesus? The Jews and idol worshipers aren’t facing persecution, and they defend their beliefs with great vigor. Maybe they have a point. Further, if Paul really is for the Thessalonians, why isn’t he there suffering beside them?

Sixth, the tempter twists the truth. Thankfully, Paul discovers that the Thessalonians are staying the course, serving God faithfully. Even so, they are yet babes in Christ, and they reveal a number of misunderstandings about doctrinal issues. If Satan can turn these questions into open debates, perhaps he can drive a wedge between those whom Paul has urged to be united in Christ. Thessalonica is a key city. If the church’s influence there can be tainted, the gospel they spread might be sullied as well.

Tim Shenton writes:

The devil’s main object is to stop people from believing, but when he fails his next aim is to destroy their faith. He may use intellectual arguments to cause us to doubt the Bible and its message; he may use ridicule and verbal abuse to shame us into turning from Christ; he may tempt us into sin and then declare that God has abandoned us because of our unfaithfulness; or he may appear as an angel of light to persuade us that there is a better way. But whatever his method, true faith withstands persecution and deception.

Opening Up 1 Thessalonians

Unlike Satan’s personal, direct challenges to Jesus in the wilderness, the evil one works through secondary agents in Thessalonica – unbelieving Jews, idolaters, and persecution – to entice immature followers of Jesus to abandon their faith. Unlike his bold appeals to Jesus for miraculous proofs of divinity, the evil one sows doubts in the minds of Thessalonian believers, perhaps causing them to wonder why Jesus doesn’t miraculously deliver them from their time of testing. And unlike his blasphemous plea for Jesus’ worship, the devil entices the Thessalonians to consider returning to Judaism, idolatry, or the cult of Caesar in exchange for a more comfortable life. 

While the tempter’s tactics may change, his strategies remain the same. He calls us to love the world – that is, the world order alienated from and in rebellion against God, and condemned for its godlessness. He appeals to “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions” (1 John 2:16). He calls us to focus on the here and now so we take our eyes off the eternal, forgetting that Satan’s domain has an expiration date but God’s kingdom does not (1 John 2:17). 

In addition, Satan promises us instant gratification, while glossing over the damning consequences. And he delights in our worship of anyone or anything other than the only one to whom true worship is due. He is the tempter, and our only hope of defeating him is to rest in the finished work of the one who rebuffed the devil’s taunts in the wilderness and destroyed the evil one on the cross. 

Next: Temptation, testing, trial