1:1 保羅、西拉、提摩太寫信給帖撒羅尼迦在父 神和主耶穌基督裏的教會。願恩惠平安歸與你們！ Paul, Silas (\f1 1:1 Greek|i Silvanus|d, a variant of|i Silas|d) and Timothy,To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:Grace and peace to you. (\f2 1:1 Some early manuscripts|i you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ|d)
1:2 我們為你們眾人常常感謝 神，禱告的時候提到你們， We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.
1:3 在 神我們的父面前，不住的記念你們因信心所做的工夫，因愛心所受的勞苦，因盼望我們主耶穌基督所存的忍耐。 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:4 被 神所愛的弟兄啊，我知道你們是蒙揀選的； For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,
1:5 因為我們的福音傳到你們那裏，不獨在乎言語，也在乎權能和聖靈，並充足的信心，正如你們知道、我們在你們那裏，為你們的緣故是怎樣為人。 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
1:6 並且你們在大難之中，蒙了聖靈所賜的喜樂，領受真道就效法我們，也效法了主； You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
1:7 甚至你們作了馬其頓和亞該亞所有信主之人的榜樣。 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
1:8 因為主的道從你們那裏已經傳揚出來。你們向 神的信心不但在馬其頓和亞該亞，就是在各處也都傳開了；所以不用我們說甚麼話。 The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia--your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it,
1:9 因為他們自己已經報明我們是怎樣進到你們那裏，你們是怎樣離棄偶像，歸向 神，要服事那又真又活的 神， for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
1:10 等候他兒子從天降臨，就是他從死裏復活的─那位救我們脫離將來忿怒的耶穌。 0 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
"He hath acquainted himself with my beaten path. When he hath searched me out, I shall come out shining."(Job 23:10, free translation.)
ＦAITH grows amid storms" -just four words, but oh, how full of import to the soul who has been in the storms! Faith is that God-given faculty which, when exercised, brings the unseen into plain view, and by which the impossible things are made possible. It deals with supernaturals.
But it "grows amid storms"; that is, where there are disturbances in the spiritual atmosphere. Storms are caused by the conflicts of elements; and the storms of the spiritual world are conflicts with hostile elements.
In such an atmosphere faith finds its most productive soil; in such an element it comes more quickly to full fruition.
The staunchest tree in not found in the shelter of the forest, but out in the open where the winds from every quarter beat upon it, and bend and twist it until it becomes a giant in stature-this is the tree which the mechanic wants his tools made of, and the wagon-maker seeks.
So in the spiritual world, when you see a giant, remember the road you must travel to come up to his side is not along the sunny lane where wild flowers ever bloom; but a steep, rocky, narrow pathway where the blasts of hell will almost blow you off your feet; where the sharp rocks cut the flesh, where the projecting thorns scratch the brow, and the venomous beasts hiss on every side.
It is a pathway of sorrow and joy, of suffering and healing balm, of tears and smiles, of trials and victories, of conflicts and triumphs, of hardships and perils and buffetings, of persecutions and misunderstandings, of troubles and distress; through all of which we are made more than conquerors through Him who loves us.
"Amid storms." Right in the midst where it is fiercest. You may shrink back from the ordeal of a fierce storm of trial...but go in! God is there to meet you in the center of all your trials, and to whisper His secrets which will make you come forth with a shining face and an indomitable faith that all the demons of hell shall never afterwards cause to waver.
─E. A. Kilbourne.
2019模組修改：黃哲輝牧師 2024.8.28修定帖撒羅尼迦經文錯誤
