1 Thessalonians 2:9-12
For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
In 1 Corinthians 4:9, the Apostle Paul, when writing to the Corinthian church, said, “For I think that God has exhibited us, apostles, as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.” In this text, Paul was telling the Corinthian church that he and the other apostles are on display for all to see. Yet, in the Corinthian passage, they accused and exposed for all to see as one who is sentenced to death; most probably for their defense of the Christian faith. Some commentators say this is in reference to the Christians being slaughtered in the arena in Rome. History does tell us that all the apostles, except John the beloved, died a martyred death. The Apostle John was sentenced to work in exile as a slave in the mines on the Island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea.
In today’s passage, beginning in verse 10, Paul is telling the Thessalonian church that they were on public display and they are witnesses. They saw how holy, righteous, and blameless he and his co-ministers were in Thessalonica. Paul and his colleagues treated them like they were their very own children. They exhorted them, they encouraged them, and they charged them to walk as Jesus walked; which is, a manner that is worthy of God. Both occasions of service were ordained by God. In Corinth, the Apostle was on public display as one who is committed to execution. In Thessalonica, Paul was treated well and the church saw, as witnesses, how Paul treated them in holiness. The church knows how Paul handled them lovingly and gently as a father would treat his own children.