Passing the Faith Along - 2022-07-31

“Passing the Faith Along”

1 Thess. 1:6-10

Message #2 in 1 Thess. Series

McEwen Bible Fellowship

31 July 2022

INTRODUCTION:

When you get good new you want to share it with people. Right? You want to phone them up right away and tell them the news. For example:

Ø  After hoping and praying for 3 years for a child, you find out that you and your wife are going to have your first baby. You holler, cry, laugh and tell everyone.

Ø  You receive word that you got the big job advancement and raise that you had been hoping for. You give high-fives, do your little happy dance, and call your friends to share your good fortune.

Ø  You get a letter in the mail saying that you have been accepted into West Point with all expenses paid. You run right out and tell everyone you know the good news.

Ø  Your doctor finally calls you and says that suspicious spot on your recent X-ray turned out to be just a flaw in the film. You call up the prayer team at church and ask the pastor to put the good news in the church bulletin.

TRANSITION:

The same is true when people come to know Jesus—they want to tell people about Him:

Ø  John 1 – Andrew ran to tell his brother, Simon

Ø  Same chapter – Philip ran to tell his friend, Nathanael

Ø  John 4 – the Samaritan woman ran back to her village to tell them about Jesus, the Messiah, who knew all about her           

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 we read about this same joy and zeal inspiring the Christians from Thessaloniki to go out sharing the Good News with anyone who would listen. They were bold in sharing their faith, and their zeal and love for God paid off in a harvest of many other people coming to faith in Christ because of their testimony. Let’s look at Paul’s letter to them, probably written from Corinth a year or so after he took the Gospel to their city. But much had happened in that time. 

MAIN BODY:

¹ Paul and Silvanus [Silas] and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.  ² We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; ³ constantly bearing in mind your work of faith, and labour of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, ⁴ knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; ⁵ for our Gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.  ⁶ You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the Word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.  ⁸ For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.  ⁹ For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, ¹⁰ and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. 

Verse 6: You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word [i.e., the Gospel] in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,  

·        This word “imitators” is the Greek word, mimetês, from which we get our English words, mime, and mimic. Coupled with the “to be” verb in the aorist tense [which indicates a point of time in the past] it is obvious that Paul is referring to their conversion experience in the past, when then they first believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, “You believed in Christ the same way we had before you. You followed our example of giving your lives to Him too.”

·        “…imitators of us and of the Lord” – Of the two which is the more important? Imitating Christ, of course. But the fact is, we are the only Christ that people see. Paul recognized that the Thessalonian believers were patterning all aspects of their lives after Paul, Silas, and Timothy, their fathers in the faith. In the same way that children emulate their parents, baby Christians tend to copy their parents in the faith. That is why we as elders in the faith have a great responsibility toward new believers. Our job is to show them the path.

·        “Having received the Word in much tribulation” – When Paul, Silas, and Timothy took the Gospel to Thessaloniki they did so despite much opposition. In fact, if you remember back to the account in Acts 17 that we explored last Sunday, they risked their very lives to preach the Gospel there. The entrenched Jewish power structure was violently opposed to them spreading this “heresy” about Jesus.

·        “…with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” – But Paul remembers too that along with the persecution there was also much joy. That is normal when people come to know Christ. God fills the heart of the forgiven sinner with joy. [cf. Luke 15:7, 10, 32]

·        In Acts 8:8, referring to Philip’s healing and preaching ministry in the city of Samaria we read, “So there was great joy in that city” because people were getting healed and saved. Again, in verse 39, after Philp shared the Gospel with the Ethiopian eunuch it says, “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.” 

Verse 7: so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 

·        The Greek word here translated as “example” is tupos and it means “a pattern, an ensample, or a mould,” the kind you use to produce accurate copies. For example, when a craftsman makes his wood art, he uses a pattern to draw out all the pieces.  Then he carefully cuts them out and fits them together to make lovely wooden mosaics. Likewise, some of you have had dental work done. The dentist makes moulds of your teeth, top and bottom. From those he can make a perfect replica of every tooth in your mouth. The other way tupos is used is of an image stamped on metal. That always brings to my mind the ending of the old TV show, “Dragnet.” At the end of the show, after the credits, there would be this huge man’s arm holding a metal stamp up against a metal plate. Then the hammer would fall, and he would pull the stamp away, leaving a perfect image on the metal. That is how coins are made, by the way, by use of a tupos to stamp the image.

·        Putting verses 6 and 7 together we see that Paul is saying that he and his colleagues were the pattern for the Thessalonians, who in turn became a pattern for believers all over Macedonia and Achaia. Just as Paul, Silas, and Timothy had come to believe in the Lord Jesus and then gone out to share the Gospel with others, so the Thessalonians followed their example and trusted in Christ, then went out preaching the Good News to people all over their region.  

Verse 8: For the word of the Lord [i.e., the Gospel] has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.

·        “For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you…” – Here Paul uses the Greek word exechéo, which means to sound forth like a trumpet or thunder. Paul is saying that the powerful testimony of the Thessalonian Christians thundered throughout the whole region and beyond. He says, “We don’t need to say anything because it is common knowledge. Everyone already knows about the faith of the believers in Thessaloniki.”

·        “…your faith toward God has gone forth” Back up in verse 3 Paul commended the Thessalonian believers for their “work of faith” meaning the fruit borne by their faith, the righteous results of their faith. Their pure, genuine faith produced genuine results and eternal fruit.

·        This verse gives us the formula for a successful church, namely:

1.      The Gospel sounds forth not only from the pulpit but also from the lips of every member, sharing the Good News with anyone who will listen.

2.     The people in the church demonstrate their faith in God and His Word by putting feet to their faith and living out the truths they claim to believe. Sunday-go-to-meetin’ Christians are a dime-a-dozen and are useless to the Kingdom and an embarrassment to the Gospel. Don’t be one of those. 

Verse 9: For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, 

·        I love this verse! “For they themselves report…” To whom is Paul referring? Obviously, the new believers who were living roundabout in all of Macedonia (the northern region of Greece), Achaia (the southern region of Greece), and beyond. The people they have led to Christ in those places were telling the story of how the Gospel came to Thessaloniki and how the people there received the message with their whole hearts. The dedication, courage, and conviction of the Thessalonian Christians became common knowledge throughout the whole country. This is so cool… we can see at least five links in this Gospel chain.

Ø  Back in Acts 9 we read that a dear saint of God by the name of Ananias led Paul to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Ø  Paul, in turn, in Acts 16 led Timothy and his family to Christ (and he may have shared Christ with Silas as well, although we do not know for sure).

Ø  Then Paul, Silas, and Timothy shared the Gospel with the Thessalonians.

Ø  They, in turn, went out preaching the Gospel throughout their whole region, leading many to faith in Jesus. So, can you visualize the chain?

Ø  Ananiasà Paulà Timothyà Thessaloniansà Macedonians à beyond.

·        “For they themselves report… how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God.” The Thessalonians were steeped in the Greek religions and mystery cults, but they were polytheists, believing in many gods. And their gods were mean and capricious, playing cruel tricks on men. Notice the two key words that Paul uses here to describe the faith they received when they dumped the idols and the false Greek religion— “living,” as opposed to dead as a doornail, and “true” as opposed to fake, bogus, and phony as a three-dollar bill.

·        N.B., they turned from serving idols to serving the living and true God. When you turn from one thing you automatically must turn toward something else. What often happens, however, is that people turn from one idol to serve another idol. Most people go through life just switching from idol to idol. That is a treadmill that gets you nowhere. Only when you turn from all the idols to serve the living and true God does life have any meaning.

·        Anything to which we give allegiance (i.e., adoration, devotion, reverence, worship) that is not the true God Himself, is a form of idolatry. God said, “Thou shalt have no other gods before ME,” meaning “…in My place.” Anything besides God that we elevate to first place in our life is, by definition, an idol. That can be money, possessions, prestige, fame, sex, power, self, work, exercise, family, etc. Anything (even a good thing) can become an idol if it becomes the centre of your life and usurps God’s rightful place. 

Verse 10: and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. 

·        Here the thought continues unbroken… “[It is reported] …how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, ¹⁰ and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” With the Gospel of sins forgiven comes the blessed hope of Christ’s return to take us to Heaven. It is a package deal—you receive Jesus… you get Heaven too!

·        “…and to wait” – This word is anamenein, a compound of meno, meaning “to remain or abide,” plus the preposition ana meaning “up.” The word carries with it the suggestion of “waiting with patience and confident expectancy,” in this case, for the return of the Lord Jesus for His saints, what we call the Rapture.

·        Notice how smoothly Paul works in the doctrine of the resurrection. That was a scarlet thread that ran through all the apostolic teaching. Without the risen Christ there would be no Redeemer, and without redemption there would be no rescue from “the wrath to come.” Our hope as Christians hangs on the bodily resurrection of Christ from the dead. Without that we would be eternally lost, with no hope.

·        The theme of God’s coming wrath runs through both Thessalonian letters. It is also clearly seen in Romans (3:5; 5:9; 9:22; 13:5). By this Paul is referring to God’s final judgment, His personal retribution against sin, His holiness in action. One of the reasons Paul goes into this subject in some detail in these two letters was because the Thessalonian church was experiencing a season of increasing persecution. Apparently, some of the Christians there were concluding that they were experiencing God’s wrath poured out on them. They thought maybe God was punishing them. So, Paul wrote to encourage them and to instruct them. He makes it clear that while they were going through trials and tribulations, they were not experiencing The Tribulation that he had told them about when he was with them. But he also makes it clear… someday that judgment will come when God shall pour-out His wrath against the wicked and against the unbelieving nations (cf. Matt. 24:30; Rev. 19:11-15).

CONCLUSION:

I hate waiting. I’m not a patient man. Waiting is always hard. None of us likes to wait. We want everything NOW! But Jesus commanded us to wait on Him. He promised not to leave us or forsake us. He promised to return to take us to be with Him, but He also said, “Occupy until I come” (Luke 19:13). We have a job to do. We have our orders. We have authority granted to us by God Himself. Through the Holy Spirit we have the power necessary to complete the Great Commission. So, what are we waiting for?           

Jesus said in John 9:4 that we must work while it is day, for night is coming when no man can work. In Ephesians 5:16 Paul urges us to make the most of the time we have left because the days are evil.           

We are to wait for the Lord, but we are to do that from a fighting position, not from a resting position. We are to be about our Father’s business, just as Jesus was. When He chooses to return is His business. Our business it to be sure that when He comes, He finds us working for Him in His harvest fields. The Christian life is about warfare, not welfare. It is about fighting, not fleeing. It is about serving, not sitting.

Welcome to Saloniki - 2022-07-24

“Welcome to Saloniki”

Acts 17:1-15/1 Thess. 1:1-5

Message #1 in 1 Thess. Series

McEwen Bible Fellowship

24 July 2022

INTRODUCTION:

The account of Paul’s second missionary journey begins in Acts 15:40, describing how he and Silas left from Antioch in Syria to travel back to all those cities where Paul and Barnabas had ministered on their first journey. Up until Acts 16:10 all the ministry that Luke describes took place in Asia, in what is today known as Turkey. However, in Acts 16:11 we read about Paul and his traveling companions catching a ship from Troas on the western tip of Turkey, to Neapolis by way of Samothrace, which is in Greece. From Neapolis they travelled overland to Philippi, the main city of that region known as Macedonia. This chapter is important for many reasons, but one of them being that Philippi was the first church planted in Europe. (The church in Thessaloniki was the second church planted in Europe.) The rest of Acts 16 recounts the events that occurred in Philippi, resulting in the planting of the Philippian church. Acts 16 ends with Paul, Silas, and Timothy leaving Philippi, saying goodbye to the brethren there and moving on to their next assignment. 

TRANSITION:

Acts 17 recounts the story about the next phase of their missionary journey but Acts 17:1 makes it sound like a simple trip. In fact, it was much harder than it sounds here:

Ø  Philippi à Amphipolis = 33 miles

Ø  Amphipolis à Apollonia = 30 miles

Ø  Apollonia à Thessaloniki = 37 miles (Total of 100 miles. That is like walking from Baker City to 6 miles beyond Pendleton.) 

Thessaloniki was an important city even in Paul’s day. Under the Romans it was a major commercial centre and the capital of one of the four regions of the area that they called, “Macedonia.” In antiquity it had been called Therma because of its hot springs, but in 315 BC Cassander of Macedon, the Macedonian king who rebuilt the city and turned it into a thriving centre of government, art, and commerce renamed it after his wife, Thessaloniki, daughter of Philip II of Macedon and sister of Alexander the Great. After the fall of the kingdom of Macedon in 168 BC, Thessaloniki became a city of the Roman Republic. It grew to be an important trade-hub located on the Via Egnatia and facilitating trade between Europe and Asia. When Paul and Silas entered the city, it was a mixture of several cultures: Greek, Macedonian, Roman, and Jewish, to name a few. Even back then there was a large Jewish quarter in the city with an active synagogue. Today, Thessaloniki, also called Saloniki, is the 2^nd largest city in Greece with over 1 million inhabitants. It is still the cultural and artistic centre of Greece.

Listen as I read Acts 17:1-15. This is the background story describing the start of the ministry in Thessaloniki.

When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessaloniki, where there was a Jewish synagogue. ² As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, ³ explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. ⁴ Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. ⁵ But other Jews were jealous; so, they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶ But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, ⁷ and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” ⁸ When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. ⁹ Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go. ¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessaloniki, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. ¹² As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. ¹³ But when the Jews in Thessaloniki learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. ¹⁴ The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. ¹⁵ Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

MAIN BODY:

Now we are going to turn a corner, go forward in time. Turn to the book of 1 Thessalonians. What we have here is a letter that Paul sent back to the Christians in Thessaloniki to encourage them in their faith and to clear up some theological misunderstandings. It was written from Corinth perhaps about the middle of AD 50, approximately a year after Paul was run out of Thessaloniki. It is believed to be the very first of the Pauline epistles. 

1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, “Paul, and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. ² We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; ³ constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, ⁴ knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; ⁵ for our Gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” 

Verse 1: “Paul, and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.”    

·        First, look at the three names. Paul, you know, and Timothy too. But who is Silvanus? You know him better by his Greek name, Silas. Silvanus is the Latin form of his name because he was almost certainly a Roman citizen, as was Paul. Looking back at the story of the founding of the Thessalonian church recorded in Acts 17 you will remember that these were the same three men who carried the Gospel to that city. These were their spiritual fathers, the men who had led them to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

·        Secondly, notice Paul’s salutation: “Grace to you, and peace.” He uses this same formula repeatedly, yet he never inverts the order of the words. We can only know God’s peace after first experiencing His grace. Grace precedes peace. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We cannot have the peace of God until we have made peace with God, and that requires drinking deeply of His grace, and receiving Christ by faith. 

Verse 2: “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;”    

·        Here you can see the deep affection that Paul and his colleagues feel toward these Christians in Thessaloniki. It is that pride and affection that one has toward those whom he has led to the Saviour. Being a spiritual father is very satisfying. To know that because of your faithfulness and your testimony, coupled with the power of God to save, another soul will be in Heaven… that is a powerful drug, and very habit-forming.

·        Paul uses three word-pictures in this letter that show the warm affection that he, Silas, and Timothy have toward the believers in Thessaloniki.

ü  In 2:7 he says they were like nursing mothers, who gently and tenderly care for their own children.

ü  In 2:11 he says that they were like firm fathers, who show their love for their children by exhorting, encouraging, and imploring them toward excellence.

ü  In 2:17 Paul uses a colourful Greek word meaning to be bereft, or to be orphaned from to describe how he and the others felt about their separation from the folks at Thessaloniki that they had come to know and love. He uses the Greek word aporphanídzomai, which means to be bereft or separated, as an orphan is separated from his parents. It is a compound word made up of the preposition apo, meaning “from,” plus orphanos, “an orphan.” The KJV translates the verse this way: “But we brethren, being taken from you for a short time, in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.” The NASV says it this way: “But we, brethren, having been bereft of you for a short while—in person, not in spirit—were all the more eager with great desire to see your face.” And of course, the NIV reads this way: “But brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you.”  

Verse 3: “…constantly bearing in mind [lit. remembering unceasingly] your work of faith, and labour of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the presence of our God and Father”    

·        Here you have the content of Paul, and Silas, and Timothy’s prayers for the Thessalonians. In the first phrase Paul uses the Greek word adialeíptos, which means “without ceasing, without let up.” In Greek literature it is used of incessant heart pain, or an annoying persistent cough that just hangs on forever. It is the same word Paul chooses to use in 5:17 where he charges us to “Pray without ceasing,” i.e., without let up, without quitting. He says that he and his friends were constantly remembering and giving thanks to God for three significant things about the Thessalonians: their work of faith, their labour of love, and their steadfastness of hope. All three of these phases are genitive Greek constructions, and all three should be handled in the same way.

1.      “Their work of faith” – Or to put it in clearer English, “faith that works, that functions, that produces fruit.” He is referring to the good things produced by their faith, the genuine fruit of their genuine faith. Their faith in God was a body-building faith, a faith with muscles. Real faith will produce real results, visible results. Faith is a muscle that must be exercised constantly. If not used, it becomes flabby, flaccid, and eventually atrophied. 

2.     “Their labour of love” – Same construction. Paul is saying that their love caused them to labour. The word he uses here for work, however, is different than the word he uses in the previous phrase. There he uses the Greek word, ergon, which refers to what is done, and may often be easy and pleasant. In this second phrase he switches to the Greek word, kopos, which literally means “a striking or a beating,” carrying the idea of “toil resulting in weariness, laborious toil.” It emphasizes the gut-busting process of back-breaking labour, which is seldom pleasant, but often necessary. This is the word we would use to describe what soldiers do in war on the front-lines—it is the painful, laborious, day-after-day, no-frills/no-fun kind of work. But Paul says that is what he remembers about them—their love for God and for the people that God loves, that caused them to be relentless in their labours to serve Christ. The Christian life is not a walk in the park, it is a battlefield. It is not a stroll in the shade, but a call to arms. We are called to be servants of God, and servants know how to work, and work hard. Unfortunately, today, too many Christians are sitting in their lawn chairs drinking lemonade, just waiting for Jesus to come back, totally oblivious to the fact that we are in the middle of a spiritual war in which every Christian soldier is needed.

3.     “Their steadfastness of hope” – That is, the steadfastness and security that their hope produces in them. This hope is in God, not in men or governments or methods or systems or skills or programs. God is the only One who will never fail us. God is the only One worthy of our faith, trust, and hope. Daniel 11:32 says, “The people who know their God will display strength and take action.” I also like the way it reads in the KJV: “But the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.” Those who place their hope in God can stand up to anything, any kind of tribulation, persecution, testing. The man who has his hope anchored in God will remain steadfast and secure. He will be like the oak tree firmly planted by a river, as described in Psalm 1, “…which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.” 

4.     It is interesting that the three virtues Paul mentions here are the same three he speaks of in 1 Corinthians 13:13 where he says, “But now abide faith, hope, and love, these three.” So, to sum up this verse, Paul is commending the Thessalonian believers on their faith that functions, love that sweats, and hope that survives.

Verse 4: “…knowing, brethren, beloved by God, His choice of you”    

·        Two wonderful truths here:

1.      These Christians are beloved by God. Too many of us walk around feeling like God does not really like us. We feel like red-headed stepchildren, waiting to be shipped off to boarding school. We do not like ourselves very much so we figure that God could not possibly like/love us either. We look over our shoulder all the time, sort of hoping that He is not watching us, because we think that if He really knew about us what we know about ourselves He simply could not love us. My friend, that is the devil’s own lie. God sees us all the time and He loves us anyway. If you could only see the smile on God’s face when He looks at you it would change your mind completely. Why do you think that children loved Jesus so much? –because He loved them dearly and His smile and twinkling eyes and tender touch proved it. They instinctively knew that He really loved them, so they flocked to Him. Here Paul reminds the Thessalonian believers that God loves them in this very same way. Of these same Thessalonian Christians Paul writes in 2 Thess. 2:13, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” SO, WHAT’S MY POINT? If all these believers are beloved by God, what makes you think He does not love you just as much? God does not play favourites with His children. He loves them alike—the naughty ones and the nice ones—and face it, we are all naughty more than we are nice, but He loves us anyway. 

2.     Secondly, Paul says that the Thessalonian Christians are not only beloved by God, but they are also chosen by God. I know that idea freaks a lot of people out, even Christians. They say, “That sounds like Calvinism to me, and I don’t believe in Calvinism or election, or predestination, or any of that stuff.” My answer to you is that you need to go back and read the Book again. The Bible says repeatedly that our salvation is not a result of us choosing God, but of His choosing us, and coming down to look for us, even when we were running hard in the opposite direction to try and get away from Him. Paul’s statement here is not an attempt to get a theological argument started. He simply states categorically that the Thessalonian Christians should find comfort in the fact that God chose them for Himself before the foundation of the world. That applies to us as well. Do not get hung up on it—just accept it, thank God for it, and move on. 

Verse 5: “…for our Gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.”    

·        There are five (5) observations I want to make from this verse:

1.      First, here Paul reminds the believers that when he and Silas and Timothy showed up in Thessaloniki, they did not come just spouting pious words— “…not in word only.” They were not just religious gasbags like the Pharisees, full of religious sounding hot air. The Good News, the Gospel, is rooted in the written Word of God, that is true. But even Bible truth, without living flesh, is an incomplete Gospel. Our words, even if we are quoting God’s Word, are not enough. Before we can share the Gospel effectively, we must be the Gospel. We need to be good news to people so they will want to hear the Good News that we are sent to proclaim.

2.     Secondly the Gospel also needs to be accompanied by demonstrations of God’s supernatural power— “…also in power.” Our words need something to back them up. One of my favourite stories in the Bible is found in 1 Kings 18. It is the story of Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. Elijah challenged those false prophets to a little contest: “Your idol-god versus my God.” I am sure you remember the story. When it was Elijah’s turn, after preparing the altar and the sacrifice and soaking the whole thing with gallons of water he lifted his voice to the God of Heaven and prayed this prayer: “O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word.  Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that Thou, O LORD, art God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again.” I love these next verses: “Then fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God!’” Elijah’s words were not enough. A demonstration of divine power was needed too.

3.     Thirdly, this begs the question: “But where does divine power come from?” Paul answers that with the next phrase: “…and in the Holy Spirit.” Without the Holy Spirit’s anointing and empowering we are like a Ferrari with an empty gas tank. We look good but we are not going anywhere. We need to learn to walk in step with the Spirit, to be filled with the Spirit, controlled by the Spirit of God.

4.     Fourthly, Paul mentions something else that characterized his ministry among the Thessalonians: “…with full conviction.” Maybe one of the reasons the world is not impressed with our Gospel about our Jesus is because they are not impressed by us. We try to sound convincing about a message that has not really changed our lives that much. You did not have to spend more than five minutes with Paul, and Silas, and Timothy to discover that they were fully convinced of the truth of every word they spoke. There is something very impressive about people who are totally captivated by their message. The world still marvels at men like William Carey, John Huss, C.T. Studd, Adoniram Judson, and Nate Saint because they were Christians who were totally convinced of the power of God and the power of the Gospel to change lives.

5.     And lastly notice Paul’s words, “…just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” Not only were Paul and his colleagues totally convinced of the truth of their message, but they also lived their lives in an exemplary way to be a visible testimony to the Thessalonian believers of how a Christian should live, love, think, and act. They demonstrated the truth of the message by living it out in private and in public. 

CONCLUSION:

Maybe what the world is waiting for in our day is to see whether we really believe the stuff we preach and teach. Proclamation of the Gospel is good, but demonstration of the Gospel is better. Our words, by themselves, are not enough. 

Our Gospel message must be supported by our own authentic experience with God, resulting in our full conviction of the validity of God’s Word and of our own testimony, and must be accompanied by actions driven forward by the power and presence of God working through us. Anything less will not get the job done.