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A Gospel With Power
A Gospel With Power
A Gospel With Power
1 Thessalonians 1:4-6
If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to 1
Thessalonians chapter 1. Were going to be looking at verses 4 to 6
together this morning as we continue our way through this wonderful
letter of the apostle Paul - the first letter that he wrote; a letter that he
wrote to a congregation that he had planted in the course of just a
matter of weeks. And last week, even as we were looking at the
introduction, we were commenting on one of the themes of this little
letter is what a high view of the Word of God this congregation has.
Paul's going to congratulate them for that in 1 Thessalonians chapter
2 verse 13. He's going to say, When we came preaching the Word
of God to you, we thank God that you received it for what it is. You
didn't just accept it as the words of men; you understood that we
were preaching the Word of God to you. This wasn't a message we
made up. It was a message that God put in our mouths to give to
you and you accepted it for what it is.
And even there, I want to pause on this Mother's Day to say
something about that. Last month in Louisville, Kentucky, eight
thousand or so pastors and church leaders gathered at a conference
and during that conference one of the panel sessions was a panel on
Biblical inerrancy. And Dr. Al Mohler led that session and John Piper,
the pastor of BethlehemBaptistChurch in Minneapolis, St. Paul, was
one of the people on the panel. Now you may know Dr. Piper is a
very famous preacher but he's also a New Testament scholar. He's
studied New Testament at the University of Tubingen in Europe, he
taught Biblical Studies at college and has taught at the graduate
level as well; he's a powerful scholar. And at this panel, Dr. Mohler
began by saying, I want to ask each member on the panel why it is
that you believe in Biblical inerrancy. And he said, I want to start
with you, Dr. Piper. And so we were, I don't know what we were
expecting him to say, but when he got to Dr. Piper he said, Dr. Piper,
why do you believe in Biblical inerrancy? And he said, Because my
mama told me to.
Now that crowd of eight thousand pastors and church leaders did
just what you did when he said that; they laughed a little bit. And he
said, No, I'm totally serious. He said, First of all, that's a Biblical
argument. You know in 2 Timothy chapter 1 Paul says to Timothy,
You know from whom you have learned the faith, from your
grandmother and mother. Paul is pointing Timothy back to his
grandmother and to his mother and to the spiritual legacy that had
been bequeathed to Timothy from them. On his grandmother and
mother's knees he had learned the truth of Scripture. He had learned
about the Gospel of salvation. And Paul is saying, Timothy, that is
something to be profoundly thankful for. And on this day we want to
rise up and call blessed the mothers in Israel in this congregation
that have given us that kind of spiritual legacy.
Throughout those three days at that pastor's conference last month,
over and over men who are now renowned for their preaching of the
Gospel and their teaching of the Word of God here and around the
world gave testimony to how their mother's spiritual influence had
been formative in their conviction of these Gospel things. And I just
want to say to you, mothers in Israel here at First Presbyterian
Church, you are the most influential people in the world and there is
no telling how many millions of people have heard the Gospel
that she had taught me from the time that I was a child. So I want to
pause and I want us to thank God for godly mothers and
grandmothers who are mothers in Israel who have taught us to
respect the Word of God and to hear the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul's going to congratulate the Thessalonians for that kind of
attitude to the Word of God, he's going to point Timothy to the
remembrance of where he heard the Word of God from first, and we
ought to thank God as well.
Now as we look at this passage today and as we read verses 4 to 6,
I want you to be on the lookout for three things. In verse 4 I want you
to see how Paul shows us that the doctrine of election is vital to
helping us understand the love of God. Now that's a sentence that
maybe you have never thought of all those parts going together. The
doctrine of election is vital for us understanding and experiencing the
love of God. Youll see that in verse 4. In verse 5, Paul draws
attention to how the Gospel is powerful. It's not just words, it comes
with power. And he explains how in verse 5. And then in verse 6 he
talks about the evidences of God's grace in you, what the Holy Spirit
does in you as you receive the Gospel. Now why is Paul saying this?
He's saying this, first of all, to thank God. This whole section is a
portion of the letter in which he's thanking God for the Thessalonians
but he's thanking God for these things also as an encouragement to
them and the reality of their faith and to prepare them for an
exhortation that he's about to give them. So let's pray before we read
God's Word.
Heavenly Father, this is Your Word. We need every word of it
because all Scripture is given by inspiration and is profitable for
reproof and correction and training in righteousness that the man
in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. Now the
Gospel has to come in words you understand. Sometimes we hear
people talk about sharing the Gospel wordlessly. It can't be done
because the Gospel is an announcement about something that God
has done. It's not about something that we do. Sometimes you may
hear Christian leaders say things like, Be the Gospel. You can't be
the Gospel; Jesus is the Gospel. The work of Christ on the cross is
the Gospel. God is the Gospel. Youre not the Gospel. And so the
only way that that Gospel can be conveyed is with words because
we're having to tell about what God has done. The Gospel is not
something we do; it's something that God did.
Now it is of course true that we want to practice what we preach. It is
of course true that we want to demonstrate the results and the
effects of the Gospel in our lives so that people understand that
we're not hypocrites, that we're not saying one thing and living
another way. Or we want to show them and prepare them to hear the
Word of God by the way that we love them. Those are all good things
but you can't share the Gospel wordlessly. But here's Paul emphasis
in this passage. He said, When the Gospel came to you,
Thessalonians, I want to thank God - that's what he's doing here,
he's thanking God I want to thank you that it didn't just come in
words; it came with power and the Holy Spirit and with your full
conviction or assurance of its truth. In other words, Paul is saying, I
thank God, Thessalonians, that when the Word of God came it came
with converting, saving power. You were saved out of darkness and
into God's marvelous light.
Paul is pointing to the fact that the Word of God is powerful and
active and sharper than any two-edged sword and it's not unlike
what he will later write in the first chapter of the book of Romans.
Remember what he says there? The Gospel is the power of God
unto salvation - the announcement that God, in His love, has given
His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die in the place of sinners,
enemies. While we were yet in our sin and ungodliness, in order that
we might be forgiven, in order that the dominion of sin might be
broken in our lives, in order that we might be accepted back into His
family and dwell with Him forever, that announcement came with
power to the Thessalonians so that Thessalonians who were
struggling with guilt realized that in the Gospel the struggle of their
guilt was answered. And Thessalonians that were struggling with the
fear of death realized that in the Gospel their fear of death was
answered because, Since by man came death, by man came also
the resurrection of the dead.
And those Thessalonians who were struggling with meaning found
an answer in the Gospel. They understood that this world makes
sense, that from creation to fall to redemption to consummation God
is working His purpose out and He's building a people for Himself
men and women and boys and girls from every tribe, tongue, people,
and nation He's bringing into His body, into His family. And there's a
purpose, there's a meaning in this life. This life makes sense. And
when they heard the Gospel preached, the Holy Spirit opened their
eyes and the Gospel came with power. And those Thessalonians
that were struggling with a sense of the love of God heard in the
Gospel the truth that God demonstrates His love in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. And the Gospel came
with power. It changed lives. People believed it and they were
transformed. In fact, they had full conviction. That's not conviction of
sin, that's full assurance of the truth and authority and power of
God's Word. They were fully on board with what Paul was preaching.
And then there's this interesting phrase, and in the Holy Spirit. The
Gospel came to you in the Holy Spirit. Let's pause to think about
that for just a second because it's so glorious and important. Turn
back with me in your Bibles to Luke. I want to take you to Luke, Acts
1, Acts 2, and Galatians 3, just real quick. Turn to Luke 24:49. It's the
very last chapter of the gospel of Luke. We just finished three years
in Luke and I know some of you are thinking, Oh no, not back there
again, please! But no, it's just one sentence I want you to see. In
Luke 24 verse 49, right before Jesus ascends into heaven, He says
this to His disciples: I am sending the promise of My Father upon
you. Now just hold that thought the promise of My Father. If
youre like me, the first question youre asking is, What is that? What
is the promise of your Father?
Okay, turn forward with me to the sequel, Acts chapter 1, and look at
verse 8. Now this is the same scene, understand. Luke is picking
right up where he left off in the Gospel and telling you about the
conversation that Jesus had with His disciples before they ascend
and He says in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, You will receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you. So just hold those two thoughts
together. I am going to send the promise of My FatherYou will
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
Now turn forward one page to Acts chapter 2. After Peter has
preached at Pentecost and the people of God have cried out, or the
people that are gathered there, the men of Israel he calls them in
Acts 2, they cry out, Okay Peter, we believe everything you say! We
are guilty of our sin but we don't know what to do. What should we
do? What does Peter say? Look at verse 38. Peter said to them,
Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit, for the promise is for you and for your children and for
all who are afar off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to
Himself. Did you hear that phrase? You will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit for the promise is for you. I will send the promise of My
Father Luke 24:49. You will receive the Holy Spirit Acts
1:8. Acts 2:38 You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the
promise is for you. What promise? The promise of My Father that I
will send the Holy Spirit.
Now just quickly, notice how, throughout the book of Acts, wherever
the Gospel goes, what does Luke tell us? The Holy Spirit comes.
Where the Gospel goes and it is accepted, the Holy Spirit comes. He
comes to convert and He comes to sanctify and He manifests
Himself. Over and over that happens throughout the book of Acts.
It's Luke's way of showing you that Jesus words are being fulfilled
over and over and over again. I will send the promise of My Father.
What is that promise? It is the Holy Spirit.
Now one more component. It's just beautiful to see. Turn with me
to Galatians 3:13. In Galatians 3:13 Paul says this Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree - so
that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the
Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
Now three things are all together in verse 14 the promise, the
Spirit, and God's blessing to Abraham. Ah-ha! The promise of My
Father is the sending of the Holy Spirit. And what is the sending of
the Holy Spirit? It is the fulfillment of God's blessing to Abraham in
the covenant of grace all the way back in Genesis 12and 15 and 17!
And Luke is telling us that when the Gospel comes and the Holy
Spirit changes our hearts and we receive it, we become recipients
all of us, Jews and Gentiles of what? The blessing that God
promised to give to Abraham thousands of years ago. And Paul's
saying to the Thessalonians, I saw that happen when I preached the
Word of God. I saw it happen. The Holy Spirit opened your eyes to
see that the Gospel was true. You believed and you received the
promise that God had made to Abraham thousands of years ago
the promised Holy Spirit.
JOY IN AFFLICTION: AN EVIDENCE OF GRACE
And how was that manifested? Well, that's our third point. Look at
verse 6. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 6 You became
imitators of us and of the Lord. In other words, Paul said, You
started to live our lives like we live you believe the things we
believe; you live the way we live; you have the same priorities we
have. But isn't it interesting, the second half of verse 6, the big thing
that he wants to draw attention to is this You received the Word in
much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit. In other words, Paul is
saying, Here's the thing I saw the Holy Spirit most dramatically do in
you - in much affliction, you had joy. In much outward tribulation and
opposition and even persecution, there was joy in the Holy Spirit in
you and it said to me, it was like a neon sign flashing, The Holy
Spirit has changed these people! because even though theyre
experiencing affliction, there is joy! Wouldn't that be a great motto
for life? Look at verse 6. In much affliction joy!