1 Thessalonians 1:5-10 For our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance… On hearing these words of the apostle, who is not immediately disposed to say, "Happy man, who could thus address the objects of his ministry and the fruits of his evangelical labours"? But who is not also disposed to say, "Happy minister, with whomsoever associated in religious life, in what ever age or country he may exercise his ministry, who, when addressing those among whom he has been preaching, can employ similar language — 'For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.'"? Now, how came this gospel to the Thessalonians? I. NOT IN WORD ONLY. Words are symbols of thought, and idea, and sentiment; and it has pleased God the Holy Spirit to honour words, and He has been pleased to sanctify and dignify words through the medium of which to make known His thoughts and sentiments, His designs and dealings in reference to us men and our salvation. He, therefore, inspired holy prophets, and they announced the great things which belong to the salvation of the soul; and then they were directed to record this; and we read the words which God the Holy Ghost taught — the word of this salvation — how "that Christ died for our sins, and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures; and they state the doctrines found on these facts, the privileges connected with them, the practical tendency of the whole, and the ordinances and institutions of the gospel: and thus in language they announced the good news, the glad tidings to the people. And still whenever the gospel comes, it must come "in word"; words must be employed, and the minister of the sanctuary must still employ "the words of this life." But then the great danger is lest it come in word only: then the great design of the gospel is defeated; all the high and important particulars relating to our salvation are not realized wherever the gospel comes only in word. We can suppose the case of a minister of Christ, possessing talents — talents of no common order, with a highly cultivated intellect, a very fertile imagination, and a genius which leads him to employ figures of poetry, and to suggest thoughts that captivate the attention and strike the minds of those who listen to his discourses from time to time; there are multitudes who throng to hear him wherever he goes; and, to use the words of the prophet, he is to them "as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument." And oh, how well attended are his ministrations! But where, amidst all this, is the instance of the poor sinner pierced to the heart by the two-edged sword of the Spirit and feeling the pungent smart of conviction? Where is the instance of the man smiting on his breast, and crying, "God be merciful to me a sinner"? But thus came not the gospel to the Thessalonians. II. ALSO IN POWER. What power? 1. Not the civil power; because in the days to which the apostle refers Christianity was not even protected by the civil government, but opposed by it. It was not with them as it is happily with us, where Christianity forms part and parcel of the very constitution and laws of the country, and where the broad shield of legal protection is thrown over us, and where we "sit under our own vine and fig tree, none daring to make us afraid." 2. Neither could the apostle refer to the power of eloquence or human talent. St. Paul himself tells us that his "speech and his preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." This was "the power"; it was a Divine power; and it was Divine in two points of view: first, there was miraculous power to mark the propagation of the gospel; secondly, there was a secret energy accompanying the administration of the Word, bringing it home to the conscience and heart of those who heard. There is an awakening power, a convicting power; and there is a regenerating power, and a sanctifying power, and a consoling and satisfying power. Oh, what an energy there is in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ! III. AND IN THE HOLY GHOST. As surely as there was miraculous power in the first age of Christianity, so surely was the Holy Ghost there; for the miracles then wrought were the miracles of the Holy Ghost — "God also bearing them witness, both by signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will." And as surely as there must always be an efficacious power to give efficacy to the gospel wherever it is administered, the Holy Ghost must be there. The gospel is the dispensation of the Spirit; and where the gospel is preached, the Spirit of God is present to bear testimony to the truth. Who and what is the genuine Christian? Why, he was once in the dark, but now he is "light in the Lord." How came he to be so?. "Ah," says one, "the preacher told us the gospel is light." True; and the gospel is the great light of the system, and the gospel is shining in the zenith of its splendour and glory. But what avails to me the noon-day sun, with all the blaze of day, if I have not the organs of vision. It is not only necessary that the light be there, but we must have the organs to discern it. And how comes this change to pass on us? By the mighty energy of the Spirit. He removes the scales from our mental eyes; it is He that gives the organ of spiritual vision and of perception; it is the Spirit that giveth light, IV. AND IN MUCH ASSURANCE — a plenitude of assurance. This phrase is significant of the manner in which the gospel was received by the people. 1. The assurance of the truth of the message. I do not know that the first believers in Christianity waited on the outside of the great temple of truth, to examine the two external pillars on which the temple reposes and by which it is supported. You know what those two pillars are: unmoved they stand where they ever stood, and all the shafts of infidelity have been unable to make any impression on them. (1) Prophecy; and the argument is this: Where there is genuine prophecy there is God, because God alone sees the end from the beginning: now in this Book is genuine prophecy; then here is God. (2) Miracles: where there are genuine miracles there must be God, for He alone can control nature, and act in opposition to its laws. But here are such interpositions recorded; therefore here is God. Now I do not know, I say, that these primitive believers waited outside the temple to examine then its two grand pillars in the first place; I rather believe they went in at once. The temple of truth, and wisdom, and grace — "Like the cerulean arch we see, Majestic in its own simplicity." 2. They saw the sanctity of those who officiated there. "You know," says the apostle, "what manner of men we were amongst you." Their simplicity, their self-denial, their purity, their benevolence, their zeal; are these characters that belong to infidelity? Then there was the Architect — the Architect of the temple of truth spoke in the temple of truth; and the people heard, and the truth came home to their hearts and consciences, and examined the inmost recesses of their hearts: they were judged of all, and condemned of all, and approved of all; and they were assured that it was the great Architect of truth Himself who thus spoke. (Robert Newton, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. |
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