THIS IS THE HOW IT WAS DONE

1 Thess 1:5

Morning Meditation 12/6/2012

I am alway trying to imagine how things happened in the Scriptures. It would have been good to have been with Paul on his missionary journeys and observe first hand how he worked and to observe the effects of the gospel on those who had never before heard that message. However, the Bible is a living book and God The Holy Spirit identifies with the words of Scripture as we hear and study and in the Spirit we can journey with those of the Bible and enter into their experiences. In this verse Paul takes us with him and reveals to us the real heart of the success story in Thessalonica. We are not going to study their response so much as study the cause for their response as is described in this verse.

“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.”

The words “For our gospel” mean that the gospel becomes personal to those who receive it. The word “gospel” means good news. Roy Hession says “it is good news for bad people.” It is not good news for those who think they are good. When the self righteous hear the gospel, they say, “what is so important about that?” I ask “what is so important about a pardon to a man who is walking from his cell on death row to the place of execution?” I would say the man who receives that pardon probably would have no problem saying, “this is my pardon, this is indeed good news.” The reason some do not experience ecstatic praise when they talk about or hear the gospel, is because it has not been good news to them. The gospel is good news to those of us who were on death row when we heard it. You see it is good news for bad people. If you have never seen yourself as a bad person you have never really been ready to hear the true gospel. The gospel is not good advice. It is good news. Good advice has to do with what you should do. Good news has to do with what God has done for you. Faith simply receives that good news with assurance.

There have been those who have tried to make a difference between the gospel of the grace of God, i.e., the death, burial and resurrection which is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes and Paul’s gospel. Paul just identified with the saving gospel so that he called it “my gospel” in Rom. 2:16; 16:25; 2 Tim. 2:8. Here Paul calls it “our gospel.” Every person who has been saved by receiving the gospel of Christ has the right to call it “my gospel” because it is that gospel by which he is saved. It is the message of our salvation. So Paul says to the Thessalonians that it is “our gospel.” I can just imagine as this epistle is being read to this local church that the hearts of those who heard it read warmed as they heard the words “our gospel.” So the gospel is personalized. Amen!

The words “came not unto you” is speaking of the initial hearing of the gospel. The word “came” (ginomai) is actually translated “be married to” three times in Romans 7:3-4. What a definition for what the gospel does! Think about it. Paul is saying “this is the way you came to be married to the gospel” (and Christ is the sum and substance of the gospel). I never saw that before. I am married to the gospel and ultimately to Christ. First Corinthians 6:15 says, “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?” The verb “are” (esti) is a present indicative verb. This means the marriage has taken place. Now before you begin to say, “Well, I don’t know about that” just look at the tense of that verb. The Holy Spirit could have put that in the future tense. He didn’t. He is talking to individuals within the church here (not to the church collectively). The argument here is that you are joined to Christ in marriage, and fornication is a sin committed against that marriage. You say, “What about the marriage supper of the Lamb?” I say, “Hallelujah. I can’t wait to celebrate my marriage to Christ on that occasion also!!!” Paul also says in verse 17 of this same chapter, “But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” The word “joined” (kollao) means according to Strong: “to glue, to glue together, cement, fasten together, to join or fasten firmly together.” It is a present passive participle. This means that we are joined now and continue to be. The passive voice means that it happened to us. We are not the cause of the marriage. God joined us to Christ in the marriage of salvation and graced us with the wedding ring of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!!!

The words “not in word only” mean not just the verbal giving out of the Word of God but it was “also in power” (dunamis) which could be a reference to the miracles that God used in that day to confirm his Word (Heb 2:4). One of Strong’s definitions of the word is “the power to perform miracles.” The words “and in the Holy Ghost” refers to the presence and manifestation of the person of the Holy Spirit. He accompanies the message of the gospel to “...reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8) which is necessary in the salvation of souls.

The words “and in much assurance” (plerophoria) meaning “full assurance, most certain confidence.” How does one get this kind of assurance? Especially in a seemingly hurried fashion. Paul spoke in a Jewish synagogue for three Sabbath days and then they ran him out of town (see Acts 17). It also tells of conversions there. Our present text tells us how that all happened. When those in Thessalonica heard the Word of God, and it was confirmed by power, and the word was taught by the Holy Spirit (not just the human instruments) they received the full assurance of the truth that was being preached and of their own salvation.

Being able to say, “I know I am saved” and being assured that the Bible is the Word of God without error is not new. I also have received the good news with the full assurance.

Assurance does not come to the natural man. The rational mind asks for proof in the natural or scientific realm. Tozer said, “To seek proof is to admit doubt.” Now if one thinks God is a risk, there is room for doubt. I do not think he is a risk. Heb. 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

May God bless you.

In Christ

Bro. White