Birth of the Thessalonian Church

Introduction to 1 Thessalonians and the Sermon's Focus

0:07 We are beginning this morning a series of studies in Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica which probably, if I would be realistic, I ought to say will carry us through at least a good portion of the year if the other passages or sections of the word of God through which we have preached and in which we have studied in a systematic way are any indication of how much time we'll be here I believe that the year would be a very conservative estimate minimal on the minimal side we'll not make any predictions as to how long we shall be studying this letter but we wish God willing to go through verse by verse, chapter by chapter in order to glean from its teaching that which God would say to our own hearts So at the very outset of our study let me encourage you to get very familiar with Paul's letter to the church to the church of the Thessalonians This is a book of some five chapters one of the earliest letters that Paul wrote, perhaps the earliest and contains so much that I feel will be unusually apropos at this juncture of our own development as a local assembly As I mentioned when going through the Sermon on the Mount together and the book of 1 John together if we'll read and at least mentally take a look at the book of 1 John and take a look at the book of 1 John

1:33 and take note of the questions that we have and the problems that arise in our reading we will come with much more intensity of interest when the scripture is open to us for we'll realize that there are some problems there are some passages perhaps a bit difficult to understand and I'm sure your attention will be all the greater if you do come having previously read the section which we plan to study together Now with this letter as all the other letters that Paul wrote we'll come to the end of this session it was written to a specific church I should say most of the letters you have Paul's letter to individuals to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon but most of them were letters to given churches bodies of believing men and women met in a certain geographical area and the letters were written to deal with specific needs and problems and Paul's letter to the church of the Thessalonians is no different and in order to understand some of those problems with which he deals in the letter I believe the best starting point is that Paul's letter to the church of the Thessalonians the second point for us today will be to consider the birth of the Thessalonian church how did the church begin? in what circumstances was it brought into being? what pressures were brought to bear upon this church even in its infancy which necessitated this letter that Paul sent to them and so our study this morning will be in the book of Acts where we have the record of the birth of the Thessalonian church Acts chapter 17

The Narrative of the Thessalonian Church's Birth (Acts 17:1-10)

3:03 Acts chapter 17 verses 1 through 9 we're going to look at the narrative just the historical record of the birth of this church and then in conclusion we want to consider some of the abiding principles or the message of the birth of this church to us as a church sitting here this morning it would not be enough for us to simply be aware of the historical facts which led to the forming of the church of this church unless we glean from that history the word of the living God to us as we seek under God to establish a witness for his glory here not in Thessalonica but in the cold well so much then for this general word of introduction now let's look at the narrative as found in verses 1 through 10 the apostle Paul and Silas accompanying him had just left the city of Philippi possibly Timothy had joined them by now and they left as they often did on the heels of great oppression and persecution you remember they'd been thrown into jail then they had been released and fresh from that circumstance of great blessing attended with the opposition of the enemies of the gospel they stopped at the house of Lydia

4:28 verse 40 of chapter 16 for a little bit of refreshment and they went out of the prison and entered into the house of Lydia and when they had seen the brethren they comforted them and they went out of the prison and departed do you get a little bit of the humor there you'd think if you'd just been in a prison and been beaten to blood and had been kicked around as Paul had been that maybe you needed a little comfort but instead we find the persecuted Paul and Silas going into the house of the brethren and instead of receiving comfort we find them administering comfort and departing now verse 1 of chapter 17 now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia they came to Thessalonica where was the synagogue of the Jews they went westward from Philippi through these two rather large and important cities called Amphipolis and Apollonia and they came to the city of Thessalonica now let's consider for a moment the city to which Paul and Silas came for much of the truth in the letter of 1 Thessalonians has relevance to the city to which that letter was written it was the chief court of Macedonia it was the capital of that particular Roman province as some of you know under the Roman government her rule and her jurisdiction was divided up into certain provinces and this city of Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman province

The Synagogue as Paul's Ministry Center

5:58 in Macedonia it was a prosperous trading and shipping center and it was the chief station on the turnpike of that day called the Via Ignatium this was the main highway going through that section and from this section into all directions the message of the gospel could eventually go forth and it wasn't until I came across that fact that the word in chapter 1 of 1 Thessalonians began to make a little more sense where Paul says from you sounded out the word of the Lord and there was wonderful opportunity because they were at this strategic point in that section of the Roman Empire now having said those few things about the city to which Paul came let's notice in the latter part of verse 1 the center from which he ministered for the moment he came to the city it says that they came to a synagogue of the Jews or there was a synagogue of the Jews there verse 2 and Paul as his manner was went in unto them and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures now what was the synagogue and again I was amazed at my ignorance until I began to do some background material on this the word synagogue simply means a place of assembly and the synagogue was mainly a place for the reading and exposition of the Old Testament scriptures particularly the law of Moses and the prophets as well

7:27 the service at the synagogues was very simple there was no sacrifice it was mainly a reading and an exposition and exhortation based upon the reading of the word of God you remember in Luke chapter 4 when our Lord stood up in the synagogue to read the head of the synagogue handed him the scroll and he read from the prophet Isaiah then it says he sat down and all eyes were fastened upon him and then he began to preach saying this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears now the synagogues were in use for some time James could say in Acts 15 in verse 21 the following for Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day the synagogues date at least as far back as the period of the dispersion when God in his judgment upon the Jewish nation scattered them throughout the world wherever the Jews went they would gather together construct a synagogue in order that there might be in the midst of all this heathendom a preaching a declaring of the scriptures that came to them by way of divine revelation now not only did Jews gather at these synagogues but you had Gentiles who were perhaps disturbed with all of the folly of heathen idolatry and they would attach themselves to the synagogue

8:54 some of them would be what we would call just adherents they would not undergo the rite of circumcision and become full proselytes to Judaism but renouncing their heathen gods they would go to the synagogue regularly and hear the opening up of the scriptures and they are the ones we'll see referred to a little bit later as the devout Greeks who would attach themselves to synagogue worship so much then for the city to which Paul came and then the center from which he ministered now let's look at the details of his ministry as the church is born in Thessalonica verse 2 and Paul as his manner was or as his custom was went in unto them it was Paul's general pattern in any city to first of all hunt out the synagogue and make that the center of his evangelistic thrust we find in Acts 9 20 chapter 13 verse 5 and 14 and then in chapter 14 and verse 1 the record of this practice of the apostle Paul that when he came 14 1 to Iconium they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews he would make this the center of his evangelistic thrust and ministry this was his general practice now why did he do this well for several reasons when Paul would go into a synagogue he could assume

Paul's Evangelistic Strategy and Message

10:21 at least several very basic issues number one he could assume that the people who gathered at the synagogue were convinced that the scriptures were the word of God he didn't have to spend time convincing men that God had spoken in the holy scriptures the very fact that there was a synagogue was an indication that here were some people who believed that God had spoken from heaven and what he spoke what he had spoken was embodied in the scrolls of the old testament scripture and so Paul could wade right in then assuming this common starting place that God had spoken and what he had spoken was embodied in the old testament scriptures and then another reason why he would make this the center was the general principle enunciated in Romans 2 chapter 1 that the gospel is the power of God and the salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek and though Paul's main ministry was to the Gentiles he would discharge his debt to his own countrymen until as we find in some places they blaspheme turn their backs upon the message and then Paul said from henceforth I go to the Gentiles so he went into the synagogue because this was a strategic place to go and to minister the word of God now we're going to see now we read in verse 2 that he continued three sabbath days reasoning with them out of the scriptures which means one of two things either he went in

11:47 on three distinct sabbaths and that was the only time he went to the synagogue or for a space encompassed by three sabbaths or three weeks he spent his time in the synagogue reasoning and opening up the scriptures now we do not need to infer from this that Paul spent only three sabbaths three weeks at Thessalonica all this passage is saying is that his ministry of a concentrated effort to reach the Jews from the synagogue focused upon a period of three weeks but in the letter itself we realize that most of the converts who comprised the church at Thessalonica were Gentile converts for he said in verse 9 ye turn to God from idols so that he spent probably much more time out in a general evangelistic ministry to the Gentiles those who were not attached to the synagogue and to its ministry now what did he do in his evangelism notice the latter part of verse 2 and verse 3 he reasoned with them out of the scriptures opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ the key words here are reasoned opening and alleging when Paul went into the synagogue assuming that when he opened up the scriptures

13:16 these people were all convinced that the scriptures were the word of God his main task was to prove from the scriptures that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and that the Christ was one who must suffer you see this was the great stumbling block for the Jews the reason they wrote off Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah is that their concept of Messiah was one which bypassed the necessity of his suffering they saw those Old Testament passages which predict the glory of Messiah and there are many that predict the glories of Messiah but they overlooked those passages that spoke of the sufferings of Messiah Isaiah 53 Psalm 22 some of these other prophetic Psalms so when people would come saying that Jesus of Nazareth the carpenter who died on the cross was Messiah the Jews said no this cannot be this cannot be our Messiah must come in pomp and glory and power and in triumph he cannot come in weakness so Paul knowing this started at that strategic point opening and alleging verse 3 that Christ must needs have suffered once he could prove that Messiah must suffer and be risen from the dead now he says Jesus fits the bill the devil the Jesus of Nazareth whom you reject perfectly fits the picture of what the Old Testament scriptures declare

The Initial Response and Opposition

14:44 concerning Messiah so we have here in these two verses a very beautiful though very brief picture of how Paul evangelized he was addressing the reason the conscience the understanding of men based upon the clear statements of the word of God now what happened after he ministered these things verse 4 the Bible some of them believed and consorted a very strong word it means to join oneself to another some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas and of the devout Greeks a great multitude and of the chief women not a few some of those Jews who were Jews indeed some of them attached themselves to Paul and Silas believing that Messiah must suffer must be raised from the dead that Jesus was this very Messiah some of them believed that's one group then you have another group the devout Greeks these were those Gentiles who had attached themselves to the synagogue and to its ministry who had repudiated idolatry and heathendom either were full proselytes or what we would call loose proselytes but there was a great multitude of these who attached themselves to Paul and then it speaks of the chief women not a few now at one point commentators are very frustrated

16:12 all of them make profuse comments about the first group and the second group but I checked every commentator on my shelf and every bible dictionary I went through no less than eight or nine different volumes at this point trying to find who these chief women were and all they tell me is that you find the chief women in the book of the Acts in other places well I knew that in 1343 of Acts we read about some chief women in chapter 17 in verse 12 we read of these honorable women 1712 and 1734 we have a similar reference of a woman named Damaris now whether they were what we would call women who were wives of men of importance if some of you have any light on this please let me know but it's noted here that some of these chief women became obedient to the faith now here's a description of Paul Paul's ministry and of the success of that ministry now beginning with verse 5 in this narrative we have an account of the opposition to his ministry but the Jews which believed not moved with envy remember it said of our Lord that for envy the chief priest had delivered him up they took with them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort Phillips translates it this way unprincipled loungers of the marketplace these were first century beatniks had nothing to do but stand around and grow a beard and smoke marijuana

17:41 you see that's the picture you were fellows just perfectly lazy lounging around the marketplace had nothing to do but just to blow their time and I don't know if they had a welfare state where they could still collect a check for $35 a week doing this I don't know I doubt it but that's the picture can you picture these fellows just try to put it in a 20th century context standing around just lounging around in the market place nothing to do and so these Jews that are moved with envy and they want to cause some trouble they go down and they get these lewd fellows of the baser sort and they gather a company and they set all the city in an uproar and assault the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people the apostle and Silas were staying at the house of Jason and his hospitality got him in trouble there's a possibility sometimes your hospitality may get you in trouble but to Jason was willing to run that risk in order to house the servants of God so they come to Jason's house seeking to drag out the apostle and Silas but they found them not verse 6 so they take Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city crying these are they that have turned the world upside down are come hither also first accusation is this they are disturbers enemies of the public peace remember Nero set the city on fire and then blamed the Christians well that's what happened here there was no trouble until these Jews came

19:10 and found these first century beatniks who had nothing to do but cause some trouble and they come and they stir up this mob and now they come and they say these are the people that are disturbing the public peace Jason has received them verse 7 and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar saying that there's another king one Jesus the second accusation is they are enemies of the established government isn't this the accusation they brought to our Lord we have no king but Caesar sure they preached Christ was king this is one of the strongest passages on the climate of the apostolic preaching they preached the kingship of Christ they preached that he was lord of all that he was sovereign but they made it clear that his kingdom was not of this world they made it clear that his rule was a spiritual rule but they twisted their words and they said look these people are not only disturbers of the public peace but they are also enemies of the established government and in a Roman context that had tremendous implications and they knew it so they knew just how to get the public mind turned against the apostle and his companions well what happened verse 8 and they troubled the people and the rulers of the city when they heard these things and when they had taken security of Jason and the other they let them go apparently they took some money from Jason or took some of his possessions or made him sign over half his house saying it by a certain time these fellows aren't out then we take

Departure and the Abiding Lessons

20:39 possession of this whatever it was whatever the security was Jason was willing to take that position and then they let them go verse 10 and the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea now there is the simple and artless narrative of the founding of the church at Thessalonica nothing spectacular is there here the servants of God come they go into the synagogue they preach the word of God a few of the Jews believe a greater number of the Greeks and the devout women opposition comes and the instruments who brought the message must leave and go on to another town so amidst much opposition and in a relatively short time this church was born the very church which Paul later addresses in 1st Thessalonians now having looked at the facts of the narrative I want us to consider in the time that remains this morning the fact that there is a the abiding lessons derived from this narrative as we've read these first 10 verses and I've given just a brief running commentary so that we could see the sense of them is there something here which God would say to us who are part and parcel of this assembly is there any abiding message from the narrative of Acts 17 1 to 10 I believe there is an abiding message and time permitting I want us to focus just a few minutes on

Lesson 1: Divine Sovereignty in Gospel's Arrival

22:08 five or six basic principles a few minutes each on these principles number one the first abiding lesson derived from this narrative is this that the word of God comes to men by the dispositions of divine sovereignty why did the word of God come to the people of Thessalonica we just open up the narrative and we read when they pass through Amphipolis and Apollonia they came to Thessalonica why did they come why why didn't they stop at Amphipolis that city have sinners in it sure it did why didn't they stop at Apollonia what were they doing there in Macedonia in the first place let me take you back a few verses to chapter 16 we read in Acts 16 and verse 6 now when they had gone through Phrygia and they had the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia you mean the Holy Ghost wouldn't let them go into Asia weren't there sinners in Asia who needed the message were there not lost men who'd never heard the message yes but as they sought to go into Asia the Holy Ghost forbade them the next verse and when they were come to Mysia

23:37 they have said to go into Bithynia but the spirit suffered them not and then you remember the incident passing by Mysia they came to Troas and a vision appeared to Paul in the night and there stood a man of Macedonia saying come over and help us and after he had seen the vision immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them and so they go into Macedonia the first city they go into is Philippi from Philippi they then come over to Thessalonica and the abiding lesson of this narrative and I trust God will give us ears to hear it is that the word of God comes to any given group of men in any given geographical area by the dispositions of divine sovereignty so that when Paul writes to these people he can say as he does in chapter 1 knowing brethren beloved your election of God for our gospel came unto you our gospel came and God's eternal purpose to gather out a people from Thessalonica was indicated by the fact that the gospel came for how shall they call on him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent oh what a marvel that the word of God should come to us

25:06 what a marvel that the word of God should come to us it's hard for us to believe when we can get up in any given Sunday morning and actually choose the different places where we might go to hear the word or if we're too lazy to even go flip on the radio and hear it it's hard for us to believe that there are millions upon millions who couldn't hear that word if they wanted to why has the word come to us why why has the message come again and again and again and again and again why has it come even so Lord it seems good in thy sight and the thought of this should humble us just as it should humble those Thessalonians when Paul would tell them upon inquiry Paul why are you here in Thessalonica and he could say well I started to go into Asia some months ago but the spirit forbade us I started to go into this place but the spirit hindered us but I saw a vision come over and help us and I'm here by the direction of the hand of my God this should humble us who've been recipients of that message and who've been subdued by its power but it should also strike fear to our hearts if we have not responded to that message for the scripture says to whom much is given much shall be required the scripture clearly teaches that those

26:35 who do not receive the word shall perish without that word Romans chapter 2 those who have not the law shall perish without the law but if hell has any more intense flames it must be for those who in the sovereign providence of God have been exposed to the message who've heard the message have heard the glorious tidings of saving grace in Jesus Christ that have been turned a deaf ear and a rebel heart to that message of God's grace and so the first great lesson that we learn from this narrative is that the word of God comes to men in any given area at any given time by the dispositions of divine sovereignty the worst kind of famine that God can send to a land is a famine of hearing the word of God and how I've been gripped with it as I've been in England this past two weeks to think that this is the land that once was ablaze with the fire that God kindled through men like Wesley and Whitfield and to go into town after town and see chapels that were erected to hold multitudes who were pressing into the kingdom to go by Spurgeon's Tabernacle massive building we'll see the slides on it some weeks from now the Lord willing and to realize that for 30 years 5,000 people pressed in to hear the word and a preacher now stands and faces 50 people every Sunday to be in another church

Lesson 2: Proclamation of the Word as True Evangelism

28:03 like so many of what they call the non-conformist churches they were not aligned with the church of England erected in those days when God visited in power to see them with their double or single balconies now a little handful of people meeting out scattered through the lower section the love of that famine could come to our own land God is not obligated to send his saving message to us so the scripture says let us not be high-minded but let us have fear may God grant that we learn this lesson and be humbled and be filled with holy fear in the light of it second great lesson that we derive from this narrative the abiding lesson a word of God to us is this that the proclaiming of the word of God is the essence of true evangelism what is evangelism let this passage tell us notice verse 2 and Paul and his people as his manner was went in unto them and three sabbath days reasoned out of the scriptures verse 3 opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and have risen from the dead what is evangelism well according to Paul it is declaring the truth of the scriptures concerning Jesus Christ it is always

29:32 and primarily a scriptural exercise and it is a rational exercise Paul came in and as it were planted his feet firmly upon the bedrock of divine revelation and he came saying I have no opinions to bring to you I have no theories to pass on I have a word from God thus saith the Lord that's evangelism declaring to men the word of the God of heaven declaring that word to them as is found in the holy scriptures and then you have the word he reasoned with them opening and alleging true evangelism is not only basically a declaration of the word of God it is scriptural it is rational Paul did not drive into their emotions trying to get them first of all to feel something he did not drive into the area of their experience trying to get them to be something he came first of all addressing the mind with the truth of God trying to acquaint them with certain facts of the truth of divine revelation that's true evangelism that's biblical evangelism and I believe there's an abiding lesson for us in this beloved because there is everything militating against this in our day we have first of all what's called the new theology and though this may not be something you're aware of you ought to be and as a pastor I feel it's part of my responsibility to keep you abreast of the movements

31:01 and the moods and the climates that are affecting our society in the present hour and I believe you know what the new theology tells us is the essence of evangelism you see a ghetto somewhere poverty ignorance and forgetting any thought that these people have immortal never dying souls which need the redemptive work and message of Christ to evangelize is to bury yourself in the midst of that need and seek to somehow raise the level of human existence that's evangelism not concerned with individuals getting right with God via the message of God no no you evangelize the structures of society I don't know what Paul would have said to that but it's obvious what he thought of it by his example don't you think there were areas of tremendous social and economic need in the city of Thessalonica where Paul could have sat down and tried to work through the governmental structures for the betterment of the poor and the needy surely he could have done this but this wasn't the focus of his concern he went to the synagogue and he opened and he alleged and he proved from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ and I see in our own evangelical circles a moving from this principle the error of much in our evangelical circles is a departure from this principle that evangelizing is a scriptural

32:28 and rational exercise I had a lot of mail waiting for me when I came home I usually do but I had a letter that I just couldn't believe my eyes I had to blink a few times wondered if the six hour time change was affecting my eyes announcing the formation of an evangelical drama club in order to present the gospel through drama yes not from a liberal church a group of fundamental ministers so we no longer need to bow before God and cry mightily for the Holy Ghost to come and make the word like a hammer to break the hearts of men we get in an art that is to get in a drama coach and we're going to evangelize I get one or two times a week now ads on the latest Christian films assuring me if only I'll use them I'll have a full house and people coming to the Lord by the dust what is evangelism? here it is it's men standing as mouthpieces for the message of God it's scriptural rational activity addressing the message of God to the conscience of men now there may be

Lesson 3: Christ-Centered Proclamation

33:58 a place for films to narrate the life of a great man like Martin Luther and the rest I'm not ruling this out but I'm saying this the average so-called gospel film doesn't have even half a handful of scripture and its focus is not to instruct the minds of men about the truth of God and Christ and sin and redemption but to move the emotions to make some kind of a decision and oh I trust as a church that we shall ever remember that the only reason one of the main reasons God has called us together as we shall see in that first letter is to be a sounding board for the message of the gospel and the way God would have it sounded out is by the distribution dissemination proclamation of the message of the word of God third abiding message of this narrative to us is this that all true proclamation of the word will focus on the person and work of Christ as the only hope of sinners notice it says in verse 3 that he opened and alleged that Christ must needs have suffered and risen from the dead the third day and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ the whole focal point of Paul's proclamation of the message which is the essence of evangelism was the person and work

35:26 of Jesus Christ as the only hope of sinners will you notice the parallel between this and our Lord's commission in Luke 24 keeping your finger in Acts 17 notice Luke chapter 24 verses 45 to 47 48 then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures and said unto them thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name unto you among all nations beginning at Jerusalem ye are witnesses of these things what things that Christ must suffer Christ must rise that repentance and remission be preached in his name and here we find the apostle Paul in perfect harmony and in perfect consistency with that commission opening and alleging verse 3 of Acts 17 that Christ must suffer must be raised from the dead and be preached unto men and that is so the true proclamation of the word of God focused upon the Lord Jesus in his sufferings why he had to suffer bringing in the whole matter of human sinfulness and God's demand for satisfaction of justice bringing in the whole uniqueness

36:56 of the one who suffered bringing in the fact that he died a substitutionary death he rose from the dead in triumph over his enemies he now lives to make good the salvation that he purchased with his blood and so this does not mean that a man is not faithful to the word if he does not in every sermon say Christ died Christ rose repent and believe doesn't mean that at all but it does mean that if over a period of weeks or months sitting before any ministry if your mind is not drawn continually and again and again back to the central hub of New Testament truth Christ died Christ rose Christ lives forgiveness comes from him his exalted hand then this is not a true proclamation of the word and message of God now there is a fourth abiding message of this narrative to us and this is again something very vital to our existence as an assembly the word of God became the mother of the church of God will you notice after Paul opened up the scriptures verses 2 and 3 verse 4 says some of them believed and joined themselves with Paul and Silas and the devout Greeks a great multitude and the chief women not a few and that assembly of Jews Greeks and these women included

Lesson 4: The Word Gives Birth to the Church

38:24 they became the nucleus of the new church now let me ask a question did that church give birth to the word of God or did the word of God give birth to that church which one was well it's obvious isn't it it was the preaching of the word that gave birth to a church now the whole claim of Romanism is that it's the church that gave us the word you ask an intelligent Roman Catholic well how is it that you allow the tradition of the church the statements of the church fathers how is it that you allow the church councils to tell us what the Bible means and they say well the church gave us the Bible the church is the mother of the Bible the church was there before the Bible therefore the church has a right to interpret that word to us this argument I've had presented me more than once by an intelligent articulate understanding Roman Catholic now what would you say to this they'll tell you that the Bible as we now know it what we call the New Testament canon the books that comprise the word of God in the New Testament was not officially recognized and stated until several centuries after the coming of Christ and they say the church was there right from his coming so the scriptures are the child of the church how would you answer I think you have your answer right here you see it was the Old Testament

39:53 scriptures set forth in their purity and the declaration of the facts concerning Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of those scriptures this is what gave birth to the church at Thessalonica you and I must always remember that the word of God stands supreme above the church the church is subject to it and always under its judgment never the other way around the moment you begin to subject the word to the judgment of the church you'll have precisely what you have in Mark chapter 7 where Jesus said to the Pharisees of his day ye make void the word of God by your tradition you see they began to allow the church to stand in judgment on the word and they began to twist the word to fit the tradition of the institutionalized church whereas the scripture would teach us again and again that any church must always stand underneath the censor of the word of God so that we come as men to be judged by the word to have our conviction shaped by the word for it's the word that gives birth to the church and not the church giving birth to the word now all the church can do and bless God the church is ordained to do it is to proclaim the message to herald abroad the message but never to alter it

41:23 and always and ever to stand under its censure and under its judgment and then a fifth principle that forms the abiding message of this narrative is that the word of God faithfully proclaimed will always cause division notice the contrast in verse 4 and some of them believed and consorted with Paul verse 5 but the Jews that believed not moved with envy there's the contrast some of them believed consorted with Paul but the Jews that believed not moved with envy there's the reaction and the word of God faithfully proclaimed will always cause that division for our Lord declared in Matthew 10 in verse 34 think not that I came to send peace on the earth I came not to send peace but a sword for I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against the mother and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law and the man's foe shall be they of his own household if you're looking for a way to make the gospel so presentable so palatable that it will cause no offense just quit you're wasting your time for the scripture says the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness

Lesson 5: Division from Faithful Proclamation

42:52 but unto us who are being saved it is the power of God now we don't want to make it unnecessarily offensive by adopting unnecessarily offensive ways of presenting it no we want to be as wise as serpents harmless as duds to the weak we want to become as the weak as Paul says to the strong we become as strong to the Jews become like Jews to the Gentile like Gentiles in every way seeking to take out of the way any unnecessary offense but when we set before men the purity of that message men still love darkness rather than light I was in the home a very wealthy home of some wealthy people several of the days in which I was privileged to be in England and the woman there has been afflicted with multiple sclerosis a dear saint of God and the morning before I left I asked her to give me her testimonies to how she came to know the Lord and she said she was a very proud and I understand from others a very beautiful society woman proud of her bearing even of her gait she walked with the kind of a gait that attracted the attention of all who would see her and God allowed this affliction to come and just at that time for the first time in her life she heard someone who was biblically evangelizing was preaching the word and for the first time in her life she heard she was a sinner and she said how offensive

44:21 this was to her here she was the upper crust of society a faithful wife moral and upright and all of the rest and she says she remembers how offensive it was the first time that that message broke through to her heart you're a sinner and the message which is a great leveler of all men it takes the proud well to do society woman and makes her stand with the harlot dripping and oozing with all the marks of her lust and they have to stand together before the cross and say nothing nothing in my hands I bring simply to thy cross I claim but you see that message can never be made sweet to the human heart until God the Holy Ghost performs a miracle in the heart for men love darkness rather than light and will not come to the light lest their deeds should be exposed John tells us in John chapter 3 and so as Paul and Silas and possibly Timothy faithfully proclaim the word of God there was division and this says something to us as an assembly woe woe be unto us if all speak well of us and I remind you that our goal should not be to become the friendly little church in the Caldwells but may our goal be to become a people of God in whose presence the mighty God is manifested

45:49 and there will be both awe and fear as well as joy in the Holy Ghost the word of God faithfully proclaimed will always bring division because it is an exposure of the thoughts and the intents of the hearts of men and then the last principle that forms the abiding message of this narrative and I just touch on it for a moment the word of God must be declared no matter what difficulties are encountered you catch some of the spirit of the apostle Paul and his companions they come out of Philippi having just been released from prison and comforting the saints for a short time they move right into Thessalonica in Thessalonica they are driven out of town and what do they do look at verse 10 and the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas by night to Berea who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews what a stubborn bunch kick them out of one town they go into another kick them out of that town into another gluttons for punishment why he said woe is me if I preach not he said have a commission and that commission is proclaim the message and if God allows the venom of human hearts to rise up kick me out of one town go into another he had no assurance he'd be well received at Berea thank God he was the Lord knows perhaps another

Lesson 6: Perseverance in Proclamation Despite Difficulties

47:17 Thessalonica would have been too much he might have gotten discouraged so it says these were more noble than they at Thessalonica they had an inquiring searching spirit but Paul had no assurance of that when he went in but he was possessed with this realization that he must proclaim the word of God and oh dear ones I believe this is the abiding message of the narrative to us as a church the message of God must penetrate this community through this assembly and all of its members no matter what difficulties we encounter and we'll encounter many of them but would to God that we would have our hearts permeated with the spirit of a Paul and a Silas if ever there was reason for them to say well I need a little sabbatical you know a sabbatical is what they give a seminary professor to go off every seven years and stretch his noggin a little bit in another area and to learn a little bit more and perfect his skills Paul could have reasoned well we've been there at Philippi and been kicked around and these bruises kind of hurt and maybe need a little time down there sunning in the Mediterranean to get well could have reasoned that way but he didn't he was driven by this holy obsession that I must preach the word of God because God has commissioned me and I trust as we encounter difficulties and if we're not encountering them it's probably because the devil doesn't feel we're worth reckoning with it's always a good sign when you encounter difficulties it's a compliment you see that we're worth

48:46 reckoning with most of the churches the devil doesn't need to reckon with just better leave him alone but when you begin to find difficulties it's an indication that you're something to be reckoned with and that's why Paul found difficulties everywhere he went the devil couldn't ignore him his kingdom was invaded everywhere Paul went the powers of hell hell had to take note here's a man upon whom the Holy Ghost rests you remember what they said there in Acts 16 Jesus we know Paul we know sure we know him his name's talked about when we get together to compare notes everywhere he goes our kingdom suffers and so they had to stir up the opposition oh as it said Jesus I know and those people at Trinity Church I know is the enemy forced to take account of us if we're filled with the kind of the spirit that Paul had Paul and Silas were that spirit that says the word of God must be declared no matter what difficulties are encountered and I believe God will for his glory and the good of the souls of men make us a force to be reckoned with the apostle could say in 2nd Timothy 2 10 I endure all things for the elect say that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory so much then for the founding or the birth of the church at Thessalonica and it's abiding message to us now this Paul having heard of some of the events that have transpired and having tried

50:16 on two occasions to go back to Thessalonica and comfort and instruct the saints and having been prohibited in the providence of God Timothy comes to him and brings him news and he sits down to write that infant church a letter and I trust our appetite is whetted now to study that letter to pray that God will give us light and to pray that God as we begin the Lord willing next week and consider the first verse Paul's salutation to the church at Thessalonica let us unite our hearts in prayer