Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1944-05-11

without ceasing; In everything give
thanls.-I Thessalonians 5:16-l6.
Strong, active, missionary-minded
churches do not just happen" They
are the result Of the preaching Of a
true and powerful message by a
faithful and sacrificial messenger.
Other factors enter in, but these are
the fundamentals.
Paul's ministry at Thessalonica,
which IL described In Acts II and
explained In Thessalonians 2, re-
veals what should be preached and
what kind of a preacher is needed.
Perhaps some dead or unsuccessful
church may learn the secret today
and come to new life for Christ.
I. The Message-Christ the Saw
iour (Acts 17:1-D
Paul had already met the varying
lot Of both persecution and accept
ance, and had now come to Thes-
salonica, q large and important city
In Macedonia, where he had a
lengthy ministry and established a
strong church.
What was the message which so
signally succeeded in this great
strategic center? Well, it was not
Gas some modern preachers in large
cities would seem to think series
of social, political, or literary dis
courses. Paul preached Christ. He
reasoned with them and presented
the Saviour, ". 81 as One who was
I. Dead for our sin. These people
were like US in that they needed q
solution for their sin problem. There
were doubtless other questions which
Paul might have discussed, but he
wisely went to the root of their diff
hculty and showed them that
Christ must needs have suffered"
Without the death Of Christ there
IL no salvation for any man. Only
through the shedding Of blood can
there be remission Of sin (Heb. 8:
10. Paul had no part in the folly Of
q 'bloodless gospel-as though
there were any such gospel.
q Raised for our justification. It
was not enough that Jesus died.
marvellous as that is in our sight
For many q man has died for his
convictions. but none has risen from
the dead. Christ could not be holden
of the grave, He arose the victori.
GUS Redeemer.
8. Declared to be the Christ. He
Is more than q man, more than q
great leader and an earnest teacher.
He is Gods anointed One. Himself
divine-and our Lord.
Thus Paul presented to the Jews
their Messiah, ''the Man Of Sorrows"
lisa. $50, whose resurrection de-
clared Him to be the Son Of God
with power (Rom. i:D, their Re-
deemer and Lord. Blessed results
followed such preaching ". u.
II. The acknowledgement Of
God Il Thess. 2:1-lN.
Sometimes q man with q true
message largely nullifies its value
by the manner in which he presents
It. or by his manner Of life In the
community.
/. He was faithful fvv. 1-6). One
Of the great temptations facing the
one who Is a preacher or teacher OF
Gods Word Is to let his fear Of men
cause him to adjust his message, to
use . bit Of fiattery. to please men.
Paul was bold in our God" ".
%. not trying to deceive or mis-.
lead anyone ". 81, seeking only
Gods approval ". d. not trying
to make money for himself or gair
standing with men by smooth words
". 50, and not claiming q high 20
sition or authority over men ". 81,
2. He was ,affectionate WV. 7-9),
How often those who are faithful
and bold in preaching the truth
ruin the effect Of their work by be
ing harsh and unkind. Here Is &
lesson many Of US need to learn.
To be gentle ". u a man mus
be strong. The cardinal quality q
a strong Christian should be that hs
Is q gentleman. or she q gentle
woman. II not. there IL not rea
strength In the life.
Paul gave not only q message
he gave himseh-his very soul "
81. The people to whom he minis
tered were dear" to him. Tn,
pastor who looks down at his con
gregation with hardness, and per
haps hatred for some individual
needs to read this passage and fins
Paul's secret Of success.
He labored with his hands to sup
port himself ". o.. lest anyon,
think he was a burden to them. lie
no one think that this means tina
q preacher Is not worthy of sup
port. Christ Himself declares tina
the laborer Is worthy Of his hir,
Guke l0:D. But it does SHOW
Paurs fine spirit of devotion an,
sacrifice.
). He was unblamable WV. 10-l2)
Holy In his life before God, Pau
was ready to live righteously be
fore men. and thus to stand unblam
able before them and before hi
Lord. This indeed Is q life worth,
IN the sight Of God ". I'D.
In other words. the preacher wa
able to say to his listeners. m.
life shows you what mean b!
my preaching" The true preache