Arkansas State press., 1944-05-12

LESSON TEXT: Acts l7;i-4: l Thes'
ealonians AHA.
GOLDEN TEXT: Rejoice always, pray
without ceasing. In everything give
t~hanks.-I Thessalonians 5:l6'l8.
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 saeriicial messenger,
Other factors enter in. but these are
the fundamentals,
Paul's ministry at Thessalonica,
which is 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 l7:i-4
Paul had already met the varying
lot Of both persecution and accept.
ance. and had now come to Thes-
salonica. a 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. 1t was not
Gas some modern preachers in large
cities would seem TO Think a series
Of social, political, or literary dis.
courses. Paul preached Christ. He
reasoned with them and presented
the Saviour ". - as One who was
!. Dead for our sin. These people
were like US in that they needed a
solution for their sin problem. There
were doubtless other questions which
Paul might have discussed, but he
wisely went to the root Of their dit
ficulty and showed them that
Christ must needs have suffered"
Without the death Of Christ there
Is no salvation for any man. Only
through the shedding Of blood can
there be remission Of sin (Heb. 8;
22). Paul had no part In the folly Of
q "bloodless gospel'-as though
there were any such gospel.
2. Raised for our justification. 1t
was not enough that Jesus died.
marvellous a. that Is in our sight.
For many Z 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 Rsdssmer.
.. Declared to be the Christ. He
y moro than . man. more than a
great leader and an earnest teacher.
He % Gods anointed One. Himself
divine-and our Lord.
Thus Paul presented to the Jews
their Messiah, 1.-THE Man Of Sorrows"
lisa. So. whose resurrection de-
clared Him to be the Son Of God
with power (Rom. l:4), their Re-
deemer and Lord. Blessed results
followed such preaching ". A..
II. The Messenger-Approved OF
God Il Thess. 2:l-1O.
Sometimes a man with a true
message largely nullifies its value
by the manner in which he presents
II. or by his manner of life in the
community.
/. He was faithful wv. l-6). One
of the great temptations facing the
n who Is a preacher or teacher OF
Gods Word is to let his fear Of men
cause him to adjust his message, to
use a bit Of iattery, to please men.
Paul was bold in our God ".
~, not trying to deceive or mis-,
lead anyone ". -, seeking only
Gods approval ". A., not trying
to make money for himself or gair
standing with men by smooth words
". 81. and not claiming a high pc.
sition or authority over men ". 81,
2. He was affectionate Wv. 100,
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 a
lesson many Of us need to learn.
To be gentle ". y a man mus,
be strong. The cardinal quality OF
q strong Christian should be that he
IL . gentleman, or she a gentle.
woman. II not, there Is not real
strength In the life.
Paul gave not only 4 message,
he gave himself-his very soul ".
D.. The people to whom he minis.
tered were dear" to him. The
pastor who looks down at his con.
gregation with hardness, and per.
haps hatred for some individual,
needs 10 read this passage and find
Paul's secret Of success.
He laborsd with his hands to sup.
port himself ". 81, lest anyone
think hs was 4 burden to them. Let
- oos think that this means that
Q preacher Is not worthy Of sup
port. Christ Himself declares that
the laborer 10 worthy Of his hire
Luke l0:D. But II does show
Paul's fns spirit OF devotion and
sacrifice.
!. He was unblamable wv. l0-l3).
Holy In his life before God. Paul
was ready to live r~ighteously be-
fore men, and thus to stand unblam.
able before them and before his
Lord. This indeed is q life worthy
in the sight Of God ". l2).
In other words, the preacher was