Arkansas State press., 1946-11-15


oalonians 1928.
MEMORY sELEcTIoN-Be not weary
n welldoinR. III Thessalonians 3:l3
A great city. commercially active.
religious to . high degree. a mill
tary center and n harbor so fine
that 1t is important to this day
such was the city Of Thessalonica.
II presented Z challenge to the
preachers Of the gospel and. in the
name Of Christ. Paul accepted and
won great victory.
In the face OF persecution. bitter
and persistent. the believers in this
city remained faithful. The reason
for that appears in our lesson. Root
ed and grounded in Christ. they
had brought forth the fruit Of real
Christian living under circum-
stances which were difficult and
trying. Our lesson tells OF both the
preaching Of the gospel by Paul
and the living OF the gospel by the
Thessalonians.
!. The Gospel Preached--Accept-
ed and Rejected tActs l7:l-D.
Paul began mis- long and success
ful ministry in Thessaloniea in
the synagogue. Il was to the Jews
who worshiped the one true God
that he came with his message
about their expected Messiah --
Christ the Lord. Here he estab-
hshed strong church.
What was the message which so
signally succeeded in this great
strategic center? Well. 1t was not
las some modern preachers in
large cities seem to think nee
essary) a series of social. politi-
cal, or literary discourses. Paul
preached Christ. He reasoned with
them and presented the Saviour ".
D as One who was
l. Dead for our sin. These people
were like us in that they needed a
solution for their sin problem.
Without the death Of Christ there
10 no salvation for any man. Only
through the shedding Of blood can
there be remission Of sin Heb.
e;1O. Paul had no part in the folly
cf "bloodless gospel = as though
there were any such gospel.
Raised for our justification. II
WIS not enough that Jesus died
marvellous as that Is In our sight
For many a man has died for his
convictions, but none has risen
from the dead Christ could not
be holden of the grave. He arose
the victorious Redeemer.
3. Declared TO be the Christ. He
is more than man, more than a
great leader and an earnest teach
er. He is Gods anointed One, him
self divine-and our Lord
Some believed ". a., including
many devout Greeks, and not a few
Of the leading women The gospel
does have life.giying power as the
Holy Spirit applies it TO the hearts
OF willing men and women.
Others opposed wv. 5. g.. Note
that they were of the baser sort"
They always are, even when they
appear to be cultivated and edu.
gated. for there is something funda.
mentally wrong in life which re.
1ects Christ
II was a serious charge they
made against the Christians ". y.
for il was treason punishable by
vSeath 70 have any other king but
Caesar II one lived In q Roman
colony.
But the thing which they hated
worst In these Christians was the
fact that their topsy.,urvy world
vas In danger Of being SET right
'tthey put II the opposite way 81
and they did no, want 10 be made
right II 10 interesting to note that
these early preachers had divine
power TO turn over the social order.
Would that we showed more OF that
power in the church today
Accepting the truth is good. but
Il must 60 on in daily living. The
Thessalonians knew that and they
are models Of
II. The Gospel Lived - Followers
and Examples Il Thess. 1920.
j Paul, the missionary, was cour.
teous preacher. He recognized the
faithfulness Of Christian brethren
and did not hesitate to commend
them. We could do more of that
when we meet true and faithful be.
hevers.
They were followers Of Paul but
only because he followed Christ ".
%. His power was from above ".
81, even as they also were chosen
from above ". a..
Following Christ meant aaliction
10 them ". 90, but 1t also meant
the Joy Of the Holy Spirit. which is
entirely Independent Of the eircum.
stances Of life-and above them.
These Thessalonian believers
were examples Of what 1t meant
10 be Christians Wherever Paul
went their faith toward God was rec
ognized and he did not need to ex.
plain or argue for his gospel Pco.
pie knew the Thessalonian Chris.
tians. and thus they knew real
Christianity.
There could be no fner witness
10 the faith Of anyone than 10 be
able TO bear testimony that it is