Subject: Followers of Paul
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6
Sermon notes
Recognition of the character of Paul’s ministry, v5-6.
- Paul is recognized as the Spirit-filled servant of God acting for their best interests. Paul was a channel of the Holy Ghost! This indicates an important level of spiritual discernment on the part of these believers. Genuine converts will display this discerning recognition. The Spirit of God leads men to test preachers, 1 John 4:1, Rev 2:2. Cp Matt 15:13-14—the evidence of spiritual blindness and no root of life is blindly following the blind. N.b. the parallelism between knowing, v4 and know, v5 (same root X2). Knowledge of God’s saving purpose is accompanied by knowledge about Paul. One of the evidences of knowing I am elect is being able to identify those who preach the truth as Paul did. Cp John 10:27, 4-5.
- They became followers of Paul, v6. They identified themselves with the ‘human face’ of God’s work in the gospel. Parallel the ‘church in God’ and the ‘church in Thessalonica’, v1. Invisible union leads to visible association. In following Paul they identified with the Lord. This indicates their view of Paul. Through him they saw Christ. Cp 1Cor 11:1, Eph 2:17, 1 Peter 3:18-20, 1:10-11. Here is a striking thing: the degree to which Christ’s servants are identified with Him, Luke 10:16, Matt 25:40.
- They were motivated in this by the word. Because of a reception of the word—Gk. = ‘logos’, word, message, and ultimately Christ; they stood with Paul and His preaching.
- They did so in joy in the Holy Ghost. This was a direct fruit of the Spirit’s work and traceable to the decree of election. This was not a natural joy. It was the product of the Spirit.
- Despite affliction. Cp Matt 13:21. The proof of the ‘root’ is faithful endurance despite opposition. They stuck by the message and the messenger. Cp Heb 10:32-35.