And men of the model church in Thessalonica are examined, emphasizing the boldness, Bible-based nature, and friendly spirit of their proclamation of the gospel. The sermon highlights that their message was not of deceit but from God, intended to be spoken with conviction and truth, drawing parallels to the faithful preaching of early apostles like Paul and Wesley. It underscores the importance of offering Christ, the fulfillment of God's promises, and the centrality of the Word of God in evangelism, urging believers to be gentle and affectionate in their witness. The core lesson is that the gospel, as a trust from God, must be preached boldly, truthfully, and with genuine care for others, reflecting Christ's own love and sacrifice.
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There was one thing Mr. Booth asked me to do. The tapes are ready. He's got a whole pile of them all set up. And I'm certain of this, as far as Mr. Morgan's tapes are concerned, you're one. That one statement he made, that it isn't horizontal, it's perpendicular. Had worth buying half a dozen tapes. to learn that right now they're there how much did you say they were mister uh 275 and then 50 cents on top of that for each of us or something like that anyway well you buy them oh my look at that uh no joking aside uh i don't know how you feel but whenever i go to a conference listen I don't take it all in I'm a bit dull I remember the high points and by that's grand but it's the low points that make the high points you remember the 11th chapter of Deuteronomy the land whither thou goest to possess it is the land of hills and
valleys and sometimes to listen to the message twice enables you to get the valley in as well as the hill I want to read, if I may please, a few verses from the second chapter of 1 Thessalonians. We're going to look, and it will have to be a very brief look, but we're going to look at chapters 2 and 3 today, if we may. We've been considering that model church, and today we're going to consider a little more of the message and the men of that model church. The message and the men of that model church. For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you.
But it was not in vain. But even after that we had suffered before and were shamefully entreated, as ye know at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. For our exaltation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile, but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our heart.
Should we ask God's blessing? our heart to thee and thank thee for the joy of Christian fellowship. Praise thee that thou didst ever bring us not only to thyself but to one another. We ask that each one of us as the result of these days of being together may find ourselves like the spokes of a wheel the nearer to the hub, the nearer to one another. So make the Lord Jesus real to us, we pray. and grant that we may be real one to another for Jesus' sake.
Amen. There are one or two very obvious things in the second and third chapters that I want, if I may, be permitted just to pass a comment or two concerning. The first thing I want to draw to your notice is that which, as we read those verses, I'm sure, you said amen to it. First of all, I want to remind you of a bold message that was preached by a bold people. What were the words that we read, bold in our God, to preach unto you the gospel?
Now if there is one thing that should mark an assembly of God's people, it is that none of us are ashamed of that gospel. that is the message that comes with all the boldness of heaven and each one of us should be prepared to be bold in the telling port in our life as one of our lips that message the second thing I want to remind you that this was a message that was preached by a bold people for it was a bold message but this is a message that was a Bible based message preached by a Bible-loving people.
We are living in a day, are we not, when even in evangelical circles, men and women are very apt to teleport a message that has its basis, maybe in modern need, maybe in the local newspaper, maybe in the things that are the problems of the day, and yet not based upon the Word of God. Now, if there is one thing I am absolutely persuaded of, that there is nothing in the world that can meet modern need like the old preaching of the gospel according to the Bible. We are living in a day when men are continually talking about making contact with. They're always speaking indeed about those who are able to communicate one with another.
I know of no better way to communicate with men and women than in the words of God. the need of man in any age. Then I want us to notice not only was it a bold message preached by bold people, not only was it a Bible-based message preached by Bible-loving people, but it was a befriending message preached by a friendly people. For we will be making reference, of course, to verse 7, and we will see that the apostle could say that we were gentle among you.
We will be making reference to verse 8, affectionately desirous of you. And we will see that here is the most befriending message in the world, for it tells of a God who longs for a relationship with his people. But it tells us that that friendly God desires that we shall preach that message in a friendly way. First of all, then, let us think of this bold message preached by a very bold people. We were bold in our God to preach the good news, the gospel.
It is not necessary for us to remind our hearts that when we consider together those who in the early days proclaimed this gospel, well, whether it was Simon or Stephen or Saul, that each one of them proclaimed this wonderful fact that Jesus Christ could meet the needs of men and women. They presented Christ to the people. I have spent over the past years quite a little time in the county of Cornwall in my country. There are very few assemblies there, at least there were very few before we went down there, and there are still not a great number. a few more.
But the first time I went to Cornwall years ago, I went down to a little town of Helston, very ancient, very ancient town. I knew that years ago, when Wesley went into Cornwall and God blessed with mighty revival, and Great Britain was saved from what happened in France in their desperate revolution, I knew that Wesley went to Helston. And so I did what I always do when I'm in Cornwall. I opened Wesley's journal to his visit to Helston. And this is what he wrote, of visiting the little town of Helston he wrote, I offered Christ to the people.
Isn't that lovely? I offered Christ to the people. Brethren, sisters, there is nothing in the world that we have to offer to men and women that can meet their needs, Oh, let us see that our message is saturated with Him. Is not the Bible saturated with Him? Why, when I open my Bible, I am not unmindful that He is prefigured in the offering. As I take those offerings and think it is not just of these physical things that were offered, but the one of whom they speak. I see Christ prefigured in the offering. I see Him projected in the prophet.
I'm not unmindful that when the prophets spoke, they spoke of particular need in that day and in that age. But they spoke more than that, for beginning at Moses and the prophets, he spake unto them the things concerning himself. Oh, praise God, he's not only prefigured in the offering, he is not only predicted in the prophets, but he's presented in the gospel. I ponder those glorious Gospels, and I realize that here is Christ in all the wonder of his person that he moved amongst men and women, and I don't care who you are, that if you will read the Gospels, you cannot help but be attracted to Jesus Christ as a man, let alone as later.
But if I see him indeed prefigured in the offerings, if I see him predicted in the prophets, if I see him presented in the gospel, I hear him preached in the Acts. I see men and women go forth and they tell of a Christ who died, who was raised from the dead, who lives, and hallelujah, one day will come to judge. This Jesus, whom men crucified, God has made both Lord and Christ. God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness. To this man, be it known unto you men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of things.
Oh, brethren, sisters, this is the message, this bold message. This message that tells us that God has broken into the affairs of men, that God is concerned about folk going on the broad road that leads to destruction. That God desireth not the death of any, but that all should come to him and live. Friend, what more could God do than he has done and is done? pins in his own body on the tree.
You know, I feel almost like saying again the words of the little Welsh boy. Do you wonder why it is I love him, sir? And I think of all he's done, and for me the guilty one. Can you wonder why it is I love him, sir? You know, Mr. Morgan's got a father who's a Welshman. And yet they asked us if we think. We better sing that in Welsh. You know that in Welsh, Mr. Morgan. He Yorke-in-O-Bipin of Yorke-O-Ful-Ful-Ful'Ful'Ful'Ful'Ful'Ful'Ful. What a queer Welshman doesn't know his own town. Oh, I only know this. Do you wonder why it is? I love you, sir.
Brethren, sisters, the need of assembly life to death, would you please listen? The need of assembly life to death is that we might come to love the Lord Jesus, as a person more than ever before. It is not just that we shall come to love the doctrines of the Bible. Thank God for them. Not that we shall come to love the doctrines of the church. Thank God for them. We love them. But that Jesus Christ as a person might be real to us. Real to us. Does he will begin? Does he walk with us and talk with us a long life away?
oh I say what a message to preach what a bold message that God has broken into the affairs of men and how boldly they preach this how boldly they preach it oh I love that don't you and not boisterously some of us preach it boisterously we are what we are aren't we you see someone said to me just yesterday one thing was poured you've got a good loud voice well wouldn't I be a queer fella my side with a little squeaky voice we are what we are and God doesn't want to make you like me for which you are thankful and he doesn't want me to be like you for which I'm thankful he wants me to be like his blessed son And he wants to take me and my personality and use it for his glory.
Oh, God grant that while we may have elders as imitators that we might, at least elders as examples, that we might imitate them. It is not imitating them as men, but imitating them as Christians. And here the apostle came and boldly proclaimed the word. And some of us proclaim it boisterously, and some of us are unable to do that. But we proclaim it maybe more effectively because we are... what we are God grant that we may realize this would you notice something more that they proclaimed it boldly for three reasons verse 3 they realized it was a message of truth I rather like J.B.
Phillips's paraphrase I was going to say translation not translation but J.B. Phillips's paraphrase of that particular expression he says our message is true and our motives are pure Isn't that lovely? Our message is true and our motives are pure. They recognize this message as truth and who'd be ashamed of truth? What is truth one asked long ago? Praise God we know what is truth. For he is truth and we proclaim Christ. They noticed it was not only truth and so they preached it boldly but they preached it boldly because they realized it was a message of trust would you notice verse 4 we were allowed of god says paul we were allowed of god to be put in trust with the gospel now do we recognize this message as a trust to use this expression in its very simple modern term although the term is much broader but to use it in the term that we will all understand.
You know what a trust is. People set up a trust that someone else may place into that trust something for another person. A trust. Folk hands may be a fellow of mine. They place that money in a trust that it shall be used for a cause isn't it lovely to think of the gospel as a trust that God put it there to be used for others and we are there to administer the trust don't forget that trustees one day have to give an account one day I've got to stand before God and God will say what did you do with that trust no wonder they preach it boldly.
They realized that one day they must hate the one that had placed this glorious truth into their hands. They preached it not only as a truth, they preached it not only for they realized it was a trust, they preached it because they knew it was a test. A test. Verse 15. You know, as I read that this morning, my heart was strangely challenged. It says, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us and they please not God and are contrary to all men. Now here is a message that's a test.
Do we please God? What is our attitude to Christ? Do we crucify unto ourselves again the Christ of glory? What is our attitude? Is it the attitude of a man or woman who says, Lord, Lord, I know what men did to me. I found and I know he endured it for me. But of God I see my guilt in his death. And I test myself and I come to realize what an awful person really I am. Oh wretched man that I am. Brethren sisters, we'll never think more of ourselves than we should if we constantly keep before The message of hell.
Oh, what a wonderful fact. A bold message preached by bold people. Now, let's come to this model church. You know, hours, hours, hours. Brethren, sisters, do we hold and hold firmly to the fact that God's given us truth? Tell me, do we, and each one of us here, do we realize that we have it as a trust and are responsible to God, to administer it to others. Tell me, do we test ourselves constantly by it? As to our attitude to others, and our attitude to God.
But then, of course, it was not only a bold message preached by bold people, but praise God it was a Bible-based message preached by Bible-loving people. As I've already said, when one opens the story of the Acts of the Apostles, especially when one comes to those stories that surround the establishment of the church at Thessalonica, we find that whoever preached the word preached the word based upon Scripture. Now this always thrilled me. Could I remind you of something that sometimes we're at it again? I believe that the message of the Gospel is the greatest love story in the world. but one of the things that struck me very fortunately when first I was converted what I did was this you see one of the things when I say first I was converted I mean two or three years maybe but I took my pen and my notebook I opened the Acts of the Apostles and I said now they really preached the gospel then for churches were founded and souls were saved now I'm going to try and trace the text that the preachers and the Acts of the Apostles had for their sermon.
And there were 13 sermons in the Acts of the Apostles, and it's remarkable that there's not one of them about the love of God. Do you know that hit me? Oh, I thought, now, now, now, now, those folk are going to take for their take, God is love. What I found was that almost every sermon had its faces completely in the fulfillment of God's promise. The God had made statements and promises that in his Son they would be found salvation. Oh, how essential it is when you and I stand that we shall stand and make sure that what we proclaims Oh, now God is love.
It's the message of the Bible. Don't misunderstand me. is found in Holy Writ that we shall present Christ of the Bible to men and women. Three things, very quickly, three things that the Apostle reminded them of. First of all, verse 8 and 9, he reminded them that it was the gospel of God, that God was its source, that man and God was its subject, and God with man and man with God was its sequence. It's the gospel of God's I know later it's called the gospel of Jesus Christ on one occasion the Apostle said it's my gospel I like that don't you I like that my gospel oh but here it's the gospel of God would you notice that it was not only the gospel of God verse 13 but the word of God for this calls also thank we God without ceasing because when ye receive the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye receive not the word of men, as it is in truth, but the word of God.
In this day, when folk are always talking about communicating, a number of things strike me. That when the apostle and others, whether it was the apostle Peter or the apostle Paul, they proclaimed the gospel. They proclaimed it as it was written in the scripture. The story of Peter before Cornelius always attracted him. Now Cornelius was a Roman. Cornelius was a man of sophistication. Cornelius was a ruler in the sense of ruling over his soldiers. He was a general. Now in our modern day and our preaching is schools they would say now you must always be able to communicate here's a Roman so you must speak to him in the phraseologies he will understand you know his manner of life you know his background you must suit the message to him and Peter came and he stood in front of him he stood in front of him to this man the Lord Jesus they're all the prophet witness Now, just a moment, Peter, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What does the Roman know about you that's Jewish prophet? Those prophets spoke for the Jews. What does he know about? He never tried to adapt the message for his audience. He preached the message of the word of God. And it went home. It went home. It's been my joy, as some of you know, to approach the gospel. gospel in this and maybe 32 or three other countries quite often the crowds of folk who can't understand one word I say just have to speak through interpretation of course some people don't need interpretation and don't understand what I say but nevertheless often through interpretation and when I return home and give my report to my own assembly many a time veterans said something like this Dan what sort of message is it different how do you adapt to these folk whose background whose social condition is so different to our and all I can say is I preach exactly the same to them as I do to you exactly do you know something to what they understand as well because
that's what the word of God is all about God's message to all men, God knows the message that will meet all men better than I know it. And please, may I just say this, don't let us think, don't let us think that when one goes to some of these mission-filled countries, and if you can't remember what I say, we'll listen again to here, but don't let us think that you're talking to folks that are ignorant of this and the things of God. I stood in Capango in the heart of Angola. Couldn't understand one word the folk were saying, and I stand and grin at them. There's one thing a mile break through any national barrier.
Really well. And day by day, it started at six in the morning, and I was still speaking at ten at night. And of course, I was doing it, and Water Gannon was doing it, because he had to translate it all the time. And apart from maybe an hour's break, we were at it all the time, and some of the folk had walked 120 miles to be there. And in the mind, I took them to Bible characters. and in the afternoon I took them through the epistle to the Corinthians and in the evening I took them through the epistle to the Ephesians and we went, I'm sorry, the epistle to the Hebrews and we went through day after day, day after day and the first day when I started on the epistle to the Hebrews I passed the comment and in the course of my remarks I mentioned that Paul had written the epistle to the Hebrews it was thrown out with a question, the very first question in the heart of Africa and Gola, the very first question I was asked.
Mr. Ford, how do you know, Paul wrote the epistle to the Hebrews? I want to tell you something. The brethren that have labored in these lands have taught the word of God. And I sometimes have been utterly amazed at the knowledge of some of these depressive things. Thank God for men like Ernest Wilson. Thank God. for women like to... She changed her name as well. I don't know. Pardon? Ah, Mrs. George, Mrs. Shorty. Mary Baby, of course. That's her if I knew her. But folks that have left for God are people well taught in the things of God.
And when Communism comes, the word of God and the work of God continues. Because the word of God's been preached. And that's suitable to every occasion. but would you notice it was not only the gospel of God and the words of God but the churches of God verse 14 ye became followers of the churches of God which are in Judea and in and of I'm sorry and in Christ Jesus I think that's lovely that's where we started wasn't it in Christ Jesus and here are the churches in Christ Jesus I didn't get to answer any of that all to realize this but here the Bible loving people preaching a Bible-based message in Christ Jesus.
I don't suppose they knew it in those days, did they? But if they did, you know, I got a feeling that that church at Thessalonica would have stood up, the song leader, Brother Redland of that day, would have stood up and sung that this world is not my home. I'm just the path and truth. Oh, I say, they knew something, didn't they? But then, notice, and I should finish, would you notice this, please? But not only was it a bold message preached by bold people, it was not only a Bible-based message preached by Bible-loving people, but it was a befriending message preached by friendly people. Could there be a message more friendly than this?
That God desires that men shall be reconciled unto him, and that he has done everything that we might be reconciled. Oh, how friendly those folk were. Verse 7, as we've already made reference, we were gentle among you I like that gentlemenly dear brother in our meeting used to have the habits of saying a Christian should be a gentleman a gentleman and it wasn't just in our homes but it was in our assembly that that was taught to me it seems as though it's not being taught quite so much maybe I should be teaching it more by my example more than by my word.
But this dear brother, dear Mr. Heather, he was a gentlemanly man. And if ever he saw those young men do anything that was not gentlemanly, he'd put his hand on their shoulder and say, A Christian should be a gentleman. If ever saw a young man push through the door in front of a girl, he'd go straight after him. The man. We did. What are you going to say? And he'd bring us back. And he said, Would you mind opening the door? In the... Ooh. In the assembly. Affectually desirous of you, he said in verse 8.
Affectually desirous of you. By the way, let me just say then. Let me say. That the first time in 1950 when I came to your lovely land. I had the privilege of staying with Mrs. Varanowski and Mr. Varanowski. I have many memories of Mr. Varanowski, but the memory I have is of a gentleman. Gentleman. Not only this gentle among you, but affectionately desirous of you. And then Then in verse 9 he says, well we wouldn't be chargeable unto you.
Oh I say, isn't this friendly? We won't be chargeable unto you. The apostle would be willing there to labor with his hands to do a task to provide that, he would not be burdensome to the people of God. Now if we know anything about the church at Thessalonica we know this, that they would have borne the burden and borne it willingly, but he was seeking to be friendly. I am more persuaded today than I was the last time I was with you and preached about it. But if there's a man that is in the service of God, that man should be a worker. Not a shirker, not a jerker, but a worker. I have a God who dares to say this, that a man shall not eat if he will not work.
That is true of men who are in the service of God. if you find that I'm not working please tell me that is still find me a job to do and I'll try and do it he goes on and he dares to say we exalt and comfort as a father of his children he said we're taken from you but not in heart that's lovely enough that's lovely I don't want to stop what I got to else, Mr. Depp Waller, have you got it? Oh, no, brother Dick, there's no need for you to do it. No, I only know this. Brethren, in the simplest of terms, and I could only be that, in the simplest of terms, may I say this, that I don't believe that there could ever be anything better than a Bible-based agenda.
It is the only answer in a world of change to find that which changes not the principles of a church. Boldly, we go to men and women with the bold message of heaven. we take not our message but the message of the Bible to men and women that as a friendly people we take the most friendly message in the world to a people in other words we seek to be a little kinder and a little blinder to the thoughts of those around us.
And praise God. If from this conference we will go back to our assembly determined to put that into practice for His main thing. Well God and Father we feel so humbled before they. When we look at the example of these dear saints in Thessalonica and we realize how far short sometimes we have come. We pray for the grace to go from this place to make the assembly with which we are connected a living, vital force in the era in which it's fast for Jesus' sake.
Amen. So we're just saying one stanza of 132 All praise to him who reigns above, and majesty supreme. Number 132, shall we stand and sing just the first stanza?