Peter Barnes: 1 Thessalonians 1:5
SERMON NOTES: PREACHING IN THE SPIRIT (1 Thessalonians 1:5)
- The all-sufficient Word is not sufficient.
– Paul used words – Acts 17:1-3 (e.g. Psalm 2 and Daniel 9.
– the content of his gospel – 1 Thess.1:9-10; with authoritative words – 2:13. John Eadie: ‘language was the vehicle of communication, but the message passed beyond the mere vehicle.’ 1 Cor.2:4.
- The Word came with power.
– 1:5b; includes apostolic miracles – Rom.15:18-19. Calvin says it refers also to the ‘spiritual energy of doctrine’.
- The Holy Spirit was mightily present.
– 1:5c; Luke 24:46-49. William Wilberforce, William Pitt and Richard Cecil. Pitt: ‘I didn’t understand a word of what that man was talking about, what was it?’
– Spurgeon tells of a drunkard who came up to Rowland Hill and claimed to be one of his converts. Hill replied that he certainly looked like one of his converts, but if he had been one of God’s converts, he would not be like he was.
- There was full conviction.
– 1:5d. See Romans 4:21; 14:5; Colossians 2:2; Hebrews 6:11; 10:22. Jeffrey Weima and Martyn Lloyd-Jones say it refers to the full conviction in Paul as the preacher, while F. F. Bruce says that Paul is referring to the Thessalonians. Surely it is both.
– John Livingstone in 1630. Calvin: ‘Let those who seek to minister the gospel as they should learn not only to speak and declaim but also to pierce the conscience to its core, so that it sees Christ crucified and feels the shedding of the blood.’