Well it's a good testimony that
the Apostle was able to deliver to the Thessalonians and he's
able to speak to them quite clearly about the Gospel. And he refers
to it as our gospel. Of course, in reality, it was
God's gospel, but it was the gospel which the Apostle Paul
and also, of course, Silvanus and Timotheus, as we noted last
week, were able to declare. And the great blessing was it
wasn't just a mere word. It was the word. But the great
and wonderful blessing was this. As he says, the Gospel came not
unto you in word only, but also in power. Now we know, of course,
as the Apostle goes on to say, this power was and in the Holy
Ghost. How needful it is that the Word
of God is applied with power. Unless the Word is applied with
power, it'll just be the word of a man. But when the Lord applies
it with power to our very heart, it is then that it strengthens
us, encourages us, supports us, enables us to press on and to
go on our way rejoicing. Because whatever it may be, the
word comes to us If it comes in power, we shall know it is
the word of God and not the mere word of a man. And so Paul is
able to declare here very wonderfully, for our gospel, or we might say
for the gospel, came not unto you in word only, but also in
power and in the Holy Ghost, And he could witness that because
of the effect it had had, not only on the lives and souls of
the Thessalonians, but also many other places where he went and
preached the gospel. Often it was difficult, often
there was opposition, but nonetheless God in his sovereign mercy and
grace blessed the word by applying the word. with power from on
high. And as it was so necessary then,
so it is so necessary today. And it's wonderful for us in
our souls when we can agree and confirm that this is true. The Gospel has come unto us,
spoken to our very soul in power and in the Holy Ghost, not natural
power, It's the power of the Holy Ghost. And what a great
blessing that is and how wonderful it is. And then he says, and
in much assurance. Sometimes people speak against
having assurance. But you remember the Apostle
Paul himself said, we know, I know whom I have believed. The Lord
had spoken to him. The Lord had called him by his
grace. And therefore he was able to
declare, I know whom I have believed. He had that humble but true assurance. He was not ashamed of the gospel
and he wanted to declare it. And he wanted to acknowledge
that the Lord had indeed spoken to him. We have so many references,
don't we? We have references by Paul himself. when he came before Agrippa and
other mighty men as he spoke there of his conversion. And it was God's work. And how happy he was to declare
God's work, to speak to those, especially perhaps King Agrippa,
who he was pleased to be able to speak to. And he spoke of
how the Lord had called him by his grace. On that Damascus road,
a man going in the opposite direction, the Lord arrested him. The Lord
came to him. The Lord spoke to his very soul
directly. There were others with him. They
didn't notice. They heard a noise. But Paul
heard the voice of God. my friends I'm sure today it's
the same not perhaps in the same power that struck the Apostle
down onto the ground but nevertheless we can testify that God speaks
to souls and what a blessing if you and I can testify he has
spoken to us and we can testify with humble assurance The Almighty
God met with us. He met with Saul on that Damascus
road. Yes, he met with Lydia beside
the river. But nonetheless it was the great
and glorious work of God and it was the effect of preaching
the glorious Gospel. And so he says, and in much assurance
then he says, as ye know what manner of men we were among you
for your sake. Yes, again the apostle wasn't
ashamed of explaining what a difficult time he'd had, the hardships
he'd had to endure.