May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we turn to his word. Let us turn to the
first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians and the first chapter
and we'll read the fifth verse. The first epistle of Paul to
the Thessalonians and reading the first chapter and the fifth
verse. For our Gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance, as ye know what manner of men we were
among you for your sake. It is a blessing to have some
understanding of what the Apostle Paul here is driving at. And really the truth is, and
he's pointing out to these Thessalonians the vital and blessed and wonderful
truth of God's power in the soul. So, he brings it to our attention. He tells us, for our gospel came
not unto you in word only. Now, of course, the gospel has
to come in word only. It has to come through the word. And we bless God for the word. But, my friends, the word by
itself will never do us any real good. What we need is the blessed
application of the Holy Spirit of God, of the Word, to our heart,
so that we do then receive it, not then as the Word of man,
but as the Word of God. Not just an historical account
of things which occurred many years ago, and a thesis which
may have been written, or a letter which may have been written,
but to have the great and blessed application of the Word of God
to our souls. Now, the Apostle here speaks
to us and he says, he wrote this, we give thanks to God always
for you all. making mention of you in our
prayers. It's good, isn't it, when we
can come and give thanks for those believers who we are thankful
to know and to pray for and to make mention of them in our prayers. It's important that the Church
of God pray to one another. It's important that they're not
self-centred and just pray for themselves, but they pray indeed
like we have this statement here, always for you all, making mention
of you in our prayers. Now it's very clear from the
epistles that the apostles' prayer life was very extensive. It wasn't
just spent in a few minutes. It was very extensive. And how important it is for us
today, our prayer life, might be extensive and that we might
pray earnestly for the blessing of the Lord in the lives of every
one of us and that there may be a wonderful and blessed outpouring
of the Holy Spirit of God. It is so necessary that we do
come to our God and we earnestly beseech Him and pray to Him for
the blessing, that we may not just come in a very casual and
half-hearted way and just wish we can get on with the next thing
which occupies our lives, and that we pass through prayer in
a very rapid way as a job to do and get past. Well, I don't
believe that comes into the category of the effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man. I know that you and I might be
found then beseeching our God." And he would indeed come and
do great things. And he goes on to say of the
Apostle, remembering without ceasing. You know, he was constantly
thinking about God's people and thinking about the things of
God. It was indeed the Apostle's life,
wasn't it? And you know today, by comparison,
and we shouldn't glory in it. We're very small people. We're
very insignificant in the things of God. We pray, don't we, for
times of blessing. We pray for times of spiritual
revival. But I'm sure we need the blessed
effect upon it in our own souls. There may be a wonderful outpouring
of the Spirit in each of our hearts. So we may be amongst
those who do truly, without ceasing, remember the work of faith, the
labour of love, the patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the sight of God and our Father, and let us also realise that
the Apostle always brings us to Christ, how essential that
is in our lives. And he explains it, labour of
love and patience of hope in our Lord, Jesus Christ. And then he comes and says, knowing
brethren, beloved, your election of God. Now it's a blessed condition
to know that we are those whom God has chosen, those whom God
has called, those whom God has predestinated. And my friends,
it's an exceedingly salutary and wonderful thing to be blessed
with the knowledge that the Lord has graciously called us and
we are amongst those who belong to the election of God. Now the evidence of that is set
before us really in the fifth verse which we read the assurance
that we can come to know that we are elect is through the understanding
and personal experience and testimony of the words that the Apostle
speaks to us here for our Gospel. That means the Gospel that he
proclaimed. That means the Gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the Apostle, he didn't
waste time on peripheral things. He didn't waste time on just
interesting anecdotes. My friends, the Apostle, if you
read his letters, he was very direct and centred on the Lord
Jesus Christ. He didn't want to let people
down short. He didn't want them to go away with just some little
story in their minds. He wanted them to understand
the great and glorious doctrines of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he speaks like this for
our gospel, the gospel that he preached, that he preached with
Silvanus and Timotheus as they joined together in declaring
the great and glorious truths of the everlasting Gospel. And
so, as I were to say, for our Gospel came not unto you in word
only. It wasn't just the word. The
word that the Apostle proclaimed. The word that he proclaimed was
truth. The word of God is truth. My friends, we need that which
follows. And that which follows is this.
but also in power. We need the power. We need the
power. The Word of God had come in power.
We read that second chapter. In that second chapter we read
this, For this cause also thank we God without ceasing because
when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye
received it not as the Word of man, but as it is in truth the
Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe."
What a great difference there is between just receiving the
Word of God as of men, or as receiving it as the Word of God
from God to our souls. The apostle, you see, points
this great difference and how necessary for us to know the
truth in the power of it. Now, we shouldn't think that
by the word power it means something of a physical nature, a very
powerful thing in a physical way. The power of God is the
effect that the Word of God has in our soul. It's the effect
that the Word of God has in our soul. Now, when that is effectual,
it is because it's the power of God. And it is a great blessing if
you and I are able to testify that we do know something in
our spiritual life of the power of God applying the Word of God. What a blessing that is. See,
that is not of me. That is outside of ourselves.
It's a blessed and glorious work of the Holy Spirit of God and
it is a very clear situation, a very
clear position to know that therefore if we are a partaker of the power
of the Word of God to our souls, that we are amongst those who
are of the election of God. Now that's a comfort, isn't it?
And that's an encouraging thing to know. And I believe it's almost
like this, when the Spirit of God has done something for our
souls that we could not have done for ourselves. Because perhaps
in the way it occurred, when the Lord applies his word to
our hearts, there is something within which stirs us And we
realise this is not of the flesh, this is of the spirit, this is
of the great gift of God, this is of God's favour towards me. And this sets apart just the
natural Word of God. It sets it apart and draws us
to the blessed truth of God, so that we are able to comprehend
with all saints. It's a common knowledge that
the saints of God have it in joy that we receive the word
of God which he heard of us, he received it not as the word
of men but as it is in truth the word of God which effectually
worketh also in you that believe. Well we might just pause there
for a moment and just look into our own hearts and see whether
we can find there the evidence, the blessed, powerful evidence
of the application of God's Word to our soul. When it will be
a time in which we won't forget, you know, Remember in the case
of the Apostle Paul's life when he went down to the riverside
for prayer and who came along? A woman called Lydia. She was a businesswoman. She
sold purple and we read there of the power of God upon her. And it's couched in these words. The power of God was upon her
because the Lord opened her heart to receive the Word. It didn't
just stick in her mind. The Lord opened her heart that
she received the truth of God. There was no great outward performance
of anything. very different to the life of
the Apostle himself. But how good and how thankful
we should be that we have a case like that recorded in the Word
of God for our encouragement, because it was none less than
the power of God in that woman's heart. So tonight, if we can look into
our hearts, and look back and find there
a time when God's word was applied, applied to our heart. We don't
forget it. It's almost as though it was
written there in an iron pen in a rock. And the reason, it
concerns our eternal life. It's not something which is just
transient and passing away. It's the work of God in the soul. And it's the Word of God spoken
to our hearts upon which we rely, upon which we hope. There's our
hope. It's founded upon what God has
spoken into our hearts. What does it show us? It shows
us our election of God. That's not a small token, is
it? That's not a small benefit, is it? That's a great and eternal
favour. Think of the wonderful mercy
of God for our Gospel now. I believe when the Lord God speaks
his word into our heart, you see, it directs us to the Gospel. It directs us to the good news
of the Gospel. It directs us to the good news
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, real blessing, real
blessing is founded upon what Christ has done. Real blessing
is founded upon the true belief that we have an interest in what
Christ has done. And the Lord applies His words
to our heart. It may be like this. Remember soon after the Lord
Jesus Christ rose from the dead. We read that occasion of those
two people going down to Emmaus and we read they were sad, they
were troubled, they didn't understand really what had occurred. Their
hope had been in the Saviour and it appeared to them that
he'd died And now strange things had happened and they'd heard
that he'd risen from the dead. And then what occurred? Jesus himself drew near and went
with them. Now that's produced a difference. They were journeying. They were
on that road. when Jesus Himself drew near. And what did He do? He spoke
to them. He spoke to them concerning Himself
through the Scriptures. Oh, what a sermon that must have
been, mustn't it? Wonderful for them to hear those great and
glorious words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we read the effect
it had upon them. It didn't just go into their
minds. It didn't just stand in their
minds. They said, did not our heart
burn within us while he spoke to us by the way? That was the
effect of the voice of Jesus. That was the power of the Gospel. And the power of those words
had that gracious effect upon their innermost being, upon their
soul, upon their heart. And the effect was, it burned
within them. Well, we may not have had many
occasions like that in our lives, but it would be a good thing
you know. If you can look back and perhaps remember an occasion
when you perhaps heard the Gospel preached, when your heart burned
within you, how you rejoiced to hear it, how you loved to
hear what Jesus had done, and that you had a hope that He died
for you. Yes, and as that voice spoke
to your heart, yes, there was that effect upon you. Is it where
your heart burned within you? Because of the good news which
your heart was receiving about the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. For our Gospel came not unto
you in word only. It wasn't word only, but also
in power. Oh, how important it is for us
to know the blessing of the Lord coming upon us in divine power. Now, I mentioned Lydia, so the
word of God came to her. You remember in the Old Testament,
God's servant Elijah. Yes, he'd run away and he'd hidden
in a cave and God came and he And he spoke to him. And it was in a very different
way to the way he expected. And it was like this, a still
small voice. What was the effect? It had power. It came from God. And it was
very sanitary. What doest thou hear, Elijah?
Oh, Elijah knew that God had spoken. It wasn't just a word of a man. He knew that God had spoken. That still small voice was in
power. It would be a great blessing
for us if we heard God's voice. It may have been like that, still
a small voice, but nonetheless it was in power. And I believe
the evidence of that will be the effect it has upon us. The
effect it has upon us. Yes, you see Elijah was moved
by that voice. Those two on that way to Emmaus,
they were moved by that voice. Lydia was moved by that voice because that voice came with
power. So what a blessing for us tonight.
If we can search our hearts, that's really not our minds,
it's our hearts and we can see there and understand and bless
God for the work of the Holy Spirit upon us. What an evidence that we're amongst
those who are of the election of God. My friends, it's only the children
of God that God speaks to. And if we're a child of God,
it's because He's called us and chosen us And if that is so, then we can
look forward to a glorious eternity with Christ, with the saints
of God, forever and ever. So, for our Gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power. The blessing of this power
we might read of as we think of Paul's epistle to the Romans. And he tells us this in the first
chapter in the 16th verse. He tells us this, For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He's not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. And he tells us, For it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth. all those who are blessed with
godly belief in the Saviour. This is the truth. The Gospel
is the power of God unto salvation. If there was no Gospel, there
would be no salvation. If there was no crucified Saviour,
there would be no salvation. And the Apostle therefore makes
it very clear, and he tells us here, for I am not ashamed. of the Gospel of Christ. Well,
my friends, he couldn't be, could he? And neither can we be. If the Lord has come with divine
power from on high and spoken into our heart His Word, do we not come and say, yes,
by the grace of God, I'm not ashamed either. I'm not ashamed
of this Gospel of Christ, for to me It is the power of God
unto salvation. And he says to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. Yes, it was a great and glorious
theme that the Apostle desires to bring again and again before
the people to evidence of the great and blessed work of God
it was and how important it was remembering 1 Corinthians and
the 2nd chapter again, he says, And I, brethren, when I came
to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. It wasn't the Apostle's words. It wasn't the Apostle's preaching
by himself. But he says, For I determined
not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
And he explains it, and I was with you in weakness, and in
fear, and in much trembling, and my speech, my preaching was
not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. So it was, and so it still is
today. And then he encourages us by
these words, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom
of men, but in the power of God. How good it is if our faith is
not in what men say, but it's in the power of God. Because
that faith which God has given us to believe the great and glorious
truth of the gospel, So our faith doesn't stand in man's wisdom,
it stands in the power of God. This is that which is revealed
to those who are of the election of grace. He tells us, albeit
we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom
of this world, nor the princes of this world that come to naught
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden
wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which
none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." It is not
something which is naturally obtainable. We don't achieve
this by our own natural ability. The Lord reserves these blessings
to himself and that's why his blessings are applied with power
from on high. And that's why these things are
not in ourselves, they're out of ourselves, to demonstrate
to us and to encourage us that there is a God in heaven, A God
who does hear and answer prayer. A God who does look upon us.
A God who has looked upon us. A God who has blessed us. And
a God who has given us a hope in his mercy. For our gospel
came, and not unto you, in word only, but also in power. Well, we're thankful. You know,
there are very, very many occasions in the Word of God about the
power. I'll just touch on just one or
two. tonight, but they are wonderful to think about. And the Apostle
Peter in his epistle, the well-known first chapter, where he speaks
to us in that glorious situation, testifying of that inheritance
which is incorruptible, which is to the Church of God. And who is it to, he tells us,
who are kept, how? By the power of God. The power
of God. It's not your ability, it's not
my ability. It's the power of God. We bless God today for this
divine power which is completely outside of our natural state. It's that spiritual evidence
of the work of God, who are kept by the power of God. through
faith, under salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Now, what does the Apostle say?
Wherein ye greatly rejoice. Well, I hope tonight we may be
able to greatly rejoice at the evidence that we have in our
hearts of the power of God revealing to us the Word of God. the truth of God. Wherein ye greatly rejoice. It's
reason, is it not, to greatly rejoice for what God has done,
so that we are able to recognise the wonder of such words, knowing,
brethren, beloved, your election of God is because of what God
has done for us. Wherein ye greatly rejoice. But he goes on and it's just
necessary to remember, though now for a season of need be you
in heaviness through manifold temptations. Yes, the devil will
tempt you and try and persuade you that what you've got is false
and it's not of the spirit, it's of the flesh. Well, I'm often
reminded of the testimony of John Warburton, I know I've mentioned
before, John Warburton was greatly blessed by the Spirit of God
in his soul. And to such an extent that he
went in the field and danced with joy. And the devil said,
I did that. John Warburton said, devil if
you did that, do it again. And of course, the devil couldn't. And now, my friends, there's
very clear evidence the devil can't produce the power from
God. That which is of the Spirit of
God, because it's for God's honour and glory. God's work is for
his honour and glory. Bless God for it then, that we
are able to see the wonderful effect of it in our lives. For the glory of God, my friends.
All these things for the glory of God. You won't be able to
glory yourself. It's not of your flesh. It's
a blessed, blessed work of the Holy Spirit of God. And to think
it is so, how amazing it is, how wonderful it is. One last reference in the second
epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. He tells us In the second chapter, he speaks
just like this, he says, For out of much affliction and anguish
of heart I wrote unto you with many tears, not that ye should
be grieved, but that ye should know the love which I have abundantly
for you. If any have caused grief, he
hath not grieved me, but in part, that I may not overcharge you
all. You see, he just wanted to give
us a balance, really, of the truth of God, the truth of His
wonderful working in favour and mercy. He also tells us this, and I was with you in weakness
and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom. but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. What a wonderful thing it is
to have the evidence then of God's power in our souls, in
our life. And for our Gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost. It was of course the work of
the Holy Spirit which brought about and brings about in our
lives the evidence of God's work, the evidence of God's favour
toward us. In Revelation, the Apostle John
had a glorious view of eternal realities. He tells us in the
19th chapter, And after these things I heard a great voice,
were much people in heaven saying, and what were they saying? Alleluia,
salvation and glory and honour and power unto the Lord our God. It will be, I'm sure, the common
theme of the Church of God to acknowledge it is the power of
God, the power of God that ringed salvation. And so, for our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." I suppose we perhaps are afraid
to be too positive in the things of God. And it's strange really,
isn't it, that we seem to be reluctant to confess and to record
of God's mercy and His love displayed toward us in His power to our
soul. Because if God has worked in
our hearts with His divine power, and let us be clear, it is divine
power, it's not the power of man, it's divine power, Surely
it is a great and glorious evidence of the work of God within. And if we are able therefore
to find there this work, the evidence therefore of God's power,
and the evidence of God's power, what has it done? It's given
us life. And what life is that? Eternal
life. That's what the power of God
has done. It's given us life. It's quite simple, isn't it?
You and I were naturally spiritually dead in trespasses and in sins. And nothing could awaken us naturally. No one can awaken a dead body. No one can awaken a dead soul. But my friends, the Spirit of
God comes and gives life and light. And it's the great and
blessed work of the Spirit. And as we receive that work,
and so our spiritual eyes and ears are opened, and surely the
effect is to reveal to us our state, to reveal to us Christ,
and to give us an assurance, I can put it this way if you
like, a humble assurance. It is humbling to realise that
Almighty God has looked upon us, an unworthy sinner of the
earth, It's exceedingly humbling. But my friends, may it be a humbling
assurance. We don't want to deny, do we,
God's work in the soul? You don't want to deny that,
do you? It's a blessed thing to know God's work in the soul.
Never deny it. And the devil will cast doubt
upon it. But be sure of that. The devil
will try and hinder the work of God. He'll do all that he
can, but he will never be able to reproduce it, because it's
a sovereign, glorious work of the Spirit of God. But having received the Word
in much affliction, with joy in the Holy Ghost, that receiving
in much affliction. But nonetheless, there is a receiving
it, because it's the power of God. And therefore may there
be, he says, in much assurance, says the Apostle. My friends,
the Apostle wasn't in one sense any different to you and me.
He tells us, doesn't he, he was a man of light passions. You may think, well, Paul was
a very wonderful man when he was wonderfully blessed. But
he was a man with, like, passions. He claims to be the chief sinner.
So he didn't have a very high view of himself. But he did have
a high view of his God. And may that be so in our lives.
As the blessed Spirit of God works in our heart, and we have
the evidence of it, May we have high views of our God. May we
really desire to honour and glorify Him. You know the Apostle goes
on to say, and this must be the effect really,
And ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received
the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost. What a privilege to be a follower
of a despised and crucified man. A man who was so willing to give
his life that we might have life. A man that was so gloriously
willing to sacrifice himself that we might receive the power
of God in our souls. And then that verse that we referred
to earlier, 13th verse about the Word of God, not as the Word
of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which effectually
worketh also in you that believe for you. Brethren, again, became
followers of the churches of God which are in Judea, which
in Judea are in Christ Jesus, for you also have suffered the
things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews. There is that following the Lord. What a blessing it is for us
today if we are able to find in our hearts the great and glorious
work of the Holy Spirit of God. You might say, well then, so
how has the Gospel come To me, how has it come to me? Well,
I believe it's come in this way. It's come in word. It's come in power. It's come
in the Holy Ghost. And it's come with much assurance. So we are able to fall down and
to worship Praise our God for his love and his infinite mercy
to such unworthy sinners, so we may be able to come and say
from our heart, to God be the glory. Amen.