Watchman Radio Hour

David Shultz: Welcome to the Watchman Radio Hour. Coming to you from Portland, Oregon here in the beautiful Northwest. This is David Shultz, your announcer. The Watchman Radio Hour is a production of Watchman Radio Ministries International, an evangelistic ministry reaching out to the peoples of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now here's our speaker, Alex Dodson, to bring you this week's message from God's word.

Alex Dodson: For our scripture reading today, let us turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter one, and we'll begin reading in verse four. Let us hear the word of God. "Brothers, loved by God, we know that he has chosen you because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord. In spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with a joy given by the Holy Spirit.

And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, your faith in God has become known everywhere. And therefore, we do not need to say anything about it." Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the Bible that you've given us. We thank you that it's your infallible word and that we can put our full confidence in everything that it says.

And now, oh Father, as we come to study your word, we pray that you will send forth your Holy Spirit in great convicting power. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen. As I sat in the audience, my eyes wandered to the side of the stage and there I saw a pulpit standing by itself in the far corner. The stage was cleared for the worship team, and when the preacher at last came to preach, he used a little portable stand for his Bible and notes.

Here lies an oft-repeated event every Sunday morning at many evangelical churches. The pulpit has been set aside and the platform cleared for the worship team. The preaching and proclamation of the word of God is taken a back seat, symbolized by the old pulpit sitting in the far corner, never to be used again, it seems. Does the proclamation of the word of God have to take a back seat today? Should it not be in the forefront?

Is that not our primary mission as the church to proclaim the word of God to a lost world? Is there not something wrong in the church today that needs to be corrected? When the church has been at its finest is when the word of God has been most powerfully proclaimed. In times of great revival and reformation, the proclamation of the word of God has always been in the forefront. When the first great awakening came to America, it was accompanied by the powerful preaching of the word of God by such men as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield.

The Holy Spirit rode the chariot of the word of God into the hearts of the people. Today our nation is in great drought and is in need of the powerful preaching of the word of God once again. The early church proclaimed the word of the Lord far and near, and the whole world was changed. In 1 Thessalonians 1:7 and 8, which is our text for today, it says again, "And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it."

The proclamation of the gospel must have the first priority. Today, PowerPoint presentations and friendly talks have replaced the powerful preaching of the word of God in many evangelical churches. The great pulpits of the past have been set aside to make room for the worship team. Yet have we not lost something vital in doing this? We need to return to the primacy of the word of God being proclaimed from our pulpits with power and great conviction.

Now let us see in the first place that those who believe the message evidence the first mark of a Christian. They had welcomed the message. Verse six says this: "You became imitators of us and of the Lord. In spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with a joy given by the Holy Spirit." The apostles brought the word of God to these Thessalonians and they received it with great joy. They did this because the message came with the power of the Holy Spirit, which opened their hearts.

Today, this is what we need: a message accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit. Such a message needs to sweep the land. When such preaching comes to this country again, then we can know that revival is on the way or has come. By their model, others had also welcomed the message. Not only had the Thessalonians welcomed the message, but many others welcomed it because of their model and proclamation of that same message.

Verse seven says, "And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia." Leon Morris writes in commenting on this passage: "They are an example to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. It is easy to pass over the significance of all that believe. Nowadays, great stress is placed on good works of various kinds, especially on social service. After the essence of Christianity is held to be in often, the essence of Christianity is held to be in such things.

Apostolic Christianity was in no danger of confusing the root with the fruit in this way. Thus, throughout the New Testament, the characteristic mark of the Christian is his faith, his dependence on Christ alone for all things. Naturally and unobtrively, Christians are referred to simply as believers." Matthew Henry writes: "They were typos, that is stamps or instruments to make impressions with. They had themselves received good impressions from the preaching and conversation of the apostles, and they made good impressions in their conversation and had an influence upon others."

The Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible says this: "Paul was writing from Achaia after having traversed Macedonia and come through Athens to Corinth. Along his journey, he found that the Christians he met not only knew of his labors in Thessalonica, but had also learned of the faith of the Thessalonians. The Thessalonian Christians, babes in Christ though they were, had become examples to others of faith, love, and hope.

Others had become believers because the message had gone out from the Thessalonians. They did not keep the message to themselves, but they thrust it forth to others." And then let us see in the second place that the Thessalonians gave priority to proclaiming the message. The message sounded forth from them. Verse eight: "The Lord's message rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, your faith in God has become known everywhere." They broadcast their faith far and wide to others. Others knew of Christ because of them.

John Calvin writes: "For from you has sounded forth the word of the Lord. The metaphor is a felicitous one. Paul means by it that their faith was so alive that it aroused other nations by its sound. He says that the word of God sounded forth from them, for their faith shouted aloud, calling men to put their trust in the gospel. This sound, he says, had not only been heard in the places nearby, but had also gone far and wide and had been clearly heard so that he did not require to publish the matter abroad."

William Hendriksen writes: "Then the Thessalonians believe, welcome the word, become imitators. They in turn carry the good news to others whose praises, after also they have experienced the great change, glorify God in heaven. And thus the circle has been completed. The Thessalonians, as it were, stand in the middle. The word of the Lord came to them and they, having accepted it by faith, have sounded it forth so that others might hear and believe."

To all believers in the two Roman provinces of Macedonia, here besides Thessalonica itself with Philippi and Berea, and Achaia, here was Athens and Corinth, the Thessalonian converts had become an example. Hendriksen goes on to say they are here compared to a parabolic arch or a sounding board, which reinforces sounds and causes them to travel in various directions. The arch or the sounding board does not of itself create the sounds. It occupies a middle position, receiving them, reinforcing them, and sending them out.

Thus also the word of the Lord, having been received by these people in Thessalonica to who are here addressed, had been reinforced by their own joyful experience in accepted it and thus strengthened and had been echoed forth. Leon Morris writes this: "He speaks of the word of the Lord as sounding forth from them. Throughout the epistle, he several times comes back to the thought that the gospel is in very deed the word of God to man. He does not hesitate to use the strongest of terms to indicate this.

It is of the utmost importance that this part of his thought be grasped. If men think of the gospel only as another philosophy, as the result of the reflection of certain admittedly profound first-century thinkers on religious topics, they will never have the burning zeal which sent the first Christian preachers through the world to proclaim what God had done for man. It's because it is indeed the word of the Lord that has been committed to us that we can and must present it without apology or amendment."

Morris goes on to say the word 'exechetai' is found only here in the New Testament. It is a vivid word, and expositors from Chrysostom have often thought the imagery to have been derived from the sounding out of a trumpet, though some prefer to think of the rolling of thunder. Either way, there is nothing apologetic about it. The perfect denotes the continuing activity, as does the use of 'en' rather than 'eis', though this cannot be pressed. The word is pictured as still sounding forth.

And then Morris says the word 'typos', translated examples, meant originally the mark of a stroke or blow, or the print of John 20:25, and then a figure formed by a blow, an impression left by a seal or die, an image generally. And so it came to mean a pattern, which is its meaning here. This is high praise, for in the first place, Paul calls no other church a pattern. And in the second, he thinks of them as examples not only to the heathen, but to Christians throughout Greece.

Indeed, the reputation of his Thessalonian converts was worldwide. The word rendered 'sounded out' is picturesque and might describe the clarion call of a trumpet or the roar of thunder. It certainly emphasizes the resounding nature of the witness borne by the Thessalonian church. The verb is a Greek perfect which implies that the sounding out was continuing. It was no passing whim. Not only did they proclaim the gospel to others, but by their example, by the example of their faith, the gospel went forth to others as many followed their example and also believed in the Lord.

And then let us see that the message spread. The message spread not only in the Roman provinces in their vicinity but also out into the whole Roman Empire. Hendriksen writes: "When Paul says 'in every place,' he must mean also in regions outside of Macedonia and Achaia, hence probably also at least in Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor. It should be borne in mind that the populous trading center Thessalonica was so located on the Egnatian Highway, thus linking the east with the west, and at the head of the Thermaic Gulf, thus connecting it with harbors all over the then-known world."

That news could spread very quickly to regions far and near. All the believers at Thessalonica had to do was avail themselves of the opportunities their strategic location afforded. Now, the point certainly is not that merely the rumor with reference to the great change at Thessalonica had been spreading, but rather that the believers there, in the enthusiasm of a great discovery, actively propagated their faith toward God. The preposition 'toward' prepares us for the preposition 'from' in the next verse. They had turned from idols toward God. There had been a complete turnabout in the direction of their lives.

Hendriksen goes on to write: "Good highways connected the cities of the Roman world, and travel, though slow compared to our own day and age, was not nearly as retarded as some commentators seem to think. Paul naturally was anxious to relate to all who came to him what great things God had accomplished in Thessalonica. But before he could even get started, the visitors were telling him what they had heard. Well, Paul did not mind this at all. The word had spread to many already so that Paul didn't have to say anything.

The gospel had thundered forth from Thessalonica and had reached many places already." Morris goes on to say he begins by speaking of them as examples to Christians in Macedonia and Achaia, the two provinces into which Greece had been divided since 142 BC. And then he goes on to speak of the way the word of God had gone out from them into every place. This reflects something of the strategic situation of Thessalonica on the great highway, the Via Egnatia, and with a harbor giving ready access to many places by sea.

Paul himself would know what was going on in Achaia, and Priscilla and Aquila had just come to Corinth from Rome, doubtless bringing news of what was reported there. There is thus solid basis for Paul's way of putting it. And then Morris writes: "The word of the Lord is a phrase very familiar from the prophetic writings of the Old Testament and found often in Acts, but only here and in 2 Thessalonians 3:1 in the Pauline writings. It emphasizes the conviction of the early church that the word they proclaimed was not the product of human wisdom, but truly of divine origin.

This word is said to have sounded out in Macedonia and Achaia, the two provinces which together embrace all Greece, and also in every place. This may be a hyperbole, but there may be a glance at the fact that Aquila and Priscilla had come to Corinth from Rome just before Paul wrote this letter. And what was known at Rome could be presumed to be known everywhere." Matthew Henry, the great Puritan commentator, writes: "It was very extensive and reached beyond the confines of Thessalonica, even to the believers of all Macedonia and further in Achaia.

The Philippians and others who received the gospel before the Thessalonians were edified by their example." And then he goes on to write: "It was very famous. The word of the Lord or its wonderful effects upon the Thessalonians sounded and was famous and well-known in the regions roundabout that city and in every place, not strictly everywhere, but here and there, up and down in the world, so that from the good success of the gospel among them, many others were encouraged to entertain it and to be willing when called to suffer for it."

And so we see then the priority of proclaiming the word of God by the early church. The apostles came to the Thessalonians proclaiming God's word in power, and the people responded in faith. They in turn thrust forth that same message not only to their local area but far and wide, and the gospel produced much fruit. Now let us see in the third place that the preaching of the word of God must remain in the forefront in today's church. Today the tendency is to put preaching in the background.

Social work may be put over preaching in importance. Not that social work is not important, but should it have the priority over the preaching of the word of God? Hudson Taylor, the great pioneer missionary to China, was a medical doctor and he used his skills very much in China. But he never let his medical work have priority over the preaching of the gospel. This is what Hudson Taylor wrote: "Let us feel that everything that is human, everything outside the sufficiency of Christ, is only helpful in the measure in which it enables us to bring the soul to him.

If our medical missions draw people to us and we can present them to the Christ of God, medical missions are a blessing. But to substitute medicine for the preaching of the gospel would be a profound mistake. If we put schools or education in the place of spiritual power to change the heart, it will be a profound mistake. If we get the idea that people are going to be converted by some educational process instead of a regenerative recreation, it will be a profound mistake. If we put our trust in money or learning or eloquence or in anything but the living God, it will be a profound mistake."

Let all our auxiliaries be auxiliaries, means of bringing Christ and the soul into contact. Then we may be truly thankful for them all. Let us exalt the glorious gospel in our hearts and believe that it is the power of God unto salvation. Let everything else sit at its feet. We shall never be discouraged if we realize that Christ is our sufficiency. Today ministries that emphasize social work often receive much more support than those that simply proclaim the gospel as their first priority.

In many churches, music teams outdo the preacher and leave him in the background to give his sermon after their exciting performances. Many churches have eliminated the pulpit altogether. The platform has been cleared for the worship team to lead, and the preacher merely uses a small stand to hold his notes and Bible. Gone are the pulpits that dominated churches of the past. When I attended seminary many years ago, we preached in a chapel that was dominated by a giant pulpit.

It was exalted over the congregation and you had to reach the top by several steps. Once you reached the top of the pulpit, you looked down on the big Bible there at the top and you saw an engraving just below the Bible that read, "Sir, we would see Jesus." And then you realized that you were there to present Christ to that congregation, proclaim the word of Christ. Today's pulpits have been put to the side, and so has the prominence of preaching in many of our evangelical churches.

This must change if we are to ever see true revival. The need for the powerful preaching of the word. The ministry of the word should be preeminent. In Acts 6:2-7, it says, "So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, 'It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.'

This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. And so the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith." The early church decided right away to give priority to the proclamation of the gospel or the ministry of the word.

And as a result, the word of God spread and many were converted to Christ. They didn't leave the social work undone, but they gave priority to the preaching of the word. And so our prayer today should be that the Lord would raise up preachers of his word all over the nation who would proclaim the message with great boldness and power, just as the apostles did in their day. The church needs the preaching of the word, not more worship teams or more emphasis on social work.

These have a place, but the priority must be given to the preaching of the word. And today we proclaim to you the word of the Lord and call you to faith in Jesus Christ, the savior of the world. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life." And we invite you to come to Christ today. Our Father in heaven, we do pray for the furtherance of the gospel all over the world. We pray, oh Lord, for this nation.

We pray that the preaching of the gospel, the preaching of the word of God, the ministry of the word would be put in the preeminence, would be given the priority. We pray that the great pulpits would come back to the churches and that the word of God would be proclaimed with great conviction and power and boldness once again. Oh Father, we pray that you'd have mercy upon this nation. Right now we have a drought of the powerful preaching of the word.

But we pray that you would send it back again. We pray that you would send another George Whitefield or men like him to proclaim the gospel, the word of God with great power throughout this nation. And we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.

David Shultz: We hope this week's broadcast has been a blessing to you. If you have any questions about Mr. Dodson's message, please write us. You may email us at info@watchmanradio.org. Our mailing address is Watchman Radio Ministries International, Post Office Box 13251, Portland, Oregon, 97213. That's Watchman Radio Ministries International, Post Office Box 13251, Portland, Oregon, 97213.

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