Paul with Silas and Timothy write to a church in Thessalonia and they make clear at the very outset of that letter in 1 Thessalonians 1 from verse 5 onwards the things that are important about the foundations and the origins of a church"We know brothers and sisters loved by God that He's chosen you because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction." now what had happened was this um there been a council in Jerusalem which was held to make sure that people were agreed across the Jewish and Gentile believers in the church any divisions that might have arisen about a number of important issues and that having been done Paul and Barnabas and a few other guys were sent down to the church in Antioch which was the centre of where the Gentile mission the mission to the to the non Jews was being run from and they were sent down there with this letter they went down there and after a while it became evident that they should be sent out again on mission into the world now Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them and Paul wasn't happy about that so John John Mark and Barnabas went off in one direction and Paul and Silas went off in a different direction and they they travelled a little way and then they came to a place where a young man called Timothy lived and they picked him up and he joined in the team and the team of three off they went to go off into Asia Minor and of course that didn't work out so well for them uh they were kept from this by the Spirit from going here or there or they couldn't enter Bithynia and so on and so on and they ended up sort of looping around in a sort of a vague looking circle until they ended up well where the road ended in in a beach in a place called Troas and down at the beach at Troas um they were a bit stuck to know where to go next until God spoke to Paul in a dream at night and in that particular place and in that particular dream Paul saw a man of Macedonia calling them to go over and help'Come over and help us!' he was saying so yeah I guess next day they got on the boat and off they went and they ended up landing ... port ... trolling in land a bit and ending up in a Roman uh garrison city uh an imperial city called Philippi now that was a place that was pretty keen on its so closeness to Rome, and it's a place populated by a lot of people who'd served the empire legionaries and that sort of thing and they went into town there and there wasn't much of there wasn't a Jewish synagogue for them to go to where they could sort of build bridges with the local populace but they went down to the side of the river the banks of the river where there was a place of prayer and Lydia was there leading a bunch of women who were seeking after Israel's God and the apostles they kind of shared the faith there and Lydia who was a businesswoman an Asian businesswoman trusted the Lord became a Christian a few others too and that was a good start and then they went off into the town they were walking around and there was a a girl who was a slave girl and she had evil spirits in her who made a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes and stuff like that and she kept pursuing them and uttering disturbing things and the apostles turned around and cast these evil spirits out of her and and obviously that kicked up a fuss because now she wasn't making money for her owners and uh there was a riot things turned nasty as they could and they ended up in um in jail frankly they were in jail and at night they'd been beaten they shouldn't have been because they were Roman citizens they end up with their legs in the stocks and they were singing hymns at night and there was this great earthquake doors of the prison burst open and in ran the jailer and he was about to fall on his sword for shame of having lost his prisoners and they shouted I done to that done to that and you know there's a lot of actual big God stuff going on because that Philippian jailer is converted and that's the beginning of the church in Phillipi but obviously there's quite a ruckus going on and the apostles have to move on and moving on they passed through a couple of places um Apolonia, Amphipolis and they end up going down to a place called Thessalonica where we're told there was a Jewish synagogue the other places appear to have had Samaritan synagogues and Paul, a scribe, and a pharisee would not have been welcomed in a place like that but there were bridges to be built in the synagogue at Thessalonica and there is a great explaining of scripture going on there Paul is preaching and teaching them how from the scriptures Jesus is the Messiah the anointed one of God who was awaited uh - been awaited for a long time - to come and redeem his people and overthrow evil and so on and they'd be waiting for that for ages and a number of Jewish believers and a lot of Greek people who were again looking out for, er, Israel's God trying to find their way to him they were converted there too and it LED to a lot of jealousy from the Jewish people that were there and again you know God had been powerfully at work but the response to that from those who are not on God's side was pretty powerful it all kicked off now that is the origin of the church that Paul now writes to along with Silas and Timothy in 1 Thessalonians 1"We know brothers and sisters loved by God that He's chosen you how how do you know how can you how can you say a thing like that for this reason says Paul 1 verse 1 verse 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction Power. Words are easy aren't they? Words are easy and you know I guess all through my training for the ministry and so on words were what we were concerned with words are important we need to speak clearly we need to speak plainly with winsome words that help people that apply to people that are relevant to their lives so they can see the relevance that the gospel offers and is to them But where's the power? we live in a land we live in this land of Wales with lots lots of large buildings which seem to have one use you can get a lot of people in them to hear words well they tend to have been built at times when the preaching was being done not just with words but also with power and it was a compelling power and and people came in large numbers to hear so they had these big barns of buildings built to accommodate the masses that were coming not just words you see but power with the Holy Spirit evident that God was at work changing things round empowering THE Word but changing revolutionizing human lives coming with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction the Lord himself had said during his earthly ministry that He wasn't going away and leaving people alone he was sending the Holy Spirit to His people it to be with them to be in them when He comes He'll convince or convict the world of sin of righteousness and of the judgment that is coming those three things that sort of deep conviction coming to those people in Thessalonica this is the way this is this is the authentic deal says Paul as he writes to those Thessalonians we know God has chosen you because our gospel came not just with empty human words however clever or not but with power to change things with the Holy Spirit God present amongst us and in the midst of us and with this deep conviction of sin righteousness and the judgment that's coming and so often in our day we don't talk about sin very much because 'it's not very civilized is it chap?' It's not not the decent thing'It's critical! we can't do that!' Yes we can. It came with conviction the conviction of the Spirit sin what it is what it's about how it is what it's like the damage it does righteousness what righteousness is ... our age lives in terrible confusion about what's right and wrong things that are wrong are said to be right things that are right are said to be wrong and that's consistent across our experience in our culture sin righteousness and the judgment that's coming you know what I don't think that's an unpopular doctrine ... to be avoided we uh we meet with people who are not believers on a regular basis you know that I'm in livestock markets 3 4 times a week um with people all the time who are not church people and there's a consistent crying out against injustice a consistent cry FOR justice of course not justice that comes down on me as it were but but that there should be a calling to account a righteousness a judgment a vindication of that which is right and a condemning of that which is wrong and a dealing with people who are behaving badly"When we came to you ..." says Paul to those Thessalonians'our gospel came not just as words but with the power of the Holy Spirit bringing deep conviction sin righteousness the judgment that was coming', just as Jesus prophesies and you were changed but then there's a change of life that's being modelled not just empowered words because Paul goes on to the second part of verse 5 to say you know how we lived among you for your sake there's a modeling of the truth that's being preached and and and there there may be one of the underlying keys to the gospel coming not simply with words but also with power with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction that may be part of the key to it because there's a consistent life being lived by the advocates of the gospel a life of reliance on God for for everything a life of reliance on God to hear and answer prayer for these people who you're trying to communicate with you know how we lived among you for your sake we were gospel servants first relying on God living the life of faith that we were recommending and commending to you and what came out of that you became imitators of us verse 6 and of the Lord because you welcomed the message and you welcomed it in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit you see when you have this work of the Spirit bringing change of heart and life deep conviction understanding of the gospel a love for God what happens is people become themselves imitators of the Lord followers as the Lord put it when he was here in his in his earthly ministry followers of the Lord Jesus Christ imitators of Him"You became imitators of us and of the Lord" why did you do that because you welcomed the message you welcomed the message it's what we, what we ... so much lack in all our communicating of the gospel in Wales today the welcome for the message now the message is there and the message is communicated sometimes it's communicated imaginatively and intelligently and clearly and plainly and you know my experience is that people are open to that and they sort of nod if you can if you can communicate clearly and plainly in a useful cultural way without foreign language and all the rest of it there's a liking for the message there's an understanding to some extent of the message but welcoming the message it's kind of rare oh they want you to be there they'd like to know that the Pregethwr is around the preacher's about the place the minister is here here's the gwenidog here's the chaplain, y Caplan they like you to be on hand in case you're needed but that's not the same thing as welcoming the message and certainly when the odds are against people as Paul says here in the midst of severe suffering these Thessalonians welcomed the message and they did it with the joy given by the Holy Spirit we we we live in a context where this this perception that to be a Christian or to become a Christian makes you miserable more miserable than you were of course because you have to dress up funny and go to a funny building on Sunday and sit in a hard seat and sing odd music, uh ... It takes time out of your Sunday! And Sunday's important, sport's on well do you know what these people in Thessalonica these people who were the real deal these people it says in verse 4 God has chosen the gospel came to them not simply with words also with power with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction and they welcomed that message in the midst of severe suffering everything against it with the joy given by the Holy Spirit Where He's at work where in answer to His people's prayer He comes down that's the outcome and so writes Paul you you Thessalonians you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia, and across that part of the Graeco-Roman world the message rang out from you not only to become a model an example something to look at and see what the real deal is but the message rang out from them they were active in sharing that message with others not only in Macedonia and Achaia they have a vision for the world your faith in God has become known everywhere they tell verse 9 how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven who be raised from the dead Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath There's that emphasis on the doctrines that the Spirit emphasizes as He brings conviction conviction of sin and righteousness in the judgment that's coming and teaches the value of Jesus raised from the dead who rescues us from the coming accountability the coming righteous anger of god against sin now look the words of the message were plain and clear as Paul and Silas and Timothy came to Thessalonica they went into the synagogue and we read in in in in Acts 17 back there how you know Paul was reasoning from the scripture with them about how Jesus was the genuine article the Messiah the one awaited the awaited savior the anointed of God Who'd come the truth was being proclaimed but and here's the key issue that Paul puts his finger on in 1 Thessalonians it wasn't just coming with words it was coming with power because it was coming with the Holy Spirit and produced deep conviction the emphasies were there the truth was there but the Spirit came down and you know what I find and this is a personal reflection on on what I see I guess in the light of scripture here what I see so often in rural Wales as I'm going around as I'm doing what I do what I come across is that people are interested in what we have got to say people are very happy to interact if you if you're a decent person and you're expressing yourself in terms that see the relevance of that... you can see what he's saying yes fair play but there's not the power it's as if as with those empty echoing chapel buildings littering the landscape these days as if the Spirit of God's not there anymore in anything like this way and the conviction isn't there people are confused about sin and what it is they're confused about righteousness and what it is and whilst they have a yearning for justice in the world the judgment that's coming ... really? You see, what's lacking the anointing of the Spirit on the Word that's preached because the Word is coming simply with words but not with power not with the Holy Spirit and not with the deep conviction that causes people to cry out'What must we do to be saved?' causes people to be turned to God from their idols very few people dance around little statues but there are things that we idolize to the exclusion of God right that's common right across Wales today turn to the living and true God waiting paining your life leaning on on Jesus who He raised from the dead rescues us from the coming wrath and here's the thing we don't have the prayer we're not seeking God for this we're busying ourselves as churches perhaps as individuals with all manner of things but not not this we're not preoccupied with this'Lord will you come will you send your Holy Spirit now?' and in days gone by in Wales there've been times when people have come to this same realization we lack the Spirit's power and they've turned to God in prayer often at times of hardship and difficulty often at times when there was social disruption or economic disruption and rapid change of one sort another throwing people around
turn to God:'who else have we got to go to but you? and they've prayed and God has come powerfully through often un-exceptional people ordinary people but people anointed with God's power as they preache the gospel and the Holy Spirit came down and there was deep conviction and people cried out to God to help them to deal with them to have mercy on for their sin and to trust their lives to the one that God raised from the dead ,Jesus Who rescues us from the coming wrath and so this sermon today is about that it's about setting about tackling the issue of the anointing of the Spirit of God on the communication of His Word and the desperate need for it we we read of it in scripture we see of it in in in in Welsh church history we see that from the 17th 18th 19th century almost every generation God came down in power like this because people prayed sought Him and we've been a long time in Wales without that as we stand here today so I guess the point of the sermon is this friends let's pray let's do this deliberately let's do this determinedly let's prep do this do this together ones two threes bigger groups to ask God to come, anoint his Word so that it would not come simply with words but with power with the Holy Spirit with deep conviction and let's do that every day until He comes Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath God bless you may He come may He grant us LIFE in His presence and bring glory to His name