“While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.” — Acts 10:44 KJV
One of the most essential and encouraging truths in all Scripture about preaching the gospel is that the Spirit of God works mightily while we preach.
The Spirit of God punches His timecard when you proclaim the full gospel to the lost. The Spirit engages in CPR, reviving a heart once dead when you engage in evangelism (Eph. 2:1). He shines gospel light in darkened hearts when the blazing gospel torch is carried to those in darkness (2 Cor. 4:6). The Spirit opens blinded eyes when you call the unregenerate to look away from themselves to Christ (2 Cor. 4:4).
The very first thing He does is convict, according to Jesus. He said, “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). The Spirit puts a person’s conscience on trial when the gospel is published. And He says to them, “You are in serious trouble with God, and you are in serious need of salvation. Wake up! God is holy and you are not. You need Jesus!”
Furthermore, the Spirit converts a sinner’s soul. Paul said:
“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:4-6).
He regenerates the unregenerate soul. He creates new life within a person devoid of spiritual life.
The Spirit does it all, and oftentimes in the very moment we present the gospel.
This does not mean that every person who hears the gospel will be saved. Sometimes your gospel preaching falls on deaf ears. Unsaved sinners still resist grace (cf. Acts 7:51).
What it does mean is that Spirit can penetrate the hardest heart, loosen the stiffest neck, and overcome anyone’s resistance to His call when He wills (John 6:37-40; Acts 16:4; Romans 8:29-30).
What it does mean is that you can faithfully present the gospel and walk away with a full heart, knowing that the Spirit leads a person to Christ.
What it does mean is that you don’t have to worry about whether your presentation of the gospel was eloquent or sophisticated enough to convince someone to believe.
What it means is that you don’t have to use gimmicks, tactics, bouncy-houses, potlucks, or concerts to win a person to Christ.
And it means that no amount of therapy, theories, or prescriptions make a person a better candidate for salvation.
The Spirit of God alone convicts and converts lost souls—and He doesn’t need any help. Just preach the gospel (Romans 10:14-17).
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English shepherd), and Dot (beagle).
God makes it abundantly clear throughout Scripture that He cares more about faithfulness than success. In other words, He wants His church to be steadfast and faithful instead of “successful” in the worldly sense (cf. Revelation 3:7-13). God doesn’t expect a local church to have thousands of members or thousands of dollars in the bank. What He expects is for all true churches to remain true to Him, His people, His word, and His mission. The body of believers at Thessalonica were a faithful church, as Paul makes apparent in every verse of this letter.
Therefore, Paul appropriately begins this letter explaining the three necessary components all churches must have in order to be faithful. What a faithful church needs are (1) faithful leaders, (2) faithful people, and (3) a faithful God.
Historical Background of First Thessalonians
Through Paul’s ministry, the Lord converted souls and established a vibrant church in the busy city of Thessalonica (cf. Acts 17:1-15). But why did Paul write to them? At this point in time, Paul was separated from them due to a “hindrance” of Satan (1 Thess. 2:18). Therefore, he sent Timothy to check on them. Timothy brought back an encouraging report (1 Thess. 3:6-7), and Paul wrote in response to it.
I. A FAITHFUL CHURCH NEEDS FAITHFUL LEADERS (V. 1A)
“Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.”
The church of Thessalonica was faithful partly because of her three faithful leaders:
Paul, the apostle. Paul founded the Thessalonian church, and he loved them dearly. Paul would have taught theology and sound doctrine, thus giving the Thessalonians a study foundation of truth. They would need biblical truth in order to live faithfully; all churches do.
Silas, the missionary. Silas (or Silvanus), an outspoken leader of the Jerusalem church and missionary companion of Paul (Acts 15:22; 40-41), was left in Thessalonica to minister to this young church after Paul’s departure. And, while Paul provided the Thessalonians with a solid foundation in truth, Silas would have instilled in them a passion for evangelism as he modeled missionary zeal. All churches need leaders like Paul to instruct, as well as leaders like Silas to imitate.
Timothy, the young minister. Timothy, Paul’s youthful ministry pupil, also stayed behind with Silas to nurture the Thessalonian church in his absence (Acts 17:14). Timothy could uniquely minister to the Thessalonians because of his young age. God used him despite having little experience or elderly wisdom. All churches can benefit greatly from raising up young leaders to love and learn from.
The Point: A faithful church needs pastors, elders, deacons, and other leaders to instruct in doctrine and live exemplary lives of godliness. Certainly, a church can have the best leaders and still remain unfaithful. Remember, the plagued and sinful churches of Corinth were led by the apostle Paul himself! There can be faithful leaders without faithful churches, but there can be no faithful churches without faithful leaders. Therefore, pray for your leaders, hold them to biblical standards, and honor them with support (Gal. 6:6-10; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; 5:17).
II. A FAITHFUL CHURCH NEEDS FAITHFUL PEOPLE (V. 1B)
“To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The church of Thessalonica was faithful because their members were saved by grace and serious about graceful living.
Living faithfully is impossible if you are not “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” If you are unsaved and out of spiritual union with God, you cannot walk in obedience. The Thessalonians were indisputably converted. Therefore, they possessed the passion and power to live faithfully, as all true Christians do.
As you read and study First Thessalonians, you can see just how faithful they were (which we shall see in future sermons).
The Point: A faithful church needs faithful members who will pray fervently, evangelize urgently, give sacrificially, learn eagerly, love unconditionally, and live faithfully by God’s grace in Christ. Faithfulness must come from both the pulpit and the pew.
III. A FAITHFUL CHURCH NEEDS A FAITHFUL GOD (V. 1C)
“Grace to you and peace.”
The Thessalonian church was unmistakably strong and faithful because of her faithful leaders and faithful people, but they were nothing without the grace and power of a faithful God. No matter how great their leaders or how gracious their people, they could not live faithfully for even a nanosecond without the empowering grace of God.
Paul wishes them such grace from God, as well as peace. All believers need both in order to be faithful people.
Grace. You received saving grace at salvation, but you need sanctifying grace for service (cf. 2 Cor. 9:8). If we wish to be faithful believers, we must depend wholly upon God’s strengthening grace. Relying on the grace of God, you can stand strong; relying on anything else ensures a dangerous fall.
Peace. Believers possess peace with God, peace with others, and inward peace within the heart (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:11-22; Phil. 4:4-7). But we must continually plead for and pursue such peace because living faithfully is not always peaceful. Faithful living always causes conflict with those living unfaithfully. It requires that we make sacrifices, too.
The Point: Without grace and peace from a faithful God, we cannot be faithful members of the Lord’s church.
Conclusion
Every church should want to be faithful. But faithfulness cannot be ordered from Amazon and delivered in two days. Faithfulness must be sought after. Therefore, for a church to be faithful it must have faithful leaders, faithful members, and the grace and peace which comes abundantly from Almighty God.
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English shepherd), and Dot (beagle).
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English shepherd), and Dot (beagle).
Several years ago, Time Magazine published a segment titled The 25 Best Inventions of 2015, in which they listed a bevy of innovative inventions and cutting-edge gadgets that make the world a better place. Each gizmo and doodad enhances the quality of everyday life, but one invention stands above the rest: the Drinkable Book. Created by Theresa Dankovich, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, the Drinkable Book contains silver-infused pages that can be used to filter contaminated water. Just one page filters up to 100 liters of water, providing a cost-effective solution for impoverished communities who do not have access to clean drinking water. The book’s purifying pages ensure survival for people who would otherwise perish from bacterial infections and other deadly waterborne diseases—the book is literally life-saving.
There is another kind of Book that cleanses—one that may be found on the nightstand, the pulpit, or the pew: the word of the living God, the Bible. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Scripture contains sanitizing pages that filter the bacteria of evil from our lives. Each passage in God’s word is infused with sin-killing, iniquity-cleansing, wickedness-purifying truth that sanctifies us from sin unto God. That is why Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). Without its disinfecting truth, we will suffer from sin-infections contracted from worldly corruption, heart-borne evils, and false teaching.
The human heart flows with the “springs of life” as Solomon wrote, but because the heart is also “desperately wicked,” it spews tainted water that toxically contaminates all of existence (Proverbs 4:23; Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore, we need the truth of Scripture to pierce our innermost being and expunge us of evil (Hebrews 4:12). It is only by His “precious and very great promises” that we are cleansed of defilement (2 Peter 1:4). Nothing but the “whole counsel of God” can flush the mind of the muck of error (Acts 20:27; cf. 2 Timothy 3:16). As the psalmist aptly confessed, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word” (Psalm 119:9).
Filter your heart’s fountain with God’s word. Sift all ideas and teachings through the pages of Scripture before you drink them in. Clean off the dust from your Bible so God may use it to clean you. “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3, KJV).
Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English shepherd), and Dot (beagle).
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English shepherd), and Dot (beagle).
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English shepherd), and Dot (beagle).
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English shepherd), and Dot (beagle).
Something curiously chilling was creeping across the urban parks of New York City. “Tracks were etched in the crusted snow, doglike but more oblong, the claws less prominent and, over all, more compact,” the New York Times reported in 2015. Out of concern for the public’s safety, park officials deployed sensor cameras around the parks to identify the beast responsible for the unusual tracks. They were shocked to discover an animal scarcely seen scurrying about the Big Apple—one that had infiltrated the city in substantial numbers: coyotes. New Yorkers never expected the grizzled-gray critters to journey from plains and forests to the big city, but as Lisa Foderaro, a reporter for the New York Times, observed, “A predator, though rarely seen, is in New York City to stay.”
The Bible warns of an animal far deadlier than coyotes, one that scurries and sneaks in to wreak havoc—and it just so happens to be the coyote’s kinfolk: wolves. No—not literal wolves, but spiritual wolves who exploit the feeble and devour the naive. Jesus admonished, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Their teaching is cushy and cuddly like the wool of a sheep. They seem harmless as sheep because they always preach what you want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3). But the Scripture is clear: they are “deceitful workmen,” disguising themselves like the devil who commissioned them (2 Corinthians 11:13).
Their deadly tracks are found in the scores of false religions that assert that there are many paths to heaven and many gods to worship. Unfortunately, their footprints can be just as easily identified in many so-called churches today, too. Many such wolves ravage souls and shred biblical doctrine by teaching anti-gospel heresies: salvation is by good works, giving money to God ensures miracles, and you can have anything in life if you “name it and claim it.”
True believers must utilize the “sensor camera” of discernment to identify and expose such teaching and teachers: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1; cf. Ephesians 5:11).
There were no defenses in place to prevent coyotes from migrating to New York City, and the creatures deemed the city to be a sanctuary. And when no precautions are taken against spiritual wolves, they will migrate to our churches and find a home in our sanctuaries. Christian, watch out for wolves:
“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive” (Romans 16:17-18).
Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English shepherd), and Dot (beagle).
Resources from the Ministry of Pastor Brandon G. Bramlett
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