Reversing Global Destiny
Sermon Notes
1. They were authentic (6a – see v.5).
2. They were tested (6b).
3. They were still full of joy (6b).
4. They lived the life well and became a model church to the whole region (7).
“It is proof of a healthy Christian life when those who begin by following the example of other Christians themselves develop into worthy and attractive examples for others. Such an achievement is not a matter of the mere length of life as a professed Christian, but the outcome of a vital inner experience consistently expressed in authentic Christian conduct” (D. Edmond Hiebert).
5. The proof was that their whole world heard the gospel (8).
The spread of the gospel from Thessalonica was the result of vital Christian living rather than an aggressive missionary propaganda.
Principle: God calls and sends everyone of us to live as missionaries. As we do, the whole world will hear the gospel through us.
“If men think of the gospel only as another philosophy, as the result of the certain, admittedly profound, first-century thinkers on religious topics, they will never have the burning zeal which sent the first-century preachers through the world to proclaim what God has done for man” (Leon Morris).