CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
1 Thessalonians 1:6. Followers of us and of the Lord.—R.V. “imitators.” St. Paul begs his Corinthian readers to imitate him, even as he imitates Christ. The same thought is implied here: We are walking after Christ; walk after us, and you will follow Him. With joy of the Holy Ghost.—Not only was the word preached “in the Holy Ghost” (1 Thessalonians 1:5), but it was eagerly welcomed by hearts made ready by the Holy Ghost—as St. Paul said to the Corinthians, “So we preach, so ye believed.”
1 Thessalonians 1:7. So that ye were ensamples.—R.V. follows the singular. The original word is that from which we get our “type.” The image left on a coin by stamping is a type. Children are said to be types of their parents. So these Thessalonians were clearly stamped as children of God.
1 Thessalonians 1:8. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord.—The word did not originate amongst the Thessalonians. They had but taken up the sound and sent it ringing on to others in the regions farther removed. They had echoed out the word, says St. Paul. In every place.—Or as we say, “Everybody is talking about the matter.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— 1 Thessalonians 1:6-8
The Practical Result of a True Reception of the Gospel.
Christianity transforms man, fills the mind with pure and lofty thoughts, turns the current of his feelings into the right channel, makes the soul luminous with ever-brightening hopes, and transfigures his sin-stricken nature into a semblance of the dignity, beauty, and perfection of the divine. Observe its influence on the mixed population of Thessalonica.
I. The true reception of the gospel.—“Having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost” (1 Thessalonians 1:6). The word may fall on the ear like a sweet strain of music, and charm the soul with temporary rapture, may enter the understanding as a clearly apprehended truth, may captivate the affections, and travel through the whole sphere of emotion on a thrill of ecstasy; but unless it be embraced by the heart and conscience, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, it is powerless in spiritual reformation. Two opposite, but often strangely blended, emotions—sorrow and joy—were exercised in the reception of the gospel by the Thessalonians.
1. They received the word in sorrow.—“In much affliction.” Amid the tumult and persecution of the citizens (Acts 17:5-9). Principally, sorrow on account of sin, and because of their prolonged rejection of Christ and obstinate disobedience.
2. They received the word with joy.—“With joy of the Holy Ghost.” They realised the joy of conscious forgiveness and acceptance with God. The sinless angels, placed beyond the necessity of pardon, are incapable of experiencing this joy. It belongs exclusively to the believing penitent. The joy of suffering for the truth. Cyprian, who suffered for the gospel, used to say, “It is not the pain but the cause that makes the martyr.” That cause is the cause of truth. Suffering is limited, life itself is limited, but truth is eternal. To suffer for that truth is a privilege and a joy. The joy of triumph, over error, sin, Satan, persecution. This joy is the special product of the Holy Ghost. These twin feelings—sorrow and joy—are typical of the ever-alternating experience of the believer throughout his earthly career.
II. The practical result of the true reception of the gospel.—
1. They became imitators of the highest patterns of excellence. “Ye became followers of us and of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 1:6). The example of Christ is the absolute, all-perfect standard of moral excellence. But this does not supersede the use of inferior models. The planets have their season to guide and instruct us, as well as the sun, and we can better bear the moderated light of their borrowed splendour. The bravery of the common soldier, as well as the capacity and heroism of the most gifted officer, may stimulate a regiment to deeds of valour. So the apostles, in their patient endurance of suffering, their enterprising zeal and blameless integrity of life, became examples for their converts to imitate, while they pointed to the great infallible Pattern after which the noblest life must ever be moulded.
2. They became examples to others.—“So that ye were ensamples to all that believe” (1 Thessalonians 1:7). In the reality and power of their faith. They eagerly embraced the word preached, believing it to be not the word of men but of God. This gave a profound reality to their conceptions of the gospel and a strong impulse to their active religious life. In their zealous propagation of the truth. “For from you sounded out the word of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 1:8). Wherever they travelled they proclaimed the gospel. They imparted that which had enriched themselves, and which, in giving, left them still the richer. The influence of their example was extensive in its range. “Not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to Godward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak anything” (1 Thessalonians 1:8). Macedonia and Achaia were two Roman provinces that comprised the territory known as ancient Greece. Thessalonica, the metropolis of Macedonia, was the chief station on the great Roman road—the Via Egnatia—which connected Rome with the whole region north of the Ægean Sea, and was an important centre both for commerce and the spread of intelligence. Wherever the trade of the merchant city extended, there the fame of the newly founded Church penetrated. Great was the renown of their own Alexander, the Macedonian monarch, and brilliant his victories; but the reputation of the Thessalonian Christians was of a higher order, and their achievements more enduring.
Lessons.—
1. The gospel that brings sorrow to the heart brings also joy.
2. A genuine reception of the truth changes the man and creates unquenchable aspirations after the highest good.
3. A living example is more potent than the most elaborate code of precepts.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1 Thessalonians 1:6-7. The Evidences and Effects of Revival.
I. Receivers.—With faith, with joy, not without trial.
II. Followers.—Apostolic piety. Christ-like spirit. Multiplication of Christ-like men.
III. Ensamples.—Centres of Christian influence.
IV. Dispensers.—Induced to diffuse the gospel by their gratitude for the special grace which had brought it to them with saving power, by their supreme attachment to its vital truths and their experience of the suitableness of these truths to their wants as sinners, by their commiseration for those who were yet in a state of nature, by their love to the Lord Jesus, by the express command of God, by the hope of reward.—G. Brooks.
1 Thessalonians 1:8. The Power of Example—
I. In a faithful declaration of the gospel.
II. In its far-reaching influence on others.
III. Speaks for itself, rendering explanation unnecessary.