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Reading:
1Thessalonians 2:1-2
For you
yourselves know, brothers, our entrance toward you, that it has
not been in vain. 2 But having suffered previously and
having been outrageously treated, even as you know, in Philippi,
we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in
much struggle.
The apostle
stresses repeatedly their entrance to the believers. This shows
that their manner of life played a great role in infusing the
gospel into the new converts.
It was not only what the apostles said, but also what they were.
The apostles came to the Thessalonians with the gospel in such a
way that the Thessalonians were convinced.
The apostles' entrance was not in vain. They were a pattern of how
to believe in the Lord and follow Him. Because many came to
believe in the Lord Jesus through the apostles, a church was
raised up in less than a month. This happened not mainly as a
result of preaching and teaching, but through the kind of entrance
the apostles had among the Thessalonians.
In the preaching of the gospel, the apostles experienced God. They
enjoyed Him as their boldness in the struggle for the gospel. They
were bold not in themselves, but in God, even after they had been
outrageously treated by the Philippians. Suffering and persecution
could not defeat them because they were in the organic union with
the Triune God.
According 1Th.2:2, they spoke the gospel of God in much struggle.
This indicates that while they were preaching, they were fighting,
because persecution was still going on.
Hence, they were struggling and speaking the gospel to the
Thessalonians in the boldness of God.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, since I am in a union with You I am bold to speak,
and I can live a life that open those around me to give entrance
to Your Gospel. I pray that I will experience and enjoy You in
both, the gospel and my daily living.
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