1 Thessalonians 1:6 Commentary and Bible Study

An eighth sign is in verse 6 – ‘And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord.’ In what way? Well to the Thessalonians, the preachers were dedicated men. They preached night and day. They did not say, it is time to stop being a preacher. It is five o’clock; we go home now and put our feet up. These extraordinary men would be there in the evening too, preaching in the open air, preaching in some lecture hall that they had hired once they were finished or were no long welcome in the synagogue. Well, my heart is affected. I want to go and speak to one of these preachers. Yes, but it is late at night, they have finished. The meeting is over, it is 9 o’clock. But there they are still, receiving people, speaking earnestly to them. Do these men never stop? And you ‘became followers of us’.Because you were saved, Paul says to the Thessalonians, and you were so grateful, and you saw things you had never seen before, and you knew the Lord, and you knew you were on the heavenly road, you would do anything for him at any time. You became followers of us. Those Christian people, those preachers, they worship regularly. The Lord’s Day, weeknight, they gather for prayer, for Bible study. I am going to live as they live. I am going to follow their habits and ways. I am going to engage in witness for the Lord. You did not say: I like their message but I do not like their lifestyle. I do not like their rules. I will take the message, but I will carry on just living like I was living before, and helping myself to all my leisure and relaxation, and doing whatever I want to do. ‘And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction.’ That is our ninth heading. You accepted the troubles that come to Christians. The disadvantages which accompany a Christian walk. You accepted all these things because it was for the Lord.Tenthly, ‘and with joy of the Holy Ghost.’ You had great happiness living for the Lord. Leaving behind all the old comforts, and the self-centred life, and the life spent feathering your nest, to be a true Christian man, a true Christian woman.