TUESDAY 31st
1 Thessalonians 1:6-7
NIV (vv6-7) – ‘You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.’
ESV (vv6-7) – ‘And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.’
In these couple of verses, Paul is expressing his pleasure in seeing that the Thessalonian believers had not only embraced the gospel but were willing to embrace the suffering that they had had to endure because of it, and they endured it with the joy given them by the Holy Spirit. Their suffering happened immediately upon their willingness to accept the gospel for Acts 17:5-9 records that a riot took place, but those who responded persevered and knew as a result the joy of the Holy Spirit. This speaks to us of a further work of the Holy Spirit, we often talk of his role as an advocate, as the one who brings things back to remembrance, the one who comes to fill and to empower, the one who gives fruit and gifts, but here the Holy Spirit is the one who comes to give joy in the midst of suffering, is it not wonderful to know that should we be suffering at this moment as a Christian, that we will not only know God’s grace which he will give to us in sufficient measure, (1 Corinthians 12:6) but we can know the joy of the Holy Spirit.
Joy is linked to the Holy Spirit in Acts 13:52 where we read ‘And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit,’ are you feeling downcast, under pressure, maybe even suffering in some way because of your faith, then allow the same Holy Spirit who ministered to these believers to come and to overwhelm you with his joy.
Finally, from these verses we see that the Thessalonian believers became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia, what a testimony, may we as we are filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit be an example, a testimony to all around us of the work of grace that God has done and continues to do in our lives.