And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. Acts 17:4
What a wonderful Gospel outreach occurred in Thessalonica when Paul and Silas arrived. A good number of the Jews believed the Gospel when Paul and Silas preached it at the synagogue. A large number of proselytes, the Greeks, also believed, as did a large number of the women, both Jews and Greeks. This was in an area that had never encountered the Gospel before, and the preachers must have been delighted with the response. Within a very short time, the city went from a community entirely foreign to the Gospel to being a city with a large and lively Assembly of believers. Evidence from Paul’s letters to that Assembly in later years reveals that the testimony would thrive and be a great blessing. What happened in Thessalonica represents the ideal whenever the Gospel enters a new area. Sadly, the ideal is seldom experienced. But it should always be the goal of a Gospel outreach.
Many years ago, Hiel Patterson and I were discussing what we would like to see occur in our area of Nova Scotia. He said that for several years, he was exercised to pray for Assemblies to be planted in four places: Amherst, Springhill, Oxford, and Tatamagouche. At the time of our conversation, he was experiencing the joy of seeing an Assembly being planted in Amherst. As the years went by, the Gospel spread from the exercise in Oxford into both Amherst and Tatamagouche, and eventually, these communities also established testimonies for the Lord, that continue to this day. To date, Springhill has no Assembly, despite many Gospel series and the efforts of many good people. But because someone had a vision, and someone knew what God can do, three of the four places that were a burden on a godly brother’s heart now bring glory to his Lord.
Of course, Hiel Patterson put much of himself into the outreach in both Millbrook-Tatamagouche and Amherst, along with a faithful soldier named Floyd Stewart, along with several others. Had they not, it is extremely unlikely that Assemblies would exist there now. But God had His eye on those places, and He had his men and women in those place, just as it was His purpose to see an Assembly established in the Macedonian city of Thessalonica. As those men and women looked back in later years, how they must have rejoiced to see how God honoured their faithfulness and answered their prayers. Let us not lose sight of the reality that what God did in the late 1950s and 1960s He can do today. We have been accustomed to small results at infrequent times when it comes to blessing in the Gospel. Maybe we would see more accomplished if we put as much into it as Paul and Silas did.
God is still able to move powerfully in saving souls and in building up His work. Let us call upon Him to do so, and work toward that end. -Jim MacIntosh