<p>1:5- see on Gal. 1:6.</p><p><em>How that our preaching of the gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit- </em>As noted on :4, this preaching of the Gospel was the proof that they had indeed been called to the Kingdom; and they should not stop 'knowing' that they were called. The word they had heard had been backed up by the power of the Holy Spirit. There is no record of any miracles being performed to back up Paul's preaching in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-10). The confirmation of belief was in the gift of the power of the Spirit in the hearts of all believers after baptism. It was and is not simply accepting a word preached; that word is confirmed by the action of the Spirit. The &quot;power&quot; given can refer to miracles, but there is no record of them in Acts 17; I suggest the reference is&nbsp;therefore to the power of the Spirit within us; the parable of the talents uses the same word, translated &quot;ability&quot;, regarding the gifts given to each believer (Mt. 25:15). It is the gift of the power of the Spirit which enables us to abound in joy, hope and peace- all internal attributes (Rom. 15:13). This is the &quot;power&quot; (s.w.) with which we are strengthened by the gift of &quot;the Spirit in the inner man&quot; (Eph. 3:16). This is why Paul assures them that he can thank God for their faith, love and patience (:3); because they were given these things by the work of the Spirit.</p><p><em>And in much assurance- </em>See on Jn. 15:26<em>. </em>As noted above, this could also refer to the gift of the Spirit in their hearts which was an assurance of their future salvation (2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5). The riches of full assurance (Col. 2:2) are the same riches given by the gift of the Spirit in our hearts (Eph. 3:16-18). But we can be given the Spirit gift, and yet not be spiritual (1 Cor. 3:1). We must allow the work of the Spirit within us, and believe it.</p><p>There was a confidence exuding from the early preachers that they had arrived at Truth. They &lsquo;had the Truth&rsquo; in that what they knew and had experienced was enough for salvation. Unlike the surrounding philosophies and religions, they knew whom they had believed; they weren&rsquo;t going somewhere in vague hope, they had arrived. They had something concrete to offer others. They preached from a basis of personal hope and conviction and experience, quite unlike the more &lsquo;political&rsquo; methods other religions used to recruit members. The philosophers and teachers of the 1st century had little conviction about the value or truth of their position. But the Truth came &ldquo;not only in word but also in power&hellip; and with full conviction (Gk. <em>plerophoria</em>)&rdquo; (1 Thess. 1:5). This conviction was not mere dogmatism and self-belief; and likewise our witness must carry with it a &ldquo;full conviction&rdquo; that contrasts with the uncertainty about faith, hope etc. which many professing &lsquo;believers&rsquo; of other faiths reveal when they are probed in any depth about their positions. Paul preached the seriousness of the issues which there are in the Gospel; and yet people flocked back to hear more (Acts 13:41). The preaching of truth involves the message of something being exclusive, and compellingly so. In the first century, &ldquo;no pagan cult was exclusive of any other and the only restriction on initiation into many cults was the expense&rdquo;.</p><p><em>Even as you know what manner of men we have shown ourselves toward you, for your sake- </em>Paul realized he was &quot;a Christ appointed model&quot; (RR); see on 1 Tim. 1:15. And so he framed his life in such a way as it could be usefully imitated, showing himself a pattern &quot;for your sake&quot;. There is a fine line between this and posturing / hypocrisy. Paul was only with them for &quot;three Sabbath days&quot; (Acts 17:2), he had only a few contact hours with many of them. The greatest Christian instruction he could give them was himself. And they imitated him (:6). As many would have been illiterate, the word of the Gospel and of Jesus had to be made flesh, modelled, so that they could follow the pattern. This is not the same as the endless 'Let me tell you about myself' sermons which clutter Christianity today. To be a Christian is to be Christ centered, and Paul realized this; for he goes on to say that their imitation of him was therefore also of the Lord Jesus (:6). He wrote the same to the Corinthians: &quot;Be followers of me even as I also am of Christ&quot; (1 Cor. 11:1). He was to imitated only insofar as he was an image of the Lord.</p>