They accepted the word as a word from God. We are meant to preach the word of God, not our own ideas. That is why the Bible should be the focus and inspiration behind everything we preach and teach. Now this does not mean that everything has to necessarily be expository preaching, but it must be Bible based. So it matters how we give the word. It also matters how we receive it. We should check all teaching against what the Bible says, but we if the teaching/preaching is good we need to receive it as a word from God.
This means that purely human approaches to studying or examining the Bible are doomed to failure. It does not mean that we do not use any analytical methods, any textual criticism etc, but we do need to recognise that we are reading God's word, not the word of man. Then the word of God will be at work in us. For God's word is living and active, it is not just words on a page. That is why it is so important that we read the word, study the word, meditate upon the word.
Paul then encourages the Thessalonians by pointing out what the Jewish believers in Israel had suffered. It must have been hard for the Thessalonians to be persecuted by their neighbours. Paul reminds them that the Jewish believers in Judea went through the same process. Believing the gospel brought persecution. The persecutors are just heaping up judgement upon themselves. They not only have their own sins to account for, but are stopping others being saved.
After being separated from them Paul made every effort to see them again, "but Satan blocked" their way. Note that Satan is active, and sometimes he seems to succeed.
Then Paul declares that the Thessalonians are his crowning glory. Paul's task was to present people to Jesus.
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