Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.
Acts 17:10-12
The “Jehovah’s Witnesses” rang my doorbell again this morning. I’ve had conversations with many of them and discussed passages that contradicted what they held to be true. It’s always amazed me that I could read one passage in my translation of the Scriptures and that they could read the same passage in theirs but nearly every time, the two would read differently. I’ve examined the words in the original language to prove my translation was correct. I’ve encouraged them to do the same and come back to talk with me. Time and time again, they’ve said they would return after studying these things out, but they never come back. My heart is heavy this morning desiring that these poor souls would search these things out for themselves instead of merely taking someone else’s word for it. God has promised to reward those that “diligently seek Him” (Heb 11:6), and that reward is Himself as we truly desire to know Him more.
One of the most troubling trait that I find among church-goers today is a lack of knowledge of the word of God. John warned us in 1 Jn 4:1 that “many false prophets have gone out into the world.” How can we recognize false preaching if we don’t know what the word of God truly says! Will we trust our eternal well-being to some man just because he wears a suit and stands behind a pulpit or because he speaks eloquently and with passion? It’s time that we quit applying 1 Ti 4:15-16 to the preacher only:
Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
The Bereans in our text above are a great example to us all. When Paul and Silas came among them, I have no doubt that their passion was evident to the Bereans. I’m sure that everything outwardly suggested the Paul and Silas were true men of God who loved and cared for the souls they were preaching to; however, the Bereans didn’t believe their word based on outward appearance. They understood that Satan himself transforms himself into “an angel of light” even as his ministers appear outwardly to be “apostles of Christ”! (2 Co 11:13,14) Instead of relying on outward appearance, they relied on that which God has given us which will never fail us, which we can always depend on, and which will never pass away–His word! (Lk 21:33)
Yes, they made it a point to be in church when the preaching was going on, but that wasn’t the extent of their religion. Many today show up for the weekly services, but never open their Bible once that get back home. Experience tells us this is no way to learn. The reason kids have homework is to reinforce what they learned in the classroom. Algebra may make perfect sense when the teacher is working it out on the chalkboard, but the real proof that the student understands it is when he can perform his homework on his own. The Bereans did their homework! They set a good example in church by being present and receiving the word with all readiness, but it didn’t stop there. “They searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so!”
The result of this effort was that “many of them believed.” The word of God will have no power in our lives unless we as individuals are intimately involved with the living Word of God, who is Christ Himself. We must seek Him individually through prayer and self-study of His word in order to profit from our experience collectively when we come together with the people of God. The natural progression for a child is that he grows both physically and mentally. If this doesn’t happen, we’re concerned because it means something is wrong. The same is the case for the spiritual child of God. He must grow! That’s the way it’s supposed to be, and if there is no spiritual growth, something is wrong! There is a rebuke in the letter of Hebrews that states, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God.” (Heb 5:12) Why were they still needing milk when they should have been eating spiritual meat? V. 14 explains that “solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Until we put the word of God into practice in our lives and our relationship with Him becomes more than just a Sunday experience, we will never grow and be able to teach others as we are called to do.
Jamie