Dwell in the Word: Acts 17:1-15

Contemplate these questions as you dwell in Acts 17:1-15:

1. In Thessalonica, Paul's approach was to reason with the Jews from the Scriptures, emphasizing Jesus as the prophesied Messiah. How does this method reflect the importance of grounding our beliefs in the foundation of God's Word? How can we apply this approach in our own efforts to share the gospel?

2. The Bereans are commended for their noble character in examining the Scriptures daily to verify the teachings they received. Why is it crucial for believers to actively engage with and scrutinize biblical teachings, even when presented by trusted sources? How can this practice strengthen our understanding of God's Word?

3. The Bereans' diligence in comparing Paul's teachings with the Scriptures serves as a valuable example for us today. How can we develop a habit of studying and applying the Scriptures to discern truth from error? What practical steps can we take to ensure that our beliefs align with God's Word in all areas of life?

Transcript:

 This is an interesting passage to look at, if for no other reason, trying to say Amphipolis, for me, is rather difficult. Uh, maybe I should put together a blooper reel of my inability to say that, but I think I had to try five times to get it right. But I did. And so, here we sit in this story of Paul and Silas moving around.

They've come to Thessalonica. Now, there was a synagogue there and Paul had this habit of going there. That was his target audience, you know, while he was trying to reach the Gentiles. His target audience was to go to the synagogues and to talk about Jesus and how he was the Messiah. And that's what we see here.

He would go there, uh, it says it was his custom. He was there for three Sabbaths and he reasoned with them from the Scriptures. Now, we have to remember, when it says that he is reasoning with them from the Scriptures, this means that he is going back to the Old Testament. What we would know is the New Testament Scriptures had not yet been written.

Maybe some of the letters had been written. Uh, probably not yet at this point, but this is talking about the Old Testament. He was reasoning with these Old Testament Jews with, uh, he was reasoning with them to explain how the Messiah would have to suffer and rise from the dead. And then we see what his, what his point was, what he was driving at here was that, Hey, Jesus, who I've been telling you about, he's the Christ.

And so, we find that some people were persuaded. There were some other people who it says here that they were jealous, and they got together some men of the rabble.  That's an interesting statement, isn't it? Getting together a group that is not necessarily the best of the folk I guess, and they formed a mob They get the city into an uproar and the issue was what they what they used against them Was that they were acting against the decrees of Caesar.

We see this in verse 7 Saying that there's another king, Jesus, in the Roman Empire.  You could get by with pretty much anything religiously, as long as you were still willing to say,  Caesar is Lord.  If you were willing to do that, all the little regional cults, all the little regional religions, they could basically get by with it in the Roman Empire, unless they were speaking out against Caesar being Lord and the Christians would not do that. They would not say Caesar is Lord. They would say Jesus is Lord and that became an issue. And so, this is what they are using against them while they're driven away from Thessalonica and they come to Berea. And this is kind of where I want us to think today.

This is where our application will come from here in a few minutes. Uh, but we see that they get to Berea and they do the same thing that they do everywhere. They explain from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. Now we read here in verse 11 that those Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica.

They received the word with all eagerness. That's great. But also, they examined the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. They took it to heart, and they went back to the Old Testament. Well, what we know is the Old Testament. They went back to the scriptures and made sure that Paul just wasn't tying together stuff that maybe didn't fit.

They were looking at it to make sure that he was right. They were digging into God's Word to ensure that what they were being taught aligned with God's Word. And this, as I said, is where our application lies today. Are we going to be like the people in Thessalonica, or are we going to be like the people in Berea?

I think that the idea here is that we want to be like the people in Berea. We want to be noble like they were, that when we hear people teaching in the name of God, we want to make sure that it lines up with the Word of God. That includes what you hear from me. It's not just somebody out there that's random.

When I'm in the pulpit or when I'm teaching to you from here, pay attention. Go to the scriptures to make sure that what I'm saying is correct. Nobody is above this. If the Apostle Paul isn't above this, if it's considered to be a good thing to examine the Apostle Paul against Scripture, then it's definitely a good thing to examine everyone else against Scripture, right?

And so, we want to be like the people in Berea. May we examine God's Word. May we know God's Word so that when people come to us making claims in the name of God or saying that they are teaching from the Word of God, we will know whether or not these things are so.