Acts 17:10-13 NKJV
“Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11These 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. 12Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. 13But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds.”
Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake
It seems like wherever Paul was sent by God to preach the
message of the gospel of Christ to the people, if not right away, eventually
someone among the Jews (mainly Jews) would stir up the crowds against him,
which would sometimes land him in jail or to being beaten. Basically, he was
persecuted pretty much everywhere he went because he spoke the truth of the
gospel that certain people did not want to hear. And this often resulted in
Paul having to depart from where he was and having to go to another location.
I empathize with him. Although, as an adult, I have not been
physically beaten, and I have not been put in prison for speaking the truth of
the gospel, I have been strongly opposed, mistreated, rejected, persecuted, and
cast aside as unwanted because I spoke the truth of the gospel that many did
not want to hear. And I have been falsely accused of what I did not do and of who
I am not, because people were judging me by their own selves or because they
did not want to hear what the Scriptures teach, in truth.
Truth Tellers vs Thieves and Liars
It is so refreshing if you go somewhere and you are received
well, and there are people who want to hear what you have to share with them.
And this was the situation for Paul in Berea. The Jews there received the word
spoken by Paul with all readiness. But they didn’t believe it just because Paul
said it, but they tested his words against the Scriptures to find out whether
or not what Paul was teaching was indeed the truth. And this is what we all
should be doing. We should be testing words spoken to make sure they are of
God.
Especially in our day and age, for we have so many thieves
and liars and manipulators who are “wolves in sheep’s clothing” pretending to
be who and what they are not in order to deceive the people and to lead them
astray to follow after what is not of God but is of the devil, instead. Many of
them are trained and educated pastors of “churches.” Some of them are
politicians or rulers of nations who may or may not have the appearance of all
goodness, but they are leading many people to hell on the false promise of
heaven.
The Gospel in Summary
Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self,
take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we
hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But
if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to
our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God.
For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the
one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our
own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ
to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as
slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no
longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires.
For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is
what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with
God (see Romans 6:1-23).
For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training
us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled,
upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For Christ “gave
himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a
people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (See Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10)
And we learn in 1 John 1-3 that if we claim that we have
fellowship with God, but yet we walk in darkness (sin), we are liars. If we
claim that we know God, but we do not obey his commandments, in practice, we
are liars. For it is not the one who claims he is “in Christ” who is “in
Christ,” but it is the one who has denied self, died with Christ to sin, and
who is now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice,
and no longer in sin. We have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God
in heaven.
Believe the Truth and Not the Lies
So, as those who are seekers of truth and righteousness, we
should be testing the spirits to see which ones are of God, and we should not
believe someone just because they are famous or well known or well liked among
the people. But we should also not just disregard someone either just because
what they are teaching may be different from what we originally believed unless
it is obviously blasphemous. We should all be Bereans who search the Scriptures
so that we know firsthand what they really teach.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth
for the water
So my soul longeth
after You
You alone are my
heart's desire
And I long to
worship You
You alone are my
strength, my shield
To You alone may my
spirit yield
You alone are my
heart's desire
And I long to
worship You
Be Like the Bereans
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