Berean Believers

Introduction

Last week we examined Paul and Silas’s time in Thessalonica where they were accused of turning the world upside down by the preaching of the Word of God.

Once Paul and Silas escaped Thessalonica after all of the uproar there, they arrive in the town of Berea. Here they met with a society which was more noble than many others they had engaged with.

Luke, the writer of Acts, takes special care to note the response of the Bereans to the preaching of Paul and Silas. You and I ought to imitate their response as we hear the Word of God preached.

We can imitate their:

Reception

The Bereans were not only ready to hear the Word of God and to respond by verifying its truth themselves, they were also willing to ultimately receive it. They were determined that if what they heard was true they would implement it into their lives.

The Bereans were not merely willing to admit that what Paul and Silas preached was true. These people were willing to adjust their lives to the truth that they heard, after having received it.

There is so often a disconnect in the lives of many believers and unbelievers when it comes to receiving the Word of God as it is preached and taught.

When the Bereans heard the Word of God and became convinced that it was true they received it into their lives and became followers of Christ. We ought also to be willing to receive the truth.

The preaching and teaching of the Word of God will change our lives if we will be willing to receive it. When the truth is presented we must be willing to conform to it.

The Bereans took in the truth. They were James 1:22 Christians, not hearers only but doers of the Word. Many are prepared to hear the truth but are not willing to receive it once they have heard.

Many of the Jews claimed to desire the truth but unfortunately when the truth that Jesus was indeed the Messiah was revealed they were not willing to receive it.

The truth that Paul and Silas preached transformed the lives of the Bereans because they were willing to receive it. One reason that they so readily received the Word of God was because of the readiness of their mind.

Readiness

It seems in Berea there was a genuine desire to know the truth and to hear the Word of God. They had a particular readiness of mind without bias or preconceived notions.

We ought also to have a readiness of mind when we are under the teaching or preaching of the Word of God. We should be ready to set aside any bias or opinion and give sincere attention to the Word of God.

Illustration- preaching on finances, preaching on music, preaching on church attendance, preaching on soul-winning, preaching on the home, etc...

We ought to prepare ourselves so that we are ready to give our full attention to the Word of God as it is preached or taught and we ought to be sincere in our desire to know what God has said.

We should also approach the teaching and preaching of the Word of God with this same open-mindedness and eagerness for truth. We should desire the truth regardless of how it convicts and confronts us.

So many believers and unbelievers alike today suggest that they want to know the truth, but what they really want is someone who will tell them what they want to hear.

Many desire a message that will not force them to change anything. Not the Bereans they simply wanted the truth!

Response

The Bereans did not receive the preaching just because they respected Paul and Silas. They received it because they had taken the time to search it out for themselves.

They had done their homework and had come to the conclusion that what Paul and Silas were preaching was indeed true and thus they were willing to give heed to it.

When the people of Berea heard Paul and Silas teach and preach they were not fully convinced by their words alone. They decided to search the scriptures to determine if what they had heard was true.

This is the mark of a sincere Christian. Paul and Silas were not upset because the people would not take them at their word, doubtless they were thrilled that the people were willing to take the time and expend the effort to search the scriptures for themselves.

Far too many in our world today have simply taken the word of a priest, a televangelist, a teacher, a preacher, or a pastor without searching the scriptures for themselves.

False doctrine would be eliminated if men and women would sincerely search the scriptures to verify the truth of what they have heard.

Illustration- trust but verify- Ronald Reagan Mikhail Gorbachev

You should be able to trust your pastor and your Sunday school teacher yet you must still verify that what they are saying is consistent with the Word of God.

We would much less easily be drawn into false doctrine and false religion if we would follow this simple principle of daily searching the scripture to find out whether what we have heard is so.

Conclusion

Many of the Bereans believed and surely it was evident in their lives. What led them to believe?

It was their sincere desire for truth, their willingness to receive it, and their personal verification of the truth.

The Bereans who believed were not dependent upon Paul and Silas but had learned to mine out the truth for themselves. We must learn to do the same. We should be always ready to receive the truth, but also willing to take the time to search the scriptures for ourselves.

Our stance in the faith will be much more solid if we have not merely heard the truth but have searched it out and verified it personally.