People of the Book
"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." Acts 17:11 (NIV)
Our young mom's Bible study continues this week with a look at Acts 17. This passage deals with the Apostle Paul's second missionary journey and highlights Paul's work in three important cities: Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens. Paul only spent three weeks preaching the Gospel to the Jews in Thessalonica before being forced by an angry mob to leave town. Luke records Paul's next ministry stop as Berea, a town about 60 miles away from Thessalonica. Unlike the Thessalonians, the Berea's checked what Paul taught against the Scriptures. Luke's assessment of the Bereans was two fold: they were more noble than the Thessalonians and they were "people of the Book." The Bereans weren't just eager to hear the good news of the Gospel; they examined the Scriptures daily to see if Paul's message was true. One might say the Bereans, unlike the Thessalonians, used their Bibles for "primary source" verification of Paul's message.
Kevin De Young writing in his excellent book Acts: A Visual Guide gives us the following insights for becoming People of the Book:
10 Ways to be Noble like the Bereans (Kevin DeYoung)
• Listen to the sermon with an open Bible
• Don’t rush from the Word of God to the rest of your life
• Get in God's Word as a way of life; check your Bible like you check your phone: frequently & consistently
• Approach the Bible with eager expectation; hunger for the Word of God
• Prepare to study the Word deeply; read, read, read.
• Be confident that YOU are able to discover biblical truth; examining is hard work, but you don't need to be a genius.
• Test difficult doctrines against Scripture before discarding them. (Examples include marriage, sexuality, predestination)
• Be discerning; Some things which claim to be from the Bible are not.
• Be humble to submit to the Bible- no matter who you are
• Give the Bible the final say on every matter on which it means to speak
DeYoung challenges us with these words: "All religion rests on authority. Someone or something always has the last word. Nobility is what you do with the Word of God. Beware of coming to church and being stirred but not changed. Our behavior with the Bible is indicative of our belief in the Bible." (Italics mine)
The question for each of us is, "Am I a person of the Book?" Do I receive or reject God's Word? Oh, that all of us, by God's grace, would be people of the Book!