The Noble Bereans

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Acts 17:11

Two quick observations: The Bereans (“these Jews”), when they assembled together, were eager to hear the word preached to them. They didn’t gather for programs, musical performances, or any of today’s churches’ gimmicks. They were eager for the message.

Second, while they were eager to hear the word, they didn’t accept it blindly. Today’s prosperity preachers, cult leaders, and self-esteem gurus wouldn’t last a week with the Bereans, for what they taught would be tried against the Scriptures, and if what they were proclaiming didn’t jive, they would have been rejected. Notable here is that the Bereans didn’t have New Testament; they dug into the Old Testament when testing what Paul preached. A New Testament church using the Old Testament to fact-check preachers. That’s an interesting idea, no? If anyone tries to convince you that the Old Testament is irrelevant, think of the Bereans.

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