From
Acts to Revelation
Part
46 – Berea
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org
| www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
Last week we saw in scripture, Paul,
Timothy and Silas, in Thessalonica. Paul, as was his custom, went directly to
the Synagogue in town, and preached the Gospel of christ.
For three Sabbaths, he preached this
message.
Scripture tells us that SOME Jews believed,
a LARGE number of Greeks (Gentiles) and quite a few prominent women.
We also read how the Jews who did not
believe, gathered a bunch of no-goods from the seedy part of town, and began to
riot. They could not find Paul and his party, so they nabbed a few who gave
Paul a place to sleep.
Taking them to the Magistrate, they blamed
the men for taking Paul, whom they said was causing the riot, and inciting
violence, because he taught against Rome.
Today's scripture will show us how Paul and
his party leave Thessilonica, and head towards Berea.
We will learn from scripture today;
1) Paul sticks with
his game-plan, going to a town and preaching in the Synagogue.
2) What the biblical
definition of NOBLE is.
3) How trouble (from
the devil) will hunt us down, where ever we go and speak of Jesus being Christ.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Acts 17:10-15
10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and
Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish
synagogue. 11 Now
the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for
they received the message with great eagerness and examined the
Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a
result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women
and many Greek men.
13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned
that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there
too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The believers immediately
sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15 Those
who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions
for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
I.
FROM THESSILONICA TO BEREA
a. the
brethren sent them off
i.
More than likely, this was Jason and the
others who were taken to the Magistrate and forced to pay a bail to get out of
prison.
b. Paul,
Silas and Timothy left at night to avoid more trouble
c. they
eventually arrived at Berea
i.
This was 50 miles from Thessalnoica
ii.
Once there, Paul did what was his custom,
he went straight to the Synagogue and preached the message of Jesus Christ.
d. Paul
addressed those in the Synagogue first, simply because those who attended on
the Sabbath already believed in the scriptures of God, whether Jew, Greek
(Gentile), or prominent woman.
II.
BEREA, MORE NOBLE THAN THESSILONICA
a. The
Bible now defines for us, exactly what NOBLE is
i.
Saying Berea was more noble than
Thessilonica
ii.
Because, (vs.11) they received the
Word with all readiness of mind.
iii. And,
they searched the scriptures daily.
b. This
explains why they were so eager to accept the message of Jesus Christ!
i.
Their minds were READY for the Message!
ii.
Ready, because they searched the scriptures
daily!
c. The
Results of Paul giving the Message he always gives;
i.
This is the same procedure at every town,
but with different results
ii.
This time, instead of reading “...and some
Jews believed...” as in verse 4 of Acts 17, we
read, “...Therefore (because the previous verse said their minds were
ready to receive the message because they read their scriptures daily), Therefore,
MANY of them believed.”
iii.
“...honorable women and Greeks (God-fearing
Gentiles) as well.”
III. TROUBLE
ONCE AGAIN
a. However...
i.
The Thessilonian Jews (the ones who did not
believe Paul in Thessilonica), heard that Paul, whom they were hunting to take
before the magistrate, but did not find, was preaching the Message of Jesus
Christ in Berea.
b. So they
traveled to Berea, and stirred up trouble once again.
i.
You see, Jesus says we cannot serve two
masters.
a.
You WILL either serve Christ, or the enemy.
b.
These men were hunting Paul, lead by
Satan's unholy spirits.
c.
Empowered by hate.
d.
Driven by demons.
e.
Lead to kill, and destroy anything to do
with Christ and Salvation.
ii.
Such is many leaders who do not serve
Christ.
a.
ANY leader who promotes, pushes, passes, or
stands behind ANYTHING that is un-godly, whether it be the promotion of sins
which are detestable to God, or things such as the murder of innocent, unborn
children, those leaders are serving their master, Satan.
iii.
These men, serving their master, Satan,
traveled over fifty miles to try and put a stop to Paul preaching Christ.
c. The
believer's in Berea, trying to save Paul once again, tell him to leave.
d.
Timothy and Silas stay behind.
i.
We're not sure why, maybe to stump those
looking for Paul, perhaps to provide assistance and further teaching to the
Berean's until Paul found their next stop on this Second Missionary trip, the
Bible does not say.
e. Paul
then traveled to Athens
i.
The Chief-City (Capital) of Greece
ii.
Famed for being a place of learning
iii.
Once Paul arrived at his destination, he
sent a letter to Timothy and Silas, telling them to come to Athens as soon as
possible.
CONCLUSION
4) Paul sticks with
his game-plan, going to a town and preaching in the Synagogue.
5) What is the
biblical definition of NOBLE – to have a mind with all readiness to receive the
Word of God, which comes from searching the scriptures daily!
6)
Trouble (from the devil) will hunt us down,
where ever we go and speak of Jesus being Christ. However, God's Will is going
to be done, regardless of what the devil throws at us.
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