Study the Bible … the Right Way

“The Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day.” – Acts 17:11

Imagine for a moment a church that teaches that God is the Easter Bunny, Jesus was a Viking pirate and Jerusalem was built by extraterrestrials. How would you know whether or not these teachings were true? Perhaps you’ve believed in error all these years.

 Well, keep this in mind: Bad things happen when two things go wrong in a church: 1) when Christian pastors and teachers aren’t faithfully teaching their congregations the word of God, and 2) when Christians aren’t studying the Scriptures to make sure what they’re being taught is in line with God’s Word.

So, Paul and Silas must have been impressed when their missionary travels took them from Thessalonica to Berea. On the Sabbath day after they arrived, Paul entered the Jewish synagogue and started telling people about Jesus. And in verse 11, Luke gives us a wonderful summary of Paul’s ministry in Berea: “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.”

The Bereans are held up in this chapter as role models for you and me for three reasons. #1: The Bereans “were of more noble character than the Thessalonians.” The original Greek word translated as “noble” in the NIV Bible is “eugenes,” which also translates as “more open-minded” (NLT), “more willing to listen” (NCV), and “more receptive” (NRSV). In other words, the Bereans received Paul’s teaching with open ears. They weren’t “know-it-alls.” #2: The Bereans listened to the message with “great eagerness.” They were enthusiastic Bible students. And #3: The Bereans examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

The Bereans received Paul’s teaching enthusiastically, with open ears and an open mind—but they didn’t take what he said at face value. They did their homework. They searched and examined and studied the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said stood the test of God’s word. Then, and ONLY then, did they believe his teaching, hide it in their hearts and walk in obedience to it. I hope and pray that millions of Americans would do the same thing these Bereans did.

When it comes to correctly handling the word of truth, the stakes are too high for us to slack off. God is calling you to be a Berean. Here are five practical steps to help you do just that:

Step #1: Be an eager, enthusiastic student of God’s Word. Come to church on time with an open mind and heart.

Step #2: Listen carefully to the message being taught, with an open Bible in hand. Pastor Kevin DeYoung says, “You do not want to be at a church where you can listen to sermon after sermon and it doesn’t even matter if your Bible is open. You want to be at a church where the preaching is pulling you into the text—to see it, to listen to it, to find connections with it.”

Step #3: Take notes and write down questions so you can test what is taught with Scripture. Let’s be honest with each other: Most American Christians believed they have fulfilled their duty if they have gone to church and politely listened to the sermon. That’s not enough. The New Testament tells us to “Correctly handle the Word of Truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) and “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only” (James 1:22).

Step #4: Spend quality time in God’s word EVERY DAY. You will never become a Berean if you just study the Bible once a week. Read at least one chapter every day and spend some time thinking about it, asking questions, searching for the answers to your questions, and praying over it.

Step #5: Give the Bible the final say in all matters of life and doctrine. Please don’t let me, or ANY pastor or teacher, boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, professor or boss, have the final word on matters of life and doctrine. GOD must have the final say. And God’s final say is detailed in the pages of Scripture.

Chuck Swindoll says it really well: “No matter how gifted or charismatic or well-trained and experienced your Bible teacher or pastor may be, form the healthy habit of checking what is being said against the Scriptures.” If you truly want to become “of more noble character” like the Bereans, let God and His Holy Word have the final say.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person at 9 a.m., or online at 10 a.m. on YouTube or Facebook Live. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Open Minds and Open Hearts

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character …  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

With the launch of Impact Christian Church just a month away, we’re handing out lots of invitations around town. Last Wednesday evening a couple of the greatest teenagers in the world joined me for what I like to call “Donut Run Evangelism.” We made a donut run and made sure that the donut shop had invitations to church on their countertop. Then we stopped by a few other stores to give them invitations too. Well, at one point we were in a little strip mall in a not-so-great neighborhood. And as I was making my way back to my car after dropping off some invitations, I saw a gang-banger-looking guy walking across the parking lot. He was all tatted up on his arms and had gang tattoos on his face and around his eyes.

I felt the Lord wanted me to invite him to church, so I did. And he turned, looked at me, and said, “Pastor Dane!” I was blown away! It turns out that he is an active member at Victory Outreach Church, and he met me a few years ago when our churches were doing ministry in the same building. I told him about our church’s big move, and he started preaching to me. He said, “Yeah, man. Your church is like Elijah. God gave Elijah a brook with plenty of water, but that brook dried up, so God moved him somewhere else. Your church is over on that old military base and it’s all dried up, so God is moving you guys to where there’s life!” 

This was one of those wonderful, unexpected moments in my life when God wanted to tell me something important, and I would have missed it if I hadn’t had an open mind and an open heart. In the early church, Christ’s followers faced a similar problem. They often ran into closed minds when they tried to share the gospel with the Jews, especially in Thessalonica. But the results were much different when Paul preached the good news in Berea. According to Acts 17:12, “Many of the Jews believed.”

Why did so many more Jews in Berea accept the message than in Thessalonica? The answer is in verse 11: “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.” There are three key phrases in this verse, and each phrase reveals something important about the way the Bereans handled God’s word. Let’s look at these phrases one at a time.

1. The Bereans were “of more noble character.” What on earth does that mean? If we look up the same phrase from a few different translations, we read that the Bereans were more “noble-minded” (NASB), “fair-minded” (NKJV) or “open-minded” (NLT). These other translations shed some light on the situation. The Jews in Berea were more open-minded to Paul’s message. They didn’t immediately put up a wall, stop up their ears and say “LA LA LA LA LA LA LA! I’M NOT LISTENING!” They were willing to hear Paul out and give his message an opportunity to be heard.

Friends, sometimes when we are learning God’s word, we come across things that challenge our way of thinking and acting. Sometimes God’s word challenges us to make different choices than we’ve been making and establish more godly priorities. Don’t build up walls or stop up your ears. Like the Bereans, we need to receive God’s word with open minds and open hearts.

2. The Bereans received the message “with great eagerness.” There in that Berean synagogue when Paul opened the Old Testament scrolls and began to explain the prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Bereans listened eagerly. Each time Paul taught, they were ready to hear it—eager to hear more, to learn more, to adjust their lives however necessary to the fresh revelation of God’s word. They were excited and enthusiastic as they learned God’s word.

If you and I are only going through the motions of listening, and if we have little enthusiasm for learning God’s word, the teaching will have minimal impact. I promise you, God’s word can transform your life. But you have to want it to transform your life. That requires some good old-fashioned eagerness and enthusiasm. So, have your Bibles ready in church each Sunday. Put your Bible on your nightstand or on your coffee table or wherever else you’ll see it every day, so that every day you can open God’s word and study it with eagerness and enthusiasm.

3. The Bereans “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

You and I can run off on all sorts of theological rabbit trails if we skip this critical step. If we’re open-minded and enthusiastic, but we fail to cross-check what the teacher is teaching with Scripture, we are cruisin’ for a spiritual bruisin’. Each of us is called to follow in the Bereans’ footsteps, examining the Scriptures to make sure that we are being taught the truth. And unlike the many false teachers out there, we as Christians are not afraid of anyone in the church examining the Scriptures to confirm the truth.

When open-minded pastors preach God’s word with enthusiasm and careful study, and the congregation receives God’s word with enthusiasm and careful study, that’s a match made in heaven. Open minds and open hearts in Christ’s church are a beautiful thing.

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Join us for our Grand Opening at 10 am Sunday, October 6^th at the new Ralph Baker School in Victorville. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.