Check it out

Acts 17:10-11 (ESV)
¹⁰  The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.
¹¹  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.

 

Imagine that.  The Apostle Paul himself came to Berea and preached the gospel.  But, the Bereans wanted to check out his teaching and went to the Scriptures to see if what he taught was true. 

We should learn a couple of things from this passage of Scripture: firstly that the Scriptures are the standard of truth and doctrine and, secondly, that those who checked out Paul’s teachings were called “noble.”  Noble because they examined what was being taught to make sure it lined up with God’s Word.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, it is our task to examine what we are taught on blogs, in books, and even from the pulpit to make sure what we’re hearing is accurate and stands in line with what we already know to be true: Scripture.

It’s interesting that Paul’s first letter to Thessalonica, where he received a rather poor reception (Acts 17:1-9), includes the instruction to test everything and hold fast to what is good (1 Thess. 5:19-21).  So, it’s our task to examine the spiritual food we receive just as we should check much of the physical food we consume.

This is not to say everything you read, hear, or see should be counted as false teaching.  We can go far afield thinking there are false teachers under every bush and behind every pulpit.  Walter Martin used to use the example of training bank tellers to spot counterfeit bills.  The trainers didn’t show them counterfeit money.  They had them handle real cash constantly so that when a counterfeit bill crossed their palm, they didn’t even have to look down.  They were so familiar with the real thing, that they could spot a counterfeit immediately.

Like them, we should make ourselves so familiar with the Truth, the real thing, that we can spot a counterfeit immediately.

Let us study to show ourselves approved of God, workmen who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 3:15)

 

Acts 17:1-9 (ESV)
¹  Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
²  And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
³  explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”
⁴  And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
⁵  But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.
⁶  And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,
⁷  and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
⁸  And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.
⁹  And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 (ESV)
¹⁹  Do not quench the Spirit.
²⁰  Do not despise prophecies,
²¹  but test everything; hold fast what is good.

2 Timothy 2:15 (ESV)
¹⁵  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.