THE NOBLE BEREANS
Acts 17:11-12
By David J. Riggs
Intro.
A. Driven from Thessalonica, Paul and Silas came to Berea (fifty
miles Southwest).
1. In Berea, as their custom was, they entered the
synagogue of the Jews and taught.
B. The Berean Jews were commended: "These were more noble
than those of Thessalonica."
1. The NKJV has "fairminded" with a footnote, "Lit.
noble."
a. It means, "a better birth, a better bred." They
showed the better qualities of their heritage as
manifested by their actions.
(1) The example of Abraham, the father of the
Jewish nation. John 8:40
b. The Thessalonica Jews were full of bigotry,
prejudice, aversion to truth.
(1) Being envious, they persecuted the gospel
preachers. (17:5,13)
C. The Bereans' nobility was evidenced in at least three things.
I. HEARING THE WORD.
A. "They received the word with all readiness of mind."
1. Instead of allowing jealousy to blind them, they gave the
word a candid consideration.
a. Instead of persecuting or rejecting the messengers,
they listened attentively to their message.
b. It is the honest inquiry of God's Word which God
wants.
2. They investigated; they wanted the truth.
a. They were not gullible, blindly accepting something
without first examining it.
b. A study of God's truth is a way to please God, and
to worship God.
c. It is the good and honest heart that will accept
God's truth. Luke 8:15
II. THE BEREAN NOBILITY WAS ALSO MANIFESTED IN "EXAMINING THE
SCRIPTURES DAILY WHETHER THOSE THINGS WERE SO."
A. Notice, first of all, that they tested their teachers.
1. They were not gullible, blindly accepting something
without first carefully examining it.
2. They tested the teachers who were teaching them at the
time.
a. The common practice is to test some teacher of
another persuasion or group.
b. Every teacher should be tested. 1 John 4:1.
B. Notice the reason for testing the teachers - "to see if those
things were so."
1. Their purpose was not to entrap the teachers, but they
were prompted by their love of truth.
a. A Love of truth is absolutely necessary to be saved.
2 Thess. 2:10; Prov. 23:23
C. Notice who did the testing. It was the people of Berea
themselves.
1. Testing someone is not a privilege and responsibility of
some preacher or priest, but of all people.
D. Notice the standard by which those things were tested - the
Scriptures.
1. The Scriptures are the last court of appeal; the one and
only authority which determines truth before God. We
will be judged by the Scriptures in the last day. Rev.
20:12
E. Notice the diligence employed - they searched the Scriptures
daily.
III. THEIR NOBILITY IS ALSO EVIDENCED IN THE RESULTS THAT FOLLOWED.
A. Notice the word "therefore."
1. Because of their good attitude, they readily accepted the
truth of God.
B. Not as in Acts 17:4 "some," but "many believed."
C. Many Greeks and prominent women were also included.
1. Their good attitude brought marvelous results.
IV. THE BEREANS ARE WORTHY OF IMITATION.
A. We are to always give the Word a fair hearing, receive it with
all readiness of mind.
1. A wise person will hear and increase in understanding.
Prov. 9:9-10
a. A little received from God is better than a great deal
from a man.
b. The word of human beings, no matter how wise in
substance or eloquence, cannot produce spiritual
life. Only God's Word can do that.
2. With open minds, we must make decisions based on
evidence. Prov. 18:13
3. Upon all who thus hear the Word, the Lord pronounces a
blessing. Luke 8:18; Matt. 13:16-17; John 7:17; Matt.
5:6
B. What would happen if the Bereans had not given the
missionaries a fair hearing?
1. This story comes from an occurrence at Yellowstone
National Park. A ranger, who was leading a group of
hikers to a fire lookout, was so intent on telling the
hikers about the flowers and animals that he considered
the messages on his two-way radio distracting, so he
switched it off. Nearing the tower, the ranger was met
by a nearly breathless lookout, who asked why he hadn't
responded to the messages on his radio. He said, "A
grizzly bear has been seen stalking your group, and I was
trying to warn you of the danger."
2. How important it is that we never turn off God's saving
message! Heb 2:1-3; Heb 12:24-25
a. "Listen with an open mind" is the point Paul is
making in Acts 13:40-41.
C. We should search the Scriptures daily. It becomes a way of
life to us.
1. A whole lifetime is not long enough to appreciate fully
the beauty and learning and value of the Bible.
a. That's why we must take time daily to study its
truths and make them real in our lives.
b. One just as well try to eat enough at one setting to
last a lifetime, as to try to exhaust the Bible in one
setting. Some try to do that anyway, that is, eat
enough at one setting to last a lifetime!
c. How much time does it take to read from Genesis to
Revelation?
(1) If you would read the Bible aloud, slow
enough to be heard and understood, it would
take seventy-one hours. If you would break
that down into minutes and divide it into 365
days you could read the entire Bible, cover to
cover, in only twelve minutes a day. Is this
really too much time to spend reading about
God?
2. Study of the Scriptures becomes a way of life with us.
Psalm 119:97
a. The Scriptures are daily spiritual food. Job 23:12;
Matt. 4:10
3. Many people don't know what the Bible really says. It's
good to check up on our knowledge. For example,
which of the following are Biblical quotations?
"Cleanliness is next to godliness." "God helps those who
help themselves." "An honest confession is good for the
soul." "We are as prone to sin as sparks fly upward."
"Money is the root of all evil." "Honesty is the best
policy." "Spare the rod and spoil the child." The
answer? While some of these statements are truisms,
none of them, as quoted, are found in the Bible! So
before you quote the Bible, make sure it is in the Bible.
Matt 22:29; 2 Tim 2:15
4. Some think they know the Bible, but in reality only know
bits and pieces. Here is one's explanation of the parable
of the good Samaritan: "There was a good Samaritan
going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among the
thorns, and they sprang up and choked him and left him
half-dead. So he said, `I will arise!' And he arose and
came to a tree and got hung in a limb of that tree for
forty days and forty nights, and the ravens fed him. Then
Delilah came along with a pair of shears and cut off his
hair, and he fell on stony ground. He said again, `I will
arise!' So he came to a wall, and Jezebel was sitting on
that wall; and he cried out, `Chuck her down!' So they
chucked her down. He said, `Chuck her down seventy
times!' And great was the fall thereof and of the
fragments that remained they picked up twelve baskets
full, but whose wife will she be in the Resurrection?"
D. As the Bereans, we must test every teacher.
1. We too, must determine "if it is so" on all matters of faith
and practice.
2. We should never let any self-styled religionist lead us
away from the truth.
a. There are many deceivers out in the world. Eph.
4:14-15; Matt. 7:15-16; Jer. 23:16; Col. 2:8,18
3. The truth flourishes under scrutiny and investigation.
a. The modern denominationalist is laboring under the
doctrine "it doesn't matter."
b. If it doesn't matter, there would be no need to
search the Scriptures. However, it most certainly
does matter.
(1) Error will condemn. Titus 1:13; 2 John 9;
Matt. 7:22-23; 15:9; 2 Thess. 2:10-12; Gal.
1:8-9
E. Like the Bereans, we should dare to be different.
1. We, too, are more noble people. We are a peculiar,
different people.
a. Very few people in our time search the Scriptures.
Very few demand a "thus saith the Lord" in matters
of faith and practice. As a result, they are destitute
of the truth.
b. We shine as lights in an evil world, holding forth the
word of life. Phil. 2:15-16
2. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a fifth grade
teacher violated the First Amendment's supposed
"Separation of Church and State" by placing a Bible on
his school desk.
a. This "doctrine of separation" is attributed to Thomas
Jefferson who, while President, asked that the Bible
and the Isaac Watts Hymnal be used in public
schools for their reading curriculum.
b. Jefferson said: "I have always said, and always will
say, that the studious perusal of the sacred volume
will make us better citizens."
c. Isn't it ironic that in the name of Jefferson the very
thing he advocated is now being struck down by our
judicial system?
d. It was our own Continental Congress that voted to
spend $300,000 on September 11, 1777, to buy
Bibles to be distributed throughout the 13 original
colonies. How times have changed!
F. The advantages of being like the Bereans are everlasting.
1. Knowing and believing the truth leads to eternal life.
John 8:31-33; James 1:21
2. Those who do not love the truth will receive strong
delusion. 2 Thess. 2:11-12
3. The Word exercises its power in us. Heb. 4:12; Isa.
55:10-11
4. We derive strong consolation in all the difficulties of
life. Rom. 15:4
5. We have comfort and hope regarding the world to come.
2 Tim. 3:15; Acts 20:32
Concl.
A. Be like the noble Bereans - having a genuine love for God's
Word, manifested in the way we study the Scriptures and by
the way we live.
Chart #1
"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they
received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the
scriptures daily, whether those things were so." (Acts 17:11).
They tested their teachers.
The reason for their testing.
They did the testing themselves.
The standard by which they tested.
The diligence employed.
Chart #2
The Advantages of Being Like the Bereans:
Knowing and believing the truth leads to eternal life. John 8:31-33;
James 1:21
Those who do not love the truth will receive strong delusion. 2
Thess. 2:11-12
The Word exercises its power in us. Heb. 4:12; Isa. 55:10-11
We derive strong consolation in all the difficulties of life. Rom.
15:4
We have comfort and hope regarding the world to come. 2 Tim. 3:15;
Acts 20:32