Does Truth Matter To You? Series

Let us pray before we read the Word of God.

Heavenly Father, as we draw near to Christmas, our hearts are filled with gladness again, remembering your love and sacrifice for us. We are a different person today because of Christ. Thank you for sending your Son as the atoning sacrifice for our redemption. We praise you Jesus, for WHO you are and all that you have done for us.

Bless us once again with your Word this morning, in Jesus’ Name, we pray, AMEN.

Do you prefer to hear the truth, or something that is nice but false?

• Do you prefer to live in the dark and in ignorance, or to know the truth and face the reality with faith?

• Do you forward a message without thinking twice whether it is true?

• Do you propagate fake news? Or would you correct the fake news?

• All of these questions has to do with truth and how we handle it.

• Does truth matter to you? That’s what we are going to ponder over today.

Let’s read the text. Last week we saw the work of Paul and Silas at Thessalonica.

• A group of angry Jews formed a mob and came against them. They had to flee.

• Let’s read on from there - Acts 17:10-15.

10As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11Now 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. 12Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

13When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

Paul and Silas were forced to sneak out of Thessalonica in the darkness of the night because of the threat from the Jews.

• They arrived in Berea, completely undeterred, went into the synagogue as was their practice and shared the same message of the Gospel.

• Yet here they received a completely different reception.

• Luke says the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians.

He highlighted the TWO qualities he saw:

1. they received the message with great eagerness, willing to listen and consider;

2. and they examine the Scriptures after hearing the message, every day, to see if what Paul said was really true. They showed a genuine desire to know the truth.

Contrast this to the antagonistic group in Thessalonica, who was blinded by jealousy and prejudice, evidenced but what they did.

• Luke said that they rounded up some “bad characters” from the marketplace and formed a mob to start a riot, against Paul and Silas.

• How “lack of noble character” that is. Gathering “bad characters” means they were not even seeking a decent dialogue or a just outcome.

The Bereans were serious. They did not reject Paul’s message without giving it due consideration. “Check it out and make sure it’s true.”

• They were eager to listen and they wanted to know the truth, not from Paul per se but from the Scriptures. That’s the noble part about them.

• Is this written in the Scriptures? Is this what God says? Is Jesus Christ our Saviour according to the Word of God?

They believe in the SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE

• In the Bible alone God has given us all that is necessary for our understanding of who He is, who we are, how He has acted and how we are to relate to Him.

The Scripture for them then was, of course, only the Old Testament, the first Testament.

• God has revealed His plan about the Messiah Jesus in the Old Testament. They would be able to find it if they read and study it carefully.

Remember Jesus’ walk with His two disciples after His resurrection, on the road to Emmanus (a-mei-us)? Remember what Jesus said?

• Luke 24:25 “25He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”

• 24:27 “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

• Eventually when they were enlighted, they said the Lord “opened the Scriptures to us” (24:32) and thus causing them to see and understand Christ.