Cross Reference Your Pastor

I want you to CROSS REFERENCE YOUR PASTOR. Just like the thicker study Bibles have those nice little passage references in the side or middle column, so that you can cross reference other verses with similar content, which support what each says, I want you to cross reference my sermons with a reliable source of the Christian faith. Double-check to see if I have support for what I am teaching. If I was a doctor and told you that a lump on your back was not cancerous and you shouldn’t worry about it, but I see that you are doubtful about my prognosis, I would encourage you to act on your ‘doubt,’ and therefore seek a second opinion from another reputable doctor. Because when he supports what I said, then you will really feel more at ease and confident with what I say. If ‘doubting’ me, leads you to be more confident in the truth, then doubt away! But act on your doubt by cross-referencing me.

I. Question Preachers

I appreciate questions, because it shows me that you were listening. I get feedback on whether or not I got my point across. Also, it tells me that you are willing to ask the important questions. I know that there are other Christian voices out there that you are going to hear. If you unquestioningly accept what I have to say, then I have to worry, that you might unquestioningly accept what you hear on Christian radio stations or see on Crandon’s Christian channel. There are contradictions. There are misleading focal points. I want you to question, at least in your own minds, what you hear the preachers say.

That’s how Paul worked. Our text tells us that it was Paul’s custom to go to the Jewish synagogues and “reason with them” (Acts 17:2). He wanted them to be awake, to evaluate what he was saying, cross reference it with the faith that they had grown up with. How did ‘he reason with them?’ By “explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead” (Acts 17:3) Neither at Thessalonica nor Berea did Paul’s listeners simply accept Paul at his word. Both of them questioned whether or not what Paul was teaching was true. Good for them! But, we see that they differed greatly in seeking a second opinion.

To whom did the Thessalonians turn? “Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. 5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city” (vs. 4,5). And where did the Bereans find their second opinion? “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. 12 Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men” (vs. 11,12).

For the most part, the Thessalonian Jews sought support from the rough and tough guys hanging out at the marketplace. They let their prejudice toward the Greeks overwhelm the arguments that Paul gave. Jealously they turned their hearts against Paul. The Bereans on the other hand “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (vs. 11). To whom did Paul have to answer with his teachings? God. The Bereans didn’t simply shake their head yes or no, upon hearing Paul’s message, they pulled out their Old Testament and cross referenced Paul’s teaching with the promises of the Messiah. And they found that Paul was teaching the truth. They became as confident as Paul.