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1:14This is the second missionary journey of Paul. And the week before last, you'll remember that we were in the first missionary journey. So I figured it was most of the content. I've already covered, but I figured it would be prudent to look through a few of the things that are unchanged and a few of the things that are changed. So, as far as the things that are unchanged since the first missionary journey, look with me for context back to chapter 15, verse 36.

1:5315, verse 36. Therein it says, Then, after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we may have preached the word of God, apologies, where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing. Now, you will remember from my last message on the first missionary journey that it was all about continuing in the faith. And you'll remember that having gone through three cities, gone through Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, he then turns around and goes right back through all three of these places he had been persecuted, Lystra, in which he had been stoned. And he went right back. And why did he do it? So that he could encourage them, telling them to continue in the faith. And then we see here the second missionary journey and what is again the purpose, in large part in the mind of Paul as we get. Ready to begin this journey. It is to encourage. It is to see how they are doing. It is out of a love and a care that he has for the disciples, for his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. This much has not changed. This is still the heart behind this missionary journey. So everything I said in my last message still holds true. Everything that was expounded on there is still in the mind of Paul, still the motivation of Paul, and still the mission which God has given to us.

3:40So we have that as a commonality. The next thing I would point out to you, things that have not changed, the opposition of the reprobate Jews. The opposition of the reprobate Jews. Look with me in 16, 19 through 24. Here in Acts 16, 19, but when her masters saw that their hope for profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. And they brought them to the magistrates and said, These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city. And they teach customs, which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive. Or observe. Then the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into the prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But it doesn't end there. Look with me at 17, and starting in verse 5, just a little bit over. But the Jews, we see again a commonality, who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace and gathered a mob, set all the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, being one of the disciples in the area, and sought to bring them out to the people. And it goes on.

5:28So here you have the Jews as the primary antagonist, not just all and strictly based on ethnicity, but specifically, as I said, the reprobate Jews or the unbelieving Jews or the Jews opposed to Jesus Christ and everything he stands for. So you have a common purpose. Paul ministering to his disciples, to the disciples of Jesus. Those that he has ministered to before. You have, as a purpose, you have a common antagonist, the Jews, standing against this message and doing the same things, beating and throwing him into prison.

6:19Now I will bring your attention to a few of the differences. What has changed since the first missionary journey? Well, the first and the biggest, I would argue, is Acts chapter 15 as a whole. Acts chapter 15, and I won't go through and read all of it, but therein is established that Gentiles are not beholden to become Jews or follow the law. Christianity is not a new sect of the Jewish faith. They are not tied to the Jewish ethnicity nor the Jewish religion. They are not tied to works, salvation, to working to accomplish the salvation which has been offered to them freely. This much has been clearly outlined as the church in Jerusalem gets together and they work through this. In Acts chapter 11, as I outlined in the last time, as we looked through a little bit of Acts, Acts chapter 11, it's clear Gentiles can be saved. In Acts chapter 15, what then? What do we do with these Gentiles that are becoming Christians? Well, they're not becoming Jews. They are becoming followers of Christ uniquely and regardless of their affiliation with their Jewish brothers. So we see this established, and with that established, that word, that understanding of the Jewish and Gentile relationship and identity, is being carried out to the churches. As you see in chapter 16, verses 3-4, Paul wanted to have him, talking of Timothy, Paul wanted to have him go on with him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, a direct reference to the previous chapter. So they're very interested in continuing this understanding of the role of the church that was established. Again, you will remember that before chapter 15, the church is being established largely. And after 15, it's building it up and multiplying it. So they have established this church, and now they are growing the church. So the first difference is the fact that this Jerusalem Council has taken place. The second difference Is a change of those who are with Paul. Barnabas and John Mark will not be with Paul on this trip. Instead, you have Silas and Timothy. Timothy is a disciple from Lystra, the place where Paul himself was stoned and left for dead. And he is known in Iconium, the place where they tried to stone him, a place of persecution. And in chapter 16, verses 1 through 2, right before what we just read, you see that Paul is taking this disciple and elder of the church to be very influential in the church. And you begin to see this church already established beginning to spread its influence by sharing what has been given to them. Paul helped to establish this church, and now they, through Timothy and others, having grown and been discipled, are now also going out and doing the same in this work of multiplication. So these are the two things that remain the same, or two of the things that remain the same, and two things that have changed, context-wise. So then we look at our text in particular. And then here, one thing that I like to keep in mind: what is the Point. Why was it written?

10:34What is different? What is unique that is being told to us in our text? And I'd like to propose that to you tonight, knowing what we know. You see, he comes to Berea right after Thessalonica. And if you look, the similarities between Berea and Thessalonica are quite remarkable. You see, in both, he comes, he goes to the synagogue, he preaches. There is a response to that preaching. Specifically, you'll notice that the response includes Greeks, and if you look, it includes the Greeks and prominent individuals, men and women. Verse 4 of chapter 17. Some of them were persuaded. This is referring to those he's speaking to in the synagogues. And a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women joined Paul and Silas. You compare this to our text. Look with me again.

11:49Verse 12. Therefore, many of them believed. And also, not a few of the Greeks, prominent women, as well as men. Looks very similar. And you'll notice also similarities in how this ministry ends, both in Thessalonica and Berea. He gets chased away, and the disciples scoot him out, so to speak. Verse 9, referring to his time at Thessalonica. So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. Verse 10, then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. Then we see at the end, after he's been at Berea, verse 14, then immediately the brethren sent Paul away to go to the sea. But both Silas and Timothy remained there.

12:43So the ministry and what happens in both of these towns looks very similar. What is different? What is unique at Berea? What is the point of this passage? And I would contend with you that the point is that whereas in Thessalonica there were some Jews that accepted, in Berea there were many of them who believed. There were many Berean Jews who believed. That's the first notable point. But then we have to look at why. What is the difference between these two groups of people? Where only a few In Thessalonica, accepted, many in Berea accepted.

13:36The seeming one notable difference there. What caused this to be? Well, first, in Thessalonica, you see that they are envious or jealous. You see that they are in verse 5, They are not persuaded, becoming envious, and that they took some of the evil men from the marketplace. When you're looking through this phrase, the evil men, it's a very interesting concept, the ne'er-do-wells, the loiterers, the lazy men, those who you might refer to, those that are sitting in the marketplace, unoccupied, with nothing to do but cause trouble.

14:27Does this mean that everybody who is poorer or unemployed is an evil person? No, but the point is these are by choice, individuals who are by choice up to no good, right? They're just hanging around and waiting for an opportunity for something interesting to come up. So you have these Jews that take them in and begin to stir them up. And you'll notice that there's a mingled Them together. They become a mob. They set the city in an uproar, and then they go to the house of Jason. So you have a jealous, envious people who associate with ne'er-do-wells and stir up a mob.

15:19On the other side, with Berea, you have those who are described as noble or well-born. Now, this is an interesting concept as well. If you look at the first concept of the ones in the marketplace, you have an almost exact opposite concept that comes into mind. The Greeks use this word to refer to aristocracy, and this is where the noble-born concept comes in some of your scriptures. But it is not referring, and in fact, I'll point out the rich young ruler. This is the exact same word or a closely associated word that's used for him. But the aristocracy is not the primary idea here, it's what is associated therewith.

16:11You see, in the Greek mindset, someone who was of the elite, born well, was considered and expected to be a virtuous person. And I don't actually, I should have looked up how to pronounce it. I'm not going to try to. A. Name, a Greek writer, writing of another fellow named Tamarcus, said the following. I'll read to you the English translation. He says of Tamarcus, his father had left him a very large property, which he has squandered, as I will show in the course of my speech. But he behaved as he did because he was a slave to the most shameful lusts, to gluttony and extravagance at table, to flute girls and harlots, to dice, to all those other things, no one of which ought to have the mastery over a man who is well-born and free.

17:12You see, there's an expectation to behave as befitting your station. So when they use this word, that's some of the concept. And it reminds me, that particular usage reminds me of another tale, The Prodigal Son, although there's no redemption in the Greek story. But you get the idea there. So you have this people who are described not necessarily as wealthy or noble in that sense, but their characteristics are noble. They are acting as befitting, dare I say, a child of God.

17:56They are acting in a way that befits their station. They are acting in accordance with the laws and rules that have been given them, not in the sense of the Pharisees, who have made it all a game about lifting up the self, but an actual service to the God that they love, a remnant people. A concept I have not been able to get entirely out of my head. So you have these two absolute polar opposites, this picture of the Jews in Thessalonica who are associated with the rabble, the Jews in Thessalonica who are behaving themselves in evil and contemptible ways, and the Bereans who are behaving in a noble way. That's great. I can see this. You begin to see this word construction in the passage. But what does the word noble mean here? What does it mean to behave noble? What is a noble way to act? I'm glad you asked. Let's look at that. Because you see, as we look at this, that they were fair-minded and they received the word with all readiness and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. And therein you have the answer.

19:30Therein, you see what it means to live up to their name. You see, the Thessalonikians did not engage in debate. They did not engage in seeking after the truth. They did not engage in reading of Scripture. They resorted to violence. And in doing so, they reflected their Father. You see, Satan, while he is subtle, Genesis chapter 3, verse 1, while he does disguise himself in light, 2 Corinthians 11:14, he is violent, and his children are violent. In Job, for example, when he is testing one of the servants of God, how does he do it? Through violence. In our text this morning, in Revelation 13, when he gets his authority from God, what is the first thing he does? He strikes out at the church, at the children of God.

20:38In Ezekiel 28, 16, it says, he is full of violence. In 1 Peter 5:8, he is like a lion. In John 8, he is a murderer. In John 10, 18, he is to kill and destroy. Let's not be deceived. Satan doesn't just play games for fun. If we have not learned, Anything from Revelation, you should have picked up on this. He's not out there for giggles, he is a violent adversary, and those who follow him are violent. And we see this in our culture today. I think it's fairly evident. Those who are opposed to the church and to God are not going to react by talking to you calmly and rationally, debating. They may as a pretense, but it is very quickly followed up by lashing out by vile words that all too quickly become vile actions.

21:43In other places in the world, you see there this ultimately works itself out in martyrdom. It is a pattern that repeats itself without exception. The slope of violence that continues. And we see it in Scripture told to us that you have an opposition to Christ that leads to actual physical conflict with God Himself, or an attempt there at. It doesn't last very long, but they attempt it. So you see who Satan is, and you see this illustrated in the Thessalonicans.

22:30But the Bereans are not so. They're not going to react physically. They are going to act in the spirit, in the mind, by testing truth. I'll point out further that if you look at chapter 17, verse 32, just a little bit ahead of our text, you see another group of folks, the Athenians. Like the Thessalonikians, they do not accept. Now, while their reaction perhaps is not as violent and not immediately as in like kind, you see this that they are not acting like the Bereans. In 1732, what is their reaction? Even those who might seem slightly more receptive. When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, We will hear you again on this matter. You have mocking and procrastination. Mocking, a tame form of violence, and procrastination, which is to say putting it out of their head, because they're not actually interested. Again, the Bereans, however, are serious and they are immediate. They are not going to rest until they know the truth, and they find that truth in Scripture.

24:01They are going to, furthermore, you'll notice a difference. Whereas Paul is speaking to them, verse 2 of chapter 17, three Sabbaths he reasoned with them, three days, which corresponds to three weeks in which they were exposed, how do the Bereans respond? If we look again, they searched the scriptures daily. They didn't wait for Paul to come in on the Sabbaths to their synagogue and preach to them. And then they went home and waited for him to come again to reason with them. Independently of their own volition, daily they are searching the scriptures. And they must know the truth. And they must know it immediately.

24:57You'll see that those, the remnant Jews, who follow the true faith in Christ as seen and expounded on in the Old Testament, will to the man accept Jesus Christ when they are faced with the truth. We see this pattern repeated in Apollos, chapter 18, verse 26 of Acts. The 12 disciples who were baptized according to John and 19, 1 through 7. Before this, if you go back. To the Gospels in Simeon and Anna and Luke 2, 25-38.

25:35You see, these Jews did not mythologize Scripture. They appealed a careful hermeneutic. And herein comes my appeal to all of us tonight. Among the many other things, among the warnings of who we are facing, this is perhaps our biggest takeaway. One of the things I have had the perhaps I'm telling on myself. I have a certain amount of enjoyment in talking to certain cults, and perhaps I shouldn't, but I do. And one of them is the Mormons.

26:23I kind of enjoy talking to them. I haven't converted any yet, but I keep trying. Anyhow, if you talk to them long enough, they will always come to the exact same argument. At the end of the day, you can go all over Scripture with them. You can use any arguments you want. At the end of the day, they're going to result to their ace in the hole. They're going to say something like this: take the Book of Mormon, go home and read it. And pray. And the Holy Spirit will show you that this is true.

27:09And folks, that sounds really nice. That sound, that tickles just the right place. Sounds spiritual, sounds good. Right? But they left out the most important part. What did the Bereans do? Did they go read it, pray, and wait for a warm feeling from the Holy Spirit? Or did they go into the scripture when faced with a truth they had not been faced with before and who Jesus Christ was, that he was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, when faced with this truth, what did they do?

27:47It says they received the word with all readiness and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Is it consistent with the word? Not do I have a warm fuzzy feeling. I believe the Holy Spirit speaks, but he speaks through the word. He speaks of Christ, who is the word. He is a witness to Christ who has given us this Bible to read and compare anything you hear. So have you been Doing it.

28:32You see, Scripture gets preached from this pulpit regularly. Scripture gets taught from our Sunday school rooms regularly. It also gets given to us over the radio, over the television. We hear the word. What are you doing with it? See, you can't know whether what I'm saying right now is true or not just by hearing me saying that sounds nice and waiting for a warm, fuzzy feeling. Have you been in the scriptures studying? When I preached on Acts on the first missionary journey the week before last, did you compare it? Did you study it? Did you ask questions? Did you go to other brothers and sisters in this church and talk to them about it?

29:27You see, the learning doesn't happen just on the Sabbath or just on the Lord's Day, it happens daily. And the church doesn't just receive and call it good. We talk about it. We study it. We keep it constantly before us. The frontlets on our forehead. Always, constantly studying to show ourselves approved. That is what it means to. Be like this people who is unique. That is the point of this text that has been given to us. Why was this put in Scripture? I maintain to you so that we can see a people and how they handled what was given to them and apply it. They were not the Thessalonikians. They were the Bereans. And as I suggested to you in the title, that is my call to be like them. And I'll make another note, by the way, at this point, the word Bereans. And I deleted it out of my notes. I shouldn't have. But I did a little bit of research for fun. We like the word Bereans.

30:46It has been applied, I think, accounted like seven different groups that use the name. The first was in the 1700s, applied to a group of dissenters from the Scottish Church. And then you have, I think, two full-fledged national denominations, a couple associations, a couple other groups. And it was interesting to me that some of them I could agree some with, although they were lost largely to history, probably because of some of their slippery ways. But some of them were some pretty. Nasty folks. In fact, one of the groups that goes by the name Bereans, a name which means they're claiming to behave like this, is a bunch of universalists, Christadelphians, I believe is the name for them.

31:46So just because they claim the name, that doesn't mean anything. Just because they're Southern Baptists, just because they're part of the Brazos Valley Baptist Network, just because they listen to John MacArthur, just because, just because, just because, doesn't mean a hill of beans. You cannot trust, strictly speaking, a name or a claim. You must be in the Scriptures. This is a call for every individual Christian. This is not the job of the pastor. We will help you. We will walk you through and help you understand how to read the scriptures. But you must read the scriptures. You must take what we give you, apply it, and know the scriptures so that you do not end up on the wrong path. So that when you see the truth, you recognize the truth. And so that you can, like them, go on later. And if I get the chance in the third missionary journey, you see a Berean, who, just like in the second missionary journey, we have somebody from the first, the area of the first, who is then going out and able to further the kingdom. In the third, you see someone who's able to go out from Berea and further the work of the kingdom. But first, you have to know the scriptures. That is my call for all of us, and one I hope that we will heed. Let's pray.

33:34Dear Lord, I thank you for your word. Lord, I thank you that it is so readily available. I pray that you will continually convict us to stay in your word. I pray that you will, through your spirit, illuminate for us the correct interpretation, that we will see what is true by comparison in your scriptures, and that we will know you. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.