A Place to Stand

Acts 17:10-12

I am just old enough and old-fashioned enough to believe that

standing behind this pulpit actually means something

-to believe that I have a responsibility to you and ultimately to God

-to believe that it is not about me, my words, my wisdom, or my

insight

-and to believe that when I open this Book of books—what I am

convinced is the written Word of God, the record of God’s

revelation of Himself to us—that that in and of itself brings

authority not to me, but to this word proclaimed

This sermon isn’t about defending Scripture as God’s Word or

defining inspiration or explaining the concept of inerrancy

-while those are all valuable messages that need to be preached,

they’re just not going to happen today

--instead, we continue exploring the characteristics of authentic

Christian community by examining the example of some first-

century believers in the town of Berea

---Berea is barely a blip on the screen of Paul’s missionary

journey between Thessalonica and Athens...and to be

honest we might not remember them at all if it weren’t

for one characteristic that sets them apart and actually

has come to distinguish them as a church

At the beginning of Acts 17, we find Paul and Silas in the city of

Thessalonica preaching the good news about Jesus Christ

-while there are many who come to trust in Christ, there are also

a small group of Jews who form a mob, start a riot, and are intent

on getting Paul and Silas arrested (if not worse)

--we pick up their story in v. 10 à Read Acts 17:10-12

Granted, communication in the first century is hardly what it is today

-Paul doesn’t have the convenience of the internet or satellite TV

--but we can be assured that the news about Paul’s ministry has

arrived in Berea long before Paul himself

---what’s amazing is that the people in Berea aren’t wowed

by Paul’s reputation nor by his credentials

---oh, sure, they listen to his preaching with great intensity and

respect—they aren’t cynical—but they refuse to turn off

their brains when the sermon starts

--in fact, they don’t turn off their brains when the sermon is over

---what do they do when the preaching is finished?

----they go to Royal Inn for lunch, belly up to the buffet, load

their plates, and then gather around the table, open

their Bibles, and see if Paul’s words fall in line with

God’s Word

---in fact, they do this every day

----to their credit, they don’t ever get to the point when they

think, “Oh, c’mon, y’all! It’s Paul. We know Paul. Paul’s

a good guy. He’s not going to steer us wrong. We can

trust Paul. Now lets go back for some dessert pizza!”

Nope—not in Berea

-in Berea Paul’s message is held up to the scrutiny and standard of

Scripture

--and it’s not that these Bereans are hyper-suspicious...it’s just

that they understand some important truths

For example, they understand that as a human messenger, Paul is

capable of error

-I don’t care if it’s the Apostle Paul, Brother Don Palmer, Dr. Steve

Phillips, or Reverend Billy Graham...all of them have been wrong

in the past and likely will be wrong in the future

--and yes, you can certainly throw my name in that good

company of preachers...just on a much lower level

-we all make mistakes

--some of them are amusing

---like when I was leading us to pray the Lord’s Prayer on a

Sunday evening several years ago and I got to the end and

simply destroyed the “for Thine is the kingdom and the

power and glory forever, amen” part

----and I think it came out something like “for Thine is the

kingdom and the land of the free and the home of the

brave forever, amen.”

-----whatever it was, it wasn’t pretty

--some of them are innocent and relatively harmless

---I heard an excellent sermon about the power of prayer just a

couple of weeks ago and as an example the preacher said,

“Elijah prayed it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t rain for several

years. And then he prayed again, and God sent rain.”

----since Elijah’s my O.T. hero, I know his story fairly well

and I couldn’t remember Elijah having anything to do

with the drought or the rain...so I re-read 1 Kings 17-

18 and sure enough—the big-name radio preacher

made a mistake

-----does that render his message or his ministry

invalid? of course not! it just means that

“Reverend Big-Name Radio Preacher” is

human and he made a mistake

-----if we preachers need to be allowed a few of

those kind of mistakes every once in a while,

or otherwise we’re all in trouble

--some mistakes emerge because of wrong motives or poor

exegesis or misguided application

---I was preparing to preach at Oak Grove Baptist Church in

Burleson, Texas, where I served as youth minister during

seminary...and I reading about the storm and shipwreck

that Paul goes through in Acts 27

----when I read Acts 27:18-19 [Read] I thought, “Hey,

here’s a sermon. I can preach about getting rid of

the junk in your life.”

-----I was so excited and I typed as fast and

furiously as my fingers would fly...oh, this was

going to be such a great sermon...they might

even ask me to become pastor once that old

guy finally retires

----but then one synapse in my brain clicked and I

remembered something from one of my classes

-----and I did something that for me is as rare as

asking for directions (which, of course, I never

need)...I asked for help

------I called Dr. Rick Johnson, one of my

professors and I outlined my brilliant

sermon idea for him and asked,

“Well, what do you think?”

------silence...horrible, awkward silence...I’m

sure he was laughing, then crying, and

then wondering how I ever got an “A”

----finally, he spoke...calmly, quietly...“James, do you

honestly think God inspired Luke to tell us about

Paul’s shipwreck to teach us that we should get rid of

the junk in our lives?”

-----“Uh, no, sir.”

----“Why do you think God inspired Luke to tell us?”

-----“Maybe to remind us of God’s providence?”

----“James, you need to write yourself another sermon.”

---how many times have you heard good preachers make a

similar mistake?

----they use a biblical passage as their starting point, so it

sounds all nice, neat, and scriptural...but the sermon

itself has nothing to do with the original meaning of

the text

-the Bereans may also understand that there are preachers and

teachers who intentionally distort the truth

--Paul warns Timothy several times of the dangers of these men

--in Ephesians 4:14 he describes their methods as the cunning

and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

The Bereans also understand that there is only one written standard

for truth...that’s why they repeatedly return to Scripture

-and that’s why we must preach and teach Scripture—which isn’t to

say that other books are unimportant...I have shelves of books

---but when I want to learn the truth about heaven, for

example, I don’t study Don Piper’s book...I study the Bible

---when I preach I don’t preach The Purpose-Driven Life...I

preach the Bible

----now, please remember, “preaching the Bible” can

take on a variety of different forms

-----verse-by-verse explanation...digging deeply

into the meanings of words and phrases

-----commands and application (similar to The

Sermon on the Mount)

-----stories and parables (Jesus’ personal favorite)

----the structure itself is actually quite irrelevant, but the

Bereans, or your family, or your friends should still be

able to gather at Royal Inn, discuss what was

preached, and conclude, “Yes, it does fall in line with

the teaching of Scripture.”

-----to be able to do that, however, you and I need

to know what the Scriptures say...we need to

be students of Scripture

-----this week I read an interview with Billy Graham

in which he was asked what he would have

done differently in his life...and he replied, “I

would have devoted more time to the study of

God’s written Word.”

Listen to what Paul reminds Timothy à Read 2 Timothy 3:14-17

-and he goes on in chapter 4 to explain ‘why’ à Read 4:1-4

Paul’s not saying, of course, that the Bible saves us…but he is saying

that the Bible reveals our need for a Savior and points us to Jesus...

who is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)

In Scripture, we learn these truths:

-all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

-the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ

Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23)

-God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were

still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)

-AND If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in

your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved…

for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved

(Romans 10:9, 13)

Again, we might learn these truths, but then it’s left to us to respond

-Scripture is limited in its power because it does not force us to obey

--we still must make choices...choices to believe, trust, surrender

--when we have the Bible, we have a completely faithful and totally

true revelation of how God wants us to live

---there are no questions about that

---the only question, one we face daily, is: am I going to live

out these truths?