Thursday, October 16, 2014

To Be More Noble

Acts 17:11

11 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.
I recently did a Bible study on Paul's missionary journey to Berea. The Word of God says that the Christians in Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica. It even tells us the reason why they were considered to be more noble: because they received the word readily and searched the scriptures daily for themselves to see if what Paul was preaching was true. 
These are lessons we can all benefit from. According to the dictionary the word noble means: having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles and ideals.

synonyms:righteous, virtuous, good, honorable, upright, decent, worthy, moral,ethical
I think we could all say we want to be thought of as being noble like the Berean Christians were.

We live in a time when we are blessed to have the Word of God being preached in a way that has never happened before. We have the internet and television and radio so we have access to hearing sermons at just about any time we want. Because of this we need to be more diligent than ever before to be like the Berean Christians and search the Word of God to see if what we are hearing lines up with God's Word. 

There are many 'personalities' out there who are preaching a good message but not necessarily what the Bible has to say. If we are not in the Word and studying it daily, we could very easily swallow this false gospel hook, line and sinker. Satan doesn't care who you worship as long as its not God. He doesn't need you worshiping him. You can worship that TV personality and follow his message or you can worship anyone else, as long as you don't give your worship to God, Satan will have accomplished what he set out to do: lead you away from God. 

There are those who teach that as long as you are a good person you can go to Heaven, but the Bible says that there is only one way to reach the Father and that is through His Son Jesus Christ (John 14:6). And we can't ever be good enough to earn a place in Heaven because the Word tells us that our righteousness or our goodness is like filthy rags in comparison to God's goodness and righteousness (Isaiah 64:6). So what must we do to be saved? To have our place in Heaven? We must confess our sins and turn away from them. We must believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth to die for the sins of mankind. He was crucified and rose again three days later. (1 John 1:9, 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 1 Corinthians 15:4)

But there are those out there who are preaching something different than this message. That is why it is so important that we take the example of the Berean Christians and what they did and determine to do the same thing in our lives. We need to become students of the Word like never before. A doctrine can sound good but not line up with the Bible. Let me encourage you to study the Word. Buy yourself a good concordance and a commentary. A study Bible is a great tool as well. We are blessed to live in an age when so much is available to us. Let's not take that for granted, but use the tools we've been given to study the Word. If we do we will recognize false teaching when we hear it. 

Let's be on guard. There are many voices speaking around us but we only need to hear One: the voice of God. He speaks to our hearts through His Word. He speaks to those who are willing to listen; to those who dare to be more noble than the rest. 



 
 

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