There are a thousand duties and privileges which only Christians can enjoy. Amen?
For example, PRAYER is not a privilege belonging to the wicked and rebellious.
Do those who are openly rebellious deserve the comfort of the Holy Spirit? No they don’t.
But there ARE thousands of duties and blessings which should be obeyed and enjoyed by all men everywhere.
The Bible even uses those very words in regards to repentance:
Who are required to drive slowly through school zones: Christians only or all drivers?
Clearly there are laws and responsibilities which apply to all men equally.
Will Christians float upward when they jump off bridges?
There are a thousand laws which apply equally to Christians and non-Christians.
As I pointed out last Sunday,
At the time when Luke described them as “noble,” the people here in our text were not believers.
But they were noble because they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures to see whether or not what Paul was teaching was Biblical.
And when they learned that what he was preaching was true, THEN many of them believed.
They BECAME CHRISTIANS because they were noble;
They were not noble, because they were Christians.
But just because the people of this scripture were unsaved when they were described as “noble,”
That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be emulate them in their nobility.
In fact, since Luke says that these people were MORE noble than the Thessalonians,
Because WE have been born again, and we already know the truth.
Specifically thinking about the area of SEARCHING the scriptures.
Those people were noble because they RECEIVED Paul’s words with all readiness of mind;
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
Please turn to Jeremiah 36:1-7.
“And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into house of the LORD:
Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD’S house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.
It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, & will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger & the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people.”
But actually, it was only slightly different from the way in which God has given to us any other verse in the entire Bible.
Last week in order to smooth the road to Oklahoma and back, I borrowed four books from the library.
They were on tape, so all we had to do was plug them into the cassette player.
One of the books was called “The Testament” and it centered around the dying wishes of two people.
When that will was read, most of those people were EXTREMELY attentive to every word and syllable.
The quality of their lives rested on what was being said in that testament.
Those were the last words of their very wealthy father.
“And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves” (Deut. 4:12-15).
Let’s say that a rich benefactor has established a trust in your name and put a billion dollars into it for you.
Wouldn’t it be wise to carefully study the wording of that trust and all of its conditions?
Wouldn’t it be foolish to loose that money just because you failed to read the conditions of its use?
There are always rules that govern relationships.
The Bible describes what intimate fellowship with God requires.
Because without the scriptures we are sure to be lost.
As you know I have driven to Lawton, Oklahoma and the Bethel Baptist Church several times.
In the dead of night, in pitch-black darkness, I can point towards the Bighorn Mountains or toward Yellowstone National Park.
But on this trip I tried a short-cut from Dalhart to Amarillo, Texas, which I had never driven before.
We didn’t have time to get lost and still get to the church in time for supper.
And we were forced to drive an highway which I had never used before,
So once again, I had a map in my hand just to make sure that I knew exactly where we were all time.
I love maps because they tell me lots of different things.
And when I’m not driving while reading my maps, I may even take my glasses off and put my nose on the page just to make sure that I’m learning all that there is to learn.
In fact they are important enough to require serious scrutiny.
Why should we search the scriptures?
Because our Lord Jesus used it as the source for his lessons and sermons.
When a respected friend comes to me and tells me that I need to read such-&-such a book, I try to read it.
If he quotes from a book often enough, I may take the hint and try to read it.
I have half a dozen books in my library about books – recommendations for the pastor’s library.
Those are some of the most prized books on my shelves.
If the Lord Jesus was a student of the scriptures, then it should be natural for each of us to want to read what He read.
If He had said, “Read Charles Dickens,” then we should read Charles Dickens.
What he did say was “search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
Because they are they which testify of Christ.
There have been thousands of theology books written down through the years.
He said that most theologians start with either God the Father or with the authority of the scriptures.
But for HIS theology book, he wanted to start at the CENTER, rather than at the beginning.
And so he began with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Someone else might study the Bible to glean information for the study of human behavior, and he would learn more through that study than by actually studying human behaviour.
But the primary subject of the Bible is Christ Jesus.
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: they are they which testify of me.”
There is no more important subject than salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why should we search the scriptures?
Because there is not a more profitable study in any school or university, seminary or educational institution.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
The people of our text searched the scriptures and found eternal life.
There is an extremely profitable study.
In that story about “The Testament” not only were six potential heirs, sitting on the edge of their seats,
But they also each had one or two lawyers who supposedly had ears trained to hear the details of wills.
Unfortunately for the heirs, in that story, those lawyers were more interested in calculating their 20% cut of what their client would receive.
Second, we need to remember to receive the scriptures as THE VERY WORD OF GOD.
There is a statement in I Thessalonians which I find curious if not humorous.
Acts 17:11 says, “These (Bereans) 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 Thess. 1:2 says, “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.”
Either Luke liked the Bereans more than he did the Thessalonians, and it was just the reverse for Paul,
The Thessalonians were praised for receiving the Word as it is in truth – the Word of God.
And that means that they gave the Word of God the RESPECT to which it is due.
I think that I have told you about being chewed out by Bro. Ken Johnson years ago.
And when we finished singing I put my song book down on top of his Bible.
He immediately told me that was unacceptable behaviour.
Nothing was ever going to be put on top or higher than the Word of God.
Perhaps I don’t carry that quite as far as he does, but I certainly respect and agree with the symbolism.
It is right and accurate even when WE might not understand what it is saying.
Let God be true and every man a liar, if that man’s thoughts do not agree with the Word of God.
Fourth, a part of the searching of God’s word involves MEDITATION and MEMORIZATION.
Have you ever been faced with a problem for which you could see no answer?
Eventually, the answer became obvious?
And if that is what it takes, then do it: memorize and meditate.
Fifth, our searching of God’s Word must be done PRAYERFULLY.
In Isaiah 55 the Lord told us,
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
And that means that there will be a great many things which we will never be able to know without the Spirit’s illumination.
So we need to study God’s word prayerfully.
Any other approach carries with it some degree of human pride.
Luke commended the Bereans for their approach towards Paul’s preaching and to the Word of God.
What he wrote in these verses were directed by the Holy Spirit not only to them, but for us.
And that means that we too, should search the scriptures in the same sort of way.