Don't Be Ignorant, Be A Truth Seeker (Acts 17:11)
Acts 17:11 (NASB) Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
Our memory verse this week is from Paul’s second missionary journey. After being jailed at Philippi, Paul met with more disagreement in Thessalonica. While he accepted a few converts there, most of the Jewish population was angry at his assertion that Jesus is the Messiah. Chased from Thessalonica, Paula and his companion Silas, moved on to Berea. In each new town, they met first in the Jewish synagogue to share the gospel message.
The Berean people were a people of the synagogue and of the Scriptures, a people who worshiped God. They were a noble people. A noble people have a concern about God and the things of God. They fear—stand in awe and reverence before God—knowing that God alone is the answer to the longing of their soul and to the ills of their society and world.
A noble people seek the truth and seek it honestly. They are open to seeking the truth in the Scripture as well as to seeking it in the world. Not everyone is honest in seeking the truth. Some claim to seek the truth but have closed minds to other approaches to the truth. They are closed to approaches that differ from the approach they wish to pursue. This is particularly true with the truth of Scripture and of Christ. Humankind has a bias and prejudice against the truth of Scripture and Christ. Therefore, in their pursuit of truth, people ignore and sometimes mock Biblical truth.
The point is this: most people are unwilling to face the reality of truth. Fallen humanity has a bias against the truth of God and His world. But not the noble of the world. The noble are those who search for the truth and are open to all areas of the truth, including God and Scripture.
A noble people are an honest and thinking and searching people. They investigate, study, and seek to verify the message of truth. Note: the Bereans sought "with all readiness of mind": a willing desire, an eagerness, a hunger, a thirst to know the truth. A noble people do not shut their minds or hearts; they do not refuse to listen or consider.
One other fact: a noble people do not just accept and swallow whatever is said. Paul himself was the authority proclaiming the truth; but the Bereans studied, investigated, and searched the Scriptures for the truth themselves. And they searched daily. The truth of God and His world has no end; it is unfathomable. Discovering the truth is a daily responsibility. God has made it so (Luke 9:23).
In our world today, there are many new teachings that come into the Christian community that should be tested by the Bible. If a teaching is not discerned from the Bible then it is probably a false teaching.