Search the Scriptures

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Acts 17:11 says, “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.” 

     It is interesting to note the various names of churches.  Some bear the name of the locality, such as Jennings Creek, or 19th Street Baptist.  Others will have a doctrine such as “Grace” or “New Covenant” while others may have an expression about God such as Bethe.  I have seen a number of different churches in my day and very few of them were named the First  Corinthian Church of such and such a city.  The church at Corinth had a lot of problems as one can see from the first epistle but then the work that was done was great and it shows in the second epistle.  The book of Acts shows us the journey of Paul down the coast of Greece and after he left Thessalonica, he came to Berea

     You will find a good number of churches like to be called “Berean.”  They like to put that word in the name because of the characteristics of the Berean church.  Two characteristics are evident and the first is that they received the Word with all readiness of mind.  Paul makes mention of this apparently because not all of the established churches were this way.   They were hungry for the word of God.  When you find someone like that, you have the inclination to pour out everything you know to them.  Some churches are more inclined to entertainment or a social gospel and they care less about the proclamation of the Word of God.  The second characteristic was that they searched the scriptures whether those things were so.  At that time in history, all they had was the Old Testament, but they searched the Old Testament to verify wha Paul was saying was the truth.  We live in a day when this is so vitally needed.  This is the only measurement that we can have about a church or a preacher.  Do they stand on the Word of God or is it just entertainment?  John MacArthur once said that when you are cut you should bleed “bible.”  it  was an indication that you should be filled with the Word of God in everything and in every time of your life.  It is to be your guide in every decision that you make.  You will find that through “searching the Scriptures” you will find the answer to your life's problems.  The Bible, the Word of God, has been verified by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The tomb is empty and His words are what we need to live our lives today.  We need to ask ourselves if we are like the Bereans.  Do we search the Scriptures or just take what is said and not question it at all.  We need to always beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing in the pulpits of America and the rest of the world.  Praise God t