Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyvert. Our text for this morning is
found in Acts chapter 17. I'd like to read verses 10 through
12. I've entitled this message, The
Noble Bereans. Beginning in verse 10, Acts chapter
17, and the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night
unto Berea. There's a little town 30, 35
miles south of here named Berea, Kentucky. And I believe that
this name came from this passage of scripture when that town was
settled. And I would assume Berea College has something to do with
this name when it was initially started. The noble Bereans. And the brethren immediately
sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who coming thither
went into the synagogue of the Jews. These, these Jews in Berea,
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. Now these people did not
simply believe what Paul said because he said it. but they
searched the scriptures to see if what Paul was saying was according
to the scriptures. And this passage of scripture
says they received the word with all readiness of mind, unlike
those Jewish believers in Thessalonica. Now let's see what took place
in Thessalonica, and I think it'll set up the spirit of these
noble Bereans. We read in verse one of chapter
17, this is the event that took place before he went to Berea. And when they had passed through
Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was
a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was. Now this is the way Paul operated
when he would go into a city, He would go first into the synagogue
if there was one there. And there was a synagogue in
this city in Greece called Thessalonica. It's here to this day, the city
of Thessalonica. And as his manner was, he went
in unto them and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of
the scriptures. Now this was his authority out
of the scriptures. Opening and alleging that Christ
must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead. Now
when he was dealing with this, all of the Jews were looking
for a coming Messiah. The woman at the well said, I
know when Messiah cometh. He'll teach us all things. He'll tell us all things. All
the Jews were looking for a Messiah. But the Messiah they were looking
for was a Messiah who would deliver them from Roman bondage and having
to pay tribute and taxes to the Roman government. They were looking
for a Messiah that would make them once again a world power
and a powerful economy and people would be under them. They were
looking to be the most powerful nation once again. Now there
was a time when Israel was a powerful nation. Under King David, the
scripture says, the fear of David fell on all nations. But now,
centuries later, they're a weak nation without power under Roman
rule. And they were looking for a Messiah
who would come back and restore them to their former glory. So when Paul is talking about
Christ, he's not yet letting them know of Jesus of Nazareth.
He's talking about the concept of the Christ in the Old Testament. And he makes this statement with
regard to the Christ out of the scriptures. He said, opening
and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered. And he must
needs have risen from the dead. Now, don't miss this. Christ,
the Christ of the Old Testament, the Messiah that Daniel spoke
of, must needs have suffered. It was necessary that he suffer. Why? Because it was God's purpose. Christ is called the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. God purposed for him to come
and be slain and to suffer. Why must needs he suffer? On
Calvary's tree, There was not an innocent victim suffering. He was guilty. Now somebody says, how could
the Christ be guilty if he had no sin? Because the sins of the
elect were imputed to him by his father. For he hath made
him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. The sins of God's elect became
his sins, and when he was suffering, it was because he was guilty
of the commission of those sins. Now, he never sinned in his person.
He's the only man, the only holy man to ever live, the only man
to ever keep God's law. But when the sins of his people
became his, he was guilty before God, and that's why he must need
suffer. God's not gonna slay an innocent
person. He was guilty. My sin became
his, and he was guilty. He must suffer. The law and justice
of God demanded his suffering. He must need suffer, and he must
need rise from the dead. Why must he rise from the dead?
Because he satisfied God. Because all of the claims of
God's law against sin were answered. He satisfied the justice of God. He put away that sin, and he
must needs rise from the dead. Now this is the concept of the
Old Testament. Christ. You can read about him
in Isaiah chapter 53, these descriptions of his sufferings and his victory. He must need suffer. He must
needs rise from the dead. And then Paul says, and this
Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, the one who was crucified on a cross,
the one who was raised from the dead, seen of many witness. This
Jesus is Christ, is God's prophet, the Old Testament prophet. He
is God's priest, the one who offers himself before God. He
is God's king, the one who rules and reign. This Jesus, whom I
preach unto you, is Christ. Now that was Paul's manner. He
would go into these synagogues and he would show from the scriptures
that Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter, the one who lived
33 years here on earth and was slain and was raised from the
dead, this Jesus is the Christ. Well, he was ran out of town
and he went into Berea. And that's where we get these
words. These And the brethren immediately
sent him, Paul and Silas, by night into Berea. There was a
mob going on. They feared for their lives.
I don't think Paul and Silas did, but the disciples wanted
to get them out of there because they knew that they could very
well be in danger. They feared for their lives.
So they sent him into Berea. And he coming there, they went
into the synagogue of the Jews. And no doubt he did the same
way he did in Thessalonica as his manner was. Now here's what
it says of these Jews. 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 these things be so. Now the word noble in the scripture
quite often is used in a negative way. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
he said, not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. Now the word noble means well
born and with it, high born, born into influence, born into
wealth, born into a high place in society. With it generally
comes a sense of entitlement that is Not good. I have this coming to me because
I am well born. No, you don't. All men by nature
are sinners and nothing more. And there are not many noble
who are called. But here it's used in a positive
way. And the nobility is found in
that they receive the word with all readiness of mind. Now, what is meant by the word?
Well, the first thing that comes to our mind is the scriptures. The scriptures are the Word of
God. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, all scripture
is given by inspiration of God. The Word of God is Genesis 1.1
through Revelation 22.1. It is the 66 books of the Bible.
35, over 35 authors, written over
a 1,300 year period, the inspired scripture. Now, understand this.
If we don't have the inspired scripture, all we have is my
opinion, and all we have is your opinion. And what good is that?
Somebody says, here's what I think it means, or here's what it means
to me. It doesn't matter what you think, or I think. It doesn't
matter what it means to you. What does it mean? What does
God say in His Word? The only issue is what sayeth
the Scripture. Now, there are people who will
fight for the inspiration of the Scripture, but they don't
pay attention to what it says. It won't do you any good to believe
in the inspiration of the Scripture if you don't believe the message
of the Scripture. Now, the Word of God is the Scripture. It's
the Word. It's the Gospel message. in the Word that reveals the
Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. Preach the Word. That's what
Paul said to Timothy. Preach the Word, whatever the
Word declares. Preach the Word. And understand
this. If I leave out, purposefully
leave out any part of the Scripture, any doctrine of the Scripture
because I'm afraid it'll offend somebody or I'm afraid it'll
cause people to leave, or if I add something to the Word because
I don't really believe the Word and I add my own two sins to
it, I am not preaching the Word. The Word is the Word, the message
from the written Word of God that reveals the living Word
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the scripture says they receive
the Word with all readiness of mind, with all eagerness of mind,
in an open-minded way. Now what does that mean? Paul warned of those who corrupt
the Word of God and those who use the Word of God deceitfully.
Now, what does that mean? That means you go to the Scriptures
and pull out a verse to prove what you already believe. You
don't come to the Word of God to find out what to believe.
You use the Bible to prove what you believe. Here's an example. Somebody says, I believe the
Bible teaches salvation through baptism and the forgiveness of
sins coming through baptism. And they'll quote Acts chapter
2, verse 38, repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. There,
that proves it. You know, you can prove anything
you want from the scriptures if you pull a passage of scripture
out of context and force your meaning on it. No one is born
again by being baptized. Someone's born again because
the Spirit of God bursts them into the kingdom of heaven. Someone's
sins are not washed away because they were baptized. Someone's
sins are washed away because Jesus Christ died for them and
put them away. All baptism is is a confession
of all that. You're confessing your salvation
is in Christ. So, these people weren't coming
to the Scriptures to prove what they already believed. That's
a corrupt, deceitful way to handle the Word of God. They came to
the Scriptures to find out what to believe. And when they heard
Paul preach, they received the Word. With all readiness of mind,
and they didn't believe it just because Paul said it, they searched
the Scriptures daily whether these things were so." Now, there's
a couple of Scriptures that came to my mind when I was considering
this. The first passage I'd like us to look at real briefly is
the 19th Psalm. Psalm 19 is the psalm that contains
God's two books, the nature book and the scripture book. Now listen
to these words carefully. The heavens declare the glory
of God and the firmament showeth forth his handiwork. You look
at this creation and you see the glory of God. Day unto day
adverth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There
is no speech nor language. where their voice is not heard.
Now you go anywhere, doesn't matter what continent, what country,
what ethnicity, everybody can see that God created the universe. There's no excuse not to see
that. Somebody says, well, I don't see it. Well, then you close
your eyes to it because it's illogical, irrational to believe
anything else. Somebody made this. It didn't
just happen. Somebody very powerful made this,
and nobody made Him. Paul said in Romans 1, the invisible
things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, even
His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
Creation says, God is. He made this and nobody made
him. He is eternal. Now that's the voice of creation,
but look what David says beginning in verse seven of this 19th Psalm. The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul. The Bible is the only perfect
thing we have in this world. The inspired word of God. And
then he says, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise
the simple. You see, this is God's testimony.
You know, people like to give their testimony, their religious
testimony. They have testimony nights and
all that kind of stuff. And you know, anytime a man gives
his testimony, he's not gonna give the whole truth. He's gonna
try to present himself in such a way as to make himself look
better, make you feel, and you're gonna hear him, and you're gonna
think, I need to have his experience. All that stuff is foolishness.
Any testimony like that is, I'm not interested in it, but this
is the testimony of the Lord. This is his testimony, and it
makes wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are
right, the appointments, the decrees of God. Spelled out in
the scriptures, they're all right. Everything that happens, happens
because God willed it and it's all right. The commandments of
the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord
is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are
true and righteous altogether. That's what's contained in the
scriptures regarding God's word. Peter put it this way. Now we're
talking about having them receiving the Word. What was it they received?
The Word of God. What all is meant by the Word
of God? Peter put it this way. He said, being born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. I love that scripture of James,
of his own will begat he us through the word of truth. This is what
God uses to reveal himself. Now, Peter is quoting a passage
from Isaiah 40, and I would like to read it. Beginning in verse
six, we read this statement, the voice said, cry, speaking
of the voice of God, speaking to Isaiah. The voice said, cry. And I said, what shall I cry?
Here it is. This is God telling Isaiah what
to say. All flesh is grass, and all the
goodliness thereof is of the flower of the field. The grass
withers, the flower fades because the Spirit of the Lord blows
upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withers, the
flower faded. That's talking about the sinfulness,
the weakness, the depravity and the inability of all flesh. It fades away. But the Word of
our God shall stand forever. Now there's only one person who will stand in judgment
the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and all those in Him. Now, if you've been taught of
God, You know that the only hope you have is that Jesus Christ
is your representative, that he kept the law for you, and
that he put away your sins, and he stands for you. Only what
he did is good in judgment. Do you want anything? have done
to be judged by God on Judgment Day? I sure don't. I don't want
to have anything to do with anything like that. I want Christ, my
representative, my Savior, my Redeemer, to stand for me. He's the one thing that abides
forever, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Paul said they received
the Word. They received. the Word. They didn't reject the Word.
They found it to be good news, worthy of all acceptation. This
is the best news I've ever heard. They received it as the Gospel. Now, the Scripture says a man
can receive nothing except it be given him from above. The
only reason they received the Word is because they were enabled
to. And if you're a believer, you know that the only reason
you've received is because He gave you the grace to. As many
as received Him, John said, as many as received Him, to them
gave you the power to become the sons of God, even to them
which believe on His name, which were born. which were birthed,
it's talking about the new birth, not of blood, not because your
mom and dad were Christians, not of the will of man, not because
a bunch of men got together and said we're gonna pray until you
get saved, not of the will of the flesh, not as an act of man's
free will, but of God. These people received the word,
they received it as the word of God. They didn't receive it
as the Word of man, they received it as it is in truth, the Word
of God. And this doesn't mean they acknowledge,
well, I see that's what the Bible says. No, they received the love
of the truth. Oh, this came as good news to
them. They received the love of the truth. They love what
the Bible reveals concerning God's character. They love what
the Bible reveals concerning my character. I love finding
out that I'm nothing but sin, because that makes me look to
Christ only as everything in my salvation. I love every attribute
of God revealed in the gospel. We receive the love of the truth.
And don't miss this, they received, I think it's amazing how men
make the act of reception the act of salvation. God loves everybody
the same, God wants everybody To be saved, the ones who receive
Him are the ones who are saved, and the ones who fail to receive
Him, they're not saved. Now, if you don't receive Christ,
it's because He was never given to you. The salvation of God
is not an offer, it's a gift. It's not offered for your acceptance
or rejection. It's the gift of God that He
gives to everybody Christ died for. Don't think of your reception
as an act of merit. If there's a man on death row,
and he's been guilty of crimes against humanity, and the president,
for some reason, only found it himself, cease fit to pardon
this man. What would you think of this
man if he said, well, at least I received it. That's the difference. I
received it. Somebody else didn't. That's why I'm getting this pardon.
Well, that's foolishness. but as many as received him."
Now, these were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that
they received the word. with all readiness of mind, and
they searched the scriptures daily whether those things were
so. Now let me give you some indication so you can know whether
or not you've received the word. Now I quoted this scripture once,
as many as received him. You've received the word when
you receive him as he is, as he is presented in the scriptures. As many as received him, To them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them which believe
on his name." To receive the word is to receive him. To receive
him is to believe on his name. Now his name, It's his attributes. It's not just knowing his name
audibly. Jesus Christ, the Lord, Jesus
of Nazareth. It's his attributes. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's not
just audibly articulating his name. That's understanding who
that name represents. There's a person behind the name,
the almighty one, the all-powerful one, the holy one of Israel,
the one who can't fail. You know, the thief on the cross
knew who he was. He said to his buddy, don't you
fear God. He knew that was God nailed to
that cross. He said, Lord, remember me. He
looked at that one hanging on a cross, seemingly so helpless,
but he knew he was Lord. He said, Lord, remember me when
you come into your kingdom. You're not going to stay on this
cross. You're going to come back as a mighty reigning king. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. They received the Word. They received Him. They believed
on His name. They called on His name. They looked to Him only. Now
let me tell you when you've received the Word. You've received the
Word when you look to Jesus Christ only as everything in your salvation. If you look anywhere else, if
you have anything else, you've not received the word. You may
be religious, but you've not received the word. When you've
received the Word, you receive Him in all of His fullness as
everything in your salvation. Colossians 2, 9 and 10 says,
In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete in Him. Now, if you are completing him,
you know what you're gonna do? You're gonna receive that. That's
the best news you've ever heard. Now, we have this message on
DVD, CD. If you call the church, write,
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg, praying
that God will be pleased to make himself known to you. To receive
a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send your request
to todd.nyberg at gmail.com, or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.