Mark 12:38-44

The text before us today is Mark chapter 12, verse 38 through 44.

Mark 12:38–44

Now, let me remind you before we read this where we are.

! We're in the Passion Week.

Jesus is now in Jerusalem.

On Friday, He will be crucified.

And this is Wednesday.

And we've been here for a while now in Wednesday.

And we'll be here for about a month more.

On Monday, He entered into Jerusalem.

The praise of the people.

The triumphal entry is what it's often called.

Tuesday, He goes back in.

He goes out for a while.

He goes back in.

He takes over the temple by overturning the money changers' tables

and stopping the court of Gentiles from being used as a thoroughfare.

And then on Wednesday, He's now encountered this wave of confrontations.

First from the Pharisees, along with a political group called the Herodians.

Then the Sadducees.

And then a scribe.

One who's a professional in the law.

And in verse 34 of chapter 12, we see,

And after that, no one dared to ask Him any more questions.

Because all who had come to Him, who had sought to make a fool of Him,

He turned back around and made fools of them.

And so they've ceased asking questions.

And in verse 35, He then begins to teach.

Let's read together, beginning in verse 38.

And in His teaching, He said,

Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes

and like greetings in the marketplaces

and have the best seats in the synagogues

and the places of honor at feasts,

who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers.

They will receive the greater condemnation.

And He sat down opposite the treasury

and watched the people putting money into the offering box.

Many rich people put in large sums.

And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins,

which make a penny.

And He called His disciples to Him and said to them,

Truly I say to you,

this poor widow has put in more than all those

who are contributing to the offering box,

for they all contributed out of their abundance,

but she, out of her poverty,

has put in everything she had,

all she had to live on.

This is God's Word to us.

It was written for His good,

or excuse me, for His glory,

and our good.

My brain is still catching up this morning.

We would all do well to listen to it

in order to believe its promises

and obey its commands.

Let's pray together.

Father God, we certainly do praise You this morning

for the blessing of Your Word,

for becoming an author,

for inspiring men by Your Spirit

to pen these words for us today.

Father, we ask for a great miracle in my speaking,

that You would guard me from air,

that I would lead people well by Your Word.

And we also ask for a great miracle in the hearing,

that the Spirit would apply the words that I speak

concerning Your Word

to people's hearts appropriately,

that they might respond appropriately.

All of this to the praise of Your glorious name.

And we pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

Amen.

So, as I said, we are in Wednesday.

And just to give you a little bit of an idea

of where we're headed to,

at the end of chapter 12,

Jesus heads out of the temple

and continues to teach about the end of all things

through the end of chapter 13.

Beginning of chapter 14,

we'll then get into Thursday.

I've managed to sit down and plot out the timeline

for the rest of Mark.

And praise God,

we get to actually preach on the resurrection on Easter.

I'm so thankful that it turned out in that way.

So you may be asking,

why is it that these two texts are placed together?

Why 38 through 40 and then 41 through 44?

Because certainly those two things

seem to be able to stand alone.

And we could.

It could be preached that way.

Though I think you'll find,

and I'll hope to show you,

the great theme that exists

between the two of them.

They are actually tied together thematically.

I'm not doing that just to keep the timeline

of getting us to the resurrection on Easter.

Very important that we wrap our minds around

why Jesus says the one,

and then He says the next.

And the major theme that ties it together

is this nature,

this situation that's before them

of these false teachers.

Jesus here calls them scribes.

For a particular group,

although they weren't an official religious group,

they weren't an official political faction,

they were just the extra learned men.

Most likely Pharisees.

This was typically the case.

These men were experts in the law.

They knew the law very, very well.

They were the theologians,

so to speak, of the day.

John MacArthur said,

the Jews had a saying

that Moses received the law

and gave it to Joshua.

Joshua received the law

and gave it to the elders.

The elders received the law

and gave it to the prophets.

The prophets received the law

and gave it to the scribes.

They were the professionals.

They were the experts of this day.

And everybody trusted them

and hung on what it was they had to say

concerning the law.

But Jesus gives to us

a very strong warning

concerning these men.

He says to us,

beware of the scribes.

Strong warning.

And let me say to you

that as a general habit,

it is healthy and right

to be known for what we're for

rather than for what we're against.

Although,

there's a great deal of value at times.

From time to time to stop

and to recognize the wrong

in order to maintain the right.

And this is what Jesus is doing here.

He's making a very emphatic point

to the disciples

and those others

that are listening to Him

that this is not the way

to worship God.

There's a right way

to worship the right God.

And these men

really worship themselves,

but in this pursuit

of worshiping God,

were doing so wrongly.

In fact, they were apostate.

They were outside

any favor of God's blessing.

And they were leading the people

in the same way.

Jesus says some very stark things

about them

that they are sons of Satan

and they're making sons of Satan.

Matthew 23, 15 says,

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites!

For you travel across sea and land

to make a single proselytite

or convert.

And when he becomes

a proselytite,

you make him twice as much

a child of hell

as yourselves.

They were leading people astray.

And you have to understand

that there's not a continuum

for the way in which people are led.

You either are going to lead people

in the way of God

or you're going to lead people

in the way of Satan.

And that's where these men

find themselves.

Now, there's a scope to this warning

which exists all throughout

the Scriptures.

I'll give you one Old Testament example.

Ezekiel 13,

false prophets are condemned.

And in chapter 14,

idolatrous elders are condemned

for the way in which

they led the people astray.

Jesus said in Matthew 7, 15,

beware of false prophets

who come to you

in sheep's clothing,

but inwardly are ravenous wolves

dressed up.

They look good on the outside,

but truly they come

to devour and to destroy.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11,

2 Corinthians 11:13–15

verse 13 through 15,

for such men are false apostles,

deceitful workmen,

disguising themselves

as apostles of Christ.

And no wonder,

for even Satan disguises himself

as an angel of light.

So it is no surprise

of his servants

also disguise themselves

as servants of righteousness.

Put on the dressings,

the trappings of good,

but ultimately,

they're aimed at evil.

Paul makes an emphatic charge

to Timothy in 1 Timothy

on a number of occasions.

I'll let you read those

on your own later.

Chapter 1, verses 3 through 7.

Chapter 4, verses 1 and 2.

Chapter 6, verses 3 through 5.

The major charge to him

is that he preserve sound doctrine

among the church at Ephesus.

Peter also gives warning to this

in 2 Peter 2, verse 1.

2 Peter 2:1

But false prophets

also arose among the people,

just as there will be

false teachers among you

who will secretly bring in

destructive heresies,

even denying the Master

who bought them,

bringing upon themselves

swift destruction.

1 John 4, verse 1.

1 John 4:1

Many false prophets

have gone out into the world.

And so this is to be

the reality of things,

that in this day,

there was warning about it

in the Old Testament.

Jesus said it would be true.

Certainly there are scribes

in this day

that he is giving strong

warning against.

And the apostles warn

in those churches

it would be true

as well as in our day.

And it's certainly

our experience at this

is the case.

Many false teachers

leading people ultimately astray.

And we tend to categorically

put some people way off,

way off in left field

who do this very thing.

But there really isn't a spectrum.

This makes me tremble.

I want to rightly handle

the Word of God.

I cannot say to you

that I have never erred.

I am sure that I have.

Probably someday

I will go back

and listen to some old

recording of a sermon

and ask that it all be destroyed

because I messed it up.

If we do not walk in the truth,

then we walk in a lie.

Any believable lie

contains within it

some measure of truth.

This is the great deception of Satan.

He takes things that are true

and he distorts them.

Things that are bizarrely false

no one believes.

It's a very bizarre lie

and no one would ever believe it.

But if you anchor it

in some truth,

then it becomes believable.

And this is the great deception

of Satan.

And therefore,

all men who even speak

some truth,

but yet mixed within it lies,

are they themselves not liars?

Servants of Satan.

It's a great strong warning here.

Beware.

This is the exhortation

that Jesus is giving to us.

Beware.

The explicit thing

that He's trying to tell us.

But what can we draw out

of who these people are?

How can we help to identify

these people?

And He gives to us

some nature.

So we see a warning

firstly in verse 38.

Then going on,

verse 38,

and into the following,

we see the nature

of their hypocrisy.

It says,

to like to walk around

in long robes

and like greetings

in the marketplaces

and have the best seats

in the synagogues

and the places of honor

at feasts

who devour widows' houses

and for pretense

make long prayers.

These men like to walk around

in their ceremonial robes,

these long decorative robes

so they can be picked out

of a crowd

so you can see them coming

and know that here comes

a great learned man,

a wonderful follower of God.

In the parallel passage,

Matthew 23,

Matthew records

that they make their fringes long.

At the bottom of these robes

were blue fringes.

In fact,

it was commanded

in Numbers 15

that the Jewish people

were to put little blue tassels

on the bottom of their robes

to identify themselves as Jews

and to identify themselves

as those who gave their attention

to God

and their attention

to God's word.

It was meant to be a reminder

of this very thing.

In fact,

in Matthew 9,

Matthew 9:20

verse 20,

most of you are familiar

with the miracle

of the woman

with the discharge of blood

who touches the fringes

of Jesus' garment.

That's what she touched

were these tassels

that would have been

on the edge

of his garment.

So it wasn't wrong

to do that,

but these men

were elevating.

They were making

their tassels extra long

to say to others,

we are extra devoted.

We are extra followers

of God.

Please pay attention to us

and what it is

we have to say.

They like to walk around

in these long robes

and they like to receive

greetings

in the marketplaces.

Now,

he's not talking here

about people saying

hello to them.

I like it when people say

hello to me.

He's talking about

pomp and circumstance

type of greetings.

Again,

in the parallel passage,

Matthew 23,

Matthew 23:7

verse 7,

it adds that they like

to be called

rabbi

or teacher

or my master.

This is a great,

high,

elevated title

given to these men,

which is why

I don't care much

at all for titles.

You'll never hear me

call myself

Pastor Nathan.

My email

just is Nathan

at our website.

If you want to call me

Pastor,

I consider that an honor,

but I don't seek out

that type of thing.

This type of title

is a lot like

people who earn

PhDs

or doctors of ministry

and want to be called

doctor.

Now,

clearly,

it is a lot of work.

It's a massive amount

of work to earn

these degrees

and MD,

I will include

in that.

And in some sense,

these people deserve

to be called

doctor.

In fact,

I will call

anybody doctor

until they ask me

to do it.

They deserve

some commendation

for them,

but as soon as

somebody says,

oh,

excuse me,

that's doctor

so-and-so,

well,

they have just

ensured that

I will never

call them

doctor so-and-so.

We get on a

first-name basis

at that point.

This is what

these men

are looking for.

Oh,

great,

learned doctor,

rabbi,

let us step

out of your way

and let you

pass.

This type of

honor is what

they sought

in the market

places.

In addition to

that,

they sought

the best seats

in the synagogues

and the places

of honor

at feasts.

They wanted

to be placed

first in all

of their social

circumstances.

When they gathered

for worship

together and

when they gathered

to eat food,

they wanted

to be placed

at the very

highest place

to be shown

honor in that

way.

Jesus has

been speaking

directly against

this type

of attitude

leading up

to our text

today.

Flip back

just a couple

of pages

starting in

Mark 8,

Mark 8:34

verse 34.

I've shown you

this theme

a number of times.

I want to show

you to it once more.

Mark 8,

34-36.

If anyone

would come

after me,

let him deny

himself

and take up

his cross

and follow me.

This is

antithesis

to long

fringed

robes

and seeking

honor in

things.

Verse 35,

for whoever

would save

his life

will lose it,

but whoever

loses his life

for my sake

in the Gospels

will save it.

For what

does it

profit a man

to gain

the whole

world

and to

forfeit

his soul?

To gain

all of that

honor,

but yet

to be found

outside the

faith.

Chapter 9,

verse 35,

If anyone

will be

first,

he must

be last

of all

and servant

of all.

Not self-exalting,

but self-emptying

in service

to others.

Chapter 10,

verse 44

and 45,

and Jesus

then gives

to us

the extent

of this

sacrifice.

Whoever

would be

first among

you must

be slave

of all.

For even

the Son

of Man

came

not to

be served,

but to

serve,

and to

give his

life

as a

ransom

for many.

To show

honor to

other people,

to love

them even

to the

point

of death.

Jesus

told a

parable

that's

recorded

in Luke

Luke 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14,

beginning

in verse

7.

He says,

Now he

told a

parable

to those

that were

invited

when he

noticed

how they

chose

the

places

of honor,

saying

to them,

When you

are invited

by someone

to a

wedding

feast,

do not

sit down

in a

place

of honor,

lest

someone

more

distinguished

than

you

be invited

by him.

And he

who

invited

you

both

will

come

and

say

to

you,

Give

your

place

to

this

person,

and

then

you

will

begin

with

shame

to

take

the

lowest

place.

But

when

you

are

invited,

go

and

sit

in

the

lowest

place,

so that

when

your

host

comes,

he

may

say

to

you,

friend,

move

up

higher.

Then

you

will

be

honored

in

the

presence

of

all

who

sit

at

table

with

you.

For

everyone

who

exalts

himself

will

be

humbled,

and

he

who

humbles

himself

will

be

exalted.

And

he's

speaking

an

indictment

on

these

men

who

place

themselves

in

positions

of

honor.

And

the

groomsmen

will

come

to

them

one

day

and

put

them

in

the

lowliest

of

places.

That

is

the

place

of

eternal

destruction.

They

thought

that

they

deserved

the

favor

of

God,

that

they

as we

ought

to,

putting

ourselves

in

the

lowliest

place.

Certainly

we

deserve

eternal

damnation

for our

sin,

and yet

the

groom

will

come

to

us

and

say,

please

come

and

sit

in

this

honored

place.

Jesus

was

never

self-exalting.

In fact,

he was

constantly

self-abasing,

constantly

pointing to

God the

Father as

the source

of all

the things

that he

did.

He

did

nothing

on his

own

initiative.

John

records this

for us

again and

again.

He

acted,

and he

only

spoke

as he

saw

the

Father

doing.

He

exalted

the

Father

in

all

that

he

did.

Isn't

it

interesting

that we

live in

a day

and age

that if

you're

going to

be

popular

in the

Christian

world,

you have

to be

self-exalting

instead

of self-emptying?

You have

to be

incredibly

active

with your

blogs

and your

Twitter

feed,

and you

have to

be

constantly

touting

all the

things

that you

know

and all

that you

can

do.

Adfinitum,

if you're

going to

be popular

in this

day,

I want to

be like

Jesus,

and I

also don't

like

social media.

It works

out,

right?

Now it

says,

please don't

draw that as

a direct

connection,

right?

It says

that they

like to

walk around.

Now there's

an interesting

verb here,

they like,

and it means

more so than

just what we

would think of

as like,

that they

desire these

things,

that they

love these

things,

right?

This is the

very existence

of their

being,

this type

of praise

being heaped

upon them.

And so,

as Jesus

is saying

to them

and to

us,

beware of

the scribes,

beware of

these false

teachers,

he's saying

to them,

beware of

people who

are self-exalting.

Beware of

people who

are self-exalting.

Now we'll

skip down

for a moment

and see

that they

also make

a pretense

of long

prayers.

They make

a pretense

of long

prayers.

For the

sake of

appearance

would be

another way

to say

that.

Some of

your

translations

may.

For the

sake of

appearance,

they make

long

prayers.

When Jesus

teaches the

disciples how

to pray,

Matthew 6,

5 says,

and when you

pray,

you must not

be like

the hypocrites.

That's who he's

referring to.

For they love

to stand and

pray in the

synagogues

and at the

street corners.

They may be

seen by

others.

Truly I

say to you,

they have

received their

reward.

They like to

put on the

pretense.

They like to

act righteous

on the

outside and

like to do

so in such

a way that

everyone can

see it.

Not in the

quiet,

hidden,

secret places,

but out where

everyone can

see.

And they put a

great show

on so that

they will be

praised.

Jesus says

beware of the

scribes,

the false

teachers.

Beware of

people who

merely put on

the appearance

of holiness.

And then

lastly,

in the

nature,

we see that

these men

devour

widows'

houses.

They devour

widows'

houses.

Now,

for the sake

of time,

I won't

develop thematically

for you all

of God's

commands to

care for

widows,

but they

are many,

20 to 30

different times

in the Old

Testament.

There are

commands to

care for

widows,

to look out

for them.

And these

men were

doing the

very opposite

of that.

As they

still believed,

even though

they were

under Roman

rule,

that they

lived a

theocracy,

in many

ways,

these men

ruled.

They were

part of

the ruling

class,

the Sanhedrin,

those who

sat in

judgment over

Israel,

and they

were experts

in the

law,

and so

they did

things,

they managed

to do

things in

being asked

to help

with estates

from these

widows.

They did

manipulative

things to

take advantage

of them.

They took

advantage of

their

property,

they would

stay at

their homes,

and eat

their food,

and they

would find

ways in

which to

actually keep

their

property.

Above and

beyond that,

they developed

a system that

wasn't just

oppressive to

widows,

but all people

generally,

which said that

you must buy

the favor of

God.

There were

13 offering

boxes in

the temple

where you

would put

your money

to buy

God's

favor.

favor.

And this

was a

system that

presumably

the people

didn't care

for.

I think

they knew

that they

were being

swindled,

which is

likely why

they began

to pay

attention to

Jesus when

he overturned

the money

changers table.

They liked

that.

Here was a

man who

was coming

and flying

in the face

of all

that was

being done

in the

name of

God

to take

advantage

of the

people,

and they

began to

listen.

This is

why these

groups of

men,

these religious

leaders,

were so

offended at

what Jesus

was doing

because he

was disrupting

that system.

He was

cutting off

their flow

of income

in this

way.

The more

I study,

Mark,

the more

I understand

I could

actually put

myself in

the shoes

of these

religious

leaders,

why they

would have

been so

upset at

Jesus,

even to

the point

of death.

They

worshipped

themselves.

They worshipped

the system

they had

established.

They worshipped

all of the

fame and

honor that

came to

them,

and Jesus

came to

destroy

that kind

of self

exaltation.

So they

devoured

widows'

houses,

the very

lowliest

of society

that should

have been

cared for

and supported

by the

law of

God.

They did

the very

opposite

of that

thing

with the

structure

that they

created.

This is

true in

our day

as well.

Many

false

teachers,

most of

them that

you can

see on

TV,

not all

but most

on TV,

who just

want a

little seed

gift,

just want

you to

order up

the prayer

rug,

which is

a piece

of paper

strangely,

right?

That are

going to

give you

some kind

of a

thing

that's

going to

bless

you

more.

If they

could just

wring a

little bit

more out

of you.

You know

some of

these people.

Joel Osteen,

Joyce Meyer,

T.D.

Jakes,

Benny Hinn,

Creflo Dollar,

!

The list can

go on and

on and

on.

Beware of

these people.

As I said

to you though,

we tend to

put them

categorically

off in one

place.

It's not

just them.

There are

many others

who do

this as

well that

just don't

have the

name or

the scope

that they

have.

So beware of

the scribes,

the false

teachers.

Beware of

people who

take advantage

of the less

advantaged.

Who don't

serve,

but are

served.

And so

this is the

nature of

their hypocrisy.

We've got a

strong warning

against people

like this.

And then we

see in

verse 40

their final

condemnation.

The text

says they

will receive

the greater

condemnation.

2 Corinthians

11.15

says their

end will

correspond to

their deeds.

And as I

read to you

2 Peter 2.1

I'll read it

to you again.

But false

prophets also

arose among

the people,

just as there

will be false

teachers among

you, who

will secretly

bring in

destructive

heresies, even

denying the

master who

bought them,

bringing upon

themselves swift

destruction.

And there's a

great deal of

encouragement in

that, and seeing

that there is in

fact a

condemnation for

these men,

because even

as we are to

beware them,

and I will

show you some

other places

that we are

actually supposed

to battle

against them,

that one day,

fully and

finally, God

will be

vindicated.

In fact,

Peter says

that their

destruction will

be swift.

Not in our

terms, certainly.

There are many

men, I would

gladly see their

destruction come

now, that they

would quit leading

so many people

astray, but their

destruction will

in fact be

swift.

Things will be

made right in

that day.

And this is the

final place for

these men, damned

for eternity,

because they used

the name in our

day of Jesus

Christ to

perpetuate their

own kingdoms.

Now, verse

41 through

44.

So Jesus

goes out, he

sits out opposite

the treasury,

and he watched

the people putting

money into the

offering box.

Many rich people

put in large

sums, and a

poor widow came

and put in two

small copper coins

which make a

penny.

And he called

to his disciples

to him and

said to them,

truly I say to

you, this poor

widow has put in

more than all

those who are

contributing to

the offering box,

for they all

contributed out

of their abundance,

but she, out of

her poverty, has

put in everything

she had, all she

had to live on.

She puts in

there what is the

equivalent of a

one-sixty-fourth of

a denarius, which

a denarius was a

day's wage.

To give you an

idea of how little

money this was,

one-sixty-fourth of

a denarius, and

this seems to be all

that she has left

in the world.

These coins that

she puts in are

the two of the

smallest coins used

by Jews.

insignificant from

everybody else's

perspective.

Now, how does the

one connect to the

other?

You've probably heard

this preached.

I believe I've used

it as an example

of sacrificial

giving, of the

faith that it

takes to give,

of seeking first

the kingdom of

God and all of

our needs will be

added to us, but

that is not at

all what this

text is about.

It's not even

kind of.

what it's about.

In fact, we tend

to want to run

to juxtapose the

rich against her,

but Jesus never

condemns the rich

here.

In fact, he says

that they give

well.

They're giving a

lot out of their

abundance.

It's not the

point at all.

What he's doing

is he's pointing

to the fact that

she is a victim

of this system.

She is a victim

of the scribes,

believing that

she must come

and buy God's

blessing.

She has given

every single

bit that she

has.

She's given it

all away.

She now no

longer has any

money to support

herself because

she's given it

now to the

temple worship,

to the apostate

temple worship.

Jesus here is not

supporting giving

good offerings in

our churches,

although you should.

That's not what

he's doing in

this case.

Every sermon

you've heard preached

out of this likely

had the right

point made,

but taught

someplace else

in Scripture.

Jesus is simply

finding a physical

example in the

temple court of

the very thing

he's been saying.

He's saying,

see, beware the

scribes.

Look, case in

point, they devour

widows' houses.

Luke 16, 14,

Jesus says that

the Pharisees are

lovers of money.

They have failed

to love the

people.

They have failed

to lead the

people in the

truth, but

rather they

seek what

they can gain

from them,

not what they

can give to

them.

And this is

the case

with the

widow's

offering.

Now I hope

that by her

faith God

was good to

her in this,

but this act

is not what

bought her

God's favor.

She's a victim

of this very

thing.

What is the

application for

us today?

Rightly so,

we've said it.

Beware.

Beware of the

false teachers.

This warning is

explicit here in

our text today.

Avoid the

teachings of

these people.

Let me say to

you, the call

here is not to

avoid these

people altogether,

to ignore them,

but rather to

avoid their

teachings.

Be very,

very careful

what people

like this

perpetuate with

their mouths.

Watch what

they say.

Be careful of

their example.

Beware.

In fact,

Jesus gives an

example of

not just

avoidance,

right, but

he is

constantly

engaging with

these people.

We've seen

that quite

extensively here

in chapter

12.

He stands

firm and

he contends

for the

truth.

Turn with

me, if you

will, in

closing to

Jude, the

book of

Jude.

Right

towards the

end of

your New

Testament.

Jude has

no chapters

or one

chapter,

whichever

you prefer

to say.

Jude is

James'

brother.

Verse 3

and 4,

he writes,

Beloved,

although I

was very

eager to

write to

you about

our common

salvation,

I found

it necessary

to write

appealing to

you to

contend for

the faith

that was

once for

all delivered

to the

saints.

For certain

people have

crept in

unnoticed

who long

ago were

designated

for this

condemnation,

ungodly

people who

pervert the

grace of

our God

into

sensuality

and deny

our only

Master

and Lord,

Jesus

Christ.

So his

very longing

is that he

can talk

about what

he's for.

I really

wanted to

write to

you is what

he's saying.

It was my

eager desire

to write to

you about

our common

salvation.

I just

wanted to

write to

you and

talk about

the goodness

of the

gospel of

Jesus

Christ.

However,

it's

necessitated.

There's an

importance,

an emphasis

placed upon

me because

people are

coming in

and they're

leading you

astray.

Therefore,

I've come

to set

you straight.

This letter

is aimed

at that

very

thing.

Contend

for the

faith.

Beware of

the false

teachers,

but contend

for the

faith.

And how

do we

do that?

Number

one,

by searching

the scriptures

for ourselves.

Search the

scriptures for

yourself.

In Acts

17,

11-12,

we see a

little story

of Paul and

Silas being

in Berea.

Many of you

are familiar

with the

Bereans.

A little

mention of

them.

Verse 11,

Now these

Jews,

being the

Bereans,

were more

noble than

those in

Thessalonica.

They received

the word

with all

eagerness,

examining the

scriptures daily

to see if

these things

were so.

They're talking

about the

gospel proclamation

there.

And therefore,

verse 12,

many of them

therefore believed.

They carefully

scrutinized.

They studied it

for themselves

to see if

what the

apostles were

saying concerning

the scriptures

was true.

How will

you be able

to identify

a false

teacher if

you don't

know the

teaching itself?

And beloved,

this is not

a laborsome

task.

This is an