Amen. Go ahead and have a seat. And it’s good to see you here in the house of the Lord today. Grab your Bibles and open to Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17. We’ll be in the first fifteen verses today. As you’re turning there, I fully expected the elders to cut my hair with some kind of dagger as I took a knee this morning. But it’s still there and so we’re moving forward. But it’s no coincidence that the Lord has gotten us to this passage on this very day where the elders so graciously recognized our family. And we are just humbled. My wife and I are humbled to be standing here and we do truly love you and we do pray for you. And we’re excited about the days ahead as a family.
And I’ve got to say too another exciting thing about stepping into this is just the staff that is at Gospel City Church. We have a great staff here, pastors and directors and ministry leaders who love you and seek to serve you and who want to make this a place where every generation can see the beauty of Jesus and glorify Jesus and make disciples. Could you just show some appreciation to the staff of Gospel City Church?
And I’m excited to stand shoulder to shoulder with them in the kingdom of God and point people to Jesus. But today as we look in Acts chapter 17, we will see the importance of the Word of God being the authority and the means by which the church is moved, built up and established. Hear this this morning. There is no authority in man. The only authority at Gospel City Church must be the Word of God under the headship of Jesus Christ. And as long as this Word is held high and boldly preached and carefully exposed, Christ will be exalted over all here at Gospel City Church.
And I believe that the Word of God has the power to turn the world upside down. Wouldn’t that be an awesome compliment if somebody said, Boy, I don’t agree with everything coming out of that Gospel City Church, but those people are fired up about something. Everybody that leaves that place is carrying the name of Jesus and they seem to really hold fast to the truths of the Bible. They are flipping this community upside down. What an awesome compliment that would be, and I’ve been praying that God would do something like that even from our midst here in this place.
But today’s message we’re going to see that that’s exactly what was happening around the world as the gospel went forward and as Paul and Silas continued to carry the message of Christ and the Spirit directd the way and Christ was building His church now on European soil. The title of today’s message is this: How to turn the world upside down. How to turn the world upside down.
So why don’t you get your eyes on a copy of God’s holy Word and let’s read together from Acts chapter 17 verses 1 through 15 this morning. Hear the Word of the Lord.
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”
And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
Verse 10. The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews 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. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.
Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed. (Acts 17:1-15)
So this is God’s Word for us today and I’m going to give you three ways we can turn the world upside down. You want to be a Christian that can turn the world upside down? You want your world to be turned upside down? You want your household to be turned upside down? Hopefully these three steps from our text today will help you.
Point number one is this. Explain the Bible’s proof that Jesus is the Christ. Explain the Bible’s proof that Jesus is the Christ. So in verse 1 of chapter 17, it says, “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.”
So Paul and Silas, they leave Philippi. And at the time, Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia, the second largest city, 2,000 people represented there. Just a city of high rapport. And unlike Philippi, they had a synagogue. And so verse 2 says Paul went in, as was his custom. You remember we talked about that last week. When Paul goes into a new city he always goes to the Jewish synagogue because he knows he can get a hearing among the most amount of people because of his resume. And so he heads to the synagogue as was his custom.
And on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead and saying, “This Jesus whom I proclaimed to you is the Christ.”
So again, the Bible, it doesn’t give us all the details. It gives us the things that we need to know. Paul doesn’t waste any time. He heads straight to the synagogue of this large city and begins doing what he does. He begins to teach and explain the Scriptures among the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles and he proclaims three things from the Scriptures. He proclaimed that Jesus died and suffered. He proclaimed that Jesus rose from the dead. And he proclaimed that Jesus is the Christ. He is indeed the Messiah that the Jewish people had been waiting for all of this time. And these are the necessary truths of the good news that lead to salvation.
You want to respond to the message, the good news? You need to know that Jesus suffered and died on a cross in your place. He rose from the dead. He defeated death and the grave. And he is truly God and He is truly seated on high. And so we repent and we believe and we follow Him.
But it wasn’t Paul’s words that were trying to persuade these people. It wasn’t his word against these people. It was the very words of God. And the same is true here today. My words mean nothing, but the words that God has breathed out for us have the power to transform our hearts and our lives.
And remember, Paul, he didn’t have the entire Bible. Paul had the Old Testament and he had testimonies of Jesus Christ. He had Doctor Luke with him, who penned the gospel of Luke. So I’m sure he was getting downloaded the things that happened with Jesus and the research that Luke had done regarding Jesus’ resurrection. But Paul had a knowledge of the Old Testament that allowed him to effectively lead people to Jesus. Because it all points to Jesus.
I just want to recall a moment to your attention when Jesus rebuked two disciples on the road to Emmaus. So after Jesus rose from the dead, He’s on the road to Emmaus with two people. And in Luke 24, 25 and 27, Jesus said, “Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to leave all that the prophets had spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:25-26) So wasn’t it necessary that I should die and suffer and rise again and enter into glory.
And Jesus said this: “And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
So Jesus Himself used the Old Testament to prove His own existence and His own validity. That’s exactly what Paul does as he stands before the synagogue in Thessalonica. And the Thessalonians were obviously a stubborn bunch. It took three Sabbath days, three whole weeks, toiling and answering questions and going and explaining and persuading and teaching the gospel and explaining the Scriptures in the synagogue for them to even see anyone respond.
I want to give you four examples that we see of Paul for explaining the Scriptures. Four examples. You want to be effective as a Christian? You want to turn people’s lives upside down? Here’s four examples for how you can be effective at explaining the truths of Scripture.
Number one, share in a Christ-centered way. Jesus Christ was the center of Paul’s message. Jesus was always the hero of Paul’s understanding of the Old Testament because Jesus is indeed the hero of the Bible. Paul knew he couldn’t open the hearts and the eyes of these Thessalonians. They needed Jesus to do that. And so Paul makes everything about Jesus because it is all about Jesus. He didn’t tell isolated stories about the Bible or from the Old Testament. He doesn’t tell facts about the Bible. Paul shared the storyline of the Bible, which all culminates in the person and the work of Jesus Christ.
So in order for us to be effective at this, we need to know our Bibles. Could you open your Bible and effectively lead someone to know that Jesus is truly the Messiah? Could you open your Bible and lead your family, lead your children, to the point that Jesus is the King of the universe? Do you know the stories of the Bible or do you know the storyline of the Bible? The storyline that points to Jesus.
That’s exactly why we did Core Scripture last semester. We had eleven weeks. The book was Christ from Beginning to End. And so we went from Genesis to Revelation seeing how everything in Scripture all points to Jesus Christ. And I’m sure that you know a lot of the stories of the Old Testament. If you grew up in church you heard them. You saw them painted on walls in your churches.
Anybody ever seen this book, The Jesus Storybook Bible? Raise your hand if you use this. Yeah, lots of families. We give this out when you dedicate your children. But my family, we’ve gone through this a couple of times with our kids. And you can’t go through one chapter of this as it tells all the stories from creation to Moses parting the Red Sea to Noah and the ark to David and Goliath. And every chapter points to Jesus, shows us Jesus, because that’s how the Bible was meant to be told.
You might’ve heard the story of David and Goliath. There is a right way to tell it and there is a wrong way to tell it. A lot of us have probably heard, you know, David was a shepherd boy and yet he had his eyes on God and he was faithful. And he had to be strong and courageous. And a giant came and it was the Philistine enemy. And he was big and he was bad. And yet David, who was courageous, rose up and he took five little stones when nobody else would and he kept his eyes on God.
And he went out there and with one stone he slayed the giant. And you too can slay the giants of this day. You too can slay the enemies of this day if you’ll just be faithful and strong and courageous and trust in the Lord. That’s pretty motivating. That could motivate you. That could make a great story in Gospel City Kids. Except for that’s not the point of the story of David and Goliath in the Bible.
You and I are not David. We are the cowering Israelites about to lose our lives. There’s nothing we can do to save ourselves. And the Philistine enemy is coming and he is attacking and he is big and he is evil and he will blot us out. But God in His grace sends a hero, sends a protector, and he’s unlike any protector that the Israelites would have chosen. It was a young shepherd boy and he picks up five stones and he slays the giant with that one stone. And David’s victory becomes his people’s victory, and his people didn’t have to lift one stone.
David is just an imperfect picture of Jesus. Jesus is the real hero. And God sends Jesus one day because of the much greater giant. Bigger than Goliath is the giant of sin and death and the grave that separates all of us from the God of the universe. But Jesus died on a cross in your place as a substitute for your sins, and His victory can be your victory and you don’t have to lift a finger. You have to repent and believe in the precious blood of Jesus that has been paid.
That’s the storyline of every Old Testament story in the Bible. It all points to Jesus Christ. Amen.
Point number two, the second thing that we see for how you can explain the Bible is this: Share with boldness. Don’t just share in a Christ-centered way, but share with boldness. Understand that as Paul and Silas left Philippi, they left the victories that they had in Philippi but they also left with the scars and the bruises of Philippi. You don’t get beaten with rods and shackled in a Philippian prison and heal overnight.
And yet off they go. And as Paul imitates Christ he was indeed a suffering servant for the sake of the gospel. And off he goes after the beating, after the imprisonment. He heads to Thessalonica into the synagogue and he dives right in speaking the same offensive message that got him beat in the last town. It just speaks of Paul’s perseverance and boldness in the Spirit as he continues on with the message of Jesus Christ.
Paul must have really believed what he was preaching. Paul must have really believed that God’s glory is supreme in this world. Paul must have really believed that his life was no longer his own, that he was now a slave to Christ, a bondservant to Christ that for him to live was Christ Jesus. For him to die was gain. Paul must have believed that hell was real, that there are a lot of people out in the world who are dying and heading toward an eternity in destruction if they will not hear the good news of Jesus and repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ and follow Him.
Paul must have believed that salvation is in Christ. And so he went and everywhere he went he boldly preached Christ and Him crucified. Paul must have believed that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And so everywhere he went he opened the scrolls of the Old Testament and led people to Jesus. You see Paul’s belief was his obedience to live sent with the gospel and persevere in the Spirit, and it should be the same for us. If we know it’s true, if we believe it has the power to save, then we speak it without apology even in the face of opposition.
The third way that he explains the Scriptures effectively is he shares with intelligence. This is a good one for us. Share Scripture, explain Scripture, with intelligence. Notice the verbs used in verses 2-4 of chapter 17. It says that he reasoned with them. He explained the Scriptures to them. He proved Christ’s existence. He proclaimed Christ and Him crucified. He persuaded regarding the Scriptures.
Paul had a well-prepared and thought out teaching when it came to the Bible. He used the Bible rationally and logically and applicationally as he pointed unbelievers to Jesus. Paul helped them think about the Bible. He used his brain because he knew that his audience was going to use their brains.
And hear this this morning. Your human intelligence cannot save anyone. It doesn’t matter how well you can unpack the Scriptures. That will not save anyone. You need the Spirit of God to open hearts like only He can do. But don’t miss Paul’s example. Our ability to expound upon the Word can lead unbelievers to truly hear the Word, which leads to faith in Christ.
So you have to work towards this. This is where your patience comes into play. This is where you’re like, I’ll get into the conversation and I may not know all of the answers. I may not be able to answer all the questions but I’m going to say, “You know what? I don’t know the answer to that but I’ll find out. I’m going to go do some research of my own and let’s talk about it tomorrow. Let’s talk about it next week.”
That’s exactly what Paul was doing in Thessalonica. He’s there in the synagogue reasoning and hearing questions and hearing rebuttals and arguments. And he goes away and he comes back and he still continues to speak the truth of the Bible. And he answers with kindness and confidence in the truth that the Bible gives us.
You have to have a standard of truth. The world does not use this book as a standard of truth, but Christians do. And if God has said it, then it’s good enough for us. And so we speak it boldly and we speak it with confidence knowing that it has the power to save and the Spirit has the power to open hearts to believe.
Now number four we see Paul sharing with personal integrity. So you’ve got to share with boldness. You’ve got to share in a Christ-centered way, share with intelligence. But share with personal integrity. And sometimes we as Christians struggle with this part. Don’t try to win people to something that you are not evidently living out.
Paul spent time expounding Scriptures to these people but they also saw his lifestyle as he was among them. They were living in such a way that the message that they were proclaiming was seen in their lives. Obviously a Thessalonian church is born from this passage. And you know 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Paul also wrote those epistles, those letters later.
And in 1 Thessalonians 2:9-12 Paul writes this. It’s on the screen. For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
And so as they proclaimed the gospel of God over these three Sabbaths, they worked pretty hard. But look at verse 10.
You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
Paul was careful among the people of Thessalonica. He wasn’t just preaching the holiness of Christ. He was actually living out the holiness of Christ. He didn’t expound the Scriptures in the synagogue and then indulge in the sinful activity of the Thessalonians. That should be a challenge to us that we would authenticate the message that we preach, that we wouldn’t try to go into the places outside the walls of this church and tell people the message of salvation that they need to follow but then our lives look exactly like the things and the brokenness and the darkness that this world has to offer.
We are separated. We have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light and we carry the message of love, the love of Jesus Christ, the message of eternity, into the darkness and shine it brightly. In verse 4 we see the results that happen when we explain the Scriptures in the right way.
Verse 4. And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
God was adding to His church. God was adding to His bride. Many were getting saved in Thessalonica because of the faithful preaching of the Word of God. The town was being turned upside down. Now the second way to turn the world upside down is this: Proclaim the Bible’s truth that Jesus is King. Proclaim the Bible’s truth that Jesus is King.
Verse 5. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.
Do you ever feel like a name doesn’t fit? Like I’m like, Where did Jason come from in the Bible? There he is. So no surprise to any of us who have been journeying through the book of Acts. Every moment of gospel advance is countered with a gospel attack. Christ continues to prevail. Christ continues to build His church. But Satan is relentless to seek and to kill and to destroy. Satan wants to stop the gospel from going forward. Satan wants you desperately to give up on this message.
And in verse 4 we saw that some believed and now we see that many did not believe. Some believed; many did not. And that’s a good representation of the world around us. Jesus said in Matthew 2:13-14 that the gate is wide and easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. Many people choose to go to hell. They don’t know where their destination is, but they choose the easy road. They choose the way that is wide. They walk in the way of the world, and that leads to destruction. Many will enter destruction by that road.
But Jesus said the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and only a few will find it. It’s not easy to follow Christ. It’s not easy to continue in the faith, to remain steadfast in the faith with purpose like Barnabas encouraged the church in Antioch. Only a few who walk that path. And the majority of the world around us does what is right in their own eyes. Because the majority of the world rejects Jesus as King because we want to be our own king.
And the truth is this. If you will believe and boldly expound on the Bible, then you can expect opposition in your life. If you’re making a difference for Christ, expect opposition. If you’re proclaiming the storyline of the Bible, you will offend some people.
And Jesus, He said this in Matthew chapter 10. He said, Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. (Matthew 10:34-35)
Some of you have experienced the separation in your own household, in your own family. Because as you’ve chosen to follow Christ, you’ve had family members who say, “I don’t want anything to do with what God is doing in your life. I don’t want anything to do with that religion.” The Bible is offensive to a world that is living for themselves, dying and going to hell.
And it’s true disciples of Jesus who wield the book of God not as a peaceful narrative, but as a sword. And so the jealous Jews they gather a group from the rabble. The rabble literally means “market loafers.” So they were just some punks out in the market, out in the street. And the jealous, self-righteous Jews gather these guys together and say, We wnat you to stir up some trouble because we don’t like what Paul and Silas are doing. And so off they go to find Paul and Silas, and they can’t find them anywhere.
Verse 6 tells us that they couldn’t find Paul so they dragged Jason and some of the others who were siding with Paul and Silas out into the streets in front of the authorities. And look what it says in verse 6.
These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king.
So obviously they had heard of Paul and Silas’ reputation. They heard what was happening in other surrounding cities of Macedonia. They’d probably heard what was happening on the other continent as the message of Christ was spreading. And so in an attempt to accuse Paul and Silas, they say, “These men are turning the world upside down!”
Could you imagine if Paul would have heard that? You really think so? I feel like we’re not doing enough. I feel like we’re just getting started. But you think we’re turning the world upside down already? What an awesome compliment. What an amazing thing to be said about followers of Jesus.
May it be said of us that we are turning our community upside down because of our boldness and our ability to explain the Scriptures and to point people to Jesus and to proclaim Christ and Him crucified and to declare that Jesus is King! I’ve been praying that the contagious first love of Jesus and the bold passionate love of the Scriptures would not be able to be contained by the walls of this place as we come and as we go.
SPLIT
But what did Paul and Silas do in order for them to be accused of this? What did they do in order for them to say they’re turning the world upside down? Well, they believed the Bible, they expounded the Bible and they lived out what the Bible says with boldness because Jesus was the King of their lives. And that is exactly why the community was so offended.
Look at verse 7. Jason has received them. They are all acting against the decrees of Caesar saying that there is another king. That’s where the real problem lies with the world. Paul and Silas did nothing illegal. They did nothing toward Caesar. They were just simply proclaiming that Jesus was the King of the universe. And that is offensive to all who want to be their own king.
Because in order to receive Jesus as King, you have to die to yourself and live unto Christ. You have to lose your life and follow what Christ has said. And what did Christ say? “Not my will, but yours be done.” And He gave up His life for the glory of God, and we can do the same.
In verse 8. And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
So Paul and Silas, they avoid a beating in Thessalonica, but think about Jason and think about these new converts, these new followers of Jesus. They couldn’t have been following Jesus very long. And already they’ve been captured, they’ve been accused, they’ve been stolen from, and then they’re released. And that is a great representation of what happens when you start to follow Jesus.
The way of the world will start to see something different in you and you’ll start to have some convictions of the Holy Spirit. Like I used to do that but now I feel like I should repent and stop doing that. And my friends who used to be my friends, they don’t care a whole lot about this Jesus thing that’s going on in my life. And it starts to cause separation sometimes in varying degrees. But here it was like massive.
Jason starts to follow Christ. Next thing he knows he’s being accused of proclaiming that Jesus is King and not Caesar. And the crowd is in an uproar.
Does your faith offend anyone? Have you thought about that? Does your faith offend anybody that you know of? Have you ever turned anyone’s world upside down with the good news of Christ? Has your world been turned upside down with the good news that Jesus is King? Do you lead your family in a way that turns your household upside down by addressing problems or issues from Jesus’ perspective rather than the way of the world?
If you’ll start allowing this to be your guide, this to be your compass, this to be the way that you problem-solve, this to be the way that you find your identity, this to be the way that you answer the questions that the world is posing on us, it will not take long for you to sense the opposition. But if we’ll be faithful to live by the Word of God, we can expect to offend with the Word of God because it’s contrary to what our flesh desires and wants and believes.
III.
Now the third thing that I’ll give to you as we come to a close- hang with me- examine everything every day through the authority of the Bible. You want your world to be turned upside down? You want to turn your household? You want to turn your community, your workplace upside down? Examine everything everyday through the authority of the Bible.
And I want to anchor this last point in verse 11. We’ll see Paul and Silas heading into a new city, another city. And the people of Berea they are awesome. As Gospel City Church we should aspire to be like the people of Berea, how they receive the Bible, how they use the Bible.
Look in verse 10. The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews 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. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
So Luke says that the Bereans were more noble than those in Thessalonica. No one by the world’s standards would have ever said that the people of the small town in Berea were more noble than the people of Thessalonica. Like Thessalonica was the big city. All the best things come out of the city. The city is of the highest rapport. Certainly those who have jobs and those who live in the big city are more noble than those in Berea. Except the gospel, Jesus, He turns everything upside down.
And so the nobility that Doctor Luke is speaking of when he refers to the Bereans is how they received the Word of God as it was being preached to them. Unlike the Thessalonians, the Bereans received the Word openly and eagerly and with examination. And they did it daily. Their hearts were opened versus hardened. They were eager to listen and respond versus skeptical and contrary.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t desire to be called noble in the eyes of the world, but I would love to be called noble in the same sense that the Bereans were called noble and the way of the Lord, in the upside down way that God calls them noble. So as a church, here’s three practical ways to be a Berean as we land the plane this morning. Three ways to be a Berean.
The first one is this: Be eager about the Bible. Can I encourage you with something? Be eager about the Bible. I want you to be pumped to come back to church every week and to hear the message as we expose and unpack the Word of God verse by verse.
But this is not enough. This Sunday morning message should only whet your appetite as you come to church. You have to get hungry for the Word of God. you’ve got to stay fascinated at the amount of truth that can be pulled out of every verse that has been breathed out by the living God for you. This book is a lamp to your feet and light unto your path.
When we talk about pricing a lot, Mitch who is on our staff who helped us through Core Scripture, he talks about like the sermon. Preaching on a sermon is like delivering a five-course meal. We’re not just giving you like some scraps. We’re digging deep. I spent several hours pulling out all this stuff. But that’s a 40 minute talk, me downloading to you what Christ is doing in me because of the Scriptures. It can’t sustain you.
And even if you were to eat one five-course meal in a week, that would not sustain you at all. And so we want you to come and we want you to feast on God’s Word on a Sunday, but we also want to teach you how to cook. We want you to leave with the menu. And we want you to leave knowing how to navigate the menu and to cook for yourself and to get some sustenance in your life.
I remember like a year and a half ago or so I would come downstairs and my wife, she would have like a decorative cake plate, you know, like a crystal cake plate. It probably wasn’t real crystal in my house. But it was in the middle of the table. And it would be sitting there and her Bible would be on it. And so I texted her this week. I was like, Hey, what was with the cake plate thing? I can’t remember.
And she said it was just a daily reminder. It was just a reminder to feast on God’s Word, to be eager about God’s Word. And so she had that on the center of our table and it was elevated. And I’m not really a cake guy, but a cake on a cake plate with a lid over it just looks appealing. Like if there was a Portillo’s cake with a lid over it, I’d be all about some of that cake, ok?
But how much more desirable, how much more desirable should the Word of God be than a piece of cake? It certainly sustains more. And so God says that He’s elevated His Word and His name above all things. And so my wife, she was elevating the World in our house so that she was reminded to feast on the Word, to desire the Word every single day. She was eager to get in the Scriptures, and we should be eager about this book every day in our lives because it is the way of life. It can transform us. It can sustain us. It fills us and fuels us.
Now number two, the second way to be a Berean, examine the Bible carefully. Examine the Bible carefully. I cannot believe this book for you and I can’t make you believe it. You’ve got to examine what I am saying today through the Word of God just like the Bereans examined what Paul said. They didn’t just take Paul’s teaching. They went to the Scriptures to see if what he was saying was true.
And too many of us have settled for soundbites and books and blogs that are not the Word of God. Every single day we are bombarded with teaching and information that is said to be truth. And you will either flippantly receive it, or you’ll examine what you hear with what God has said. And this is the only way that leads to life.
Think about, think about what this generation has, all of us have, that we didn’t have fifteen to twenty years ago. Everybody in this room probably has one of these in their pocket. My small group leader Mark calls this a stick of dynamite in everybody’s pocket. You can do a lot of great things on this. Somebody in the last service told me they can get your fishing license on this. So that’s a great thing.
But, you know, you can do a lot of sinful things on this as well. You can do a lot of sinful things on this and you can receive a lot of truth claims through this phone that will lead you astray. And if you’re not careful, you could wake up day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, and grab this before you ever grab this. You could read truth claims on this before you ever open this. You could hear sermon after sermon, soundbite after soundbite, thirty-second clip after thirty-second clip all day long as you scroll on this without ever examining what you hear through the Word of God.
And this will never sustain you. This could lead you astray. This could bring a lot of heartache. But the way of the world will fade away and the Word of God will stand forever. And so this has to be our compass and our guide. Many of our kids could operate and navigate Disney+ in our household better than we can navigate our own Bibles.
I mean, it is ok, parents, for you to say, “Hey, that thing that we just heard on that show that we’re watching, I’m going to pause that. I’m going to shut that off actually and I want to show you what you just heard and then I want to tell you what God has said in His Word.” And you lead your family in the way of the Word. You examine everything that you hear, everything that’s trying to be shoved into your household through the existence of the Word of God. Because this can transform your soul. This can bring you life. This is our protection day by day from the sin of this world.
And number three, study the Bible daily. Study the Bible daily, Gospel City Church. I’ve told you to be eager about it. Examine everything through the lens of the Bible, but study the Bible every day. Psalm 119:11. I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
You want to sin less? Then get this inside your heart. Psalm 119:9-10. How can a young person stay on the path of purity? You want to live a pure life? You want to protect yourself from the impure things that this could take you down? Scripture says, “Live according to the Word.”
Verse 10. I seek you with all of my heart. Do not let me stray from your commands, oh God. What a gift that God would give us this to walk. Jesus praying in John 17:17: Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.
You want to be holy? You want to live a life separated from the world? You want to stop running to empty things that never satisfy, that leave you empty and broken? Then be sanctified by the truth of the Word of God alone. Desperately desire the truth of the Word.
Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. And God loves you enough, God loves you so much, that He wrote it all down for us. And if we’ll just open it and memorize it and apply it and live by it, He will guide us step by step, day by day. And we could maybe, our world will be turned upside down. Maybe God will use us to turn some other people’s worlds upside down for the glory of God. Amen?
