[Biblemat] S) POINT TO THE WORD

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  Here is a study from my files.
Use to the glory of God.

POINT TO THE WORD

       The world in which we live has become more and more relat-
ivistic.  For many, perhaps most, people, there are no absolutes.
Morality shifts and people feel that the circumstances dictate 
what is good and what is not.  As a result, much of our culture
has moved away from Biblical values.  Now it is acceptable to be-
lieve whatever sounds good at the moment.

       When the apostle Paul was doing his mission work, he came
upon a group of people who were hearing something brand new.  Paul had been 
teaching in Thessalonica.  The Jews there
had stirred up trouble.  But, this next group of people went to the Bible to 
decide how true this new teaching was.  "And the
brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea
and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.  Now these 
were more noble-minded than those in Thess-
alonica, for they received the Word with great eagerness, exami-
ning the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.
Many of them therefore believed, along with a number of promin-
ent Greek women and men" (Acts 17:10-12).  These people of
Berea were honest, open, receptive people.  But when confront-
ed with a startling new message, they turned to the one place
they could trust.  They opened their Bibles.  From them we learn
several important lessons.

The Old Testament Matters: -- Sometimes I meet people who don't like the Old 
Testament.  They tell me the gospel is in the 
New Testament and they don't want to look at the Old Testament
After all, if we are going to teach people about Jesus, we need to
study the New Testament.

       The problem with this is that Paul did not have a New Testa-
ment.  All he had were the 39 books of the Old Covenant.  So, 
when the apostle went into a synagogue, the only tool he had to
use was the Old Testament.  He knew his Old Testament well 
enough to point people to Jesus from it (as Philip did in the con-
version of the Ethiopian eunuch, Acts 8:29-35 JWS)  Notice what
he did in Thessalonica just before traveling to Berea.  "And acco-
rding to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths
reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving
evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the 
dead, and saying, 'This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is
the Christ'" (Acts 17:2,3).  Paul would open his Bible, without any New 
Testament books, and prove Who Jesus was simply
by using the Word of God.

       This is vital for us to be able to do today.  When we can go to
passages like Gen. 3 and show that the Messiah would crush
Satan (Gen. 3:15), we can demonstrate that Jesus was the suffer-
ing servant of (Isa. 53), we can prove that centuries before the
man Jesus lived, God had predicted what He would do and say.
Paul used the Old Testament to teach about Jesus, and so should we.  As Paul 
said, "For whatever was written in earlier
times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance
and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope"
(Rom. 15:4).  Don't dismiss the message of the Old Testament.
It was used to save people in the first century and can do so to-
day as well.

Eager To Know The Word: -- The people of Berea, Jews and Gentiles alike, were 
interested in what Paul was teaching.  The
good news of the gospel is often received with interest and appr-
eciation.  Who doesn't want to hear about grace and mercy?
Who doesn't want to feel forgiven?  Who doesn't want to believe
that God loves him or her?  But this new teaching was not accepted because it 
felt good.  It was accepted because they were eager to study their Old 
Testament scriptures.  And, they
didn't just open their Bibles for a moment to check out Paul's
teaching.  They studied daily to see if Paul's message was genu-
ine.

       In our modern world we can learn a great deal from these 
ancient believers.  Too many of us, including Christians, love to
hear new or startling messages.  But, no matter how delightful
they seem, they must be measured against the Word of God.

       Toward the end of his life, Paul would warn Timothy about
this very thing.  "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God
as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accu-
rately the Word of Truth.  But avoid worldly and empty chatter,
for it will spread like gangrene" (2 Tim. 2:15-17a).  Paul gives his
young friend clear instructions.  He is to do what the Bereans did.

       First, he is to handle the Word of Truth accurately.  That is, he is 
to be honest and fair as he presents the Bible's message.
All of us know that it is easy to twist someone's words to mean 
something that person never said.  This is sad in politics or a 
marriage, but it is sinful and destructive when it comes to faith.
We all need to study the Word openly and honestly, so that we
get God's message in our hearts, not the words of someone who thinks he or 
she knows what God has said.

       Secondly, Paul warns Timothy about people who love to 
split hairs and make arguments that sound fine and high minded
But, he calls it worldly and empty.  Too often we argue over minutia that  
really doesn't matter while ignoring the greater messages of the Scriptures.  
The Bereans were eager to know
the Word, so they daily went into the Bible to see if Paul's mess-
age was valid.  They didn't waste time arguing the details.

       Finally, Paul warns Timothy that  spending time on empty
chatter will lead to spiritual problems, like gangrene.  It will grow
in people's lives and becomes a dangerous threat to faith and
service.  I suppose most of us have heard of someone teaching
some odd thing at a church and the next thing you know the 
church is fussing and spiritual death is creeping into it, like a
gangrene.  The only solution to this is for each of us to do what
the Bereans did and to to our Bibles every day to learn and know the message 
of the Christ.  It is okay to hear new and excit-
ing messages from the Word.  After all, that is what led the Berea-
ns to Jesus.  But, all messages, new and old, must be put to the
test of the Scriptures.

Point To The Word: -- This was Paul's ultimate goal.  And, if we
look carefully, we will see that this was the goal of all the New
Testament teachers.  They opened their Bibles (our Old Testa-
ment) and pointed people to Jesus.  (As we have already pointed out, Philip 
began in Isa. 53 and preached Jesus to the
eunuch, JWS).

       You see, Jesus is the ultimate expression of God's Will.  In
Jesus was seen a perfect life, lived just as God wanted it lived.
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we be-
held His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full
of grace and truth" (Jno. 1:14).  When we look at Jesus, we are
looking at God's final revelation to man.  This revelation, althou-
gh recorded on paper, was first lived in real life in real time among real 
people.  That is where the Word found its fullest meaning, in the life and 
teaching of Jesus.

       When we point people to the Word, the live and teaching of
Jesus, we allow them the chance to be saved.  "They are not of
the world, even as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them in the
truth; Thy Word is truth" (Jno. 17:16,17).  Jesus reminds us that
it is God's Word, as lived by Him, that sets us apart, that sanctifi-
es us.  This Word is God's Truth, proven by Jesus in His perfect
obedience to God's Will.

       And, ultimately, it will be this Word, revealed in Jesus and liv-
ed by Him, that will judge us in the last day.  "He who rejects Me,
and does not receive My sayings, has one who will judge him at
the last day" (Jno. 12:48).  Jesus reminds us why it is so import-
ant to go to the Word.  It is the Word that will judge us.  We will
not be judged on our opinions, or the cleverness of our argu-
ments.  We will be judged by His Word.  We will not be judged
by the new or old teachings we hear or accept, we will be judged
by the Word of God.

Preach Jesus: -- So. like Paul and Philip, it is our task to point
people to Jesus.  Philip spent some time explaining the Old Test-
ament prophecies about the Christ.  As he taught the Ethiopian,
an interesting thing happened.  "And Philip opened his mouth,
and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.
And as they went along the road they came to some water; and
the eunuch said, 'Look!  Water!  What prevents me from being
baptized?'" (Acts 8:35,36).  When Philip preached Jesus, he must have 
mentioned water and baptism.  Baptism is in water,
that was part of the teaching of Philip.  Baptism is into Christ,
that is the teaching of Philip.  When the man from Ethiopia heard
the story of Christ, he heard about baptism.  And, when he heard
about baptism, he wanted to be saved, by being immersed right
then and there.  "And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they 
both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch; and
he baptized him.  And when they came up out of the water, the
Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch saw him no more, but 
went on his way rejoicing" (Acts 8:38,39).  You
can go on your way rejoicing today.  Search your Bible, Old and
New Testaments.  Come to Jesus, be baptized today.   -------------
David Thurman in Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 27, July 4, 2008.   </HTML>
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