The New Bereans

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” -Acts 20:28-30

Possessed of an other-worldly passion for the church, Paul addresses the elders of Ephesus, warning these brothers of two particular dangers.  The first one being probably the worst of the two evils…wolves (the first half of this warning the general assembly of believers throughout history has weathered fairly well, albeit not without collateral damage.)  Wolves that tear congregations to shreds.  They enter in and bring in all sorts of visceral ham-stringing intentions.   These are those who intend to destroy, these are those whom I believe God will destroy in kind (I Corinthians 3:17.)

The second type of man Paul warns against is more subtle, and probably far more difficult to recognize as they will tend to make a bit more sense (this is the kind of individual I feel we have not dealt with as well.)   They are the type who arise from amongst those whom the Holy Spirit had appointed to be shepherds.  I am not sure I understand what catalyst causes these shepherds to go A.W.O.L. but I think the resulting damage can almost be similar to the damage caused from a festal wolf.   The pain an “ariser” inflicts is more damaging because a trust of love is broken.  In our day and age, they do not even have to be ordained.  I suspect there are scads of people who ‘congregate,’ with other believers on a weekly basis but have not a bit of desire to forbear other believers in love; rather they come into our churches with nothing but a desire to promote themselves, or the way they see things.

I think much is known by the body about wolves, but less is known and recognized about those who would make, “followers after themselves.”  They are more subtle because they appear to say all the right things.  My mind, when it reads Paul’s warning here immediately jumps to other portions of the New Testament where Paul says to follow him after he follows Christ.  I wonder, art thou being a hypocrite Paul?  Hardly!  Those who would follow Paul would be following a man who is following the God-Man Jesus Christ.  Paul’s concern wanted men to become like Jesus Christ as a result of his ministry.   These perverse men are always frustrated people, who drag others down with themselves, always filled with bitterness and with wrath and doubting.  Jealousy is their cologne, and pride is their alarm clock.

The word “perverse,” in this context probably reflects more of the idea of twisting, or making crooked.  It is not that they are pedophiles  or sexually perverse.  It means more that they twist scripture to fit their own agendas, often to such a degree as to be hardly perceptible.

Scripture twisters and me-followers are less concerned with people becoming like Christ than they are concerned with people becoming like them.   I suspect that these are more like wolf-kin…shepherds with a form of Stockholm Syndrome.  Whether they know it or not they have been hostages of the devil, and are starting to appease him.  They have completely lost sight of Christ.

We must take heed, that we do not become prisoners ourselves.  Take notice of the tears of the Apostle, and let not those tears fall to the ground in vain…

It is not from the depths of the grave
Underneath deaths deep black wave
Nor is it from Golgotha’s bleak skull hill
Where the Lord our King directs his Father’s will

Neither between ancient olive trees
Where he does dispense the Spirits breeze
It is not with sweat, blood and why’s
Knees wet, knees bent, with agonizing cries…

It is not from the temple mount
Whip in hand with his furious shouts
Tables turned, he drew a very thick line
Where He challenged religions thieving paradigm

Nor is it from the churning ocean
Where a disciple expressed such shocking devotion
Where the storm did rage and shook his faith
As eyes turned down to an ebon aqueous fate

His voice does no longer on Tiberius resound
Where waylaid sheep once lost were soon found
Where the same man who had sunk before
Now plunged in and made for the shore

Having halted the hands of a tax taking man
He called him surely and asserted His plans
What greater glory and what greater grace
Those hands would later record what took place

He was buried down deep in the dark of the earth
After the death he died to display all God’s worth
Taking the wrath of His Father Jehovah
A lamb beneath the righteous super-nova

Rather He reigns from the place that is best
Where he resides is within His deserved rest
Having won and having crushed, the power of sin and death
He bequeaths to us His Holy Spirit breath

Now he can make the earth His footstool
To deny Him his due, is to be a ripe fool
A branch dead shriveled plucked as a brand
To be cast into the fire, by His very hand.

We don’t have a King whom hasn’t been tempted
By this we know that we are not exempted
To labor for that which you might have guessed
Labor therefore to enter His rest…

-Jeremiah Dusenberry

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Marvel not that I said this unto thee, ye must be born again.   – John 3:5-7

He only gets one chapter of scripture dedicated to him.  His exploits were scandalous, but only to those with an eye to discern.  He certainly lived in the shadow of others, yet he earns a judgment from on high rarely witnessed.  As a matter of fact, the judgment he receives is almost entirely unique.

His name was Belshazzar.  His great sin…a party.  However, this festive occasion was unlike anything ever witnessed on earth.  In a cosmic effort to not just keep up with the Joneses, but rather flatten any chance of their future competition.  Belshazzar breaks out the furniture stolen from the temple in Jerusalem prior to the Jewish captivity in Babylon.  Those in attendance drank wine from the temple vessels and carelessly caroused; slaking their lusts with the items that Hebrews calls, “Shadow(s) of heavenly things.₁”

What could be so wrong?  Does not God want his blessings on display for the world to see?  Would you not marvel, walking into the great dining hall and seeing the altar of sacrifice, with its blood tipped horns?  Would you not think that maybe the King would find a degree of purification by washing his hands in the laver?  What about the menorah?  Its light would add a great degree of needed direction to a dark kingdom!

Unfortunately, for poor Belshazzar, things are about to get serious.  With a great need for a new pair of pants and with his knees knocking, his party face turns a pale retched sickly color as he witnesses one of the single most unique events in the entire Bible.  A hand, disconnected from any other apparatus, begins to write on the wall.  After a series of events, our man Daniel tells Belshazzar what just happened.  God had decided that He was done with Belshazzar, as a matter of fact, He was done with Babylon.  He had been weighed, measured, and found WANTING…to top it all off the kingdom was going to be divided.  As to be expected, Belshazzar was slain that very night.  I guess he probably really didn’t want to know what that mean old hand had to say after all did he?

Before our eyes glaze over with the repetition of a popular passage of scripture, I think it is worth noting that, to the untrained eye, Belshazzar had all the accoutrements and trappings of religion in his possession.  They were on display for everyone to see.  To the modern “Christian,” I think this concept could fly past blind eyes.  How happy we can be if we externally display our religion like a peacock, just to find that it is all feather and fluff.  We can have all the right things to say, and can have all our pet doctrines, a license plate that says “Sav3d,” or a bumper sticker warning of the rapture.  You may even be the happiest person in the world and tell everyone you know that it was Jesus that made you so, and if they would just accept Jesus they could be happy too.  Happy just…like…you.

I would define the trappings of Christianity as the fruits of the Spirit, if I could do so with absolute reverence.  However, the strange thing about the fruits of the Spirit, “Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, and faith,” is that they can be imitated.  Not a single one of these fruits are exclusive to Christianity.  I know some people are shouting at me right now…wondering how I could possibly suggest such a thing.  You may even be reaching up to delete Newbereans.com from your bookmark list.  Please just bear with me a moment longer.

The problem with Belshazzar’s usage of the temple vessels was that they were used from a wrong motivation and most assuredly in the wrong context, and not according to the divine “pattern ₂” God had established, not to mention they were used in a sinful fashion.  The Bible calls believers the temple of the Holy Spirit in 1st Corinthians 3:16.  In order for the fruits of the Spirit to work according to the dictates of the Spirit, that fruit has to be budding in a Temple.  Just like the furniture was only meant to be used in the ancient Temple.  This process has to be done according to Gods pre-ordained pattern.  In order to be the temple of the Spirit you first have to be born again.  You must become a new creation in Christ, all the old things must pass and you must be made new.  Without this authentic step through the narrow gate, all the “trappings” will quickly fade; your leaves will whither away if you were not really born again.  This process is spiritual and must be so according to Gods pattern. If this progression of new birth is circumvented, the most terrifying truth is that we can actually pretend to be Christians our entire lives and all that will await us is the same sentiment afforded to Belshazzar. Weighed…measured…wanting.  How is this possible?  Because in the king’s court there was no blood, there was no sacrifice there was no priest, worst of all there was no kabod, and without any of these, there is certainly no atonement.

The furniture has to be in the Temple, under the blood, and washed clean by spirit and water, then and only then will the fruits of the spirit be nourished in a proper fashion.  The only way you can be not weighed, measured and found wanting is to be in Christ.  Marvel not that this has been said unto thee.

1.Hebrews 8:5

2. Hebrews 9:21-23

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

-Galatians 5:6

I have one question; please consider it for a few moments before you proceed in reading this post.  What exactly does it mean to, “Walk in the Spirit?”

At one point in my walk I would have given some sort of amorphous response like, well…uh, I guess that means I should listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling me to do in my heart.  Unfortunately through this method, I found that the decisions I made were often poor decisions; I frequently made really bad ones as a matter of fact.  I played some strange form of spiritual roulette which proved to lead nowhere fast.

The Bible tells us that our hearts are deceitfully wicked; and our consciences can be seared.  If our conscience were enough to guide us, then what would be the point of Jesus suffering the wrath of his Almighty Father?  Our inner conscience is only capable of moving us so far; that being said, how in the world would anyone ever be able to differentiate between a lackluster conscience, and some sort of inner voice leading us in our walks? Not that the Holy Spirit cannot or does not direct our steps, His primary job, however, is conviction of sin and righteousness.

The answer is astonishingly simple; the Spirit guiding us in our walks is synonymous with convicting the world of sin, and righteousness, not just to guide us in all sorts of extra biblical manifestations, or fantastic directions.  How can we expect the Spirit to guide us in our decisions about work, ministry, or life in general, while we are living a life that is fulfilling our fleshly lusts?  Are we seeking first His kingdom, or are we seeking first our kingdom?  And by seeking first his kingdom, I don’t mean spending two minutes in the morning choking down a pop-tart while reading a proverb.

Am I just redefining this to fit my theology?  No, read the next verse, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other and ye cannot do the things that ye would.  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”  The act of walking in the Spirit is in opposition to me, to my way, to self as well as opposition to the burdens of law.  If you read Romans chapter eight you will find that this is a requirement of Christianity.  There is no gray area when Paul says, “So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.  Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.”

So, if you have a compulsion to do something exemplifying the life of Christ, this is God, proving his capability of transforming you into a new creation, thus showing what it means to walk in the Spirit.  Walking in the Spirit is living a life that conforms to Christ’s character: not Luke Skywalker using The Force by following his feelings.  Remember, the contrast to walking in the Spirit, is fulfilling fleshly lusts.

Addendum: I am not trying to negate the Spirit leading us in a supernatural fashion; I am saying that it is not the primary function of walking in the Spirit.

Dedicated to R.C. Sproul who mentioned this concept in the following quotation. . .

- “Perhaps what is even more alarming is that even within churches and organizations that still profess a high view of Scripture, there is an alarming ignorance of the content of Scripture.  For many, being “led by the Spirit,” means being led by some inner light or impulse rather than by the Spirit’s testimony to the written Word of God.  Edwards says, ‘And accordingly we see it common in enthusiasts who oppose Christ that they depreciate this written rule and set up the light within their souls or some other rule above it.’”  The Spirit of Revival: Discerning the Wisdom of Jonathan Edwards by R.C. Sproul and Archie Parrish

Part Two – A Noble Application

This nobility attributed to the Berean’s, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is a double pronged assertion of truth from scripture.  We find in the book of proverbs the origin behind the Berean nobility.  “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.” Proverbs 25:2.  Solomon never knew his proverb would find a fulfillment in a group of people in Berea, hundreds of years post his demise.  The Holy Spirit did.  How thankful I am that scripture proves its consistency, and its worthiness of our pursuit.

Worth noting in this historical narrative is how many believed in Berea, as opposed to some who believed in Thessalonica.  I feel the Spirit placed this statement in Acts seventeen for a reason.  Wherever the word of God is being poured over, and studied, in order to prove that which is truthful in teaching, we will find an atmosphere conducive to salvation.  The student of God’s word is typically a catalyst for the movements of the Holy Spirit.  It is within this field that we find those Bereans acting as mighty spades, churning the soil, all the while oxygenating, and fertilizing the ground in order to create an environment where the seeds of truth can be broadcast to fruition.

We are told by the Apostle John that we are to “Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.₁” Satan wants to sow tares among the wheat, I believe he does so in order to inhibit movements of God, and to prohibit true Christian growth. There are few ideas more dangerous than ideas mostly true, and partially subversive, and if a message is partially subversive, it is truly entirely subversive.  Christians who do not throw out water tainted with sewage do no one any good by drinking the contaminated water themselves.  How much worse is it when a Christian drinks raw theological sewage from a fire hose as it were? ­

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”  -Jude 3

What better way to contend for the faith than to be Bereans?  A Berean is not going to be easily swayed by every wind of doctrine, every smattering of satanic sewage.  Instead they will foster an atmosphere of salvation.

_{1. 1John 4:1}

Part I – A Noble Pursuit

“And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the 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 those things were so.  Therefore many of them (the Berean’s) believed; also of honorable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.”

Acts 17:10-12 KJV

For some, the term “Berean,” may be strange upon the tongue, and for others it may be a cliché’.  Amongst Bible believing Christians, this term is commonly chucked around. To many who study the Bible; these individuals have almost become legendary.  A simple Google search under the heading of “Berean” will yield copious amounts commentary (I am not recommending you develop your theology via Google) on this topic.  It is a term that has been used for inspiration, and a term yielded to desecration (as is so often the case with powerful biblical terminology.)  Some hyper-sectarian groups have adopted the name in the past in such a fashion that it directly and ironically contradicts the very nature of what being a Berean means.

Before perusing this meaning, it is worth noting that one likely reason the Berean’s have obtained a certain romanticized stature in the minds of many, is due to the noble pattern they established.  This is a pattern I think we will find radical, essential and ought to be unwavering in the lives of those who crouch on bended knee to enter through that slim and narrow gate of Christ.

These Berean people are set, by the Holy Spirit, in contradistinction to the people whom Paul had preached to in Thessalonica. We find in Acts 17:4 after Paul reasoned with the Thessalonians in their synagogue that some of them believed and associated with Paul.  After which he gets chased out of town yet again by the Jews who hated what he had to say about Jesus due to envy.   When Paul then ventures to Berea (now known as Veria) he happens upon a group of would be believers who set themselves apart from others.  Rather than simply accepting what someone, no less than Paul the Apostle, said about scripture at face value, the Bereans chose, with readiness of mind, to search the scriptures to see if what PAUL said was true or not.  Before we move on it is worth noting, that they verified the teaching of one who wrote the majority of the New Testament.  Was this a rebellious tendency?  Was it bare naked skepticism?  No…this was true nobility!