Anyone who has spent much time in church “knows” that the Old Testament, commonly called “the law,” was “nailed to the cross” and thereby done away with.  This in spite of the fact that Jesus specifically said that such was not the case (Mat. 5:17).  In fact, it was prophesied that He would “magnify the Law and make it honorable” (Isa. 42:21), which He did by fulfilling it–living it to the fullest and commanding His followers to do the same.  His premier New Testament writer, the Apostle Paul, declared that “the Law is holy, just and good” (Rom. 7:12).  The Apostle John defined sin as the breaking of the Law (1 Jn. 3:4).  God’s Law, His Gospel, His Truth, His Light, His Way, His Commandments are all one and the same.  Recall that not one jot or tittle can be removed or changed in the Law as long as heaven and earth remain (Mat. 5:18).  They still exist.

The Gospel Truth is that the so-called “New Testament Gospel” actually isn’t new.  It is noted in Galatians 3:6-8 that “the Scripture (Word Who became Jesus) preached THE GOSPEL to ABRAHAM, the father of the nation of Israel and therefore of the New Covenant Church (Rom. 4:1,12).  THE SAME GOSPEL that Jesus preached to  Abraham and later to His prophets and apostles His apostles preach to the New Testament Church today (Heb. 4:2).  The problem then is the problem now: PEOPLE DO NOT BELIEVE THE GOSPEL AND THEREFORE IT HAS NO EFFECT ON THEIR LIVES.

With this in mind let us examine the Scriptures used by the New Testament apostles while conducting their ministries to the Jews, to the other tribes of Israel, to the Gentiles and to God seekers today.  Let us answer the question: upon what did the apostles base their New Testament ministries?  As we will see, and as we are told in Ephesians 2:20, the New Covenant Church was founded on the teachings of BOTH the Old Testament PROPHETS and the New Testament APOSTLES.  Let us prove that Truth Scripturally.

In Acts 17:10-13 we find that Paul and Silas, having stirred up things in Thessalonica by telling the people things they had never heard before, found themselves in trouble with the Jews.  Instead of checking out what they were hearing, God’s chosen people immediately rose up against it.  Because of the trouble they had instigated, Paul and Silas were sent out of the city under the cover of darkness and to the city of Berea.  Soon after arriving they entered the city’s synagogue and began to teach the Jews of that city the same Truths of God they had taught in Thessalonica.  It immediately becomes obvious to the searcher of Truth that the Jews of Berea, like their counterparts in Thessalonica, had never heard what Paul and Silas were telling them.  But the Bereans had a totally different reaction.  Paul says about these Truth-hungry people that they were: “more noble than the Jews of Thessalonica” in that they “received the Word WITH ALL READINESS OF MIND.”  Instead of summarily rejecting the strange teachings of Paul and Silas, they which prompted them to “SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES DAILY TO SEE IF WHAT THEY WERE HEARING WAS (SCRIPTURALLY) TRUE.”  Let us do a “fine print” examination of verse 11 in order to find the nuggets of Truth God has hidden there.

First of all, the men of Berea had a “readiness of mind” (humility) that enabled them to hear the apostles’ teachings without prejudging them.  Without such a mental readiness, God cannot get through to religious people.  I have noticed throughout many years of ministry that the more religious the person, the more alienated they are to God’s Truth.  Anciently in that area of the world only priests and the socially elite could read and write.  The vast majority who attended the synagogue received the Scriptures through word of mouth.  The Bereans no doubt had help from the local priest when doing what the people of Thessalonica had failed to do.  They SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES TO SEE IF PAUL AND SILAS WERE TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD’S WORD.

Notice also that they SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY.  Obviously, they returned each day to the synagogue where they heard the apostles teach them from THE SCRIPTURES.  Question: what Scriptures did the apostles use in their ministry?  Answer: the only Scriptures in existence at that time–THE OLD TESTAMENT–THE LAW AND THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHETS, which, as you recall, Jesus did not come to destroy (Mat. 5:17,18).  All of the apostles except John would be dead when the New Testament came into existence some 40 years later.  Note it: THE GOSPEL THE APOSTLES USED TO TEACH THE FIRST CENTURY CHURCH WAS THE OLD TESTAMENT WHICH INCLUDED THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHETS ALONG WITH THE TORA–THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS THAT HAD BEEN WRITTEN BY MOSES.  As Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:20, the New Covenant Church was founded on the Old Testament.  Her foundation “stones” (Truths) consisted of the teachings of the Word–Jesus Christ–Who was the Head foundational stone Who was also called “the Rock.”  In verse 12 we are told that many of the Bereans believed, including some Greek women.  These people had been studying the Old Testament Law and the prophets (the Gospel) for many years.  When they learned that those same Scriptures formed the foundation of the New Testament Church, they immediately embraced the New Testament Gospel BECAUSE THEY WERE ONE AND THE SAME.

But alas, the same thing happened in Berea that had happened in Thessalonica.  The Thessalonian Jews heard that Paul and Silas were preaching the same “errors” to the Jews of Berea .  In a rage, they went there to put an end to what called blasphemy.  As a result of their threats Paul was forced to flee to Athens.  To no one’s surprise, He soon found himself in trouble again as he preached to the Athenians the Truth about the connection between the Law and the Gospel, the synagogue and the church.  And as he had in Berea, he taught DAILY in the open areas and in the synagogue.  Recall that the Christians in the newly founded church in Jerusalem, in an attempt to escape the reach of Saul of Tarsus (Paul), they went to Damascus.  Notice where they went upon their arrival in that city–the SYNAGOGUE.   Paul had letters from the high priest in Jerusalem that would allow him to go into the all  SYNAGOGUES in search of CHRISTIANS (Acts 9:1,2,14).  Why did Christians go to the synagogues if everything being taught there–the Law and the writings of the prophets–had been nailed to the cross?

The lesson taught us by the Bereans relative to hearing something we have not heard before is obvious.  CHECK IT OUT BY SEARCHING THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.  Truth-seeking sheep will do so and will change when shown the Gospel Truth.  Religious goats, however, will not.  Not only will they not “Study to show yourself approved of God” (2 Tim. 2:15), they will come against that which would gain His approval.

Understand that it is not the unchurched world that will come against God’s Truth.  The unchurched do not care what is written or spoken about God.  It is the church that will show her hatred toward God and His Christ by rejecting Their Holy Word.  Let us be Berean in our attitude toward all words that come to us on the spiritual level.  I check out everything I hear or read.  Not so with the super-religious.

I once talked with a Mormon couple and showed them what God says about their “truths.”  Though the man told me I had been effective in my teaching.  However,  I never saw them again even though they attend a Mormon church less than a block from my house, which did not surprise me.  Once Satan gets his talons in peoples’ hearts it is almost impossible to pry them loose.  Two things stand in the way of deliverance: pride and fear.  Pride keeps people from admitting that they are wrong.  Fear of losing social relationships is equally as powerful as pride.  Let us rid ourselves of both curses.  Let us be Berean.

Memory Verse: Romans 10:19: “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.”  Faith is knowing that God’s written Word is Truth.  “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen” (Heb. 11:1).  True faith counts that which God has promised as if it has already been done.  Note that the Book of Revelation is written in past tense–as if it had already taken place–yet it involved things which had not taken place, and has still not taken place.  But it is as sure as if it had taken place.  That is what faith is all about.  That is God-level faith which we must have in order to appropriate that which God has promised.  L.J.