Acts 17:10-15 

¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. ¹² As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

¹³ But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. ¹⁴ The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. ¹⁵ Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

Shoe Salesman

Two salesmen went to Africa to investigate and report market potentiality.

1^st salesman reported: “No potential there. Nobody wears shoes.”

2^nd salesman reported: “There’s massive potential. Nobody wears shoes!”

How did Paul know if there’s ministry potentiality in a particular city?

The Lord did not let Paul to stay much longer because there was so little opportunity for the furtherance of the gospel in Berea; persecution was a factor.

The main reason Paul moved on was the limited ministry opportunity among the Bereans because they were so eager to examine the Scripture.

1.  Scripture

¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

The believers in Thessalonica were very anxious about the safety of Paul and Silas. They didn’t make it public but made sure that nobody knows that they were going to Berea; so, they travelled at night.

This should remind us that we also need to be cautious in ministry approach. Non-believers could be potential believers but they are also potential persecutors.

Paul and Silas were very intentional in their outreach; they knew where to start, the synagogue. They found the Berean Jews to be growing in their spiritual life. The Bereans didn’t easily agree or disagree with Paul; they searched the Scriptures, they searched and proved if the message of Paul were truly biblical in nature.

¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. ¹² As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

Leading a Bible Study group is very encouraging and fulfilling ministry if students or Bible Study group do their assignment [e.g. memorize verses].

Non-Biblical Sayings

There are relatively good principles that many believe to be biblical:

God helps those who help themselves; Cleanliness is next to godliness; Pray to receive Christ as Lord and Saviour; Money is the root of all evil; Once saved always saved; All things work for our good…etc.

Be like the Bereans: “Be sure that you have searched the Scriptures personally.”

The Pauline Epistles were written to address spiritual problem in a particular church (Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians). Remarkably, Paul didn’t write a letter addressed to the Bereans. Did Paul trust that the Bereans were spiritually stable and had no doctrinal problem at all?

The Jews from Thessalonica followed Paul in Berea and stirred the crowd.

Have you ever experienced that wherever you go, it seems like you would encounter the same problem over and over again?

What should we do? Should we just ignore, leave the place, and go somewhere?

1 Corinthians 10:13…¹³ No temptation [or testing] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted [or tested] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted [or tested], he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

It was a God’s grand design for Paul to be persecuted wherever he went so that he won’t stay or remain in one church but to keep moving onto another place to start a church. Paul was a church planter; he was not called to pastor one single church.

But for us, whatever difficulty God allows us to experience, He would provide us a way out and believers who would assist us if we continue to seek our calling. God allows us to experience the same problem, either to find solution from God or as a signal to know when it’s time to move on.

2.  Signal

¹³ But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. ¹⁴ The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. ¹⁵ Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

Paul was known to be very courageous and not minding what happens to him. Being persecuted, stoned, flogged, or thrown in jail, no problem, Paul faced them all.

Was it God’s great plan for Berean believers to secure the safety of Paul?

Persecutions were signals that Paul needed when moving onto his next assignment. Instead of arguing of fighting for his human right, he welcomed a brighter or another opportunity in the next chapter of his life and ministry. This time, it became more obvious that persecution was really intended for Paul when he left Silas and Timothy in Berea.

The Thessalonians Jews who persecuted Paul were not satisfied that he left Thessalonica. Did they follow him and see to it the Paul will forever be banished?

The city of Thessalonica is more than 75 kilometers away from Berea. It takes more or less 4 days of travel on foot, 2 days or more by horse ride. Those who persecuted Paul were really serious in destroying his ministry.

Praise God when people are deem serious to oppose you; you’ve a disciple’s mark.

Paul might have considered settling down in Berea that was why God allowed those Thessalonian Jews to travel more than 75 kilometers just to persecute him.

Every pastor would love to settle and retire in a church with members like the Bereans who were eager to search the Bible.

Settle Down

In our first church planting, I thought of settling down and pastor the church until retirement. After few years, new church leaders cut short my service. It was like-there was a new Pharaoh who knew nothing about Joseph.

I went back to the Seminary and joined another church planting team. Again, I considered of settling down and pastor the church until retirement but the team leader cut short my service. I took that as go signal to go to the mission field; we were praying for mission opportunity at that time.

When we were in China, the idea of settling down as long-term missionary was gaining grounds in my mind. Our passports expired and we went back to the Philippines to renew our passports. I went back to the seminary and it turned out that Winnipeg, MB is our next stop.

Has settling down in Winnipeg appealed me? Will God let me stay and retire here or move on? Are there any significant developments recently?

When the Holy Spirit speaks, He speaks softly but clearly without any doubt.

We pray to stay little longer here but if it’s for His glory nobody can stop the will of God; His grand design must be fulfilled. Like the 2^nd salesman who saw a massive potential market where nobody wears shoes, with the attendance we have every Wednesday night, there’s a massive ministry potential here.

But, when the new Pharaoh who knew nothing about Joseph comes to power, the Israelites will cross the Red Sea.

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