Sermon Tone Analysis

acts17:10-15

Sub:

Intro: Paul and Silas made a night escape.

Remember they were not in Jason's house when the mob stormed it ().

When they returned Jason and the believers told them what had happened.

The decision was made that it would be best for Paul and Silas to escape by night.

As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea.

On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

Now the Bereans were of more open-minded than the Thessalonians… (vv.

10–11a)

What an ideal audience!

They exhibited the characteristics that every teacher of the Word would love to find in a listener: "Open-minded"—they were teachable.

"Eager listeners"—they were open to hear the truth.

"Scripture searchers"—they did not take everything and everyone at its word.

They did their homework.

"Truth seekers"—they were looking for truth—absolute truth.

I. Their Eagerness for the Word

11 The people here were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, since they welcomed the message with eagerness...

11 The people here were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, since they welcomed the message with eagerness

Their “eagerness” carries the idea of rushing forward.

They could not wait to receive God’s message!

Eagerness makes all the difference in the flavor, quality, and nobility of our Christian lives

II.

Their Examination of the Word

......and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

In the word is used in a spiritual sense.

The listeners in Beroea “searched (anakrinō) the Scriptures daily” to determine the truth of the preaching of Paul and Silas.

Christians should investigate and search the Scriptures just as carefully as a judge examines legal papers placed before him in a lawsuit.

When believers go to the Scriptures for wisdom in making a decision, they express the pure mind that God accepts and delights in.

In the word is used in a spiritual sense.

The listeners in Beroea “searched (anakrinō) the Scriptures daily” to determine the truth of the preaching of Paul and Silas.

Christians should investigate and search the Scriptures just as carefully as a judge examines legal papers placed before him in a lawsuit.

When believers go to the Scriptures for wisdom in making a decision, they express the pure mind that God accepts and delights in.

Thoralf Gilbrant, ed., “348.

ἀνακρίνω,” in The Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary – Alpha-Gamma, (Springfield, MO: Complete Biblical Library, 1991), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "348.

ἀνακρίνω".

daily” (καθʼ ἡμέραν) does not describe the frequency of the regular meetings in the synagogue of the entire Jewish community but the frequency of Paul’s interaction with Berean Jews.

Their interest was such that every day some Jewish people were willing and eager to discuss with Paul the content of his message.

The synagogue (see on 6:9) was a place of study where the scrolls with “the Scriptures” (αἱ γραφαί) were kept—either in Hebrew, or in Greek translation, or both—and where members of the Jewish community as well as visiting Jewish teachers could consult the texts.

Paul expounded the Scriptures daily as in Thessalonica, but the Beroeans, instead of resenting his new interpretation, examined (ἀνακρινω [anakrinō] means to sift up and down, make careful and exact research as in legal processes as in ; , etc.) the Scriptures for themselves.

In Scotland people have the Bible open on the preacher as he expounds the passage, a fine habit worth imitating.

daily” (καθʼ ἡμέραν) does not describe the frequency of the regular meetings in the synagogue of the entire Jewish community but the frequency of Paul’s interaction with Berean Jews.

Their interest was such that every day some Jewish people were willing and eager to discuss with Paul the content of his message.

The synagogue (see on 6:9) was a place of study where the scrolls with “the Scriptures” (αἱ γραφαί) were kept—either in Hebrew, or in Greek translation, or both—and where members of the Jewish community as well as visiting Jewish teachers could consult the texts.

III.

Their Encounter with the Word

12 Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men.

IV.

Those Enraged by the Word

13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that God’s message had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and disturbing the crowds.

14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul away to go to the sea, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there.

15 Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.

When word soon got back to Thessalonica about the work of Paul and Silas.

Not content to stir up trouble in Thessalonica, they hurried to Berea and tried the same tactics again.

They were talented rabble-rousers, for their tactics worked again.

Or at least, they worked to the extent that once again Paul was forced to leave town to keep the peace.

Some of the brothers accompanied Paul to the coast where they caught a ship to Athens.

, The Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible – Acts, (Chattanooga: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 1991), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "H.

Berea, the Receptive City: A Noble People, 17:10-15".

Thoralf Gilbrant, ed., “348.

ἀνακρίνω,” in The Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary – Alpha-Gamma, (Springfield, MO: Complete Biblical Library, 1991), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "348.

ἀνακρίνω".