The Noble Bereans
(Message delivered by Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo to the Berean BPC at its 15th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service, March 11, 2007)
Acts 17:10-12
The noble Bereans were known for their high regard for the Holy Scriptures. “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 believed” (Acts 17:11-12).
The phrase “more noble” comes from the Greek eugenesteroi (literally “of good birth or parentage”). Here it does not refer to their physical genealogy but their spirit and attitude—they were noble in their thinking and commitment to the Scriptures. The Berean nobility is described in these two ways: They (1) “received the word with all readiness of mind,” and (2) “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
Reception of the Word with Readiness of Mind
Sincere and noble believers are believers who receive the Word of God. The Word of God is to be received, not criticised. This was taught to us by the Apostle James, “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (Jas 1:21). If we want to be blessed by God and His Word, we must receive Jesus Christ and the Holy Scriptures with meekness.
But it is sad as well as troubling that in the evangelical and fundamentalist world today, there are scholars and teachers in the colleges, universities and seminaries, who make it their habit to criticise the Scriptures, and teaching their students to do the same. They employ their own man-made rules of hermeneutics and rationalistic methods of higher criticism and lower or textual criticism to deny or cast doubt on the infallibility and inerrancy of the Word of God. Is it no wonder that in the churches today, there is such a low view of God’s Word? God’s Word is nowadays open to every man’s subjective interpretation and judgement. It is no longer held up as the sole, supreme, and final authoritative standard of faith and practice. Anything goes! Nothing can be certain! What is truth? Where is truth? “We are agnostic!” “We don’t know!” is what they say.
I am thankful to the Lord that Berean BPC, under the leadership of Pastor Tan Kian Sing, is a humble and faithful receiver of God’s Word, standing foursquare on the perfect Word of God, 100% inspired and 100% preserved. It is not by coincidence but providence that the preserved Greek Text is called the Textus Receptus or the Received Text. It is the Reformation Text that has been received by the faithful and discerning churches, and not the Modernistic Text of Westcott and Hort underlying the modern versions.
When you open God’s Word to read and study it, you do not want to have any doubts in your mind about the Word of God, that it is reliable, dependable, trustworthy, infallible and inerrant, without any mistake. You will not be edified and built up in the faith if you approach God’s Word with doubts and uncertainties. The noble Bereans did not approach the Scriptures with any kind of reluctance or reservation but with readiness. The noble Bereans received the word with “all readiness of mind.” The Greek word for “readiness” is prothumias which comes from two words, “advance” or “forward,” and “passion” or “strong desire.” In other words, the word “readiness” speaks of a passion for or a strong desire towards something. The noble Bereans had this passionate desire and eagerness to receive the pure word of God. Do we have such passionate desire and eagerness for God’s Word? It is quite sad and disturbing today that Christians are more eager to accept a corrupted Word than to receive the pure and preserved Word in the traditional Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Textus Receptus on which the good old faithful KJV is based. But you have believed and received by faith the 100% inspiration and 100% preservation of God’s forever infallible and inerrant words, and have lived up to the good name of the noble Bereans.
Commitment to the Scriptures to Ascertain the Truth
Although the noble Bereans were ready receivers of God’s Word, they were not gullible for they “searched the Scriptures.” The word for “search” here is significant; it is the Greek word anakrino (literally “to judge from above”). It was used in the law courts of judges who investigated and examined a case thoroughly and carefully before passing sentence. The noble Bereans did not suffer false preachers who came in the name of the Lord. They were careful to examine the words of the preacher whether they agree with the infallible words of the Holy Scriptures or not, whether the things spoken were the truth or not. Such a spirit is vital today for there are so many false preachers and teachers out there. Jesus had already warned not once but three times how in the last days false Christs and false prophets shall appear and shall deceive many (Matt 24:5, 11, 24). Today, the attacks against the inspired and preserved words of God do not only come from the modernists or postmodernists but those who call themselves evangelicals and fundamentalists. How we must beware and be discerning like the noble Bereans! Search the Scriptures, and the Scriptures from which the Bereans searched from were not the autographs which had long perished and are no more, but the apographs or the copies which they had in their hands and studied from, and regarded as their perfect standard to judge both faith and practice. That is why we today believe in the Verbal Plenary Preservation (VPP) or 100% preservation of God’s inspired words as originally given (Ps 12:6-7, Matt 5:18, 24:35, 1 Pet 1:23-25). If the Bereans did not have a perfect Bible, and we today do not have a perfect Bible, how can we search the Scriptures and trust that the Scriptures are telling us the truth, without any mistake? We cannot. But we believe God’s power and promise, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever” (Ps 12:6-7). “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt 5:18). I thank the Lord for your pastor’s article, “Praise God, Berean B-P Church Has a Perfect Bible Today!,” which is published in your well-designed church website together with many fine articles and statements of faith.
Note that the Bereans were diligent students of the Holy Scriptures, for they not only searched the Scriptures, they searched the Scriptures daily. They made the Bible an essential part of their daily occupation. As such, they were excellent examples of Paul’s injunction, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15). How may we today search the Scriptures daily? One good way is to use the Read, Pray, Grow (RPG) which is full of solid expositions on the Word of God. Tune in to the Bible Witness Web Radio to listen to biblical hymns and songs, and God-honouring and edifying sermons. Attend the FEBC night classes, and take the courses for credit so that you will do the assignments and sit for the exams, and be engaged in an intensive, systematic study of God’s Word.
“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom 10:17). And so “many of them believed.” But why many and not all? Even today, there are some who do not believe? Why? There could be several reasons: (1) Some do not bother to search the Scriptures. They want to remain ignorant. No faith or belief can result from an empty mind and heart. (2) There may be others who search, but they search in all the wrong places, listening to gossips and rumours, and trusting in the opinions and methods of men. (3) There are those who search, and know the truth, but refuse to believe the truth, and even go against the truth. They willfully and stubbornly choose to be blind and they harden their hearts to sound doctrine and instruction. More often than not, a failure to believe is due to the despising of the Word of God. It is idolatry. They do not believe because they regard their reasoning, their relationships, their popularity, their prestige, their position, their power to be more important than or superior to the Holy Scriptures. The Bereans, on the other hand, were so noble because they not only searched the Scriptures, they searched the Scriptures with the intention to believe and obey the Scriptures: “The Bible says it, that settles it, we believe it.” May we be like the noble Bereans.
Second Dawn
A review by Dr S H Tow
When I took up my copy of “Second Dawn” I did not put it down until the last page. The story of Kevin Tye’s grim contest with cancer so gripped me that I had to follow the unequal battle blow by blow until the bittersweet grande finale: for those of us who watch, it is bitter and tearful; for Kevin, a new dawn ushered him to his “Home Sweet Home”: He had fought the good fight, he had finished his course.
What would you have done if greeted with the news that you had the rarest and most malignant kind of growth which had taken over all the available space in the abdomen? The bombshell burst on Kevin five months before his wedding day. As he pondered and prayed, God gave him a message. Then he said, “I know God has a purpose for my life, to help me surrender my all to Him, and to renew my first love to my Creator. I have opened my heart to God and let Him take control of my life. I am at peace with what I am going through because He has comforted me as I accept His will in my life. God has a reason for everything and my condition is a trial I have to go through … I had backslide and wasn’t putting God first in my life … I have prayed and offered myself willingly to serve Him in whatever He desires.”
Running the last lap
Mr Tye Kim Khiat, Kevin’s father writes in his book Second Dawn:
“As parents, we have not finished the course; Kevin has. His spiritual sprint leaves us panting in his wake. The torch he has passed on is ours to bear. His path we will tread and we know he would dearly want us to hold aloft his torch to light our way – and for all those who want to believe – so that we, too, can cross the finishing line as he did.
Kevin weighted in at 4.3 kg (9.5 pounds) at 6.10 am Singapore time on December 4, 1976, and departed at 1.50 am Australian time on April 29, 2006. From dawn to dawn, from dust to dust, a painful chapter ends, a new one unfolds: his second dawn is for all eternity.
His body had quickly turned cold – and stiff. We bade him good-night for the last time. As we stepped out of the now all-too-familiar Boxhill Hospital into the cold autumn morning, we knew that our second dawn could be on the horizon some day if we stayed the course and kept to the straight and narrow path that our son had blazed for us – so that we could meet again.
Soon, Kevin’s unswerving faith, like the red ball of the rising sun tinged with gold, would climb high into the sky to shine as our beacon.”
