By David ReayMonday 13 Jan 2014LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Acts 17:10-12
10 That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there,they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica,and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. 12 As a result,many Jews believed,as did many of the prominent Greek women and men. (NLT)
Many of us have met people who tell us that God has told them to do something or other,or that God has assured via private revelation that a certain thing will happen. We may have even said such things ourselves. We dare not cynically dismiss such statements. God does speak to us. He didn’t stop doing so when the Bible was brought to completion. He doesn’t only speak through theologically trained preachers or leaders. He hasn’t been struck dumb.
Then again,we need to be careful when claiming God has spoken to us. Are we engaging in wishful thinking,claiming God’s endorsement for our own preconceived plans? Are we trying to avoid any challenge to our opinions-after all it is a bit hard to argue with someone who reckons they have a private hotline to God.
The Bereans in this passage give us some clues as to how to handle this difficulty. They checked out so-called ‘new’ teaching with the ‘old’ teaching. They wanted to know if Paul and Silas were consistent with their Scriptures. We need to likewise check any private or ‘new’ revelation with the Scriptures. And to do so in fellowship with other Christians who can correct any subjective distortions we may even bring to such Scripture.
God still speaks,but he does so in accordance with his historic revelation of himself in the written Scriptures and through the wise interpretation of those writings by his people. What God might say to us in private ought not to contradict those public realities.
Blessings
David Reay