October 16, 2025 • 31 mins
Have you ever dismissed an encounter as random, only to later see how meaningful it was? The apostle Paul experienced that in Athens. Surrounded by idols and philosophers, he found himself drawn into conversations he never planned—but God had planned them. Those “chance encounters” became divine appointments, opening the door for Paul to proclaim the gospel in one of history’s most influential cities.
In this episode, Stephen Davey unpacks Acts 17:16-21, showing how God orchestrates opportunities to share His truth with the people around us. You’ll discover why the Athenians were so eager for new ideas, what drove Paul to engage them, and how his approach to everyday conversations can guide us today.
Learn how to recognize divine appointments, why curiosity is not the same as conversion, and how to respond when God places someone in your path. This message will encourage you to see your workplace, neighborhood, or even a casual stop at the store as opportunities for the gospel. God still arranges divine appointments—will you be ready for yours?
Stephen's latest book, The Disciples Prayer, is available now. https://www.wisdomonline.org/store/view/the-disciples-prayer-hardback
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SPEAKER_01 (00:06):
What matters most to them, and what ought to matter
most to us, is for the Bereans,it wasn't whether or not Paul
was likable or or interesting tolisten to or novel in his
teaching.
What mattered was the answer tothis question.
Has God spoken?
(00:28):
Is God speaking through Paul?
Because if God has spoken, youcan't be neutral.
If God has spoken, you have tosubmit, confess, convert, obey.
SPEAKER_00 (00:59):
Nowadays, our culture considers you virtuous
if you accept all forms ofreligion, sexuality, and ethical
positions as equal.
The goal is to tear down thedividing walls of right and
wrong so as not to offendanyone.
Biblically, we can't approachlife that way.
(01:21):
There are matters to which Godhas spoken.
And when God speaks, that's thefinal word.
This is Wisdom for the Heartwith Stephen Davy.
Stephen has a message for youtoday called A Good Model for an
Open Mind.
SPEAKER_01 (01:40):
One of the most important attributes about God
is his communicative nature.
He is a self-disclosing God.
It's wonderful that God haschosen not to be silent, but he
has spoken to mankind.
And in fact, he has spoken involumes.
(02:00):
I read recently, in fact, justthis past week, of a$100 million
initiative that began a fewmonths ago.
Perhaps you saw the news aswell.
A Russian billionaire donated$100 million to utilize the best
of technology capable oflistening to radio waves in
(02:22):
galaxies far away.
And also a telescope ofmagnificent power to search for
alien life.
To basically find out if indeedsomeone is out there who is
listening and watching.
I read some of the material ofthis initiative, which is being
(02:45):
chaired by Stephen Hawking.
I even watched their shortintroductory video, which was
magnificent pictures, by theway, of the universe.
And I sat there worshiping God.
But of course, they were goingin a different direction.
They were depicting a human racethat had randomly begun,
evolving without a creator.
(03:07):
They made the rather interestingstatement that the universe is
infinite.
I guess they've been able tomeasure that, but they say they
said it's infinite.
And then they gave to nature allpower.
Nature is all powerful, thatnature created life.
And of course, their primarypurpose, not surprisingly, in
(03:30):
this new initiative to find outif we are alone, came from this
desire to know where we'regoing.
And I could just hear thatannouncer saying several times,
are we alone?
I have an answer.
We're not alone.
In fact, there is indeed someonelistening and watching and
(03:53):
involved.
Who cares, by the way?
In fact, the stunning truth isthat he has communicated to us
about our origins and about ourfuture.
Genesis chapter 1, all the wayto Revelation, chapter 21, and
then of course chapter 22, whereJesus says these testimonies are
(04:14):
true.
And there's a lot in between.
Al Moeller quoted George Gallupand Jim Castelli, who concluded
this, and I quote Moeller'sblog, Americans revere the
(04:36):
Bible, but by and large theyjust don't read it.
And because they don't read it,they've become biblically
illiterate.
So how bad is it?
Moeller postures.
Well, fewer than half of alladults can name the four
gospels.
Many Christians, Christians now,cannot identify the names of
more than two or maybe three ofthe twelve disciples.
(04:58):
At least 12% of adults,Christians, believe that Joan of
Arc was Noah's wife.
ARC.
Never mind.
But a considerable number ofrespondents, in fact, to one
poll indicated they believe theSermon on the Mount was preached
by Billy Graham.
(05:21):
Dr.
Moller then makes theapplication.
How can a generation bebiblically shaped in its
understanding of human sexualitywhen 50% of the respondents
think Sodom and Gomorrah aremarried?
How can individuals who believethere's a verse in the Bible
that says, quote, God helpsthose who help themselves, end
(05:43):
quote, be able to understandsalvation by grace through faith
alone?
Well, this is our world.
And it's our world in which wehave the privilege of
introducing God.
Aliens whose seeded life on theplanet is growing in popularity.
(06:04):
The energy of the universe todetermine your future.
The alignment of the stars thatsort of determine your fate.
The power of nature.
The power of nature to createorder and to create beauty from
disorder.
(06:26):
I wish nature would work somemagic on my backyard.
I can't get anything beautifulto grow back there.
However, if you mention a Godwho communicated something, a
God who has disclosed who he isand who we are, the values, the
virtues that he demands, thegospel of sin and salvation,
(06:49):
suddenly that open-mindednesscloses.
And you can hear the shutters onears slamming shut, and windows
of the soul are just sort oflowered and closed and locked.
It strikes me that when you lookat the testimony of the gospel,
as we've been doing this in itsintroduction of God in this
(07:12):
world, that there is an incidentof a good open mind in a secular
society.
In fact, the Apostle Paul isgoing to encounter a group of
them, Jewish and Gentilesympathizers, and to this day
they become a wonderful model ofwhat we hope and pray our world
will have as an open mind to thetruth.
(07:34):
Because at the end of the day,beloved, it is the Spirit of God
who is at work in their hearts.
We don't want to overlook orforget his invisible work.
He must raise the windows andremove the shutters as we
deliver the gospel.
Let me show you where thathappened as the world, this
particular world, is beingintroduced to God.
(07:54):
Let's go back to Acts chapter17.
And let's kind of work throughthis next paragraph.
And as we do, I want to frame itthis way.
Let me give you threecharacteristics of a good open
mind.
Now, having an open mind isn'tnecessarily good.
And we live in a world wherethere's an open mind, just the
wrong kind.
So let me give you threecharacteristics of how to model
(08:17):
a good open mind.
This has truth not only forthose to whom you will deliver
the gospel, and you pray thatGod will do this in their lives,
but this is true for everybeliever, every one of us as
Christians.
Here's the first characteristicof a good model of an open mind.
I'll give it to you and thenwe'll get into the text.
You receive the word eagerly.
(08:39):
You receive the word eagerly.
Now let's go to verse 10 wherewe left off last time we
studied.
And the brethren immediatelysent Paul and Silas away by
night to Berea.
How many of you recognize thename Bereans?
Okay?
Yes.
They are still to this day knownfor this particular incident in
which they reflected an openmind.
(09:00):
And when they arrived, they wentinto the synagogue of the Jews.
They're in Berea.
Now, these were morenoble-minded than those in
Thessalonica, for they receivedthe word with great eagerness.
Now let's just kind of brieflyset the stage.
If you were with us in our laststudy, there's a contrast taking
place that Paul just or Lukejust makes here.
(09:21):
And in our last study, we watchPaul and Silas leaving
Thessalonica after a riotbegins.
The city is in an uproar.
Everyone's upset and disturbedbecause they're preaching the
gospel regarding a deity, thisresurrected Lord, who evidently
has a claim to be sovereignking.
(09:44):
And of course, that erupts inthis riot, and they send Paul
and Silas away to spare theirlives.
Now, after having traveled abouttwo and a half days, they arrive
in Berea, and you find thisremarkable difference.
These unbelieving Jews now, keepthat in mind, these unbelieving
(10:07):
Gentile proselytes respond witheagerness.
That word for eagerness could beunderstood with the idea of
someone rushing forward.
They can't wait.
They just can't wait to hear it.
So kind of get in your mind apicture of a starving refugee
rushing toward a truck as it'sunloading bags of rice.
(10:31):
Have in your mind a picture ofthirsty children raising their
cups for water.
I watched a homemade video clipnot too long ago of people in an
underground church receivingfree copies of the Bible.
And as a man opened the sack infront of this group of adults,
(10:53):
it was amazing to me and deeplyconvicting to see them pressing
forward and reaching eagerly fortheir own copy of what I've got
20 of in my study and at home.
An elderly former pastor, Iknow, once preached in the
(11:15):
Soviet Union after the collapse,and the church building was
packed with people, and they'resitting in chairs and they're
standing around the walls.
It's cold in that churchbuilding, there's no heat.
Hundreds are there packedtogether, listening to every
word he preached.
And after he finished preaching,he sat down and no one moved.
And the layleader leaned overand whispered, We want more.
(11:42):
So he got back up and hepreached another message.
And after nearly an hour, he satback down and again no one
moved.
And the layleader again leanedover and said, Please, we want
more.
And he got up and preachedagain.
That's the idea here.
That's the idea.
Now I'm not telling you when Ifinish, you're all gonna say,
(12:03):
please, we want more, okay?
Uh I'm I'm prepared for onesermon and that's all you're
gonna get, okay?
But this is this is the spiritof expectancy and eagerness, as
if they're starving, reachingfor bread and a cup of water.
And notice how Luke began at theopening here.
Go back to verse 11.
He says here, of them, thesewere more noble-minded than
(12:28):
those in Thessalonica.
Now, by the way, that doesn'tmean they're better people.
It doesn't mean that they're anyless lost in their religious
tradition.
It doesn't mean that they're anyless lost than the
Thessalonicans.
The idea of noble-minded doesn'tmean they're more intelligent or
better educated, or oh, I know,they're related to nobility.
(12:48):
This expression, you mighttranslate it in your margin,
simply means they were moreopen-minded.
There's a great example of whatGod is doing in their hearts.
They're more receptive to themessage that Paul and Silas are
delivering.
Now, by the way, you mightthink, well, that must mean
(13:09):
they're more gullible.
You know, we're ready for a newmessage.
We're just open to that kind ofthing.
Like the Athenians that we'lllook at later on.
No, that doesn't mean they'remore gullible, not at all.
In fact, let me give you thesecond characteristic of what it
means to model a good open mind.
You know, listen to the wordeagerly, which they did.
But then here's a critical part.
(13:30):
You examine the scripturescarefully.
You examine the scripturescarefully.
Look at the middle part of verse11.
They received the word withgreat eagerness, examining the
scriptures daily.
Would you notice the text doesnot say, and they examined the
scriptures weekly.
They examined the scriptures foran hour or two in the synagogue.
(13:55):
No, daily.
And you know, as I read that, itstruck me, no, wait, they've got
jobs.
They've got kids to raise,they've got they've got goats to
herd.
But all of a sudden, they findthemselves here in the presence
of something that they arerecognizing demands their
(14:15):
attention.
Because if it's true, it's goingto direct the rest of their
lives.
If it's true, it's going todetermine their eternal destiny.
That's why you're so passionate.
When you deliver to somebody thegospel, you realize how high the
(14:35):
stakes are.
This is life or death.
Examine the scriptures daily.
That's an important thingbecause they go back to the
scriptures.
In fact, the word for examine isvery intense.
It's a word that linguistsdescribe as the action of making
careful and exact research in alegal process.
(14:58):
In other words, we cannot missone word.
That was how you, when you metwith that attorney and they and
you looked at those closingdocuments or that contract,
you've got to make sure it's allthere, it's all right.
So, in other words, the theirattitude is look, we can't miss
one word.
(15:18):
There are legal binding issuesbetween us and God, evidently.
Evidently.
Because if God has spoken, whichPaul is saying, this God has
communicated.
He has spoken.
Let's find out.
(15:38):
What do the scriptures say?
And keep in mind they only hadthe Old Testament scriptures.
Couldn't go to the book ofRomans or 1 Corinthians.
They had the Old Testamentscriptures.
And we know that in thesynagogue, that was the place
where scrolls were kept, eitherin Hebrew, often translated into
(15:59):
Greek, or both.
Members of the Jewish community,along with the Jewish teachers,
had access to these scrolls, andthey were open and available.
We're not told, but but I wouldimagine just one text, Paul
could have said, look, why don'tyou find in the scrolls?
Let's go to the writings ofDavid and find his 22nd Psalm,
(16:24):
where Jesus quotes in his dyingagony the first verse of that
psalm.
God never forsook David.
What's he talking about?
Then they could look down a fewverses where David writes, A
(16:47):
band of evildoers hasencompassed me.
They pierced my hands and myfeet.
That didn't happen to David.
Who's he talking about?
And he could have gone onanother verse or two.
They divided my garments amongthem, and for my clothing they
cast lots.
(17:07):
That didn't happen to David.
I could hear Paul saying as herecounted the eyewitness
accounts of the crucifixionalong with the testimony of the
Old Testament.
David is not talking abouthimself here.
He's talking about the son ofDavid, the Messiah, who will
(17:28):
suffer and die.
And I can hear these Bereanssaying, please, we want more.
One final good characteristic ofmodeling an open mind, you not
only receive the word eagerly,you not only examine the
scriptures carefully, which ishow you present the gospel, by
the way.
This isn't your opinion.
(17:49):
And then as a believer, you dothe same.
Third, you adapt to the truthpersonally.
You adapt to the truthpersonally.
Look at verse 12.
Many of them, therefore,believe.
Not great.
Many of them, therefore,believe.
Most of the people back inThessalonica rioted.
Many of these people believe.
A number of prominent Greekwomen and men.
(18:11):
Now, the period of studying thescriptures, most New Testament
scholars that have explored thisand worked out the timelines
believe that this may havelasted for a couple of months.
After that period of time, ormaybe along the way, they're
beginning to believe.
And it would be easy, by theway, for us to forget what that
meant to them when it says, andthey believed.
(18:34):
We're not given the volume ofwhat that would mean, but we can
get a taste of it by whathappens next, verse 13.
But when the Jews ofThessalonica found out that the
Word of God had been proclaimedby Paul and Berea also, they
came there likewise, agitatingand stirring up the crowds.
Now the city is stirred up.
You've got another riot about tobreak out because of the word of
(18:57):
God being proclaimed.
And I think it's interestingthat the Jews came and they
found out that the word of Godhad been proclaimed.
It doesn't say they found outthat the word of Paul had been
proclaimed, but the word of God,which is to their shame and
eternal condemnation.
They recognize that much.
But now the city is stirred up.
(19:19):
Literally, the city is shaking,you could translate it, with
unrest.
So the scriptures now that theyhave been examining, and now
that they believe, is about tochange everything in their
lives.
It's going to divide families,it's going to tear apart close
friendships, it's going to bringdivision.
That synagogue will never, everbe the same.
(19:40):
Because eventually those whobelieve will begin to worship
the Lord on the Lord's day byActs chapter 20.
It'll never be the same.
Never be the same.
With this controversy that hasstirred up.
But what matters most to them,and what ought to matter most to
us, is for the Bereans, itwasn't whether or not Paul was
(20:00):
likable or interesting to listento or novel in his teaching.
What mattered was the answer tothis question.
Has God spoken?
Is God speaking through Paul?
Was this really the word fromGod?
Because if God has spoken, youcan't be neutral.
(20:23):
If God has spoken, you have tosubmit, confess, convert, obey.
If God has spoken, then todisobey these scriptures is to
disobey God.
To ignore these scriptures is toignore God.
To argue with these scripturesis to argue with God.
(20:44):
Don't overlook the fact thatthese who believed, it would
mean isolation, evenpersecution, but that didn't
stop them.
Many, many believed.
Can you imagine how important itwould be for them and maybe for
you as you invite the gospelinto your life and with it the
trouble that comes?
That you are following the wordof God.
(21:08):
Isn't that what matters?
That God has spoken.
So here's a good model for anopen mind, a kind of open mind
that's a good kind of an openmind.
Let me summarize it with twoclosing principles.
One, a good open mind is onlygood when you place the priority
upon your examination ofscripture.
If you're exploring everythingelse, that's trouble.
(21:32):
What does the Bible say?
What did the Bible mean to itsoriginal audience?
What did Paul mean when he saidthat?
What do the Old Testamentscriptures say about the
Messiah?
What does the New Testamentconfirm about the Messiah?
Is the Bible commanding us to dosomething?
Is the church to be led to dosomething?
Those are the kinds ofquestions.
Listen, who decides what youbelieve?
(21:55):
Who decides what you believe?
Your peers?
Your family?
Your church?
Your professors?
Your student body?
Your television?
Your coworkers?
Your feeling.
Your Bible.
It's one thing to own a Bible,but it's another thing to read
(22:18):
it and memorize it and study it.
So are we anchored to theobjective truth of God's Word,
not the subjective world, whichis racing in every direction
with every speculation based onhow they feel.
One evangelical author commentedrecently, one of his books I
(22:38):
read just a few weeks ago, hewas mentioning a couple of
bestsellers as it relates tothis worldview of subjectivism,
and these books supported thatworldview.
He referred to one bestseller bya noted psychiatrist and radio
talk show host who wrote, and Iquote, in feelings there is
wisdom.
(22:59):
For the simplest feelings speaksthe greatest truth.
Become comfortable with yourfeelings because your feelings
are your life.
Trust your feelings.
They are the only true guidanceyou'll ever receive.
End quote.
This author referred to anotherbestseller, which contains a
chapter called Trust YourFeelings, Not Your Reason.
(23:20):
Why weren't these books writtenwhen I was a kid grown up?
I would fit perfectly.
In this chapter, the authortells the reader, don't trust
your thinking.
It could be warped.
Well, that's true, it could be,but that's not the point.
Pay attention to your emotionsand your feelings.
Emotions have their own logic,they are linked to an inner
(23:43):
knowledge that you can trust.
Okay, that's a classic exampleof a subjective worldview.
And we are presenting anobjective gospel based upon
proposition and truth.
This I thought you would enjoythis.
This evangelical author appliedit by writing, okay, if this is
(24:05):
true, suppose you see someone ona window ledge 40 stories above
the street preparing to jump.
Probably clinically depressed,deadly emotions they feel at
this moment could be due to somecatastrophic life event or
guilt, maybe even an imbalanceof chemical in the brain.
What would you tell that person?
Trust your feelings.
Your emotions speak the greatesttruth.
(24:28):
Jump.
And he goes on, would you sendyour teenager out on a date
saying, have a great time?
And oh, whatever you do, don'ttrust your thinking.
It could be warped.
Trust your feelings.
Of course not.
What does God's word say aboutcatastrophic events?
What does God say about thevalue of your life?
(24:48):
What does God's word say aboutpurity?
What does God's word say abouthow you're feeling?
What does God's word say aboutguilt that you might be
carrying?
What does God say about where wecame from?
What does God's word say aboutwhere we're going?
So the first principle then is agood open mind is when you place
the priority on your examinationof propositional objective truth
(25:14):
that you hold in your lap.
Secondly, a good open mind iswhen you commit your life to the
application of Scripture.
In other words, you'recommitting to live and believe
and act upon what God has said,not what others say, not what
your emotions dictate or yourfeelings or your personal sense
of what you think is right.
But the wisdom of God that comeswhen we pray, the wisdom of God
(25:38):
that is capable of outfittingus, Paul wrote, for that journey
of life.
Stock your boat, load yourwagon, he says.
The word equips you for life.
And we constantly force ourthinking and our feeling back to
(26:00):
the word.
And what we believe, especiallyif we're going to communicate it
to our world about God, mustcome from this book.
If all you had was the OldTestament, and I thought about
this, if all I had was the OldTestament, and we showed up in
Berea 1900 years ago, what wouldwe have to say to people who
(26:22):
were hungry for a God who hadspoken?
What we believe must be tied tothe scripture, and so we become
people of the book as we followit.
Let me give you an interestingillustration of how the Bible
changed the belief of oneparticular man.
(26:42):
This is a little bit off thebeaten path, which I thought
might just raise some additionalthoughts, so I found this very
fascinatingly wonderful.
An Amazonian native, in ajournal I get, I was reading one
of the articles by a missionary,and in their culture, where he
serves in the Amazon, therainbow is a symbol of impending
(27:05):
death.
When this tribe sees a rainbow,they believe that it is a sign
that someone will die in thenear future.
And he was raised to believethat.
He said, the missionary saidthat just a few valleys over,
they believe the rainbow is,quote, the walking stick of an
(27:28):
evil spirit.
Again, danger.
In another tribe not too faraway, they believe the rainbow
is a giant snake that has cometo earth to kill and destroy.
Missionary writes, I had theprivilege of translating, I was
translating the book of Genesis.
And I was working with this onenew believer as he was helping
(27:48):
me with vocabulary.
And I was translating thenarrative of the flood, Genesis
9, I believe.
At any rate, he says, I wastelling him about the promise of
God and that the rainbow was hiscovenant sign from then on to
remind him after the flood thathe would never again destroy the
(28:09):
world by water.
So it was a sign, and God waseffectively speaking, he was
communicating that we no longerhave to fear judgment by water.
He said this, and I quote him asI read to Machie, this native
believer from Genesis 9, withwide eyes, he took it all in as
(28:31):
he heard the story.
And as soon as I finishedreading that text and explained
what it meant, right when Ifinished, over the valley near
us, a giant rainbow appeared inthe late afternoon clouds.
His eyes got even bigger.
But now, no longer in fear, butin awe of the promise and the
(28:56):
glory of his creator God.
See, this inspired book,beloved, introduces us
ultimately to our God who isdisclosing himself, disclosing
his creative handiwork,disclosing his character.
He is worth knowing, he is worthfollowing, he is worth obeying,
he is worth trusting, he isworth studying, and he is
(29:18):
definitely worth introducing toour world.
SPEAKER_00 (29:39):
Introducing God is the name of our current series
here on Wisdom for the Heart.
This is an eight-part seriesthat Stephen Davy preached from
Acts 17.
I hope you'll be with us for allof it.
One of our desires here atWisdom International is to
introduce as many people Aspossible to the God who offers
(30:03):
them hope and life.
I'm excited to let you know thatwe recently added three more
books of the Bible to ourMandarin version of this wisdom
journey.
We're excited that people acrossChina and Mandarin speakers in
other parts of the world canhear clear biblical teaching.
(30:24):
If you know anyone who speaksMandarin, they can find this
content on our website,wisdomonline.org.
In the upper right hand cornerof our site, you can choose the
language you want to access.
We also have Arabic, Spanish,Portuguese, Swahili, Italian,
French, and more.
(30:45):
It's all available atwisdomonline.org.
And by the way, all of this ispossible because of your support
of our ministry.
We're completely funded bydonations from listeners, so
thank you.
Learn more about supporting usat wisdomonline.org or call us
today at eight six six six sixsix six six forty-eight Bible.
(31:08):
That's eight six six six six sixsix six four eight two four two
five three.
Thanks for joining us today.
Be with us again next time formore Wisdom for the Heart.
What matters most to them, and what ought to matter
most to us, is for the Bereans,it wasn't whether or not Paul
was likable or or interesting tolisten to or novel in his
teaching.
What mattered was the answer tothis question.
Has God spoken?
(00:28):
Is God speaking through Paul?
Because if God has spoken, youcan't be neutral.
If God has spoken, you have tosubmit, confess, convert, obey.
SPEAKER_00 (00:59):
Nowadays, our culture considers you virtuous
if you accept all forms ofreligion, sexuality, and ethical
positions as equal.
The goal is to tear down thedividing walls of right and
wrong so as not to offendanyone.
Biblically, we can't approachlife that way.
(01:21):
There are matters to which Godhas spoken.
And when God speaks, that's thefinal word.
This is Wisdom for the Heartwith Stephen Davy.
Stephen has a message for youtoday called A Good Model for an
Open Mind.
SPEAKER_01 (01:40):
One of the most important attributes about God
is his communicative nature.
He is a self-disclosing God.
It's wonderful that God haschosen not to be silent, but he
has spoken to mankind.
And in fact, he has spoken involumes.
(02:00):
I read recently, in fact, justthis past week, of a$100 million
initiative that began a fewmonths ago.
Perhaps you saw the news aswell.
A Russian billionaire donated$100 million to utilize the best
of technology capable oflistening to radio waves in
(02:22):
galaxies far away.
And also a telescope ofmagnificent power to search for
alien life.
To basically find out if indeedsomeone is out there who is
listening and watching.
I read some of the material ofthis initiative, which is being
(02:45):
chaired by Stephen Hawking.
I even watched their shortintroductory video, which was
magnificent pictures, by theway, of the universe.
And I sat there worshiping God.
But of course, they were goingin a different direction.
They were depicting a human racethat had randomly begun,
evolving without a creator.
(03:07):
They made the rather interestingstatement that the universe is
infinite.
I guess they've been able tomeasure that, but they say they
said it's infinite.
And then they gave to nature allpower.
Nature is all powerful, thatnature created life.
And of course, their primarypurpose, not surprisingly, in
(03:30):
this new initiative to find outif we are alone, came from this
desire to know where we'regoing.
And I could just hear thatannouncer saying several times,
are we alone?
I have an answer.
We're not alone.
In fact, there is indeed someonelistening and watching and
(03:53):
involved.
Who cares, by the way?
In fact, the stunning truth isthat he has communicated to us
about our origins and about ourfuture.
Genesis chapter 1, all the wayto Revelation, chapter 21, and
then of course chapter 22, whereJesus says these testimonies are
(04:14):
true.
And there's a lot in between.
Al Moeller quoted George Gallupand Jim Castelli, who concluded
this, and I quote Moeller'sblog, Americans revere the
(04:36):
Bible, but by and large theyjust don't read it.
And because they don't read it,they've become biblically
illiterate.
So how bad is it?
Moeller postures.
Well, fewer than half of alladults can name the four
gospels.
Many Christians, Christians now,cannot identify the names of
more than two or maybe three ofthe twelve disciples.
(04:58):
At least 12% of adults,Christians, believe that Joan of
Arc was Noah's wife.
ARC.
Never mind.
But a considerable number ofrespondents, in fact, to one
poll indicated they believe theSermon on the Mount was preached
by Billy Graham.
(05:21):
Dr.
Moller then makes theapplication.
How can a generation bebiblically shaped in its
understanding of human sexualitywhen 50% of the respondents
think Sodom and Gomorrah aremarried?
How can individuals who believethere's a verse in the Bible
that says, quote, God helpsthose who help themselves, end
(05:43):
quote, be able to understandsalvation by grace through faith
alone?
Well, this is our world.
And it's our world in which wehave the privilege of
introducing God.
Aliens whose seeded life on theplanet is growing in popularity.
(06:04):
The energy of the universe todetermine your future.
The alignment of the stars thatsort of determine your fate.
The power of nature.
The power of nature to createorder and to create beauty from
disorder.
(06:26):
I wish nature would work somemagic on my backyard.
I can't get anything beautifulto grow back there.
However, if you mention a Godwho communicated something, a
God who has disclosed who he isand who we are, the values, the
virtues that he demands, thegospel of sin and salvation,
(06:49):
suddenly that open-mindednesscloses.
And you can hear the shutters onears slamming shut, and windows
of the soul are just sort oflowered and closed and locked.
It strikes me that when you lookat the testimony of the gospel,
as we've been doing this in itsintroduction of God in this
(07:12):
world, that there is an incidentof a good open mind in a secular
society.
In fact, the Apostle Paul isgoing to encounter a group of
them, Jewish and Gentilesympathizers, and to this day
they become a wonderful model ofwhat we hope and pray our world
will have as an open mind to thetruth.
(07:34):
Because at the end of the day,beloved, it is the Spirit of God
who is at work in their hearts.
We don't want to overlook orforget his invisible work.
He must raise the windows andremove the shutters as we
deliver the gospel.
Let me show you where thathappened as the world, this
particular world, is beingintroduced to God.
(07:54):
Let's go back to Acts chapter17.
And let's kind of work throughthis next paragraph.
And as we do, I want to frame itthis way.
Let me give you threecharacteristics of a good open
mind.
Now, having an open mind isn'tnecessarily good.
And we live in a world wherethere's an open mind, just the
wrong kind.
So let me give you threecharacteristics of how to model
(08:17):
a good open mind.
This has truth not only forthose to whom you will deliver
the gospel, and you pray thatGod will do this in their lives,
but this is true for everybeliever, every one of us as
Christians.
Here's the first characteristicof a good model of an open mind.
I'll give it to you and thenwe'll get into the text.
You receive the word eagerly.
(08:39):
You receive the word eagerly.
Now let's go to verse 10 wherewe left off last time we
studied.
And the brethren immediatelysent Paul and Silas away by
night to Berea.
How many of you recognize thename Bereans?
Okay?
Yes.
They are still to this day knownfor this particular incident in
which they reflected an openmind.
(09:00):
And when they arrived, they wentinto the synagogue of the Jews.
They're in Berea.
Now, these were morenoble-minded than those in
Thessalonica, for they receivedthe word with great eagerness.
Now let's just kind of brieflyset the stage.
If you were with us in our laststudy, there's a contrast taking
place that Paul just or Lukejust makes here.
(09:21):
And in our last study, we watchPaul and Silas leaving
Thessalonica after a riotbegins.
The city is in an uproar.
Everyone's upset and disturbedbecause they're preaching the
gospel regarding a deity, thisresurrected Lord, who evidently
has a claim to be sovereignking.
(09:44):
And of course, that erupts inthis riot, and they send Paul
and Silas away to spare theirlives.
Now, after having traveled abouttwo and a half days, they arrive
in Berea, and you find thisremarkable difference.
These unbelieving Jews now, keepthat in mind, these unbelieving
(10:07):
Gentile proselytes respond witheagerness.
That word for eagerness could beunderstood with the idea of
someone rushing forward.
They can't wait.
They just can't wait to hear it.
So kind of get in your mind apicture of a starving refugee
rushing toward a truck as it'sunloading bags of rice.
(10:31):
Have in your mind a picture ofthirsty children raising their
cups for water.
I watched a homemade video clipnot too long ago of people in an
underground church receivingfree copies of the Bible.
And as a man opened the sack infront of this group of adults,
(10:53):
it was amazing to me and deeplyconvicting to see them pressing
forward and reaching eagerly fortheir own copy of what I've got
20 of in my study and at home.
An elderly former pastor, Iknow, once preached in the
(11:15):
Soviet Union after the collapse,and the church building was
packed with people, and they'resitting in chairs and they're
standing around the walls.
It's cold in that churchbuilding, there's no heat.
Hundreds are there packedtogether, listening to every
word he preached.
And after he finished preaching,he sat down and no one moved.
And the layleader leaned overand whispered, We want more.
(11:42):
So he got back up and hepreached another message.
And after nearly an hour, he satback down and again no one
moved.
And the layleader again leanedover and said, Please, we want
more.
And he got up and preachedagain.
That's the idea here.
That's the idea.
Now I'm not telling you when Ifinish, you're all gonna say,
(12:03):
please, we want more, okay?
Uh I'm I'm prepared for onesermon and that's all you're
gonna get, okay?
But this is this is the spiritof expectancy and eagerness, as
if they're starving, reachingfor bread and a cup of water.
And notice how Luke began at theopening here.
Go back to verse 11.
He says here, of them, thesewere more noble-minded than
(12:28):
those in Thessalonica.
Now, by the way, that doesn'tmean they're better people.
It doesn't mean that they're anyless lost in their religious
tradition.
It doesn't mean that they're anyless lost than the
Thessalonicans.
The idea of noble-minded doesn'tmean they're more intelligent or
better educated, or oh, I know,they're related to nobility.
(12:48):
This expression, you mighttranslate it in your margin,
simply means they were moreopen-minded.
There's a great example of whatGod is doing in their hearts.
They're more receptive to themessage that Paul and Silas are
delivering.
Now, by the way, you mightthink, well, that must mean
(13:09):
they're more gullible.
You know, we're ready for a newmessage.
We're just open to that kind ofthing.
Like the Athenians that we'lllook at later on.
No, that doesn't mean they'remore gullible, not at all.
In fact, let me give you thesecond characteristic of what it
means to model a good open mind.
You know, listen to the wordeagerly, which they did.
But then here's a critical part.
(13:30):
You examine the scripturescarefully.
You examine the scripturescarefully.
Look at the middle part of verse11.
They received the word withgreat eagerness, examining the
scriptures daily.
Would you notice the text doesnot say, and they examined the
scriptures weekly.
They examined the scriptures foran hour or two in the synagogue.
(13:55):
No, daily.
And you know, as I read that, itstruck me, no, wait, they've got
jobs.
They've got kids to raise,they've got they've got goats to
herd.
But all of a sudden, they findthemselves here in the presence
of something that they arerecognizing demands their
(14:15):
attention.
Because if it's true, it's goingto direct the rest of their
lives.
If it's true, it's going todetermine their eternal destiny.
That's why you're so passionate.
When you deliver to somebody thegospel, you realize how high the
(14:35):
stakes are.
This is life or death.
Examine the scriptures daily.
That's an important thingbecause they go back to the
scriptures.
In fact, the word for examine isvery intense.
It's a word that linguistsdescribe as the action of making
careful and exact research in alegal process.
(14:58):
In other words, we cannot missone word.
That was how you, when you metwith that attorney and they and
you looked at those closingdocuments or that contract,
you've got to make sure it's allthere, it's all right.
So, in other words, the theirattitude is look, we can't miss
one word.
(15:18):
There are legal binding issuesbetween us and God, evidently.
Evidently.
Because if God has spoken, whichPaul is saying, this God has
communicated.
He has spoken.
Let's find out.
(15:38):
What do the scriptures say?
And keep in mind they only hadthe Old Testament scriptures.
Couldn't go to the book ofRomans or 1 Corinthians.
They had the Old Testamentscriptures.
And we know that in thesynagogue, that was the place
where scrolls were kept, eitherin Hebrew, often translated into
(15:59):
Greek, or both.
Members of the Jewish community,along with the Jewish teachers,
had access to these scrolls, andthey were open and available.
We're not told, but but I wouldimagine just one text, Paul
could have said, look, why don'tyou find in the scrolls?
Let's go to the writings ofDavid and find his 22nd Psalm,
(16:24):
where Jesus quotes in his dyingagony the first verse of that
psalm.
God never forsook David.
What's he talking about?
Then they could look down a fewverses where David writes, A
(16:47):
band of evildoers hasencompassed me.
They pierced my hands and myfeet.
That didn't happen to David.
Who's he talking about?
And he could have gone onanother verse or two.
They divided my garments amongthem, and for my clothing they
cast lots.
(17:07):
That didn't happen to David.
I could hear Paul saying as herecounted the eyewitness
accounts of the crucifixionalong with the testimony of the
Old Testament.
David is not talking abouthimself here.
He's talking about the son ofDavid, the Messiah, who will
(17:28):
suffer and die.
And I can hear these Bereanssaying, please, we want more.
One final good characteristic ofmodeling an open mind, you not
only receive the word eagerly,you not only examine the
scriptures carefully, which ishow you present the gospel, by
the way.
This isn't your opinion.
(17:49):
And then as a believer, you dothe same.
Third, you adapt to the truthpersonally.
You adapt to the truthpersonally.
Look at verse 12.
Many of them, therefore,believe.
Not great.
Many of them, therefore,believe.
Most of the people back inThessalonica rioted.
Many of these people believe.
A number of prominent Greekwomen and men.
(18:11):
Now, the period of studying thescriptures, most New Testament
scholars that have explored thisand worked out the timelines
believe that this may havelasted for a couple of months.
After that period of time, ormaybe along the way, they're
beginning to believe.
And it would be easy, by theway, for us to forget what that
meant to them when it says, andthey believed.
(18:34):
We're not given the volume ofwhat that would mean, but we can
get a taste of it by whathappens next, verse 13.
But when the Jews ofThessalonica found out that the
Word of God had been proclaimedby Paul and Berea also, they
came there likewise, agitatingand stirring up the crowds.
Now the city is stirred up.
You've got another riot about tobreak out because of the word of
(18:57):
God being proclaimed.
And I think it's interestingthat the Jews came and they
found out that the word of Godhad been proclaimed.
It doesn't say they found outthat the word of Paul had been
proclaimed, but the word of God,which is to their shame and
eternal condemnation.
They recognize that much.
But now the city is stirred up.
(19:19):
Literally, the city is shaking,you could translate it, with
unrest.
So the scriptures now that theyhave been examining, and now
that they believe, is about tochange everything in their
lives.
It's going to divide families,it's going to tear apart close
friendships, it's going to bringdivision.
That synagogue will never, everbe the same.
(19:40):
Because eventually those whobelieve will begin to worship
the Lord on the Lord's day byActs chapter 20.
It'll never be the same.
Never be the same.
With this controversy that hasstirred up.
But what matters most to them,and what ought to matter most to
us, is for the Bereans, itwasn't whether or not Paul was
(20:00):
likable or interesting to listento or novel in his teaching.
What mattered was the answer tothis question.
Has God spoken?
Is God speaking through Paul?
Was this really the word fromGod?
Because if God has spoken, youcan't be neutral.
(20:23):
If God has spoken, you have tosubmit, confess, convert, obey.
If God has spoken, then todisobey these scriptures is to
disobey God.
To ignore these scriptures is toignore God.
To argue with these scripturesis to argue with God.
(20:44):
Don't overlook the fact thatthese who believed, it would
mean isolation, evenpersecution, but that didn't
stop them.
Many, many believed.
Can you imagine how important itwould be for them and maybe for
you as you invite the gospelinto your life and with it the
trouble that comes?
That you are following the wordof God.
(21:08):
Isn't that what matters?
That God has spoken.
So here's a good model for anopen mind, a kind of open mind
that's a good kind of an openmind.
Let me summarize it with twoclosing principles.
One, a good open mind is onlygood when you place the priority
upon your examination ofscripture.
If you're exploring everythingelse, that's trouble.
(21:32):
What does the Bible say?
What did the Bible mean to itsoriginal audience?
What did Paul mean when he saidthat?
What do the Old Testamentscriptures say about the
Messiah?
What does the New Testamentconfirm about the Messiah?
Is the Bible commanding us to dosomething?
Is the church to be led to dosomething?
Those are the kinds ofquestions.
Listen, who decides what youbelieve?
(21:55):
Who decides what you believe?
Your peers?
Your family?
Your church?
Your professors?
Your student body?
Your television?
Your coworkers?
Your feeling.
Your Bible.
It's one thing to own a Bible,but it's another thing to read
(22:18):
it and memorize it and study it.
So are we anchored to theobjective truth of God's Word,
not the subjective world, whichis racing in every direction
with every speculation based onhow they feel.
One evangelical author commentedrecently, one of his books I
(22:38):
read just a few weeks ago, hewas mentioning a couple of
bestsellers as it relates tothis worldview of subjectivism,
and these books supported thatworldview.
He referred to one bestseller bya noted psychiatrist and radio
talk show host who wrote, and Iquote, in feelings there is
wisdom.
(22:59):
For the simplest feelings speaksthe greatest truth.
Become comfortable with yourfeelings because your feelings
are your life.
Trust your feelings.
They are the only true guidanceyou'll ever receive.
End quote.
This author referred to anotherbestseller, which contains a
chapter called Trust YourFeelings, Not Your Reason.
(23:20):
Why weren't these books writtenwhen I was a kid grown up?
I would fit perfectly.
In this chapter, the authortells the reader, don't trust
your thinking.
It could be warped.
Well, that's true, it could be,but that's not the point.
Pay attention to your emotionsand your feelings.
Emotions have their own logic,they are linked to an inner
(23:43):
knowledge that you can trust.
Okay, that's a classic exampleof a subjective worldview.
And we are presenting anobjective gospel based upon
proposition and truth.
This I thought you would enjoythis.
This evangelical author appliedit by writing, okay, if this is
(24:05):
true, suppose you see someone ona window ledge 40 stories above
the street preparing to jump.
Probably clinically depressed,deadly emotions they feel at
this moment could be due to somecatastrophic life event or
guilt, maybe even an imbalanceof chemical in the brain.
What would you tell that person?
Trust your feelings.
Your emotions speak the greatesttruth.
(24:28):
Jump.
And he goes on, would you sendyour teenager out on a date
saying, have a great time?
And oh, whatever you do, don'ttrust your thinking.
It could be warped.
Trust your feelings.
Of course not.
What does God's word say aboutcatastrophic events?
What does God say about thevalue of your life?
(24:48):
What does God's word say aboutpurity?
What does God's word say abouthow you're feeling?
What does God's word say aboutguilt that you might be
carrying?
What does God say about where wecame from?
What does God's word say aboutwhere we're going?
So the first principle then is agood open mind is when you place
the priority on your examinationof propositional objective truth
(25:14):
that you hold in your lap.
Secondly, a good open mind iswhen you commit your life to the
application of Scripture.
In other words, you'recommitting to live and believe
and act upon what God has said,not what others say, not what
your emotions dictate or yourfeelings or your personal sense
of what you think is right.
But the wisdom of God that comeswhen we pray, the wisdom of God
(25:38):
that is capable of outfittingus, Paul wrote, for that journey
of life.
Stock your boat, load yourwagon, he says.
The word equips you for life.
And we constantly force ourthinking and our feeling back to
(26:00):
the word.
And what we believe, especiallyif we're going to communicate it
to our world about God, mustcome from this book.
If all you had was the OldTestament, and I thought about
this, if all I had was the OldTestament, and we showed up in
Berea 1900 years ago, what wouldwe have to say to people who
(26:22):
were hungry for a God who hadspoken?
What we believe must be tied tothe scripture, and so we become
people of the book as we followit.
Let me give you an interestingillustration of how the Bible
changed the belief of oneparticular man.
(26:42):
This is a little bit off thebeaten path, which I thought
might just raise some additionalthoughts, so I found this very
fascinatingly wonderful.
An Amazonian native, in ajournal I get, I was reading one
of the articles by a missionary,and in their culture, where he
serves in the Amazon, therainbow is a symbol of impending
(27:05):
death.
When this tribe sees a rainbow,they believe that it is a sign
that someone will die in thenear future.
And he was raised to believethat.
He said, the missionary saidthat just a few valleys over,
they believe the rainbow is,quote, the walking stick of an
(27:28):
evil spirit.
Again, danger.
In another tribe not too faraway, they believe the rainbow
is a giant snake that has cometo earth to kill and destroy.
Missionary writes, I had theprivilege of translating, I was
translating the book of Genesis.
And I was working with this onenew believer as he was helping
(27:48):
me with vocabulary.
And I was translating thenarrative of the flood, Genesis
9, I believe.
At any rate, he says, I wastelling him about the promise of
God and that the rainbow was hiscovenant sign from then on to
remind him after the flood thathe would never again destroy the
(28:09):
world by water.
So it was a sign, and God waseffectively speaking, he was
communicating that we no longerhave to fear judgment by water.
He said this, and I quote him asI read to Machie, this native
believer from Genesis 9, withwide eyes, he took it all in as
(28:31):
he heard the story.
And as soon as I finishedreading that text and explained
what it meant, right when Ifinished, over the valley near
us, a giant rainbow appeared inthe late afternoon clouds.
His eyes got even bigger.
But now, no longer in fear, butin awe of the promise and the
(28:56):
glory of his creator God.
See, this inspired book,beloved, introduces us
ultimately to our God who isdisclosing himself, disclosing
his creative handiwork,disclosing his character.
He is worth knowing, he is worthfollowing, he is worth obeying,
he is worth trusting, he isworth studying, and he is
(29:18):
definitely worth introducing toour world.
SPEAKER_00 (29:39):
Introducing God is the name of our current series
here on Wisdom for the Heart.
This is an eight-part seriesthat Stephen Davy preached from
Acts 17.
I hope you'll be with us for allof it.
One of our desires here atWisdom International is to
introduce as many people Aspossible to the God who offers
(30:03):
them hope and life.
I'm excited to let you know thatwe recently added three more
books of the Bible to ourMandarin version of this wisdom
journey.
We're excited that people acrossChina and Mandarin speakers in
other parts of the world canhear clear biblical teaching.
(30:24):
If you know anyone who speaksMandarin, they can find this
content on our website,wisdomonline.org.
In the upper right hand cornerof our site, you can choose the
language you want to access.
We also have Arabic, Spanish,Portuguese, Swahili, Italian,
French, and more.
(30:45):
It's all available atwisdomonline.org.
And by the way, all of this ispossible because of your support
of our ministry.
We're completely funded bydonations from listeners, so
thank you.
Learn more about supporting usat wisdomonline.org or call us
today at eight six six six sixsix six six forty-eight Bible.
(31:08):
That's eight six six six six sixsix six four eight two four two
five three.
Thanks for joining us today.
Be with us again next time formore Wisdom for the Heart.
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