Title: You must live like a gentleman
Contents
“You must live like a gentleman”
There are many churches in the world, but the Korean church has experienced the most remarkable revival and growth since the Church of the Acts of the Apostles. But today, there are many people who are concerned about the Korean church for various reasons. A good church is often thought of as a church with many members, a church with a large building, a church with a lot of donations, a church with various events, and a church with a lot of celebrities. However, the church is a gathering of believers who have been called by God, so the evaluation of the church can be said to be the evaluation of the members of the church. The good church that the Bible introduces today is the Berea Church (Saints). They had ‘a nobler character’ regardless of their social status, and in a word, they were “a gentlemanly church, a gentlemanly saint”.(11) Let’s take a look at the lessons given through the Berea church that the Bible praises.
1. The attitude of listening to the Word is important
I received the word ‘with an earnest heart (11b)’. The same gospel was rejected by the Thessalonians (5-7), but the Bereas enthusiastically accepted it. This is because these people receive the sermons as the words of God, not the words of men. (1 Thessalonians 1:6, 2:13) They enjoy the word of God (Psalm 1:2) and yearn for it (Psalm 119:131). ) and I love you. (Psalm 119:127, John 12:15,21a) Just as Jesus compared a person's heart to a 'field', the attitude of listening to the sermon reveals a person's character and faith. 23)
2. I read the Word every day
‘Every day’ is every day. Regular good habits are very important. Jesus also went to the Mount of Olives every day to pray, and the early church members did not stop praying, evangelizing, and teaching every day (Acts 5:42). The Israelites in the wilderness age gathered and ate manna, their daily bread. (Exodus) 16:4~5) Today, we must read the Word, the manna of our life and the manna of our soul, every day. Only by reading the Word can we meet God, hear His voice, and discern what God's will is. Only then will we be able to lead a spiritually healthy and powerful life of faith. (3 John 1:2, Matthew 6:33) Therefore, there is no vacation in our religious life (1 Peter 5:8). Concentrate on the Word and do not rest.
3. I pondered the Word every day
Just as a jeweler sorts gems out of rubble, the Berea believers were able to sort out information from the Bible related to Paul's gospel. They were able to accept the words they had learned through Paul and Silas more clearly and more broadly as they searched the Bible every day. Of course, they never studied these words for the sake of an argument against Paul and Silas, but they were more convinced by verifying the gospel that Paul and Silas preached based on the Old Testament based on the Bible. From this, we can confirm that the basis of our faith must be clearly and thoroughly in the Bible.
The Bible is the basis of our faith and the standard of life. Therefore, our religious life must also be built on the foundation of the Bible. (Psalm 1:3, Matthew 7:24~25) There were many so-called upper-class people of Berea at that time.(12) However, they also obeyed the Word in the same way, They lived the life of their faith within. It is to know the fact that there can be no class and no discrimination before the Word.
A good church praised as a good church, and the secret of good saints, is the right attitude of the Berea believers, that is, they study the Word every day, obey the authority of the Word, and obey the teachings of Paul and Silas in a personal and gentle manner. It was. We too must live like gentlemen. I hope that you will study the Word every day and build our lives within the foundation and standards of the Word. Therefore, I bless you to become good saints today and a good church that can exert a good influence.