17:10
Night was the best time to escape a place. Berea was a major city in Macedonia, but not the most obvious place to flee to. When they got there they went to the synagogue, so Paul is continuing to follow his adopted strategy.
17:11
There he received a much more mature reception. The folk listened to him and then searched the Scriptures for themselves to see if what he was saying was true. Indeed, this is an excellent model for all of us to follow. We should not just take a preacher’s word for it. Now this is not having a critical spirit, ie trying to find a flaw in a sermon (there will almost always be some), or going with a starting point that what the preacher says is wrong! There are two good reasons for doing this. One, when what is preached or taught is good (which should be most of the time) the message will take deeper root in us if we seek to understand the teaching for ourselves. I is the Holy Spirit through the word of God that changes our hearts and minds. Secondly, we all get somethings wrong, or have a slightly wrong emphasis, so it is good to check.
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