Funmilayo kept her sermon notebooks in a Ghana Must Go bag under the bed. There were eleven of them, one for every year she had attended the same church in Surulere, and each one was filled from cover to cover in her small, careful handwriting. She wrote down the date, the preacher’s name, the title of the message and every point he made. When a sermon touched her, she drew a star in the margin. Some pages had three stars.
She was proud of those notebooks, and she had reason to be. Her pastor was a sound teacher. He preached Christ. He explained the grace of God clearly, and over eleven years Funmilayo had heard most of the New Testament taught from the pulpit at least once. If anyone in the church knew what the pastor believed, it was Funmilayo.
Then her daughter came home from university in Ile-Ife for the long vacation with a question. She had been attending a campus fellowship, and someone there had been teaching that true believers must keep the Saturday Sabbath, and that worshipping on Sunday was a sign that a church had departed from God. Her daughter was troubled. “Mummy, is it true?”
Funmilayo knew immediately that it was not. She went to the bedroom, pulled out the bag and began searching the notebooks for the sermon her pastor had preached on the subject. She found it in the 2019 notebook, with two stars. She brought it to the sitting room and began reading her notes aloud.
Her daughter listened politely and then said something Funmilayo never forgot. “Mummy, I did not ask what Pastor said. I asked what the Bible says. Can you show me?”
Funmilayo opened her Bible. She knew there was something in Colossians. She thought there was something in Romans. She turned pages for several minutes while her daughter waited, and finally she said, a little sharply, “Let me look for it later.”
She told me afterwards that she lay awake that night. “I realised I had eleven years of my pastor’s Bible,” she said. “But I did not have my own.”
A noble kind of listening
Luke records an episode that has shaped the way Christians think about teaching for two thousand years. Paul and Silas had been preaching in Thessalonica, where some believed and others started a riot. The believers sent them away by night to the next town:
And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 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; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
Think about who was doing the teaching in Berea. It was the apostle Paul. He had met the risen Christ on the Damascus road. He had been personally commissioned to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. He would go on to write a large part of the New Testament. If any teacher in history had the right to say, “Simply believe what I tell you,” it was Paul.
Yet Luke commends the Bereans precisely because they did not simply believe what Paul told them. They “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” And Luke calls this noble. The Greek word originally described people of high birth, and then came to describe a quality of character: open, generous, fair-minded. The Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonians, not because they were more suspicious, but because they combined two things that rarely sit comfortably together.
The first was eagerness. They “received the word with all readiness of mind.” They did not cross their arms and wait for Paul to prove himself. They welcomed what they heard. The second was examination. They went home and opened the Scriptures to check whether what Paul said matched what God had already spoken.
It helps to ask what exactly the Bereans were checking. Luke has just told us what Paul preached in Thessalonica: “Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ” (Acts 17:3). That was a startling claim for a synagogue congregation. Many expected a Messiah who would conquer, not one who would be crucified. So the Bereans unrolled the scrolls they had, the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms, and looked for themselves. Did Isaiah speak of a servant “wounded for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5)? Did David say that God would not suffer His Holy One to see corruption (Psalm 16:10)? They were not checking Paul against their opinions or their traditions. They were checking him against the word God had already given.
The comparison with Thessalonica is about the synagogue’s response, not about the believers there. The Thessalonian church that came out of those few weeks became one of Paul’s great joys. He later thanked God that when they heard the word, they “received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The difference Luke draws is between a crowd that reacted with envy and violence and a crowd that went to the Scriptures. Both heard the same preacher. One gathered a mob. The other gathered round the scrolls.
Notice the word daily. This was not a single sceptical inquiry. It was a sustained habit. And notice the result: “Therefore many of them believed.” Personal study did not weaken their faith in the gospel. It established it. They believed because they had seen for themselves that the message Paul preached was rooted in the word of God.
Notice too what the Bereans did not do. They did not reject Paul because he was a stranger. They did not set themselves up as his judges in a spirit of pride. They listened gladly to their teacher, and then they did the work of making his teaching their own. That is the posture I want to commend to you: deep gratitude for faithful teaching, joined to a personal responsibility to know what God has said.
What teachers are for
It would be a serious mistake to read this article as a criticism of pastors and teachers. The New Testament gives them great honour. Paul says that the risen Christ Himself gave these ministries to the church:
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
Notice what the ministry gifts are for: “the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” The word translated perfecting was used for mending nets and setting broken bones. It means to equip, to make fit for use. Teachers are given to equip believers, so that believers themselves can do the work of ministry.
And notice the goal: “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine.” The aim of good teaching is maturity. A teacher whose congregation remains permanently dependent on him for every insight has not finished his work. A good teacher is like a good parent. He feeds his children when they are young, and then he teaches them how to feed themselves, and he rejoices when they do.
That is why faithful teachers are delighted, not threatened, when their hearers open the Bible to check what they have said. A pastor I respect used to end his Sunday sermons by saying, “Do not take my word for any of this. Go home and read the chapter. If I have said something the Bible does not say, come and tell me.” His members loved him for it. They trusted him more, because he had pointed them past himself to the word of God.
Paul describes the danger of remaining a child: being “carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men.” The word sleight comes from the Greek for dice-playing, and suggests trickery. Believers who do not know their Bibles are vulnerable to clever speakers, plausible arguments and teachings that sound spiritual but are not true. When a strong wind blows, as it did for Funmilayo’s daughter, the believer who has only someone else’s notes can be blown about.
How can I, except some man should guide me?
Luke gives us another scene in Acts that holds the balance beautifully. An Ethiopian official, the treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia, was travelling home from worshipping in Jerusalem. He was sitting in his chariot reading the prophet Isaiah aloud, as people often did in those days. The Spirit sent Philip to him.
And Philip ran thither to him , and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
Here is a man doing exactly what we have been describing. He was reading the Scriptures for himself, and he was reading carefully enough to know that he did not understand. That is a good place to be. And he welcomed help. “How can I, except some man should guide me?” He invited Philip into the chariot.
Then Philip “began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:35). The teacher took the man’s own reading and showed him Christ in it. The eunuch’s personal study and Philip’s teaching were not in competition. They worked together, and the result was a man baptised on the road and going “on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39).
This is the healthy relationship between personal study and the teaching ministry. We read for ourselves. We discover where we need help. We receive the help of those God has gifted to teach. And they, in turn, point us back to the text and to the Person it reveals. Personal study without teachers can become narrow and eccentric. Teaching without personal study can become secondhand faith. God’s design is that the two work together.
The king’s own copy
There is a remarkable instruction in the law of Moses concerning the future kings of Israel. Long before Israel had a king, God laid down what a king must do when he took the throne:
And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.
Think about what this means. The king had priests and Levites whose whole calling was to teach the law. He had prophets to bring him the word of the Lord. He could have said, “I will leave the Scriptures to the experts. I have a kingdom to run.” But God required him to write out his own personal copy of the law, keep it with him and read it “all the days of his life.”
Notice the reasons. First, “that he may learn to fear the LORD his God.” Personal reading shapes reverence. Second, “to keep all the words of this law.” Personal reading shapes obedience. Third, “That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren.” Personal reading keeps a leader humble, because it places him under the same word as everyone else.
If the king of Israel, with all his advisers, needed his own copy, so do you. And if the king needed to read it in order not to be lifted up above his brethren, then personal study is a safeguard for leaders as well. Pastors and teachers need it most of all. A preacher who only reads the Bible to prepare sermons will eventually find that he has nothing left to give. A congregation whose members read their own Bibles helps keep its pastor honest, and helps keep him fed.
Many of us now carry the whole Bible on our phones. We have more access to Scripture than any king of Israel ever had. The question is whether we have made it our own copy, a book we actually read, mark, ponder and return to, or whether it sits unopened while we wait for Sunday.
A workman who does his own work
When Paul wrote his final letter to Timothy, he was writing to a trained minister. Timothy had travelled with Paul for years. He had heard the apostle teach in city after city. He had been given oversight of the church in Ephesus. Yet Paul still wrote to him, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Elsewhere in this series we have looked closely at the phrase rightly dividing, the straight cutting of the word along its own lines. Here I want you to notice the first word. Study translates a Greek verb that means to make haste, to be diligent, to give earnest effort. Paul is not asking Timothy to be clever. He is asking him to work hard, consistently, at handling Scripture well.
The approval Timothy seeks is God’s approval, “approved unto God.” Not the approval of a congregation or of other ministers. And the picture is of a workman, someone who works with his own hands and whose work will one day be inspected. A workman cannot send someone else to do his job. He must learn his tools and use them himself.
Paul also reminded Timothy where his knowledge of Scripture began: “from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). Timothy had been taught by his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5). Their teaching was a gift. But the result of their teaching was that Timothy himself knew the Scriptures. They had not made him dependent on them. They had given him the book.
Notice also where the Scriptures lead: “unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” The purpose of study is not to win arguments or display knowledge. It is to know Christ and trust Him more deeply. Jesus once warned religious leaders who searched the Scriptures diligently yet refused to come to Him (John 5:39-40). Diligent study that never arrives at Christ has missed the point entirely.
PunchlineYour teachers can open the Scriptures to you, but they cannot read them for you. God has given you His word so that you can know His Son for yourself.
The word dwelling richly
Paul gives the Colossians a picture of what happens when the word of Christ truly takes root in a community:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” The word dwell means to live in, to inhabit, to be at home. Paul is not describing a guest who visits on Sundays. He is describing the word of Christ settling into the house of your life and making itself at home in every room. And it is to dwell richly, abundantly, not in scraps and fragments.
Notice what follows. When the word dwells richly in believers, they become able to teach and admonish one another. In Paul’s picture, teaching is not confined to the pulpit. Every member of the church becomes a channel of the word to every other member, through conversation, encouragement, correction and song. That is only possible when believers have the word in them. You cannot share what you do not have.
This is one of the strongest reasons for personal study. It is not only for your own benefit. It is for the people around you. The mother who knows her Bible can answer her daughter’s question. The colleague who knows his Bible can speak a true word to a friend in crisis. The member who knows her Bible can sing worship songs with understanding, and can tell when a song’s words have drifted from Scripture.
Notice also the atmosphere Paul describes: “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” The word of Christ dwelling richly does not produce dry, argumentative people. It produces grateful, worshipping people. If your Bible study is making you proud, critical and harsh, something has gone wrong. Paul warned the Corinthians that “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth” (1 Corinthians 8:1). True knowledge of the word should make us more humble, more loving and more thankful.
Taking up the responsibility
NuggetIf you have relied mainly on other people’s teaching, how do you begin to take up your own responsibility? Here are some simple steps.
Read whole books, not just verses. A sermon usually focuses on a passage. Your personal reading can fill in the context. If your pastor is preaching through Romans, read the whole of Romans during the week. If he preached on a verse from John, read the whole chapter around it.
Read with a pencil. Underline what strikes you. Write questions in the margin. Note words that are repeated. Ask simple questions: Who is speaking? Who is being addressed? What is the main point? Where is Christ in this?
Check what you hear. When you hear a sermon, look up the passages afterwards. Ask whether the conclusion the preacher drew is actually found in the text. Most of the time, if your teachers are sound, you will find that it is, and your confidence will grow. Occasionally you will find something you want to ask about. Ask respectfully, and listen carefully to the answer.
Bring your questions to your teachers. Personal study should draw you closer to your pastor and your church, not further away. Like the Ethiopian, invite someone into your chariot. Join a Bible study group. Ask your pastor to recommend a good study Bible or commentary. A faithful teacher will be delighted.
Keep a simple record of what you learn. Funmilayo’s notebooks were a good habit. What was missing was the Scripture reference beside each point and her own reading of the passage. A notebook that records both what you heard and what you found is a far stronger thing.
If reading is difficult for you, because of age, eyesight, dyslexia or limited education, do not be discouraged. Many believers in the early church could not read, and they learned the Scriptures by hearing them read aloud in the assembly. Paul told Timothy to “give attendance to reading” (1 Timothy 4:13), meaning public reading. An audio Bible can be a great help. What matters is that you are engaging with the word yourself, by whatever means God has given you.
Dependence on Christ, gratitude for teachers
Two dangers stand on either side of this subject, and I want to name them both.
The first is the danger we have mainly been considering: dependence on a teacher that never grows into personal knowledge of the word. This leaves believers vulnerable, and it places a weight on teachers that no human being should carry. Even the best teacher can make mistakes. If your faith rests entirely on him, his mistakes become yours.
The second danger is the opposite. Some believers, once they begin studying for themselves, become proud and dismissive of teachers. They decide that they need no one. Sometimes they quote John: “ye need not that any man teach you” (1 John 2:27). But John wrote those words in a letter that was itself teaching them, and in context he was warning against false teachers who claimed special knowledge. He was reassuring believers that the Holy Spirit who lived in them would guard them from deception. He was not telling them to stop listening to faithful teachers.
The writer of Hebrews tells us to “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow” (Hebrews 13:7). Faithful teachers deserve honour, gratitude and support. Personal study should increase your appreciation for them, because you begin to see how much work goes into teaching well.
Above both teachers and personal study stands Christ Himself. On the road to Emmaus, two discouraged disciples walked with Jesus without recognising Him, and He explained the Scriptures to them. Afterwards they said, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:32). The Holy Spirit still does this today. When you open the Bible, you are not simply reading an ancient text. You are coming to a living Lord who speaks through His word. Your study is an act of dependence on Him.
Funmilayo did look it up later. The next morning she sat at the dining table with her Bible and her daughter. Together they read Colossians 2 from beginning to end. They came to the verse that says, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17). They read it twice. Then they read Romans 14 and Galatians 4.
Punchline“We did not finish until lunch,” Funmilayo told me. “And it was the best morning I have had with my daughter in years.”
On Sunday, she went to her pastor after service and told him the whole story. She was a little embarrassed, but he was delighted. He gave her a reading plan and invited her to a Tuesday Bible study class. “This is what I have been praying for,” he said.
She still keeps the notebooks. But she has started a new one, and on every page, beside each point, she writes the passage and what she found when she read it herself. Her daughter calls on Sunday evenings, and they compare notes.
Your teachers are a gift from Christ. Honour them. Listen gladly. And then do what the Bereans did: open the Scriptures for yourself, daily, and see whether these things are so.
Teaching Companion
For Reflection
- How much of what you believe could you show someone directly from Scripture, rather than from what a teacher has said?
- What do the Bereans teach you about holding together eagerness to receive teaching and responsibility to examine it?
- Why do you think God required the king of Israel to write and read his own copy of the law? What does that say to you?
- Is there a question about the faith that someone has asked you which you could not answer from the Bible? How might you begin to study it?
- How has your appreciation for faithful teachers grown, or how might it grow, as you study more for yourself?
This Week
This week, choose the passage your pastor most recently preached on, and read the whole chapter or book around it each day. Keep a notebook beside you. On each page write the Scripture reference, one thing the passage says plainly, one question it raises for you and one way it points you to Christ. At the end of the week, take your notebook to your pastor or a mature believer and share one discovery and one question with them.
A Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for the teachers You have given to Your church, and for every faithful word I have received from them. Forgive me for the times I have been content with secondhand faith. Give me the noble heart of the Bereans, eager to receive and diligent to search. Let Your word dwell in me richly, so that I can know You for myself and share Your truth with others. Guard me from pride, and keep me humble and grateful. Open the Scriptures to me as You did for the disciples on the road, and let my heart burn within me as I read. In Your name I pray, Amen.
Truth received brings freedom. Truth believed establishes the heart.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. · Illustrations using first names only are composites unless stated otherwise.