Acts 17: Having a Well-Disposed Heart Like the Bereans

Introduction

"God works deeply in the life of the person who receives the Word with a well-disposed heart." That is the thread of the message Laurent Joly preached one evening at the Église Évangélique Libre d'Onex (EELO), from Acts 17:10-12.

Before reading the text, he prays that the Word would be "like a sword" that touches the heart and pierces it. The plan is announced: look at the Scriptures, and at the same time look at the state of our own heart.

The model is the Jews of Berea. They were not naive, but they were not closed either. They received the Word with eagerness, they examined the Scriptures every day, and many of them believed. Laurent Joly draws four marks of a well-disposed heart from them, before ending with David's prayer: "Create in me a clean heart."

Outline of the Message

1. From Thessalonica to Berea: Two Ways of Receiving the Gospel

The Gospel, which started in Jerusalem, spreads little by little through the preaching of the apostles and the witness of all believers. Paul, "full of energy," wants this message to go everywhere, all the way to Rome.
With Silas, he arrives in Thessalonica, in present-day Greece. The message is not received: positions harden, people want to fight, and Paul suffers persecution.
The brothers send him away by night to Berea. There, in the synagogue, the welcome is completely different: these Jews "were more noble than those in Thessalonica" (Acts 17:11).
The Bereans are not naive, and Christians are not called to be naive either. But they are not called to be "a closed oyster" either. They listen wisely and check whether what they are told is accurate.
The result: many of them believe that Jesus is the Messiah, along with a large number of non-Jews, women and men of high standing in society (Acts 17:12).
Laurent Joly recalls the message they received: God loves you personally, so much that he gave Jesus in your place. It was you and I who should have died on the cross because of our sin. Whoever welcomes this life receives forgiveness and a new life: the new birth.

2. A Well-Disposed Heart Says: "Lord, I Want to Receive"

God is a good Father who gives good things. "Even if this world goes haywire," he remains good. A simple prayer is enough: "Lord, I want to receive what you want to give me." You can pray it alone in your corner. God is not deaf.
The young Samuel hears a voice at night and thinks it is Eli calling him. This happens three times. Eli finally tells him to answer: "Speak; for your servant hears" (1 Samuel 3:10).
Having a well-disposed heart means listening to what God wants to say through the Scriptures, or through someone who tells you about his love or prays for you. These are "the ears of the heart."
Some told God "we will do everything you say," then did the opposite. That is the hardened heart. Hence the warning of Hebrews 3:15: "Today if you will hear his voice, don't harden your hearts."
We can close our hearts because of wounds and abandonment. "The problem is not that God doesn't speak in this world. The danger is that the heart closes to what he wants to say." One possible prayer: "Lord, make my heart tender before you."
Laurent Joly tells of one of the first times he clearly heard the Lord's voice. He was living the week far from Geneva, he was discouraged and alone, and he had fallen back into a habit he wanted to be free of. With no other quiet place, he knelt down in a restroom: "God, speak to me."
He heard inwardly: "Laurent, where you are right now, feed on the word of God like a little child, like a baby with a bottle." Much later he understood that it was the Holy Spirit. His promise: if you pray this prayer with a sincere heart, God will speak to you personally.

3. A Well-Disposed Heart Examines the Scriptures

A well-disposed heart is not content with just hearing. The Bereans were "examining the Scriptures daily" to see whether what they were told was accurate. They do not reject it right away, but they do not believe blindly either.
Every day is possible: a passage from the Gospels, from the letters, it doesn't matter. Comparing them, memorizing them, "is very, very good."
The preacher recalls the year 2000: the end of the world was being announced, people had to stock up, computers were going to crash. They should have listened to the Scriptures. Everything went fine, except, in Onex, for the church bells that rang at random because of a faulty timer.
"Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). We filter through the Scriptures, not with our emotions or with our intellect alone. Not a distrustful heart, but a mature one.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path" (Psalm 119:105). The Word lights the way, protects, corrects, and encourages. It helps us recognize God's voice: "Lord, I'm not sure what I heard, confirm it."

4. A Well-Disposed Heart Accepts Being Changed

The Word has the power to transform a human being. "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2), a renewal tied to the Scriptures.
On vacation, Laurent Joly and his family meet a couple at their hotel who are not especially religious. They talk about the things of God and meet again after the vacation. He brings them a red Bible.
The husband opens it at random and lands on John 3: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son." His eyes open: "Well, look at that, God loves me. That means God loves me personally." The Bible speaks to the open heart and pierces it.
Another example: a pastor regularly managed to reach Georgina Dufoix by phone, then France's Minister of Social Affairs, to share the Gospel with her. Every time she hung up, she felt a presence and a deep peace. She came to faith and still serves the Lord.
"Are you willing to be changed, to get out of your ruts?" Perhaps God wants to make you turn away from your routine path.
Concretely, this week: instead of scrolling on social media, cut back that time, pick up your Bible or a Bible app, and let yourself be challenged with an open heart.

5. A Well-Disposed Heart Ends Up Believing

"So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).
Laurent Joly mentions the Bible verses displayed on blue and yellow billboards. Even if someone tears them down every time, from seeing them over and over, the verse touches the heart, and the hard heart ends up melting through God's love.
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

6. Praying Like David: "Create in Me a Clean Heart"

After his adultery and his murder, David realizes that his heart is not well disposed. He prays: "Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10).
The closing prayer takes up these words: an open, available heart, attached to the Word, able to be corrected, to change, and to believe the impossible that God promises.
It asks God to make closed hearts tender, to drive away distrust and pride, to grant the discernment of the Bereans, but above all to give "hunger and thirst" for his Word and the grace to obey what he will say this week.
It ends with a sending: this week, share the Gospel with a person whose heart will be well disposed, so that the Holy Spirit convicts them of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8).

Key Takeaways

A well-disposed heart is neither naive nor closed: it receives the Word with eagerness and checks what it hears.
God still speaks. The danger is not his silence, it is a heart that closes to what he wants to say.
The Scriptures are the filter: we hold on to what is good, with a mature heart rather than a distrustful one.
The Word transforms the person who agrees to leave their ruts and change their habits.
Faith comes by hearing: the more you receive the Word, the more the hard heart ends up melting.

Personal Application

Can you simply say today: "Lord, I want to receive what you want to give me"?
What wound or abandonment has pushed you to close your heart to God? Can you ask him to make it tender?
When you hear a teaching, do you compare it with the Scriptures, or do you reject it or accept it without examining it?
What time spent scrolling can you replace this week with reading a passage of the Bible?
Who around you, perhaps with a well-disposed heart, could you tell about God's love this week?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Who were the Bereans in Acts 17?

They were the Jews of the synagogue in Berea, in Greece, where Paul and Silas arrived after leaving Thessalonica. According to Acts 17:11, they were "more noble": they received the Word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see whether what they were told was accurate. Many of them believed.

What does it mean to have a well-disposed heart?

For Laurent Joly, it means not being naive, but not being closed to what God wants to say either. A well-disposed heart says "Lord, I want to receive," examines the Scriptures, accepts being changed, and ends up believing. The opposite is a hardened heart that refuses to listen.

How can you examine what you hear without becoming distrustful?

The Bereans do not reject right away what they hear, but they do not believe blindly either. They compare it with the Scriptures. Laurent Joly cites 1 Thessalonians 5:21: "Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good." We filter through the Word, not only through our emotions or intellect, with a mature heart rather than a distrustful one.