The Word Made Plain

Guest (Male): Welcome to The Word Made Plain with Senior Pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching a study in the book of Acts. Please open your Bible to Acts Chapter 15, verses 1 through 5.

Tony Clark: Anytime anyone tries to give you a formula to be saved, they are no different than these false brethren, which is what Paul called them in Galatians 2 and verse 4. Stay away from them. Run from them. The second part of verse 2, I want to draw to your attention. It says, "They determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question."

This was not an issue of agreeing to disagree. This subject was at the heart of salvation and needed to be resolved. Why? Because we are saved by grace through faith alone. Or are we saved by grace plus works? Paul had already been teaching salvation apart from keeping the law of Moses. You remember when we were in chapter 13, Acts 13 and verse 39, when he was in Antioch of Pisidia?

He taught, "And by Him," referring to Jesus, "everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses." Maybe these Jewish believers heard about Paul's teaching on this particular subject and wanted to come down to the church in Antioch of Syria and straighten him out. I just have to pause here and ask us: what are you trying to be justified by?

In other words, what are you trying to add to your faith to save you? Being baptized a certain way? Being baptized in a certain church? Are you banking on keeping the Sabbath day? And let me tell you, Sunday is not the Christian Sabbath. Can I correct you on that? Can I help us here? The Sabbath is the Jewish Sabbath; that's Saturday. Sunday is not the Christian Sabbath. We worship on Sunday for a variety of reasons, but it's not the Christian Sabbath. So let us stop saying that, and stop letting people tell us that.

Are you counting on speaking in tongues to save you? Are you counting on the Lord seeing that I read two chapters a day, I pray for two minutes, and I just talk to two people about Christ? And I'm praying that God has a huge scale in the sky and He will weigh my good deeds with my bad. God is not some market merchant who has a scale in the sky and he's looking at each one of us and saying, "Oh, what you did today, that tipped the scale." That's not what God is doing in heaven. And I'm thankful that He's not doing that.

There are some people who are banking on God's grace by the curve—that God is the eternal teacher in the sky and He grades by the curve. All of a sudden, you come in at 4:00 in the morning from being at the club and partying all night. You say, "But if I go to church, and God sees me in church—I've got to wear my club clothes because that's all I've got right now—if He sees me in church, maybe that'll balance out the weekend." You'd be surprised how people have that kind of stuff in their heads, hoping God grades on a curve.

Salvation, dear precious people, is by grace through faith alone. And then it says, "And yet not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." If you're trying to add to your faith in order to save you, then you're no different than these men in these verses. The "they" in verse 2 that determined that Paul and Barnabas go up to Jerusalem and talk to the apostles is answered in verse 3. Look what it says there in verse 3.

It says, "So, being sent on their way by the church," that's the "they," "they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy to all the brethren." Now, the Antioch church sent Paul and Barnabas up to Jerusalem, which was a 300-mile trip. On their way, they passed through several cities and visited several churches. They went through the church in Phoenicia, which was founded by the believers that fled from Jerusalem according to Acts 11 and verse 19.

Samaria was evangelized by Philip the evangelist according to Acts 8 and verse 5. When the believers in these areas heard about the salvation of the Gentiles under the ministry of Paul and Barnabas, the news caused great joy to all the brethren, as the end of verse 3 says. I have to draw your attention to the word "great." You've heard it before; the Greek word is *megalon*. It's where we get "mega" from; it means large or great.

So these believers heard about the conversion of these once-hated Gentiles, and they were filled not only with joy, but with mega joy. This is huge here. You have to understand the Jews in first-century Judaism; they felt that the only purpose of Gentiles, which were non-Jews, was to keep the flames of hell burning. That was their only purpose. Whenever a Jewish person, especially the religious leaders—they were the worst at it—saw a Gentile coming their way, they would clutch their robe. They didn't want to be touched by them.

Now, here it is, going back through this area. They are hearing other Gentiles and some Jews hearing about how these Gentiles are coming to Christ, and now they're filled with not only joy, but mega joy. I have to pause here and ask us: how would you feel if you heard that someone you once hated gave their life to Jesus Christ? Would you be filled with mega joy or mega hatred? Joy or anger?

I'm talking about that ex-spouse that dogged you out, that parent that left and is no longer part of the family and part of your life, that boss that fired you. Probably justly, but that boss that fired you for being late all the time and calling in sick when you're just as well. They probably fired you justly, but that's another story. Or a friend that cheated with your spouse or someone you once dated. If you have any other emotion than mega joy, then you're no different than Jonah, who ran from God when He told him to go preach to the hated Ninevites.

You've got to understand, God said, "Jonah, Jonah." He said, "Oh, God, yeah, I'm here. I'm your boy." He said, "I've got something for you." Jonah said, "Oh, God, you know I'm a prophet of Yours, so what do You want me to do?" He said, "I've got somewhere I need you to go and preach." Jonah said, "Oh, that's why You called me to be a preacher. What do You want me to do, God?" He said, "I need you to go and preach to the Ninevites." He said, "What did You say? The Ninevites? I'm not going to any Ninevites."

You've got to understand why a prophet, called by God to speak, when God said, "Hey, go and speak," he said, "I'm not going to speak there." And then he went in the opposite direction and went to Tarshish. Why would he do such a thing? Because Nineveh is the capital of Assyria, and the Assyrians took the ten northern tribes into captivity in 721-722 BC. The Assyrians were cruel to the Israelites, did some cruel things to them. The last group of people he wanted to see saved were the Ninevites or the Assyrians.

He didn't want to see them saved; he wanted to see them judged. That's why he said, "I'm going in the opposite direction." Oh, we know what happened to old Jonah, that chicken of the sea. We know the storm, and we know the great fish swallowed him and barfed him on the shores of Nineveh. God said, "You're getting there by hook or by crook. You're getting there." And we know the story.

But here's the thing. When God saved the Ninevites—Jonah finally preached an eight-word sermon, only eight words. Basically, he said, "Ninevites, you're toast. God is going to burn you guys." And he just went on top of the hill to watch the show. Probably had some popcorn. He probably had the popcorn, and he was waiting on the show. And all of them repented, everyone. The king and everybody repented. They put sackcloth on animals. Animals were going around mourning. And they repented.

And Jonah was ticked off. He was upset because he wanted to see them judged, not forgiven. Jonah said, "Didn't I tell you guys? This is why I didn't want to go. I told you because You are a merciful and forgiving God, and I knew You wanted to forgive them, and I wanted to see them judged." Therefore, if someone you once hated, someone who's hurt you, someone who's done you wrong—if that's you, and you're the type of person now all of a sudden you see on social media they're saved, they gave their life to the Lord, and if you're not filled with mega joy, then you're no different than Jonah.

No different than him. No different than someone like a Jonah who wanted to see them judged, not saved. Oh, may God help us. All of a sudden, they start contacting you on social media, "I'm sorry, can you forgive me for what I did to you?" And you've got some kind of attitude and feeling some kind of way over something that happened 30 years ago in high school, and you're still feeling some kind of way about it. You're no different than Jonah. God had to deal with Jonah over that. God had to deal with His man, His prophet, who wanted to do his own thing.

You don't get to do your own thing when you're in God's hands. You do what He tells you to do, or you're in disobedience. It's as simple as that. And therefore, when these people heard about the salvation of the Gentiles, they were not only filled with joy; they were filled with mega joy. Maybe you're hearing this and you're like Jonah—you're waiting on that person to be judged. And all of a sudden, you see that God saved them, and you're not happy about it at all.

You know how it is when you feel that person who has hurt you has moved on, and they're taking new pictures with new family and a new boyfriend or new girlfriend or new husband or new wife, and you're just looking at that picture on social media seething. You're no different than Jonah, and you have to get your heart right. Because God wants us to be filled with mega joy. The Bible says that the angels of God rejoice in heaven over the salvation of one sinner, one person who surrenders their life to Christ. Heaven is throwing a party, and you're down there like Jonah, souring because they hurt your feelings. They hurt your life.

I've been there, folks. You're not listening to somebody who hasn't been there. I've been there, seething. I don't want to see them right with God; I want to see God deal with them. And secretly in my heart, I'm waiting on their destruction. And God said to me, "Jonah, Jonah." I'm like, "No, my name ain't Jonah." Yes, it is. You're acting just like him. And God had to deal with me; He had to deal with my heart over that kind of stuff.

So, look what it says there in verse 4. "And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them." Once they arrived in Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were received by the church, showing that this was a public meeting. However, there were some who were ready to give Paul and Barnabas an earful. They couldn't wait until Paul and Barnabas finished telling them what God had done with them so they could give them a piece of their mind.

They were not even hearing about the joyful conversions of the Gentiles; they were just sitting there. You know how when you're in an argument and you just can't wait for them to be quiet? You aren't even listening to them; you're waiting to give your viewpoint. You just can't wait. So they're telling them, "Oh man, these Gentiles got saved over here and over here, and yeah boy, we really see them walking with God." And they're just sitting there, "Will you hurry up? I want to give you a tongue-lashing."

And that's what they were waiting for. We see who they were in verse 5. "But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, 'It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.'" Now, they just burst out with this out of the blue. They're talking about the conversion of Gentiles, and they just get right to it. "You know why we're here. It is necessary to circumcise them. We hear about the conversion, but what about circumcising them? They need to keep the law of Moses like we have done."

As I mentioned earlier, the Pharisees were a part of the early church because they believed in the resurrection, as opposed to the Sadducees, who were the liberal religious leaders. They didn't believe in angels or the resurrection or that kind of thing. So the early church was filled with many of the Pharisees, who were more conservative and happened to believe in the resurrection. But they wanted to add Christianity to the law of Moses. "Yes, believe in Jesus, but also keep the law of Moses, which includes being circumcised."

Like I said earlier, Paul called them false brethren in Galatians 2:4 because of what they said. I want you to notice the strong language that is used. "It is necessary to circumcise them," and "command them to keep the law of Moses." Once again, putting a bunch of rules and regulations upon these poor Gentiles who are believing apart from the law of Moses. When Paul and Barnabas went around preaching, they didn't say, "Well, you believe in Jesus now. Okay, now while you're at it, there's just a few things we've got to just add to this. You've got to be circumcised." I know those Gentiles were like, "What's that?" "Well, men, let me tell you what circumcision is."

I'm sure they would have been like, "I'm not doing that." They didn't go around doing that. They said, "Believe in Jesus Christ, the grace of God alone, plus nothing." And here are these religious leaders saying, "No, you can believe in Jesus, that's cool, but you've got to be circumcised. No, it is necessary to circumcise them, and then command them to keep the law of Moses."

Is it Jesus plus the law of Moses? I'm sure Paul and Barnabas looked at one another and said, "Here we go again. We just dealt with a bunch of these guys when they came down to the church in Antioch of Syria. Now we're dealing with them up here. Put on your boxing gloves because it's about to be on. It's time to rumble." And we've got to wait until next week to find out what happened as they began to rumble about this stuff. Because this is serious stuff.

Let me conclude with this. Jesus plus nothing. Whenever we try to add anything to our salvation, it is not right. Anytime someone says you have to do this or that in order to be saved, or is it Jesus plus tongues plus Sabbath-keeping plus being baptized in Jesus' name only—watch out. Because you're talking to a modern-day Judaizer like we just read about. It is Jesus plus nothing. It is by grace we are saved through faith, yet not of yourselves, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

If there's anything that we can add to our salvation, we would be in heaven and we would have something to boast about. "How'd you get saved?" "Well, I got saved this way and I accepted the Lord." "Oh, that's nothing. When the Lord saved me, He woke me up out of a sleep, and I heard a voice speak to me. And that's how I got saved." Paul would stand up and say, "That's nothing. I was on my horse ready to go to Damascus to kill Christians, and God knocked me off my high horse and saved me with a bright light that blinded me." We won't be in heaven doing that. Trust me.

We are saved by the finished work of Jesus Christ, by grace through faith alone. Last time I checked, when Jesus died on the cross, He was on the cross alone. He said, "What I did, it is finished." *Tetelestai*. It is finished. Oh, I'm telling you, *tetelestai* was an amazing Greek word in that day. When a writer finished a book, he added the last period. He'd say, "*Tetelestai*. It is finished." When a painter finished a painting, he added the last stroke. He would say, "*Tetelestai*. It is finished." When Jesus died, and He cried out, "*Tetelestai*," everyone knew what that meant. It is finished.

Nothing to add to it. It's Jesus plus nothing. Oh, don't try to add to your faith. Now, here's where the problem comes: the results of salvation. When we are saved, we do get baptized. When we are saved, you may speak in tongues. So, what people mix up is they mix up the results of salvation and they make it a part of the requirement for salvation. And that's a major error right there that people do. It's salvation by grace through faith alone, not of yourselves. And then here's the part that people miss: it is a gift of God.

Now, for those people you don't like that you're getting ready to buy gifts for, and those bad kids that don't deserve a thing—maybe that's a better analogy—you're going to give them a gift and they are not going to have to work for anything. It's a gift you're giving them. That's why it's a gift. It's not that they have to do all this. There's times I wish we'd tell them to do something and they would get this. But when you give them a gift, a gift is something they didn't earn, something they don't deserve, especially for those kids of yours. Because mine were the same way. Kids are kids; they're terrible sometimes. You give them a gift, and it's strictly by your grace you gave them that gift.

It's not that they've been a good little boy, good little girl; then you gave them a wage because they earned it. But a gift is free. That's what the Lord did for us on Calvary's cross—a free gift. Not of works, lest any man should boast. And so I'm here to tell you, if you have never prayed and repented of your sin and accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior and you're banking on what He did for you on Calvary's cross alone—if you try to come through any other kind of way, it's not right.

Rest in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. That's why He died for us and gave us the gift of salvation—something we didn't earn and don't deserve. We didn't earn and we don't deserve it. I'm thankful for the grace of God. I'm thankful that I don't have to try to jump through some hoops, run around the church so many times, flip, hang from the lights, and then I can be saved, maybe. Or maybe take a 30-day course of being saved, and then at the end of the 30 days, I'm officially saved. No, no. It's by grace through faith. Jesus plus nothing.

And I'm glad the Lord has it that way. May we all leave here knowing that we have the grace. And the way that you know it: there will be a changed life. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things become new. He makes us new. Did you know when He makes you new, you don't want to stand—like I saw on social media—you don't want to stand in a line trying to get in the alley? And the line is wrapped around past the dump. The Alley is the club in Hampton. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about.

It was a line—I've never seen anything like this in my life. It was a line wrapped all the way around where they dump furniture, all the way around the corner waiting to get in. You don't want to do that anymore. Because if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away; behold, all things become new. He gives you new desires, new wants. You don't want to do those things. It's not that you can't do those things; you don't want to do those things.

Going in there, "Yeah, hey honey. All right. Yeah, I see you. All right, can I call me?" And then the girls with their little heels and little tight clothes on. What's it to be in the midst of that? Who wants to do that? Not someone who's made new. Not someone who's had an encounter with Jesus Christ. He gives you new desires, new wants. You become new in Christ Jesus. If you're not new, then it didn't take. Simple as that. Whatever prayer you thought you prayed, it didn't take. Because He will make you new. Oh, don't you want to be new? Aren't you tired of the same old you? I don't know about you; I get tired of me sometimes. I have to live with me. Jesus is here to make you new, new in Him.

Father, we pray that Your Spirit would move in the midst of us, and we pray, God, that You would draw Your people unto You. You love them, Lord. You sent Jesus to die for them. And I pray for those who are here who have not been made new, who need to repent of their sin and invite You to come in. Lord, move by Your Spirit. Save souls. Lord, some need to come back home, come back to You. I pray that Your Spirit would move in their hearts and in their midst today. In Jesus' name, amen.

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