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 through the book of Romans. Please open your Bible to Romans chapter 2 verses 17 through 20.

Tony Clark: Let's say you got a desire to do something and the door is open for you to do it. But number two, you don't have a peace. You're like I just don't think you better not do it. Let's say for example, you got a desire and you got a peace, but the door isn't opened. Don't you go trying to kick it open. Watch this. This could be just a matter of God's timing. It may not be his timing yet. So you wait. You keep your little self put. You wait. Just wait. So it must be all three.

I just drop gold at some of y'all's feet. Some of y'all y'all y'all can leave now cuz that was worth his price of admission and y'all can go home now, you know. But there's there's more. We just getting started. There there is more. So to know God's will, you got to have all three, a desire, a peace, and an open door. All of these things are contained in the word of God. I gave you scripture for each one. So not only did the Jews know God's will, but they also notice the second part of verse 18, approve the things that are excellent.

The Greek word for approve is It's a great Greek word. It carries the idea of testing in order to prove the value of something such as precious metals. So because the Jews had the law of God, they were able to approve the things in God's word that are excellent or essential. The Jewish people constantly knew what God wanted them to do and verse the third part of verse 18, being instructed out of the law. The Greek word for instructed is and it it means teaching by repetition. It is where we get our English word catechism for those with a Roman Catholic background from.

So Jewish boys were constantly instructed at home and in the synagogues, notice out of the law of God. They will memorize large portions of the Old Testament. Still to this day, they have contests where they would memorize large portions of the Old Testament and get tested on it. And and many of those Jewish boys who won these contests had memorized the entire Old Testament. Oh, that just puts us to shame. I get off of that cuz I know guilt should just flood through us, you know, and just as we just hear that. Now, parents, the question is, are you instructing your children out of the word of God at home?

Like Deuteronomy 6 verses 4 through 9 says, or are you just expecting us to do it here at church and you come one, maybe two times a week and that's if you super duper spiritual. You're doing that. The rest of the time, they're with you. But I've stated many times, look at us here at the church. We're just like a supplement, vitamin. A vitamin. You none of us can live on vitamins. They just supplement our food. The food of the teaching and the instructing of the word of God is to come from you at home.

Then when you bring them here, we're just the vitamin. We're just the supplement. What you're doing at home. So often, parents have it swapped around. They at home try to be the supplement and expect us to be the main meal. And you come once, maybe twice a week if that. So we're just the supplement. You're called to instruct them in the word of God out of the word of God. Now, all of this teaching out of the law meant that they had a responsibility which was to teach God's law to the nations around them. So it was to go to the home and then to the nations around them.

But instead of doing this, this knowledge of the law of God, watch this, made them prideful. Make them feel elite that God spoke to them and made them feel I was thinking about this 1 Corinthians 8:1. It's not on the screen for you notetakers. It says knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. And so often, people get a big real big head of spiritual knowledge and you can just see them. They kind of talk down to you. And they think that they're elite with their knowledge. This is what happened to the Jewish people.

They were supposed to take this word that God gave them, take it home to their children, then take it to the nations around them. But instead, they kept it to themselves and were prideful. And then when it came all the way to the days of Jesus, watch this. They felt that the Gentiles, non-Jews, the nations around them, the only purpose Oh, this is good here, but sad. That the only purpose of the Gentiles were to keep the flames of hell going. That's how they looked at the nations around them. That's how they looked at the world around them.

And I just wonder how do we look at the world around us? Oh, world, look at this. Yeah, I tell you, they're so wicked. They're just this Kind of arrogant about your knowledge of God instead of trying to take the word of God to the nations around you, to the people around you. You to be the sitting back with your prideful knowledge and your head in the air and look at the look at the news and them and them people and those over there. I tell you. This is what happened to the Jewish nation. Look what it says in verse 19.

And are confident confident that you yourselves are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness. The Jews Paul was addressing were overly confident in their knowledge of God, but they didn't have lives that backed it up. It it was just head knowledge about God. Be careful of your knowledge of God when you don't have a life that supports it. Ephesians 4:1 says, I beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. Now, the Greek word for worthy is and it means of equal weight. It it it speaks of equaling of the scales.

In other words, our walk and our talk should be of equal weight. And this this is what Paul was saying about these Jewish believers. You are confident that you are a guide to the blind or to those who are blind spiritually. They they they both said that we are the ones that are supposed to be the light to those and that are blind spiritually. He said, okay, you boasting in that. He said, but you don't have a life that backs it up. You're just a bunch of talk. Jesus called the religious leaders in his day blind guides in Matthew 15 in verse 14, Matthew 23 verse 16 and verse 24.

This is the condition the Jewish believers found themselves in being blind guides. The second part of verse 19 notice it says that they were also supposed to be a light to those who are in darkness. This was exactly the This is what exactly how the the the role that God had for them because he told Abraham in Genesis 12 in verse 3, he says, through you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. We know ultimately that was speaking of Jesus Christ coming through the Jewish nation through the tribe of Judah. But he said, through you all the nations shall be blessed.

Now, this responsibility is given to us the church. Jesus told us in Matthew 5:14 says, you are the light of the world. Oh my goodness, that's a mouthful right there. He says, you are the light of the world. The you in the Greek is emphatic. It means you Christian, you believer, you follower of Jesus Christ, you are the verb in this present tense. You are right now, not yesterday, not next week, not next month. You are right now what? The light of the world. Now, what does that mean? The Greek word for light is false.

And it's where we get our English word photo or photograph from, which is a picture produced through light. It says, so we are supposed to be a picture of who Jesus Christ is to this world. You're the light of the world. Now, watch this. Jesus said in John 8:12, he says, I am the light of the world. Okay. Now, he's saying in Matthew 5:14, we are the light of the world. Who who is the light? Is it Jesus? Is it us? Is it both? Watch this. Jesus is this is like the sun as you in and we are like the moon.

You understand. You learned from school if you were awake. You learned in school that the moon doesn't have its own light. It reflects the light of the sun. And the only time that the moon doesn't reflect the light of the sun is during an eclipse. That's when the earth gets in between the sun and the moon that keeps the moon from reflecting the light of the sun. Some people are no longer a picture of who Jesus is because you're experiencing a spiritual eclipse. You've allowed the world to get in between you and your relationship with Christ and you're no longer reflecting the sun as And this is what we got to see today.

Many of you are here. Supposed to be a light to those who sit in darkness. But instead, you've allowed the world to get in between you and your relationship with Jesus Christ. And there's a darkness in your life. No longer reflecting Jesus Christ. No longer can they look at you and see a picture, a portrait of Jesus Christ. The Bible says in in Ephesians 2:10 it says, for we are his workmanship created unto Christ Jesus unto good work. The word workmanship in the Greek is where his poem, we are his work of art that he is displaying us to this world.

And I just wonder what are we showing this world? What kind of portrait? What kind of picture? You know what it reminds me of those of you who are my age and older, you you going to understand this example very well. You remember the the Polaroid camera? You want to hit the pic And we we used to we used to waving like this and you know, it's coming in. It's coming in fuzzy. It's coming in. You know If you 30 and under, just Google it. You know you You you you understand. And there are some of you that's displaying a fuzzy picture of who Jesus is and that the people around you are squinting and trying to say, what is that image I'm seeing?

What is that I'm looking at? And and just like we used to let that that let that air hit it, you know, some of y'all need the wind of God's spirit to come a fresh upon your life so you can give a crystal clear picture of who Jesus is. Because the world around you, they're sitting in darkness, the Bible says. And they need to see a light. It's like it's like they're groped. You know when all the lights are off and you trying to find the wall with the light switch here. They're groping trying to find the and we are supposed to be the light.

And then when that light shines on them, we supposed to be a portrait of who Jesus Christ is. But we're too busy experiencing a spiritual eclipse. And we're no longer shining the light we supposed to be. Are you experiencing a spiritual eclipse like the Jews were where the world has gotten in between you and your relationship with Jesus Christ? This is what was happening to the Jews that Paul was addressing to the point where they were no longer a light to those who sit in darkness. Look what it says there in verse 20. It says, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

I want to draw your attention to the first phrase, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes. Paul was telling the Jewish believers that they were supposed to be instructors and teachers to the other nations of the world, but their lifestyles prohibited them from doing this. Paul told the believers in the book of Hebrews and Hebrews 5 and verse 12. He says, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles or words of God and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

Teaching others spiritual things carry a serious responsibility. James 3:1 says, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive the stricter judgment. Teachers of spiritual things will be judged harsher than anyone else. This is why I take the teaching of God's word very seriously because of this verse. I try to take each verse and carefully understand it and then teach it to you to the best of my ability by the power of God's Holy Spirit. It's a serious thing and because of the seriousness of it, there are many people who don't do it because they No, but we're mandated.

Paul said, woe is me if I don't preach the gospel. We're mandated to. Look at the second part of verse 20. Notice it says, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. Now, the Greek word for form is a very interesting word, morphosis. And it means to sketch. It it it it can be translated as an outline or a semblance or appearance. It is the same Greek word used in 2 Timothy 3:5 that says that they had a form of godliness, morphosis, a form of godliness, but denying its power. In other words, Paul was saying that these Jewish believers had an appearance or a form of being godly, but it was just superficial.

It wasn't real. It wasn't true. I just wonder if this describes us. Do we have a superficial surface Christianity or just an appearance of being a Christian? Meaning people see us just superficially coming to church, which they aren't seeing much today because of the times we live in. We we have some head knowledge about Christianity with our few devotional quotes we put up on social media, but it doesn't go any further than just a few Christian quotes. You've heard me say many times, my heart breaks for Christianity in the church today, especially the church here in America where I live.

My heart breaks. Paul said, my deep concern is for the churches and I understand what he means by that. My deep concern I I look at the American church and my heart breaks. We're supposed to be a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, but we need someone to teach us. We as Americans used to send missionaries around the world and now the world is sending missionaries to teach us how to walk with God. Wow. Wow. My heart grieves for the church here in America.

It it grieves. I grieve because I see us in these verses. I see us. Paul would challenge these Jewish believers in the following verses that I don't have time to get into now cuz it's too much to get into in one message. But I I want us to consider something as I conclude here. In this message, you're guilty too. We we saw how the Jewish nation were given a great responsibility of being a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish and teacher of babes, but they failed to do this.

And we as the church, we've been given the same mandate. We're supposed to be the light or picture of Jesus Christ to this world. Are we being this or are we experiencing a spiritual eclipse? I I wonder for many people because we have some head knowledge, but our lives don't reflect it. That keeps our mouths closed because how can we preach about the one we not even living for ourselves? So that causes us to be quiet. This is why the gospel isn't going forth like it once did because we just have a a semblance, an outline, just a a form of godliness.

We can say praise the Lord. Amen. Hallelujah. We can throw around some Christian some language, some Christian language. But our lives don't reflect that we do praise the Lord, that we do shout hallelujah. Our lives don't reflect it and thus we don't try cuz how can we introduce people to a savior? We don't really know ourselves. And I just wonder about that. So we have to check our hearts. Has the world gotten in between you and your relationship with Jesus Christ? If so, then we need to repent. This is why God brings us to church to be instructed to to to how to walk with God.

God showed me some years ago that many people many people are not walking with God because they never been taught how. Or they go to church and get a little get a little run around, get a little hoop at them. But they they haven't been instructed on how to walk with me. And I said, God, I pray by your grace you give me the power to teach your people how to walk with you verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book from Genesis to Revelation. This is my mandate. This is what I'm called to do.

We have to make sure that we walk worthy, axioms, that our walk and our talk be of equal weight on the scales. When this happens, then God can use us in a powerful way to be a light to this dark world. The only hope for this world is Jesus Christ. You know what it's like. It's like the deadliest disease known to man and the church has the cure and we keeping it to ourselves. And we keeping it to ourselves for a variety of reasons. Well, I'm afraid to talk. I'm afraid to give the cure or my life doesn't reflect that I really believe this is the cure.

So and it's a variety of reasons why and why the world is constantly dying of a disease called sin. Not COVID, not Delta variant, sin. Oh, you die of COVID, you die. You die in your sin. You die for all eternity. We we have been mandated to give this gospel to a dark world. May we do what we've been mandated to do not in our own strength, but by the power of God and through his grace. Let's get right with God so we can be the instruments that he's called us to be. Father, thank you so much for your word.

Oh God, I just pray that your spirit would move in us. Lord, forgive us. Have mercy upon us. Lord, we have allowed the world to get in between us and you. And I pray that you forgive us. Lord, I pray for your people here who have been experiencing a spiritual eclipse. Lord, I pray God that you will forgive us for not sharing you and sharing your love and grace with the world that so desperately needs needs you. So Lord, I just pray if anyone here, Lord, has not repented of their sin and accepted Christ as their Lord and savior here online, just pray this simple prayer after me.

Just say, Lord Jesus, forgive me. I believe you died on the cross and was buried and rose again just for me. Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and savior. Help me to live for you by the power of your Holy Spirit from this moment forward in Jesus' name. Amen.

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We pray you've been blessed by God's word today and hope you'll tune in next time to hear The Word Made Plain.