The Word Made Plain

Announcer: 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 24 verses 1 through 9.

Tony Clark: You love to hear how you look. Looks are everything for you. Looks are everything to everyone, but especially for you. And looks are that way and then here's the thing. That means that you can easily be deceived by smooth words and flattery speech. And this is where men come with slick talk, slick-talking brothers.

Can come with smooth words and flattery speech. Deceive the hearts of the simple. You can just be on the job and all of a sudden he can make one little comment about how you look in that outfit. And now you taking extra care the next day of how you look because you want to hear that comment again. See, be very mindful men can pick up on that. And especially when you got a little slick-talking brother that knows how to use words and slick-talking and the smile and got the suave and the debonair about him.

Deceive you with flattering words because maybe you're not getting those flattering words at home and he can use them to deceive the hearts of the simple. Proverbs 20:19 says, "He who goes about as a talebearer or gossip reveals secrets, therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips." This is saying beware, don't make a flatterer your close friend because they will only tell you what you want to hear instead of what you need to hear. Beware. Psalm 78:36 says that there are those who will try to flatter God.

It says, "Nevertheless they flatter him," referring to God, "with their mouth and they lie to him with their tongue." How in the world can we deceive ourselves in thinking we can flatter God? The God who knows all things. But we do. Watch this. Here how it is done. When we give God insincere worship and praise, it is flattery and God doesn't want it and he sees through it. You say what do you mean? Jesus confirmed this in Matthew 15 verses 8 and 9 that says, "These people draw near to me with their lip and honor me with their mouth, but their heart is far from me." And here it is. "And in vain they worship me teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

Powerful words by Jesus himself. He sees through our flattery. We try to come to church and flatter God through worship because we're going to hit him up sometime this week coming up. So we got a job interview. So we haven't been to church in who knows when but we're going to come because we want to get our praise, get our worship on because we're going to hit God up this week hoping that he blesses us on the interview. God sees through that. He sees through that kind of stuff. We're going to butter God up. And so when we go to him in prayer say, "God, I'm about to go to this interview. You remember I was in church Sunday now. I did my part and now you do yours." He sees through our flattery and our insincerity.

Now how did Tertullus try to flatter the Governor Felix? He said, "Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace." Now there had not been great peace under Felix but violence. Then he said, "And prosperity is being brought to this nation." This is a reference to his reforms and he praised him for his foresight. Felix's methods were so brutal that the Jews hated him and called for there to be unrest in the land because of his violence. Remember he's the only, Roman history tells us that the Roman historian Tacitus, he tells us that Felix was the only one who was a slave who became governor. And even though he had the position of a governor he had the mentality of a slave and he wanted to get everybody back for the cruelty he received as a slave.

So he was very cruel. His methods were cruel and it was such unrest but our boy Tertullus was trying to butter him up, flatter him but by speaking lies to him. And like I said, Felix had a reputation for corruption and violence and self-promotion. So despite Tertullus's flattering words, his flattering words were called in Roman terminology *captatio benevolentiae*. And this is what his flattery was called in Rome, what he was doing. The Jewish people would not have felt much thankfulness towards Felix like verse 3 says, like Tertullus is trying to give off.

And so the next time you're attempting to praise people, there's nothing wrong with thanking someone for what they've done but when you are attempted to praise people, ask yourself why am I doing this? Is it for them or is it really for me? See this is getting to the heart of our motives. I believe that we will truly stop in our tracks after asking ourselves this question because we're really trying to flatter that person for our own personal gain. This is why we must cry out to God like David did in Psalm 141:3. He says, "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips." I wonder what would or would not come out of our mouths if we prayed such a prayer.

Couples, I guarantee you if we prayed such a prayer, how many arguments would not be had if we prayed such a prayer? I wonder before we talk to our teens if we prayed such a prayer. I wonder how the conversation would go with them if we prayed such a prayer. "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips." I wonder that coworker that we're overseeing, I wonder how the conversation would go if we prayed such a prayer. That person, that brother or that sister that we call ourselves confronting, I wonder how that conversation would go if we prayed before we opened our lips. "O God, set a watch over my lips, the door of my mouth." I just wonder. I just wonder.

The Governor Felix was so inept at his position that Caesar Nero removed him from office two years after this hearing that Acts 24:27 mentions. Look at verses 4 through 6. "Nevertheless not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear by your courtesy a few words from us. For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple and we seized him and wanted to judge him according to our law." Now here in verse 4, Tertullus closed his opening remarks with the customary promise to be brief. He said, "Not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear by your courtesy a few words from us." Just a few words.

So often these words are often broken, but Tertullus was forced to keep his word because there was not much more he can say about Felix. What's much more flattery he can give him because he was such a horrible human being? And that he didn't have too much to say about Paul, so he was going to keep it this time and be brief because he had not much more to say about Felix as well as about the apostle Paul. But he's going to attempt to bring up some bogus charges on the apostle Paul. Now Tertullus turns his attention against Paul. He brings three charges against him. Number one, he was a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world. Number two, he was a ringleader of an unrecognized sect called the Nazarenes, which is against Roman law. And number three, he tried to profane the temple.

These religious leaders were hoping that these charges would stick and persuade Felix to execute Paul in order to keep the peace in Jerusalem. "You know, Felix, this is all so we can keep peace. You don't want any more mess in Jerusalem." So in hearing this, we keep the peace. Now the first charge that said that Paul was a plague. The Greek word for plague is *loimos* and it means a disease or a pestilence or a plague. They were hoping that this charge would persuade Felix to think that Paul was trying to stir up trouble against Rome. What a label to put on someone. To call someone a plague. "You are a plague." I'm going back a little bit but in the Christmas movie *Home Alone*, told Kevin, "You're such a disease. You're what the French call *les incompetents*."

I mean just think about it. He was a plague. They said that Paul was a plague. I just wonder how our families or how our jobs look at us when they see us coming say, "Look, he's such a disease. He just infects the whole job. Look who's coming to the party. Oh, they're such a plague to this family." I just wonder do they see us that way? Do they see us as a disease? This is how the religious leaders saw Paul. Said he's such a plague, he's just a disease. Wherever he goes, he just spreads. It's like the Rona. Just everywhere it goes, it just spreads. When he comes around, we got to put our mask on. We're just tired of this guy.

The second charge was that Paul was the ringleader of the Nazarene sect. Ringleader, *protostates*, was a military word that meant one who stands on the front rank. For those of you with your military background, you remember there was a point person. The point person was out front and other folks were behind him had his rear, had his six. This is the Greek word that is used here, the one who's in the front. And they say he's the ringleader, Paul was the ringleader of this sect called the Nazarenes. And of course, this is referring to the Christians named after the hometown of Jesus and he was from Nazareth.

The Greek word for sect is *hairesis* and it means a faction, a party and it is where we get our word heresy from. And what Tertullus was trying to do was to show Felix that Christianity was rejected by Judaism as heretical. So he's saying don't get it mixed up, Felix, that Christianity and Judaism are the same. No, no. We here, the religious leaders, we look at Christianity as this heretical group of people, a dangerous group that needed to be eradicated from the earth. And whether you believe it or not, there are people alive and well today who feel the same way about Christianity and the church. That Christianity and the church needs to be eradicated. It needs to be removed from the face of the earth.

And especially during this pandemic time, these Christians, they want to get together. Now all they're doing is spreading this thing. This is why the narrative is being spent that you can only get the Rona when you come to church. Because they have spent that narrative. This is why people are staying away from church because the narrative has been spent that you can get the Rona is waiting for you in the parking lot of the church. He's waiting there like this, waiting on you to get out of your car. But he doesn't go to, because he's a smart Rona. He doesn't go to Walmart or Sam's Club. He doesn't go to family functions and get-togethers. He doesn't go to those places. He only comes to church. That's where the Rona comes.

And this is why Christianity needs to be eradicated from the earth because Christianity is the spread of this thing. That's the narrative being spent and many people are still believing it to this day. "I'm not ready to come out to church." Well why is that? "I may get that Rona." So the Rona is an usher, he's a parking lot attendant. So when you come, he's waiting on you. He's ready to pounce on your back as soon as you come through the door, he's on your back. That's the narrative being spent. So therefore, Christianity needs to be eradicated. It's a disease. Christianity is the disease, not the Rona, Christianity is it. And this is what we see happening in these verses.

The third charge was that Paul tried to profane the temple. I'm sure that they were hoping to persuade Felix to allow for them to put Paul to death. Well wait, in Acts 21:28 and 29, it was rumored that Paul brought a man named Trophimus, an Ephesian, into the temple to defile it. But they knew that they didn't have any proof of this. So now before Felix, they were now saying he tried to profane the temple but we seized him before he could actually do it. And wanted to judge him according to our law, which meant that they wanted to kill him by stoning, which was their way of capital punishment.

Look at verses 7 through 9. "But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself, you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him." And the Jews also assented, maintaining that these things were so. Now Tertullus said in verse 7 that the Jews were not allowed to judge Paul according to their law because the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of their hands. They were actually throwing the Roman commander Claudius Lysias under the bus by saying he took Paul away before we were allowed to finish these Jewish legal procedures, which was not true.

Thus abusing his Roman authority. Claudius Lysias is the reason why we're even here now. If he just allowed for us to do what we wanted to do, judge him according to our law, we wouldn't be here right now. So you really need to talk to Claudius Lysias. Just threw him right under the bus, tire tracks all over him because they threw him right under the bus. And so this is why we're here because the commander Lysias commanded us to come to you. The first part of verse 8 says. Then they said at the end of verse 8, "By examining him yourself, you can ascertain all these things of which we accuse him."

In other words, we have done all of the examining on our end and when you, Felix, examine him, you will see that we were telling the truth. And the Jews, Ananias and the elders, joined in the attack in verse 9, maintaining that these things were so. "Yeah, yeah, he's telling the truth. Tertullus, you tell him. And we believe, yes, he's telling the truth." They seem to have an airtight case against Paul. But they were false charges. This is a word for us to not believe everything you hear. Respectable and even religious leaders can often misrepresent facts and distort the truth.

Hear both sides before you form your opinion and speak out. Proverbs 18:17 says, "The first one who pleads his case seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him." Meaning that when you only hear one side of the story, you're like, "Wow, yeah, that seems right." Until your neighbor comes and says, "No, but see they left out this, this, and this." And you're like, "Oh man, now that you put that in, now..." Or we will put it in terms there's two sides to every story. Hear both sides of that story before you begin to type on social media, before you begin to speak out. Hear both sides before you begin to speak out.

This is why 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says, "Test all things, hold fast what is good." This is why the Bible says that. Test it, what you hear. This is why the Bible says don't receive an accusation against an elder or someone in spiritual leadership except it be by two or three witnesses, by the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established. Don't just believe every little thing. Nowadays, Christians and especially Christian leaders, you are guilty until proven innocent. It didn't use to be that way. But that's what it is now. And we will see how Paul responded, God's will, next time. Because Paul got some words for them and we're going to see what he had to say next time.

Let me conclude with this. In this study, we have looked at the dangers of flattery. It can be a dangerous way to gain an advantage with other people. On top of that, it is a form of lying. And if this is how you have made it in life by flattering people because you're a talker, you're one of those talkers, then you need to repent. Because it is a form of deception to take advantage of other people. And you've done that. You've done that with taking advantage of other women, you've done that to do that on the job and take advantage of folks on the job. You need to repent of that because it's a form of deception, a form of lying. You don't mean what you say but you're saying it to try to flatter them because you want an advantage in some kind of way.

We also looked at animosity. If you have it towards someone or towards a group of people, then you need to repent. Because Satan will open up a door and an opportune day for you to get even. And if you walk through, you will gain a hardened heart and it will not go well with you. You've heard me say for many years let it go. Let it go by allowing Jesus to free you by bringing your vengeful heart to him for cleansing. You know that you are becoming free of animosity when you're able to pray for the person you have the animosity towards.

And here's the thing. When the door or opportune day comes for you to get the person back and you don't walk through it, this is when you know you have healed from the hurt on the inside. See you think that you're over that person that has hurt you because you don't see them nor hear from them and you think, "I'm over that." But what happens in your heart when you see that person or hear them? If one eye squints and you turn your head a little bit like that and something's in your heart, you're not over it. You're not over it. And if the door to get them back opens up and you walk through it, you're not over it. It can be years, you're not over it.

But when God has healed a person's heart, when the opportune day comes, you say, "I'm good. I ain't walking through there." I'm over that person, God they are in your hands. Then congratulations. You're over it. When you can pray God's blessings upon that person that's once hurt you, you're over it. If you can't, you're not over it yet. Bring your hurt to the Lord. We've all been hurt. We've all been hurt. We've all been disappointed by people and parents and people in authority. We've all been disappointed and hurt. But the Lord wants to heal our wounded hearts. He wants to heal our hurts because Satan wants to see you fall by opening up an opportune day for you to get a person back.

For some of you, it's going to be this week. The door's going to open up. Unless you do some business with God, you're going to walk through it. Unless you do some business with God today, you're going to walk through that door and it's going to be ugly. Because you're going to get angrier because the satisfaction that you thought you would get for getting them back, it won't be there. It's an old saying but it's true, hurt people hurt people. When you're hurt and you don't deal with the hurt, you hurt other people. You do. You hurt the relationships around you. The Lord wants to heal that. He wants you to bring that to him.

So as we close in prayer, bring your wounded heart to him. He loves you. He wants to free you of that hurt, that anger, that animosity, that vengeful spirit. He wants to set his people free. May they leave it at the foot of the cross. Let's pray. Father, we do pray thanking you for such a word as this. Lord, that you have spoken into our hearts. We pray, Lord, that your spirit would move in this room today. There are many people, Lord, with wounded hearts. There are many people who are just waiting, counting down the days by which that opportune day will come to get a person back. Lord, I pray that they will confess that as sin today.

Confess it, Lord, as sin. Lord, I pray that your spirit would move, Lord. Move in this room. Free people from the hurt, anger, animosity, vengeful spirit. Set your people free. May they leave it at the foot of the cross.

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