The Word Made Plain

Guest (Female): 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 26 verses 24 through 32.

Tony Clark: First John 4:4: Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. So let the mockers mock. Let the scoffers scoff. Jesus is still changing people's lives from the inside out. So let us not be disobedient to the heavenly vision to us, whatever that may be, be it in the children's ministry, wherever ministry, the youth ministry, parking lot, greeters, cleaning the facility.

Let us not be disobedient to what God has called each of us to do. Each of us who are born-again Christians have a work for us to do. And God bless, praise the Lord, amen. We understand people are still not comfortable with coming out and all that sort of stuff, but you can't serve God on your couch. That's all I'm going to say about that. Only you can serve God with the people of God.

That's the only way. It is good to be in your PJs with a cup of cheer and with your blanket and sit and watch a sermon. I can join you and sit back. But let me tell you, you can't serve God on your couch. Online, you hear me? God bless you, we love you. And we love you and we can't wait to see you, but you can't serve God on your couch. Can't serve God at home.

People are afraid and they should be. Rona ain't no joke, he ain't playing with nobody. In fact, ain't the he, it's the she. She ain't playing with nobody. She ain't playing with none of y'all. You can't serve God on your couch, or in your lazy boy, or in your PJs. You can't. You got to be with the people of God to do that.

Now how was Paul able to speak the gospel so passionately? Yes, because Jesus was in him, but Festus recognized an intelligence about Paul. He said, "Much learning is driving you mad." In other words, Festus was saying, "Paul, you are too intelligent to believe that dead men die and come back to life and speak to people." No intelligent Roman or Greek would ever believe such a far-fetched idea.

We know this because in Acts 17, when Paul was talking about the resurrection to the intellectuals in the city of Athens, Greece, they said in verses 19 and 20, "You are bringing some strange things to our ears. What new doctrine is this of which you speak?" So be ready to encounter people you're sharing with who think that you're out of your mind for believing in a God who you cannot see, a Bible that is full of fairy tales, and a church that is full of crooks, cheats, and robbers.

First Corinthians 1 verse 18 says, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." This is what the word of God is. This is what the preaching of the gospel is. Or another point I would like to make here is how Paul was an avid student of Christianity. He was involved in, notice, much learning.

How do I know? Because in his defense, Festus recognized that Paul was a learned man. The days of "I don't know" are over, especially with the internet. We should be students of the Bible and of Christianity. Second Timothy 2:15 says, "Study," or the Greek word can be translated "be diligent." Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Notice: a worker that needs not to be ashamed. I just wonder: are you ashamed when you evaluate your study of God's word? Are we ashamed when people ask us questions about God and the Bible and we can't answer them? The solution is to study or be diligent in the study of God's word. Proverbs 15 and verse 28 says, "The heart of the righteous studies how to answer."

First Peter 3:15 says, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." Can you give people a reason why you believe in God? If an atheist were to say, "You believe in God?" and you say, "Yes." He would say, "Well why?" Can you answer them? Can you answer why you believe in Jesus and why you go to church?

"Well, it's just what we always did." That's not a reason today. "Well, I was brought up going." Well, good, but that's not a reason. Can we give reasons or are we ashamed? And so we don't let people know we're believers because we're ashamed that if they ask us something about our faith, we can't answer them. I just wonder about that. But see, here's the thing: we want to help you here.

So the next time we offer evangelism classes, Christianity 101 type of classes, sign up for them and stick with it to the end. We have a bad habit here at this church. Number one, we love to sign up for stuff and we don't show up. That's one bad habit. I don't know whether we like to... back in the day, we used to have clipboards and folks used to sign and never show up.

I don't know if we like to sign up for stuff or like to see our name written. Maybe because we were bad in school and we had to write our names a hundred times, we're just in the habit of seeing our names written. I don't know what it is about us. Or we'll sign up for something and don't commit to the end. I don't understand that. I'm wired a certain way. The Marine Corps then took me to another level in this mindset.

I don't understand what it means to quit, to stop. I understand things come up. I understand something suddenly came up. I understand. But this thing that we start something... like we used to have six-week discipleship classes. Folks would be excited the first week. They skip the second week because something suddenly came up. They skip the third week because something with the kids came up.

They come the fourth week, skip the fifth week, and then on the sixth week, they want to graduate and get their certificate. It's like, are you serious? You missed three or four classes. But this is the type of thing. I'm struggling with this generation's mindset. If I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it to the end. So when we offer these things, be about that life and get it done so you can understand what's happening.

So don't be surprised when you start to grow in the grace and knowledge of God that those closest to you will accuse you of being crazy. Accuse you of being beside yourself. Mad or out of your mind. Folks used to say, "You going to church Wednesday? Why would you go to church in the middle of the week? Isn't church Sunday? Didn't you just go Sunday?" See, they think you're out of your mind.

And that's what people would think. Look at verses 25 to 27. And then he said, "I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king before whom I already speak freely knows these things, and I'm convinced that none of these things escapes his attention since this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe the prophets. I know that you believe."

Paul affirmed to the governor that he was not out of his mind but that he was speaking the words of truth and reason, verse 26 says. Christianity is not this blind belief about God that makes no sense and cannot be proven. Paul says, "I am speaking words of truth and reason." In other words, what I'm saying is reasonable and is logical. Becoming a follower of Jesus Christ really makes us the most sound and stable people because we are reading, studying, meditating on the very words of God.

And this not only gives us the mind of Christ, like First Corinthians 2:16 says, but also it gives us a sound mind. Second Timothy 1:7 says God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and what? Sound mind. A sound mind. The Greek word for sound is *sophronismos*, and it means self-control, self-discipline. It was used to describe the behavior that fits the situation.

This is how Christians are supposed to act with a sound mind: self-discipline, a behavior that fits the situation of how a Christian should behave. When Jesus cast the demons out of the man, it says in Mark 5 and verse 15 that he was sitting, clothed, and in his right mind. So Christians are supposed to be living self-disciplined lives. Discipline is the root of disciple. We're disciples of Christ.

We should be self-disciplined and live self-disciplined lives with a sound mind. Now, the non-Christians around us will perceive us as being crazy, out of our minds, but it shouldn't be a true statement. I've seen some folks that are just whacked out of their minds and claiming all kind of stuff for Christ. And that's Satan's way of giving Christianity a bad name.

Hollywood will always display Christians as these wide-eyed weirdos and whacked out of their minds. Well, that's to discredit Christianity. As I go around the country to speak, there's just a lot of wacky folks that call themselves Christian that attach themselves to Christianity. And they're just the most wacky, weird, strange folks I've ever seen in my life. That's Satan's way to discredit Christianity.

Because you see these folks and people are like, "That's what Christianity is? No thank you." And I've seen a lot of that. I've seen a lot of that. Paul continued in verse 26 by turning his attention to King Agrippa, who according to verse three of this chapter, was considered an expert in all the customs and questions which have to do with the Jews.

Paul said, "King Agrippa knows these things, and I'm sure what I'm saying doesn't escape his attention, since what I am talking about concerning Jesus Christ wasn't done in a dark corner. Everyone knew about Jesus." King Agrippa's responsibility was for the activities of the temple in Jerusalem, and this would put him in direct contact with various Christians.

So he knew about Jesus, he knew about Christians, he knew about Christianity, especially with his duties being overseeing the activities of the temple. Then Paul goes on for the knockout punch in verse 27. He says, "King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe." Agrippa could have provided Festus with additional information on the Old Testament, the Messiah, Jesus, and the Way, which was an early name for Christianity.

He could definitely validate what Paul was saying, but he didn't. Now, why didn't he speak up? Why didn't he speak up for Paul? He could have provided Festus with some great background information. Well, maybe because he was wrestling with these things in his own mind. Or maybe he rejected Jesus and Christianity like the other religious leaders did.

How did Agrippa respond to Paul's question? Look at verse 28. "Then Agrippa said to Paul, 'You almost persuade me to become a Christian.'" Now, it would seem that Paul's question shocked Agrippa and embarrassed him in front of his Roman friends. So to shoot back, or as we would say, to clap back and get Paul off of him, he said, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian?"

Well, the way that this is read in the Greek language is in the form of a question. Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian in such a short time? What are you trying to do, Paul? Now, there are many husbands and boyfriends, significant others as it's termed today, who are saying this when you finally get them to come to church.

Do you think that you can persuade me to become a Christian in a short time? "What about this or that?" and they give their objections to Christianity. Please keep in mind: only God's Holy Spirit can convince or persuade anyone. John 6:44 says, Jesus speaking, he says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him."

Study to give people answers, but only God can draw people to Jesus. We're not people's Holy Spirit. Wives, listen to me: stop trying to be his Holy Spirit. You're not his Holy Spirit. You pray for him. You lovingly talk to him and speak to him, but you're not his Holy Spirit. Only God can change the heart. Only God can change people. And we got to understand that about folks.

Parents, stop trying to change your kids. Yes, we know how you raised them, but they got to try to find their own way and figure things out on their own. And they're going to bump their head, they're going to trip, and they're going to fall and they're going to do all this sort of stuff. You be there to lovingly pick them up as a parent, but you can't change them.

Only God can change folks. Because God changes people from the inside out. And he's not just going to come and overpower someone and say, "Get out of the way, let me inside of you." No, he has to be invited in. And you pray that God will open up their hearts to invite Jesus in, and then that's when the change begins to take place. You can't change folks.

You can't browbeat folks to change. You can't yell and scream to change them. You can't cry to get them to change. No, only God can change folks. Online, you hear me? Only God can change people. And we have to see that God has to come inside of them to change them from the inside out. Look at verses 29 to 32. And Paul said, "I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me today might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains."

And when he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them. And when they had gone aside, they talked amongst themselves, saying, "This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains." Then Agrippa said to Festus, "Bro, you blew it. This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."

Paul said in verse 29, "I would to God that not only you, King Agrippa, would become a Christian, but everyone who is listening to me would become like I am, a Christian or follower of Jesus Christ, except for these chains I am wearing for being a prisoner." And after Paul said this, King Agrippa, the governor, and Bernice—who we saw from Acts 25 verse 13 was not only his wife but also his sister, something kind of gross—stood up.

I believe that Agrippa was getting uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation because Paul had now begun to speak to King Agrippa face to face. And he didn't like the way it was going, and all of a sudden he stood up. And when he stood up, everyone else did, verse 30 says. Agrippa had had enough of the direction of this conversation.

And when they had gone aside, they talked amongst themselves in verse 31 and basically said, "Festus, bro, you blew this one. This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains." And then Agrippa said in verse 32, "This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar." Meaning that Paul's appeal to Caesar as a Roman citizen had taken matters out of their hands and their jurisdiction.

Paul had to go to Rome and had to appear before Caesar. Now that he had made it public that he had to go, they said, "It's out of our hands now. If he hadn't said that, we would have let this dude go because he's not doing anything wrong. But because he appealed to Caesar as a Roman citizen, they had to send him." Now, let me conclude with this. We talked about crazy Christians.

And this is how the world views our dedication to Christ, his people and the church. I was just thinking about this, it just popped in my head. Different times we gather together to pray at the church. People ask, "Why are you going to church to pray? You can pray at home." Well, individual prayer empowers you as an individual. Collective prayer empowers the church collectively.

Yes, we can pray at home, but we need to pray as a church as well. Because that empowers the church to be what God has called it to be. And when the church is empowered, communities and cities are changed. This is why we have to gather together and we can't lose heart when there's just a faithful few who will come out on a Saturday night for prayer.

I used to be discouraged by that. I'm not discouraged by that anymore. Because I know if I had a fish fry, this place would be filled. Maybe I should have a fish fry and then we pray afterwards. Or no, we pray before and then you get the fish fry after. Not a bad idea. So this "crazy Christians" is how the world perceives us and the church. We saw how we need to study how to answer those around us.

We need to have answers. The days of "I don't know" should no longer be. I remember my son said this about maybe 10 years ago. My youngest son, he said, "Dad, you know the greatest invention?" I said, "What?" He said, "The greatest invention is the internet." And at first I thought about it in my mind, my mind began to go back to the old Encyclopedia Britannica that I used to have on my shelf in the basement.

I began to rack my brain and I began to say, "Yeah, you're right." So there is no excuse for us not to know something. We're just lazy. There's no excuse. People around us want to know why. In my generation, my parents used to say, "We didn't say why." Or we got popped into next week. And then we'd know why. But this generation today, they want to know why. "Why do I have to do that? Why do I have to... why?"

So now this generation is growing up and they become adults now. And they're still asking why. And we can't just say, "Because I said so." That doesn't cut it anymore. Because they get online and then they'll get every answer against Christianity that you ever want to hear. And then you're looking crazy. No, we need to study so we can give answers to those around us.

Pray that God will give you a hunger and thirst for studying his word. To remove the junk food of this world out of our lives that's robbing us of our time and desire for the things of God. Finally, are you a Christian? Will you surrender your life to Jesus Christ? Or will you say like King Agrippa, "Do you think that you're going to persuade me to become a Christian in such a short time?"

And I'm here to say: I hope so. Pray only God can do that, but I pray it can happen. The choice is yours. Will you stand up and rush out of here like King Agrippa did in order to brush off what you heard today? Let me plead with you to stop running from God and surrender your life to him. I'm begging you. Today is the day of salvation.

The Bible says, "Today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart." And he says today because tomorrow isn't promised and yesterday is gone. All you have is today. And I plead with you, I plead with you online: surrender your life to Jesus. This thing about Christ is way more serious than Rona. Rona can take away your physical health.

But not receiving Christ will take away your eternal life. And that's way more serious. This thing is real. So I'm pleading with you. If you haven't surrendered your life to Christ with the evidence of a changed life, then you can today. And we're going to have some of the pastors who are going to be available. We all got masks on, so if you need to come up and talk to them, we all got a mask.

We'll make sure you stand six feet away with a mask and talk to you and pray with you. I can stretch out six feet, I know I can, but I'm telling you: you need to make sure that you're right before you leave this place. Got to make sure you're right. Let's pray. Father, we do thank you. We thank you for your word that is so clear to us, that it's so plain and simple.

And so Lord, we pray now at this solemn moment that you would move upon the hearts here and online as well. And Lord, I just pray that your Holy Spirit would just move today. Lord, we pray that lives would be changed for all eternity. Lord, I pray if there are any here who have not surrendered their lives to you, I pray that today will be the day of salvation for them.

If you're here today, if you're 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 from this moment forward by the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen.

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