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 11, verses 19 through 23.

Tony Clark: All right, let's dive into the word of God together. Turn with me in your Bible to Acts chapter 11. We're going to be looking at verses 19 to 23.

Father, thank you so much that you have blessed us to be here to hear your word. You stirred our hearts when we opened our eyes this morning to be here. And so, Lord, I just pray that you will give us a timely word today that we need to hear. Lord, open up our ears so we can hear the truths of your word to us. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Acts chapter 11, looking at verses 19 through 23. The title of this message is "Eyes of Grace Part One." Now, Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

So as we can see, we are saved by the grace of God. That is the internal work that God does in our lives to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ strictly by His grace. However, grace is also external, meaning that it should be seen by those around us, and this is the subject of this message.

Now, these verses pick up where Acts 8, verse 4 left off, which was discussing the terrible effects of the persecution that arose in connection with Stephen when Stephen was stoned to death in chapter 7. That persecution, led by Saul of Tarsus, scattered the believers everywhere. Oh, let us pick up the story in verses 19 to 21.

Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who when they had come to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was upon them and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

In these verses we see how the believers in verse 19 were scattered as far as the cities of Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. Now Phoenicia was located on the coast immediately north of Judea. From there they would take a ship for the major island of Cyprus, which was 60 miles offshore. And they could continue on that ship up the coast to Antioch, which was approximately 200 miles north of the city of Sidon.

So as we can see, the believers were scattered everywhere, which is what the Lord told them to do in Acts chapter 1, verse 8. The Lord told them when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you shall be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. However, they chose to stay in Jerusalem. And so the Lord used persecution to scatter them to the ends of the earth.

I just want to pose this question for you. Has the Lord told you to do something, but you have refused up until this point, like the disciples in these verses? You have refused because you're trying to hold on to something or someone. And God knows how to get us out of our situations and get us where He wants us to be. He knows how to get us out of a bad job through getting fired, which has now forced you to leave.

A bad relationship, there's an ugly breakup. To leave an area to go where He wants you to be. Sudden orders from the military that has now brought you here to Virginia. And so when God tells us to do something, it's best that we do it willingly, because He will get us to the place He wants us to be, one way or another, or as we used to say, by hook or by crook. He's going to get us there.

I'm reminded of Jonah. Oh, you remember that chicken of the sea. You know him. Jonah. God told him to go to Nineveh and he said, "I'm not going to Nineveh." And he went the opposite direction to Tarshish. Went down, got on the ship, ready to go to Tarshish. You know the story. All of a sudden a storm, God stirred up a storm. And it was because of his disobedience.

And they tossed him over. You know a great fish grabbed him and barfed him out on the shores of Nineveh. God said, "You're getting to Nineveh, one way or another." So as they went everywhere, they were preaching the word of God to no one but to the Jews only, according to the end of verse 19. There was no way for them to know that the gospel had spread to the Gentiles through Peter.

They fled from Jerusalem before this incident with Cornelius took place in chapter 10. Lacking this knowledge, they thought the gospel was for the Jews only. Do you only talk to your own race about Jesus Christ and church? For a lot of people this is true because many people still attend their race-only kind of churches.

Even in the 21st century, 11:00 on Sunday mornings is still the most segregated hour in America. Most churches build their services around their culture, so only that particular culture attends that church. And to talk to another race about Jesus Christ and church can be awkward because race may come up and you know that their race may not feel comfortable or welcome there.

So you just talk to your own race about church. This is kind of what was going on in this particular day. They would talk about Jesus Christ, but to the Jews only. However, verse 20 points out when some Jewish Christians who came from the cities of Cyprus and Cyrene, which were predominantly Gentile areas, no doubt told them how God had granted eternal life to the Gentiles.

The ones who informed these Jewish Christians were called Hellenists, which were Greek-speaking Jews, according to the end of verse 20. So as a result of the joint efforts of preaching the Lord Jesus Christ, verse 21 says the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. Oh, let's see what else happened, look at verses 22 and 23.

Then the news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.

Now after a great number believed and turned to the Lord, verse 22 says then the news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem. And they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch to investigate what was going on there. So because the Hellenists in verse 20 informed the believers that God had granted eternal life to the Gentiles, when they started preaching to them, verse 21 says a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

I pray that one day we can stop seeing the world through the lenses of our race. When we do, I believe that we too will see a great number believe and turn to the Lord. This world is so much bigger than our particular race and what's going on in our race's community. The world is so much bigger than that.

Look at what race you identify with that you constantly look at the world through those lenses. This world is so much bigger than what's going on with your little race and in your community. This world is so much bigger than this. So much bigger than what's going on in the United States.

When we begin to get a world vision from God and see the world through the eyes of God, I believe we will see a great number believe and turn to the Lord. But we're too busy, we're so narrow in our focus that we only see things through the lenses of our race. And there are many, many who need Jesus Christ.

And I believe when we take those glasses off and see things through the eyes of God, we too will see a great number believe and turn to the Lord. So when the believers in Jerusalem heard that some Gentiles were being saved in Antioch, they sent Barnabas to check things out. When he came, verse 23 says he had seen the grace of God. When he had seen the grace of God, he was glad. So that means that the grace of God can be seen.

How can the grace of God be seen? In people's lives. Oh, Titus 2, 11 and 12 says, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age." See, let me give you some background on the city of Antioch to give you some context of what these believers in Antioch had to endure and had to live in.

Antioch was an incredible place with a population of a half a million. It ranked as the third-largest city in the Roman Empire, following Rome and Alexandria. Its magnificent buildings helped give it the name Antioch the Golden or the Queen of the East. The main street was more than four miles long, paved with marble and lined on both sides with marble colonnades. It was the only city in the ancient world at the time that had its streets lit at night.

Antioch also attracted all kinds of people, including wealthy retired Roman officials. But it was also a wicked city, second only perhaps to Corinth itself. They worshiped all of the Greek, Roman, and Syrian deities. They had a temple five miles away dedicated to Daphne, whose worship included immoral prostitution and sexual practices. So in this city with this large cosmopolitan population and its great commercial and political power, the believers' lifestyle stood out.

It stood out in such a city like this. The grace of God taught them to deny ungodliness and worldly lust that they should live soberly, righteously and godly in their city. And when Barnabas came there, he saw it and was glad. What about us as we sit here in America? Is the grace of God seen in our lives? Oh, I like the question that Dr. David Otis Fuller asked. I quote, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" Only you can answer this question.

Oh, the second question I want to ask is this: what is the grace of God teaching you? Because we know that the grace of God is a teacher. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age. So the grace of God is a teacher. It's teaching us to deny ungodliness.

*Asebeia* is the Greek word. It's an amazing Greek word. It means a lack of true reverence. This is why it's translated as ungodliness, a lack of true reverence for God. And worldly lust. Watch this, I love this. Worldly lust speaks of sins we have not yet committed, but we long to do them. So the lust speaks of a craving, a longing.

Like a craving and longing I'm having for that Reese's Peanut Butter Cup that my wife is holding on to right now. I'm longing, craving for service to end so I can break into it. That's what he's talking about. A craving, a longing. This is the negative side of what grace is trying to teach us and keep us away from.

The positive side is that we should live soberly. *Sophronos* is the Greek word. It carries the idea of a sound mind, to be alert. Grace teaches us to live righteously, living according to the word of God, which is the standard of what is right. And teaching us to live godly refers to a right relationship with God. Do you have a right relationship with God? Many people claim to have a relationship with God, but is it right? See, this is what this word is teaching us.

So when Barnabas saw the grace of God in their lives, he was glad. It is always a joy to see believers living godly in a corrupt world. This is what Barnabas saw. And what are people seeing from our lives? Are they seeing that we are living soberly, righteously and godly in this present age, or do they see us living just like them?

Please keep in mind that grace, don't miss this, grace is a person, and the person is Jesus Christ. So Barnabas saw Jesus in the believers' lives in Antioch. That's what he saw. He saw Jesus. You remember when we were in chapter 4 and verse 13, it said that they knew that the disciples had been with Jesus. When people spend a little time with you, after a few minutes, do they know you've been with Jesus?

See, this is the grace of God that's seen. This is what Barnabas saw. This is what the people in Antioch saw. They saw these believers living soberly, righteously and godly in this present age, or they saw them living for Jesus. Grace is a person, and that person is Jesus Christ.

The end of verse 23 says Barnabas encouraged them all that with purpose of heart that they should continue with the Lord. Barnabas, whose name means "Son of Encouragement," according to Acts 4 and verse 36, was always encouraging believers in their walk with the Lord. And as we live in an ungodly world with all of its temptations, we need to be encouraged to continue with the Lord, because the tendency is to quit and to give up and go back to the world. We need to understand this sort of tendency.

So how do we continue with the Lord? One way, there's many, one way is in church. Did you know that? Watch this. Hebrews 10, verse 25 says, "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some" meaning that people were, "but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day (the Day of the Lord) approaching."

So it is as we come to church that we are exhorted to continue with the Lord, meaning that the longer we stay outside of church, we will have the tendency to want to quit and give up on Christianity. Oh, the psalmist in Psalm 73, his name was Asaph. David didn't write all the Psalms, about 75 of them. But Asaph wrote one in Psalm 73. He said, "Oh, my foot almost slipped when I saw the prosperity of the wicked."

He said, "But when I went into the sanctuary, that's where I saw their end." It's here in the sanctuary that you see things from God's perspective. Out in the world, you see the world's perspective. You come here, you see things from God's perspective, and you get strengthened and you get encouraged to continue with the Lord.

And so there's times and in those times you don't feel like coming to church, that's when you really need to be here. God has a word for you. And Satan wants to do all he can to keep you from coming. You better believe that Satan and his demons are looking over my shoulder as I'm preparing each study. And he knows that word that you need to hear. And so I have to fight in prayer to get that word on paper, and you have to fight in prayer to get here to hear it.

He knows what's going to help you continue with the Lord, and he said, "Oh boy, so-and-so's going to, oh boy, they're going to be encouraged in the Lord. I gotta keep them from it." "Well, where were you last week?" "Well, I just didn't feel like it, I just wanted to lay in the bed." That was the word God had for you, and you missed out on it, being encouraged in the Lord. So this is when we need to come more to be encouraged.

What else did Barnabas do? Because Barnabas came there and saw the grace of God. What else did he do? Well, you gotta come back next week and find out what else he did, because there's some other great things he did that will be helpful for us in our journey with the Lord.

Now, let me conclude with this. Can those around you see the grace of God at work in your life? In other words, can those around you see Jesus in you? That's what we're really asking. And the reason why, could it be that the reason why they don't see the grace of God in your life and they don't see Jesus in your life is because Jesus is not in your life?

Could that be it? Oh, sure it could. But He can, you can leave him with Him in your heart, in your life, by inviting Him in, by repenting of your sin and asking Him to come into your life and change you from the inside out. And He will do just that. Or maybe you're here and you're already a believer, but the grace of God has not been seen in your life by those around you.

Come and get things right with God, come and get prayer and say, "I need you to pray for me. I need you to pray that God will just do a work in my heart." And there can be some people to pray with you about these things. Let's pray now. Father, thank you so much for your word. We pray, God, that your Holy Spirit would move in our hearts, would move in our lives.

We pray, God, that you would stir the hearts of your people. Lord, I pray for those who are here who have never accepted you, never repented, never asked for you to come into their hearts and into their lives. I pray that today there will be salvations today. Lord, I pray for those who've been struggling, thinking about quitting, thinking about going back to the world. I pray, God, that they'll repent, that they'll come to you and Lord, surrender their hearts and lives to you. Lord, do a work in hearts today. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Hi, this is Pastor Tony Clark, and I'm blessed to be a part of the teaching ministry. I love being a part of putting the word of God forth over the airwaves. As I get a chance to share God's word with you, God speaks to me with the lessons from His word. God's word is powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, and I am blessed to be a part of it being broadcast to you.

As God's word goes forth through my program, The Word Made Plain, and all the others, we know that it will not return to us void. I am blessed to be a part of shining the light of God's word on your life through my radio program. And we're so grateful that we have the honor to share God's word with you. God bless you.

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