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 12, verses 20 through 25.

Tony Clark: All right, let's dive into the word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 12. We're going to be looking at verses 20 to 25 as we finish up this chapter. I am looking forward to going through the word of God verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and book by book. We're in the book of Acts on Sunday mornings and, as you know, we're in the book of Judges on Wednesdays. We're in that section dealing with old Samson and we just had a great time in the word of God last Wednesday. I am looking forward to marching into chapter 15, on God's will, this Wednesday.

Father, thank You so much for this time in Your word. Lord, we pray that Your spirit will give us ears to hear the truths of Your word today. Lord, speak a prophetic word into our hearts, a rhema word for us today to hear what You have to say to us. Lord, Your word says today if we hear Your voice, let us not harden our hearts. O God, we pray teach us in Jesus' name. Amen.

Acts chapter 12, looking at verses 20 to 25. The title of this message is "Give God the Glory." This is a great reminder in a world so full of themselves. Social media and other outlets have afforded people to exhibit themselves for the world to see and we want the focus and attention to constantly be upon ourselves. We have managed to even make serving God all about us, even taking the credit for what God is doing in and through us. In these verses, we're going to see the consequences of someone who didn't give God the glory and his name is King Herod.

Now we were introduced to him at the beginning of this chapter. This is Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great. We saw that he had the apostle James beheaded in verse two. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he had the apostle Peter arrested and God had to miraculously release him from maximum security prison by sending an angel to get him out. Several months have passed since this incident and we pick up the story in verse 20.

Look what it says there: "Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king's personal aide their friend, they asked for peace because their country was supplied with food by the king's country." In this verse, we see that Herod was angry with the cities of Tyre and Sidon. We're not told why, but we know that these two coastal cities located on the Mediterranean Sea in modern-day Lebanon were dependent economically on Judea and King Herod to survive.

Things were at a critical state and they sent representatives to try to make peace. They made the king's personal aide, Blastus, their friend—no doubt through bribing him monetarily—so they finally get an audience with King Herod. Before I leave this verse, let me talk about being angry and when someone is angry with us. Maybe you have a King Herod angry at you in the form of a boss or a parent. I suggest that you do what the people of Tyre and Sidon did here: go to them personally to seek peace.

Romans 12:18 says, "If it is possible, as much as depends upon you, live peaceably with all men." In other words, do all you can, as much as depends upon you, to live peaceably with all men, even the King Herods in your life. King Herod represents anyone in authority over you, such as a boss, a supervisor, someone higher in rank for those of you in the military, or even a parent. Try to make peace with them.

Nothing is worse than when you're not at peace with someone because when you get around them or go where they are, there's just this uneasy feeling. You feel weird and you're just looking stupid in the face, hoping that you don't make eye contact. Do what the people of Tyre and Sidon did in these verses: go to seek to make peace. You say, "Well, Pastor Tony, it wasn't my fault." I don't care. The Bible says as much as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all men.

You don't want regrets if it's a parent and they're getting older. You don't know around what corner death is. You say, "Well, you see, they were the ones that left the family and did me..." I don't care. As much as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all men. God is speaking to some folks today because you don't want to do it all because you're hurt and in your feelings. As much as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all men. This is what the representatives of the people of Tyre and Sidon did for King Herod.

What happened next? Look at verse 21: "So on a set day, Herod arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them." I want to draw your attention to the phrase "on a set day." According to the Jewish historian Josephus, he said that this set day was a feast in honor of the Emperor Claudius Caesar in 44 AD. It was believed to have been his birthday. So King Herod put on his royal apparel or his garments and sat on his throne and gave an oration or speech to the people.

It is obvious that he was a very gifted orator, as we're going to see referring to the people of Tyre and Sidon that he is giving this speech to. We know that they met in an amphitheater built by Herod the Great. Josephus describes the scene in his own words. I quote, "Herod put on a garment made wholly of silver and of a contexture truly wonderful. He came into the theater early in the morning, at which time the silver of his garment being illumined by the fresh reflection of the sun's rays upon it, shone out after a surprising manner."

This is the Antiquities Section 19, Volume 7, and Page 2. The people of Tyre and Sidon were so overwhelmed by this sight and his speech that, no doubt to flatter him, they shouted in verse 22, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" Josephus describes also in the same volume that Herod did neither rebuke them nor reject their impious flattering. God's judgment was swift.

Look what it says in verse 23: "Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died." God didn't waste any time. He didn't waste any time because this verse says "then immediately" an angel struck him. Maybe it was the same angel that delivered Peter from prison, we don't know. But why did God strike Herod like this? It was because he did not give glory to God.

I have to ask us: who gets the glory when you do things? Is it you or is it God? Matthew 5:16 says, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." The Greek word for glorify is doxazo, and it means to honor, to praise, or to glorify. It is where we get our English word doxology from. It is what is traditionally done at the end of a religious service where we praise, thank, and speak well of God.

So once again, who gets the glory when you do things well? Is it you or is it God? Do people speak well of you or do they speak well of God? Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and doxazo, glorify, honor, and speak well of God" and not of us. There is nothing wrong with appreciating or thanking someone for doing something that blessed you, but the issue is motive.

Why are you doing that? Are you doing things to be seen of men, to get the pats on the back so that people can speak well of you, so people can doxologize you? It's about motives. Are you doing things to glorify God, to make sure God is honored, to make sure God is glorified? Let me bring it closer to home. Ladies, why are you wearing that shiny outfit? To be seen by men? This is what Herod was doing by wearing this shining outfit Josephus describes. He wanted to be seen as a god.

This is why he planned the meeting with the people of Tyre and Sidon to be in the early morning so he could go outside right when the sun was coming over the amphitheater so he could be seen shining, glistening as some kind of god. Many women are the same way. You plan to wear a certain outfit when the sun comes out so everyone can see how hard you've been working all winter. Men, we're no different, wearing the muscle shirts so you can show that you are a descendant of Hercules. What is your motive?

Herod was struck by the angel of the Lord, and the last part of verse 23 says that he was eaten by worms. The phrase "eaten by worms" in the Greek is skolēkobrōtos. The root form of that word is skolēks and it describes a specific head structure of a tapeworm. Herod's death was almost certainly due to the rupture of a cyst formed by a tapeworm. According to Dr. Gene Morton, the rupture of such a cyst can release as many as two million of these little tapeworms into the body.

Josephus describes when they did an autopsy on him that his body was full of worms. He lingered for about five days in terrible pain. So ends the reign of a man who dared to touch two of God's apostles, James and Peter, and refused to give glory to God. I just wonder how many ministries have been eaten by worms and have died because pastors and leaders refuse to give glory to God, taking the credit and the attention away from God and making it about them.

I've seen many and I cringe every time I'm in these kinds of circles and I hear pastors talk about "my church" and "at my church" and "my people." I cringe and I'm very quiet because this is not my church and you're definitely not my people. Trust me, I didn't die for any of you. I don't have a heaven nor hell to put you in. You are God's people. Thank the Lord for that. God tried to do that with Moses. God said, "Moses, your people." Moses said, "These are not my people. They're Yours."

So too, you belong to the Lord. You don't belong to me. I have a tough enough time trying to keep me. Am I going to try to keep you too? No way. I just wonder how many things we have done for the Lord die because when God started to bless it, we refused to give glory to Him. God is using us not because we're so great but because He is so great. First Corinthians 1:26-29 tells us why God has chosen us. It was not because we were so great.

It is just the opposite. It says that not many wise or mighty or noble are called. Instead, God has chosen the foolish things of the world, the weak things, the base things, the things that are despised of this world. Why did He do such a thing? Verse 29 says, "So no flesh will glory in His presence." This is why God has chosen to use us so all of the glory will go to Him. Beware when you begin to think that you are so special or that you're hot stuff and you refuse to give glory to God.

I don't know what cysts will rupture in your life or what worms will eat at you. Can I pause and say: what's eating at you today? Whenever something is eating at us, it shows that something is going on on the inside. It shows that we're taking credit for something or we're doing something and our conscience is eating at us—worms, so to speak, are eating at us from the inside. Something is bothering you.

For some, you need to get right with God and you know you need to. That's why it seems like something is bothering you or eating at you because something isn't right on the inside. You know what's eating at you. You need to go and get something right with somebody you got beef with. That's eating at you. You're not right with God. You need to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. You keep coming to church and saying, "Maybe this week I'll do it, maybe this week I'll do it."

It is eating at you. Worms will eat at us when something isn't right. I am blown away by people having beef at church. I'm blown away. Not talking, passing each other in the hall, not talking. At a church that is teaching the word of God, teaching us how to live. It is eating at you and you know it is. I can tell when something's not right. You keep coming week after week as if you hope it will just go away. It doesn't go away.

The worms will keep eating at you until you get it right with someone. I hear the stories all the time. Birdies talk to me all the time and I hear about the beef. Folks try to go to them and they're like, "Get out my face!" Are you serious? At church? At least we can fake it here. I can see you say "Get out my face" at a restaurant or at the gym. But at church? I'm shocked. You say, "Well, you don't know, Pastor Tony, this has been going on for a long time." That makes it worse! How long are you going to allow the worms to eat at you? I'm just amazed.

What happened next? Look at verses 24 and 25: "But the word of God grew and multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John whose surname was Mark." In these verses, we see that Luke the author keeps us on track with the growth of the early church. Despite this incident with Herod trying to destroy the church by killing James and arresting Peter, verse 24 says, "But the word of God grew and multiplied."

Notice when the word of God grew and multiplied: it was when Herod was eaten by worms and died. When we kill the beef, when we kill the worms eating at us, the church will grow and multiply. Not until then. We hinder a lot of what God wants to do because of some beef or some mess we're holding onto. It hinders the church because the church is a body. If we got cancer in one part of our body, it's going to eventually spread.

If we got some worms in one part of our body, those worms are going to spread and it hinders what God wants to do. I got an idea what God wants to do here in our church, but we're too busy fighting and fooling around over dumb stuff. As my mom said, "That was just dumb." Just dumb stuff. We fool around like that instead of getting it right. We would rather hold onto beef and let worms eat us up instead of getting things right and just saying, "You know what? I was wrong."

Even if you don't feel you were wrong, now you got pride and you need to repent because you're prideful. It takes two. Just say, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the beef between us. I'm tired of being eaten by these worms. They're spreading and they're creepy and they're crawling all on me. I'm tired of it." And just get it right. Notice when he got eaten by worms and died, the church grew and multiplied, showing us God's purposes cannot be stopped.

Luke tells us in verse 25 that Barnabas and Saul returned from bringing financial relief to the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem who were going through a famine that hit them severely, according to Acts 11:28. They also brought back with them a young man named John Mark. He's going to be very instrumental. We were introduced to him earlier on in this chapter. So when they returned to Antioch from bringing financial relief to the believers in Jerusalem, John Mark, who was in Jerusalem at the time, wanted to hang out with them. They brought him back and he's going to be going on their first missionary journey with them, as we will see in chapter 13.

Let me conclude with this because we need to search our hearts. This is a time we need to get our hearts right. We talked about giving God the glory. Remember this week with everything that you do, ask yourself, "If I say this, do this, or go there, who would get the glory? God or me?" Remember we're talking about motives. Ask yourself, "If I wear this or post myself wearing this, will it bring glory to God or will it bring glory to me?"

This is how you get dewormed: by giving God the glory. When you don't give God the glory, the worms will eat at you. But the way you solve that, the way you become dewormed, is to give glory to God and ask yourself the question, "If I do this, say this, go there, or post this, who is going to get the glory? Where will the fingers be pointing? Are they going to be pointing to me or are they going to be pointing to God? Will it point people to the Lord?"

Some folks would have to get off social media by asking themselves this question because it is all about them. You don't even know some folks are married because you never see a picture of their husband or their children. All you see is them and it is all about them. Social media has been a nightmare for narcissism because it's all about folks. You know Narcissus in Greek mythology looked at himself in a reflection in the water and fell in love with himself. Good grief.

Social media has afforded people to do just that: fall in love. The reflection in the water is social media and they can fall in love with themselves. Ask yourself this week before you post anything or wear anything: who are people going to look at? Are they going to focus on me or are they going to focus on the Lord? We also talked about if you had a King Herod in your life that is angry with you for some reason. If it is possible, as much as depends upon you, try to live peaceably with them.

Try going to them, like the people of Tyre and Sidon did, to apologize and to make peace. I'm not telling you something I haven't had to do. I've done this several times with pastors and other leaders when there was some kind of beef or something. I just said, "Hey, I just want to say I'm sorry. Forgive me. I'm sorry for the way this came out or the way that happened or the way that was said. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was trying to point to this, but it hurt you and I'm sorry that it did." I've had to do it several times.

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