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 17, verses 30 through 34.

Tony Clark: Now, God has revealed himself to mankind in many different ways. One of the ways most people want to know God is that he is a God of love, of mercy, and a God who forgives. But we must realize that God is holy, and because he is holy, he must punish sin. This means that God is a judge, and this is the subject of these verses. By way of background, Paul is in the midst of giving a sermon to the intellectual Athenians in the city of Athens.

He told them that they were very religious in verse 22 because they worshipped so many gods. There was one god that they called the unknown god in verse 23 that Paul said, "This is the god I want to tell you about." He tells them how this god is the creator of all things in verse 24. This was the first point that we made, that number one, the greatness of God, he is creator.

If he is the creator, how can we make a god with our hands, Paul is telling them, to represent him? He goes on to say in verse 26, and this was point number two, the goodness of God, he is provider. So not only is he a provider, but he is a god who predetermined when we would be born, where we would live, and what race we would be. This is an amazing thing we talked about last week, and he said that we are his offspring, which he was quoting Epimenides, one of their authors in verse 28.

This was point number three that we made last week, the government of God, he is ruler. Because this is the case, he is a ruler, we cannot try to make what our own hands a representation of God out of gold, silver, or stone. He made all things. This means he is the ruler. If God made all things, he's the ruler. He makes the rules. You can't try to make a god out of gold and silver and that kind of thing. God is the ruler of all things.

Now he's about to bring his sermon to a close by introducing them to number four, the grace of God, he is savior. Look what it says there in verse 30, "Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent." Knowing that God is creator is not enough to get a person to heaven. We must understand God's special revelation, and that is through his son, Jesus Christ.

When we look at creation, it should automatically cause us to understand that there was a creator. But the question is, what is this creator like? Is he mean? Is he nice? Is he loving? Is he hateful? Creation doesn't tell us that. Creation doesn't tell us what this creator is like. It just proves that he exists. We need God's special revelation, which is through his son, Jesus Christ, so we can know what this God is like.

That's how we know what God is like by looking at his son, Jesus Christ. Paul said, "Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked." Not that God condoned the sins of the world. This means that God did not immediately give people what their sins deserved, which was death. God is so kind, so merciful, and so forgiving that God gives us time to repent.

Those hypothetical, "Well, what if I was on the road and somebody cut me off and I gave them the half of a peace sign and I called them some choice words? And what if I crashed and died? I didn't get a chance to repent, what's going to happen to me?" Stop. Revelation 2:21 said God gives people time to repent. He's so merciful, so kind. He gives us time to repent. So the question is, what sin is God overlooking in your life?

As we said, he is not condoning your sin nor turning a blind eye to it. God is overlooking it for the purpose of giving us time to repent and turn away from it. Why? Because he is a judge and we will give an account of our sin to him one day. Verse 30 goes on to tell us that now God commands all men everywhere to repent. The Greek word for command is paraggello, and it means to transmit a message, to declare, charge, or command.

In other words, God is not suggesting, nor saying, "If you don't mind." No, he is commanding, he is charging. Who is he charging? All men. Where? Everywhere. Meaning no one is exempt. Not the pygmies in Africa that people wonder about, nor those in the jungles of the Amazon in South America. All men everywhere must repent. The Greek word for repent is metanoeo, and it means to think differently, to reconsider, to have a change of mind and heart.

In other words, it means to reconsider how you think or feel about what you're doing that God says in his word is sin. What is God telling you that you need to repent from? To reconsider how you think and feel about what you're doing or involved in? There is no longer times of ignorance. Knowledge brings responsibility. What you know is sin, you are now responsible for.

It doesn't matter how you feel about it. "Well, we just love each other." It doesn't matter how you feel about it or what you think about it. If God calls it sin in the Bible, then we need to repent of it to him. Why? Verse 31 goes on to say, "Because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead."

Yes, God is patient in the way that he gives us time to repent. He is merciful in the way that he doesn't give us what our sin deserves, which is death and hell. However, God is a judge, and he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world. How will he judge the world? Notice, in righteousness. The Greeks knew nothing about God being a judge. They believed that the gods didn't interfere in human affairs.

But God tells them that God is judge and he will judge, notice how, in righteousness. Righteousness by way of definition means ethical conduct. This is how it's used in the Old Testament in Leviticus 19 and verse 36, in Deuteronomy 25 and verse 1, Psalm 1 verse 6, and Proverbs 8 and verse 20. However, when we repent of our sins and accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, he clothes us with his righteousness according to 2 Corinthians 5:21.

That verse says God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So when we stand before God as judge, he doesn't see us in our righteousness because our righteousness is as filthy rags according to Isaiah 64 and verse 6. He sees us clothed in the righteousness of Christ. So the question is, how would you stand before God in your own righteousness or in the righteousness of Christ?

What we try to do to make ourselves righteous is as filthy rags. To give you an understanding of what filthy rags were, they were the rags that a woman would use for her menstrual cycle. This is how our righteousness looks in the eyes of God, something to be abhorred, something to be discarded, something to be thrown out, something that is unclean. We must be clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

So the question is, who will be doing the judging? Verse 31 goes on to say, "The man whom he has ordained." This is now Paul in his sermon introducing Jesus Christ to the Athenians. The one who will be doing the judging. Jesus said in John 5 in verses 26 and 27, "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the Son of Man."

So Paul is showing the Athenians that they would be judged by Jesus Christ. The proof of this fact that Jesus would be the judge is seen in the statement "the Father raised him from the dead." The gospel message is not complete without mentioning the resurrection. The resurrection is proof that the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross was accepted by the Father. This is Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

In 1 Corinthians 15 verse 17, it says if there is no resurrection, we're still in our sins. This shows the importance of the resurrection. It's so important that without it, we're still in our sins. Why is that? Because many religious leaders and folks have come on the scene, said some cute things, and died. What sets Jesus Christ apart from any other religious leader that ever came along? He said some great things and he died, but he rose again. That's the difference. The resurrection is the difference.

Guest (Male): How can, and they called it a whale, it wasn't a whale. You stop saying it was a whale. The Bible said it was a great fish, but they call it a whale. How can a whale swallow a man and he survive inside for three days and three nights? What a mockery. Even though there is a true story that was told in the 1800s where a man was swallowed by a whale and he survived three days. They cut open the whale and he was still alive in there. The gastric juices bleached his hair and his skin and he looked a hot mess, but he was still alive. But the Bible doesn't need Bartlett, was his name, to confirm the truth of the Bible. But there are people who mock that. There are people who mock the parting of the Red Sea and how the children of Israel walked through on dry ground, and the Red Sea was like a wall to them, the water was like a wall to them to the left and to the right.

Tony Clark: My thing is if you can believe Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," the word create there is bara in the Hebrew. It means to create something out of nothing. It means that God didn't use pre-existing materials to create the heavens and the earth. He spoke it into existence. God said, "Let there be," and there was. So if you can believe Genesis 1:1, that God who created the heavens and the earth, we live in the Milky Way galaxy.

That Milky Way galaxy is 100,000 light-years long, 10,000 light-years wide, traveling at the speed of light at 186,000 miles per second. It would take you 100,000 years to reach the length and 10,000 to reach the width. There are billions of galaxies out there. That's the God who created the heavens and the earth. So if you can believe Genesis 1:1, you shouldn't have a problem with Genesis 1:2 all the way to Revelation 22.

You shouldn't have a problem with anything in between. But the problem is most people have a problem with Genesis 1:1. So I can see why you would have a problem with the story of Jonah. See, if I can believe Genesis 1:1, that God spoke the universe into existence, then what is it for him to cause a fish to let a man live for three days? Or to open up some waters? What is that for such a God?

That's nothing for him. But you'll have those who will mock the things of God. The second response is also in verse 32, which says, "We will hear you again on this matter," or come back tomorrow. This is the classic case of number two, procrastination. Please tell everyone you know the dangers of saying tomorrow. Tomorrow isn't promised to any of us. There's a powerful story of the dangers of saying tomorrow told by the great evangelist D.L. Moody.

He was preaching at a large crusade in Chicago and at the end of the message, he told the people, "Now go home and consider the claims of Christ." He then dismissed the crowd. That night was October 10th, 1871, when Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern and caused the great Chicago fire. It killed approximately 300 people. The majority of them were at Moody's crusade.

From that moment forward, Moody never sent people home to consider the claims of Christ. He pressed them. He pleaded with them to make a decision for Christ at that moment because tomorrow isn't promised to any of us. The third decision is found in verse 34, number three, some believed. You will always have those who will believe the gospel, like many of us here today.

Never be discouraged when people mock or make fun of the things of God, nor those who are not ready to accept the gospel message because there will always be a Dionysius, who was a council member in the city of Athens, who believed, or a woman named Damaris, and others with them who will believe the gospel. Paul departed from them in verse 33 because he wanted to talk about Jesus.

When the majority of them started mocking and making fun of the resurrection, Paul said, "I'm out of here. I am out of here." This is always our way out and our time to leave when we see people mocking the gospel or saying, "I'll hear you later. I don't want to hear that mess right now." That's always our time out. You don't take the precious pearls of the gospel and keep casting them before swine, the Bible says.

You don't keep doing that. You say, "All right. We'll talk about it later. All right. You want to mock? I'm done then." That's always our way out and our time to depart, like Paul did. Now where did Paul go after he left Athens? Well, we've got to wait until next time and see where he traveled from there. Let me conclude with this: Never be discouraged when people mock or make fun of the things of God, nor those who are not ready to accept the gospel message.

There will always be a Dionysius, who was a council member in the city of Athens, who believed, or a woman named Damaris, and others with them who will believe the gospel. In this message, we saw from Paul's sermon that God is judge. We also saw the three responses people make when they're confronted with the gospel message. Number one, some will mock. Number two, there will be procrastination.

And number three, there will be those who will believe. Now that you've heard the truths of the gospel, how will you leave this place? Will you leave here mocking? Will you procrastinate, saying tomorrow? "I've got time." That's always the mindset of the young people. "I've got time. I'm young. I've still got to do a few things here." Or will you believe? God will judge you no matter what.

So why not surrender your life to Jesus Christ and be clothed with the righteousness of Christ? So when God sees you, he will see you with the righteousness of Christ and not your own righteousness, which is as filthy rags. Maybe you're here today and you're trying to do something to make yourself righteous. "Well, I go to church and I'll be righteous." No. Coming to church doesn't make you righteous.

People who accept Christ go to church. Not to make them righteous, but so they can grow and learn and so they can use their gifts and be a blessing. We don't come to church to make ourselves righteous. Some people believe that, "I'm coming because I want to be more righteous." No. There's nothing you can do. Your righteousness is as filthy rags. God can see through that. God can see what you're trying to do.

So choose Christ today. You may have tomorrow. You may not. I read all the time or hear all the time of something that happened. Someone was shot and killed. Someone went to a convenience store and ended up dead. I'm sure when they woke up that morning, they didn't say, "Well, I think at 3:00 PM, I'll get myself killed." No. Who says that? You don't know around what corner death is. The choice is yours. Choose Christ today.

Don't forget the precious people in Chicago in 1871. It was sent home to consider the claims of Christ. I'm not going to send you and say, "Well, now go and consider the claims of Christ in the word." No, I'm pressing you now. Today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart. I'm pressing now, pleading with you now. If you don't know Christ as your Lord and Savior, and the way that you know, you have a changed life.

There are many people who tack on church to their same old life. Then they just tack a little church on like the unbiblical song, "I just want a little more Jesus." No, not a little more Jesus. What is that? I need a whole bunch of him. I don't know about you. I need a lot of him. I need all of him. Not just a little more, like you sprinkle a little salt, little sugar, little pepper. Are you kidding me? Consider the claims of Christ today.

Father, thank you so much for your word. We pray that your spirit would draw people unto you today. God, only you can draw. Only you can draw people to you. Oh God, we pray that your Holy Spirit would reveal the truth. Let this word be placed in our heart so we won't sin against you. Lord, if there's any who have not repented of their sin and accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, draw them to you today by your spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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