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 16, verses 1 through 3.

Tony Clark: I'm a grandparent now. Are you pouring the word of God into their little hearts and into their little lives? Or are you too busy scrolling through social media to do it? Or are you trying to leave it up to the church to do it? Really?

Remember that we only have them no more than two hours a week. And that's if you're super spiritual, coming on Sundays and Wednesdays. We only have them two hours. That means you and the school system have them the rest of the time.

Take the time to help them memorize scripture like they did with Timothy. Because the word of God will keep them and convict them when you are not around. I understand there's a big movement with the homeschooling movement. It is a little bit in this area, but throughout Virginia and especially in California, it's real big.

Homeschooling? You pour that word into those children because they're not going to be around you all the time. And it's the word that's going to keep them. Not your little manmade rules you made up that was handed down from your grandma and granddaddy to your parents and now these little manmade rules. That won't keep them. The word of God is what's going to keep them when you are not around. It's going to keep them and convict them.

Because God's word doesn't return void. It's going to accomplish that which it was sent out to do. You teach them to memorize scripture, that means you're memorizing it with them. You're memorizing scripture so when you're not around, that word is going to convict them. When they are out there fooling around, experimenting, and trying things, that word is what's going to keep them and going to convict them.

Now, what did the people around the area think of old little Timmy? Look at verse 2. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Timothy, being in his late teens or early 20s, was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium.

What are the people around you saying about you? Do they speak well of you like they did Timothy? Or do they talk about your nasty attitude? Or how you don't talk to anyone? Or about your loose ways? No matter what, people are saying things about us, good, bad, or ugly. And we want to be well spoken of by the people around us that know us.

You know why? Because ultimately we want to win people to Christ. That's the ultimate goal of everyone who names the name of Christ. Everyone who calls themselves Christians. The ultimate goal for us should always be looking for ways and opportunities to win people to Christ. Period.

So we want to have a good testimony among those who know us. And those people who knew Timothy, they spoke well of him. So the testimony of Timothy really, really impressed Paul. That this young teenager in his early 20s was well spoken of by the people around him.

This impressed Paul so much that verse 3 says Paul wanted to have him go on with him. Paul wanted him to go with him and said, "Bro, I can use you. You'll be a good bro to have around, I can pour into you." This is what we want to do as well, look for young Timothys or Tinas and pour the things of God into them.

Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:2, talking to Timothy, who was at this time the pastor of the church of Ephesus, he told him, "And the things that you've heard from me among many witnesses, commit these things to faithful men who may be able to teach others also." This is what we're called to do. Pour the things of God into the next generation so they can pour it into the generation under them.

Notice how Paul said the things you have heard from me. The Greek word is *akouo*. It's where we get our English word acoustics. It means that which belongs to sound. The definition of that is to hear or to listen. They must listen. They must hear the things we have to say, the older generation, to pour into the younger generation.

Yes, I do four services a Sunday, but I really do five. Because 7:00 in the morning I'm pouring into people who are in leadership positions here at the church. So that's 7:00 in the morning, then the four Sunday morning services. So these are the things that I am doing, pouring into the next generation or those who are in leadership positions. But something I want you to notice. Notice he said the things you've heard from me among many witnesses, commit them to faithful men.

We live in a generation of flakes. People are wishy-washy, flaky, sometimes. And the Marine Corps just ruined me. I have very little use of flaky, wishy-washy, sometimes people. I don't do late. Marine Corps taught me if you're one minute late, you're late. Article 86, you can get money taken away and be in the brig for one minute late. So I don't do late.

This is why I'm always looking for faithful men who may be able to teach others also. I don't do flaky. I don't do sometimes. You just don't know how I'm looking at you when you come late. And then I do this: "Why are they late?" Sometimes it's life, we understand that. But the Marine Corps taught me if you're on time, you're late.

So I'm looking for faithful men. People I'm looking for to pour into, some Timothys to pour into. I'm watching. I'm checking them out. Are they faithful? Can they come three Sundays in a row? I may have you speak next Sunday if you did that.

I don't get this generation. I struggle. However, we have to look for those who are faithful. But watch this. Every Paul needs a Timothy and every Timothy needs a Paul. So this relationship must be this way because we need to pour.

Because here's the thing: I understand my own mortality. I understand that I'm getting older and I won't be here forever. So I have to pour into the next generation so they can pour into the generation under them. So I've already got my eye out for some early 20s.

It's hard to find some faithful out of that group. But I'm looking. I'm checking. Because when I got into ministry, I got saved at 19, I was in ministry at 20. And my wife always told me everyone's not like you. I understand that. But I'm looking. Is there another young Tony Clark somewhere? Somebody that's about that life, that life of God? And I'm watching, I'm looking. I'm still looking.

So Paul wanted Timothy to go on with him. But here's the thing that I want you to see. This is a major thing. Look at the second part of verse 3. Paul wanted to have him go on with him and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. Paul took Timothy and had him circumcised. Why? Because this verse goes on to say because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.

Even though Timothy's mother was Jewish, his father was Greek, making Timothy Greek in their eyes. Today, they would say Timothy was mixed. No, Timothy was Greek because his father was Greek. In their eyes, Paul was stepping in as a Jewish father and had him circumcised.

It's very obvious that this was the job of the father, but seeing that his father was Greek, his father didn't understand the Jewish customs and Jewish ways and he definitely was not going to submit to his son being circumcised. Therefore, Timothy went uncircumcised and the Jewish people around there, they knew that.

Therefore, in order for Timothy to have a ministry among the Jews, Paul stepping in as a father had Timothy circumcised so it would open the door for Timothy to minister to the Jews. Because as Timothy was traveling with Paul, his Greek culture would get him an audience with the Greeks. But the Jews would be like, "You know your father was Greek, don't you?" And they wouldn't hear a word he had to say. Therefore, having him circumcised, that word would spread and therefore it would open up the door for him to minister to the Jewish people.

Now, keep in mind that the ultimate goal in life is to win people to Jesus Christ. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:20-22, "I have become all things to all men, that by all means I may save some. To the Jews I will act like a Jew. To the Gentiles I will become like them so that I can save some." So if circumcising Timothy opens the door for him to reach Jews, then so be it. It says a lot about Timothy even submitting to the circumcision.

Now, how far are you willing to go to reach people? In order to know what a verse means, so often you have to know what it doesn't mean. What it doesn't mean is that you violate your conscience or the word of God to reach people.

For example, someone may say, "Well, all of my old friends are hanging out smoking weed, so if I want to reach them then I need to go there and smoke weed with them." No! First of all, if you're strong enough to be in that environment, then go and hang out.

But when they offer you some weed and alcohol and all that kind of stuff, you decline and tell them how Jesus has made you a new creation in Christ Jesus. Old things are passed away, including the weed, including the drink, and all things have become new. And I am new in Christ Jesus. Now the door is open for the gospel.

But not everybody can go back in that environment. You go back in that environment, you slipped and you're right along with them, puffing away and talking with smoke in your mouth and fooling around. Not everybody can go back in that environment. Not everybody can handle that. But it is a great opportunity and a door open for you to preach the gospel.

We can't expect for lost people to come to the church. To expect a lost person to come to church is like expecting a criminal to go to the police station. A criminal will not go to the police station. That's not one place that is on his bucket list. Yes, there are some who think that they are saved and they come to church and end up getting saved.

But it's just not natural. Unless you do some coercing and I promise you lunch or breakfast afterwards or whatever, you come. But it's not natural for just a lost person to come to church. That's just not natural. It happens, but it's not natural.

But in these sort of situations, our job is to reach lost people. Many of you, perfect opportunities whenever I get a chance to go back to high school reunions and I get a chance to see folks. Folks knew me from high school, therefore they wonder how I got into ministry. Now that I've been in ministry 30 plus years, everybody knows already. But some would still want to know.

They thought I was going to go to the major leagues in baseball. Ministry was not on the radar. So some do want to know and it's great opportunities to talk. Some of you won't even go back because of mess that happened in high school 20, 30, or 40 years ago.

So-and-so may be there and I remember what they did to me. Cut it out! That was 40 years ago! They were kids. Little punk teenagers. We were 17, 18 years old. And you won't go back and you're missing out on some great opportunities to share Christ with some folks that are lost. That's why I ask, "What are you willing to go through? How far are you willing to go to see people saved? To see those closest to you born again? What are you willing to give up to see them saved?"

Time? What are you willing to give up? Paul loved his Jewish people so much that he said in Romans 9:3 that he wished that he could be accursed from Christ if it meant that they could be saved. In other words, he was saying, "I wish that I could go to hell if it meant that they could be saved." Wow, what a powerful statement. What are we willing to sacrifice to see people eternally saved? This is something we have to search our hearts about. Something we have to ponder.

You don't realize for those who are truly born again, those who have repented of their sin, they accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and they're living for him. Old things are passed away, behold all things become new. That is and they are a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Our purpose, our sole purpose is to look for opportunities and ways to see lost people saved. That is the reason why we are left here on this earth. The reason why we didn't accept Christ and immediately get raptured up into heaven is because God wants us to reach those around us with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is why we're here. That's why we're still here.

We're not here to just huddle up in a building, sing Kumbaya and then go about our life and wait on the love boat going to heaven. That's not why we're here. We're here to see lost people get saved. That's why. And Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, the Bible says in Luke 19 verse 10. He came to seek and to save the lost. And if we truly have the heart of Jesus, that will be our desire as well.

So search your heart. Do you want to see people and see lost people saved? If you're like, "No, as long as I'm saved, that's all that matters," you don't have the heart of Jesus. You get the heart of Jesus through prayer, by spending time with him, and then some of him will rub off on you. This is how we get the heart of Jesus.

I just look at a lot of people who call themselves Christians and they have no desire for prayer, no desire for the word of God, barely like to come to church, don't read the word and say, "Yeah, I'm going to heaven." Whose heaven? Your own that you made up? Strangers to holiness by which no man shall see the Lord, the Bible says. I mourned, I told you, I mourned for American Christianity.

I mourned because it is a far cry from the New Testament, this book that we read here, the book of Acts. It's a far cry from it. We don't resemble anything that the early church was all about. We don't resemble any of that.

Let me wrap it up with this. Because I have to ask us again, how much do we love those around us who are without Christ? Do we love them enough to speak the truth to them in love? Speak the truth to them about their lost condition?

This is why Jesus has us here upon the earth because his last instructions given before he ascended into heaven was the Great Commission in Matthew 28 and verses 18 to 20. He says, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things I've said unto you, and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age."

When are we going to go? Then the super spiritual ones say, "Well, I'm waiting to be led of the Lord." He told us to go 2,000 years ago! How long is it going to take us? Another 2,000? I mean, he told us to go 2,000 years ago.

When are we going to engage this culture? This culture is a mess. It is lost, it's conditioned to shut us up, Christians, and to be antagonistic against everything that has to do with the word of God. Because we used to say, "Hey, don't get angry with me, I'm just the messenger. This is what the word says."

Now the culture has gotten clever. Now am I not only speaking hate speech, this is now a hate book. Because we used to say, "Hey, it's that book, it's that word. You going to get mad at me, it's that word." Now this book is a hate book because we who are giving the hate speech are quoting this book. So it must be a hate book. And now we hate this book, we hate you.

And why are we shocked by this? Jesus said if they hated me, he said they're going to hate you too. And it used to be where everyone was kind of cool toward Christians back in the day. It was cool. Not anymore. They hate us and hate what we stand for because our lifestyle and this word and our God is against their lifestyle. And they don't want anyone telling them how to live their lives.

So they just emphasize the love of God. God loves me. I said, "He does." I said, "But he's also holy and he will deal with your sin too, and my sin." And they don't want to hear that. I said, "The very fact that Jesus died on the cross for sin shows how God feels about sin. He put his own son to death. That shows you how he feels about sin." No, we don't want to hear anything about that.

And so therefore, be ready. But we've got to engage them. Watch this. It's like the world has cancer, we have the cure, and we're keeping it to ourselves. We have the moral obligation. If a doctor had the cure to cancer and he kept it to himself, he would be an immoral doctor. He has the moral obligation to give this information to the world.

You already know they got a cure for cancer. You know that, don't you? You know it's more money in treatment than curing it. So we're going to keep that on the hush-hush. There's been a cure for cancer. But there's billions in treatment. Oh, that's another sermon. That's another sermon.

But let me just say this. Spiritually speaking, the world has cancer and the remedy is Jesus Christ who paid the price on Calvary's cross. And we have to get this message out there no matter how much they hate us. Here's the thing: they already hate you. So you might as well go and engage them.

So it's not like if I engage them, they're going to hate me. No, they already hate you. They hate me. So we might as well just go and engage them. Engage them. We have to. You never know who will give their life to Jesus Christ. You never know who will thank you on judgment day. "Thank you for telling them. Thank you for not listening to their rejection."

Somebody wants to thank you. But you've got to engage this culture. May we be a people that speaks the truth in love and engage this culture that so desperately needs the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for your word. Lord, help us to engage this culture. Lord, your word says the righteous are as bold as a lion. May we be as bold as a lion, Lord. I pray, God, that you would come upon us with your spirit because every time you came upon your people in the book of Acts, they spoke the word with boldness.

Lord, give us that boldness, give us that anointing of your spirit to engage this hostile culture. May we speak the truth in love. God, may you bring many souls into your kingdom. Dear God, thank you for this great opportunity.

Lord, and I pray for anyone here who has not repented of their sin and accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. I pray, God, that your spirit will come upon them. Lord, I pray that you draw them to you today. May they repent of their sin. May they believe that Jesus died for their sin and was buried and rose again. Your word said that they shall be saved. Save souls today we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Female): If the Word Made Plain has been a source of inspiration and encouragement to you, why not consider becoming a Word Made Plain giving partner to keep this listener-supported program on the air? As a giving partner, you join forces with Calvary Chapel Newport News's Kingdom Vision of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can make your tax-deductible gift online at calvarynn.org or send your gift of any amount to 15533 Warwick Boulevard, Newport News, Virginia, 23608 and receive a gift from Calvary Chapel Newport News as our thank you. In addition to your financial support, we ask that you pray for the Word Made Plain broadcast, that it touches hearts and generates change in the lives of people around the world. We pray you've been blessed by God's word today and hope you'll tune in next time to hear the Word Made Plain.