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 28, verses 17 through 31.

Tony Clark: All right, let's dive into the Word of God together. Turn your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 28, and we're going to look at verses 17 through 31, or we're going to finish up this book, not only this chapter, but finish up this book.

Father, thank you so much for this opportunity you've given us to sit at your feet and learn from you and study your Word. We pray, God, that your Word will go forth around this world through technology. It will go forth around this world in our own lives, that we will be living epistles read among men. So, Lord, we pray that you'll reveal the secrets of our hearts so we can leave here knowing that you were in this place. Thank you, Lord, that we get to serve you for an audience of one, which is you. Help us, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Acts chapter 28, verses 17 to 31. The title of this message is "Not All Will Hear." Not all will hear what? The Gospel of Jesus Christ that we as believers are called to preach to this lost world. Even Jesus said in the story that is commonly called the parable of the sower in Mark 4, verses 1 through 20, he tells how the sower sows seed and it fell upon four different types of soils, which represents the hearts of men. Three of them were false conversions and one was a true believer because it bore fruit: some 30, some 60, and some 100-fold according to Mark 4 and verse 20.

So, this shows us that only one out of four people, or 25% of the people who hear the Gospel, will respond favorably to it. And we will see similar results in these verses before us. Last time we were together, we saw how Paul and 276 passengers had crashed on the island of Malta. After being there for three months, it was finally time for them to head to Rome. So, they boarded an Alexandrian ship that had wintered there according to verse 11. After making short stops at the cities of Syracuse and Puteoli in verse 13, Paul was encouraged by some fellow believers who came from the cities of Appii Forum and Three Inns to greet him according to verse 15. They finally arrived in Rome in verse 16, and Paul and the others were delivered to the captain of the guard. However, Paul was allowed to dwell by himself with a soldier chained to him.

Now we pick it up in verses 17 through 20. Look what it says there: "And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them, 'Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go because there was no cause for putting me to death. But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I have anything of which to accuse my nation. For this reason, therefore, I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.'"

Paul wasted no time. It came to pass after only three days, he called the leaders of the Jews together. These leaders were the leaders over the various synagogues scattered throughout the city of Rome, and they came together to hear what Paul had to say. Paul did this because he couldn't go to the various synagogues like he would normally do because he came to Rome as a prisoner. He was clearing his name and showing his innocence of the charges against him.

He starts by saying, "I've done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans." Paul was accused by the Jews in Acts 21:21 of teaching people everywhere that they didn't need to circumcise their children and to forsake the law of Moses. So, to the Jewish people, Paul and Christianity were public enemy number one. Even though the Jews hated Paul and sought to kill him everywhere he went, Paul didn't hold it against them because everywhere Paul went, he preached the Gospel, like Romans 1:16 says, "To the Jew first, then to the Greek."

I bring this up because we hold grudges and animosity against people very easily. We, as my son says, are stuck on spite. People treat us a certain way and we hold it against them. This was not Paul. We will see it here: after being in Rome only three days, he called for the Jewish leaders to talk to them. He wanted to clear his name because without doing this, they wouldn't hear the Gospel or any other word he had to say to them.

I just wonder, as you're sitting there today, are you holding animosity or a grudge against someone? It will eat at you. I want to encourage you to let it go. Don't be stuck on spite. Because what happens is, as I mentioned Wednesday night, Satan always opens up a door for you to vent your anger, your animosity, and your grievance against certain people. Let it go. Allow God to deal with them. The Bible says that vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Let the Lord deal with people. Don't look for ways to get them back. Don't be excited when God gets them back. Let that stuff go.

I don't know who it is that I'm speaking to. Depending on how long you've been holding it, it will begin to show on your countenance. Let it go. Give it to the Lord. Cast your cares upon him for he cares for you. He cares about that burden you're carrying against that other person. It's a weight that will weigh you down. Paul was not like that. Paul, even though the Jewish people constantly, throughout the book of Acts, everywhere he went, they wanted to kill him by way of stoning. They tried to many times attempt upon his life. He didn't say, "You know what? I'm good with y'all. I'm out of here." He kept trying. He wasn't stuck on spite. He was not holding animosity against his very own people. He didn't do that.

So, Paul declared his innocence to the Jewish leaders in verse 18 by saying when they had examined him, they wanted to let him go. We know three different times Paul stood before three Roman officials: Claudius Lysias in chapter 23, Felix in Acts 24, and Festus in Acts 25. All of them declared Paul's innocence and wanted to free him, but the Jews spoke against it in verse 19. This is when he exercised his right as a Roman citizen. He told them that he appealed to Caesar, and he was telling them that he had no other recourse because the Jewish leaders kept pressing the Roman officials to convict him and condemn him to death. He also told them that he had nothing to accuse his nation. This is why he wanted to see them in verse 20, and he then connected Christianity to the hope of Israel, which is the coming Messiah, which he's about to preach to them. He was about to show them how Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of their Messiah.

Now, there are times, like Paul is doing, that you have to declare your innocence to people who may have heard some terrible rumor about you. Only if you are innocent like Paul was. Don't try to declare your innocence when you know that there may be some truth in those stories or those rumors. Normally we let liars lie and we allow the Lord to vindicate us, but there are times like these when you have to declare your innocence. Again, the emphasis is upon the word "innocent."

How can we tell the difference? How can we tell when there's a time to declare our innocence and there's a time to let things go and allow the Lord to vindicate you? How can we tell the difference? When you're trying to share Jesus Christ with someone and they may have heard a rumor about you, then that is when you declare your innocence. You declare your innocence when it is hindering you from sharing Jesus Christ with someone. Clear your name so they can receive what you have to say, because they wouldn't hear a word you have to say if you don't declare your innocence. That is the time to declare your innocence. Outside of that, allow the Lord to vindicate you. Allow the Lord to do it.

Look at verses 21 and 22. It says, "Then they said to him, 'We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you. But we desire to hear from you what you think, for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.'" The Jewish leaders confirmed that they neither received letters from Jerusalem nor have any of them, the Jewish brethren, reported anything or spoken evil of you. The reason why is because Paul was on the last ship that sailed from the area of Judea before the three-month winter season started where no ships did any sailing. So, no Jewish brethren were on that last ship that could have gotten to Rome to warn them about Paul coming there.

But there's something else here that is a possibility. Maybe there were letters about Paul on the ship that got buried when the ship crashed into the island of Malta. I bring this up because when we are truly living for God and we are innocent, there are times that God will allow those rumors about us to be buried in the sea of forgetfulness. This is what Christ did for us in Micah 7:19, which says, "He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities or our sins. You," referring to God, "will cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea." This is where we get the phrase the sea of forgetfulness is derived. This is what Christ did for us on the cross. Maybe the terrible rumors about Paul were buried with the wreckage of the ship.

However, these Jewish leaders wanted to hear about Christianity from Paul because they did acknowledge that it is spoken against everywhere. Remember how I mentioned when we started teaching the book of Acts back in 2016 that we would start seeing these events that we studied occur right before our eyes here in America? Christianity, for the most part, is spoken against everywhere. The narrative that is being spun is that we, the church, are the spreaders of the virus. People are dying because they are coming to church. That's the narrative that is being spun today. You don't read about anyone saying, "No, you can get the virus if you go to Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, or to the mall." No one is saying that, but they are saying if you go to church, the virus will be waiting on you in your seat. Therefore, do not go to church.

As a result of this narrative that's being spun today, Christianity is spoken against everywhere. You guys want to meet? There's a guy that I know in San Jose, California. He said, "Look here, we're going to meet." This county said you can't meet inside. He said, "I'm good on you. I'm going to meet." Because here's the thing, if he goes outside—California has wonderful weather—if he goes outside, what happens? They're doing worship and speaking, then the neighbors complain and said, "Y'all too loud. I'm trying to sleep in." And they can't go to the beach, which they normally do. They can't go to the beach and have church because the beaches are closed. They can't go to a park because of the Rona, the parks are closed. So, what are we to do for church?

Boy said, "Look, we're going inside. We're going to wear masks, we're going to social distance, we're going inside." The county has already assessed them over a million dollars in fines and personally taken the pastor to court and assessed all kind of fines against him and they're threatening to put him in jail. What do you want us to do? They just want us to meet online. You don't get to dictate that. You don't do that. Therefore, there are lawsuits. But then the county says they're able to meet under certain circumstances on the inside. Everybody's got their own spin. Every county is interpreting things according to their own spin. Some counties, you can meet inside but you can have this amount of people. Other counties, I don't want you meeting inside at all. These folks are just struggling. Therefore, because they were meeting inside in that particular county, Christianity is spoken against everywhere in that county. Y'all are the spreaders. So, we're trying to keep y'all from meeting so y'all don't spread it anymore. Christianity is spoken against everywhere. This is the narrative that's being spun today.

Look at verses 23 and 24. "So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning until evening. And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved." Very eager to hear more about Christianity, which they called a sect in verse 22, they appointed a day to listen in verse 23. Notice: many came to him at his lodging. I just wanted to encourage you, like I was encouraged when I saw this: they were very eager to hear about Christianity. Once again, people vote with their feet. Many came to Paul's lodging to hear.

There are people, whether you believe it or not, who want to hear about Christianity, who want to hear you explain the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and why it is so important to have eternal life. My question is, can you explain this to them? If someone just randomly came up to you and said, "I just noticed something different about you. Do you go to church? I'm hearing something about some kind of Gospel. What is that? Can you explain that to me?" Can you explain that to them? Can you explain not only what you believe, but why you believe it? There are many internet theologians out there who search all the atheist websites and they have what they call ammunition against Christianity. Can you tell them and explain to them why you believe what you believe? Why do you go to church? What is that about? Can you give them answers?

This is very important. I believe that this is why so many people and so many Christians are silent about the faith—because they don't know how to explain these things to people. We want to give you some hope because we want to be here to help. We offer classes and courses designed to train you on how to give answers to people. We really want to help you. Now, we're constantly meeting as a staff. We're constantly meeting to try to come up with ways to give this information out: Zoom, FaceTime, whatever all these things are. We're trying to do what we can to equip you because not too many people are coming out to the building for these things. So, we said, "Okay, we're going to meet you where you are." We're trying to come up with ways now to give this information out to you by way of online, some kind of online way to interact with you. Because we know that this information is very important for you to have, because God brings people your way and my way to be able to share with them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We've got to be able to give them answers when they come to us.

Now, what did Paul tell these leaders that came to him? He talked to them about the kingdom of God where Jesus is King, where he explained and solemnly testified from the Old Testament, persuading them concerning Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets. Oh, how I wish this was recorded! Paul took the five books of Moses that is called in Hebrew the Torah—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It's called the Pentateuch; that's the Greek word for the five books of Moses. So, he took the five books of Moses and the Prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all the minor prophets—and he used those to share Jesus Christ with them.

Now, here's my second question: Can you preach Jesus Christ to your Jewish friends and prove that Jesus is the Messiah strictly using the Old Testament? Because they won't hear—you say, "Well, you know, in the book of Galatians," they don't believe anything about the New Testament. So, you don't have the New Testament to rest on. Can you do like Paul did? Convince someone that Jesus is the Messiah strictly using the Old Testament? Ah, now we're talking. Because there are people out there, there are some Jewish people, that will accept the Old Testament. Can you preach Jesus to them? We want to help you with these things because this is very vital for us to be able to understand.

In the first coming of Jesus Christ, when he came as a babe in Bethlehem, did you know he fulfilled over 300 prophecies in his first coming? Let me just tell you this much: the chances that one man will fulfill over 300 prophecies is like one in 10 to the 23rd power. Let me break it down a little bit more. It's like filling the state of Virginia and West Virginia—no, let's go a little bit bigger than that. It's like filling the state of Texas. I drove through Texas when I was in the Marine Corps. I was driving from Texas to go to California, so I drove the width of Texas. 846 miles. I didn't think I was ever getting out of Texas. I thought the whole United States was Texas. I really did. I'd never seen a state that big before. I dropped my wife off in Georgia in Atlanta and I drove. It took me 14 hours to get to Texas. It took me 14 hours alone to get through Texas. When I got into New Mexico, I thought I was going to get out and just kiss the ground. I didn't think I was ever leaving Texas. Texas is big. Everything's big in Texas. Yes, it is.

Now, fill Texas with silver dollars, three feet deep. Take one silver dollar and paint it red. Then we blindfold you and just drop you down in the middle of Texas. The chances that you will find that particular red silver dollar is one to 10 to the 23rd power. That's one with 23 zeros behind it. I'm no mathematician, but I just know your odds of finding that one silver dollar painted red—your odds are slim to none. Those are the odds that one man could fulfill all 300 of these prophecies. Meaning that it is next to impossible. Surely they were blown away by how Paul tied all of the Old Testament prophecies to Jesus. Notice, from morning until evening.

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