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 19, verses 4 through 10.

Tony Clark: So here we see that Paul kept his promise to the believers in Ephesus. Now, continuing the theme of seeing outwardly that the Holy Spirit is in us is being able to—watch this—speak boldly in verse 8. Paul spoke boldly for notice the time period, for three months. The Greek word for speak boldly is *parresiazomai*, and it is in the imperfect tense, which speaks of a continuous action, or he kept speaking boldly. It was not that he spoke boldly one time and then all of a sudden he got timid after that. No. Acts 4:31 says, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word with boldness." Speaking boldly for Jesus Christ is an outward sign that the Holy Spirit is in us internally.

Do you speak boldly about Jesus Christ to those around you? Or is there a shyness, a timidity, or—watch this—a fear? This is huge right here. It is not on the screen. Proverbs 29:25 says, "The fear of man brings a snare." The word snare there is a Hebrew word that means a trap. It speaks of a hunter trapping its prey. You have seen those hunters out in the wilderness, and when the animal puts its little paw in the middle, that trap snaps. That is the idea of the word. The fear of man puts us in a trap and immobilizes us.

There is fear that people have, especially today in today's time. There is a fear of man, the fear of—here it is, let me get my quotations ready—the fear of offending somebody. That is a huge one that has shut many Christians up and kept many Christians from speaking boldly for Jesus Christ: the fear of offending someone. The fear of losing a job. Nowadays, if you speak of that holy name, that noble name, you either get fired or you get called into the office and get threatened not to mention that name again.

Though you can sit around and listen to their weekend escapades and what they have done with this person and that person and what they plan to do this weekend, and drink until they are in a drunken stupor and do this and do that—you can listen to all of that, but if you mention that noble name, that name which is above every name, they are going to call you on it. And they will even let you go. So there is a fear of losing a job, and that causes people to not speak boldly for Jesus Christ.

We see people gripped with all kinds of fear: the fear of losing a relationship. Maybe you both did not know the Lord and all of a sudden you know the Lord now. The other person says, "You know what? Since you have been talking about going to church and you mention Jesus Christ one more time, this relationship is over." So there is a fear of losing relationships that has caused many people not to come to church anymore, not to speak boldly of Jesus Christ, and it forces them to move into what we call secret agent Christians: undercover for the Lord on a special assignment from God.

It causes many people to have the fear of man. So there is a fear that is there. Speaking boldly is an outward sign that the Holy Spirit is in us. Now, let me just clarify something here. To speak boldly does not mean to speak in an unloving or unkind way. Ephesians 4:15 says, "Speak the truth in love." It did not say do not speak the truth; it said speak it, and this is how you do it: in love. We speak the truth in love. There have been many people who are just very harsh with the truth.

"Well, the truth hurts, so there it is." "Well, I am hurt by that." "I do not care. Truth hurts. The Bible says the Word is a sword, and on top of that, a double-edged sword, so it is going to hit you twice. Take that!" Then you walk away feeling a certain kind of good when you should not, when you have just been a jerk. You have been obnoxious. You are not speaking the truth in love; that is obnoxious. You are rude. Well, sometimes it is just the truth.

Yes, sometimes the truth can hurt, but what happens is you allow that pill to go down by speaking it in love. It may be a tough pill to swallow, but if you speak it in love, they are able to swallow that. The coating on that word in order for them to swallow it is love. That enables that pill to go down. So speaking boldly does not mean you are loud and obnoxious and rude and unloving and unkind. It does not mean that at all.

Paul went to the synagogue and for three months was—notice—reasoning and persuading them concerning the kingdom of God. Now, the Greek word for reasoning is *dialegomai*, and it is where we get our English word "dialogue" from. This means that Paul did not lecture them, but he had a dialogue with them and he responded to their questions and their challenges. I just want to know, can you dialogue with people where you can answer their questions and challenges that they have about Christianity and the Bible?

This is what Paul was able to do. This is what we want to be able to teach you to be able to do as well. But he was also persuading them. *Peitho* is that Greek word. It means to convince by argument, meaning that Paul was there challenging their whole religious system, calling them to repent and to believe in Jesus Christ. So he was doing a little bit of both. Now, I want for you to notice that Paul was talking to them about the kingdom of God, how He can come and set up His kingdom in the hearts of men.

This is critical right here because I have to ask you: has Jesus set up His kingdom in your heart? Ephesians 3:17 says, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." I want to draw your attention to the word "dwell." The Greek word is *katoikeo*, and it means to house permanently. It means to reside and it means to inhabit. In other words, has Christ settled down and is He at home in your heart? Or is He uncomfortable or not there at all?

Or have you only given Jesus access to the living room of your heart? This is key here. But the family room where you watch TV, the kitchen and what you eat, or the bedroom where intimacy takes place—Jesus does not have access to those places. When Jesus comes into the homes of our hearts, He brings His kingdom into every area of our lives. These are the kind of things that Paul talked to those who came to the synagogue to hear.

This is critical. Is Jesus at home in your heart? I just have to ask us again. Because this is so key to understand. Or is He uncomfortable by the things you watch? Is He uncomfortable by the things that take place in the intimacy of your bedroom? Is He uncomfortable by the things that you are eating—the constant overeating, overindulging? This is critical stuff here. Because the Holy Spirit produces self-control in us, as we read in Galatians 5:22 and 23.

But you are convinced by the world. The world says that you are a victim and not a victor. The world says you cannot help it; you are addicted. And Jesus said, "I came to set the captives free." Are you going to believe what God says about you or are you going to believe what the world says about you? Sure, there are things that can take power over us: alcohol, drugs, smoking, food—all kind of things can have power over us.

What sets us apart as believers is that we have the power of the Holy Spirit, and He gives us the power to say no. No more. I am done. I am done. Go and get that third, fourth piece... No, I am done. What a great reminder coming up. God bless America, I tell you. What a great reminder. That is what the Holy Spirit produces in us: it produces self-control. And we have to understand this is what sets us apart as believers.

So even though Paul was giving the Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit, people will always harden their hearts towards the things of God, like we see in verse 9. The Greek word for harden is *skleruno*, and in the New Testament, it is always used to speak of a hardened heart towards God. This verb is in the imperfect tense, just like the last Greek word, showing that this hardening was a continuous action.

They constantly kept hardening their hearts over a period of time, which refers to the three months that Paul was there. And some of their hearts were getting harder and harder to the message of the gospel. This is what we see in America today. The hearts of the American people are getting harder and harder to the gospel message. Satan knows if the gospel message—which is the message that Jesus came to die on a cross for your sin and was buried and rose again for you—sets people free, he has to stop it.

The gospel gives you the power to live for Him and gives you eternal life. Satan knows that will set people free, so what will he do? He designs things in such a way to shut us up, to keep us from getting this message out to a hurting and dying world. He wants to keep people lost. He wants to keep people out there suffering and dying and hurting. He wants to leave them out there because we have the only message that can set a man free: the message of Jesus Christ.

The gospel message is why it is designed to shut us up, to keep us quiet. I have heard many times Muslims have more rights in this country than we do. We do not have a voice any longer in the society that we live in. And then the ones with the message, we are told to shut up. "Do not you mention anything that is in that book." That glorious book is now a hate book. If you quote from it, that is hate speech.

When did we get here? When did that become okay? But this is the world we live in, and their hearts are getting harder and harder to the message of the gospel, just like we see here. Their inward hostility manifested itself in how they outwardly spoke evil of "the Way." This was an early name for Christianity; it was called the Way. No doubt it was derived from John 14:6, when Jesus called Himself "the way, the truth, and the life."

"No man comes to the Father but by Me." Notice that He did not say, "I am one of many ways." "There are many ways to get to God." That is the philosophy of the world. No, Jesus said, "If you want to get to the Father, it is through Me." He says, "I am"—notice the definite article—"the way, the truth, the life. If you want to know the only way to get to the Father, to get to God, it is through Me." I did not make that up; Jesus did.

"I am the truth." You seeking truth? Seek Jesus. You will find truth. "I am the life." This is what He is saying. "You want eternal life? It is through Me." I did not make that up; Jesus did. So it was a great word and it was a great title for Christianity in the early days, called "the Way." Until the '70s rolled around and there was a cult group that called themselves "The Way," "The Way International."

I do not even know if they are even around anymore, and they just ruined this beautiful name for Christianity, a biblical name for Christianity. It ruined it, so now nobody wants to be called the Way. But it is biblical; they used to be called the Way. So Paul took those who believed the gospel and moved them away from those who hardened their hearts and taught them in the school of Tyrannus.

Tyrannus may have been the owner of the lecture hall or the philosopher who taught there. If he was the teacher who taught there, his name means "our tyrant," which could have been a nickname given to him by his students. Now, some early writings say that Paul taught there from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. They would work from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., then break from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.—that is a long lunch break—and then they would go back to work from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Paul took advantage of the break time to teach the Word to these new believers. What do you do with your break time? Do you constantly spend your time scrolling social media, see how many likes or loves you got, see who said what, and whatever? Do you take advantage of your break time? I remember when I used to be on a radio station at noon, and I remember constantly getting letters and phone calls from people saying that they took their lunchtime to be fed the Word of God through me.

What do you do with your break time? I remember when I was in the Marine Corps, and I used to have this little green Gideons Bible. Do you remember those little green Gideons Bibles? Those who are my age and older would fit it in your little cargo pocket right there. During the break time or downtime when we were at the shop, I would go in a little corner. I remember it was like two wall lockers with a little space in between. I would just get in that little space and pull out my little Gideons.

I would just get in the Word, just reading while they were talking about what girl they were with, how drunk they got, what they were going to go back and get her friend next weekend, and doing all this stuff. I am listening to all that stuff. I will never forget, I was an E-nothing, and the sergeant came over saying, "You cannot read that book here." This is why I had to get out of the Marine Corps, because of this mouth here.

I was an E-nothing and I did not care. I just said, "Why not? I cannot read this here? I just finished listening to y'all talking about what y'all did last weekend and what y'all are going to do, and I had to listen to all that, and you are going to tell me I cannot read my Bible?" And the next chapter said... and I kept reading. That is why I had to get out, because I was an E-nothing and I had no rank to even open my mouth, but I had a big mouth.

It reminded me when we used to do some crazy stuff, what is called police call. That means we had to line up and we had to walk and pick up all the cigarette butts. Me, being an E-nothing, I said, "I do not smoke! Why I gotta pick up somebody else's cigarette butts?" I said, "This is what you can do. How about line up all the smokers and let them police call their own butts? That is a thought."

And pretty soon I had to get out. Then during inspection—this was in California—we had to rake the sand. We had to put lines in the sand. I said, "Why are we doing that? Putting lines in the sand. That does not make sense." I am sorry, I had a flashback to Marine Corps days. I just had a moment. What do you do with your break time? Make sure that you try to do something that is going to feed you the Word of God.

Paul did this for two years, according to verse 10, and these new believers went out and shared the word with all who dwelt in Asia, both Jews and Greeks. This is so encouraging to me because this is what many of you do. You come in to get fed the Word of God chapter by chapter, verse by verse, book by book. Then you go out and you tell your coworkers, your family members and friends.

They see the change in your life, they see you being able to give answers, and they see you living differently. They say, "What has happened to you?" Then you are like, "You gotta come here." "Where you go to church again? What time service?" Then you bring them, and I love meeting them every week. "Hey, Pastor Tony, this is my cousin, this is my friend, this is my coworker." And many of you are here today because your friend, your cousin, and whoever invited you here.

Then guess what? You come, you get fed the Word, and then you go out and tell your family members and friends and coworkers. Then next thing you know, I am standing up here and saying, "Guess what? We gotta go to another service." That is the beauty of what happens when you get fed the Word. Paul taught them from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. He taught them the Word of God, then they went out and shared it with all of Asia. Both Jews and Greeks.

So they did not just share with just Jews, people who looked like them. They did not share with just Greeks. Both Jews and Greeks. Then they came and got taught the Word of God as well. It is a beautiful thing, and many of you are doing this right now. I am looking at many of you, and I remember when you first came in here a hot mess. Now I am looking at you walking with God, talking about the things of God, and I just smile because that is what that Word does.

So what happened after this? Well, you gotta wait until next week. Next week we will pick it up in verse 11. Let me conclude with this. In this message, we learned that there are some outward signs that the Holy Spirit is in us. Number one: a boldness to speak for Jesus Christ. Number two: the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Number three: speaking in tongues. But the greatest sign is number four: love.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:1—I only gave you the first part of that verse, but it goes on to say—"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." Or what Paul is saying: without God's love flowing through me, I would be making a bunch of noise. I would make an irritating sound, a clanging sound. Clang, clang, clang!

Because we do not have love, the people we come in contact with will be like, "Will you be quiet? You just irritating me." Because we need God's love. There is nothing worse than a Christian without the love of God, because they will irritate people. Do not think it is because of "the Christ in me." No, it is the jerk in you that they do not like. Do not put that on Jesus. Jesus was never a jerk; the Bible said the common people heard Him gladly.

They loved to hear Jesus, and we need God's love. So what we are going to do is make sure that we give some good clarification. We are going to give an opportunity for those who need to accept Christ, repent of your sin. We will give an opportunity for those who fell away. Maybe you have accepted Christ, but you fell away. And then we are going to give an opportunity for those who need the Spirit of God to come upon your life.

You need that anointing of God's Spirit. This is not the opportunity to try to beat the crowd to the parking lot or children's ministry, because some eternal business is about to take place now. There are people's souls in the balance right now, and we want to make sure that they have an opportunity and are not distracted by you trying to run out. Let's close in prayer. Father, we pray that Your Holy Spirit would come upon us now. Lord, that You would do an eternal work right now in Jesus' name. Amen.

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