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 2, verses 36 through 47.

Tony Clark: Oh, many of us men, we're good for it too. We start a project, and that project still left undone. I started clipping some of the weeds a couple of days ago, and those piles of weeds are still sitting in the driveway. And we love to start things, but we don't finish. We love to continue, but we don't continue steadfastly. We don't do it.

I'm going to give you a little tip here. The quickest way, the easiest way, if you want to go to the top of the corporate ladder or whatever job you're in, just do a little bit extra. No one wants to do anything extra. No one wants to put in a good hard day's work. We're looking for every way we can, like we say in the Marine Corps, skate throughout the day and just hide out and skate around and fool around throughout the day and still get paid the same amount. And then as soon as 5:00 comes, 4:59, 50 seconds, 57 seconds, we're already in the car.

These believers, they continued, notice, steadfastly. Some people do the same thing with Christianity. They start off with Christianity, but as soon as persecution or tribulations come for the word's sake, immediately they stumble, like Mark 4:17 says. These 3,000 souls continued steadfastly doing what? Number one, in the apostles' doctrine or teaching.

They had a commitment to the word of God, which is foundational to the health and growth of every church. I can tell you right now, any church that dies out, one of the reasons, and there are several, one of the reasons a church will die out is that they no longer have at the top of the list a precedence of the teaching of the word of God. Somewhere along the line, they started fooling around and not teaching the word of God.

Other programs and other things, and other cute pop psychology and all kinds of other stuff, and feel-good messages and tickle-the-ears messages, and all this kind of stuff. That will kill any church. There must be a teaching of the word of God. It's foundational for the growth and health of every church. First Peter 2:2 says, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that they may grow thereby.

That word "desire" in the Greek language is an amazing word. It speaks of an intense craving a baby has for milk. "As newborn babes," that phrase is one Greek word. It's a word that means a just-now-born babe, a baby fresh out the womb that you think is just the most precious little thing you've ever seen in your life. You don't give that little sinner some milk, it will wail and scream and shake violently until it gets milk.

Oh, I just wonder, do we shake violently when we miss church and we are not in the word of God? We miss reading. Are we crying and shaking violently? "What's wrong with you?" "I missed being in the word today." Or can we just go from day to day and not even care about being in the word of God? It says, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that they may grow thereby.

I'm telling you, when you sit under the teaching of the word of God, it creates a hunger and a desire for more of the teaching of the word of God. Then when you try to go around and fool around elsewhere, you're like, "I went to this church and, you know, he got up there and he read a verse, but he never came back to the verse since." It's because you've been sitting under the systematic teaching of the word of God and you're growing and it creates an intense craving. Let me tell you something, if you don't have an intense craving for the word of God, something isn't right.

If a baby doesn't desire milk any longer, something isn't right. Something isn't right. And so Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:13, he says, till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. He says, Timothy, listen here, I want you to read the text, explain the text, apply the text. This is what we do from Genesis to Revelation, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. We read the text, explain the text, apply the text. This is what we should be doing, and what we've been doing for 22 years, and we're going to do it another 22 if the Lord gives us strength.

So these believers, they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, number one. Number two, in fellowship. The Greek word is koinonia, and it means fellowship, partnership, or sharing. So koinonia is people sharing with one another about the things of the kingdom of God. So when we isolate ourselves from other believers, we are in direct violation of this word koinonia, or what it means to be in fellowship with one another.

So they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, number one. Number two, in fellowship. Number three, they continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread. Oh yes, this is a reference to the Lord's Supper or communion. And when we participate in communion, there is a oneness that is taking place between us and the Lord. You've heard me say many times, when we partake of communion, we're eating with the Lord.

And in that culture, to eat with a person is to become one with them. This is why the religious leaders asked the disciples, "What is your master doing eating with sinners?" because they understood to eat with a person is to become one with them. And so also what is taking place during communion is a purifying of ourselves, because 1 Corinthians 11:28 says, let every man examine himself. So we're examining ourselves and confessing our sin, and so we're cleansing ourselves and becoming one as a church.

All of this takes place with the breaking of bread of communion. All of this takes place during that time, a oneness is taking place. Number four, they continued steadfastly in prayers. Notice an "s" is at the end of prayers. I mean, there's different kinds and types of prayers. For you note-takers, it's not on the screen, 1 Timothy 2:1 says, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, giving of thanks, intercessions be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority. So it shows the different categories of prayers.

But in this context, prayers is refers to corporate or collective prayer. Now, 20 years ago when I said corporate prayer, everyone knew that I was talking about prayer as a church. Today I say corporate prayer, they say, "Is that prayer at our job?" No, so I have to explain corporate or collective prayer. Yes, we're called to pray individually. We're called to do that. These verses are not on the screen for you note-takers.

First Thessalonians 5:17 says pray without ceasing. Jesus said in Luke 18:1, men ought to always pray and not lose heart. Philippians 4:6 and 7 says be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let our request be made known to God and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding shall guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. So we're called to pray as an individual, but we're equally called to pray corporately or collectively.

Watch this, don't miss this. Individual prayer empowers us individually, and collective prayer empowers the church collectively. Oh, if we only realized what could be accomplished when we gather to pray collectively as a church. I'm going to give you an example of it. The Lord reminded me of it last service. I'm going to give you an example of it.

When we first bought our Eustis campus, it was supposed to be an easy transition. We were supposed to close that particular week. Week went by, two weeks went by, a month went by. "What's up with this? What's going on?" It made no sense, some of the things that was blocking this from taking place. What happened? I said, "You know what? Let's go down to the Eustis campus and join hands around that whole monstrosity of a shopping center."

We gathered together, all of us, we prayed, gathered together. We collectively joined hands around that entire shopping center. That week, we closed. You see? That's what happens when the church gathers together collectively. God moves on the church's behalf. Individual prayer empowers you individually. Corporate collective prayer empowers the church collectively.

We got a perfect example of it. Perfect example of that. So when we have quarterly prayer, when we have Spirit and Truth prayer and worship time, you need to be here. There's things you're missing out on that can be accomplished when we gather together collectively and pray as a church. Oh, I just wonder, the things God wanted to do for us as a church, for us within the church, but we never gathered together to pray about it.

I just wonder. Maybe you're like, "I don't want them knowing my business," so you continue to pray individually. What would have happened had you brought your requests and we prayed collectively as a church? What would have happened? I wonder how many prayers would have been answered if we gathered strongly as a church. Oh, the Lord says two or three are gathered in my name, I'm in the midst. What about two or three hundred? Two or three thousand gathered in his name? I just wonder.

Look at verses 43 to 45. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as everyone had need. Now Luke tells us in verse 43 that fear came upon every soul. Why? Because the people realized that God was among them. That's why.

How could the people see this? By the godly lives that they lived. I just wonder, are people seeing this in our lives? Can they see that God is among us? The people on our job, our family members. When we gather together during holidays and family reunions, can they see that God is among us? Or are we doing everything else they're doing, talking the way they talk? There's no difference between us and them.

These early believers lived a godly life in the perverse generation they lived in, and we can only do this by the power of the Holy Spirit. Don't try to do it in your own strength, you'll fail. You'll fail. Then we see that the 3,000 souls who got saved saw a need to stay in Jerusalem to get grounded in their new faith. So the believers gathered together whatever resources they had to meet their needs. And there was a mutual sharing that they did for one another.

So koinonia extended outside of the church as well. See, these 3,000 souls from 15 different countries, they said, "Okay, now we gave our life to the Lord and was baptized, so now what?" They said, "We want to stick around and learn more." They said, "Okay." And so the people who lived in Jerusalem, they all gathered together and said, "Okay, you need a bed. Okay, you need a blanket over here. You need some bread over here." And they all gathered together and shared. So if koinonia means partnership, sharing, koinonia took place outside of the church as well. Beautiful thing took place.

Look at verses 46 and 47. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. So according to verse 46, they continued daily in the temple, or they went to the temple for the hours of prayer, being 9:00 AM, 12:00 noon, and 3:00 PM, and no doubt to share their faith.

Then they broke bread from house to house. Now, the food that they ate refers to the love feast that they had after the Lord's Supper or communion. Or they would have communion, then afterwards they would have what we call a potluck and they would eat and chow down and just hang out with each other. They did all this with gladness and, watch this next word, simplicity of heart. The Greek word for simplicity is aphielotes, and it appears only here in the New Testament.

It means free from rocks or smooth, meaning that they did these things with no stones of selfishness in their hearts. They had a smooth attitude toward the people they were breaking bread with. Seeing that the 3,000 souls, as I mentioned, were from 15 different countries according to Acts 2, verses 9 through 11, there were no, don't miss this, there were no stones of racism keeping them from having fellowship with the people from other countries. They had a smooth attitude towards one another.

I just wonder what stones or rocks of racism you have in your heart keeping you from having koinonia or fellowship with someone of another race. When was the last time you went out to lunch with someone who didn't look like you? When was the last time you invited someone over your house to eat that didn't look like you, that didn't have your culture, your background? Oh, there are many of you who have stones of racism, rocks of racism in your heart today.

I'm going to tell you right now, we have a church of over 30 different countries in attendance. That's the purpose for these flags here, representing the people who represent those countries. And if you have stones of racism in your heart, here's the thing, watch this. You're either going to come and repent, repent of that attitude, or we're going to chase you out until you beat feet and get down the street, because we ain't going to have it here.

"You mean, Pastor Tony? You mean you're going to tell people to leave the church?" You bet you got that right. Yeah, we need your seat anyway, as you can see. Yeah, I will. If you got stones of racism and mess in your heart, I'm telling you right now, either repent or beat feet. I said it. "Pastor Tony, people are trying to get folks to come to church." Yeah, people are trying to get people to come to church, but you know what? I don't want people under those circumstances.

Because I understand the Bible says a little leaven leavens the whole lump. And if I allow a little stones of racism, then pretty soon it's race all over this church. Not on my watch. Not on my watch. If you got stones of racism, I'm telling you right now, you better repent, or God is going to expose you. He's going to expose you. And see, it's easy to say, "I don't have no stones of racism in my heart."

Oh no? When was the last time you had true fellowship with someone of another race? When was the last time that you hung out with someone who didn't look like you? When was the last time you invited over, welcomed, hugged, or said, "Good to see you here at church" that didn't look like you? When was the last time? It's there. It's there. And it's either you repent of the rocks, see, you may eat your food with gladness, but you can't eat it with simplicity.

Because that word aphielotes means smooth without rocks. You eat your food with gladness, but you got rocks in your heart. You can't say, "I eat it with simplicity of heart." If that's you, you need to repent. Because remember I said that we need to be saved, that word means delivered, sozo in the Greek word. It means to be delivered. We need to be saved or delivered from this perverse generation, Peter says.

And I said if we're not saved from it, we will drown in the sea of its wickedness. And many of you, because you come pop in and out of church, you're not in church like you're supposed to be, you're drowning in the sea of the wickedness and the mess that's going on out there. And you know what happens? Just like it did in Corinth, what happens? You bring that mess inside the church. And Paul had to deal with what was going on in Corinth, how they were bringing mess inside the church. And when you bring mess in the church, I'm going to deal with it from the word. Yeah, and then if you don't want to deal with it, then I'm going to chase you away. Say, get on down the road, there's a church that looks like you that will love to have you down the road. But we got all kind of folks here. You look around, all kind of folks don't look like you. They don't look like you. Thank the Lord.

Verse 47 says that they were praising God and having favor with all the people. Their godly lives were attractive to the people around them. And so often we as Christians, we just come off strange and weird to the people around us. We use all these weird words, we got that look and that grin, and you know, and people are like, "What's wrong with them? What's up with them? They living real life?" And we just come off weird to people.

And to show you how weird we come off, just look how they depict us in movies in Hollywood as these wide-eyed pointing, and we look like buffoons. But that's how the world sees us, because many of us have been buffooning around. That's what we've been doing. And they see that, and they just say, "I don't want no parts of them."

We can't be doing that. Can't do that. So this was not the case with these believers, and God gave them favor with them. And as a result, the end of verse 47 says, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. It is God's job to build his church and not ours. You know why? Because it's not our church, it's his.

So we let him build and add to it as he sees fit. I'm so glad I don't have to build the church. In the early years when I first started the church, I thought I had to build it. And I put all the energy and you know, I was young, I was in my 20s, and so I was young. So I just thought I had to build it. But it was at the expense of me not being the best husband and not the being the best father, because I was all about building the church.

And I was fooling around, and it just not that did that didn't cut it. And the Lord said, "Okay, are you tired yet? Are you tired of trying to build my church?" "Yeah, I'm tired." And I just, you know, and I got burnt out. I remember in 2003 I was burnt out, hit the wall. Had to take some time off because I was burnt.

Guest (Male): We've been listening to Senior Pastor Tony Clark, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. For more of Pastor Tony's teachings, we invite you to visit our website, CCNewportNews.com. Until next time, we wish you God's riches.