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 14, verses 17 through 18.

Tony Clark: All right, let's dive into the word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts, the book of Acts, chapter 14, as we continue our verse-by-verse study through the word of God. We're in the book of Acts on Sunday mornings, and as you know, we're in the book of Judges on Wednesdays. Going through the word of God has just been the joy of my life. It's been a great thing. There is God, there's my wife, and then there's teaching through the word, the joy of my life as well. I've got my kids, and when I say my wife, my kids too. I know you moms are like, "What about the kids and grandkids?" That's included.

Father, thank you so much that you have brought us here to hear this word. God, I pray that you would unclog our ears, unplug our ears from this world, and may we be plugged into the Spirit of God speaking to us this morning. Speak to our hearts, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Acts chapter 14, we're going to be looking at verses 17 and 18. The title of this message is "We're Only Human Part 2." In part one of this study, we saw how the people of the city of Lystra saw how God used Paul to heal a crippled man in verse eight who had never walked. They raised their voices in verse 11 and said in their own language, "The gods have come down here in the likeness of men."

We talked about the reason why they said this. It is because the legend of the city of Lystra, a story that circulated, said that the gods came down previously and the people of Lystra ignored them. So, the gods wiped out the people at that particular time. So, when they heard or saw what Paul did, how he healed that crippled man, they began to say, "The gods are here again, and we're not going to mess it up this time."

Even the priest who was in charge of the temple got involved in verse 13 and was ready to offer up sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas. However, they ran in there and tore their clothes and told them not to do such things, crying out in verse 15 to them not to do such things because they were only ordinary men just like they were. They turned their attention to God as the Creator, and Paul continues his sermon to them because we couldn't fit it all in last time. He continues his sermon in verses 17 and 18.

Look what it says there. It says, "Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. And with these things they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them." Now, in these verses, Paul is concluding his sermon to the people of Lystra with how good this Creator God has been to them.

Notice how Paul doesn't give them Old Testament scriptures, nor refer to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because these Greeks knew nothing about these people, nor did they know anything about Jewish history or laws. I bring this up because we need to follow Paul's example here. Most people today, and I hate to say this, I didn't think I would be alive to be able to say these words, but most people today here in America don't know anything about the Bible.

So, with you quoting a bunch of verses from the Old Testament and New Testament, it may not be fruitful because you will end up, and maybe you have been in these conversations, you will end up in an argument over the Bible having contradictions, it was written by man, or there are many different versions of the Bible, which one is right? Fruitless conversations because they end up in arguments like 2 Timothy 2:23 says. I quote, "But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife."

Do what Paul is doing here by talking about God as Creator and how He has blessed their lives with good, how He gave them rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness, like verse 17 says. That's something evolution could never give them. This is what theologians call common grace. It is the grace God gives all people, saved and unsaved alike.

Now, why would God give common grace to unsaved people? Because He wants to see them saved. Romans 2:4 says it is the goodness of God that leads one to repentance. And here are a couple of verses that are not on the screen for you note-takers. It says God isn't willing that any should perish but all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).

Verse 17 starts off by saying God did not leave Himself without a witness. Now, this is a reference to the time before Christ came to this earth as Savior of the world. God revealed Himself to the world and to mankind in two ways. Don't miss these points. Number one, He revealed Himself through creation. Psalm 19, verses 1 to 3, says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard."

Let's unpack these verses for a few moments here. David in this Psalm is saying that creation is speaking and it is declaring that there is a Creator. Just like every design screams that there is a designer, every painting screams that there is a painter, therefore creation is screaming that there is a Creator. God has revealed Himself in His creation.

He goes on to say, "And there is no language in the world where creation's voice is not heard." So, all of you who are so worried about the pygmies in Africa or those in Amazon jungles who have never heard of God, they have creation that is speaking to them about God the Creator. He showers them with good, rain from heaven, fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness.

However, creation doesn't let us know what this Creator is like. All creation tells us is that there is a Creator. But what is He like? Is He mean? Is He forgiving? Is He a tyrant? Creation just says that there is a Creator; it doesn't tell us what He's like. This is why we need special revelation to tell us what this Creator is like, and the special revelation is Jesus Christ.

He is that special revelation that tells us what God the Creator is like. Oh, you remember, it's not on the screen for you note-takers, you remember when Philip asked Jesus a question in John 14, verses 8 and 9. He said, "Jesus, this has been good. We've been hanging out for three and a half years. You're always talking about the Father and stuff. Just do me a favor. Why don't you show us the Father? You show us the Father and that'd be sufficient for me. I promise I'm not going to ask you anything else."

Jesus looked at Philip and said, "Philip, haven't I been with you so long? If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father." Jesus tells us what this Creator God is like: that He's a God of love, He's a forgiving God, He's a God of peace, He's a gentle God, He's a patient God, long-suffering. See, He tells us what this Creator God is like. We need special revelation through Jesus Christ to let us know what this Creator God is like.

And this is why Jesus had to come. Oh, we're going to come back to that in a minute. So, the first way that God revealed Himself before Christ came to this earth was number one, through creation. Number two, the second way that God has revealed Himself to mankind is through number two, His conscience. Romans 2:15 says that God has written the law, the Ten Commandments, on every man's conscience, accusing them or else excusing them.

Let's break down the word conscience so you can understand what it is. Conscience comes from two Latin words: 'con', which means 'with', and 'science' means 'knowledge'. So, when we sin, we do it with knowledge that what we did was right or wrong in the eyes of God. So, the conscience is the judge that stands on the courtroom of the mind, letting us know when we have violated one of the Ten Commandments.

When we lie, which is the violation of the ninth commandment, our conscience tells us that we are not right to lie in the eyes of God; what we did was wrong in the eyes of God. When we steal, the eighth commandment, the same thing; our conscience said that wasn't right what you did, you stole that. When we murder, which is the violation of the sixth commandment, our conscience said that wasn't right. And you understand, Jesus took it a step further and said you can murder a person in your heart by being angry with them to the point where you murder them in your heart.

You commit adultery, that's not right in the eyes of God. When you don't honor your parents—oh, this is a huge one today, especially with the father void that goes on today. There are many, especially in this generation, who hate the sound of 'father' because it reminds them of a father who either walked out on them or a father who was never there.

There's the father void, which is a violation of the fifth commandment. It says you shall honor your father and your mother. "He's not worthy of my honor and respect." The Bible doesn't say honor your father and mother if they're worthy of it. It doesn't say that at all because they gave you life. There's an honor that's due them because they gave you life. They're going to give an account for how they raised you and how they were there for you or wasn't there for you.

But the thing is, you're called to honor. You know what honor means? Honor is a word that means to obey and to respect. "I don't respect, you've got to earn respect." That's that today mentality. Get out of here with that. This is the generation here, and this is what they say. And it's because people are saying that in this generation because there's a father void in their lives, which is a violation of the fifth commandment. Oh, I didn't say that first service, so somebody need to hear that in here.

Somebody need to hear it, millennials. You need to hear it. Those of you who didn't have fathers in your lives, you need to hear that. Nowadays, even mothers are fooling around, not there, bringing a bunch of guys around. It's crazy, crazy, crazy world we live in. I talked about that at the end of first service, so I don't know if I'm going to get to it this time, but this nutty world we live in, it's nutty.

So, here's the thing. When we don't honor our parents, or when we covet—oh, I didn't say that. When we covet what someone has. You know what covet means? Covet means to be materialistic or to be greedy for gain. Oh, it sounds like American life, life here in America. You know, it was covet, this tenth commandment, that nailed the Apostle Paul. He said, "I have not known sin but by the law. I had not known sin unless the law says thou shalt not covet." He said it was covetousness that nailed him to be materialistic, greedy for gain.

You know, I think this is one commandment that we, especially here in America, we just go, "Ah, so what?" "Oh, I just want that house. Look at that house. I want that house. Oh, that's a bad car right there. I'm going to get me one before the year, by the year, I'm going to get me one." "Oh, I must have those pair of shoes. It's a must. I am going to get those pair. Girl, where you get those from? I want one just like it."

It's covetousness, and we think nothing of it. But it's a violation of the tenth commandment. Because the Bible says godliness with contentment is great gain. God wants us to be content with what we have. But we're never content here in America. You know why? The Bible says the eyes of man are never satisfied. "Oh, if I had them as a spouse, oh, my life would be complete." Then you get them. "Well, I kind of want them over there as a spouse, let me kick you to the curb, I'll get them over there." The eyes of man are never satisfied. Never, never.

So, these are just six of the Ten Commandments that deals with our relationship with our fellow man. What about the first four commandments that deal with our relationship with God? The first commandment says that God is to be first, that we should love God with all of our hearts, souls, mind, and strength. Is God first in your life? Now, we'll sit here and say yes, God is first, I give honor to God who's the head of my life. Cut it out. Cut it out. God is not first in your life and you know it. God isn't first.

The second commandment says no idols. No, an idol is anything or anyone we put in front of God. A relationship, a job, your children, your spouse, hobby, habit—anything or anyone we give our time, talent, and treasure to becomes a god in our lives. Oh, the third commandment says do not take the Lord's name in vain or do not take the name of Jesus, the precious name of Jesus, the name that demons tremble, the name that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess.

We take that name, the name by which we're saved—for there's salvation in no other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved—we take that name, that holy name, and bring it down to a level to describe our anger, our disgust, or our frustration. "Oh my God, Jesus Christ, God!" And we do it all the time, all the time.

I remember teaching the commandments to my children when they were little kids. And so, it was funny to see them as they were growing up and they knew about the third commandment. And they'd hear friends and classmates, "Oh my God!" They'd say "Oh my G-O-D." See, they were even afraid to say—they'd say "Oh my G-O-D" because they understood about violating the third commandment. One of the most precious things you can do for your children is teach them the Ten Commandments. It's written on their conscience already. So, if you teach them to memorize what that is on the inside that's pricking them when they do something, then when they are away from you, that conscience will deal with them.

When they violate it, it'll be like, "Oh, that's the fifth commandment Mommy and Daddy taught me. That's the sixth commandment." It'll confirm what's already on their conscience. So, don't take the Lord's name in vain. The fourth one is keep the Sabbath day holy, which means that you take at least one day a week that you set aside that you dedicate to worshipping God.

Some of you come to church once a month and you think you're having a good month. The Bible says at least take one day that you come together collectively to worship the Lord, at least one day, at least. Boy, some of you come four Sundays in a row, oh, it's revival in your house. There are people that can go months calling themselves Christians that can go months without even stepping foot in church and they think it's okay.

I was talking to somebody last Wednesday and I mentioned something about this, something about church or something, I forget what it was in a message I had mentioned. And so, she said that hit her because there's times she just say, "Ah, just going to stay at home." Oh, because I was saying that Christian TV doesn't replace church. Some of y'all think it does. "Well, I didn't go to church so I watched it on TV so that replaced church." It doesn't do that.

So, we were talking and I said, "Let me give you an example of how important church is. Several reasons I can give you, that's a whole separate message, but let me just tell you what I told her. I said let's say that you are, your gift is you're a thumb, you're a thumb here at our church." She said, "Okay, okay." I said, "Now, I can grab this towel here and if you're not here, we can get by but not like if you're here. Do you see how we can grip this thing when you're here? So, when you're fooling around doing whatever it is you do and you're not here, let's say you're the heart and you're not here, we're just looking at each other, looking around at each other. There's no life because you pump the blood through us."

"Let's say you're a ligament. You know what the purpose of a ligament? The purpose of a ligament is keep the bones from popping out of joint. Without you being here, we popping out of joint at each other, we're ready to knuckle up with each other and stuff, but you keep us in place. You're a peacemaker, you're a ligament."

See, so when you're not here, we can get by but not like if you're here. See, people don't think—and I was telling her, I said, "You know what?" I said, "And then when people were going, it was Wednesday night, so people were going out the door, I said each one of these people are important. You see, they all important here. So, do you see? If you're fooling around like, 'Ah, you know, I'm not important, they ain't going to miss me if I'm not here.' Yeah, you are important. You provide something here."

It's part of the body of Christ. That's why the church is called the body of Christ. I have no clue of what the spleen does, but I know it's something inside the body that's supposed to filter and do something. I don't know. Maybe you're a spleen, whatever that is, help filter some stuff, I don't know. But you're important. You're important.

Doctors today say we can just go take that out, you've got another spare and all this. Hey, God put all that stuff in there for a reason. Oh, because we don't quite understand it all the way. He put all that stuff in there for a reason. God knows what He's doing. You're important to the body. Don't think that if you're not here it's just no big deal. It's a big deal.

Oh, just think, now we have—I do my job and I train and that sort of thing. Hey, we can get by if I'm not here. There's folks that come up and teach and give you a good word. You'll get by, won't you? But you want me here, am I right? You don't think I want you here? Just a thought. You don't think I want you here? I look out there and I see you, and if I don't see you, then when I do see you, I'm like, "I ain't seen you in a while." Because I want you here just like you want me here.

Boy, I didn't say none of that stuff first service, so y'all getting it right now. So, these are the Ten Commandments that are written on every man's conscience. This is why Romans 1:20 says man will be without excuse when he or she stands before God. Why? Because they have the witness of creation and the witness of their conscience. Even in the jungles of South America or Africa, they know that it is wrong to steal his neighbor's axe. Why? Because "you shall not steal" is written on his conscience. "You shall not kill" is written—it doesn't matter. It's written on every man's conscience, excusing him or else accusing him.

Now that Jesus came, this is where the twist comes in. Now that Jesus came 2,000 years ago, God is now commanding all men everywhere to repent, like Acts 17:30 says, because He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world by Jesus Christ. This is why God has placed it upon different people's hearts to go around the world to tell the people in remote areas about Jesus Christ, that the Creator God who has blessed them with rain, fruitful seasons, and good has sent His only begotten Son to die for their sins.

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