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 9, verses 26 through 31.

Tony Clark: So we can be a Barnabas to someone every day. You don't know what people are going through. You see them on the job, you see them in life, and you don't realize they can even have a smile on their face and you don't know what they're going through. They can have a smile on their face, but as soon as you turn your head, the tears are flowing. Everyone can use an encouraging word. Everyone can use you and I coming alongside of them and being a Barnabas to them. This is what Barnabas did for Saul.

So once Barnabas brought Saul to the apostles, he told them his testimony, how the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus and how he preached boldly in the name of Jesus. They were convinced because verse 28 says that he was with them at Jerusalem coming in and going out. This is the power of a testimony.

So often what is labeled as a testimony is nothing more than ramblings about nothing, or as we used to say long years ago, test-a-lying is what it is. These are the three simple ingredients to a testimony. Number one, this was my life before Christ. Number two, Christ came into my life. And number three, this is my life now that Christ is in it. No one can deny your testimony.

When they heard Saul's testimony and they were convinced and they accepted him, he started going in and going out among them. Revelation 12:11 says a similar thing about the power of the testimony. It says that they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Meaning that these believers in the Book of Revelation gave their lives for their testimony.

In other words, by giving their testimony, they died for their faith. So practice telling your testimony. You may not have to give your life for it, but someone may give their life to Christ as a result of your testimony. So number one, this was my life before Christ. Can you please save us all the gory details? Please do.

Keep in mind Ephesians 4:29 that says let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. The Greek word for corrupt is sapros and it means rotten or spoiled or corrupt. It carries the idea of spoiled or rotten fruit or meat. In other words, in telling your testimony, don't allow spoiled, corrupted, rotten words to proceed out of your mouth.

Social media has gone viral by this woman giving her testimony, and she was fooling around with that testimony. She didn't know no better because nobody's taught her. Save all the gory details, all the mess. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may minister grace to the hearers. When we talk, when we share, it should minister grace in the ears of the people we're talking with. This is why I believe that if you are calling yourself a believer, you should not be using profanity.

If you call yourself a believer—now, if you're not a believer, then I mean you talk like you talk. But you got to ask yourself, with those words proceeding out of my mouth, would Jesus say those words? Because we're supposed to be Christians, like Christ, supposed to be. Then we won't let corrupt words proceed out of our mouth. There's some people have real potty mouths, severe potty mouths.

And the Bible says let no corrupt word. So on top of that, in giving your testimony, you don't let corrupt words, sapros, words that are spoiled, corrupt, rotten proceed out of our mouths. That's number one. Number two, you tell them the circumstances of how Christ came into your life, like Saul did in verse 27. Then number three, tell them the change that Christ has made in your life since you accepted him as your Lord and Savior. Meaning that there must be a change.

Must be a change. If you had a severe potty mouth and you accept Christ, you should not still have that potty mouth. For me, I had a severe potty mouth. And within one week, the language that I used to have was all gone. And when one of those corrupt rotten words proceeded out of my mouth, I put my hand over my mouth. I couldn't believe that came out.

There must be a change. There are many of you here and many people who are just churchgoers. You're not born again because there's no change in your life. You can't give this three-step testimony because you don't have a testimony. Because this is your life before Christ and it's still that way. You don't have step two nor step three. There's no change in your life.

You're still doing what you do, still live with your boyfriend or girlfriend. You still do your thing, still do what you do on the weekends, still fool around. But then you pop up at church whenever something's bad's happening. You're not born again. You have no testimony. This is why you can't give it, because you don't have one. But you can before the day is up.

So this is your testimony that no one can deny it, and it will have the power to convince people like Saul's testimony had on the disciples at Jerusalem. Now go out there and practice on your coworkers, families, and friends. But watch this, your words must match your life, or your testimony will lose its power to convince that God is truly in your life.

You're giving testimony that God is in your life, but when your life doesn't match up, then your testimony loses the power, the power to convince other people. It loses that. And so, what else took place? Look at verses 29 and 30. And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed among the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. And when the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus.

Now, in these verses, we see Saul was speaking boldly in the name of the Lord and disputed against the Hellenists. The Hellenists were the Greek-speaking Jews. But they attempted to kill him. Why? You remember in Acts chapter 8 when Saul launched his attack against the Christians? He started his persecution with the Hellenistic Christians. Remember Stephen as they stoned Stephen to death. Stephen was a Hellenistic Christian.

So they turned the tables and tried to kill Saul now, according to verse 29. Things had gotten so bad that the brethren found out about this plot to kill Saul, that verse 30 says that they brought him down to Caesarea, which was a seaport city on the Mediterranean Sea, and sent him home on a ship to Tarsus, where he was from.

The church soon discovered that it was almost as bad having Saul with them as against them. He stirred up a hornets' nest everywhere he went. So they decided to send him home. Get to the house, bro. You're killing us, literally almost. You got to get home. There's a valuable principle we need to learn that we see through the life of Saul. All because the Lord forgives you of your sin, it doesn't mean that people will.

People will not be so quick to forget your past, so don't be so disappointed and discouraged. And isn't it good that God isn't like man? God forgives our sins and casts them as far as the east is from the west. You've heard me mention this before. This is really good to know. I'm so glad he didn't say he threw our sins as far as the north is from the south. There's approximately 8,000 miles between the north and the south pole.

If God threw our sins as far as the north is from the south, that means that his forgiveness would have an end. But you can go infinitely east and infinitely west and the two shall not come together. And that's how far he threw our sins away from us, as far as the east is from the west. And I'm so glad that he throws our sins that far. And then the Bible says he remembers them no more.

Oh God, you remember when I did last week? And God said, "What you talking about? I've forgiven you of that. I don't know what you're talking about." He remembers them no more. See, he's not like man. "You remember what you did last week?" See, that's us. And God isn't like that. I'm so thankful. They didn't forget Saul's past and they tried to kill him.

Keep this in mind, you may tell your wonderful testimony to your coworkers and families and friends, but remember they may not be so quick to forget your past. So this means that they may need time just watching your life for a period to see if what you said Jesus did in you and for you matches your life. Sometime they need some time to watch you, especially when it comes to family.

Oh, I know you. I remember when you were little. See, that's family. Folks in the neighborhood, back on the block as we used to say in the Marine Corps. They remember you. So sometime they just need some time because if you give them your testimony, they say, "Oh boy, yeah, we remember." And you just live it in front of them for a period of time. And over time, if it's true what you said Jesus did for you, it will begin to convince them.

What happened when they sent Saul back home? They had to send him back to the house. They said, "Bro, okay, we're going to pay your fare. You need to get on that ship. We're going to get you to Caesarea and then we're going to get on that ship and you're going to go on back to the house. Go on back to Tarsus." What happened when they sent Saul back home? Look at verse 31.

Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied. Wow, the churches were edified and multiplied when they sent Saul to the house, when they got rid of Saul. We call this the blessed subtraction. He had such a heart for his Jewish people that he would later write in Romans 10 and verse 1, he would say, "My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved."

Or earlier he said, and this is a powerful verse in Romans 9 verse 3, "For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh." Do you know what he is saying? Let me bring it home for you. He is saying, "I wish that I could go to hell if it would mean that my Jewish people would be saved as a result." Wow, that blows me away.

He said, "I'm willing to go to hell itself if me going to hell would mean that my brethren, my Jewish people, would be saved." Wow, what a heart he had for his Jewish people. However, every time he tried to reach out and win them to Christ, a riot broke out and people wanted to kill him. And so they sent him home to Tarsus, which was Gentile territory, where God called him to be in the first place.

I'm sure that he was bummed out and let down and disappointed because according to Galatians 1:18, he was only in Jerusalem for 15 days. 15 days and they had to send him to the house. He was only there 15 days. They said, "Dude, you got to go. You got to go." No doubt he had time to reflect on what the Lord truly had for his life after accepting the ministry to the Gentiles.

According to Galatians 1:21, he went preaching throughout the region and the churches mentioned in Acts 15 and verse 23 is believed to have been started by Saul during this time. It is believed that he was in the region for seven to 10 years in obscurity, being refined by God. Maybe you can relate to Saul. Maybe the Lord has given you leadership abilities and you're waiting to be promoted and years have gone by and you're bummed out, let down, and discouraged.

Or maybe you're single and you're waiting on your shepherd king and years have gone by and you're bummed out and let down and discouraged. You're tired of doing what Abraham and Sarah did. You know when God told them that they were going to have a child, they took matters in their own hands and she gave Abraham Hagar and end up with Ishmael. You're tired of birthing Ishmaels. And you're like, "But when my shepherd king's going to come? God, maybe I need to help you out," and all you're doing is birthing an Ishmael.

And years have gone by and you're bummed out, let down, and discouraged. Or maybe you thought that you were tailor-made for a certain position or job and it hasn't worked out yet. They passed you over, gave it to someone else. Years have gone by. I'm here to tell you don't be disappointed nor discouraged. Look up and realize that God is refining and developing you.

So don't throw in the towel. Don't walk away. Look up and let God work and have his way in your life because this man Saul who would later turn the world upside down will become the greatest preacher of all time, later writing 13 or 14 books of our New Testament. But God had to work in him first. God had to refine him. God had to develop him. God had to show him this is the ministry that I have for you.

So let me encourage you to put your agenda aside and get alone with God and pray, "Lord, what is it that you would have me to do?" And be willing to do what the Lord will show you, even if it is doing something that doesn't fit your background, your education, nor your upbringing. And now that Saul has gone back home, the focus goes back on the original apostles, especially Peter.

So in verses 32 on down through Chapter 10, as well as Chapter 11, the focus is going to be back on Peter while Saul is back at the house and God is doing a work in them. You know, let me conclude with this. Because in this study, we saw through the life of Saul what to do when we find ourselves bummed out, let down, and discouraged in people. We must look up.

We must look to God because he has what he has for our life. He has to refine us first. He has to develop us first. There's some rough jagged edges that he has to smooth out first. There's some things, some glitches about your character. There's some things about your mouth and he has to refine and develop those things for the ministry or job or position he has for you.

He has to prepare you for that mate that you're praying for. He has to prepare you. You're not ready for them. And when God called me into the ministry, he told me that I was going to be a senior pastor of a church, but it took 10 years before that materialized. 10 years, why? Because God had to prepare me before he sent me. He had to refine me. He had to develop me, and he's still doing it.

Yes, there were times I was bummed out, I was discouraged, I was let down. I was like, "Okay, God, when is it going to be my turn?" But I had to, as it's been said for those of you who are familiar with the NBA, I had to trust the process that God was taking me through. Someone needs to hear this today. For others, the process starts when you surrender your life to Jesus Christ. Will you do that today?

And when you give your life to Christ, then you will begin to have a testimony. And your testimony will be, "This was my life before Christ." Then Christ came into it. This is my life now that Christ is in it. And there should be a difference between steps one and three. There needs to be a difference. Step one, this was my life before Christ. Step three, now that Christ is in it, this is it. One and three shouldn't be the same answer. There should be a different answer.

That's your testimony. And some of you don't have one. You don't give people your testimony because you don't have one. But you can by surrendering your life today, repenting of your sin, and accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior. And then Christ will come in. And you will say, "Okay, well what were the circumstances that Christ came into your life?"

You know, "Hey, I was at the end of my rope. I was just tired of this, that, and the other and the Lord just did, and the Lord came into my life. And now this is my life since." It's only been a few months but this is my life since. It's only been a few weeks but this is my life since. It's only been a few days but this is my life since. No matter what, there will be a difference.

Three hours, three days, three weeks, three months, three years, it doesn't matter. When God comes into your life, there will be a difference. Christianity is the God of the universe coming into our lives. Christianity is the only, if I can loosely use the term, religion where our God comes to live in us. No other religion boasts of that. Our God comes to live in us to help us become like him because he knows we can't do it on our own.

So he comes in to help us be like him. Some of you need that today. Some of you, "I'm going to come to church so I can be better." No, you don't come to church to be better. You don't. You can't do it. It's not through osmosis. It's not like you sit in your garage and you all of a sudden you become a car. You were sitting in there, now you're a car. That doesn't happen like that. Not at all.

But you can be transformed today and there's going to be some people up here available to pray with you about these things. Father, thank you so much, Lord, that you love us. You share these things with us. And Lord, I just pray, God, that you would move by your spirit. Lord, these are your people. Draw them to you. You love them. You send Jesus to die for their sin. Lord, draw them to you. Draw them to you, Lord. There's some who've backslidden who need to come back home to you. Draw them to you by your spirit, Lord. These are your people, so you do in them what you desire. 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 15553 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.