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 through the book of Romans. Please open your Bible to Romans Chapter 1, verse 1.

Tony Clark: Let me give an example of myself. I was called when I was in the Marine Corps. When my four years was up, my calling changed. I was called to be at the cable company, and I was a witness in the Marine Corps. I was a witness at the cable company. Did my calling change again? Yes. I was called to come on and be a full-time assistant pastor.

My calling changed, but no matter where I was called, I was a witness wherever I was called. That’s the point. Yes, our calling can change, but until it does, you be the best witness in the military, the best witness being a teacher in the school, a professor in the college, or a carpenter. You be the best witness you can be.

Also, this is a danger too. Let us not fall into the trap of thinking that everyone should have our calling. That’s where a lot of people get that twisted. Yes, we’re all called to be a witness for Jesus Christ, but God calls us individually, personally, and uniquely. And He uses our hurts, our experiences, our education, and our backgrounds to equip us to do what He has specifically called us to do.

For example, David was watching sheep, and God called him to shepherd His people, Israel. Peter, James, and John were fishermen, and God made them fishers of men. Do what is set before you now and do it for the glory of God. If it is no longer fruitful, then you move on until you find your niche in God’s kingdom. You’re uniquely made to do a work for God. You’re not just here to be an earthling and take up space and wreck-reation you call recreation. You’re uniquely made by God. Find your niche in the body of Christ.

Notice what else Paul said: that he was separated to the gospel of God. The Greek word for separated is aphorizō, and it means to set apart, to separate, or watch this, I like this third definition: to sever. To sever. Now, when was Paul separated unto the gospel? I want you to catch this: when he was ministering to the Lord. Worshipping, praising, studying, and honoring Him in thanksgiving.

Then Acts 13:2 says, "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, 'Separate unto Me Barnabas and Saul for the work which I have called them.'" See, there is a huge difference between ministering for the Lord and ministering to the Lord. Ministering to the Lord is more important than ministering for the Lord. God is more concerned with the minister than the ministry.

He cares about you as an individual and what you do for Him. He cares about you as a person. And people get this mixed up. It was when Paul was ministering to the Lord that God called him now to minister to people. And what I find simply remarkable is the time God really called him. According to Galatians 1:15, Paul said, "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace..."

Wait a minute. We thought that God called Paul on the road to Damascus in Acts Chapter 9. Yes, that is when God called him to salvation, but God really called Paul as soon as he was born. This is key here. The Lord told the prophet Jeremiah a similar thing. In Jeremiah 1:5, He said, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified and set you apart. I ordained you a prophet to the nations."

So while Paul was persecuting the church, killing and arresting Christians as a prideful religious leader, God was preparing him to be a trophy of His grace and the greatest Christian in the history of Christianity. Because people throughout the ages are able to say, "If You saved Paul, You can save me." Never think that someone is beyond God’s saving. Never think someone is too far gone before God can get a hold of them.

If He has to knock them off their high horse like He did Paul, He will do it. Don’t say that person is beyond God reaching them. May God help them, but they can be reached. Don’t ever count anyone out. All of us who are saved are trophies of His grace. He got all of our attention. Look at and evaluate the circumstances and the situation by which He brought you out. Like a brand plucked from the fire, as Zechariah 3:2 says, He plucked you from the fire, from the fire of Hell itself, and saved you.

No one is beyond God’s reaching. That rebellious adult child, that boss, no one is beyond God reaching them. So don’t ever say someone is beyond God’s reach. Everyone can be a case for grace, and we have to understand that. Now, why did I bring all of this up? Because as parents, our children have destinies and things God has planned for their lives, like Paul and Jeremiah.

And it is our job—don’t miss this—not so much to mold them, but to unfold them. Yes, we have expectations and feelings and desires for our children, but wise is the mother and father that constantly prays, "Lord, show me the way You have wired my child here," like Proverbs 22:6 says, "and help me to lead them in that direction." Not mold them into our image. Let me let that sit in for a minute.

Especially for those who have children with similar gifts as ours. It’s so easy for us to mold our children into our image and not unfold them to the image that God has made them for. And it’s very easy to do that, and we have to be mindful of that. Because it is so easy to do, especially when that child has a similar personality, similar gifts, or similar talents that you have.

It’s so easy to gravitate towards them and cause friction in the family with the children because now you’re molding that child maybe to win some pageant that you couldn’t win, or to put some ball in the hoop and go down the road a little bit farther than you went. And it’s so easy to do it. And we have to make sure that we become wise parents, that we don’t mold them, but we unfold them and allow them room for God to work in them. Allow them room for them to figure things out, to try to figure out how God wired them, how God made them, and you just unfold them.

No one in my family, including me, saw me being here right now. No one. However, my parents knew to take me to church. They knew that because they went to church. They took me to church, and so because of that church environment, I was able to be unfolded to do what I’m doing today. All that parents leaving children at home while you go to church, let me tell you something: shame on you for that. Shame on you if you’re sitting here and the kid is laid up with their feet up to the sky, still in the bed, and you come home and say, "Baby, you want some breakfast?"

Are you kidding me? Shame on you if you’re doing that. What I mean is if they’re living in your house. Now if they are out of your house, that’s on them. They’re paying their own bills, that’s on them. But if they’re living under your house, under your roof, and you’re here and they’re at home, shame on you for that. Because our job as parents—and we’re going to give an account to how we were and how we are as parents—our job is to unfold them in the direction that’s going to help them fulfill the destiny God has for them.

Be very mindful of that. So Paul was separated to what? Notice: to the gospel of God. The Greek word for gospel is euangelion, and it is used 60 times in the book of Romans alone. And it is translated as good news or glad tidings. It is truly good news that God would deliver us from our selfish sin, free us from the burden of our guilt, and give us meaning to life and make that life more abundant.

I loved how Paul told us in the very first verse that it is the gospel of God. This was so important to make clear to those living in the city of Rome because the word euangelion was used in the cult of emperor worship, meaning the Caesars claimed to be gods and demanded to be worshipped. So the messages from these emperors were considered good news.

So Paul is saying, "No, the true good news is from God." He is the only source of good news. Keep in mind that the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news and not just good advice. See, here is the problem with Christianity today, especially here in America. Many pastors and authors and speakers have reduced Christianity to good advice.

And many of the top Christian books, if you go online—I used to be able to say if you go to a bookstore, but what’s that? I remember when I first started the church, I always wanted to have a bookstore. And we’ve had little book tables and little book things. I said, "I can’t wait for us to get to a facility where we can have a bookstore." Life changed all that.

So now if you go online or Amazon, look up on Amazon or Kindle, whatever it is that y’all read today, many of the top Christian books today are geared towards child-rearing, financial planning, marriage, or counseling. Yes, the Bible covers these topics, but the Bible is about Jesus Christ. It’s about how He came to this earth to die for our sin. All of these topics are dealt with when we deal with our sin.

This is what we fail to see. So now authors and pastors are too busy giving good advice and writing about good advice, and they have forgotten that this story in this Bible is the good news about how God was merciful upon us, sent His Son to come to this earth, put on human flesh, and to die for our sin. That’s what it’s about.

But now the books are—and you get the top ten books and the best-selling books—it’s all about just giving you some good advice on how to raise your children, and it doesn’t even tell you, "You need to deal with your sin first." And so now this is what Christianity has been reduced to. Just look. You can even Google top ten books in Christianity, and I guarantee they will all fall into one of those four categories. All of them.

See, marriage problems are selfish, prideful issues, which are sinful. We’re trying to do marriage our way and not God’s way. Financial issues are from a lack of tithing and sinful, selfish spending. Simple as that. We’re raising children on how we were raised instead of God’s way. Let’s deal with the root, which is sin, and the fruit will be totally different.

Our problems are sinful problems. We’re living together without being married. No one even bats an eye at that anymore. We’re playing house. We’re calling each other husband and wife and you haven’t walked down no aisle and said "I do" to nothing. But "my husband" and "my wife." And you think that if you just take your little sinful life and add a little more Jesus to it, things will be different.

I’m here to tell you, no. It is the gospel of God, and we must do things God’s way to have God’s blessing on whatever we’re trying to do. We have something so much better than just good advice. We have good news that God sent His Son to this earth to save or rescue us from our sins. He came to give us life. Zoë is the Greek word. It’s not just a quantity of life; it’s a quality of life.

Never lose sight of why we’re here. Never lose sight of why we were given this book. Not so we can just read it to look for cute answers or good advice. This book is about how a loving God sent His only begotten Son to die for us. That’s what this book is about. Oh, we can get some good advice along with it, but let’s not lose sight of the purpose. This is the purpose.

And so often we lose sight of that. And I’m here to get us back calibrated of why we’re even here. Who enabled us to be here? Because someone gave us the gospel of God, and we repented and believed, and this is why we’re here. Let’s not lose fact. Don’t just read this book to try to find you some answers on how to deal with your problem.

Look through this book; it’s a mirror to show us that we’re sinful people in need of a savior. And God sent that savior, Jesus Christ, to this world to die for us. And we’re just living life like we want to live it. And we think if we add just a little Jesus to it, a little church, that everything is going to be alright. And that is the biggest lie. That’s not it. We’re being conformed to the image of Christ. That’s what we’re doing.

We’re worshipping and praising the God who sent His Son to die for us during our musical time of worship, because we know worship is a lifestyle. Then we sit and learn some more about this same God who sent His Son to die for us. In this message, "You Are Uniquely Made," we saw how Paul told the believers of Rome that he was first a bondslave for Jesus Christ.

And all of us are either slaves of Christ or slaves of sin. Whose slave are you today? Commit your life to Jesus Christ. Give your will wholly to His will, and watch and see how your life has purpose and meaning. And He will also reveal to you, "This is what I created you to do from the foundations of the world."

I had other plans for my life. And I’m sure as I was making those plans as a young teenager, God was in Heaven just smiling and said, "He has no clue." No, I didn’t. But I’m thankful that He called me and saved me. As I was hitting baseballs over fences and putting basketballs in hoops and exercising my intellect, God was preparing me. And I had no clue.

As a little boy, He was preparing me to do what I’m doing today. I wasn’t one of those little kids that had a little suit on trying to get up in the pulpit to preach. I was a hell-bound young person doing what I did. I was just out there crazy. When I became a teenager, I was crazy out there, and God was preparing me. Paul also told them that he was called to be an apostle, and we’re called to whatever it is God has us presently doing. So do that thing to the glory of God. Whatever it is you’re called to right now.