This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
continues teaching through God's Word.
There's a high calling for the believer, isn't there?
There's a high calling for the Church of Jesus Christ.
And we need to do the things that the Bible declares to us to
do. We can't just say, well, that's
like radical Christianity or that's fanatical Christianity.
I can just sort of do my thing and go my own way and do what I
feel like doing. And it's no problem because God
loves me. And I prayed a prayer, and I
know I'm saved. And you know what Jesus says, If
you love me, you'll keep my word.
In an obstacle course, there are several challenges that you're
expected to push yourself through to make it to the end.
American Ninja Warrior is a great example.
These challenging obstacles are meant to push you to your limit
and for you to prove you can conquer the challenge through
strength, grit, and determination.
Now think of your Christian walk.
There are many challenges and obstacles to overcome.
Pastor Clark teaches on how God gives you his Word, His Spirit,
and the mental determination to overcome.
Now here's Pastor Clark in John chapter 15 with today's edition
of Living Waters of Grace. God has a special feeling for
his elect or his bride today. If you're a Christian here and
you believe in Jesus Christ and you've been born of the Spirit,
be grateful because it isn't anything you did, is it?
Jesus says you have not chosen me.
What's he say? But I have chosen you and have
ordained you that you should go forth and bear much fruit.
And so we have this situation here that God is speaking to
this church in Philadelphia about these problematic people
here who are causing them all this problem.
One more thing, I want you to look at Galatians chapter 3.
It's important to have this stuff down in the sense of your
own understanding of how God sees Israel, how he works with
Israel today, how he still desires to have the nation come
to recognize that Jesus is a Messiah.
But I'll tell you, all those Jews over there that are still
without Christ, they're all bound for hell if they don't
come to Christ, right? There's no special dispensation
just because they've been born in Jerusalem and they're part of
the nation of Israel. They have to come through the
same bloodline that you and I have come through as Gentiles
through the blood of Jesus Christ.
That's the only way someone can become born into the family of
God. It says in Galatians chapter 3
verse 5. Therefore he who supplies a
spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith?
Just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for
righteousness. Therefore know that only those
who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the
Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand,
saying, in you all the nations shall be blessed.
So then, so then those who are of faith are blessed with
believing Abraham. Some people ask questions, well,
what happened about the people in the Old Testament?
How did they get saved? They got saved the same way you
and I got saved by faith in Jesus Christ, faith in the
Messiah. It was to come.
The promise was there way back in the Garden of Eden, wasn't
it? When God said to Adam and Eve
that there will be a seed that will come that will bruise the
heal of Satan. And that seed is Jesus Christ
himself, the the victor, the overcomer, the one who will come
and save his people from their sins.
So when you look at the judgment seat of Christ or the great
White Throne judgment, let's think about that.
That's the judgment of those who are either in Christ or out of
Christ. The the book will be open, the
book of life. Whosoever's name is not found
written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be cast into the lake
of fire. How does your name get written
in that book? Being a good person, taking
little ladies across the street, not stealing too much, not
lusting too much, not hating too much, being better than
everybody else makes you qualified and acceptable to
enter into God's perfect Kingdom.
No, for all of sin and fallen sure of the glory of God,
there's none righteous. No, not 1.
So it's a judgment. Some people say, well, who's
going to be there? The Catholics will say if you're
really a strong Catholic and you believe in the things before
Vatican 2, you're going to say anybody that isn't Catholic is
what anathema. The church is the institution of
salvation. If you're not in the Catholic
Church, you're doom, right? Some Baptist Church will say,
well, if you're not a Baptist and you're not baptized, you're
not going to get to heaven. The Presbyterians forget it.
The Lutherans are Methodists are not going to make it.
You got to be a Baptist, a Bible thumping, believe in Baptist.
No long hair, no blue jeans, no rock music.
You got to be a Baptist. I was a Baptist for Ross.
I know what that's all about. Some Orthodox will say, well, if
you're not part of the true one Holy Catholic Apostolic Church,
you're not going to enter into the Kingdom of heaven because
there's salvation only through the Orthodox Church.
Well, show me where that is in the Scriptures.
Now, if you make up a tradition that's independent of the
Scriptures or on par with the Scripture, you can basically say
whatever you want, right? And the people figure, well, I
guess you're the expert, you're the trained seminarian, you're
the doctor of theology or the priest or the Pope or the
pastor. You guess you know what's going
on. I guess we just got to believe
what you say. I have a dear Orthodox friend,
82 years old. I love hanging out with him
because he doesn't see any of it that way.
He says Clark, at the judgment, there's only going to be
believers and unbelievers. There's not going to be Jews
there, or Gentiles or Orthodox or Catholic, is there?
There's going to be sheep and goat believers or unbelievers.
God's not going to look down and say, well, you're a Baptist.
I got a special room for you up here.
You come up here, you Presbyterians are way back
there, you Methodist. This didn't make it.
Sorry, not going to be that way. If your name is written in the
Lamb's Book of Life, you're going to be there and it'll be
wonderful because you will have people who were Catholic there.
You will have people who are Orthodox there.
You will have people, believe it or not, that Raven Calvary
Chapel people be there. And you will have the Baptist
there too, because it's so wonderful.
I love what it says in the Scriptures.
There's neither Jew nor Gentile bond.
They're free, male or female, but we've all been made together
to drink of that same spiritual drink, which is Christ and Him
alone. So the Jews at this particular
time were the principal persecutors of Christians, and
they came from the synagogue's. They were the Sanhedrins, and
the Sanhedrins were those who supported the Court of the House
of Israel. They were the experts in the law
and the spiritual dealings of the church.
This was the same group that conspired against Christ to have
Him crucified. They paid off Judas.
They also ordered the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr in the
New Testament, the book of the Acts.
It's, it's amazing how when you study history, if you guys have
studied it, it's appalling to see what Rome did to the Eastern
Church. The martyrdom.
If you're not Catholic, we're going to kill you.
And even in the sense of the Reformation, what unfortunately
John Calvin did to those who didn't believe in infant
baptism, this has nothing to do with Christianity, does it?
Jesus says by this sheep, people will know you're my disciples by
the love you have for one another.
And in verse 9, the justice of God, he's reminding this Church
of the persecution, the trials, everything they're going
through. Don't worry, one day these
people who are your persecutors will worship before your feet.
They're not going to worship you, but they're going to be
humbled to realize that you will be sitting with Christ on His
throne and seen as overcomers. That we'll get into that later
on in verse 21. I love what it says in
Philippians 210. It says that the name of Jesus,
every knee shall bow of those in heaven and those on earth and of
those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
All the enemies of God, all the people who have persecuted
believers, all those who have worked against the Kingdom of
God, the atheists, the agnostics, the role of Islam.
Who would think that we are heretics because we believe in a
triune God? One God manifests in three
persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Jesus said in John 1723 That the world may know that you have
sent me and have loved them. That's referring to us as you've
loved me. One day we will have our reward.
The Bride of Christ will no longer be stepped upon and spit
upon. There'll be no more martyrdom,
There'll be no more abuse. There'll be no more persecution.
There'll be no more imprisonments for the Bride of
Christ. But there'll be worship.
And all those at that time who were our enemies will have to
bow down. And at that time it'll be too
late, and they'll confess with their mouth on their knees that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father and the
tragedy. Then the book is open.
Whosoever's name is not found, written into the Lamb's book of
life is cast into the lake of fire.
Depart from me. You cursed.
I never knew you. And so Jesus tells them though
he's going to keep them from the hour of trial.
In verse 10, First Thessalonians 59 says, for God did not appoint
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus
Christ. We see this as we interpret this
and there's some other opinions on this, but I'll tell you what
we feel about this or what we believe.
We believe in a pre tribulation rapture.
We believe that Christ will not bring judgment upon his bride.
There's no reason why he would do that.
See the judgment and revelation that's poured out.
The bowls of wrath are to be poured out upon the ungodly, not
upon the godly, not upon the remnant or the elect of the
Bride of Christ. And so we believe that Christ
will come and take us out of this world prior to the wrath of
God coming out upon the earth. Now, some people wonder, well,
when will that be? You know, like if I was living
in China right now or Afghanistan or Sudan, I would
think I'm in the tribulation right now.
Why am I still here? Why am I being persecuted?
Why? I can't guarantee you and the
scriptures don't guarantee you that you won't have some trials
in this life. Things could get worse in this
country and we're all standing around like, when's he coming?
I thought I'd be out of here before this happened.
If I'm in a jail cell someday, I'm going to be thinking that
that I misinterpret the Scripture.
But Christ, only the Father, he says, knows the time of his
coming. But the fact is that Jesus
promises them that he will keep them from the hour of trial.
And this is the global crisis. This is a little problem here in
Philadelphia at the time. This is a worldwide future
tribulation that will come about come upon the whole earth and he
promises to keep us. I believe and we believe as a
fellowship of churches. The bride will be removed from
the earth prior to this severe trial.
And so he encourages them in verse 11 to hold fast what you
have that no one may take your crown.
He talks about he who overcomes I will make him a pillar in the
temple of my God. The importance of overcoming you
know the the big problem in modern day Christianity.
There is no concept of denying self or sacrifice, is there?
Laying down your life for the sake of others.
There's no concept Because of the easy believism and the false
gospel that's being proclaimed in so many churches.
You don't hear the idea of working out your salvation with
fear and trembling. If any man will follow me, let
him deny himself. Take up his cross daily and
follow me. If you want to find your life,
you have to lose it. For my sake.
Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity. I beseech you, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. And be not conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you
may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of
God. There's a high calling for the
believer, isn't there? There's a high calling for the
Church of Jesus Christ, and we need to do the things that the
Bible declares to us to do. We can't just say, well, that's
like radical Christianity, that's fanatical Christianity.
I can just sort of do my thing and go my own way and do what I
feel like doing and it's no problem because God loves me.
And I prayed a prayer and I know I'm saved.
And you know what Jesus says if you love me, you'll keep my
word. There's nothing ever written in
the Bible where Jesus says if you love me, you'll do what you
want to do. If you love me this.
No, don't be serious about this. I understand you, you, you sort
of want to do your own thing. Lots of times it's OK with me.
Have a nice life. He says if you love me, keep my
command. And so the importance of
overcoming. We believe that a true Christian
is an overcomer, someone who doesn't want to sin, someone who
doesn't want to disobey God, someone who wants to follow him
and to learn to love him with all their heart, with all their
soul, with all their mind and all their strength.
A true Christian is someone who hates what God hates and loves
what God loves, right? A true Christian is someone that
doesn't want to have anything to do with the world system, the
ungodly world system. Guys, I don't know how many of
you here are involved with the world, but if you're involved
with the world and you say you're a Christian, get out of
it now before it's too late. Repent while you have a chance
because there's going to be people to judgment.
It's going to say, I believe that and Jesus is going to say,
depart from you, curse that I never knew you.
And and this is the preachers. They're like, why cast out
demons? Your name?
I preach this, I did this, I did that, right?
It's shocking. And he says, depart from you,
curse that I never knew you. That's why it says judgment has
to begin first with us, with the House of God.
And there's been too much watered down Christianity being
taught by men in the pulpit. And men in the pulpit are going
to be judged more severely, the Bible says, than anyone else
because they're leading the people astray.
So he encourages them in verse 11, hold fast through the trials
and the persecutions. Verse 12, be an overcomer.
And you know, Jesus is really interested in the fact that we
stand. Be like my kids.
I don't know about you guys, but there was times I was really
embarrassed about their behavior and there was times I was very,
very proud about their behavior. Not in a product.
My I got great kids. No, when I saw them doing what
God wanted them to do, when I saw them doing what God didn't
want them to do, it was embarrassing and heartbreaking
and difficult and trying. But when I saw them endeavor to
please God and do what he wants them to do, it was exciting.
One of the most exciting times was when my daughter was wayward
and, and she was really out there in the world and, and God
broke her and broke her and broke her and finally, you know,
she just yielded and she and she was willing to go do ADTS at a
youth with a mission base. And I remember flying out with
her and she's smoking a couple packs of cigarettes a day prior
to getting there. And she knew that no smoking in
the boot camp in the base. So she got the patch.
We went to the supermarket and got the patch, you know, and
walking around and everybody knew what the patch was.
You know, she had a short sleeve shirt.
A pastor's daughter and pastor sometimes have the worst kids
for whatever reason they do. It's just like the devil says,
man, that's like really make these kids messed up so that the
pastors will quit or whatever. But God worked in her heart and
whenever she began to learn to walk with the Lord and obey him
and, and to this day, she's this way now she wants his will.
She wants to honor him. I'm so excited to introduce my
daughter as a child of God, someone who loves the Lord and
wants to follow him and wants to train her children up in her
husband and the way the Lord right.
The Bible says no greater joy than I have right than to see my
children walk in the truth. There's Krish, daughter and
perspective son-in-law. Both strong Christians love the
Lord and want to serve the Lord with all their heart.
No greater joy, right? I know you guys, Ron's son Josh,
he has a heart that want to be a pastor someday.
No greater joy guys, huh? And to see your children walking
the truth and that's the way it is with the Lord when we stand
someday before him. You know, he wants to brag on
us. He wants to point out, as all
the masses are there, this is my son Clark.
This is what he once was, but this is what I made him into.
This is my daughter Julie. This is what she once was.
This is what I've made her into. It says that in the ages that
come, he might show His glory revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
It says, for we are his workmanship, right, created in
Christ Jesus. And it says He's conforming us
to the image of His Son, all of us, making us a little bit more
like Jesus Christ every day. It's not how you start guys that
matters. It's how you finish.
Are you going to remain firm to the end?
It says in the last days there will be a great falling away.
I'm seeing it already happened. I'm seeing people that I know
and I love that once we're radically in love with God and
on fire that no longer follow Him anymore.
It's happening as we speak. We are in the last days, but we
must remain firm to the end. The admonition in Revelation and
Hebrews to the believer is that you hold fast and at the end he
says there's going to be 3 inscriptions or rewards that are
going to be placed on us. The first one he says he's going
to write the name of God on us. I will write on him the name of
my God. I love how Dave Venucci prays if
you ever heard him pray. My God, my God, my Father God,
my God. He is our God, isn't he?
My God is going to write his name on me.
Your God is going to write his name on you, and then he's going
to write this city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes
down out of heaven from my God again.
The new Jerusalem, the city of God, we'll get into that later
as we go through this book and then he says my new name and 73
we'll get to that later too. The late later.
The Angel is expressing concern that the judgments not begin
while we have sealed the servants until we have sealed
the servants of God on their foreheads.
It's a beautiful picture that the angels focused on all these
things being done and accomplished and that the true
bride, the believer, is sealed with the name of God and then
we're protected and taken out from this horrendous judgment is
going to come on the earth. The unbeliever will be signing
up standing in line to get the mark of the beast on their
forehead to be able to buy and sell and to do commerce.
I don't know if it's going to be some kind of chip or some kind
of identification mark. They can scan people now with
implants. It's real easy.
You know, you go through the, the, the, the check out and the,
you'll, you'll just put your, your, and they'll automatically
debit it out of your account and, and then you'll move on.
But if you put your wrist there and, and there's no number there
that will identify that you're part of this Antichrist
movement, the alarms will go off and you'll be arrested and and
put in prison. You know, it's not too long
before these things are going to come come to pass.
The technology is already there and it says it in 14 one, that
the Father's name will be written on our foreheads and
will be seen everywhere by everyone as God's possession.
The seal, the mark of his ownership.
And the New Jerusalem is a seal of the heavenly citizenship that
you and I, we belong to a Kingdom that's not of this
world, who's builder and maker is God.
Now, some people believe that the Church of Philadelphia and
all these churches represent certain churches in time and
history. And we, we break these things
out in a more contemporary way too, that this church is seen by
many as a church at the time of the Great Awakening started
around 1793. The prophetical aspect or the
futuristic approach of what this church represents in our day and
age. And that's in the days of Wesley
and Whitfield's preaching at Edward and Moody in the 18th and
19th century, the beginning of an evangelistic explosion around
the earth, right, Because because of Rome held the church
in captive, right. For a long time, people didn't
have Bibles. They couldn't read their Bibles.
There wasn't the opportunity to go out and do anything because
if you did you, you would be looked upon as a heretic.
You would be many times martyred.
Martin Luther got tired of the rules and he started being
challenged. He said, you know, no matter how
much I try, I still see my wickedness in me.
I'm a religious person, but I'm dead.
I'm depraved. I have sinned.
I have bad thoughts. You know, this doesn't make
sense to me, that I'm supposed to be a child of God, and yet I
feel like a child of the devil. He was a tormented man, and so
he started reading the book of Romans.
And as he read the book of Romans, he had an epiphany when
he came upon that verse that the just shall live by faith.
Justification is by faith alone, by grace alone and Christ alone.
And no magisterium, no church, no tradition of man can bring
salvation. It's a gift of God.
We are digging into the Book of Revelation here on Living Waters
of Grace. Pastor Clark is tackling this
challenging book as we try to discern the messages that are
within its pages. There's so much imagery, and at
times you're not always sure what's literal and what's
metaphorical. At one point, there's a
reference to an adulterous woman riding on a beast.
And as someone else mentioned, at one point it almost sounds
like a rodeo from hell. And in actuality it kind of is.
You learn about the downfall and demise of a sinful and
rebellious world, falling down in worship to someone who is the
anti hero, the enemy, Satan working his insidious ways into
the minds of fallen people. It's sad and it's heartbreaking,
but it's a classic story of good versus evil.
Thankfully, we know how this story ends.
Jesus wins, Jesus reigns, and evil is conquered once and for
all. We pray and trust you've
received Jesus as your Savior. But if you haven't, don't wait
until the events and revelation become what's happening on the
streets. None of us wants you to be there
at that time. Instead, we'd love for you to be
with us in heaven as we celebrate the marriage supper
with Jesus as his bridegroom. To get a better understanding of
where we are in the Book of Revelation, to listen to any
messages before or after this one, you can find them at our
website, calvarychapelonline.com.
That's it for today's edition, but we hope you'll want to hear
Pastor Clark teach more from the Book of Revelation.
It can be exciting to think about the future for believers,
but it can feel a bit harrowing for those who don't believe.
Come here more next time on Living Waters of Grace.