This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
Waffer, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, County
of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
continues teaching through God's Word.
Christ's blood transforms us, doesn't it?
It changes us. And if you're still the same and
you haven't changed and something's wrong, either you
haven't really been converted yet and you haven't really
repented, and you haven't been born again yet and you haven't
been saved. Or you have had some bad
teaching and you understand all the promises that are yours in
Christ Jesus. But Christ himself, He's the one
that has loved you and has washed you from your sins in his
blood. A Caterpillar goes into its
cocoon as a crawling insect. Over the course of time, it goes
through a transformative process and emerges as a new creation
that we know as a butterfly. The butterfly not only looks
different, but it also acts differently than it did when it
was a Caterpillar. Today, Pastor Clark reminds us
that we are called as believers to change the things we do, the
way we think, and the way we talk with others.
Once we are in Christ, it's not by our power, but by the blood
of Jesus that this is accomplished.
Now here's Pastor Clark in the Book of Revelation chapter one
with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace.
You look at someone, you say, boy, you know, they seem to have
a servant heart. They care about people more than
they care about themselves. But don't give that person the
credit. Give Jesus a credit.
He's the one through his blood that's done that in that
person's heart. The person used to flip out and
say all kind of angry things and had a temper that was always
unruly and volatile. The person's life changes and
now they're peaceful. They don't respond the same way.
Why? Because of the blood of Jesus,
the man or woman or teenager that used to find their kicks on
pornographic imagery and sexual immorality and fornication and
all the evil things that we're all capable of and many of us
have committed. The blood washes us and frees us
from lustful passions. The focus isn't upon you or me
anymore of what I can get out of life or what's best for me, but
what can I do to give my life away for the sake of Christ and
the sake of others? Christ's blood transforms us,
doesn't it? It changes us.
And if you're still the same and you haven't changed and
something's wrong, either you haven't really been converted
yet and you haven't really repented, and you haven't been
born again yet and you haven't been saved, or you have had some
bad teaching and you understand all the promises that are yours
in Christ Jesus. But Christ himself, He's the one
that has loved you and has washed you from your sins in His
blood. I remember that old song.
Would you be free from your burden of sin?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood.
Would you do service for Jesus your king?
There's wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder, working power in the precious
blood of the lamb. There is.
There's power, wonder, working power in the blood of the lamb.
Really, really powerful guys. In verse 6 it says, and he's
made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him be glory
and dominion forever and ever, Amen.
Do you know today that we are kings and priests of the most
high God? And He's made us this way so
that you can represent Him to others, so that they can come
and get healing from their brokenness and their ruined
lives. That people you run into who
know they're sick and need a physician will come to you to
find out about the Savior so He can cleanse them and heal them
and deliver them and save them, just like He's saved and healed
and delivered you. Amen.
The function of the priestly office in the Old Testament was
a mediator role where the Old Testament Jews had to deal with
a priest who went in and made intercession for them and made
atonement on the ark for their sins.
In Hebrews chapter 10/19, though, it says now we having
boldness, brethren, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living
way which he's consecrated through the veil, that is to say
his flesh, we can enter in boldly by the blood of Jesus
that we may find mercy and grace and help in our time of need.
I like to pray for you guys and I like you to pray for me too.
And sometimes can someone asks, can you pray for me?
Or I'll pray for you and you pray for me and that's
important. We're told to do that
biblically, but getting deeper into it, you have access this
like I do this like all those people we read about in the
Scriptures that we are blown away at their testimonies in
their lives. Sometimes we think, man, if Paul
was here, if I could just get him to pray for me, there would
be a lot of wonderful things that would occur.
And the Bible tells us the prayers of a righteous person do
avail much. But the importance of
understanding that you yourself and your weakness and your sin
can go right to the throne of God and walk in and he's he
knows who you are and you don't have to jump through any hoops.
You don't have to go through any man, any priest, any authority.
You can have access directly to the throne room of God that you
may find mercy and grace and help in your time of need.
It tells us in first Peter 29, You are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you
may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. You guys know that about
yourselves. You're a chosen generation,
you're a royal priesthood. God has such pleasure in
ordaining you and me for these kingly and priestly positions in
his Kingdom. That's every one of us.
And you might say, well, I don't feel too worthy to be a king or
a priest, not based on your worthiness, guys.
It's based on His gift and His love for you that he's poured
this out because he loves you and every one of us from the
youngest one here who's in Christ, to the oldest one here
who's in Christ, are all priests and kings of the Most High God.
So think about that the next time God's called you to do
something. Don't think you're unworthy.
Don't think you're unable or too low of a lower than scump on
some of us call ourselves. Don't think that way.
Realize, hey, in spite of the wacky person I am and the stupid
things I've done, the mistakes I've made, and the things I may
be going through now, God hasn't stripped me of this royalty that
I belong to him and He belongs to me.
And so we serve based upon the authority that he gives us, not
on any human authority or not any human pointing out and
saying, well, I think you're worthy and you're not.
No, it's not about what man sees.
It's about what God sees, right? He sees your heart.
He knows all about you, and he's called you a chosen generation
or royal priesthood, a special people.
Remind yourselves of that whenever you feel condemned,
whenever you feel unloved, when you feel you failed to speak
that verse. Satan, you're a liar.
God has called me a chosen generation.
God has called me a member of his royal priesthood.
I'm part of a holy nation. I'm special and you are too,
right? Satan, get thee behind me.
Amen. Don't listen to the lies of your
conscience at times and the voice of the Evil 1 and the
demonic activity that's surrounding this world that will
try to give you lies. You know the devil wants you to
feel so down and so defeated and so unworthy in the sense of not
being able to do anything for the Kingdom because of your past
or what you've done, Paul said. Forget the past, forget the
things which are behind, and press toward the mark of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
See, the devil wants you to feel that way so that you never do
anything for the Kingdom, because you're thinking somehow
you got to find some kind of worth in yourself.
And then if you find it or you achieve it, then you think,
well, now I'm ready. And God says no.
All of our righteousness is like filthy rags.
He doesn't want your goodness in your promises, in your
righteousness. He wants the person of Christ
who's in you to serve through you.
And that's the big difference between religion and
relationship. The resurrection of Christ, he
says in John 2017. I'm ascending to my father and
your father, to my God and your God.
I love the fact that Christ is our example, even though he's
God in the flesh, the mystery of the Trinity, God the Father, God
the Son, God the Holy Spirit, there's order and Christ as he
was living as a man on the earth being fully God showed us how to
communicate with God, how to worship the Father, how to seek
the will of the Father. Jesus said my will is to always
do the will of the Father and it says after he's made us these
wonderful individuals, kings and priests to his God capital H
Christ is referring to the Father being his Father as well.
To him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
The importance of understanding God's glory, His control and his
dominion, not for a little while, not for a period of time
in history, but forever and ever.
Amen. It tells us that same in Jude 25
to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty,
dominion and power, both now and forever.
Again, the picture of the triune God.
This is a doxology we're reading here in Revelation.
There's seven doxologies to the glory of God in the Book of
Revelation. This is the first one, chapter
4, verse 9. It says glory and honor and
thanks. 411 power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessing. That's a sevenfold blessing,
Chapter 513. Blessing and glory and wisdom
and Thanksgiving, honor, power and might.
That's another sevenfold blessing, Chapter 7, verse 12,
salvation and glory, honor and power.
I mean, I just love this book because it continually lifts up
Christ. Christ is a center of everything
that we come together each week to celebrate and to worship and
to learn from and to look to. And verse 7 he says, behold, He
is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who
pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because
of him. Even so, Amen.
Christ is going to be coming and the second coming in the clouds.
The Bible tells us that everyone will have the capacity to see
Him. We know now with Internet and
GPS and this technology, you better believe with all the
satellites and the capability we have in the universe now for
such a time as this, it will truly be possible for every eye
to see. I mean, what's cool is when he
comes back, you're not going to be sitting around.
Why? Hey man, look at that.
Isn't that cool? We're going to be coming back
with him because this is after the Tribulation and we aren't in
the tribulation. We're with the Lord and the
Kingdom. So he's coming with clouds at
the end of the seven-year tribulation.
And this is the great theme of the book that's referred to in
Daniel as the end of the 70 week period of Daniel, which refers
to this tribulation. And today the human race is
either looking forward to this return of Christ or they're
doing everything they can to fight against it from occurring
references given to this Daniel Chapter 7, verse 13 and 14.
This is prophetical from the book of Daniel.
And this is what he says. I saw in the night visions.
Is he having a vision? And behold, one like the Son of
Man, came with clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days,
and they brought him near before him, and there was given him
dominion and glory, and a Kingdom that all people and
nations and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass
away, and His Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Picturing the millennial reign and millennial Kingdom of our
Savior Jesus Christ talked about way back in Daniel.
Daniel 927 speaks to the final seven years when the Antichrist
makes a treaty with Israel and breaks it after 3 1/2 years and
persecutes Israel till he's destroyed by Christ at the
battle of Armageddon. This is referred to in Matthew
2415, Revelation chapter 11-2 and three, Revelation 12/6 and
14, and Revelation 13 verse 5. Everything's going to look real
great the 1st 3 1/2 years. Peace, prosperity, economic
growth, everything perfect like Nirvana.
Finally, peace on earth, goodwill toward men, counterfeit
peace, a counterfeit throne, one who sets himself up as God, the
abomination of desolation, the Antichrist who will sit himself
in that temple and proclaim himself to be God.
At the end of the first 3 1/2 years, the promises that he made
to Israel to deceive them will be broken.
And you think the Holocaust was bad?
It's going to make the Holocaust look like nothing.
The horror that's going to come across and upon this nation of
Israel at that time. But thank God, Jesus Christ will
come back and put things under His authority and His control.
If you read the Matthews, flip over to Matthew just for a
second. Matthew 24 verse 29 and 30.
This gives you more context here about what's going on.
It says immediately after the tribulation of those days, the
sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.
The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens
will be shaken. Then the sun of the Son of Man
will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will
mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory. 2531 to slip over. 1
chapter. When the Son of Man comes in His
glory and all the holy angels with him, then He will sit on
the throne of His glory, and he'll obviously at that time
establish His Kingdom in Jerusalem.
He will rule and reign there literally for 1000 years.
It says that even those who were responsible for crucifying him.
Of course, that's all of us, but the Jews in particular.
It says in the book of the Acts that you know the the travesty
of the injustice of what happened to Christ.
Even though it was a sovereign decree of God, and God said that
Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the earth, it
didn't prevent the responsibility and the judgment
upon those who took Him. It says by their own evil hands
and purposed in their own evil hearts to crucify Him, the Lord
of glory. But this is what will happen to
those who are on the face of the earth at this time that have
heard the history and they've heard the preaching during the
tribulation. Many have heard the preaching
before the tribulation, but they never came to Christ.
So they weren't raptured out. They weren't taken out prior to
the bowls of wrath of God being poured out upon the earth.
It says, And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,
and they shall mourn for Him as one who mourns for his only son.
That's from Zechariah chapter 1210.
You can compare it out to Revelation 17 and Zechariah 13.
Six. It says, And one shall say to
him, What are these wounds on your hands?
He shall answer those with which I was wounded in the House of my
friends. The Bible says He came to his
own, and his own received him not.
How heartbreaking that is. And here in this beautiful
prophecy of Zechariah, when they'll see him and they'll talk
to him and they'll say, where did these wounds come from in
your hands? And Jesus will answer and say,
these are which I was wounded in the House of my friends.
He calls his enemies his friends.
He will slay the armies of Antichrist when he comes back
that are gathered in Palestine at Armageddon, and we'll get to
that in Revelation 1911 through 22, chapter 20, verse 2.
The wailing, the crying that will occur whenever Christ does
come back is a wailing that was going on for the remnant of
Israel and the Gentiles who turned to Christ during the
Tribulation. There will be people who will
get saved during the Tribulation.
If you don't have Christ, I would not wait till that time to
come to Christ because most people will not come to Christ.
I'll take the mark of the beast and become his enemies forever.
But there will be some during that time.
Even though it'll cost them their lives and they'll be
martyred and some will flee to the mountains and the hills to
hide. They'll be believers during that
time and the cry will be overwhelming because of the long
term blindness of all these people that now they'll see
their own sins in light of the cross and they'll see him whom
they've crucified by their sinful lives.
What a time of brokenness and Jesus concludes his section will
end up here today. He says I am the Alpha in verse
8 in the Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord who
is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. 1A and
Omega, the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet.
Here Christ is declaring that He is the very start and the very
conclusion of every matter, That everything that in this life and
in this world that makes eternal sense starts with Christ and
ends with Christ and everything in between with Christ.
He is a Alpha and Omega, the 1st and the last, the beginning and
the end and who is and who was and who is to come to self
existent, all everlasting Savior Jesus Christ.
No beginning, no end, one with the Father, one with the Spirit.
Christ wasn't created. He always existed with the
Father and with the Spirit. And he declares this about
himself. And verse 8.
And as you guys study ahead, I'd study the rest of this chapter.
I'd like you to take particular note to verse 17 and think about
this in your own day, when you will stand before the Lord and
give an account of your life. What will your physical posture
be when you enter into that throne room and give an account
of your life for the things you've done in your body,
whether they be good or evil? The judgment seat of Christ, not
the great white throne judgment that is set aside for
unbelievers and those who reject Christ at that judgment.
The book of life is open, and whoever is not found written in
the Lamb's book of life will be cast into the lake of fire.
But the judgment seat of Christ is the judgment for believers,
where our works will be tried and tested, whether they were
done with pure motives for the glory of God or to what we do on
this earth in the name of Jesus. Want to draw attention to
ourselves, our own vain glory, our own pride, or all be tested
and all the excuses we had while we were on earth will all burn
up because they won't be excuses anymore.
They'll just be seen as lies and cop outs.
But this is the posture of the apostle John and he's definitely
a devoted follower of Christ. The apostle John, if he's like
this, I'm thinking what am I going to be like?
He says. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet is dead. But he laid his right hand on
me, saying to me, do not be afraid.
I am the 1st and the last. I am he who lives and was dead.
And behold, I am alive forevermore.
Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and
death. So as we study this book, it's
just wow, you know, I mean, what can you say with this?
My prayer for us as a church is that this is a purifying
teaching. And as we think about the return
of Christ, whether it is in the rapture for us or the second
coming of Christ for those who won't get saved until the
tribulation, it says every man that hath this hope in himself,
in regard to this blessed hope, purifieth himself even as he is
pure. These are the days, guys, to
repent. These are the days to set your
house in order, your marriages in order, your responsibilities
and raising your children, your priorities and how you do your
job and how you testify of your faith in your neighborhood, your
community. This is not a game.
This is like real life here, right?
What he's teaching us. And so I pray that even during
the study, there might be some here that realize they've never
come to Christ and they don't want to be left behind.
They don't want to have to face the difficulty of the
tribulation. You don't want to be here when
the tribulation starts. Paul says today is the day of
salvation. Don't sit here and think, well,
let me think about this. Maybe next week or next month or
down the road. Today is the day of salvation.
If the Holy Spirit is imploring you in your heart to come to
Christ today, I'd encourage you to pray and just say I need
Jesus. Help me.
Show me how I can be saved. If you're here as a Christian
and you're backslidden and you've been taking it lightly
and you've been pretending, but you're really not living the way
God wants you to live, I'd ask you to come down after the
service and just get on your face before God and clean things
up with him today through the power of his blood.
We want to go through this book not as students of information.
We want to go through this book as disciples of transformation,
that each of our lives will change to become more like Jesus
as we study this book together. In the Book of Revelation,
Pastor Clark is taking us through all kinds of events and
happenings that are predicted for the future.
But for those who believe and follow Jesus, there's much to
look forward to in heaven with Jesus.
However, for those who are here on earth during the Tribulation,
there's all kinds of chaos that will unfold.
The Bible talks about an Antichrist, a false prophet, and
of course that evil enemy, Satan.
Do you see how there are such clever attempts for the enemy to
disguise himself as God and even the Trinity?
The true Savior of the world is God and how he comes to rescue
through his triune nature, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and
God the Holy Spirit. But like Satan tried to take
over for God in heaven and was cast out, Satan will try to
convince people on earth that he is the triune God to be
worshipped instead of the legitimate God in heaven.
It's an attempt, and although he will capture plenty in his
schemes, he will not win. The true God wins, and
Revelation unpacks how that will all happen in detail.
Be encouraged because there's a way out for all of this madness
that will ensue on this earth. But you don't want to wait
indefinitely to make that decision about Jesus.
We don't know when the church will be raptured, and you want
to be ready to be with Jesus. To learn more about this, head
over to calvarychapelonline.com. We're so glad you've been with
us today. And if you'd like to connect
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Be sure to join us for weekly services at 400 E Pittsburgh St.
Ste. 6B in Greensburg, PA 15601. This has been living waters of
grace.