1 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,119 This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark 2 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,240 Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,400 County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,720 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,110 --> 00:00:40,710 Your standard is the Holy One of Israel, the God of the universe, 6 00:00:40,710 --> 00:00:43,790 the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't compare to him, right? 7 00:00:43,790 --> 00:00:46,590 There's no way you can stand beside him and say, well, I'm 8 00:00:46,590 --> 00:00:48,390 just like him. I'm just as good as him. 9 00:00:48,390 --> 00:00:52,230 We all have fallen short of the glory of God, the Bible says. 10 00:00:52,230 --> 00:00:55,350 And then when we begin to understand and see that, all the 11 00:00:55,350 --> 00:00:58,190 sudden the light bulb goes on in our mind and we say, I need a 12 00:00:58,190 --> 00:01:00,470 savior. I can't do this myself. 13 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,879 And so, by the grace of God, we begin to be convicted, and we 14 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:07,640 ask the Lord to come into our lives and to save us and have 15 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,040 mercy upon us. When food coloring is added to a 16 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:14,400 glass of water, it becomes nearly impossible to make the 17 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:16,880 water clear again. You have to pour all the water 18 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,360 out to make it new. Today, Pastor Clark says you 19 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,280 must remember that you'll never be anything without Jesus. 20 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,200 He took all your sins to the cross. 21 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:30,360 Without Him, you are condemned to death. 22 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:34,000 But with him, you're allowed to be with him for eternity. 23 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,840 Jesus took all the sin that made you dirty to the cross. 24 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:40,520 Trust and believe that he's Lord. 25 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,120 Let him guide your life. Now. 26 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,400 Here's Pastor Clark in Revelation chapter 12 with 27 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,640 today's edition of Living Waters of Grace. 28 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:55,120 Verse 13 and 16 through 16 is discussing the issues of what's 29 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,880 going to happen in the last days, the last 3 1/2 years of 30 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,320 the Tribulation in regard to the nation of Israel. 31 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:04,520 And there's a lot of different views on Israel in these last 32 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,320 days in regard to God's plan and purpose for that nation. 33 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,800 We believe that God still has a purpose to fulfill with the 34 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:18,160 nation of Israel, and we believe that when Christ comes back and 35 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,720 the second coming, he'll establish his Kingdom for 1000 36 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:25,120 years, the millennial reign of Christ, and Christ will rule and 37 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:27,160 reign on the earth for those thousand years. 38 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,080 But there's a big attack it seems today toward the nation of 39 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:36,040 Israel, the Jews in particular, because of the anti-Semitic 40 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,880 tendencies of all the nations of the earth. 41 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,560 Israel is the most hated country in the world today. 42 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:46,960 More countries are focused on the destruction of Israel today 43 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:51,920 more so than ever before. And we know that the evil one 44 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:56,040 has worked since the beginning and the garden to try to stamp 45 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,800 out the seed that was to come of the Lord Jesus Christ and to 46 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:04,280 prevent him from fulfilling his his desire and his goal to come 47 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,040 and die on behalf of the human race, the sins of the world. 48 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,880 We also know that the Jews have been attacked throughout the 49 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:16,080 church history and in modern times as well with the abuses of 50 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:20,160 Adolf Hitler and what he did to that nation and to the people. 51 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:24,640 And the Antichrist is going to be even more hateful and 52 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:27,480 vindictive and destructive toward this nation. 53 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,560 And even Adolf Hitler, the dragon was enraged. 54 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,440 The dragon is the Antichrist with the woman. 55 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:38,200 The woman is the allegory, the picture of the nation of Israel. 56 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,280 And he went to make war with the rest of her offspring. 57 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,800 That's all the descendants, believing and unbelieving 58 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,200 descendants that are still alive during this time of the 59 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:51,720 tribulation. And he's going to keep who keep 60 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,720 the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 61 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,400 So primarily the remnant, all those who are going to come to 62 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:02,080 know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord during this tribulation. 63 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,920 There's going to be a lot of people who who get saved during 64 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,960 this time. And the devil hates Christ. 65 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:09,800 He hates people who follow Christ. 66 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,520 And so his whole goal and desire is to completely exterminate the 67 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,800 the nation of Israel. It can't happen because God is 68 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:20,640 watching over that nation. It's impossible for that nation 69 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:25,040 to be destroyed, but it will be suffering a lot of difficulty as 70 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,560 we move toward the final 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation. 71 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:35,320 Now, this plan that God has for the nation of Israel has been 72 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:39,000 centered in the person of Jesus Christ before the foundation of 73 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,680 the earth. The Bible tells us that Jesus is 74 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,200 a lamb that was slain before the foundation of the earth. 75 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:50,080 It's just incredible, the plan of God when you think about it. 76 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,240 God knew that when He created us, we would fall. 77 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,800 He knew that His Son would be the Redeemer and that he would 78 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,280 come and become one of us in the likeness of our flesh, being 79 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:06,800 fully God and fully human and taking upon himself the sins of 80 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,200 the world, dying on behalf of those who put their faith and 81 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,880 trust in Jesus Christ. So God has always worked with a 82 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:15,760 remnant since the beginning of time. 83 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:18,800 Today, if you're here and you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you 84 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,960 can be really excited that you're part of the remnant, 85 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,200 you're part of the plan of God before the foundation of the 86 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,280 earth. The Bible tells us that Paul the 87 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:30,720 apostle who abused Christians for a great many years in his 88 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,040 life before he had his Damascus Rd. experience. 89 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:38,280 It's interesting, the Bible said that this man was chosen before 90 00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:41,400 the foundation of the world in his mother's womb to be 91 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:45,280 separated to be an apostle. But all those years he was this 92 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,040 vindictive and hateful toward, you know, anybody that would 93 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,320 proclaim the truth of the Messiah and Jesus Christ. 94 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,360 And so God has always worked through a remnant to accomplish 95 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:57,360 his purposes. Way back in the Old Testament, 96 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:02,480 he started with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all their 97 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:04,800 descendants. It said through this seed, the 98 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:09,080 seed that came through that race and that particular people 99 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:13,080 group, God said through them all the nations of the earth shall 100 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,600 be blessed. And so we want to look a little 101 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:19,280 bit about Israel today, just so we're on the same page, so to 102 00:06:19,280 --> 00:06:21,800 speak, as to what we believe is a church. 103 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:25,360 And I'd like you to flip over to Romans Chapter 9, verse 27, 104 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,120 Romans Chapter 9, verse 27. And today we're going to 105 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,200 highlight God's plan for this, this small little part of the 106 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,880 world over there, this nation called Israel and God's 107 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:37,840 intentions for it in the days ahead. 108 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,560 This is Isaiah crying out concerning Israel. 109 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:44,080 Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet who was given the 110 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:47,520 anointing of God to speak forth to the nation regarding the 111 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:49,520 purposes of God in the last days. 112 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:53,600 And it says through the number of the children of Israel, 113 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,320 although they be as a sand of the sea, the remnant will be 114 00:06:57,320 --> 00:06:59,440 saved. So all the millions upon 115 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:01,880 millions upon millions of people who have ever lived. 116 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:07,880 God has a specific number of people, the remnant in Israel 117 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:12,120 that will be saved for he will finish the work and cut it short 118 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:16,400 in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work upon 119 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:19,720 the earth. As Isaiah said before, unless 120 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,360 the Lord of the Sabbath had left us a seed, we would have become 121 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,440 like Sodom and we would have been made like Gomorrah. 122 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:31,080 So the the understanding that if God didn't do this by His mercy 123 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,760 for these people, every one of them would have been destroyed. 124 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:37,800 They admitted that they would have gone the way of Sodom and 125 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:42,360 Gomorrah, but the Lord in His mercy didn't leave them without 126 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,640 a seed. And what shall we say then? 127 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,360 That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained the 128 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:50,640 righteousness, even the righteousness of faith. 129 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,640 But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained 130 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:56,200 the law of righteousness. Why? 131 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:00,040 Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the 132 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,080 works of the law. For they stumbled at the 133 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,880 stumbling stone as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion, 134 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:08,680 a stumbling stone, a rock of offense. 135 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:12,760 And whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. 136 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:16,360 So Jesus, when he came, remember, he said I've come to 137 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,080 my own and my own receive me, not they. 138 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:23,640 They didn't recognize him as a Messiah and God at that time 139 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,640 wasn't put off in the sense, well, forget Israel, you know, 140 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:28,360 I'll find another group of people. 141 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,640 I'll work with the Gentiles and basically Israel's going to be 142 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:33,960 destroyed. God just set them aside for a 143 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,080 period of time because of the hardness of their heart. 144 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,120 And if you study throughout the Old Testament, Israel has been 145 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:44,039 hard hearted and stiff necked throughout biblical history, 146 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,560 whenever God brought him through the flood with Moses and 147 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:49,680 delivered them from the bondage of Pharaoh in Egypt. 148 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:53,560 I mean, these people saw miracles, exciting things. 149 00:08:53,560 --> 00:08:56,680 I mean they visibly saw the power of God and they get 150 00:08:56,680 --> 00:08:59,560 through it and, and things begin to get a little bit difficult. 151 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:02,720 They don't like the way things are going and they complain and 152 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,080 they say they were better off before they were delivered. 153 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:08,440 They were better off back in Egypt and Moses having to deal 154 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:12,480 with these stiff necked people. This is as pastors have to deal 155 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:14,400 with stiff neck people, you guys stiff neck. 156 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:17,160 But it's just the way it is since the beginning of time. 157 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:19,680 And you can't look at Israel and say, boy, those people real 158 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:22,200 fools. And they were like, you know, we 159 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,560 all have a tendency at times to like have 4 heads of bronze. 160 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:28,120 We want it our way. And we're not going to listen to 161 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:29,760 God even though we know we should. 162 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:31,640 And we know he loves us and he blesses us. 163 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:35,200 And still at times we demand and want our own way. 164 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,720 So that that's not, that's not a healthy thing, obviously. 165 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:45,040 But God in his mercy began to work with the Gentiles, the 166 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,400 mercy of God, when Israel decided that they don't think 167 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,440 that Jesus is a Messiah. Jesus didn't stop his plan of 168 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,640 redemption just because the lack the nation of Israel turned 169 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,400 their back on Him. He opened this wonderful plan up 170 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:01,360 to every human being. There's no distinction between 171 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:05,480 Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male or female, bond or slave. 172 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:08,040 We've all been made to drink together the same spiritual 173 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:13,960 drink, which is Jesus Christ. So aren't you glad that God had 174 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:15,840 another plan? He just didn't finish it and 175 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:17,960 say, well, my own people don't want me. 176 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:20,720 So that's it. I'll just ZAP myself up to 177 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:25,040 heaven and destroy the earth. No, God had a heart and has a 178 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:28,560 heart for everybody, every race, every people group. 179 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:31,000 But he has a distinct plan for Israel. 180 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,040 Now Israel, if you, if you study in the Old Testament, they were 181 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:37,600 given the law, the law, the 10 commandments, the Torah, the 182 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:41,280 first five books of the Bible put down to show us the holiness 183 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:46,040 of God, that no man, no matter how much he tries, could ever 184 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:50,760 attain to perfection and being accepted by God by obeying the 185 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:52,920 law because we all have broken it, right. 186 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:56,800 We've all broken the law. But Jews have to this day, 187 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,960 especially those who are still practicing, think somehow they 188 00:10:59,960 --> 00:11:03,320 can attain to their own righteousness by fulfilling all 189 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,600 those mandates of, of, of the Torah, the law. 190 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:10,480 And it's, it's very, very intense if you study all the 191 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:12,200 details of what's expected of them. 192 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,320 I mean, there's no way anybody could fulfill that. 193 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:17,960 And God knew that we couldn't, and that's why He sent his Son 194 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,560 to fulfill the law for us. He's the only one that lived a 195 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:26,040 perfect life that before the Father on our behalf could say 196 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,000 he never sinned. Of course, He's God in the 197 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,600 flesh, impossible to sin, and He took upon himself the sin that 198 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,920 you and I deserve, stood in our place as a perfect sacrifice, a 199 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:38,720 perfect Lamb of God. That's what John the Baptist 200 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,240 said when he saw and behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the 201 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,720 sins of the world. Up until that point, the Old 202 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:46,560 Testament sacrifices couldn't do it. 203 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,200 The high priest in the Day of Atonement could not do it. 204 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,400 It was all temporal picture of the picture of Christ the 205 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:56,640 Messiah who was to come. And so the Jews to this day 206 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,880 though the self righteousness of thinking somehow and even 207 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:03,320 Gentiles, a lot of people in the world today think that they can 208 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:05,640 be accepted by God because they live a good life. 209 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:08,880 I talk to people all the time about their souls and they'll 210 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:10,640 say, well, I'm pretty good. I'm not too bad. 211 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:12,040 Well, pretty good and not too bad. 212 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:15,360 According to who? According to me, if I'm your 213 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:17,400 standard, yeah, you're probably better than me. 214 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:20,840 But if your standard is the Holy one of Israel, the God of the 215 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:24,440 universe, the Lord Jesus Christ, you can't compare to him, right? 216 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,200 There's no way you can stand beside him and say, well, I'm 217 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:28,960 just like him. I'm just as good as him. 218 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,680 We all have fallen short of the glory of God, the Bible says. 219 00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:35,680 And then when we begin to understand and see that, all of 220 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:38,480 a sudden the light bulb goes on in our mind and we say, I need a 221 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:42,800 Savior, I can't do this myself. And so by the grace of God, we 222 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,840 begin to be convicted and we ask the Lord to come into our lives 223 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:48,560 and to save us and have mercy upon us. 224 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:52,040 Now if you flip over to Galatians chapter 3, this is the 225 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:57,320 issue of the problem in regard to the idea that man can somehow 226 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:02,120 attain his own righteousness by fulfilling the works of the law. 227 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,080 This is Galatians chapter 3 verse one. 228 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:09,880 It says oh foolish Galatians and God could speak to us this 229 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:13,040 morning and say oh foolish Calvary Chapel people, who has 230 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:15,640 bewitched you or deceived you that you should not obey the 231 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,400 truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed 232 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,720 among you as crucified. This only I want to learn from 233 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:24,520 you. Did you receive the Spirit by 234 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,360 the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? 235 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:33,120 Big question there. Did you receive the Spirit, the 236 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:37,200 Holy Spirit, by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? 237 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:41,120 Paul tells us faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word 238 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:44,920 of God. He tells us it's by grace. 239 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,600 We've been saved through faith, and this is not of ourselves. 240 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,200 It's a gift of God, right? Not of work. 241 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,240 So none of us can boast. So the answer to the question 242 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:59,400 obviously would be if we're really tracking with what Paul's 243 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,960 teaching here is it I received the Spirit of God. 244 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:08,440 I received salvation, I received the person of Jesus Christ by 245 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,600 the word of God and by hearing the word of God. 246 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:16,360 And faith was given to me by God by his grace and not by anything 247 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,440 that I could ever have done on my own. 248 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:22,080 He says, are you so foolish in verse 3, having begun in the 249 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:24,960 Spirit, you're now being made perfect by the flesh. 250 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:29,760 When you begin to see God's plan, it takes pressure off 251 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,880 because you're thinking, who am I to try to impress God in my 252 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:40,160 own ability or your ability? The only person that impresses 253 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:46,200 God is his Son. That's the only one that could 254 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,240 redeem us. Now we want to live in the 255 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:52,360 likeness of his Son, to hear well done, good and faithful 256 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:55,880 servant, which Paul says is the least we can do after all that 257 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:58,560 Christ has done for us. But it's all of Christ, right? 258 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,040 It's all of grace. It's all of what he's done, His 259 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:03,320 mercy. And so when I look at the 260 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:07,200 Christian life and I'm endeavoring to live a holy life 261 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,960 and to live pleasing before the Lord, I don't do this by my own 262 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:14,520 works of righteousness, my promises to God, or I'll try 263 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:16,760 better, or I'll do this because we all fail. 264 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:22,320 I live for God when I'm thinking clearly by the power of the Holy 265 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,120 Spirit. And you do too, Christ in you 266 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:29,880 the hope of glory, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, 267 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:31,760 saith the Lord of hosts. And what happens to us in our 268 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:34,760 Christian lives? We get so weighed down at times 269 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:38,080 and we like all I'm just not passionate about the Lord 270 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,000 anymore and I don't want to read his word and, and I don't, you 271 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:43,560 know, I don't, I, I know I should be involved or plugged in 272 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,480 and serve and whatever, but I just don't have the energy and 273 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:48,600 I'm lukewarm and I'm backslidden. 274 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:50,840 And we, we make all these excuses of God and God's like, 275 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:53,800 but what's your problem? I mean, you know, what do you 276 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:55,240 expect? You think you're going to do 277 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,640 something? No, it's through the power of 278 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:02,400 the Spirit, by faith. And so we ask God to do for us, 279 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:06,360 in US, through us, what there's no way we could do ourselves. 280 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:11,200 That's why Paul said be filled with the Spirit, walk in the 281 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:13,600 Spirit. It's a command. 282 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:18,280 Be energized in your daily life by the Spirit, because what the 283 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:21,600 flesh profits nothing. Have you tried to prop up your 284 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:25,760 humanness, your your fleshly abilities to try to do something 285 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,200 for God? It doesn't work man. 286 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,640 And it's something we all have to fight against every day of 287 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:35,920 our life because it's just, it's just, it seems like it's endemic 288 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:40,160 in human nature to somehow want to justify itself by its 289 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:44,360 so-called self righteousness. You know when someone criticizes 290 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,640 you for something or they make a statement to you about 291 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:49,360 something, some failing in your life or weakness, are you 292 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,360 insulted? And your ire goes up and you 293 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:56,040 think, well, who are they to tell me about whatever self 294 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,440 righteousness because you're wanting to prove to someone else 295 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:02,560 that you're better than you really are, instead of just 296 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:04,160 saying, hey, you're, you're right. 297 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:06,280 I'm even worse than that. That's freeing, you know? 298 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:11,040 And then say, but pray for me so that God can work in me, so that 299 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:15,480 I can be what He's intended in me to be, not by my own 300 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,480 abilities, but by the work of the Holy Spirit in and through 301 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:20,280 my life. And so he says in verse 4, Have 302 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,520 you suffered so many things in vain? 303 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:26,599 If indeed it was vain, Therefore he who supplies a spirit to you 304 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:30,440 and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of 305 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:32,240 the law, or by the hearing of faith? 306 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,160 Question again, just as Abraham believed God and it was 307 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,560 accounted to him for righteousness, therefore know 308 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:42,560 that only those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham. 309 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:45,520 So when you look at all the Jews who have ever lived throughout 310 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:49,080 the course of history, those who are part of the remnant in the 311 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:52,440 Old Testament and the New Testament, who have believed in 312 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:56,160 the Messiah to come by faith, are justified. 313 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:01,080 Abraham for sure never proved to you or me by his life that he 314 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,120 was perfect, nor did he ever make a statement that he was 315 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:09,240 accepted to God, accepted by God because of what he's done, but 316 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:12,520 because of what Christ has done. And he's noted in the book of 317 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:16,760 Hebrews as the father of faith. And so it says the Scripture 318 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:20,040 foretelling that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, 319 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:24,000 preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand, before Christ was 320 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:28,000 even born, saying in you all the nations shall be blessed. 321 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:30,800 So Abraham's out there that night, and God gives him a 322 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:34,400 vision, shows him the stars, and it says as as the stars in this 323 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:40,520 heaven, and as the grains of sand in the sea, so shall be my 324 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:44,360 descendants, those who believe in that Messiah. 325 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:49,120 This is Abraham has. And so the Scriptures for seeing 326 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:52,280 this would justify the Gentiles by faith. 327 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:55,800 Preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, in you all 328 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:59,520 the nation shall be blessed. So then those who are of faith 329 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:03,520 are blessed with believing Abraham, there's only one way to 330 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:07,960 get to heaven. And Jesus said you must be born 331 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:11,440 again If you flip over to John chapter 3. 332 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:14,840 For some of us, it seems somewhat elementary, but if 333 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,920 you're dragging around your human carcass trying to live the 334 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,120 Christian life, you need to be reminded, as I did, that you and 335 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:25,800 I, if we're Christians today, didn't get here by something we 336 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,200 worked up in ourselves. It was a miracle. 337 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,280 And if you remember back when the Holy Spirit came into you 338 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:34,480 and you were born again, wasn't life exciting the Christian 339 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:36,520 life? Wasn't it exhilarating, huh? 340 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:39,480 I mean, you just couldn't wait to tell people about what the 341 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,960 Lord's done for you. You were yakking and blabbing 342 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,560 and wanting to grab everybody and take him into heaven. 343 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:48,120 And then what happens so many months or years later? 344 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:50,600 You're. Oh, yeah, the good old days when 345 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,480 I was born again. I remember that I was really on 346 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:55,800 fire. And boy, I wish I could go back 347 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:58,440 to those days. Well, you can go back to those 348 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:02,760 days, get rid of trying to do it in the flesh and ask the Holy 349 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,440 Spirit to fill you again and control you and empower you. 350 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,480 And when the. Spirit empowers us. 351 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:11,120 Life gets thrilling again and exciting. 352 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:13,640 And I can talk about this by experience. 353 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:18,480 I got saved when I was 20 and long, long pilgrimage of ups and 354 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,400 downs and walking in my own humanness and my weakness and my 355 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,880 flesh. And I'm learning, as you know, 356 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:29,480 as I go on a little more every day, to really believe it when 357 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,560 the Lord says it's not by Mike Clark, not by your human 358 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:36,000 ability, it's not by your power, it's not by your intentions, 359 00:20:36,120 --> 00:20:39,280 it's not by your obsessive compulsive behavior, it's not by 360 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:42,360 anything but by my spirit, saith the Lord. 361 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,320 And it takes the pressure off me guy, and you guys too. 362 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,600 I mean, if you're here today and you know, you know that it's 363 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:53,480 been a long time since you've drunk from that fountain of life 364 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:55,000 that brings living water to your soul. 365 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,040 It's here today. He's here, It's him, He's 366 00:20:58,040 --> 00:20:59,840 available. And all you got to do is say, 367 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:02,600 Lord, I've been trying to do this myself again, and I'm 368 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:04,160 giving up. And the Lord's not going to say, 369 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:05,480 what do you mean you're giving up? 370 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:07,440 You can't give up. I'm depending on you. 371 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:09,720 I need you got the Lord's a good. 372 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,000 Now I can take over. Yeah, well, now we can begin to 373 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,800 get some things accomplished because I'm in charge, not you. 374 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:19,720 So Jesus says you must be born again. 375 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:23,480 He's speaking to this guy in verse one Pharisee name 376 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:27,720 Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. And the man comes to Jesus by 377 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:29,720 night. And this is a Jewish leader. 378 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:34,360 He's A and he's a servant in the in the fair recidical movement. 379 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:37,200 And he addresses Jesus as rabbi teacher. 380 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:40,520 We know that you're a teacher coming from God, for no one can 381 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:43,000 do these things that you do unless God is with him. 382 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:47,000 And Jesus answered him and said, most assuredly, I say to you, 383 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:50,960 unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. 384 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:54,960 He wasn't talking to him about obeying the law and fulfilling, 385 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,760 fulfilling the law. He was talking to him about 386 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,360 something he never heard in his life before. 387 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:03,880 He said, and Nicodemus says to him, how can a man be born when 388 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,440 he is old? Can he enter a second time into 389 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:08,560 his mother's wombs and womb and be born? 390 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,960 And Jesus answered most assuredly I say to you, unless 391 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:15,600 one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the 392 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,560 Kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is 393 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:21,440 flesh, and that which is born a spirit is spirit. 394 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,400 Do not marvel that I say to you, you must be born again. 395 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,360 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, 396 00:22:28,360 --> 00:22:31,200 but cannot tell where it comes from, where it goes. 397 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,920 So is everyone who is born of the spirit. 398 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:37,080 And Nicodemus answered and said, How can these things be? 399 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,680 And Jesus answered to him and said to him, are you the teacher 400 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:43,000 of Israel and you do not know these things? 401 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,680 Isn't that interesting? The blind leading the blind? 402 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,240 How many churches a day on a Sunday throughout the earth are 403 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:51,880 trying to tell the people they got to get better, they got to 404 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,880 work harder, they got to do this and they got to do that and 405 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,120 they're condemned and they're beaten down and they're walking 406 00:22:57,120 --> 00:22:59,360 out, man, I got to do, I'm such a loss. 407 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:02,200 I just can't do it. And instead of the shepherds 408 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,960 taking the load off and Jesus said my yoke is easy and my 409 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,920 burden is light right coming learn to me all you that labour 410 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,560 and are heavy laden. I'm that isn't my guilt trip. 411 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:15,240 That isn't what I'm giving you. Learn of me, for my yoke is easy 412 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:20,000 and my burden is light. And Jesus is saying you're a 413 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:21,880 teacher of Israel and you don't know these things. 414 00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:25,640 Most surely I say to you, we speak what we know and we 415 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:29,720 testify what we've seen, and you do not receive our witness. 416 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,360 And there's a struggle in society and Christian society 417 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:37,200 today of a group of people that believe in works righteousness 418 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,360 and a group of people that believe in grace. 419 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:43,680 And Paul couldn't have gone any clearer in Ephesians 289. 420 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:47,720 For by grace you've been saved right through faith, and this is 421 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:52,520 not of yourselves. It's what a gift of God, not of 422 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,400 works, lest any man should boast. 423 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,800 Thanks for being with us today here on Living Waters of Grace. 424 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,440 We are in the Book of Revelation and we find it fascinating how 425 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:09,080 influential and involved the angels are in this book. 426 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:13,640 They bring about whatever it is that God has instructed them to 427 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:17,000 do, but it's through their actions that much of the 428 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,920 judgements come on the earth. The angels are in submission to 429 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:25,000 God as their authority, but He utilizes them in unique ways 430 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,440 throughout this book. Like angels have a specific 431 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,120 purpose from God, you have a unique purpose and plan to. 432 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,360 God wants to use you in your life as a testimony to others 433 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,840 and to bring others who are currently lost into the fold of 434 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,480 God. God would love more than 435 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,920 anything for all who are willing to come to Him for salvation, 436 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:50,440 but He wants it to be their choice, not a forced situation. 437 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,320 This is the way God works, not forcing himself on anyone, but 438 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:59,480 giving each person free will. If you're interested in learning 439 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,480 about this choice that's free and that it's a gift, go to 440 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:08,560 calvarychapelonline.com and click on the About Us tab and 441 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,240 then find the link for what we believe. 442 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,960 We'd love to be a help and a resource for you as you walk 443 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,040 through what it means to be a follower of Jesus. 444 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:22,040 If you find the contact tab on our website, you can get in 445 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,800 touch with us or submit a prayer request. 446 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,680 We'd love to hear from you. That's all for today's edition 447 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,600 in Revelation, but there's much more that Pastor Clark plans to 448 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:36,040 share with us from this culminating book of the Bible. 449 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,200 Stay tuned for that and make sure to mention this radio 450 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,800 program to others. Invite them to tune in to Grace 451 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:50,080 FM 91.7 FM and they can stream worldwide at Grace Radio dot FM. 452 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,360 This has been living waters of Grace.