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 --> 00:00:12,680 Waffer, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, County 3 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,400 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 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:39,800 In the church, as elders, we pray and say, Lord, what about 6 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:41,320 this? What do you think we should do? 7 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:44,520 And we talk and we listen and we listen to different 8 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:46,920 perspectives. And we, we wait and we pray. 9 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,440 And many times when we pray, we're really not sure 10 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:51,000 immediately what we should do, right? 11 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:53,280 So we wait on the Lord. There's no hurry to make any 12 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,240 decision until there's consensus in what it is in the mind of the 13 00:00:57,240 --> 00:00:59,640 Lord. You want the mind of the Lord 14 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,840 right? In regard to decisions. 15 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:06,760 You definitely want the mind of the Lord in regard to His will 16 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,160 for the Church. Seeking God's will is like 17 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:12,560 waiting for dawn. Trusting the light will 18 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:16,520 breakthrough in time. In today's message, Pastor Clark 19 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,520 reveals how you should pause and pray before big decisions, 20 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:23,480 ensuring you align with God's plan. 21 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:28,200 You might fast or seek agreement with others, refusing to move 22 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,960 until His will is clear. In the church, leaders do the 23 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:36,000 same, praying and listening for God's direction without rushing. 24 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,680 Sometimes answers aren't immediate, so you wait patiently 25 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,520 for clarity. God's mind is what you see, not 26 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,560 hasty choices. Now here's Pastor Clark in Acts 27 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,440 chapter one with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace. 28 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,760 It's not for you to know the times or seasons which the 29 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:58,760 Father has put in his own authority. 30 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,680 People love to sort of plan and in her mind study. 31 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,760 This is when I think Jesus is going to come and they have it 32 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:09,039 all calculated. They can use computers now and 33 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:13,000 algorithms and figure out dates and based upon different feasts 34 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:14,280 in the Old Testament or whatever. 35 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:16,880 I've never met anybody that got it right yet. 36 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,440 You know Jesus is there's only one that knows the big the 37 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:23,880 return of Christ to this world to set up the Kingdom, and 38 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,680 that's the Father. But you, he changes the subject. 39 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:32,040 But you in verse 8 shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has 40 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,960 come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and 41 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:38,480 old Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. 42 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:45,840 And so they're in Jerusalem, OK, Samaria encompasses the regions 43 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,720 of Jerusalem. And eventually, you know, 44 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,200 they're going to go out towards Samaria, which is northern 45 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:54,480 regions outside of Jerusalem already. 46 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:58,840 You see, the, the plan of the Lord is to get the gospel out 47 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:00,480 throughout the whole earth, right? 48 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:02,920 And eventually it did go around the whole earth, and it's still 49 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:07,160 going around the whole world. Now, the Commission we have as a 50 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,000 church is to be involved in world missions, which we are, 51 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:17,240 and you got to be focused on this, not Greensburg or Latrobe 52 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,120 or Mount Pleasant or Irwin or North Huntington or wherever we 53 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,000 come from. We have to be focused, yes, on 54 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:25,400 our Jerusalem, which would be Greensburg here. 55 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:29,560 But then we also have to be focused on our Judea, which 56 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,520 would be the surrounding areas around the Greensburg area. 57 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:34,840 And then the Samaria. Maybe it's going out toward 58 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,800 Indiana or Johnstown or down towards Mckeesport or whatever, 59 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,560 but the ultimate plan of God is that this gospel goes throughout 60 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,520 the whole earth, right? And we work with the Dawsons. 61 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,800 They work in the jungles of Venezuela, working, reaching 62 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,680 tribal people who've never once heard the name of Jesus Christ. 63 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,600 That's exciting for me personally to think about those 64 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:58,480 folks. They're reaching unreached 65 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,600 people groups. And then we have Philip Jackson 66 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:05,240 that works in Macedonia at that part of the world, Philip and 67 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:07,520 Lynn. And we have Philemon and Sheba 68 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:09,800 who work with the people in Pakistan. 69 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:12,680 We have Nick, I'd mentioned it works with crew. 70 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,040 We have another couple, Dave and Cindy Bentz at those sports 71 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,839 camps over there in Spain. And then we have others, you 72 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:23,720 know, that we, we support and, and are behind and, and 73 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,520 prayerfully, you know, involved with, in, in regards to the 74 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,040 gospel. But the whole idea is OK, while 75 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:31,600 they're doing what they're doing out there, we're doing what 76 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,720 we're doing here right through Grace FM, the radio through you 77 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,320 guys inviting people to Calvary or tell them about the radio or 78 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,320 just giving them a track and praying for them or talking to 79 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,600 them about the Lord Jesus. But this is the big picture 80 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,920 here. The Lord them to be witnesses of 81 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,680 him, and all these different places. 82 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,680 And so in verse 9. Now when he had spoken these 83 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:58,160 things, while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud 84 00:04:58,160 --> 00:04:59,840 received them out of their sight. 85 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,400 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He 86 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:07,440 went up, behold, 2 men stood by them in white apparel, who also 87 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,280 said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? 88 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:15,280 This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so 89 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:19,200 come and like manner as you saw him go into heaven. 90 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:24,640 This experience of cloud is not something that's uncommon in the 91 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,400 history of the Jewish people. They knew that the pillar of 92 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:33,560 fire moved that nation at night during their time from Egypt to 93 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:37,040 the Promised Land. And the the cloud descended and 94 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,560 and was upon the Tabernacle in the in the daytime. 95 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:43,360 And they were told not to move unless the cloud moved. 96 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,520 So they're familiar with clouds. Peter, James, and John were 97 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:51,080 there at the Mount of Transfiguration when Moses and 98 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,880 Elijah showed up on the mountain within the cloud. 99 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,760 The cloud represents the glory of God, the kind of glory, the 100 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:02,720 presence of God, the Kabat of God, the very deep presence of 101 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,200 God. May we personally experience in 102 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:10,680 our times of privacy with the Lord in prayer, that cloud 103 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,640 manifesting itself all around our being that we might 104 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:18,840 experience the glory of God and the depth of God and the power 105 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:21,440 of God. And so they're, they're looking 106 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,520 at this scene and these two men are angels. 107 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,040 They're in white apparel, very similar to the angels that were 108 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,160 at the tomb when Jesus was resurrected. 109 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:32,920 And he they asked him a very basic question. 110 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,800 Why are you gazing up into the clouds? 111 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,960 The same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so 112 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:43,800 come in like manners. You saw him go into heaven. 113 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:47,840 So they're literally looking and they're seeing Christ go up into 114 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:51,040 the to the Kingdom and the clouds sit at the right hand, 115 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:54,520 the Father, and they're also telling them the same Jesus is 116 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:58,480 being taken up from you will also return in like manner. 117 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,320 And the Bible declares that when the Lord returns and says every 118 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,440 eye will see him. And how is that possible? 119 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:09,200 What if he, you know, he's descending on the Mount of 120 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,640 Olives in Jerusalem? He, he's ascending from the 121 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,160 Mount of Olives. Mount of Olives is a couple 100 122 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:16,880 feet up from the Old City of Jerusalem. 123 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:19,880 So when you're up on the hill, you can look down and see the 124 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,200 Old City. It's about half a mile from the 125 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:27,200 city up to the Mount of Olives. They're able to walk on the 126 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:29,880 Sabbath about a half a mile, which is what that is. 127 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,480 They weren't breaking their their law at the time, but the 128 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:37,760 Lords reminding us that whenever he comes back that every eye 129 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:39,640 will see him and and how's that going to happen? 130 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,600 Well, we got cell phones, right? And the phone will be like going 131 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:47,080 off like crazy. Some object is coming from the 132 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:49,040 clouds way up there in the universe. 133 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:50,320 What is it? It's real bright. 134 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:54,920 It's like there's this crowd of it looks like angels coming, you 135 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,360 know, and that's the coming of the Lord. 136 00:07:57,360 --> 00:07:59,600 At the second coming, every eye will see him. 137 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,720 Matter of fact, it says the Jewish people that are alive at 138 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:06,080 the time will look up and see him whom they've pierced. 139 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,760 And there'll be great revival for the nation of Israel at that 140 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,160 time because they're going to say he is the Messiah. 141 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:14,840 He's the one we were waiting for all this time. 142 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:19,240 And the hands will be evidence of the piercing and they'll see 143 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:23,440 him as he truly is. And so then they returned to 144 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,840 Jerusalem in verse 12 from the mount, caught all of it. 145 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:29,760 That's the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, a 146 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:32,679 Sabbath's day journey, as I said, about a half a mile from 147 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,000 the Old City. And when they had entered, they 148 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:39,200 went up into the upper room where they were staying. 149 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:43,120 So there's this upper room where they had the Lord's Supper, if 150 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,840 you remember, before Jesus was crucified, appears to be the 151 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:48,680 same place. And, and there's approximately 152 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:51,240 120 people in this upper room. It's a big room. 153 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:54,000 And the some of the names of the people who were there, Peter, 154 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:58,040 James, John, Andrew, Phillip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, 155 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,480 James the son of Alpheus, Simon the jealous zealot, and Judas 156 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,880 the son of James, that's not the one that took his life. 157 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,800 This is different Judas. These all continued with 1 158 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,760 accord in prayer and supplications with the women and 159 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:13,560 Mary the mother of Jesus with and with his brothers. 160 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:17,400 So the closest people to the Lord at the time are in that 161 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:23,240 room under the authority of the Lord's request to tell them to 162 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:29,080 wait in that upper room. It had to be astounding them 163 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:35,120 anticipating what it was that God said was going to actually 164 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:39,920 occur. They had to be excited. 165 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:45,920 They had to be wondering what will this do for me? 166 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,640 What will this do to change my life? 167 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:55,760 What will the Holy Spirit actually do to me at this time? 168 00:09:56,400 --> 00:10:01,440 And what's interesting to me is that they speak in verse 14. 169 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:04,680 They continued with 1 accord in prayer. 170 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:09,520 There was no arguments. There was no posturing for 171 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:14,120 authority or disagreements. Or I like this better than that. 172 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:17,120 Or why don't we have better food here over the next 10 days? 173 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,520 You know, can someone go out to Chick-fil-A and get us something 174 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:21,960 better than what we're having to eat here? 175 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:29,040 No, they just were focusing on the big picture of the Holy 176 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:33,040 Spirit and they were praying and they were all praying in unison. 177 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:38,080 There's nothing better than praying with people that have 178 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:40,640 the same heart as you do for the Lord. 179 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:44,560 There's nothing better than being in the presence of others 180 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:48,520 who love the Lord like you do. And you pray with one another 181 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:51,560 and there's no disagreement because you're praying according 182 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:55,160 to the will of the Father. And they were all in this unity 183 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:59,040 and this oneness together, praising God, lifting up 184 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,960 supplications, request with the women. 185 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,440 Some of the wives of the apostles were there. 186 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:10,200 Some of these famous women we read about at the resurrection 187 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:13,880 of Jesus. And also Mary, the Lord's mother 188 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:17,200 is there with his brothers. His brothers were interesting. 189 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,480 They didn't really believe until after the resurrection. 190 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:24,880 Some of his brothers, they just saw Jesus as the one who always 191 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:27,680 never did anything wrong. They get in trouble, the 192 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:30,480 brothers with the parents. This is perfect. 193 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:32,600 And you know, why doesn't Jesus ever get spanked? 194 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:34,040 Why doesn't he ever get yelled at? 195 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:39,040 Because Jesus is perfect, One pastor said at a different 196 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:41,960 friends of Jesus and his relatives would call him a goody 197 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,880 2 sandals. You know, he just that would be 198 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:49,040 challenging, wouldn't it? And they just couldn't believe 199 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:53,520 that he was Messiah at the time. As a matter of fact, said many 200 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:57,600 people at that time, because of remembering him being raised by 201 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:02,400 Carpenter father, that he was a carpenter's son, that he learned 202 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:06,120 carpentry, that there's nothing special about this guy. 203 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:08,400 Matter of fact, he's from Nazareth. 204 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,920 And that's the bad side of town. And we don't we don't anticipate 205 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:16,160 anything coming from that place. Matter of fact says can anything 206 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:19,840 good come out of Nazareth? And so they're they're waiting 207 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:23,600 for the Lord to to do what he promised he would do on the day 208 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,920 of Pentecost. And in those days, Peter stood 209 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:28,720 up in the midst of the disciples. 210 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:32,320 Altogether the number of names was about 120. 211 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,800 It's interesting here, Peter, not too many days since his 212 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:41,040 fiasco of denying the Lord had authority with the group of the 213 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:43,080 apostles. He was the first among equals. 214 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:47,040 He stood up with authority and he was reminding them about some 215 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,520 things from the Scriptures and he said, men and brethren, verse 216 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:55,560 16, This Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit 217 00:12:55,560 --> 00:13:00,200 spoke by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a 218 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:05,120 guide to those who rested Jesus. For he was numbered with us and 219 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:10,800 obtain a part in this ministry. Now this man purchased the field 220 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:15,240 with the wages of iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst open 221 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,520 in the middle of all his entrails, gushed out, and it 222 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,640 became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem, so that 223 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:25,360 the field is called in their own language Echaldema, that is the 224 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:29,200 field of blood, for it is written in the book of the 225 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,840 Psalms. And this is Psalm 69 and Psalm 226 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,360 109. Let his dwelling place be 227 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:38,960 desolate and let no one live in it and let another take his 228 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,800 office. So it's believed that whenever 229 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,240 Judas hung himself, he was hanging over sort of like a 230 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:48,640 Cliff area and the rope broke and when he fell, he fell on the 231 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:50,240 rocks. And that's why everything, you 232 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:54,440 know, busted up in his body. So now he isn't around. 233 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:56,560 There has to be one that will take his place. 234 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:00,320 Be the 12th. It says that therefore in verse 235 00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:04,800 21 of these men who have accompanied us all the time that 236 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:07,520 the Lord Jesus went in and out among us. 237 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:12,480 You had the the 70 were who were close followers of Christ that 238 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:18,160 had the ability to be claim or name the next apostle. 239 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:23,600 They had to be involved in the baptism of John and they also 240 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,160 had to literally see Christ after his resurrection. 241 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:32,160 Those were two main rules that had to be enforced for someone 242 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:36,240 to be ordained an apostle. Beginning from the baptism of 243 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:39,400 John to the day he was taken up from US, one of these must 244 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:41,800 become a witness with us of his resurrection. 245 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,280 And so they proposed to. There's two candidates here, 246 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:50,120 Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias. 247 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,720 And they prayed and they said, you, O Lord, who know the hearts 248 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:58,240 of all, show which of these two you have chosen to take part in 249 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:01,200 this ministry. An apostleship from which Judas 250 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,440 by transgression felt that he might go to his own place. 251 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,840 So they're seeking the Lord's guidance. 252 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,280 They're praying. Which of these two should be 253 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:12,560 chosen? And it's interesting in verse 254 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:15,640 26. And they cast their lots and the 255 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:19,760 lot fell on Matthias and he was numbered with the 11 apostles. 256 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:25,160 This way of making decisions occur after this time in Acts. 257 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:27,880 There was never another time where they cast lots. 258 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,640 Sometimes you might say, and I've been around people, what's 259 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:32,920 the Lord's? Well, I don't know, let's flip a 260 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:36,240 coin. You know, 5050, you could be 261 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,120 right or you could be wrong. I, I don't particularly feel 262 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,560 comfortable with those kind of decision making processes. 263 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,400 But I think as we pray in New Testament believers, you pray in 264 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,120 your home as a husband and wife about a decision you need to 265 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:52,000 make and you wait on the Lord. Maybe you fast, you wait and you 266 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,600 don't want to make a decision unless you're both in agreement 267 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,600 about what it is you feel God's will is for your life. 268 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,720 In the same way in the church as elders, we pray and say, Lord, 269 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:02,720 what about this? What do you think we should do? 270 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:06,840 And we talk and we listen and we listen to different perspectives 271 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,600 and we, we wait and we pray. And many times when we pray, 272 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:11,880 we're really not sure immediately what we should do, 273 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:13,160 right? So we wait on the Lord. 274 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,600 There's no hurry to make any decision until there's consensus 275 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:18,600 on what it is in the mind of the Lord. 276 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:20,840 You want the mind of the Lord, right? 277 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:25,760 In regards to decisions, You definitely want the mind of the 278 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,240 Lord in regard to his will for the church. 279 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,440 And the mind of the Lord is revealed to us in the Bible, in 280 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,320 the Scriptures. And back in those days, you got 281 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:38,200 to realize they didn't have the New Testament written yet, did 282 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,200 they? They were referring all the time 283 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:42,720 to the Old Testament. And how did they do things in 284 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,280 the Old Testament? They had the Urim and the 285 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,200 Thummim, right? They were like dice and they 286 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:48,800 would give them some kind of direction. 287 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:51,440 They cast lots. That's just the way they did 288 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,520 things, right? But now we wait and we seek the 289 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,720 Lord, as it tells us in James. If any of you lack wisdom, let 290 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:01,800 him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and doesn't hold 291 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:03,000 back. So if you need to make a 292 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,359 decision about something and you're waiting and you don't 293 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:07,440 know what to do, don't be impulsive. 294 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:09,800 Ask God for wisdom. Ask the Holy Spirit for 295 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,280 direction, and God will give you the direction that you need so 296 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:16,280 you'll know what to do. You don't have to guess. 297 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,160 You don't have to do things. I hope this is right, or I'm not 298 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:22,079 sure. If you're not sure and you don't 299 00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:23,760 think it's right, wait on the Lord. 300 00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:27,560 Wait on the Lord. Trust in the Lord with all your 301 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:32,600 heart and lean not. Ensure an understanding in all 302 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,600 your ways. Acknowledge Him and He will 303 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:37,240 direct your paths. Amen. 304 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:43,480 That's a good verse to memorize and it's a promise that God will 305 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:47,480 truly direct your path as you wait upon Him. 306 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:53,760 And so this is the gentleman that they picked, Matthias. 307 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:59,280 Paul was not the 12th apostle. Paul wasn't involved with the 308 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:04,000 baptism of John, nor was he present in the literal physical 309 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:05,560 resurrect. He saw the resurrection 310 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:09,000 resurrected Christ in his conversion experience in the 311 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,960 road to Damascus. But Paul was an apostle, but not 312 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:16,640 one of the 12 and his his significance as apostle was 313 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,120 obviously supernatural because of how he wrote. 314 00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:23,400 Most of the New Testament and most of what it is we read about 315 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,360 God's will for us as a church comes from the writings of Paul. 316 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:32,280 However, Luke the evangelist wrote about 27% of the New 317 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,200 Testament, which is interesting from the book of Luke and the 318 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,320 book of the Acts of the Apostles. 319 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:42,360 So Luke, not an apostle, but also very significant player in 320 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:44,920 the big plan of God. And so you look at your life, I 321 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:46,680 look at mine, Who am I? Who are you? 322 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:51,080 We're disciples, right? We're followers of Jesus Christ 323 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:54,160 and every one of us have been given a call by God. 324 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,240 Not one is more important or less important in the Church of 325 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:59,680 Jesus Christ. The one we worship and we 326 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,000 elevate is Christ. He's the only one we lift up and 327 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,800 we magnify. Every one of us are at the level 328 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:08,240 of the cross, equal, and we're all seeking to find the ways of 329 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,240 God and to please him and to live for him. 330 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:13,560 These guys had the responsibility of as, as the New 331 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,840 Testament tells us, upon the chief cornerstone. 332 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:20,480 And the truth of the New Testament church is built upon 333 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:22,440 the apostles and prophets, right? 334 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:24,800 Laid upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. 335 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,280 There's no other foundation that can be laid for the truth of 336 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:32,720 Christianity than Jesus Christ and the foundation of the 337 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:37,120 apostles and prophets, which has given us this, the word of God. 338 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,320 And we can know when people ask you questions about what they 339 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,520 should do, what's the Lord told told you that I don't know. 340 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:46,880 Well, if you looked in the Scriptures, if you sought the 341 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,160 mind of the Lord. And lots of times people say, 342 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,960 no, I haven't done that. Well, I'm certainly not going to 343 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:56,200 tell you what to do. You got to seek God for what He 344 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,920 wants you to do. And again, that's the work of 345 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:02,080 the Holy Spirit and why He dwells in US. 346 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:05,160 It says He will God us in all truth. 347 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:10,120 And so therefore of these men who have accompanied us all the 348 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:13,680 time, verse 21, that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 349 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,840 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when he was 350 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:19,560 taken up from US. One of these must become a 351 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:21,320 witness with us of the resurrection. 352 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:25,840 And so they castle lots and Matthias became the 12th 353 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:28,400 apostle. I'm not going to go into chapter 354 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,520 2. It's too dynamic and too too big 355 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:33,600 to cover in 5 minutes. There's no way. 356 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:37,160 But Rita had chapter 2. If you've got questions about 357 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:41,840 anything, Acts has some interesting controversial 358 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,360 statements at times that people can misunderstand. 359 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:48,040 And depending on what church kind of background you had, you 360 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,480 might have a different understanding of some of these 361 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,880 things in regards to the work and the person and the Holy 362 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,160 Spirit. Feel free to e-mail me and I'll 363 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:59,000 do the best I can to show you what I, what we sense in this 364 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,120 church the Scripture teaches regarding the role and the work 365 00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:04,720 of the Holy Spirit. OK, so let's pray. 366 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,320 Father God, we thank you Lord for the word Lord, we just thank 367 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:12,720 you already for the leading into this very, very significant Day 368 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:16,600 in History, Pentecost. We look forward to studying this 369 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,960 together and explored and each of us have been recipients. 370 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:24,160 If we're born again, we've experienced this baptism of your 371 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:29,600 spirit into your body. Lord, there is no denomination 372 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:34,000 in the body of Christ. There is no ethnicity in the 373 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,320 body of Christ. We've grouped this together. 374 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,560 Neither bond nor free, Jew or Gentile, male or female. 375 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:45,320 We've been all made to drink of that one rock, that spiritual 376 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,760 rock, which is Christ. So the unity of the Church of 377 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:52,880 all believers everywhere, in all places at all times, who have 378 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,080 been born again and baptized by your Spirit. 379 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,520 You've placed each of us individually into the body of 380 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:03,520 Christ as a whole, and then you've placed us in individual 381 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:05,240 churches, Father, and we're grateful. 382 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:08,760 I pray, O Holy Spirit, today that you would take your 383 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:12,880 teaching and sow it into the hearts of us, your, your kids, 384 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:16,480 Lord, that we might understand and we might grow in the grace 385 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,880 and the knowledge of you. That we might have a greater 386 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:23,200 dependence upon You, Holy Spirit, in everything we do. 387 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,400 That we would ask for your help moment by moment and show us, 388 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:31,000 Lord, your will and your direction, Your blessings. 389 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:36,560 Father, we remember always, Lord, what you went through for 390 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:39,400 us on the cross, Your suffering, Your death. 391 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:44,640 We remember your burial and we praise you and glorify you in 392 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:48,480 the resurrection. And also, Lord, today we learned 393 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:52,800 about your ascension into heaven, that you'll come back 394 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:57,160 the same way you left. Lord, we bring our hearts to 395 00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:59,160 you. Some are broken, perhaps some 396 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:04,480 are mixed up, Lord. Some are hurting God, some are 397 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:08,520 rejoicing and blessed at all. Kind of different moods in each 398 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,840 of our lives, Lord. And Lord, we pray for one 399 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:17,000 another that you would promise us, Lord, as you do promise us 400 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,600 that if we draw near to you, You will draw near to us. 401 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,000 We're so thankful, Lord, when we leave this place for not leaving 402 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:24,840 you. You go with us, Lord, wherever 403 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,560 we go, You promise us you'll never leave us or forsake us. 404 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,200 And Lord, I pray for myself personally this week as I pray 405 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,800 for my brothers and sisters that you would open up an opportunity 406 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:38,960 for me to be able to tell someone about you. 407 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,640 That every relationship we have, that we would be led to your 408 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:46,240 Spirit and know the timing and look for the Segway, the 409 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,680 opportunity to to tell someone about what you've done for us. 410 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:52,680 If they don't know you, that they would come to know you as 411 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:53,680 well. That's our prayer. 412 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,440 And we know that's your prayer as well, Lord. 413 00:23:57,120 --> 00:24:00,320 Thank you for listening to this edition of Living Waters of 414 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:02,520 Grace. Pastor Clark is teaching us 415 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:06,040 about the book of Acts in this series, powerful and unique part 416 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,880 of Scripture, not just because it records the spread of the 417 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:12,200 gospel geographically from Jerusalem to the ends of the 418 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:16,760 earth, but also culturally. Acts shows us how the message of 419 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:20,480 Jesus moved beyond its Jewish roots and began to reach the 420 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,400 Gentile world. What started with Peter leading 421 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:27,320 a small group in the Upper Room became a global movement with 422 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:31,080 Paul taking the gospel to cities, synagogues, and 423 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:33,760 marketplaces across the Roman Empire. 424 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:38,240 Acts captures this vital transition and reminds us that 425 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:42,040 the good news of Jesus is for all people in every place. 426 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:47,240 May we be inspired to carry that same gospel boldly into our 427 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,400 world today. Living Waters of Grace comes to 428 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:52,680 you from Calvary Chapel, Westmoreland. 429 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:57,200 If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, you can listen to Grace FM 430 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:02,040 on the new 91.7 frequency. Pray about helping support the 431 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:05,840 new station that will reach thousands more listeners. 432 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:15,600 Send gifts to Grace FMPO, Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601 also 433 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:20,960 invite you to join us in person this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E 434 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:25,480 Pittsburgh St., Unit 6B. To stay up to date, visit 435 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,320 calvarychapelonline.com where you can find our teaching 436 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:33,440 archive, submit prayer requests, join our e-mail list, or give 437 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,120 online. If you're outside the area, 438 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:39,040 don't worry, you can still worship with us through the 439 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,800 Calvary Chapel Westmoreland YouTube channel. 440 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:45,160 Be sure to subscribe so you won't miss new content. 441 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:47,800 We're so thankful that you joined us today. 442 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:51,320 Be sure to tune into the next edition of Living Waters of 443 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:51,880 Grace.