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 --> 00:00:18,760 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,600 If I say, well, I can't do this, I'm not as good as him or I'm 6 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:41,920 not as good as her, that's sinful. 7 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:44,960 When God says he's choosing you because you're weak and foolish, 8 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:47,640 just admit it, Lord, I'm not going to compare myself with 9 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,560 anybody else. I'm what you tell me in your 10 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,040 word, I am. I'm weak, I'm foolish, but I 11 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:58,160 want to surrender this body to you for you to use for your 12 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,600 glory. And as God begins to use you and 13 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:05,480 work in your life and bless people through your life, you 14 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,360 will know it has nothing to do with you. 15 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,920 Comparing ourselves to others is a sinful habit that we must not 16 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,160 allow ourselves to fall victim to. 17 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,600 God didn't make us in the likeness of those around us. 18 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:22,080 He made us in the likeness of Himself, and He knows what we're 19 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,120 capable of. He created us all as individuals 20 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:29,000 with a purpose. When He calls us to walk in the 21 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:33,000 way He leads, we must lean into that and allow ourselves to be 22 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,200 moved. Today, Pastor Clark teaches us 23 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:41,080 not to be ashamed of being weak and foolish, because it's there 24 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:45,360 we find God's strength now. Here's Pastor Clark in the Book 25 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,720 of Revelation chapter 19 with today's edition of Living Waters 26 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,280 of Grace. Before crisis in our life, all 27 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:54,840 we do is just keep doing the stuff that we know we shouldn't 28 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,080 do. It's it comes naturally because 29 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,760 we're all sinful people. But when Christ comes into our 30 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,400 life and changes us, all the sudden we have the ability and 31 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,200 the power to make choices now and say, I'm not going to live 32 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,080 this way anymore. I'm not going to do this 33 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:08,520 anymore. We're going to have to maybe 34 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,120 talk to some people and say, guess what? 35 00:02:10,479 --> 00:02:13,040 My relationship with you is ended as of now. 36 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:15,640 And they'll say, well, why? Because I can't live this way 37 00:02:15,640 --> 00:02:18,960 anymore. I can't sleep around anymore. 38 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,240 I can't do this anymore because God lives in me now. 39 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:24,920 They'll probably look at you like you're nuts. 40 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:27,440 That's OK. They might ask you what do you 41 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,280 mean God's in you? And then you can tell them 42 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,840 what's happening to you. And then perhaps God will save 43 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,400 them as well. And it says if we live in the 44 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:39,720 Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 45 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,640 So that's the major difference between this teaching and 46 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:49,120 revelation regarding why is he going to destroy all this flesh 47 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,120 on the earth at this time? Because these people are enemies 48 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:53,720 of God. They're walking this way, 49 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,000 they're living this way, and they don't care. 50 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,480 They've heard the truth. They know the truth from the 51 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:01,400 standpoint of it being communicated to them. 52 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:05,400 But they're the kind of people that refuse to submit and 53 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,240 repent. And perhaps you're here today in 54 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:10,080 that camp, you're refusing to repent. 55 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,000 Well, God wants you to know today that if you refuse to 56 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,880 repent, this is what you're going to face. 57 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:19,960 And even worse, if you don't end up in this situation, you die 58 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:22,560 before this event occurs. You're going to be in hell 59 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:24,920 forever. That's a cold hard fact, but 60 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:27,080 it's the truth. You're going to be in hell 61 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,160 forever and ever. Philippians chapter 3 verse 3 62 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,200 says we're not to have any confidence in the flesh, not any 63 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:35,160 confidence in our own self ability. 64 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:39,480 And this, this is important for Christians today in our jobs and 65 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:43,360 our marriages and our raising of our children and our ministries, 66 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,800 whatever. If we depend upon our own 67 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:50,240 abilities and we're trusting in our own wisdom, we're having 68 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,920 confidence in our fallen nature, which will do nothing but mess 69 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:56,480 things up. We're not to have any confidence 70 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,480 in human ability. The world today teaches us about 71 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,480 self esteem. To be confident, feel good about 72 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:05,600 yourself, you have to love yourself. 73 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,280 Well, the Bible says we already do love ourselves. 74 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:11,520 I mean, that's a that's a given because all our focus is most of 75 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,240 the time on ourselves. It proves that we have this 76 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,519 insatiable love for self that we have to constantly deny. 77 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:21,440 And Jesus says if any man will follow me, let him deny himself. 78 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,040 That's the hardest thing to do as a human being, to deny 79 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,600 yourself will. But it says not to have any 80 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:28,800 confidence in your human ability. 81 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,360 It says Second Corinthians chapter 3, verse 5. 82 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,160 Not that we're sufficient of ourselves to think of anything 83 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,680 as being from ourselves, but our sufficiencies from God. 84 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:40,560 In other words, I receive my esteem from God. 85 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,560 Where God says you're beloved, you're accepted in the beloved, 86 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,640 holy and without blame. That should make all of us feel 87 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,800 fantastic. It's not what you think of me or 88 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,400 what I think of you or what we think of one another. 89 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:55,160 I mean, it's nice to think good things, but you don't want 90 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:57,240 anybody to hate you or not like you or disrespect you. 91 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,320 But it really shouldn't bother us because God says He loves you 92 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:05,360 with an everlasting love. He cares about you, He's for you 93 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,640 and He's not against you. He has plans for you in the days 94 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,560 ahead, Plans of hope and plans of a future. 95 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,480 John 663 says it is a spirit who gives life. 96 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:20,760 The flesh profits nothing. If I'm up here trying to 97 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,640 motivate you today and my own ability and my own passion and 98 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,960 my own desire as a human being and trying to persuade or cause 99 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:32,360 your mind to think differently through my own strength, my own 100 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:36,200 ability, it'll profit nothing. The words that I speak to you 101 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:40,320 are spirit and they are life. And that's my prayer for us as a 102 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,000 ministry, that it's a spirit that's speaking. 103 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:47,800 It's not the flesh, it's not human ability, it's not the 104 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:50,200 wisdom of man, but it's the wisdom of God. 105 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:53,680 First Corinthians chapter one, verse 2631. 106 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:56,840 If you flip over there for a minute and if you pick anything 107 00:05:56,840 --> 00:06:00,000 up as we're studying together, pick up the difference between a 108 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,440 life that's directed by the Spirit and a life that's 109 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:07,080 directed by pride of fallen natures. 110 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:12,840 Verse 26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many 111 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:16,680 wise according to the flesh human ability, right fallen 112 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,960 nature, not many mighty not many know Bo are called but God has 113 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,160 chosen the foolish things of the world to put the shame the wise 114 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:26,880 and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put the 115 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:28,760 shame. The things which are mighty and 116 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:31,520 base things of the world and things which are despise God 117 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,960 hath chosen, and the things which are not to bring to 118 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,280 nothing. The things that are that no 119 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:42,000 flesh should glue glory in his presence, that no flesh should 120 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,000 glory in his presence. But of him are you in Christ 121 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,680 Jesus who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and 122 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,480 sanctification and redemption that it is written. 123 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:56,120 He who glories, let him glory in the Lord. 124 00:06:57,160 --> 00:06:59,920 And so we're here today as brothers and sisters for the 125 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:01,800 most point. Most of us are Christians here 126 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:06,760 today, and God is calling all of you for some purpose. 127 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:12,240 And he's not looking for people who are highly educated. 128 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,400 Of course, he can use highly educated people, but he doesn't 129 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,880 have any kind of agenda. When he chooses people to serve 130 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:23,640 him, He chooses people who the world might say many times are 131 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,480 losers. He chooses the outcasts, the 132 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,760 downcast. He chooses the insecure. 133 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:34,000 He chooses people who know down deep inside I can't do this, 134 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,320 Lord. He chooses people who have 135 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,880 failed. And so he looks out in an 136 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:44,320 audience and he says not many wise out there today, not to put 137 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,080 anybody down. Not many noble, not many mighty 138 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:51,160 are called, but God has chosen the weak and the foolish things 139 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,320 of this world. How many of us are weak and 140 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:57,480 foolish here today? That's all of us. 141 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,640 So he's calling all of us to serve him and you might say, 142 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,800 well, I can't do this. I'm not as good as him or I'm 143 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,120 not as good as her. That's sinful. 144 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,160 When God says he's choosing you because you're weak and foolish, 145 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,800 just admit it, Lord, I'm not going to compare myself with 146 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,680 anybody else. I'm what you tell me in your 147 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:18,160 word, I am. I'm weak, I'm foolish, but I 148 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:22,280 want to surrender this body to you for you to use for your 149 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,680 glory. And as God begins to use you and 150 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:30,120 work in your life and bless people through your life, you 151 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:32,039 will know it has nothing to do with you. 152 00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:35,960 And that's why it says there in 31. 153 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,559 He who glories, let him glory in the Lord. 154 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:41,732 I remember when we were training to be missionaries and my sister 155 00:08:41,732 --> 00:08:44,120 in law's here today, she was with the new tribes mission in 156 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,840 Africa with in Senegal and boot camp was tough. 157 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:49,280 It was the second phase of the training. 158 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:51,080 We went to Bible college. We got all that great head 159 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:52,680 knowledge right. We had to memorize the book of 160 00:08:52,680 --> 00:08:54,680 Ephesians. We thought we were really it, 161 00:08:54,680 --> 00:08:56,880 right? I mean, we really thought we had 162 00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:58,760 it together. We had a handle on the word and 163 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,520 all that. We go to the boot camp and we're 164 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,680 around these deep Christians that are training us and and 165 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:07,800 they're telling us why we got to get from what's in here down to 166 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:12,400 here because we're all in there is a bunch of immature, proud, 167 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,520 self willed people that are claiming that they're being 168 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,200 called by God to be missionaries. 169 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,400 And and the truth was that, yeah, God's calling us to serve 170 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:22,840 him, but there's work that needs to be done in our life before we 171 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,120 can serve him. They had a Tuesday night 172 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:26,640 meeting. It was an open night meeting 173 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,840 where you'd all sit here like this and they'd do worship and 174 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:31,960 then you'd wait on the Holy Spirit to speak. 175 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,520 And sometimes 10 minutes, nothing's happening. 176 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:38,080 And they'd play some more music. And then someone would come up 177 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:40,560 and they'd share the words, you know, and they'd break it. 178 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:43,360 And they'd maybe 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15, and whatever the 179 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,720 Holy Spirit's leading them. And, and they would be speaking 180 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:47,360 to the body. And then they'd sit down and 181 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:48,800 someone else would get up and share. 182 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:52,680 And maybe a woman would come up and sing a song or read a Psalm, 183 00:09:52,680 --> 00:09:55,600 or it was powerful. And down deep inside, as you're 184 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,800 sitting there, you know God wants to use you too, but you're 185 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:01,280 afraid because you're thinking, what if I look like a fool? 186 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:03,000 What if I say something that's stupid? 187 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:06,840 What if I'm not correct? Or what if I blow it or 188 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,200 whatever, You know, and God's like that, your heart's 189 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:10,520 thumping. You know you're supposed to say 190 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:11,040 something. You don't. 191 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:12,760 You've all had those opportunities when you're in a 192 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:14,560 meeting and you know God wants to use you. 193 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:17,440 A Wednesday night's study to say something, to pray or whatever, 194 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:19,480 step out in faith. And it's scary. 195 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:22,160 And I remember the first time I went up there and I thought I 196 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:23,640 had something to say. And when I got up there, I 197 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:25,720 looked in the Bible, I realized I had nothing to say. 198 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:27,880 It was terrible. I got up there and I'm supposed 199 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:30,320 to say something, but I have absolutely nothing to say and I 200 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:33,080 could have read something here, but the Lord whisper in my ear, 201 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:34,880 you're a phony cloak. You're a phony. 202 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:36,920 If we got to deal with you're going to be humble and you're 203 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:39,520 going to be and I'm like freaking out and at the back of 204 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:41,960 the wall. It says this first to bring to 205 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:46,480 naughty the things that are that no flesh should glory in his 206 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:50,960 presence. It says in First Corinthians 207 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:55,800 1550, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. 208 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:00,040 The part of us we war against will not be in heaven. 209 00:11:00,680 --> 00:11:03,960 That's good news. The fallen sinful nature will 210 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,000 not follow us into the Kingdom of God. 211 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:09,760 When we get into the Kingdom of God, the former things have 212 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:11,800 passed away. There'll be no more pride, 213 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,240 There'll be no more selfish ambition. 214 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:17,320 There'll be no more anger or hatred or unforgiveness or 215 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,840 bitterness or lust. All that stuff is going to be 216 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:25,080 gone, the unyielded self life that we still struggle with and 217 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:29,160 as a pastor I have to constantly bring my will under subjection 218 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,120 of the Lord and say Lord not my will but your will be done in 219 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:35,960 every area of my life. That unyielded tendency in our 220 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:43,960 lives that fights against us in this body, the flesh to try to 221 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:48,400 make excuses for sin or attitude won't be in the Kingdom of 222 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:52,320 heaven. You ever have your wife or your 223 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:56,200 husband say something to you like, you know you did this and 224 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,560 you did that and and the first thing you want to do is justify 225 00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:02,560 yourself, right? Well, no, that's not the way it 226 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:04,240 went down. That's not really what happened. 227 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:08,680 I was really doing this and the person's like looking at you 228 00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:10,920 like you're lying. But in our minds, we're 229 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:16,720 justifying our behavior, right? I'll give you an illustration of 230 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:18,320 my own life. Last night. 231 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:20,960 My grandson comes to spend the night with us, and I love 232 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,120 hanging out with my grandkids. But I told you guys I'm going to 233 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,240 add it to the computer when I have to investigate something to 234 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:30,280 buy something. So I'm busy studying about 235 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:32,600 netbook computers because I need it for my job. 236 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,280 It's different than a laptop. They're smaller and they're 237 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:36,800 cheaper and they're, you know, whatever. 238 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:39,840 So I'm like doing this extensive research that I think is real 239 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,120 important because I got to get this thing soon. 240 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:44,640 I got all this pressure on my life next week to serve all this 241 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:46,280 data and all these reports and everything. 242 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,280 I need to have this device. And, you know, my conscious is 243 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:50,880 telling me get out there and play with Logan. 244 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:52,920 You know, get out there and play with Logan. 245 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,200 I kept like, well, I'll get out there in a little bit, right? 246 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,600 And then they watched a movie and I figured I can be back here 247 00:12:58,600 --> 00:12:59,880 now because they're watching a movie. 248 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:03,560 I'm justifying myself. Then I come out and we're going 249 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:06,200 to play kids Monopoly. And then we were going to read a 250 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:08,000 book and I was real tired. And I said, why don't you read a 251 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:09,560 book to us? That way you can put Papa to 252 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:12,160 sleep while you're reading, you know, so he's so cute. 253 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:13,760 He's laying beside me reading this book. 254 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:16,120 And it's amazing to see how this kid reads at first grade. 255 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,200 I mean, all I could read was see spot run Jack and Joe up the 256 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:19,960 hill. Remember that? 257 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,600 And they're reading way beyond what we could read back when we 258 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,560 were in school in first grade. Cindy and I are talking and and 259 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:29,040 she just said, you know, you blew it last night. 260 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:31,440 He doesn't get up here that often, right? 261 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:32,800 So honey, I was in there studying. 262 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:35,920 I was doing my sermon too, you know, and she says all the time 263 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,040 I said, well, no, no, but a lot of the time I'm trying to 264 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,080 justify here, wait a little bit. I'm not really. 265 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:44,760 Finally I realized that I did blow it. 266 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:46,960 I was convicted. But it's interesting how we want 267 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,960 to justify the flesh. And you can't make excuses for 268 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:52,360 the flesh. It is what it is. 269 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,320 It's despicable, it's self willed, it's selfish, it's our 270 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:57,440 enemy, you know. And so thank God, you know, as 271 00:13:57,440 --> 00:13:59,960 I, you know, dealt with my heart there, he was playing with a 272 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:01,840 puzzle. And I redeemed some time. 273 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:03,720 I sat down. I'm not good at puzzles, but I 274 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:06,280 sat down and I was able to put five pieces in with him. 275 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:07,880 And, you know, we had a nice time. 276 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:10,160 We connected there. And next time he comes up, I'll 277 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:14,440 be more sensitive to, you know, turn the computer off and, you 278 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:18,160 know, hang out with him. But you know, this tendency that 279 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:25,080 we have to constantly crucify the desires of our own self will 280 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:26,880 and our own passions, our own desires. 281 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,520 And that wasn't an evil desire to do that research. 282 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:31,280 I got to do it, you know, regardless. 283 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:34,560 But I can pick the times when I can do certain things, you know. 284 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:36,800 And so we're to walk in the Spirit. 285 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:40,160 We're to be controlled by God and everything we do. 286 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,360 Now, when you read the book of Genesis and the way the world 287 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:47,160 was and the way Adam and Eve were before, the fall is the way 288 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,040 we're going to be in the Kingdom of heaven. 289 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:53,040 God's going to restore everything to the way he 290 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:57,200 initially wanted it to be. And I can't wait for that time. 291 00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:00,600 It's going to be glorious. But sin is this enemy right now 292 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:04,440 in this life and it manifests itself through, as I said, this 293 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:08,080 body and these fallen desires. Again, the difference between an 294 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,400 unbeliever is all they can do is be held captive to the fallen 295 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:13,160 desires over and over and over again. 296 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:15,880 The difference with a Christian and a believer is we have the 297 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,600 ability now to overcome what is attacking us and what is 298 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:22,280 tempting us and what is happening that is wrong. 299 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:24,400 We don't have to allow it to control us. 300 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:27,120 We can ask God to give us strength and we can overcome it, 301 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:29,800 and we don't have to be victim to it anymore. 302 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:35,880 Now God says that the foolishness of man is evident, 303 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,800 and what we're seeing in Revelation here in chapter 19 is 304 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:44,520 the foolishness of man warring against God in 19 and 21, and we 305 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:47,200 see the consequences of these world leaders at the time. 306 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:51,920 You have the unholy Trinity, you have the devil, the Antichrist, 307 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:57,000 the beast and the false prophet. And in 19 it says, when I saw 308 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,440 the beast, the kings of the earth and the armies gathered 309 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:02,880 together to make war against him, Capital H making war 310 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:07,280 against Christ himself who sat on the horse and against his 311 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,560 army. How foolish to think that man 312 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:13,240 can ever win a battle against God. 313 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,560 You know, there was a time in our lives today as Christians 314 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:22,360 that we were like these people here that are preparing to do 315 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,320 battle against God. You may be here today and you 316 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:27,480 are fighting against God. You're his enemy. 317 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:33,360 And it says in Ephesians chapter 2, in him we were made alive who 318 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:39,040 were dead once in trespasses and sins, in which time we also 319 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:43,160 walked according to the course of this world, according to the 320 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,880 Prince of the power of the year. Our allegiance was to the devil 321 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,280 and the demons. That was our whole life and we 322 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:53,760 didn't even realize it. It says among whom also we had 323 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:57,240 our manner of life, our conversation and time passed 324 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:01,160 fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and we're 325 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:03,480 by nature the children of wrath. Even as others. 326 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,760 Ron and I talked about this. Ron teaches immense study on 327 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,319 Saturday. What he came out of, like maybe 328 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:13,640 a lot of us was was really bad, wasn't it, Fulfilling the 329 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:15,480 desires of the flesh and of the mind. 330 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:19,440 He talked about the struggle because people were becoming 331 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:22,520 Christians that he loved and they started telling him what 332 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:26,319 happened to him and it gave him conflict and he knew this is 333 00:17:26,319 --> 00:17:28,600 what he needed. But the devil and the flesh 334 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:31,880 wanted him to stay in the bondage of the old life, send 335 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:36,120 them to hell. But God in his grace 336 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,040 miraculously broke through it says the next verse in Ephesians 337 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,360 2. But God, who is rich in mercy 338 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,080 for his great love, wherewith he loved us even when we were dead 339 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:50,240 in trespasses and sins, that's all of us, hath quickened us 340 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,680 together with Christ by grace. Are you saved? 341 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:57,960 And now he's a man of God, has a woman of God as his wife, and 342 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:01,720 young children of God. Amazing how God can turn our 343 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:04,440 lives around. A young man told me about his 344 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:08,200 addictions to drugs and how horrible it was, and how he's 345 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,400 been clean now for a couple years, and how he was baptized 346 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:15,000 and now he's a new creation. If any man is in Christ, he's a 347 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:17,520 new creation. Old things are passed away. 348 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:19,720 Behold, all things are become new. 349 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:23,960 Some of us here today have things we have to turn over to 350 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:27,960 Christ in order that we can see Him save us. 351 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,120 Armageddon. It's the vengeance of God 352 00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:33,520 against the ultimate arrogance of man. 353 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,000 We see the beast and the false prophet, the enemies of God, the 354 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,880 leaders of the ungodly Kingdom. They're cast into the lake of 355 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:44,640 fire before the great White Throne judgment. 356 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:46,200 Now, next week we're going to look at chapter. 357 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:49,400 The next several chapters are astounding as we close the Book 358 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,240 of Revelation up. But these two characters were 359 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,680 cast into the lake of fire even before the final judgment. 360 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,720 The beast and the false prophet, the devil will be cast into this 361 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:04,040 fire after the thousand year millennial reign, which will 362 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:06,960 occur after the second coming of Christ. 363 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:10,080 And we'll look at that in Revelation 2015. 364 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:14,800 Now, the lake of fire, as we begin to conclude, is hell. 365 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,960 And it's for anyone that's not found written in the book of 366 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,480 life will be cast into the lake of fire. 367 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,680 God has a book. That book is open. 368 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,400 And if you're his today, you're born again. 369 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,040 You're a believer in Christ. Your name's written in that 370 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:34,680 book. And when God opens the book, it 371 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:36,840 isn't like God needs a memory. I wonder if Clark's in here. 372 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:38,840 Let me see here. Oh, yeah, Yeah. 373 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:41,360 He's back there in 1971. He got born. 374 00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:44,480 And God knows everything about everybody. 375 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,360 He knows those who are his and those who aren't. 376 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:52,480 But hell is not prepared, as I said earlier, for you. 377 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:54,920 It's prepared for the devil and his angels. 378 00:19:54,920 --> 00:20:00,760 Matthew 2541 tells us that it's a place where the fire is not 379 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,440 quenched. And Mark Chapter 9, it's a place 380 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,520 of regret and torment and fire, and there's no water to quench 381 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:13,360 your thirst. Luke chapter 16 in Revelation, 382 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:17,280 it speaks about hell, where the smoke of those tormented there 383 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,720 goes up forever and they find no rest. 384 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:28,320 As I told you in Galatians 5, those who practice sin will not 385 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:34,280 inherit the Kingdom of God. You have to stop the desire to 386 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:37,600 sin, and the only way you can stop that is by coming to 387 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:39,680 Christ. And He'll take that desire away. 388 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,160 Some of you here today I know are on the edge of coming to 389 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:48,240 Christ, and the truth is pulling you towards the Lord and the 390 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,840 devil and the demons and the sin is pulling you away from God. 391 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,360 It's a conflict, but Christ wants to free you from that 392 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:59,760 conflict. John chapter 3 Nicodemus is a 393 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,920 Pharisee, a a roller, a teacher of the Jews. 394 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:07,760 He comes to Jesus by night and says to him, Rabbi, we know that 395 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,280 you're a teacher, come from God. For no one can do these signs 396 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:12,840 that you do unless God is with him. 397 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,720 And Jesus answered and said to him, most surely I say to you, 398 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:20,320 unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. 399 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:24,120 Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he's old? 400 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,520 Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? 401 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:29,840 And Jesus answered most assuredly. 402 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:33,640 I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he 403 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:38,240 cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is 404 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:40,000 flesh. In other words, our first birth 405 00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:46,080 through our mother is the first birth, and that's born of human 406 00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:48,520 flesh. And that which is born of 407 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:51,280 spirit, capital S Holy Spirit is Spirit. 408 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:55,280 Talking about a need to be born again, have a second birth. 409 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:58,720 Then Aunt Marvel, I say to you, you must be born again. 410 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,400 And you might sit here and say that sounds really confusing. 411 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,960 How does that all work out? Well, Jesus says the wind blows 412 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,600 where it wishes. You hear the sound of the wind, 413 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:10,160 but you can't tell where it's coming from and where it goes. 414 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:13,320 So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. 415 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:18,600 The way we're born again is to repent from our sin and to turn 416 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:23,080 to Jesus Christ. You can't get born again through 417 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:27,560 baptism. You can't get born again through 418 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:31,840 taking the Lord's Supper. You can't get born again by 419 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:33,720 saying, I'm going to turn over a new leaf. 420 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:38,040 I'm going to try harder. You can't get born again through 421 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:42,880 a priest or a pastor. You only can get born again 422 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:47,080 through the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is the one 423 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:51,080 who has the power to bring you into this second birth. 424 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:57,040 And if you're not born again, you won't enter into the Kingdom 425 00:22:57,040 --> 00:22:59,320 of heaven. It isn't about coming to church. 426 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:01,200 Coming to church is a good thing. 427 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:02,640 That's where you hear about these things. 428 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,480 But church attendance can't save you. 429 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,360 Nothing can save you except for Jesus Christ. 430 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:11,160 He's the only one who can save us. 431 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:15,120 And so my prayer today is we've studied about this horrible 432 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:18,000 situation in Revelation and the end of chapter 19. 433 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:19,360 What's going to come upon the earth? 434 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:21,880 There's one reason to teach these things. 435 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:25,000 God tells us to teach his Word. But the main reason is that we 436 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:29,160 find ourselves either on one side of the bat or the other. 437 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,400 We're either part of God's family today or we're not, and 438 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,320 we all have to come the same way. 439 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:40,120 We have to humble ourselves and say, Lord, I need to get saved 440 00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:42,960 today. I need to get born again. 441 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:46,920 I need you to come into my life and change me. 442 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,680 God wants to save people. He's come to seek and to save 443 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:55,360 that which is lost yield to Him. He wants to save you. 444 00:23:57,120 --> 00:24:00,720 This has been Living Waters of Grace with Pastor Clark. 445 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,120 We're going through the challenging and also intriguing 446 00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:07,120 Book of Revelation. Whether you're a fan of reading 447 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:09,880 ahead in books of fiction, there's such a benefit to 448 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,480 reading ahead in the Bible to read about how it all ends. 449 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,400 But in an interesting turn of events, the Book of Revelation 450 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,600 is not really the end, but rather the beginning. 451 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:26,040 It's the end of life as we know it here on earth, but there's so 452 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:30,040 much to look forward to for what comes after all the judgement of 453 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,200 the earth and those who reject God. 454 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:36,520 There's a lot to work through, and it can be heartbreaking to 455 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,120 read through the intense judgements and wrath that will 456 00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:42,880 come on those who hate God with all their might. 457 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:47,000 The thing is, God has given chance upon chance to these 458 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:48,600 people. They don't want it. 459 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:53,400 So the outcome is that there are judgments and consequences for 460 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:57,720 those who've rejected the good news and the gift of salvation 461 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,160 that's offered through Jesus's death and resurrection. 462 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:05,400 Are you one who has heard about these things but doesn't really 463 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:09,480 want it because you want to live life on your terms? 464 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,840 Trust me, living for Jesus is so much better. 465 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:18,000 That doesn't mean it will be easy, but as you listen and read 466 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,160 through Revelation with us, you'll come to a stark 467 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:24,120 realization that you don't want to be on earth when the 468 00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:28,240 apocalypse happens. So check out Calvary Chapel 469 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:32,880 online.com to learn how to come to a saving grace through faith 470 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,640 that will allow you to be with Jesus for eternity. 471 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,160 We'd also love to meet you in person at Calvary Chapel 472 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,960 Westmoreland. Come join us at 400 E Pittsburgh 473 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:50,200 St. Ste. 6B in Greensburg, PA 15601. 474 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,440 This has been living waters of Grace.