This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
continues teaching through God's Word.
Keep Dirtbag, you need to stay down there because you're scum
and you're no good and you're, you're totally depraved.
How dare you think you even have a right to be in my presence?
He isn't that way, is he? He reaches down and he puts his
hands on his servant and he says do not be afraid.
Even though all of us will be on our faces before the throne of
God, those who truly are His, He will touch and say, do not be
afraid. Bowing face down on the ground
is an out of date practice that many of us in the United States
are entirely unfamiliar with. We don't have a king, we don't
have royalty that we bow to, so the thought of having our face
so close to the ground is wholly foreign to us.
But make no mistake, Jesus absolutely deserves this level
of worship from everyone. Pastor Clark explains in today's
passage that despite Jesus having every right to keep us
down in the dirt, he has already paid the price and has justified
us before God. Now here's Pastor Clark in The
Book of Daniel, chapter 10, with today's edition of Living Waters
of Grace. Who knows what occurred in the
lives of the people in this church this week and the secret
places where only God could see? What type of sin might we have
carried into this place that I trust was laid at the feet of
Jesus at the Lord's Supper? Christ wants his church to be
purified. He wants it to be whole and the
holy be holy. He said, be holy, for I am holy.
Be perfect as your heavenly Father who's in heaven is
perfect. And that's not in our own
strength. This is an impartation of God's
gift to you and me, His grace, that as we yield to Christ,
Christ will fulfill His will in our lives and He'll conform us
to the image of His Son. That's what He promises every
one of us, right? That he will transform us and
make us into His likeness. So John is laying at his feet as
a dead man. Daniel chapter 10, verse 8, he
says I saw this great vision. Whenever Daniel saw this vision,
this is what he said about himself.
He said no strength remained in me, for my vigor was turned to
frailty in me. I retain no strength.
His face was to the ground and he heard this voice, and the
voice told him to stand upright. And when Daniel stood upright,
it says he stood trembling. We need that same experience
that John has had in our own life.
We need that experience that Daniel had, Isaiah had, Peter
had whenever he recognized when Jesus spoke to him after the
miracle and Peter's words were Lord get away from me.
I am a sinful man and these are the servants of God
understanding what they are apart from the grace of God.
And this is the wonder of God's grace where he says to him after
he's on his face, He didn't say you dirtbag, you need to stay
down there because you're scum and you're no good and you're
you're totally depraved. How dare you think you even have
a right to be in my presence. He isn't that way, is he?
He reaches down and he puts his hands on his servant and he
says, do not be afraid. Even though all of us will be on
our faces before the throne of God, those who truly are His, He
will touch and say do not be afraid.
His grace is so manifests His mercy that His right hand is
upon us. So this is the way things are.
He says now I am the 1st and the last.
I am he who lives and was dead, the declaration of the
resurrection. Christ died for our sins.
The Gnostics and the false teachers back then and even of
the day say he really didn't die.
He was just sort of unconscious. Here's a declaration of Christ
himself, he who lives and was dead.
And behold, I'm alive forevermore.
Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and
death, of hell and death. He tells him to begin to write.
You know, I read this and as I study this and prepare to teach
it and I realize my own life, how I need to pray to see Him
this way, that my heart would be full of awe when I'm in His
presence when we were worshipping today.
I don't know about you guys, but sometimes I just get a intense
sense of His presence that I feel like my knees are going to
buckle. This not an emotion, it's a
sense of the reality of who He is and who am I to come up here
and stand before you and talk about this holy God?
It strikes terror in my heart, but I know His hand is on my
shoulder saying do not be afraid.
And he's saying that to each of you as you come and understand
His greatness and His Holiness and you know your own sin, your
weakness, and he touches each of you today and says, do not be
afraid. Where do we need to be?
Someone told me Psalm 51 is a good Psalm to pray every day.
David's lament, he said my sin is ever before me and against
you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight.
The places of humility is where God wants all of us to be.
This is what he also says the sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart.
These, O God, you will not despise.
That's where God wants us to be, guys, is to be real.
As we come in here as brothers and sisters, God gives us his
joy, his peace, his presence. But we all need to be contrite,
right? And this admitting what we are
not, trying to be some way that we're not, or trying to impress
some and they think we're something we're not.
God knows all of us, even on our best day, we're the worst in
light of who he is, right? There's not one of us in here.
They're better than the other or worse than the other.
We're all in the same boat, right?
To be able to know what we are and to see our hearts in light
of God's word. Repent, repent, repent.
I remember that old song by the birds.
Turn, turn, turn. That's what repentance is.
I'm going this way and I come to the realization of my mind.
I'm living the wrong way, going the wrong way, and I need to
turn and go in the direction of the will of God.
That's repent, repent, repent. The modern understanding of
repentance is the actions or process of repenting for
misdeeds or moral shortcomings. Yeah, I did this.
I shouldn't have done it. That was wrong.
But, you know, hey, we're all human, You know, it's, you know,
I'm not perfect. You know, we make excuses.
And that's the modern concept of repentance.
The modern concept of repentance is I'm driving down the road and
I get a speeding ticket. I no I'm wrong, I paid a fine
but instead of going by the speed limit I go out and buy a
speed detector. I really wasn't repenting.
All I'm hoping is that next time I'm speeding I won't get caught.
That's the modern understanding of repentance.
In the Greek understanding, it means a change of mind which
results in a change of actions and awareness of our utter
insufficiency to be holy in and of ourselves.
I need a Savior, a sin bearer, one to lift my guilt and to
transform me, to see my thoughts and actions change, and to
receive God's mercy and forgiveness.
I'm walking this way. The Spirit is convicting me
before I know Christ and all of a sudden I realize that no
matter what I do, what kind of promises I make, what kind of
self help book I read or what I try to do, I'm not going to be
able to change my wicked ways. The self help gurus say we'll
read this book and this will help you understand why you are
the way you are. And it always points back to
your parents. It's their fault.
So the kids have these arguments with their adult parents.
I am the way I am because of you, how you raised me.
A lot of guilt to throw in your parents, you know, parents would
then say, well, it was my parents who did it.
And then we go all the way back to the garden.
And sure, there is some reality that Adam and Eve were the ones
that began this insanity. But if it was you or me, we
would have done the same thing there.
But the point is, is that instead of looking and trying to
cast blame to someone who is, I think responsible for my own
sin, I need to say I'm a Sinner and I need help.
I need a Savior, I need Jesus, I need his mercy to forgive me and
to change me from what I am and who I am and to give me a spirit
so that I can become a new creation in Christ, so I can
become a new person, the child of God instead of the child of
the devil. That's what repentance is.
Repentance starts, and it's very important because the whole Book
of Revelation is a message of repentance.
He tells the book the the church in Ephesus repent and go do your
first works. Someone visited the church one
time. They said I don't like your
church. Why?
Because you guys have too much emphasis on repentance and
humility. Well, that's all there is.
That's the church. That's the message of Christ to
repent. David says in Psalm 51 three,
and this is a picture of the beginning of the act of
repentance. He confessed to God.
He says I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is
always before me against you. You only have I sinned and done
this evil in your sight, that you may be found just when you
speak and blame this when you judge.
If I don't realize that what God is speaking to me about is
honest and true and just, then I'm living in delusion.
The first step of repentance is acknowledge the sin and
understand what I've done, then I'm guilty.
The second step in repentance is then to begin to cease the sin
against God and resolved by his grace, as Jesus said to the
woman, go and sin no more. Jesus doesn't forgive this and
say go ahead and go, go, go sin again.
We'll we'll talk 5 minutes later, an hour later or two
weeks ago, we'll, we'll go through this process again.
This Yeah, you're forgiven. OK, Go and have a nice day.
And you know a million times during the day asking
forgiveness for the same thing, That's not repentance.
It's turning from our sin and resolving to sin no more.
Our resolve means to not repeat the offense.
That's why Paul tells us in Ephesians and Colossians we're
to put off the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful
lust, and put on the new man, which is after God created in
righteousness and true holiness. Take the old coat off, burn it
and put the new coat the cloak of His righteousness.
And then as God is merciful, working in my heart, I want to
make amends for the things I've done wrong in my life.
Not that I'm trying to get points, but I need to go to some
people maybe and say I've offended you, I've hurt you,
I've sinned against you. I've done this, I've done that,
please forgive me. Sometimes it's in the home with
the husband or the wife. I've been this way towards you
or your children or your children, to your parents or
your workers, your coworkers, your families, your neighbors.
You go and you make amends and you say, you know, I did this, I
acted this way. I was wrong.
Please forgive me for the harmful effects that my wrong
has caused upon you. And you do this wherever it is
possible, wherever it hits your own heart.
In the biblical Hebrew, the idea of repentance is represented by
two verbs, SHUV. Shuv, that means to return and
Nikon NICH AM to feel sorrow. It means to lead, to think
differently after the fact. The Greek word metanoia and this
is the gospel. Jesus said repent for the
Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Metanoia means it's an
afterthought. It's different from the former
thought. In other words, the way I'm
thinking now after I repent, is different than the way I thought
before I repented. Because before I repented I
wanted to do what I wanted to do because I wanted to do it even
though it was bad and evil and ungodly and impure and immoral,
whatever unjust. Now my thought is, I don't want
to think that way anymore. I don't want to do that anyway.
So my afterthought now is different than the way I used to
think. Think.
It's a change of mind accompanied by regret, a change
of conduct, a change of mind of heart, a change of my own inner
consciousness. That's why David prays my sin is
ever before me. I know the Lord has forgiven me
of my sin, but it doesn't change the fact that my sin is ever
before me. God chooses to forget.
I can't, and my forgetfulness isn't, unless I get Alzheimer's
or something is there to humble me.
God does not 'cause me to be reminded of my sin, to condemn
me. It's to make me realize every
day where I've come from and what His grace is accomplished
for me. His blood never to take it
lightly. And when I look at another
Sinner, someone whose life is so messed up and so unbelievably
distorted because of their own rebellion and sin, I can tell
them I understand where they're coming from because I walked in
the very same places that they have.
We see the picture of the prodigal son.
That's the perfect illustration in the Scriptures of one who is
in the process of repentance. He's out there in the mire, in
the muck and eating with the pigs.
Finally he comes to his senses and he says, I'm going to go
home and maybe I can be a servant in my father's home.
He gets up out of that pen. He had to make that decision
himself. Prayers of the Father, who knows
for how long, going out on behalf of his Son.
The Father can't change a son's heart, right?
Any more than you or I can change each other's hearts.
It's through prayer that hearts are changed.
And sometimes we have to pray for a long time and we get
weary. But God is at work when we're
praying, be encouraged. And so we're praying.
And then finally one day he's out there and he says, I'm
getting out of this. So it's no longer going to live
this way. He turns, he repents and he goes
towards home. The picture of the Sinner moving
back towards the heavenly Father in Matthew 417 from the time
Jesus began to preach, he said repent for the Kingdom of heaven
is at hand. When he first began, the first
words out of his mouth when he began to proclaim the Kingdom of
God was repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
That message of repentance is still here today, right?
We still preach it. We're still told to proclaim it
in the church. This is Peter at Pentecost.
Acts chapter 2. At Pentecost Peter preaches and
commands repentance. Luke 2447 Jesus sends his
followers out. That's what he says, that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name
to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Paul in Acts 2021. Paul's preaching from house to
house, testifying to Jews and Greeks, repentance toward God,
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Second, Peter 39. The Lord is not slack concerning
His promise is some kind of slackness, but is long-suffering
toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance. Luke 13.
Three, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all
likewise perish. An old Syrian Christian said he
once preached, this life has been given to you for
repentance. Do not waste it in vain
pursuits. There's two types of repentance.
Second Corinthians Chapter 7, verse 10.
Think about where your repentance might be.
Second Corinthians 7, verse 10 For godly sorrow produces
repentance leading to salvation not to be regretted, but the
sorrow of the world produces death.
The worldly sorrow is Pharaoh picture.
We read it this past week. All these problems not ever,
ever come into the understanding he's offending the creator God.
All he wants is get these frogs out of here, get these gnats out
of here, get the water, you know, just take care of the
problem and I'll let the people go.
He's lying through his teeth. He's not truly repenting and he
continually lives a sinful way and and it has no intention of
repenting. Now some people think, well,
I'll repent this in this in time to get to heaven.
Well, you, none of you, none of you know, none of us know when
our last breath will be. And that's why Paul says today
is the day of salvation. Now some people, drug addicts,
Alcoholics, whatever they, they turn and discuss from their
consequences of sin. I lost my job, my marriage, my
kids, blah, blah, this, blah, blah that.
I'm sick and tired of this kind of life.
I'm just going to stop it. So they're disgusted over their
behavior, but they stopped short of coming to a savior.
That's why the 12 step program talks about a higher power lets
you offend someone to make them realize they need a savior.
You can't do that, so you tell them about a higher power.
Higher power can't save. Only Christ can save.
That's the worldly sorrow. The worldly sorrow is the guy
with the B control device, right?
The detector. What do you call those things?
I used to have one. I still have, but I don't plug
it in anymore. It doesn't mean I still don't
speed, though. But I get reminded every once in
a while when I see someone else is pulled over.
Then I got to take it easy. I'm just glad I wasn't that
person. But you know, it's just endemic
in US, isn't it? The, the, the, the tendency to
not not see things as God sees them.
He says that the worldly sorrow, that's what leads to hell.
It stops short of salvation. That's like the teenager gets in
trouble for something. Oh, man, I can't believe.
How did they find talking to friends on the phone, texting?
You know, man, they're like my daughter Jessica used to say,
Dad's like the watchdog of heaven.
Like, wherever we go, whatever he does, he sees what we're
doing. The Holy Spirit.
There was a lot that I missed, but boy, the Holy Spirit had
Cindy and I clued in on a lot of things for their sake.
But their sorrow wasn't godly sorrow.
At times, it was a worldly sorrow.
They were just upset that they got caught.
A godly sorrow. This is godly sorrow.
It's David against you. Only have I sinned, O Lord, and
done this evil in your sight. Godly sorrow brings true
repentance. It's turning from the root of
sin. Against you only have I sinned.
Godly sorrow leads to trusting in Christ.
Being born again, a changed heart, a changed mind, a changed
life, new desires. So Jesus says in Ephesians,
we'll get into regarding Ephesus.
We'll get into this next week and chapter 2.
We'll just conclude now Revelation chapter 2.
This is what he says to the church in Ephesus, the first
church. And he says this to us this
morning. Guys, don't think we're reading
about some church way back then or some churches other than us.
He's speaking this to you and me today.
Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left
your first love. Remember, therefore, from where
you have fallen, repent and do the first works, or else I will
come to you and quickly remove your lampstand from its place
unless you repent. Have you left your first love?
Think about that as we study the Book of Revelation.
It isn't all about the signs and wonders and the history and the
insights and that all the beautiful symbolism and the
realities of God's judgement, His second coming.
We can get all excited about all that and not be living in
repentance, right? Some of the people who are
prophecy addicts sometimes are the worst people in regard to
their own personal holiness. One of the people that wrote one
of the most profound books on the end times has been married
three Times Now. How can we read this book and
not take it to our own heart? Meaning that I need to repent.
It's not. I used to read this years ago.
Boy, Ephesus, they were really messed up, weren't they?
You believe those people? What kind of man?
I was such a fool. Now I realize this is talking
about us. We need to repent and do the
first works. I was thinking this morning in
the shower, what are the 1st works?
Whenever I first came to Christ, and I'm sure this is the case
with you too. What did you want to do?
All you wanted to do is read your Bible, tell people about
Jesus, pray, be in church, and this praise God all the time,
right? That's all you wanted to do.
So why is it that we think after we've been a Christian a long
time? That was nice those days, but
I'm on the bigger and better things now.
I'm building my own Kingdom and trying to become a millionaire
so I can give money away to help churches or whatever.
You know, all these justify justifying things we say, no,
let's get back all of us. And that starts with me.
And I think the three through to your Bible is a wonderful
exercise in helping us to get back to the place we need to be
because it says with the word, the reading of the word comes
faith. And so as we read the word
together and as we apply it and live it in our lives, and then
we start wanting to talk about what we're reading and we want
to tell people about Jesus and evangelize and, and then we want
to be in church. It's not like Sunday.
Oh man, I got to be in church. Like I can't wait to get to
church. I can't wait to see my brothers
and sisters. I can't wait to hear the word.
I can't wait to spend time when I get up with God in the
morning, doesn't tell him how great he is and how much I love
him. And before I go to bed at night,
I want to tell him how grateful I am for him watching over me
today and taking care of me and my family and my kids and, and
just watching out for me. First love.
We all need that rekindle, don't we?
So in the quietness of your hearts, as all of us sit here
this morning, let's pray that we heed the words of Jesus this
morning and allow him by His grace to restore to each of us
that place of first love again. And you might think you're, it's
impossible. No, it isn't.
If you pray and you have your heart open and you're desperate,
God will restore unto you the joy of your salvation.
We are digging into the Book of Revelation here on Living Waters
of Grace. Pastor Clark is tackling this
challenging book as we try to discern the messages that are
within its pages. There's so much imagery, and at
times you're not always sure what's literal and what's
metaphorical. At one point, there's a
reference to an adulterous woman riding on a beast.
And as someone else mentioned, at one point it almost sounds
like a rodeo from hell. And in actuality it kind of is.
You learn about the downfall and demise of a sinful and
rebellious world, falling down in worship to someone who is the
anti hero, the enemy, Satan working his insidious ways into
the minds of fallen people. It's sad and it's heartbreaking,
but it's a classic story of good versus evil.
Thankfully, we know how this story ends.
Jesus wins, Jesus reigns, and evil is conquered once and for
all. We pray and trust you've
received Jesus as your Savior. But if you haven't, don't wait
until the events and revelation become what's happening on the
streets. None of us wants you to be there
at that time. Instead, we'd love for you to be
with us in heaven as we celebrate the marriage supper
with Jesus as his bridegroom. To get a better understanding of
where we are in the Book of Revelation, to listen to any
messages before or after this one, you can find them at our
website, calvarychapelonline.com.
That's it for today's edition, but we hope you'll want to hear
Pastor Clark teach more from the Book of Revelation.
It can be exciting to think about the future for believers,
but it can feel a bit harrowing for those who don't believe.
Come here more next time on Living Waters of Grace.