This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
Waffer, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, County
of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
continues teaching through God's Word.
God has created you and I in a way that once we come to know
Him, that He wants to have continual union with us,
continual relationship with us moment by moment.
That's not on Sunday for a few hours, or on a Wednesday, or
when you open your Bible in the morning, but He wants to be
communing with you moment by moment.
And so we keep ourselves in remembrance of God's presence
24/7. That's what God's desire is.
That's the absolute picture of a perfect kind of humility.
My father was always working on some project around the house,
the yard or in the garage. He would always request my help
in these projects. I would often join him, albeit
reluctantly at times. I learned that it wasn't my help
that he desired, as I often slowed things down, but my
presence and relationship that he enjoyed.
Pastor Clark reminds us in today's message that God has
created us for constant communion with Him.
When we understand and submit to His design, we are far more
satisfied now. Here's Pastor Clark in
Revelation chapter one with today's edition of Living Waters
of Grace. Revelation chapter 1.
We'll start with where we left off.
The lesson is he who reads and those who hear the words of this
prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the
time is near. The importance of reading the
Book of Revelation and not only reading it, but listening to it
and doing the things it says is promised blessing.
And so I want to encourage you guys as you're here to realize
that this is a very, very special book.
The whole book, the whole Bible is special, but there's a
uniqueness to the Book of Revelation that God has promised
to implant in your lives, a degree of blessing that is
unlike any other blessing that you will get in any other book.
And it has to do with revelation, illumination, wisdom
that God gives you as your life changes as you study this book.
And the word blessing comes from the Hebrew word that means more
to be guided, not so much to what I'm going to get out of my
life or what do you have for me, God.
But it's the privilege to be guided on the narrow path away
from all the lies of the philosophies of man in this
world that we Live Today. All the confusing things that
are being taught in colleges and high schools and on TV in The
History Channel, all these things that come across to
basically denounce the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We're guided on this narrow path away from these kind of in the
modern times so that we won't be deceived into following
darkness, deceptions of the evil 1 and the allures of this fallen
world. The Book of Revelation
captivates you when you are walking in continual remembrance
of God. And that's the biggest thing I
think that we all struggle with every day.
How can I keep God in my thoughts all day long, moment by
moment? Someone called me recently on
vacation and they said, you know, I was doing really good
for three days, keeping my mind on the Lord in the Word.
And then all of a sudden the 4th, 5th day came.
I just thought I needed a diversion, watch some TV, just
chill out. And the person admitted that
they started forgetting about God a little bit.
And as they started forgetting about God, their lives began to
unwind and go back into old patterns and old places, old
sinful impulses and temptations. And so God has created you and I
in a way that once we come to know him, that He wants to have
continual union with us, continual relationship with us
moment by moment. That's not on Sunday for a few
hours, or on a Wednesday, or when you open your Bible in the
morning. But He wants to be communing
with you moment by moment. And so we keep ourselves in
remembrance of God's presence 24/7.
That's what God's desire is. That's the absolute picture of a
perfect kind of humility when I realize I want to be with the
Lord, that I realize I need to be with the Lord, that He wants
me to be with him and I want to be with Him.
And we have this community, him and I together, this
relationship of love and friendship and closeness, that
there isn't anything I want to do in my life that ignores him
or puts him out of the picture. Now whenever we want to take our
lives in a way and just have it our own way, so to speak, and
think our own thoughts and our own ways, what's that an example
of? That's an example of pride.
And that's the thing that the Lord detests the most, a proud
heart, an arrogant heart. And our minds are like that
whenever we stop thinking about God.
And we're not usually wired to think that way, but that's how
God, God has created us so that we would need Him all the time.
That's the way it was in the Garden before the fall.
Adam and Eve were able to speak with God and they were able to
hear God's voice back to them. They were aware of God's
presence all the time. So this is the purpose of this
book, to get us more geared in the sense of walking with the
Lord. The Bible says walk in the
Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
So being with the Lord is a walk moment by moment, step by step,
to abide in the vine, to be connected to the resource of
Jesus Christ 24/7, abiding in him, receiving our nourishment,
our spiritual strength, our food from Christ himself.
He said, abide in me and I and you, and you'll bring forth much
fruit, for without me you can do nothing.
Walking, abiding, repenting, continual repentance, metanoia,
the present verb tense of always submitting and repenting before
the Lord. That's why the psalmist said,
let the words in my mouth and the meditations of my heart.
He was so in tune with God's presence that he was aware that
God saw every thought and was able to determine every motive
of the human heart and then to humble ourselves.
We're told in James for us to humble ourselves under the
mighty hand of God, that we're told in Romans to yield
ourselves not as instruments of unrighteousness unto evil, but
yield ourselves as members of righteousness unto God.
It tells us in Romans chapter 12 we're to present ourselves a
living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
It tells us in Psalm 139 to let God search your heart, to let
Him try your thoughts, and to see if there's any wicked way in
you and to lead you in the way everlasting.
So this is the desire of this blessing that God wants to give
you. When you read this book and you
participate in it and you meditate upon it and you think
about what it's teaching, it's preparing you to have a deeper
walk with the Lord. That's the intention of the Holy
Spirit as we study this book together.
In verse 4 it says John to the seven churches which are in
Asia, grace to you, and peace from him who is and who was and
who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his
throne. As we talked last week and we
saw the map, John is speaking to the seven churches in Asia
Minor. The number 7 reveals
completeness or perfection. There was more churches than
thus 7. But the concept of the writer
and the Holy Spirit was that as we think about this seven, it
refers to every church, just not the ones that are listed here.
And this book, as we said last week, was written between 94 and
96 AD during the reign of Domitian, who was an evil empire
in Rome, who had tremendous influence around all the regions
and who was very prone to persecute Christians.
He was an idolater. He spent about $22 million in
developing places of idolatry to worship false gods, and he
wanted to get rid of everyone that proclaimed this message of
Jesus Christ. He put John the Apostle out in
the Isle of Patmos, which is about 37 miles off the coast of
what is today modern Turkey. It's a island that you wouldn't
want to go to. It's not a Paradise Island.
It's not like going to Hawaii. It is a rocky terrain, very dry
place, only about 10 miles long, about 6 miles wide.
And they use this place to send people who needed to be
isolated, people who were considered possible threats to
the government of Rome. And of course, all Christians
were considered that at that time.
And so he tells us as he begins to write this book, and he's
writing it to those who are going through persecution at
this time, through this evil empire.
He's telling them that grace and peace be given to them from him.
Capital H, who is and who was and who is to come.
The Hebrew word for God in the Old Testament is Yahweh.
You remember God said to Moses. Moses says, who should I say
sent me? He says, I am that I am.
God is fully everlasting and eternally existing.
He is the one true God, the everlasting Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. And He speaks in this fourth
verse. Also, interesting comment here.
He makes this word here regarding the seven spirits who
are before His throne, a mystery verse, but again, referring to
completeness, and a lot of the commentators see this as being
the first of the sevens in the Book of Revelation.
It's a key number, as I said, signifying God's perfection, His
completeness, and it is believed that this is a reference to
Isaiah Chapter 11, verse 2, where the Holy Spirit is
described in this section of Scripture.
They are called the Spirit of the Lord Prophet Isaiah Speaking
of the Spirit coming upon the Messiah, upon Jesus.
It says the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him.
That's the first aspect of the completeness of the person.
The Holy Spirit says the Spirit of wisdom, the second
characteristic of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of
understanding, The third aspect of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit
of counsel, the 4th, the Spirit of power, the 5th, the Spirit of
knowledge, the six, and the fear of the Lord. 7 the Holy Spirit
and his complete fullness. And so he gives us greeting that
goes out from the Father Himself, and eventually now we
begin to speak of the person of the Holy Spirit.
And the next few verses will speak on the person of the Son.
So in the Book of Revelation we see very clearly manifest the
Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit, which is
very, very important to affirm and to believe and to understand
and to know. And as he begins to give this
greeting, the greeting then begins to go from the Father to
the Holy Spirit. And as I said now as we begin to
look at verse 5, to the Son and from Jesus Christ, the faithful
witness, the first born from the dead, and the ruler over the
kings of the earth, to Him who loved us and washed us from our
sin in His own blood. We see in this section of
Revelation the manifestation of Christ in His priestly office
and His prophetical office and His kingly office.
Jesus Christ is prophet, priest and king, and the three titles
which will comfort these people who are reading this time, we're
reading these letters or hearing these letters as they're read in
their fellowships who are undergoing difficult
persecution. It says he's the faithful
witness. Now you think about Christ when
he was on trial before Pontius Pilate, he witnessed a good
confession. Pilate at the point of hearing
the declarations and the accusations of Christ, said I
find nothing wrong with this man.
He's done nothing wrong. We should let him go and he
basically, you know, washed his hands of the whole thing because
there is no sin that could be pointed out in the person of
Christ. What he says, what Jesus says is
always true. You can count on Christ every
day of your life. He's the one that gives you
absolute reality and he's the one that's promised you.
I am the way, I am the truth. I am the life.
No man comes to the Father but through me.
And we're living in a time, folks, where the world and the
school systems are trying to invade your mind to tell you
that Christ isn't the true one. Every assault of hell is against
the forces of the Kingdom of God in these days that we live to
dismantle and diminish the authority and lordship of Jesus
Christ. There's a attack against the
sovereignty and the holiness of God and the days that we live to
try to dismantle your faith and mine.
But Christ is the one that overcomes all the ideologies of
man. The ones that conflict with the
truth is always going to be present because that's the way
it's been since the beginning of time when the devil said to Adam
and Eve hath not God said trying to distort the truth of the word
of God. But we can rest in the person of
Christ because he is the faithful witness.
People might laugh at you because you believe what he says
and you follow what he teaches, but don't worry about that.
Your reward will be great in the Kingdom of heaven when he says
to you, well done, good and faithful servant, you want to be
a faithful witness as well. This like Christ has been a
faithful witness on our behalf. And then it says he's the first
born from the dead. Interesting definition there.
But this is reflecting on his resurrection.
There was other people that Christ rose from the dead.
Think of, you know, those in history that even didn't have to
go through death, like Elijah and Enoch.
But Christ is the first one to rise in glory from being once
dead. All the others that rose at the
time from the dead were returned back to their earthly life.
But Christ was glorified, and the same life that he received
through His resurrection is a life that He provides you and I,
that we also receive. It's an everlasting life.
It's a life that's given to us by the only life giver.
And then it says that He's the ruler of the kings over the
earth. What a comforting word this is
to me this day and I hope to you.
Our confidence, I hope, is not in the political rulers of this
world. They all fail.
They all pass on and they all eventually die, But this roller,
the Lord Jesus, the King over all the earth, he's the
sovereign King. He's the one that appoints and
takes down according to his plan and be encouraged.
As I said, the earthly leaders of this world are slowly fading
away. That's a blessing.
It's a blessing that that evil roller in roam that empire
eventually was taken down. All those ungodly rulers that
persecuted Christians were all eventually destroyed and they
eventually died. Adolf Hitler, the one who
created the persecution for the Jews, is dead.
Stalin and Lenin are dead even though they created great havoc.
God is merciful and history moves on.
We look back in history to remember the horrible things
that happened and to understand that with the wrong kind of
leaders, terrible things can happen in this world.
But Christ is the one who sits on the throne, so nothing's out
of control, even though at times you might think it is.
He's allowing these things to happen, to come to pass, so that
one day he can soon return. This is the one Jesus who loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.
Well, I'll tell you, it doesn't get any better than that, does
it? The one who loved you and washed
you in his own blood. I'd underline that circle with
highlighted can be reminded of it frequently.
Because no one could have done this for you but Him.
To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own
blood, the greatness of our Lord.
Amen. No one but Jesus can do this for
you and for me. We can't earn it, we don't
deserve it, but He did it for us because He loves us.
Perfect love. When you consider this and you
think about this, this price that He paid for you, I'll tell
you guys, I mean, I need to repent daily.
Why does our minds forget so easily the sacrifice that Jesus
paid for us? Why the times that we take it so
lightly? This death of Christ died for
you and me. It shows that our hearts are
still hard at times and they still are indifferent.
And I think that's a good verse to get on our face before the
Lord at times privately and review it and then allow your
heart to pour out to Him. Lord, I'm so thankful that you
love me, that you do love me, and that You have shed your
blood for me. You have washed me from all my
sins, not just a few of them, that He's washed me from all my
sins. In the picture of the cleansing
of sin, the purification, the covering of the blood, there's
no medium or product given upon the face of the earth through
modern technology that can cover sin.
Only the blood of Jesus can cover our sin.
It breaks the bondages in our lives.
It breaks the habits and the life besetting sins, the things
that before we gave our hearts to Christ, the things that
mastered us and controlled us, we were slaves to their control.
And the good news is when the blood is shed and it's covering
us of our sins, we are set free and we don't have to live the
way we used to live. And some of us are deceived
thinking that, well, yeah, I know I'm saved and I know you
know, Christ did all this stuff, but I still have this desire and
I still have this attitude, and I still have this want and all
this. All I can encourage you is get
on your face before God and proclaim the truth that Jesus
has washed you from all your sins.
And that means he's broken the bondage, the power for sin to
reign and roll over your life. Let's go back to the Word and be
reminded of what is true and turn your back away from the
lives I know in your lives. As you're walking before the
Lord, you're changing little by little.
And I am too. And I look at my life back all
those years I've lived so far, and I marvel that I'm not the
same person I used to be. I'm sure you marvel when you
look at your own life. I know I'm not perfect yet, but
I know that I'm not what I used to be and I can't get over that.
It blows my mind that I don't want to do this anymore.
I don't want to do that anymore. I'm not interested in, you know,
so many things that used to captivate me.
And it's the work of God's Spirit.
It's the work of His grace. It's the work of the power of
His blood in my life and in yours.
It washes us. It frees us from selfish hearts,
from hot tempers, from lustful passions and self-centered
living. That's what the blood does.
When you look at someone and you say, boy, you know, they seem to
have a servant heart. They care about people more than
they care about themselves. But don't give that person the
credit. Give Jesus a credit.
He's the one through his blood that's done that in that
person's heart. The person used to flip out and
say all kind of angry things and had a temper that was always
unruly and volatile. The person's life changes and
now they're peaceful. They don't respond the same way.
Why? Because of the blood of Jesus,
the man or woman or teenager that used to find their kicks on
pornographic imagery and sexual immorality and fornication and
all the evil things that we're all capable of and many of us
have committed. The blood washes us and frees us
from lustful passions. The focus isn't upon you or me
anymore of what I can get out of life or what's best for me, but
what can I do to give my life away for the sake of Christ and
the sake of others? Christ's blood transforms us,
doesn't it? It changes us.
And if you're still the same and you haven't changed and
something's wrong, either you haven't really been converted
yet and you haven't really repented, and you haven't been
born again yet and you haven't been saved, or you have had some
bad teaching and you understand all the promises that are yours
in Christ Jesus. But Christ himself, He's the one
that has loved you and has washed you from your sins in His
blood. I remember that old song.
Would you be free from your burden of sin?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood.
Would you do service for Jesus your king?
There's wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder, working power in the precious
blood of the lamb. There is.
There's power, wonder, working power in the blood of the lamb.
Really, really powerful guys. In verse 6 it says, and he's
made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him be glory
and dominion forever and ever, Amen.
Do you know today that we are kings and priests of the most
high God? And He's made us this way so
that you can represent Him to others, so that they can come
and get healing from their brokenness and their ruined
lives. That people you run into who
know they're sick and need a physician will come to you to
find out about the Savior so He can cleanse them and heal them
and deliver them and save them, just like He's saved and healed
and delivered you. Amen.
The function of the priestly office in the Old Testament was
a mediator role where the Old Testament Jews had to deal with
a priest who went in and made intercession for them and made
atonement on the ark for their sins.
In Hebrews chapter 10/19, though it says Now we having boldness,
brethren, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which
is consecrated through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, we
can enter in boldly by the blood of Jesus.
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 in 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.